5 Elder Marlin K. Jensen
Elder Jenson on Losing Members
Elder Marlin K. Jensen's response:
Maybe since Kirtland, we've never had a period of – I'll call it apostasy, like we're having now; largely over these issues...
CES Letter, Introduction (cont.)
Shortly after Elder Jensen's comments on the issue of apostasy in the modern Church over historical issues, the Washington Post reported:
Jensen insists critics overstate the LDS exodus over the church’s history. "To say we are experiencing some Titanic-like wave of apostasy is inaccurate."
The article also reports:
The church "has made no effort to hide or obscure its history," Jensen said, but some aspects — such as polygamy — "haven’t been emphasized often because they were not necessarily germane to what is taught at present."
Hostile authors love to quote Elder Jensen about the alleged widespread apostasy in the Church today without mentioning his follow-up comments. Although convenient in furthering his narrative (i.e. that the Church is suffering from mass apostasy because it tried to cover up its past), it is unfortunate that the author of The CES Letter chose to ignore these clarifying remarks by Elder Jensen.