"This is the only true and living church upon the face of the whole Earth which I, the Lord, am pleased." Now, where does that leave other churches? We believe that all churches do great good. We believe in the virtue in the lives of other people in other churches. We acknowledge the tremendous accomplishments of other churches. Our position is simply this, we say, you bring all the good that you have, wherever you have acquired it, and see if we may add to it."

"there's no injury done to anybody"

"Now we are at war. Great forces have been mobilized and will continue to be. Political alliances are being forged. We do not know how long this conflict will last. We do not know what it will cost in lives and treasure. We do not know the manner in which it will be carried out. It could impact the work of the Church in various ways."

"No one knows how long it will last. No one knows precisely where it will be fought. No one knows what it may entail before it is over. We have launched an undertaking the size and nature of which we cannot see at this time."

"I do not know what the future holds. I do not wish to sound negative, but I wish to remind you of the warnings of scripture and the teachings of the prophets which we have had constantly before us."

"Now, I do not wish to be an alarmist. I do not wish to be a prophet of doom. I am optimistic. I do not believe the time is here when an all-consuming calamity will overtake us. I earnestly pray that it may not. There is so much of the Lord’s work yet to be done. We, and our children after us, must do it. I can assure you that we who are responsible for the management of the affairs of the Church will be prudent and careful as we have tried to be in the past. The tithes of the Church are sacred."

Q: You are the president, prophet, seer and revelator of the Mormon Church?

A: I am so sustained, yes. (Laughter)

Q: Now, how would that compare to the Catholic Church? Do you see yourself as Catholics would see the pope?

A: Oh, I think in that we're both seen as the head officer of the church, yes.

Q: And this belief in contemporary revelation and prophecy? As the prophet, tell us how that works. How do you receive divine revelation? What does it feel like?

A: Let me say first that we have a great body of revelation, the vast majority of which came from the prophet Joseph Smith. We don't need much revelation. We need to pay more attention to the revelation we've already received.

Now, if a problem should arise on which we don't have an answer, we pray about it, we may fast about it, and it comes. Quietly. Usually no voice of any kind, but just a perception in the mind. I liken it to Elijah's experience. When he sought the Lord, there was a great wind, and the Lord was not in the wind. And there was an earthquake, and the Lord was not in the earthquake. And a fire, and the Lord was not in the fire. But in a still, small voice. Now that's the way it works.

Does Gordon B. Hinckley always tell the truth?

Gordon B Hinckley is president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most of the time he speaks in vague generalities like "be good" or "isn't it wonderful?" or "I don't know." But sometimes he says specific things, and when you look closely they are often not true. Here are some examples of Gordon B. Hinckley statements that are not true.

previous, longer version of this page

1. Does the church teach that a man can progress to become a god? 1994: yes. 1997: no.

Gordon B. Hinckley in 1994, repeating perhaps the best known teachings in all Mormonism:

"On the other hand, the whole design of the gospel is to lead us onward and upward to greater achievement, even, eventually, to godhood. This great possibility was enunciated by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the King Follet sermon (see Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 342-62) and emphasized by President Lorenzo Snow. It is this grand and incomparable concept: As God now is, man may become! (See The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, comp. Clyde J. Williams, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1984, p. 1) Our enemies have criticized us for believing in this. Our reply is that this lofty concept in no way diminishes God the Eternal Father. He is the Almighty. He is the Creator and Governor of the universe. He is the greatest of all and will always be so. But just as any earthly father wishes for his sons and daughters every success in life, so I believe our Father in Heaven wishes for his children that they might approach him in stature and stand beside him resplendent in godly strength and wisdom." (Gordon B. Hinckley, Conference Report, Oct. 1994, reprinted in Ensign, Nov. 1994, p. 46)

Gordon B. Hinckley three years later, speaking to the press in 1997:

Don Lattin (San Francisco Chronicle religion editor, interviewing Gordon B. Hinckley, April 13, 1997, p 3/Z1): "There are some significant differences in your beliefs [from other Christian churches]. For instance, don't Mormons believe that God was once a man?"
Hinckley: "I wouldn't say that. There was a little couplet coined, "As man is, God once was. As God is, man may become." Now that's more of a couplet than anything else. That gets into some pretty deep theology that we don't know very much about."

Quoted in Time Magazine, Aug 4, 1997: "On whether his church still holds that God the Father was once a man, [Hinckley] sounded uncertain, `I don't know that we teach it. I don't know that we emphasize it... I understand the philosophical background behind it, but I don't know a lot about it, and I don't think others know a lot about it.'"

Hinckley claimed he was misquoted:

"I personally have been much quoted, and in a few instances misquoted and misunderstood. I think that's to be expected. None of you need worry because you read something that was incompletely reported. You need not worry that I do not understand some matters of doctrine. I think I understand them thoroughly, and it is unfortunate that the reporting may not make this clear. I hope you will never look to the public press as the authority on the doctrines of the Church. (1997 October General Conference)"

But you can check the quotes for yourself - even on the original video. And he said the same things on more than one occasion. See www.lds-mormon.com/hwtd.shtml or www.lds-mormon.com/lkl_00.shtml for details. The first quotation, where Hinckley says he does know and believe the doctrine, is from a conference talk called "Don't Drop The Ball." Did he drop the ball when he was faced with non-Mormon questions and forgot to stand for what he believed? You decide.

2. Does the church publish its budgets for its members to see? Hinckley says yes.

Every other major church makes its accounts public. Every one. They consider it a question of honesty and openness. Yet the Mormon church keeps its accounts secret. Before the Salt Lake Olympics, a German reporter asked Hinckley about this and other things. A transcript of the full interview is here.

Reporter: "In my country, the…we say the people's churches, the Protestants, the Catholics, they publish all their budgets, to all the public.
Hinckley: [agrees]
Reporter: "Why is it impossible for your church?
Hinckley: "Well, we simply think that the…that information belongs to those who made the contribution, and not to the world. That's the only thing. Yes."

This is a very strange thing to say, because no church member ever gets to see the church budgets or accounts. Ever. Most people would say his answer was highly misleading to the German reporter.

3. Is the DNA evidence against Lamanites in North America unproven? Hinckley says it is.

[ From the German reporter's interview:]

Reporter: "Now, Mr. President, one of…one question which is a little bit complicated for me to understand, but I heard it and one colleague asked me to ask it. What will be your position when DNA analysis will show that in the history never have been an immigration from Israel to the North…to North America? It could be that the scientists will find out…"

Hinckley: "Well, it hasn't happened. That hasn't been determined yet. All I can say is that's speculated. No one really knows the answer to that, not at this point."

This is a very strange thing to say because Hinckley has spent most his life in church public relations of some sort, so he should be aware of the facts. He was specifically asked about North America. The reporter was being kind, as if the question had not yet been proven. Yet the DNA evidence against North America as the Book of Mormon location is devastating. Even the apologists, FARMS, have accepted that, and they will not try to defend a North American setting for the Book of Mormon.

Even if we allow the FARMS theory that the Lamanites were hiding in some remote corner of Central America, the DNA evidence is not "speculated" as Hinckley said. It has been established beyond reasonable doubt by the highest standards of scientific enquiry in peer-reviewed journals. DNA destroys the Book of Mormon as a historical record. To say that the issue "hasn't been determined" is like saying the earth is still flat because a few people still believe it.

4. When did polygamy start in the church? Hinckley says it was after 1847.

On Larry King Live (September 8, 1998, after Hinckley was asked about polygamy): "When our people came west they permitted it [polygamy] on a restricted scale."

This is very strange, because polygamy began much earlier than "when our people came west." It was practiced secretly by Joseph Smith since about 1833, when he "married" his first "plural wife," sixteen year old Fanny Alger. Alger is listed by official Mormon sources as Joseph Smith's first plural wife. By 1844 it was practiced by many LDS leaders. It is very strange that Gordon B. Hinckley does not remember this.

5. How many Mormons were "involved in polygamy"? Hinckley says just 2 to 5 percent.

Again from Larry King Live, September 8, 1998: "The figures I have are from -- between two percent and five percent of our people were involved in it [polygamy]. It was a very limited practice"

This is very strange, because before moving to Utah, of the leaders who knew about polygamy, 75 percent practiced it. See D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: [Volume 1] Origins of Powers, Appendix 6, and the discussion by Packam. After moving to Utah, church elders urged ALL good Mormons to practice it. Numerous sermons say it was essential to salvation. Every president of the church was polygamous until George Albert Smith, who became president in 1945. It is very strange that Gordon B. Hinckley presents it as a very limited practice.]

6. Do we oppose other churches? Hinckley says no.

Speaking on Larry King Live, September 8, 1998: "I say this to other people: you develop all the good you can. We have no animosity toward any other church. We do not oppose other churches. We never speak negatively of other churches."

In last General Conference (October 2005, quoting a poem): " 'I would not sit in the scorner's seat, Or hurl the cynic's ban; / Let me live in a house by the side of the road / And be a friend to man.' That is the way I feel. [I wish] that men might live together in peace without war and contention, argument and conflict."

This is a strange thing to say since Hinckley leads a church that says that no non-Mormon will go to heaven. He divides people from the world intot he rightous (Mormons and those who will one day become Mormons) and the unrighteous (everyone else).

This was the very first thing "revealed from God" in the "First Vision": "the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight: that those professors were all corrupt." (Joseph Smith - History 1:18-19) The whole reason for a restoration was that every other church was so corrupt that it was beyond any hope of reformation.

1 Nephi 14:10 says "And he [God] said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth." (See also 1 Nephi 13:6, 14:3, 9; Alma 5:39.)

Until 1990, the temple ceremony included a non-Mormon minister, a representative of all other churches, and he was being paid by Satan.

Mormons say they "ne