the doctrine in the late 19th century was Charles W. Penrose, editor of the church-owned Deseret News, who would later become a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency. Blood atonement for murder Prior to the death of Brigham Young, blood atonement doctrine was taught primarily as a means for Mormon "covenant breakers" (usually adulterers and apostates) to pay for their sins, but a full list of sins requiring blood atonement was never given. In at least one instance, Heber C. Kimball suggested that the principle would apply to the sin of murder. After Young's death, blood atonement continued to be taught as a necessary means to pay for the sin of adultery, but blood atonement teachings largely ignored the penalty for apostates and lesser "covenant breakers", and focused primarily on the sin of murder, emphasizing that it was intended to be operative only within the context of legal capital punishment. According to Penrose, "Murder is a 'sin unto death,' which prayers and repentance and ordinances will not wash away". Therefore, "the only valid offering that the criminal can make is his own life's blood poured out upon the ground in willing expiation." That is why, Penrose said, the Utah Territory gave convicted murderers a choice between hanging and shooting (id.) As Mormon thinkers recognized, application of the blood atonement doctrine to the sin of murder seemingly created some difficulties. The Book of Mormon states that murderers can receive forgiveness by repentance. Nevertheless, a passage in the Doctrine and Covenants says that murder is unpardonable. Attempting to resolve this seeming conflict in a Deseret News article on July 4, 1883, Apostle Charles W. Penrose taught that in some cases such as murder done in anger or provocation, murder might be forgiven, but only after the guilty party atones for the murder by the shedding of blood. Repudiation of allegations of the practice by the LDS church in 1889 The practice of “blood atonement” was formally denied and repudiated by the church in a statement issued in 1889: MANIFESTO OF THE PRESIDENCY AND APOSTLES "SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 12th, 1889. To Whom It May Concern: In consequence of gross misrepresentations of the doctrines, aims and practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly called the 'Mormon' church, which have been promulgated for years, and have recently been revived for political purposes and to