A major topic of discussion and even debate among online Mormons involves what, exactly, one must believe in order to be considered a Mormon in good standing. Fortunately, several of our leaders have addressed this question in the past. Since the relevant statements have been made by a variety of individuals, with distinctive points of view, speaking in quite different situations at various points during our 170+ year history, it is perhaps not surprising that the results are not identical on details. Nonetheless, a broad picture emerges in which diverse systems of belief and even disbelief are compatible with full fellowship in our church.

One set of statements that makes this point in a particularly clear way comes from Joseph F. Smith’s testimony before the Reed Smoot hearings in the U.S. Senate (a document discussed to some extent in my previous post). Shortly before the point in his testimony where Smith, in effect, explains that day-to-day decisions in our church are not really governed by revelation, he talks about the question of the degree of belief necessary to retain full fellowship in the LDS church. (Note: once again, the Senate transcripts refer to President Smith as “Mr. Smith.” Evidently, the Senate record-keepers were reluctant to use Smith’s religious titles.)

Senator Overman: What became of those people who rejected the divine revelation; were they unchurched?

Mr. Smith: They unchurched themselves.

Senator Overman: Oh, yes. They were outside the pale of the church then?

Mr. Smith: Yes, sir.

The Chairman: They unchurched themselves by not believing?

Mr. Smith: By not accepting.

Mr. Tayler: Then if you had a revelation and presented it to your people, all who did not accept it would thereby be unchurched?

Mr. Smith: Not necessarily.

Mr. Tayler: Not necessarily?

Mr. Smith: No, sir.

Mr. Tayler: I should like to have you distinguish between this answer and the one you just gave.

Mr. Smith: Our people are given the largest possible latitude for their convictions, and if a man rejects a message that I may give to him but is still moral and believes in the main principles of the gospel and desires to continue in his membership in the church, he is permitted to remain and he is not unchurched. It is only those who on rejecting a revelation rebel against the church and withdraw from the church at their own volition.

Senator Hoar: Mr. Smith, the revelations given through you and your predecessors have always been from God?

Mr. Smith: I believe so.

Senator Hoar: Very well. As I understand, those persons who you say reject one of the revelations but still believe in the main principles of the church are at liberty to remain in the church. Do I understand you to say that any revelation coming from God to you is not one of the main principles of the church? Does not the person who rejects it reject the direct authority of God?

Mr. Smith: Yes, sir. No doubt he does.

Senator Hoar: And still he remains a member of the church?

Mr. Smith: Yes, sir.

Senator Hoar: In good standing, if a moral man?

Mr. Smith: Yes, sir.

Senator Hoar: Although disobeying the direct commandment of God?

Mr. Smith: Would you permit me to say a few words?

Senator Hoar: Certainly. We shall be glad to hear you.

Mr. Smith: I should like to say to the honorable gentlemen that the members of the Mormon Church are among the freest and most independent people of all the Christian denominations. They are not all united on every principle. Every man is entitled to his own opinion and his own views and his own conceptions of right and wrong so long as they do not come in conflict with the standard principles of the church. If a man assumes to deny God and to become an infidel we withdraw fellowship from him. If a man commits adultery we withdraw fellowship from him. If men steal or lie or bear false witness against their neighbors or violate the cardinal principles of the Gospel, we withdraw our fellowship. The church withdraws its fellowship from that man and he ceases to be a member of the church. But so long as a man or a woman is honest and virtuous and believes in God and has a little faith in the church organization, so long we nurture and aid that person to continue faithfully as a member of the church, though he may not believe all that is revealed.

I should like to say to you, in point, that a revelation on plural marriage is contained in [the Doctrine and Covenants]. If has been ascertained by actual count that not more than perhaps 3 or 4 per cent of the membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ever entered into that principle. All the rest of the members of the church abstained from that principle and did not enter into it, and many thousands of them never received it or believed it; but they were not cut off from the church. They were not disfellowshipped and they are still members of the church; that is what I wish to say.

Senator Dubois: Did I understand you to say that many thousands of them never believed in the doctrine of plural marriage?

Mr. Smith: Yes, sir –

Senator Dubois: You misunderstand me. I do not undertake to say that they practiced it. I accept your statement on that point. But do you mean to say that any member of the Mormon Church in the past or at the present time says openly that he does not believe in the principle of plural marriages?

Mr. Smith: I know that there are hundreds, of my own knowledge, who say they never did believe in it and never did receive it, and they are members of the church in good-fellowship. Only the other day I heard a man, prominent among us, a man of wealth, too, say that he never had received it and could not see it. I myself heard him say it within the last ten days. (Senate Report of Smoot Hearing Testimony, vol. 1, pgs. 97-98)

Now, a few points of clarification and interpretation. First, the word “unchurched” has fallen somewhat out of use. As used in the transcript above, “unchurched” is a rough synonym for “excommunicated.” The relevant definition from the Oxford English Dictionary is: “Excluded from, deprived of, (the status of) a church.”

Second, Joseph F. Smith makes the now common mistake of claiming that only about 3% of Mormons lived in polygamy at the peak of the practice. Modern historical and demographic research has shown that this statistic is simply incorrect. More reasonable estimates are in the neighborhood of 20% (see, for example, Van Wagoner’s Mormon Polygamy: A History). It is somewhat unclear to me how President Smith derived the 3% figure, but it has become a standard mistake over the last century; President Hinckley has, on occasion, made the same error.

Third, in defining what a person must believe in order to be a Mormon in good standing, Smith uses the phrase “the main principles of the gospel.” This phrase is, on its face, vague enough that it could be made to include about as much or as little as one would like. However, in his subsequent comments, Smith gives this initially vague standard quite precise content. He explains that various behaviors can result in a loss of good standing, but he only really offers two criteria related to belief. An individual must believe in God and have “a little faith” in the church organization. Smith does not see these standards as requiring acceptance of everything the church leadership teaches. In fact, he explicitly states that rejection of the doctrine of plural marriage was a relatively common phenomenon among members in good standing. At the time (1904), plural marriage was a profoundly important part of the church’s teachings for most living members, and certainly for Joseph F. Smith himself. So even people who flatly reject important doctrines taught by church leadership are allowed to remain in full fellowship and good standing.

I find this inclusive view of Mormonism quite attractive–as, it would seem, did Joseph F. Smith.