LDS Church Releases Statement On Persistent Doomsday Rumors

By
Gephardt Daily Staff
-
Moroni Blood Moon
Photo Illustration: Gephardt Daily

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Sept. 25, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is formally addressing rumors among its faithful that the end of world is near.

The rumor is tied in part to a rare celestial occurrence known as a blood moon. It takes place when a lunar eclipse happens at the time the moon is closest to Earth. That phase is called a “super moon.” There won’t be another until 2033.

Fears are also being stirred by the work of Mormon author, Julie Rowe. Rowe’s two books, “A Greater Tomorrow: My Journey Beyond The Veil” and “The Time Is Now,” deal with Rowe’s alleged near-death experiences and her purported view of an apocalyptic future, which includes a nuclear attack on Israel.

Speculation of the impeding doomsday has proven so disturbing among some Mormons the LDS Church issued an official statement to members of the media through spokesperson Eric Hawkins designed to calm its followers’ fears.

“The Church encourages our members to be spiritually and physically prepared for life’s ups and downs. For many decades, Church leaders have counseled members that, where possible, they should gradually build a supply of food, water and financial resources to ensure they are self-reliant during disasters and the normal hardships that are part of life, including illness, injury or unemployment. 

“This teaching to be self-reliant has been accompanied by the counsel of Church leaders to avoid being caught up in extreme efforts to anticipate catastrophic events. 

“The writings and speculations of individual Church members, some of which have gained currency recently, should be considered as personal accounts or positions that do not reflect Church doctrine.”

The LDS Church’s announcement comes on the heels of an advisory statement made by the Church earlier this month telling members in their seminaries and religious institutes to be wary of assertions made in Julie Rowe’s books.

For NASA’s official explanation of what a “supermoon” is, please click on the video below.

47 COMMENTS

  6. For representing person who checks the facts and recess truth, I find this article a bit lacking.
    I have read that letter and it does not tell church educators to be wary of Julie Rowe. It is a reminder to the CES teachers that they are to teach from church doctrine and not from anything else.
    When teaching classes like that, they are not to be teaching personal revelation of members- it’s doctrinally driven education, so stick to that.
    As far as official church statement goes- a call in and asking an employee something does not reflect an official church statement.
    Does this mean I KNOW it isn’t official? No. I’m just saying that it hasn’t been distributed officially so I don’t know if using the terms “official statement” is appropriate and not a bit misleading.

  7. source please? I spent all morning trying to verify this statement attributed to the church, yet can find nothing through official church channels

  8. Here is the “advisory statement” from a few weeks ago I found it by google searching “Spurious material” :
    Publication Caution: A Greater Tomorrow: My Journey Beyond the Veil
    Additional Information: [August 31, 2015] In 2014, Spring Creek Book Company published A Greater Tomorrow: My Journey Beyond the Veil by Julie Rowe (see shaded box for Amazon’s description of the book). Although Sister Rowe is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, her book is not endorsed by the Church and should not be recommended to students or used as a resource in teaching them. The experiences she shares are her own personal experiences and do not necessarily reflect Church doctrine or they may distort Church doctrine.
    And here is Julie Rowe’s reply:“I agree that the Curriculum for LDS Church classes should only come from sources recognized by the LDS Church as being authoritative. My story is not intended to be authoritative nor to create any Church doctrine. It is simply part of my personal journey that I have chosen to share in hopes that it can help people to prepare for the times we live in by increasing their faith in Christ and by looking to our Prophet and Church leaders for guidance.”
    — Julie Rowe
    Here is my reply:The above caution is a letter for Seminary and Institute teacher’s eyes only. Note it cautions teachers to not recommend the book to students or to teach it as doctrine (apparently that must have happened). This news article says that this “earlier advisory statement” was “telling members in their educational networks be wary of assertions made in Julie Rowe’s books.” Realy? I think it said be wary of teaching it as church doctrine in class and recommending it to students (as a CES Employee) not be wary of her assertions made in her book. When you read a headline in the news it usually sounds extreme for a reason (to get you to read it) but it is the interpretation of the writer and sometimes does not reflect the true intent. I have not been able to find Eric Hawkins entire statement so would also like to see that. But if you remove the sensational biased reporting of the Gephardt staff (C’mon, this is supposed to be Gephardt quality!), what I have read and heard Julie Rowe say would agree with Eric Hawkin’s statement. This article seems intent on maligning anyone who has had anything to do with blood moons or author Julie Rowe. It makes it sound like little mindless sheep are so “disturbed” that they need to have their “fears” calmed by a letter from Eric Hawkins or the LDS Church. That feels a bit “off”. There is a formula for vetting truth: Moroni 10:3-5. It’s real, it works. I have applied it and can only speak for myself. Julie Rowe is cool, The signs in the heavens (there is a lot more than blood moons) are doing some pretty amazing things, world events are crazy as usual, and all of it has me saying “hmmm…I might want to follow up on all those ideas(impressions) I have had to “get ‘er done” in regards to preparing spiritually and temporally.” The timing really doesn’t matter.

    • VERY well put, thank you! Humans have a way of distorting what they hear by word-of-mouth. That’s the game of “Gossip” for you: one person says something, then by the time it has been passed around, it does not resemble the original statement. Thank you for clarifying.

    • Belinda, I think you are spot on. Anyone who has read Julie Rowe’s books can attest that she states over and over that the events and oppinions in her book are not church doctrine and suggests that we seek personal wisdom and to follow the prophets. I think the blood moons are cool and I studied them and shared them with my family. I don’t know a single LDS person or family (including ours) that expected the world to end on Monday. I relate articles like this to the events of Zarahemla. I fully expect the media and anti’s in general to continue to sensationalize anything they can to make faithful members look like mindless followers. As for me and my house, we will continue to prepare ourselves for the difficult times ahead and do so without fear.

  11. Just because one lds member says so doesn’t mean that all Mormons agree, if it were a big deal I’m pretty sure the prophet would have said it first. ??

  12. Just so everyone on here reading this knows. If they paid attention. The late Pre. Hickley gave a talk in which he said that’s the revelation of the blood moon has already came to pass. So it already happened people. Why are you freaking out now. His talk was just over 10 years ago. Come on. Do a tiny bit of research of better yet. Pray about it.

  13. Sorry but the writer of this article is twisting up church instructions given to seminary and institute only! For your own excitement, notoriety, profit, and gain. You are stirring things up & the church Never asked you to do that!!!!!

    • That announcement/release is actually a different one than the release referenced in this article. The Church released a statement to CES employees on August 31 and this press release was September 26. The CES one was much more specific about Rowe’s books. However, the article is a bit skewed (ok totally skewed) one way.

  14. Why are so many people defending Rowe? Sure she’s entitled to her opinion but can’t her defenders see how extremist her storytelling is? God doesn’t teach through fear or panic.

    • They have. You must now have not read her books. She quotes many prophets who have been saying the same things for years. Julie is not the only one having these experiences…thousands of people share their experiences with her. I know…I am her Mother! :)

      • Janeen, do not fear, many of us highly respect your daughter and have benefited greatly from her putting herself out there to share her very personal experiences beyond the veil. I believe she saw what she said she saw. Why on earth would she lie about it, for heaven’s sake. She has inspired me greatly to get prepared way better than I already was. I am so grateful to have been woken up from my preparedness lethargy. Because of her story, and others like hers, I am so much more aware of the prophetic warnings of the latter days. I’m not sure what this blog is trying to accomplish – to convince me not to prepare every needful thing? I don’t get the naysayers. I don’t get the negativity behind it all, it’s just strange to me. Thank you for raising such a beautiful and caring daughter. It’s touching how you are here to defend her.

    • REALLY? Have your read her books? This is NOT story telling. She has for YEARS been blessed with a gift to warn and reaffirm what the prophets have been teaching for generations. She goes into great detail in her books quoting these prophets. There are hundreds of people who tell her daily of THEIR same experiences…they are all another voice of warning. I know Julie Rowe better than anyone…I am her Mother :)

  15. The bible says no one knows the time nor the hour, we have been living in the last days for a while now and still are. Read the bible, it will tell you everything about the signs of the end of the age.

  16. I have read BOTH OF Julie Rowe ‘ s books twice, she constantly says that the contents of her book are her experiences and that she has NO authority over anyone other than her OWN family. She also says that if you have questions about what measures you should take for your family that you should ask heavenly father in prayer for inspiration for your own family. Furthermore she cautions against going into debt to prepare and only doing what you can without causing financial problems. I can see how people can take it to the extreme, BUT she warns against doing so. Julie constantly reinforces listening to the church leaders and following their council above all else. They cannot/will not lead us astray. They are the Lord’s mouthpiece here on earth.

  17. Yes, it is only her experience. She is not a prophetess, therefore, we shouldn’t be in a state of panic because of her experience. However….thousand of people are. They are spending more money than they should on preparedness items, and it is all based on fear. They show a true lack of faith. I know this. My husband took out his 401K, leaving THOUSANDS on the table because “the government will only take some of it, but I won’t let them take all of it”, and spent every single penny of it on tents, freeze dried food, guns, ammo, fuel systems, etc. If fact, he is currently hiding out in the mountains waiting to prove to all of us that he is prepared. Left his family, yep. Because he couldn’t stay off the internet reading sites like AVOW and reading books about ‘The End’. It all made him crazy…he claimed he was ‘following what the Prophet was asking us to do”. So, take it from me. . . just live the Gospel. Love others. Seek peace. Learn of the Savior and try to be like Him. Yes, prepare by all means, but live with faith. Faith that the leaders of the church are guided and inspired and will not lead us astray. That’s it. Simple. No need to extend to outside sources for answers. Educate yourself and rely on the Savior and Holy Ghost.

  19. Julie Rowe is another voice of warning…she hears daily from hundreds of people who have similar experiences and dreams. I know Julie better than anyone. I am blessed to be her Mother. :)

  20. I guess I could see being afraid of a “blood moon” if it were several millennia ago, when natural phenomena were more easily ascribed to the omnipotent beings and omens. Back then it made some sort of sense.

    But it’s 2015, people. We understand what creates a “blood moon.” Leave your weird little prophetess behind, stop pretending that this stone age nonsense about the gods being angry because the sun reflected off of the moon in a particular way means anything, and prepare for emergencies like ordinary people do without going nuts about it. The blood moon happened a few decades ago, it’ll happen again in a few decades, and no amount of cowering under the sky and wondering which gods you’ve displeased will change the fact that Julie Rowe’s whole “prophetess” schtick is about selling books.

  21. OK Femur, I get it–you don’t believe in God. Members of the Church who prepare and those who don’t, do believe in God, or they are presumed to. What brings you here? What difference does it make which phenomenon a scripture describes as being prophetic, symbollic, or comprising some divine meaning? You don’t believe in God regardless, so what?

    To others in the faith, I say:
    Julie had an NDE–at least she said she did, and some people believe her. I happen to be one of them. Thanks to all this media attention her name is spreading to other countries as well. Now many who aren’t even members of the LDS faith will have their curiosity piqued. Hopefully they will be inspired to do some pondering and praying on their own. (I guess there is no such thing as bad publicity.) I know that Julie has already pulled back from public appearances, but this exploding interest in her that seems to be going viral is not going to die down. It will irk the living daylights out of LDS members who very much want to be perceived as mainstream, and will make life increasingly uncomfortable for those who are going about their lives preparing and who have made it known to friends that they have read and appreciated the books Julie Rowe wrote. The Church leadership has not black listed Julie to my knowledge, but the many reactions from church members have done essentially that. The word “spurious” being used in context with her name is enough to scare off many people, except for the members who have had their own confirmations of the Spirit, and who are not about to be part of the counter stampede away from Julie. All in all, this is a good thing, I believe. It is a polarization, true, and polarizations don’t feel great at all. Especially in and among the LDS membership, but this isn’t the only polarization we have undergone and it won’t be the last. We have to find out who we are and what we truly believe. We are entering that time long foretold when none of us will be able to stand on borrowed light, because the membership themselves will be so at odds with one another that that won’t even be a possibility.

  22. I have read Julie’s last book and also studied various of her radio interviews. I find them very consistent with the scriptures and modern day prophetic teachings. If you will read Judges 4 and Acts 21, you will find that women can have spiritual gifts and share them in concern for others. We live in a time when spiritual gifts and experiences are being poured out upon the earth as prophesied in all of the scriptures. These types of experiences are only going to increase as the Lord prepares us for the Second Coming. It’s all foretold in the scriptures. I hope that I am part of these increased spiritual phenomenon and that we can increase in spirituality so that we can stand in his presence when he comes.

  23. I’m not going to comment about Sister Rowe and her experience nor am I going to argue the string of comments. I died March 15, 2015 in the Meridian, Idaho St. Luke’s ER. I was dead 25 minutes three days later I died a second time being gone for around 8 minutes. I was given the option to stay or to come back to mortality. The experience was amazing and there is no language that can truely give justice to where I went. Our word love is inferior to what I felt. I can honestly tell you God lives, Jesus is the Christ, at this point Thomas Spencer Monson is the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator for this earth and the only one holding those keys with the authority to exercise them. My experience was for me, not to come back and pimp all of it to the world. I have been asked to publish my story and will not, l will speak freely when asked. I have copies of the medical records from my entrance in the ER to the day I was released 10 days later.

    David Behunin

  25. What is all the commotion about with this? Oh my word, this is so lame, seriously! The moon turns red, the people think they know what it is because Revelations says so, and then we all go crazy working ourselves into a frenzy! C’mon Mormons of little faith, let’s just try and be a little more ‘sure’ about our faith and know that God is in control of everything and just take care of the small daily ‘evils’ at hand! ‘Simplify’ in the midst of the intricate and complicated quilt patterns of life! Oh boy, this is so lame!

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