View source for Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mormonism Unmasked/Chapter 3

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{{Resource Title|Response to claims made in "Chapter 3: The Making of a Religion"}}
{{FAIRAnalysisHeader
|title=[[../../|Mormonism Unmasked]]
|author=R. Philip Roberts
|noauthor=
|section=[[../../Index/|Index of claims]]: Chapter 3|Chapter 3: The Making of a Religion
|previous=[[../Chapter 2|Chapter 2: The Marketing of an Image]]
|next=[[../Chapter 4|Chapter 4: Polytheism Reborn]]
|notes={{AuthorsDisclaimer}}
}}

==Response to claim: 27 - Joseph Smith: "I have more to boast of than ever any man had"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=A quote from Joseph Smith is provided:
<blockquote>
I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet.
</blockquote>
|authorsources=History of the Church
}}
{{:Question: Was Joseph Smith prone to boasting?}}

==Response to claim: 28 - “During this time, Joseph and his father became increasingly engaged in folk magic, using magical seer stones and divining rods to look for buried treasure and lost items”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author states, “During this time, Joseph and his father became increasingly engaged in folk magic, using magical seer stones and divining rods to look for buried treasure and lost items.”
|authorsources=Fawn M. Brodie, ‘’No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet’’ (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1971), 6-33. See also Jerald and Sandra Tanner, ‘’Mormonism-Shadow and Reality?’’ (Salt Lake City: Utah Lighthouse Ministry, 1987) 32-49.
}}
{{SummaryItem
|link=Joseph Smith/Occultism and magic
|subject=Practitioner of occultism and magic?
|summary=It is claimed that Joseph Smith's spiritual experiences began as products of "magic," the "occult," or "treasure seeking," and that only later did Joseph describe his experiences in Christian, religious terms: speaking of God, angels, and prophethood. Joseph Smith and his followers undoubtedly believed in supernatural power. And, they may have had some ideas about how to access that power that now strike us as inaccurate and even strange. This is not surprising, given the two centuries and massive scientific advances which separate our culture from theirs. However, there is no evidence that Joseph and others considered these things to be "magic," or the "occult," nor did they consider "magic" or the "occult" to be positive things.
}}

==Response to claim: 28 - “Due to a tremendous revival in his neighborhood in 1820, Joseph Smith became concerned about which church he should join”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author states, “Due to a tremendous revival in his neighborhood in 1820, Joseph Smith became concerned about which church he should join.”
|authorsources=Not provided
|response=
*Joseph said that there was an excitement on the subject of religion. He never mentioned the word “revival.” Nevertheless, there is ample evidence of such religious excitement in the Palmyra area in 1820.
}}
{{:Question: When did the Methodists acquire property near Palmyra to hold their camp meetings?}}

==Response to claim: 29 - The author claims that Joseph “did not publish his accont of his first vision until 1842”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author claims that Joseph “did not publish his accont of his first vision until 1842.”
|authorsources=Not provided
|response=
*Joseph wrote the first known account of his vision in his own hand in 1832.
*Joseph’s journal indicates that he was sharing details of his first vision with non-Mormon visitors by late 1835.
}}
{{SummaryItem
|link=Joseph Smith's First Vision/No mention in non-LDS literature before 1843
|subject=No mention in non-LDS literature before 1843?|summary=There is no mention of the First Vision in non-Mormon literature before 1843. If the First Vision story had been known by the public before 1840 (when Orson Pratt published his pamphlet) the anti-Mormons “surely” would have seized upon it as an evidence of Joseph Smith’s imposture.
}}

==Response to claim: 30- The author claims that “the revival that Smith described…did not happen until 1824-25, not in the year 1820”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author claims that “the revival that Smith described…did not happen until 1824-25, not in the year 1820.”
|authorsources=Not provided.
}}
{{misinformation|Joseph never claimed that the “excitement” on the subject of religion was a revival. There is evidence of substantial religious activity in the area during 1820.
}}
{{:Question: Did Lucy Mack Smith state when she joined the Presbyterians?}}

== ==
{{ChurchResponseBar
|summary=Critics have also claimed that there were no religious revivals in the Palmyra, New York, area in 1820, as Joseph Smith reported in his history. With today’s greater access to original sources, including the Palmyra Register newspaper, there is ample evidence of religious revivals in the area during 1820 and some years prior. It appears that the Methodists had a regularly used camp meeting ground, and that revivals were common enough that often they garnered no coverage in the newspapers unless something out of the ordinary occurred such as a death. (Footnote 12)
|author=Elder D. Todd Christofferson
|title=The Prophet Joseph Smith
|publication=Brigham Young University-Idaho Devotional
|date=24 September 2013
|link=http://www2.byui.edu/Presentations/Transcripts/Devotionals/2013_9_24_Christofferson.htm
}}

==Response to claim: 30 - The author states that “as of 1820, Joseph Smith was teaching that the Father and the Son both had physical bodies”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author states that “as of 1820, Joseph Smith was teaching that the Father and the Son both had physical bodies...”
|authorsources=Not provided.
}}
{{disinformation|Joseph Smith wasn’t teaching anything in 1820. He wasn’t teaching anything until the Book of Mormon was translated and published in 1830, ten years later.}}

==Response to claim: 30 - The author states that the “early documents of Mormonism show that during the 1820s and early 1830s, Smith was teaching there was only one God”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author states that the “early documents of Mormonism show that during the 1820s and early 1830s, Smith was teaching there was only one God.”
|authorsources=Not provided.
}}
{{misinformation}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph began his prophetic career with a "trinitarian" idea of God?}}

==Response to claim: 30 - Joseph Smith’s “plural god doctrine was not put forward until the 1840s in Nauvoo, Illinois”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author claims that Joseph Smith’s “plural god doctrine was not put forward until the 1840s in Nauvoo, Illinois.”
|authorsources=Doctrine and Covenants (Kirtland, Ohio: F.G. Williams & Co., 1835), 52-58. See also Tanner, ‘’Mormonism-Shadow or Reality?’’ 143-62.
}}
{{misinformation|The Book of Mormon, published in 1830, has many passages which distinguish between God the Father and his son Jesus Christ (just as the Bible does). However, the author here appears to be referring to "gods" other than the Father and the Son. This refers to the King Follett discourse, in which Joseph talked about the nature of God and the existence of other gods.
}}
== ==
{{ChurchResponseBar
|link=http://www.lds.org/ensign/1971/04/the-king-follett-sermon
|title=The King Follett Sermon 
|publication=Ensign (This reprint was taken from the Documentary History of the Church, vol. 6, pages 302–17)
|author=Joseph Smith, Jr.
|date=May 1971
|summary=In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted [prepared] a plan to create the world and people it. When we begin to learn this way, we begin to learn the only true God, and what kind of a being we have got to worship. Having a knowledge of God, we begin to know how to approach Him, and how to ask so as to receive an answer.
}}

==Response to claim: 30 - In Joseph’s 1832 First Vision account, he said he was fifteen when “the Lord” appeared to him====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=In Joseph’s 1832 First Vision account, he said he was fifteen when “the Lord” appeared to him. Not only is his age different, but he described only one being, as opposed to the ‘two personages’ he had previously accounted for, in the vision.”
|authorsources=Joseph Smith’s 1832 history
}}
{{:Question: Why does Joseph Smith state in his 1832 First Vision account that he was in his "16th year" of age?}}

== ==
{{ChurchResponseBar
|link=http://www.lds.org/topics/first-vision-accounts?lang=eng
|title=First Vision Accounts
|publication=Gospel Topics, located on lds.org. 
|summary=The various accounts of the First Vision tell a consistent story, though naturally they differ in emphasis and detail. Historians expect that when an individual retells an experience in multiple settings to different audiences over many years, each account will emphasize various aspects of the experience and contain unique details. Indeed, differences similar to those in the First Vision accounts exist in the multiple scriptural accounts of Paul’s vision on the road to Damascus and the Apostles’ experience on the Mount of Transfiguration.3 Yet despite the differences, a basic consistency remains across all the accounts of the First Vision. Some have mistakenly argued that any variation in the retelling of the story is evidence of fabrication. To the contrary, the rich historical record enables us to learn more about this remarkable event than we could if it were less well documented.
}}

==Response to claim: 30 - In his 1835 First Vision account, Joseph stated the he saw “many angels”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=In his 1835 First Vision account, Joseph stated the he saw “many angels.”
|authorsources=The author's source is assumed to be one of Joseph’s two 1835 journal entries which mention the First Vision. This particular instance would correlate with the 9 November 1835 journal entry.
|response=
}}
{{information}}
{{:Question: What are the two 1835 First Vision accounts that refer to angels?}}
{{:Question: Why does Joseph Smith's 9 November 1835 account of the First Vision mention "many angels?"}}

==Response to claim: 30 - in the 1832 account, Joseph “mentioned that he had already concluded that all churches were in apostasy before he went into the woods to pray==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author states that in the 1832 account, Joseph “mentioned that he had already concluded that all churches were in apostasy before he went into the woods to pray, while the official account of 1842 states that he had not concluded this until God so informed him in the vision.”
|authorsources=Joseph Smith’s 1832 history and Joseph Smith-History in the Pearl of Great Price.
}}
{{information}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith decide that all churches were wrong before he received the First Vision?}}
{{:Question: How could Joseph Smith come to the conclusion that all churches were wrong on his own?}}

==Response to claim: 30 - the “earliest publication to print a ‘full history’ of the rise of Mormonism, the ‘’Messenger and Advocate’’, failed to mention Smith’s vision in 1820==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author states that the “earliest publication to print a ‘full history’ of the rise of Mormonism, the ‘’Messenger and Advocate’’, failed to mention Smith’s vision in 1820, starting instead with the angel appearing in Smith’s bedroom in 1823.”
|authorsources=Tanner, ‘’Mormonism-Shadow or Reality?’’ 151-52.
}}
{{misinformation|This refers to Oliver Cowdery’s history published in the ‘’Messenger and Advocate” in 1834 and 1835. Oliver begins describing the religious excitement leading up to the First Vision when Joseph was 14 years old. Eight weeks later in the next installment, Oliver states that he made a mistake, changes Joseph’s age to 17, then describes Moroni’s visit without mentioning the First Vision.
}}
== ==
{{InterpreterBar
|link=http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/the-cowdery-conundrum-olivers-aborted-attempt-to-describe-joseph-smiths-first-vision-in-1834-and-1835/
|author=Roger Nicholson
|authorlink=http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/author/rogern/
|title=The Cowdery Conundrum: Oliver’s Aborted Attempt to Describe Joseph Smith’s First Vision in 1834 and 1835
|vol=8
|start=27
|end=44
|date=December 6, 2013
|summary=In 1834, Oliver Cowdery began publishing a history of the Church in installments in the pages of the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. The first installment talks of the religious excitement and events that ultimately led to Joseph Smith’s First Vision at age 14. However, in the subsequent installment published two months later, Oliver claims that he made a mistake, correcting Joseph’s age from 14 to 17 and failing to make any direct mention of the First Vision. Oliver instead tells the story of Moroni’s visit, thus making it appear that the religious excitement led to Moroni’s visit.<br><br>
This curious account has been misunderstood by some to be evidence that the “first” vision that Joseph claimed was actually that of the angel Moroni and that Joseph invented the story of the First Vision of the Father and Son at a later time. However, Joseph wrote an account of his First Vision in 1832 in which he stated that he saw the Lord, and there is substantial evidence that Oliver had this document in his possession at the time that he wrote his history of the Church. This essay demonstrates the correlations between Joseph Smith’s 1832 First Vision account, Oliver’s 1834/1835 account, and Joseph’s 1835 journal entry on the same subject. It is clear that not only did Oliver have Joseph’s history in his possession but that he used Joseph’s 1832 account as a basis for his own account. This essay also shows that Oliver knew of the First Vision and attempted to obliquely refer to the event several times in his second installment before continuing with his narrative of Moroni’s visit.
}}

==Response to claim: 31 - Joseph Smith “engaged in folk magic and was occasionally hired to use his magical stone"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author states that Joseph Smith “engaged in folk magic and was occasionally hired to use his magical stone-found in a neighbor’s (Mr. Chase) well-to find buried treasures and lost objects. Since the Lord had so specifically instructed the nation of Israel not to engage in any magical practice, it is hard to believe that God would choose a magician to restore his church.
|authorsources=Leviticus 19:26; 20:6, 27; Deuteronomy 18:10; Isaiah 19:3.
}}
{{propaganda|Joseph Smith was not a “magician.”
}}
{{:Question: Was a "vagabond fortune-teller" named Walters Joseph Smith's "mentor"?}}

== ==
{{PerspectivesBar
|link=http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/fair-conferences/2006-fair-conference/2006-revised-or-unaltered-joseph-smiths-foundational-stories
|title=Revised or Unaltered? Joseph Smith’s Foundational Stories
|author=Matthew B. Brown
|authorlink=http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/authors/brown-matthew
|publication=Proceedings of the 2006 FAIR Conference
|date=August 2006
|summary=Abner Cole wanted to mock the Book of Mormon in his newspaper (The Reflector). He was most probably motivated to do this because he had violated copyright law by printing portions of the Book of Mormon in his paper and the Prophet Joseph Smith forced him to stop his illegal activity. Cole’s mockery text was called the “Book of Pukei.” In this peculiar literary production the editor took many authentic elements of the story of the Book of Mormon’s origin and mixed them together with elements of speculation that had been floating around the community. Cole utilized the dialogue of one of the characters in his mockery text to call Joseph Smith an ignoramus, a criminal, and a servant of Satan. It is in this text that Joseph Smith is first connected with a man from Great Sodus Bay, New York, called “Walters the Magician” (probably Luman Walter).
}}

==Response to claim: 31 - The author notes that in 1826 Joseph was charged with being a “disorderly person” and “glass looker”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author notes that in 1826 Joseph was charged with being a “disorderly person” and “glass looker.” The author states that “glass looker” means “crystal ball user.”
|authorsources=Tanner, ‘’Mormonism-Shadow or Reality?’’ 32-49.
}}
{{information}}
{{:Question: What is Joseph Smith's 1826 South Bainbridge "trial" for "glasslooking"?}}

==Response to claim: 31 - “Did he use the Urim and Thummim, prepared by God and stored with the plates, to translate the record, or did he use the chocolate-colored stone found in Mr. Chase’s well?”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=Regarding the Book of Mormon translation, the author asks, “Did he use the Urim and Thummim, prepared by God and stored with the plates, to translate the record, or did he use the chocolate-colored stone found in Mr. Chase’s well?”
|authorsources=
Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery, ‘’Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Prophet’s Wife, “Elect Lady,” Polygamy’s Foe 1804-1879’’(Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1984); David Whitmer, ‘’An Address to All Belivers in Christ’’ (Richmond, Mo.: David Whitmer, 1887), 12.
}}
{{misinformation|Joseph used both instruments (the Nephite interpreters and the seer stone) during the translation.
}}

== ==
{{ChurchResponseBar
|link=http://www.lds.org/topics/book-of-mormon-translation?lang=eng
|title=Book of Mormon Translation
|publication=Gospel Topics (lds.org)
|date=2013
|summary=These two instruments—the interpreters and the seer stone—were apparently interchangeable and worked in much the same way such that, in the course of time, Joseph Smith and his associates often used the term “Urim and Thummim” to refer to the single stone as well as the interpreters. In ancient times, Israelite priests used the Urim and Thummim to assist in receiving divine communications. Although commentators differ on the nature of the instrument, several ancient sources state that the instrument involved stones that lit up or were divinely illumin[at]ed. Latter-day Saints later understood the term “Urim and Thummim” to refer exclusively to the interpreters. Joseph Smith and others, however, seem to have understood the term more as a descriptive category of instruments for obtaining divine revelations and less as the name of a specific instrument.
}}

==Response to claim: 32 - The author claims that Joseph attempted to “join the Methodist Church in 1828, eight years after the Father and Son allegedly told him that all the churches were apostate==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author claims that Joseph attempted to “join the Methodist Church in 1828, eight years after the Father and Son allegedly told him that all the churches were apostate….Why did he ignore God’s command to ‘join none of them’?”
|authorsources=Michael Marquardt and Wesley P. Walters, ‘’Inventing Mormonism: Tradition and the Historical Record’’ (Salt Lake City: Smith Research Associates, 1994), 55, 61, n. 49
}}
{{misinformation|Nobody who has charged Joseph Smith with joining a church between 1820 and 1830 has ever produced any authentic denominational membership record that would substantiate such a claim.
}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith join the Methodist, Presbyterian, or Baptist churches between 1820 and 1830 despite the claim made in his 1838 history that he was forbidden by Deity from joining any denomination?}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith become a member of the Methodist Church while he was translating the Book of Mormon?}}
{{:Questions: Are there contemporary witnesses that confirm that Joseph Smith didn't join any church after the First Vision?}}

<!-- ====32====
{{IndexClaim
|claim=The author states that “Mormons claim that the early Christian church contained all the same teachings the LDS embrace today.”
|authorsources=Not provided.
|response=
}} -->

==Response to claim: 33 - “the LDS concept of a total apostasy contradicts Christ’s promise that ‘I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author states that “the LDS concept of a total apostasy contradicts Christ’s promise that ‘I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
|authorsources=Matthew 16:18
|response=
}}
{{misinformation|
This is a misunderstanding the original Greek text.  In this case, "hell" is not a reference to the powers or evil, or Satan.
The word translated as "hell" in the KJV is actually ''Hades'', the dwelling place of all departed spirits. For the gates of Hades to not prevail against the church could mean that the gates would not be able to stop the church from entering therein. (By comparison, in ''The Gospel of Nicodemus'' the "gates" mentioned in Psalm 24 refer to the gates of Hades and the attempt made there to keep out Jesus in the period between his death and resurrection.  [See ''The Gospel of Nicodemus'', Part II, 6 in ANF 8:436-437.])  In other words, Christ’s Church, his disciples, would preach the gospel not only among the living, but also among the dead—not even the gates of Hades could keep them out.   

Another interpretation is that "prevail" has reference to keeping inhabitants inside. In this thought, gates could only prevail against something that is already inside of them and not external to them. This interpretation would be that Christ was saying that His Church would soon be inside the gates of the spirit world alone because of apostasy on earth, but that the Church would later come out from the world of the dead and back to earth&mdash;that His Church would shortly be confined to the spirit world, held back by its gates, but that later, members of Christ's Ancient Church (such as Peter, James, and John) would come, by revelation, out from behind the gates of Hades to restore the gospel to the earth.

Both of the above readings are distinct possibilities. Both reconcile all the Biblical data.
}}
{{:Question: Does the fact that Jesus said, "upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" mean that universal apostasy was impossible?}}

==Response to claim: 33 - the Book of Hebrews “explains that the Aaronic priesthood was brought to an end with the death of Christ and that Christ is our only eternal High Priest ‘after the order of Melchizedek’”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author states that the Book of Hebrews “explains that the Aaronic priesthood was brought to an end with the death of Christ and that Christ is our only eternal High Priest ‘after the order of Melchizedek.’”
|authorsources=Hebrews 3:1; 4:14-16; 5:1-9; 6:20; 7:11-28.
|response=
}}
{{misinformation|
Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles illustrated the doctrine clearly:
<blockquote>
Since all priesthood is Melchizedek, the Aaronic Priesthood being a portion of it, one does not lose the Aaronic Priesthood when he is ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood [...]
</blockquote>
The Church uses the Aaronic priesthood as a "preparatory" priesthood, but has no disagreement with the idea that the Melchizedek priesthood contains greater power and authority, and is vital to the government of the Church of Christ.
It should be noted that all priesthood was not equivalent in the New Testament Church either.  For example, many members had been baptized with water (an ordinance of the Aaronic priesthood) but had not yet received the Holy Ghost until one of the apostles laid hands upon them (a Melchizedek priesthood function).  (See [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/acts/8/15-19#15 Acts 8:15&ndash;19], [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/acts/19/2-6#2 Acts 19:2&ndash;6]).
}}
{{:Question: Why do Mormons use the Aaronic Priesthood, since Hebrews 7 states that the Aaronic/Levitical Priesthood was "changed" to the unique priesthood "after the order of Melchizedek" held by Jesus Christ?}}

==Response to claim: 33 - the Church was originally named “The Church of Christ,” followed by “The Church of the Latter Day Saints"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author notes that the Church was originally named “The Church of Christ,” followed by “The Church of the Latter Day Saints,” and then ultimately changed by revelation to “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
|authorsources=Doctrine and Covenants 115:4.
}}
{{information|The original name of the Church, and the subsequent name “Church of the Latter Day Saints” were not received by revelation. The name of the Church was ultimately given by revelation to be “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
}}
{{:Question: How many times was the name of the Church changed through revelation?}}

==Response to claim: 34 - Joseph received the promise that a temple in Independence, Missouri would be “reared in this generation"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author states that Joseph received the promise that a temple in Independence, Missouri would be “reared in this generation,” yet “the LDS Church has not built the temple in Independence.”
|authorsources=Doctrine and Covenants 84:3-5
}}
{{misinformation|This was not a prophecy, but a command from God to build the temple
}}
{{:Question: Was Joseph Smith's prophecy that the Independence, Missouri temple "shall be reared in this generation" a failed prophecy?}}

==Response to claim: 35 - The author states that Joseph Smith predicted that the Lord would come within “fifty-six years”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author states that Joseph Smith predicted that the Lord would come within “fifty-six years” and that this “prophecy never came true either.”
|authorsources=Joseph Smith, ‘’History of the Church’’, vol. 2 (Salt Lake Cithy: Deseret Book Co., 1978), 182.
}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith prophesy that Jesus Christ would return in 1890?}}

==Response to claim: 35 - The 1835 edition of the Doctrines and Covenants contained “major revisions to already published revelations"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The 1835 edition of the Doctrines and Covenants contained “major revisions to already published revelations, [and] added revelations given since the last printing.”
|authorsources=Not provided.
}}
{{information|Joseph Smith did indeed edit previous revelations.
}}

== ==
{{ChurchResponseBar
|summary=Many Revelations Were Later Revised by Joseph Smith through Inspiration. Over the course of the first five years of the Church, Joseph and others under his direction made changes and corrections to some of the early revelation texts in an attempt to more closely portray the intent of the revelation. Other times, especially as the revelations were being prepared for publication, Joseph was inspired to update the contents of the revelations to reflect a growing Church structure and new circumstances. At times this process resulted in substantial additions to the original text. As early as November 1831, a Church conference resolved that “Joseph Smith Jr. correct those errors or mistakes which he may discover by the Holy Spirit while reviewing the revelations and commandments and also the fullness of the scriptures.”
|author=Gerrit Dirkmaat
|title=Great and Marvelous Are the Revelations of God
|publication=Ensign
|date=January 2013
|link=http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/01/great-and-marvelous-are-the-revelations-of-god?lang=eng
}}

==Response to claim: 36 - The 1835 Doctrine and Covenants included a declaration that “one man should have one wife”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The 1835 Doctrine and Covenants included a declaration that “one man should have one wife” in response to accusations of “the crime of fornication, and polygamy.” This was after Joseph began practicing plural marriage in secret.
|authorsources=Doctrine and Covenants (Kirtland, Ohio: F.G. Williams & Co., 1835), 251.
}}
{{SummaryItem
|link=Mormonism and polygamy/1835 Doctrine and Covenants denies polygamy
|subject=1835 Doctrine and Covenants denies polygamy
|summary=The 1835 edition of the D&C contained a statement of marriage which denied the practice of polygamy. Since this was published during Joseph Smith's lifetime, why might the prophet have allowed it to be published if he was actually practicing polygamy at that time?
}}

==Response to claim: 36 - Oliver Cowdery referred to this relationship as a “dirty, nasty, filthy affair of his and Fanny Alger’s"====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=Fanny Alger was one of Joseph’s “earliest plural wives,” but Oliver Cowdery referred to this relationship as a “dirty, nasty, filthy affair of his and Fanny Alger’s.”
|authorsources=Tanner, ‘’Mormonism-Shadow or Reality?’’ 203; see also Brodie, ‘’No Man Knows’’, 181-85; Newell and Avery, ‘’Mormon Enigma’’, 66.
}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith marry Fanny Alger as his first plural wife in 1833?}}
{{:Question: Did some of Joseph Smith's associates believe that Joseph Smith had an affair with Fanny Alger?}}

==Response to claim: 36-37 - Joseph secretly practiced polygamy “through the rest of his life, always with denials”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=Joseph secretly practiced polygamy “through the rest of his life, always with denials.”
|authorsources=Tanner, ‘’Mormonism-Shadow or Reality?’’ 245-48.
|response=
}}
{{SummaryItem
|link=Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Hiding the truth
|subject=Hiding the truth about polygamy
|summary=It is true that Joseph did not always tell others about plural marriage.  He did, however, make some attempt to teach the doctrine to the Saints. It is thus important to realize that the public preaching of polygamy&mdash;or announcing it to the general Church membership, thereby informing the public by proxy—was simply not a feasible plan.  Critics of Joseph's choice want their audience to ignore the danger to him and the Saints.
}}

==Response to claim: 37 - "Obviously, these papyri do not relate to the Abraham of the Old Testament, as Joseph Smith claimed"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=Regarding the Book of Abraham, the author states that “Egyptologist have shown that the papyri Smith supposedly translated date to about the time of Christ and are standard Egyptian funeral documents, depicting various Egyptian gods and goddesses. Obviously, these papyri do not relate to the Abraham of the Old Testament, as Joseph Smith claimed.”
|authorsources=’’Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Though,’’ summer 1968, 68, 98; and autumn 1968, 119-20, 133; Charles M. Larson, ‘’By His Own Hand Upon Papyrs: A New Look At The Joseph Smith Papyri (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Institute for Religious Studies, 1992), 61-111.
}}
{{:Source:Doctrine and Covenants Study Guide:Unit 31:These papyri contain authentic Egyptian writings, but they do not date to the time of Abraham, nor do they contain the actual personally handwritten account of Abraham}}
{{:Question: How was the text of the Book of Abraham produced by Joseph Smith?}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph use his seer stone to receive the text of the Book of Abraham in the same manner as he did for the Book of Mormon?}}
{{:Question: Do we have all of the papyrus that Joseph Smith had?}}
{{:Question: Were the characters on the papyri written by Abraham himself?}}
{{:Question: Does the papyri consist of Egyptian funerary documents?}}
{{:Question: Do the papyri date back to the time of Abraham?}}

==Response to claim: 37 - “Smith turned once again to treasure hunting to solve the church’s financial problems” by going to Salem, Massachusetts to look for treasure in the basement of a house there==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author states that in 1836, “Smith turned once again to treasure hunting to solve the church’s financial problems” by going to Salem, Massachusetts to look for treasure in the basement of a house there.
|authorsources=Doctrine and Covenants 132:19, 20, 52, 61, 62.
}}
{{SummaryItem
|link=Joseph Smith/Money digging/"Treasure hunting" trip to Salem
|subject="Treasure hunting" trip to Salem
|summary=Was Joseph Smith commanded by the Lord to go to Salem, Massachusetts to hunt for treasure in the cellar of a house? Upon arriving there, the treasure was nowhere to be found. Joseph and several other leaders traveled to Salem hoping to find money that could be used to satisfy some of the Church's outstanding debt. The trip was apparently made on their own initiative, and was not commanded by the Lord. Joseph did not "prophesy" that they would find money in Salem, but instead made the trip because he became convinced that the story that the treasure existed might true. Upon failing to locate the money, they spent their time preaching to the people in Salem.
}}

==Response to claim: 38 - Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon created the impression that the Kirtland Safety Society was “created by God, that it had a sacred mission, and thus was invincible”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author claims that Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon created the impression that the Kirtland Safety Society was “created by God, that it had a sacred mission, and thus was invincible.”
|authorsources=Van Wagoner, ‘’Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1994)’’, 184.
}}
{{SummaryItem
|link=Mormonism and church finances/Kirtland Safety Society
|subject=Kirtland Safety Society
|summary=The Kirtland Safety Society was an unwise venture that was probably illegal, though legal counsel was divided on that matter at the time. The intent of Church leaders does not seem to have been to break the law, but to solve a vexing problem which thousands of others also faced. The failure of the bank was not due to mismanagement or a desire to enrich individuals, but due to the relatively fragile nature of the time’s financial infrastructure, and the economic conditions of 1837. The lack of a charter was the KSS's biggest weakness and the most ill-advised decision connected with it. Arguably, even had the bank possessed a charter, the outcome would have been little different, save that the Church leaders would have suffered fewer legal problems and harassment. The Kirtland Safety Society is an excellent example of why Latter-day Saints do not put their trust in men, but in God. It also demonstrates that the Saints will continue to support fallible men as prophets of God.
}}

==Response to claim: 38 - “Mormon leaders organized a sort of secret church police called the ‘Danites’”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author states that “Mormon leaders organized a sort of secret church police called the ‘Danites.’”
|authorsources=Not provided.
}}
{{SummaryItem
|link=Mormonism and persecution/Danites
|subject=Danites
|summary=The Danites were a brotherhood of church members that formed in Far West, Missouri in mid-1838. By this point in time, the Saints had experienced serious persecution, having been driven out of Kirtland by apostates, and driven out of Jackson County by mobs. It is claimed that Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon supported the formation of a vigilante band called the “Danites," and that the Danites were pledged to “plunder, lie, and even kill if deemed necessary." Regardless of their original motives, the Danites ultimately were led astray by their leader, Sampson Avard. Avard attempted to blame Joseph Smith in order to save himself. Joseph, however, clearly repudiated both the organization and Avard.
}}

==Response to claim: 40 - Joseph incorporated many elements of Masonry into the temple endowment ceremony==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author notes that Joseph incorporated many elements of Masonry into the temple endowment ceremony.
|authorsources=Not provided.
}}
{{SummaryItem
|link=Temples/Endowment/Freemasonry
|subject=Temple endowment and Freemasonry
|summary=Some critics of Mormonism see similarities between the rites of Freemasonry and LDS temple ceremonies and assume that since Joseph Smith was initiated as a Freemason shortly before he introduced the Nauvoo-style endowment he must have plagiarized elements of the Masonic rituals. This viewpoint leads them, in turn, to conclude that the LDS endowment is nothing but a variant form of Masonic initiation and therefore not from a divine source. However, 1) Joseph Smith claimed direct revelation from God regarding the Nauvoo-era endowment, 2) Joseph Smith knew a great deal about the Nauvoo-era endowment ceremony long before the Nauvoo period - and thus long before his entry into the Masonic fraternity, and 3) the Nauvoo-era temple endowment ceremony has numerous exacting parallels to the initiation ceremonies of ancient Israelite and early Christian kings and priests—parallels which cannot be found among Freemasons.
}}

==Response to claim: 41-42 - The author discusses the Council of Fifty====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author discusses the Council of Fifty.
|authorsources=Fawn Brodie, ‘’Now Man Knows My History’’, 356.
}}
{{:Question: What was the Council of Fifty?}}
{{:Question: Was Joseph Smith anointed to be "King over the earth" by the Council of Fifty?}}

<!-- ====42====
{{IndexClaim
|claim=Joseph Smith talks of the “plurality of Gods.”
|authorsources=Smith, ‘’History of the Church’’, vol. 6: 303-5.
|response=
}} -->

==Response to claim: 43 - The author notes that “two guns were smuggled” into Carthage Jail and that Joseph and Hyrum “using the guns that had been smuggled in to them...tried to defend themselves"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author notes that “two guns were smuggled” into Carthage Jail and that Joseph and Hyrum “using the guns that had been smuggled in to them...tried to defend themselves against the assailants.’’
|authorsources=Smith, ‘’History of the Church’’, vol. 6: 607-621; vol. 7: 102-105.
}}
{{SummaryItem
|link=Joseph Smith/Martyrdom/Joseph fired a gun
|subject=Joseph fired a gun
|summary=It is claimed that Joseph could not have been a "martyr" because he had and used a gun at Carthage Jail.
}}
{{SummaryItem
|link=Joseph Smith/Martyrdom/Hiding Joseph's gun
|subject=Hiding Joseph's gun
|summary=It is claimed that the Church has attempted to hide Joseph's gun, despite the fact that it is on display at the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City
}}

== ==
{{FairMormonBlogBar
|link=http://www.fairblog.org/2013/11/07/the-prophet-and-the-pistol-a-perspective-on-the-martyrdom-of-joseph-and-hyrum-smith/
|author=Roger Nicholson
|title=The Prophet and the Pistol: A Perspective on the Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith
|publication=FairMormon Blog
|date=November 7, 2013
|summary=In the Church History Museum near Temple Square, located inside a glass case, resides a pair of 19th century pistols and a walking stick. The placard reads, in part, as follows,
<blockquote>
Joseph’s Pepperbox Pistol and Hyrum’s Single Shot Pistol. These guns were used by both men for their defense during the attack at Carthage
</blockquote>
These were the guns that were smuggled into the Carthage Jail while Joseph Smith, Hyrum and their friends awaited their fate. On the morning of June 27, 1844, Cyrus Wheelock visited the jail.
<blockquote>
The morning being a little rainy, favoured his wearing an overcoat, in the side pocket of which he was enabled to carry a six-shooter, and he passed the guard unmolested. During his visit in the prison he slipped the revolver into Joseph’s pocket. Joseph examined it, and asked Wheelock if he had not better retain it for his own protection.
<br>
This was a providential circumstance, as most other persons had been very rigidly searched. Joseph then handed the single barrel pistol, which had been given him by John S. Fullmer, to his brother Hyrum, and said, “You may have use for this.” Brother Hyrum observed, “I hate to use such things, or to see them used.” “So do I,” said Joseph, “but we may have to, to defend ourselves;” upon this Hyrum took the pistol. [i]
</blockquote>
Although it was referred to as a “six shooter,” the pepper-box pistol was not a revolver in the normal sense. It incorporated six individual barrels, it was difficult to aim and tended to be unreliable. The June 2013 Ensign features a painting Greater Love Hath No Man, by Casey Childs. [ii] The artwork features all three items in the display case. Joseph, Hyrum and Willard Richards are attempting to hold the door shut as the mob attempts to enter the room. John Taylor is holding his walking stick. In Hyrum’s left pocket is the single shot pistol brought into the jail by Fullmer, and in Joseph’s left pocket, clearly visible, is the pepper-box pistol given to him by Wheelock.
}}

==Response to claim: 44 - “nine of the LDS apostles were charged with counterfeiting, and to avoid arrest, the fled in the night.”==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Mormonism Unmasked
|claim=The author states that “nine of the LDS apostles were charged with counterfeiting, and to avoid arrest, the fled in the night.”
|authorsources=Tanner, ‘’Mormonism-Shadow or Reality?’’ 537-41.
}}
{{SummaryItem
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Use of sources/Counterfeiting apostles and Joseph
|subject=Were Latter-day Saint apostles charged with counterfeiting?
|summary=It is claimed that government records indicate that Brigham Young, Willard Richards, Parley Pratt, and Orson Hyde were involved in making counterfeit coins, and that this may have "started under Joseph's leadership." However,  there are no "government records" which prove that the apostles "were involved in making counterfeit coins." At best, there is an indictment from a local grand jury, but an indictment is not proof—and, it is unlikely that indictment was anything but a ploy to make sure the Mormons left Nauvoo.
}}

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