Why Mormon Doctrine IS NOT Mormon Doctrine

Many people within the Church and outside the Church think that Bruce R. McConkie's book, Mormon Doctrine, is the official declaration of the LDS Church doctrine. Here are several reasons why Mormon Doctrine is NOT Mormon Doctrine:

1. Mormon Doctrine was written when Brother McConkie was a member of the First Counsel of the Seventy (1946-1972), not when he was an member of the Quorum of the 12.
2. The Prophet is the only individual who could put forth official doctrine of the Church (D&C 28:1) which makes Bruce R. McConkie's book in violation of D&C 28:1-3.
3. Given that the Prophet is the only individual who can set forth the official doctrines of the Church, Bruce R. McConkie's book is in violation of Doctrine and Covenants 19:31 because all other individuals in the Church, except the Prophet, are in no position to declare what the "tenets" of the Church are but are allowed to simply declare "repentance and faith on the Savior, and remission of sins by baptism, and by fire, yea , even the Holy Ghost."
4. He did not submit it to the Church's Reading Council before publishing it.
5. The Prophet, David O McKay objected to the fact that the book implied it was the official representation of official Church Doctrine.
6. Two senior apostles, Mark E. Peterson and Marion G. Romney, at the request of David O. McKay, reviewed Mormon Doctrine and found that the first edition had 1,067 "corrections" that needed to be made.
7. David O. McKay insisted that the book never be republished not even in corrected form.
8. David O. McKay insisted that the book not be recognized as an authoritative source of Mormon Doctrine and that Bruce R. McConkie take full responsibility for his book.
9. The book itself has the presumptuous title of Mormon Doctrine when the book really should have been called "Doctrine according to Bruce R. McConkie."
10. Despite the fact that David O. McKay declared the book not be republished, Bruce R. McConkie published it anyway six years later when the Prophet was in poor health.
11. If you look at subsequent editions of Mormon Doctrine, it now has the standard disclaimer that the book does not represent the official position on the doctrines of the LDS Church.

Despite the many reasons why the book is not an official declaration of Church doctrine, it still gets cited and quoted in General Conference and Church talks, lessons and articles. Thus, while the book does not represent the official statement of Church beliefs, such actions of using it in official Church meetings by General Authorities and members gives the book undeserved legitimacy and authority.

It is no wonder that opponents of the LDS Church attack the Church by citing from Mormon Doctrine. We deny the near canonical status of the book, yet, the book sales and use of it in Church tells the critics of the Church otherwise. 

UPDATE: The LDS Church announced that it would stop publishing Mormon Doctrine in May of 2010 and explained that it was due to low sales of the book even though it is still a wildly popular book. As a result of discontinuing the publication of this book, the LDS Church has also removed references to McConkie’s book in the new Gospel Principles manual that was reissued in that year for use in Priesthood and Relief Society classes. Given that much of the Bible Dictionary in our current editions of the LDS scriptures comes directly from Mormon Doctrine, will the LDS Church be coming out with a new edition of the Book of Mormon in which we will get a new Bible Dictionary that is free of material taken from Mormon Doctrine?