View source for Alleged hiding of facts in Church history

{{Main Page}}
{{Navigation:Latter-day Saint history}}

{{H2
|L=Alleged hiding of facts in Church history
|H=Alleged hiding of facts in Church history
|S=The Church is routinely accused of suppressing and hiding uncomfortable facts from its own history. Yet, the very same people quote Church sources in order to provide proof of their claims. This concern often rests on a misunderstanding. It is true that the Church's teachings are primarily doctrinal and devotional—Church lessons are neither apologetic nor historical in scope or intent. It is remarkable, however, how many of the issues which some charge the Church with "suppressing" are discussed in Church publications.
L1=Church sources discussing issues with Anachronisms in the Book of Mormon
L2=Church sources discussing issues with B.H. Roberts and the Book of Mormon
L3=Church sources discussing issues with Blacks
L4=Church sources discussing issues with Book of Mormon and DNA
L5=Church sources discussing issues with Book of Mormon authorship theories
L6=Church sources discussing issues with Book of Mormon geography
L7=Church sources discussing issues with Changes to the Book of Mormon
L8=Church sources discussing issues with Changes to the Doctrine and Covenants
L9=Church sources discussing issues with Changes to the Word of Wisdom
L10=Church sources discussing issues with First Vision Accounts
L11=Church sources discussing issues with Isaiah in the Book of Mormon
L12=Church sources discussing issues with Joseph Smith and politics
L13=Church sources discussing issues with Joseph Smith firing a pistol in Carthage Jail
L14=Church sources discussing issues with Joseph's 1826 South Bainbridge court appearance
L15=Church sources discussing issues with Kinderhook plates
L16=Church sources discussing issues with Kirtland Safety Society
L17=Church sources discussing issues with Martyrdom and Joseph's use of a gun
L18=Church sources discussing issues with Oliver Cowdery's divining rod
L19=Church sources discussing issues with Origin of the Book of Abraham and Joseph Smith papyri
L20=Church sources discussing issues with Polygamy
L21=Church sources discussing issues with The seer stone and/or the stone with the hat
L22=Church sources discussing issues with Violence and conflict

}}
= Church sources discussing issues with Joseph's 1826 South Bainbridge court appearance=
{{HiddenFact|fact=In 1826, Joseph was brought up on charges of being a "disorderly person" for using a stone to "see things"|location=The ''Ensign''}}
==1994==
===''Ensign''===
<blockquote>
'''Highlights in the Prophet’s Life''' 20 Mar. 1826: Tried and acquitted on fanciful charge of being a “disorderly person,” South Bainbridge, Chenango County, New York. New York law defined a disorderly person as, among other things, a vagrant or a seeker of “lost goods.” The Prophet had been accused of both: the first charge was false and was made simply to cause trouble; Joseph’s use of a seer stone to see things that others could not see with the naked eye brought the second charge. Those who brought the charges were apparently concerned that Joseph might bilk his employer, Josiah Stowell, out of some money. Mr. Stowell’s testimony clearly said this was not so and that he trusted Joseph Smith. <br>&mdash;{{Ensign1|author=Anonymous|article=Highlights in the Prophet’s Life|date=Jun 1994|start=24}} {{Link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=1aa6425e0848b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}
</blockquote>

= Church sources discussing issues with Oliver Cowdery's divining rod=
{{HiddenFact|fact=Oliver Cowdery used a divining rod to receive revelation|location=Church History Website history.lds.org}}
==2012==
===history.lds.org ''Revelations in Context'' "Oliver Cowdery's Gift"===
<blockquote>
Oliver Cowdery lived in a culture steeped in biblical ideas, language and practices. The revelation’s reference to Moses likely resonated with him. The Old Testament account of Moses and his brother Aaron recounted several instances of using rods to manifest God’s will (see Ex. 7:9-12; Num. 17:8). Many Christians in Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery's day similarly believed in divining rods as instruments for revelation. Cowdery was among those who believed in and used a divining rod.
<br><br>
The Lord recognized Oliver’s ability to use a rod: “thou hast another gift which is the gift of working with the rod.”9 Confirming the divinity of this gift, the revelation stated: “Behold there is no other power save God that can cause this thing of Nature to work in your hands for it is the work of God.” If Oliver desired, the revelation went on to say, the Lord would add the gift of translation to the revelatory gifts Oliver already possessed (D&C 8:8-11).
<br>&mdash;Jeffrey G. Cannon, "Oliver Cowdery's Gift," ''Revelations in Context'', history.lds.org. (December 15, 2012) {{link|url=https://history.lds.org/article/doctrine-and-covenants-oliver-cowdery?lang=eng}}
</blockquote>

= Church sources discussing issues with Changes to the Book of Mormon=

==Textual changes to the Book of Mormon==
{{HiddenFact|fact=The second edition of the Book of Mormon contained some alteration in language, including adding "the Son of" to references to Jesus as "God."|location=The ''Ensign''}}


===1983===
====''Ensign''====
<blockquote>
"In a few places, however, Joseph Smith did intentionally add to the text to clarify a point. An illustration of this is the added words the son of in 1 Nephi 11:21, 32, and 13:40. The text would be correct with or without the additional words, but the addition helps the reader avoid misunderstanding." - {{Ensign|author=George Horton|article=[http://www.lds.org/ensign/1983/12/understanding-textual-changes-in-the-book-of-mormon Understanding Textual Changes in the Book of Mormon]|date=December 1983}}
</blockquote>

===1974===
====''Ensign''====

<blockquote>"Some have alleged that these books of revelation are false, and they place in evidence changes that have occurred in the texts of these scriptures since their original publication. They cite these changes, of which there are many examples, as though they themselves were announcing revelation. As though they were the only ones that knew of them. Of course there have been changes and corrections. Anyone who has done even limited research knows that. When properly reviewed, such corrections become a testimony for, not against, the truth of the books....Now, I add with emphasis that such changes have been basically minor refinements in grammar, expression, punctuation, clarification. Nothing fundamental has been altered.  Why are they not spoken of over the pulpit? Simply because by comparison they are so insignificant, and unimportant as literally to be not worth talking about. After all, they have absolutely nothing to do with whether the books are true." -{{Ensign|author=Boyd K. Packer|article=[http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1974/04/we-believe-all-that-god-has-revealed We Believe All That God Has Revealed]|date=May 1974|pages=94}}</blockquote>

= Church sources discussing issues with The seer stone and/or the stone with the hat=
{{HiddenFact|fact=Joseph generally utilized a stone placed in his hat to translate|location=The ''Friend'', The ''Ensign'', lds.org, and a book by Apostle Neal A. Maxwell}}
Joseph actually used a stone which he placed in a hat to translate a portion of the Book of Mormon in addition to or instead of the "Urim and Thummim." Sometimes there is reference to Joseph using the stone to receive revelation. Sometimes the hat is mentioned as well. These facts are found hidden in the official Church magazines the ''Ensign'' and the ''Friend'' on the official Church website lds.org.  

{{:Source:Dirkmaat:Ensign:January 2013:He...referred to it using an Old Testament term, Urim and Thummim...He also sometimes applied the term to other stones he possessed}}
{{:Question: What Church sources discuss either the use of the seer stone or the stone and the hat as part of the Book of Mormon translation process?}}

==The stone and Nephite interpreters==
{{HiddenFact|fact=Joseph used a seer stone and the Nephite interpreters to translate the Book of Mormon.|location=The ''Ensign''}}

===1977===
====''Ensign''====
<blockquote>
"...the Prophet possessed a seer stone, by which he was enabled to translate as well as from the Urim and Thummim, and for convenience he then used the seer stone." <br>&mdash;{{Ensign1|author=Richard Lloyd Anderson|article=‘By the Gift and Power of God’|date=Sep 1977|start=79, emphasis added}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/1977/09/by-the-gift-and-power-of-god}}
</blockquote>

= Church sources discussing issues with Book of Mormon authorship theories=
{{HiddenFact|fact=The Church doesn't mention secular Book of Mormon authorship theories which involve workes such as Ethan Smith's ''View of the Hebrews'' or the Spalding manuscript|location=General Conference, ''Ensign''}}
====October 2009 General Conference====
<blockquote>
For 179 years this book has been examined, and attacked. Denied and deconstructed. Targeted and torn apart, like perhaps no other book in modern religious history. Perhaps like no other book in any religious history, and still, it stands. Failed theories about its origins have been born, parroted and died. From Ethan Smith to Solomon Spalding, to deranged paranoid, to cunning genius. None of these frankly pathetic answers for this book has ever withstood examination, because there is no other answer than the one Joseph gave as its young, unlearned translator.<br>
&mdash;Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, General Conference talk, Oct. 4, 2009 
</blockquote>

===2002===
====''Liahona''====
<blockquote>
He also bore his testimony in these words: “Friends and brethren my name is Cowdery, Oliver Cowdery. In the early history of this church I stood identified with [you]. … I … handled with my hands the gold plates from which [the Book of Mormon] was translated. I also beheld the interpreters. That book is true. Sidney Rigdon did not write it. Mr. Spaulding did not write it. I wrote it myself as it fell from the lips of the prophet.” 8 Even though Oliver came back, he lost his exalted place in the Church.<br>
&mdash;James E. Faust, “‘Some Great Thing’,” Liahona, Jan 2002, 53–56 {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=d9918d00422fe010VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}
</blockquote>

===1993===
====''Ensign''====
<blockquote>
It is strange to me that unbelieving critics must still go back to the old allegations that Joseph Smith wrote the book out of ideas gained from Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews and Solomon Spaulding’s manuscript. To compare the Book of Mormon with these is like comparing a man to a horse. It is true they both walk, but beyond this there is little similarity.<br>
&mdash;
Gordon B. Hinckley, “My Testimony,” Ensign, Nov 1993, 51 {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=42ea425e0848b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}
</blockquote>

===1992===
====''Ensign''====
<blockquote>
At one time, it was popular among critics to contend that a literary work of Joseph Smith’s day, a manuscript authored by the Reverend Solomon Spalding (also spelled Spaulding), influenced the plot of the Book of Mormon. Spalding died in 1816, but his manuscript survived and was used by Eber D. Howe to advance a “Spalding theory” in the first anti-Mormon work of note, Mormonism Unvailed, (Painesville: E. D. Howe, 1834; original spelling preserved.) Howe held that Sidney Rigdon had been responsible for taking Spalding’s manuscript from a printing establishment in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and later making it available for publication through Joseph Smith.<br>
&mdash;Larry C. Porter, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, June 1992, 27–29 {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=a8e394bf3938b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}
</blockquote>

===1986===
====''Ensign''====
<blockquote>
Enemies threatened to knock down the walls of the temple. Philastus Hurlburt was excommunicated and in bitterness set in motion the Spaulding manuscript story of the origin of the Book of Mormon with all of the mischief that for years followed that concoction.<br>
&mdash;Gordon B. Hinckley, “Go Forward with Faith,” Ensign, Aug 1986, 3 {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=9bf1ef960417b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
These restored truths came fully formed. Joseph Smith did not receive them through Solomon Spaulding, Ethan Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery, or any others to be advanced by those desperate for any explanation other than the correct one.<br>
&mdash;Neal A. Maxwell, “‘A Choice Seer’,” Ensign, Aug 1986, 6 {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=b422ef960417b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}
</blockquote>

===1984===
====''Ensign''====
<blockquote>
This interpretation initially appeared in the first anti-Mormon book, Mormonism Unvailed, a work published by Eber D. Howe and, most believe, authored by Philastus Hurlburt, an apostate. This hypothesis for the formulation of the Book of Mormon can best be summed up thus: “The Book of Mormon is the joint production of Solomon Spaulding and some other designing knave.” They conjectured this “knave” to be Sidney Rigdon.<br>
&mdash;Keith W. Perkins, “Francis W. Kirkham: A ‘New Witness’ for the Book of Mormon,” Ensign, Jul 1984, 53 {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=511005481ae6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}
</blockquote>

===1977===
====''Ensign''====
<blockquote>
Every few years the opponents of the Church dust off one of the timeworn theories about how the Book of Mormon “really” was written. One of the dustiest is the theory that the Book of Mormon is based on a stolen manuscript written by Solomon Spaulding, a would-be novelist who died in 1816.<br>
&mdash;Orson Scott Card, “Spaulding Again? ,” Ensign, Sept. 1977, 94–95 {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=c6a21f26d596b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
So it was that they sought to take the divine stamp away from his translation of the Book of Mormon. They determined to “humanize” his work by saying that he himself had composed the volume, or that he stole it from Spaulding, or that Sidney Rigdon wrote it, although it was published well before Joseph ever heard of Sidney Rigdon.<br>
&mdash;Mark E. Petersen, “It Was a Miracle!,” Ensign, Nov 1977, 11 {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=12641f26d596b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}
</blockquote>

===1976===
====''Ensign''====
<blockquote>
Would you respond to the theories that the Book of Mormon is based on the Spaulding manuscript or on Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews?<br>
&mdash;Bruce D. Blumell, “I Have a Question,” ''Ensign'', Sept. 1976, 84–87{{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=8044fd758096b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}
</blockquote>

= Church sources discussing issues with B.H. Roberts and the Book of Mormon=
{{HiddenFact|fact=It is claimed that B.H. Roberts lost his testimony of the Book of Mormon|location=The ''Ensign''}}
===1983===
====''Ensign''====
<blockquote>
"The claim is made (in some anti-Mormon tabloids) that toward the end of his life, B. H. Roberts found insuperable difficulties with the Book of Mormon and even that he lost faith in it." <br>&mdash;{{Ensign1|author=Truman G. Madsen|article=B. H. Roberts after Fifty Years: Still Witnessing for the Book of Mormon|date=Dec 1983|start=11}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=c30805481ae6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}
</blockquote>

= Church sources discussing issues with Book of Mormon and DNA=
{{HiddenFact|fact=Amerindian DNA does not come from the Middle East|location=''Ensign'', Church website, BYU, FARMS}}
* John L. Sorenson cautioned against reading the Book of Mormon text without care:
:One problem some Latter-day Saint writers and lecturers have had is confusing the actual text of the Book of Mormon with the traditional interpretation of it. For example, a commonly heard statement is that the Book of Mormon is “the history of the American Indians.” This statement contains a number of unexamined assumptions—that the scripture is a history in the common sense—a systematic, chronological account of the main events in the past of a nation or territory; that “the” American Indians are a unitary population; and that the approximately one hundred pages of text containing historical and cultural material in the scripture could conceivably tell the entire history of a hemisphere. When unexamined assumptions like these are made, critics respond in kind, criticizing not the ancient text itself, but the assumptions we have made about it....<ref>{{DiggingPt1}}</ref>
:Yet we need not feel self-righteous when the scholars are taken to task for their narrowness. Our people have exhibited a decided tendency to substitute comfortable “folk understanding” for facts on certain subjects, particularly having to do with archaeology. We must expect new facts and new interpretations about the ancient Nephites and Jaredites, for they are bound to come.<ref>{{DiggingPt2}}</ref>
* Sorenson, John L. “When Lehi’s Party Arrived in the Land, Did They Find Others There?” ''Journal of Book of Mormon Studies'' 1 (1992), 1-34.
* Meldrum, D. Jeffrey and Trent D. Stephens. ''Who Are the Children of Lehi? DNA and the Book of Mormon''. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007.
*Moore, Carrie A. “Debate renewed with change in Book of Mormon introduction,” ''Deseret News'', November 8, 2007. 
* Peterson, Daniel C., ed. ''The Book of Mormon and DNA Research''. Provo, UT: FARMS, 2008.
:*John L. Sorenson, "The Problematic Role of DNA Testing in Unraveling Human History"
:*John M. Butler, "A Few Thoughts from a Believing Scientist"
:*John L. Sorenson and Matthew Roper, "Before DNA"
:*John M. Butler, "Addressing Questions Surrounding the Book of Mormon and DNA Research"
:*Michael F. Whiting, "DNA and the Book of Mormon: A Phylogenetic Perspective"
:*David A. McClellan, "Detecting Lehi's Genetic Signature: Possible, Probable, or Not?"
:*D. Jeffrey Meldrum and Trent D. Stephens, "Who Are the Children of Lehi?"
:*Matthew Roper, "Nephi's Neighbors: Book of Mormon Peoples and Pre-Columbian Populations"
:*Matthew Roper, "Swimming in the Gene Pool: Israelite Kinship Relations, Genes, and Genealogy"
:*Brian D. Stubbs, "Elusive Israel and the Numerical Dynamics of Population Mixing"
* Perego, Ugo A. and Jayne E. Ekins, “Is Decrypting the Genetic Legacy of America’s Indigeneous Populations Key to the Historicity of the Book of Mormon?,” in ''Ancient Temple Worship: Proceedings of the Expound Symposium 14 May 2011'', ed. Matthew B. Brown, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Stephen D. Ricks, and John S. Thompson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 259-94. 
* Church website {{link|url=http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/dna-and-the-book-of-mormon}}

= Church sources discussing issues with Book of Mormon geography=
{{HiddenFact|fact=The Church only recently created the "limited geography theory" of the Book of Mormon to counter DNA claims|location=Two issues of the ''Ensign'' published in 1984}}
===1984===
====''Ensign''====
John L. Sorenson discussed a limited geographical model for the Book of Mormon in 1984:
*{{DiggingPt1}}
*{{DiggingPt2}}

= Church sources discussing issues with Polygamy=
==The practice of plural marriage during Joseph's lifetime==
{{HiddenFact|fact=Plural marriage was instituted during Joseph Smith's lifetime|location=Priesthood/Relief Society lesson manual, the ''Ensign'', and the Church's official website}} 

A more complete listing of Church publications during the 20th century that reference plural marriage can be found elsewhere on the FairMormon wiki:
{{Main|Mormonism and polygamy/Twentieth century LDS publications on plural marriage|l1=Twentieth century LDS publications on plural marriage}}

===2012===
====lds.org website====
<blockquote>
After God revealed the doctrine of plural marriage to Joseph Smith in 1831 and commanded him to live it, the Prophet, over a period of years, cautiously taught the doctrine to some close associates. Eventually, he and a small number of Church leaders entered into plural marriages in the early years of the Church. Those who practiced plural marriage at that time, both male and female, experienced a significant trial of their faith. The practice was so foreign to them that they needed and received personal inspiration from God to help them obey the commandment.<br><br>When the Saints moved west under the direction of Brigham Young, more Latter-day Saints entered into plural marriages.<br>&mdash;{{ldsorg|Polygamy (Plural Marriage)|http://www.lds.org/topics/polygamy-plural-marriage}}
</blockquote>

===2007===
====Lesson manual: ''Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith''====
<blockquote>
This book deals with teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith that have application to our day....This book also does not discuss plural marriage. '''The doctrines and principles relating to plural marriage were revealed to Joseph Smith as early as 1831. The Prophet taught the doctrine of plural marriage, and a number of such marriages were performed during his lifetime.'''<br>&mdash;The 2008-2009 lesson manual ''Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith'', (2007), pages vii–xiii {{ea}}
</blockquote>
===1996===
====Lesson manual: ''Our Heritage: A Brief History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints''====
<blockquote>
While working on the translation of the Bible in the early 1830s, the Prophet Joseph Smith became troubled by the fact that Abraham, Jacob, David, and other Old Testament leaders had more than one wife. The Prophet prayed for understanding and learned that at certain times, for specific purposes, following divinely given laws, plural marriage was approved and directed by God. Joseph Smith also learned that with divine approval, some Latter-day Saints would soon be chosen by priesthood authority to marry more than one wife. A number of Latter-day Saints practiced plural marriage in Nauvoo, but a public announcement of this doctrine and practice was not made until the August 1852 general conference in Salt Lake City. At that conference, Elder Orson Pratt, as directed by President Brigham Young, announced that the practice of a man having more than one wife was part of the Lord’s restitution of all things (see Acts 3:19–21). <br>&mdash;''Our Heritage: A Brief History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'' (1996), 97
</blockquote>

===1992===
====''Ensign''====
<blockquote>
Her great trial came when the prophet revealed to Emma that they would be required to live the ancient law of Abraham—'''plural marriage'''. Emma suffered deeply hurt feelings because of it. While she agreed with this doctrine at times, at other times she opposed it. Years later, Emma is purported to have denied that any such '''doctrine was ever introduced by her husband'''. <br>&mdash;{{Ensign|author=Gracia N. Jones|article=[http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=4e2694bf3938b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD My Great-Great-Grandmother, Emma Hale Smith]|date=Aug 1992|pages=30}}{{ea}}
</blockquote>

===1989===
====''Ensign====
<blockquote>
The Prophet introduced several doctrines relating to the temple including the temple ceremonies and '''plural marriage, which some could not accept'''.... <br>&mdash;William G. Hartley, “The Knight Family: Ever Faithful to the Prophet,” ''Ensign'', Jan 1989, 43 {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=3ccb27cd3f37b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}} {{ea}}
</blockquote>

===1978===
====''Ensign''====
<blockquote>
How a family accepts members who join it by marriage is, in some ways, analogous to how a Church accepts members who join it by baptism. The experiences of '''plural marriage''' make the analogy even closer....'''the Prophet Joseph Smith recorded a revelation to the Whitneys on plural marriage'''....The Whitneys gave their daughter into the system of plural marriage and received into their family other plural wives. <br>&mdash;D. Michael Quinn, “The Newel K. Whitney Family,” ''Ensign'', Dec 1978, 42 {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=f4a4d0640b96b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}} {{ea}}
</blockquote>

===1977===
====''Ensign''====
<blockquote>
Starting '''during Joseph Smith’s own lifetime''' but limited to a few dozen families until its official announcement in 1852, '''plural marriage brought a powerful new challenge''' to the equanimity of Latter-day Saint family life... <br>&mdash;{{Ensign|author=Davis Bitton|article=[https://www.lds.org/ensign/1977/02/great-grandfathers-family?lang=eng&_r=1 Great-Grandfather’s Family]|date=Feb 1977|pages=48}}{{ea}}
</blockquote>

===1973===
====''New Era''====
<blockquote>
The great prophet Elias, whom Joseph Fielding Smith says is Noah..., appeared and bestowed upon their heads the keys of the dispensation of Abraham, or in other words, as Elder Bruce R. McConkie says in ''Mormon Doctrine''...the keys of celestial and '''plural marriage'''. <br>&mdash;Jerry C. Roundy, “The Greatness of Joseph Smith and His Remarkable Visions,” ''New Era'', Dec 1973, 7 {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=cd7b46581c79b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=024644f8f206c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}} {{ea}}
</blockquote>

===1946===
{{:Source:Improvement Era:Nov 1946:It is also possible, though the Church does not now permit it, to seal two living people for eternity only, with no association on earth }}

==Joseph's marriages to young women==
===The ''Ensign''===
{{HiddenFact|fact=Some of Joseph Smith's marriages were to young women|location=The ''Ensign''}}
*'''June 1979 ''Ensign''''': Although little Don Carlos Smith died a short time later, Emily and Eliza continued to live in the Smith home, where, in the summer of 1842, '''both girls “were married to Bro. Joseph about the same time, but neither of us knew about the other at the time; everything was so secret”''' (Emily, “Incidents,” p.&nbsp;186). <br>&mdash;{{Ensign1|author=Dean Jessee|article=‘Steadfastness and Patient Endurance’: The Legacy of Edward Partridge|date=Jun 1979|start=41}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=a40b615b01a6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}} {{ea}}

*'''December 1978 ''Ensign:''''' How a family accepts members who join it by marriage is, in some ways, analogous to how a Church accepts members who join it by baptism. The experiences of '''plural marriage''' make the analogy even closer....'''the Prophet Joseph Smith recorded a revelation to the Whitneys on plural marriage'''....The Whitneys gave their daughter into the system of plural marriage and received into their family other plural wives. <br>&mdash;D. Michael Quinn, “The Newel K. Whitney Family,” ''Ensign'', Dec 1978, 42 {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=f4a4d0640b96b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}} {{ea}}

==Joseph Smith Polyandry==
The first leaders that seem to have commented on it were John Widtsoe and Joseph Fielding Smith.

John Widtsoe wrote the following in 1946 in the ''Improvement Era'' magazine:

<blockquote>Zealous women, '''married or unmarried''', loving the cause of the restored gospel, considered their condition in the here- after. '''Some of them asked that they might be sealed to the Prophet for eternity'''. They were not to be his wives on earth, in mortality, but only after death in the eternities. This came often to be spoken of as celestial marriage. Such marriages led to misunderstandings by those not of the Church, and unfamiliar with its doctrines. To them marriage meant only association on earth. '''Therefore any ceremony uniting a married woman, for example, to Joseph Smith for eternity seemed adulterous to such people'''. Yet, in any day, in our day, there may be women who prefer to spend eternity with another than their husband on earth.
Such cases, if any, and they must have been few in number, gave enemies of the Church occasion to fan the flaming hatred against the Latter-day Saints. The full truth was not told. Enemies made the most of untruth. They found it difficult to believe that the Church rests on truth and virtue.<ref>John A. Widtsoe, "[https://archive.org/details/improvementera4911unse/page/n95/mode/1up?view=theater Evidences and Reconciliations]," ''Improvement Era'' 49, no. 11 (November 1946): 765&ndash;66.</ref></blockquote>

Widtsoe's discussion there was republished in 1960 under the title ''Evidences and Reconciliations'': one of the most popular apologetic and doctrinal books in the Church for many years after.<ref>John A. Widtsoe, ''Evidences and Reconciliations'' (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1960), 343.</ref>

The first mention of polyandry on the [https://history.lds.org/article/relief-society-general-president-zina-d-h-young?lang=eng  Church’s website] seems to be in 2012.

==Some plural marriages occurred after the 1890 Manifesto==
===''LDS.org''===

{{HiddenFact|fact=Some plural marriages occurred after 1890, until finally ended in 1904|location=lds.org website}}

* Just as the practice of plural marriage among the Latter-day Saints began gradually, the ending of the practice after the Manifesto was also gradual. Some plural marriages were performed after the Manifesto, particularly in Mexico and Canada. In 1904, President Joseph F. Smith called for a vote from the Church membership that all post-Manifesto plural marriages be prohibited worldwide. &mdash; {{ldsorg|Polygamy (Plural Marriage)|http://www.lds.org/topics/polygamy-plural-marriage}}

==Brigham Young's practice of polygamy==
{{HiddenFact|fact=Brigham Young practiced polygamy|location=lds.org, the ''Ensign''}}
===Church web site lds.org===
*Polygamy — or more correctly polygyny, the marriage of more than one woman to the same man — was an important part of the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for a half-century. The practice began during the lifetime of Joseph Smith but became publicly and widely known during the time of Brigham Young.<br>&mdash;LDS Newsroom, lds.org {{link|url=http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/background-information/polygamy-latter-day-saints-and-the-practice-of-plural-marriage}}
===The ''Ensign''===
*'''July 1980 ''Ensign''''': In Sunday School someone mentioned Brigham Young and polygamy...<br>&mdash;Meryl C. Liptrott, “Waking from the Nightmare,” Ensign, July 1980, 54–55 {{link|url=http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=66c9fc3157a6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}
*'''February 1976 ''Ensign''''': Brigham Young, born on June 1, 1801, at Whittingham, Vermont, was 43 years old when he was called to the leadership of the Church. For over 33 years he lead the Saints, guiding them through some of their heaviest persecution—the exodus from Nauvoo, the crossing of the plains, the colonizing of the desert, the polygamy trials—until his death on August 29, 1877.<br>&mdash;“Brigham Young,” Ensign, Feb 1976, 80 {{link|url=http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=ebcbfd758096b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}
<!-- *Michael Parker, "The Church's Portrayal of Brigham Young" {{fairlink|url=http://www.fairlds.org/apol/misc/misc26.html}} -->

= Church sources discussing issues with Changes to the Doctrine and Covenants=
==Changes to D&C revelations==
{{HiddenFact|fact=The revelations contained in the Doctrine and Covenants were edited and modified from their original form|location=The ''Ensign''}}
===The ''Ensign''===
*'''January 2013 ''Ensign''''': '''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.5 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.”<br>&mdash;{{Ensign1|author=Gerrit Dirkmaat|article=Great and Marvelous Are the Revelations of God|date=January 2013}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/01/great-and-marvelous-are-the-revelations-of-god?lang=eng}}
*'''July 2009 ''Ensign''''': In some instances, when a new revelation changed or updated what had previously been received, '''the Prophet edited the earlier written revelation''' to reflect the new understanding. Thus, as his doctrinal knowledge clarified and expanded, so did the recorded revelations. They were characterized by the changing nature of his understanding of the sacred subject matter. The Prophet did not believe that revelations, once recorded, could not be changed by further revelation. <br>&mdash;{{Ensign1|author=Marlin K. Jensen|article=The Joseph Smith Papers: The Manuscript Revelation Books|date=July 2009|start=46&ndash;51}}{{ea}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/2009/07/the-joseph-smith-papers-the-manuscript-revelation-books}}
*'''February 1985 ''Ensign''''': Many of the '''editing changes occurred after the revelations were printed''' in the Book of Commandments.  <br>&mdash;{{Ensign1|author=Melvin J. Petersen|article=Preparing Early Revelations for Publication|date=February 1985|start=14}}{{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/1985/02/preparing-early-revelations-for-publication?lang=eng}}
*'''January 1985 ''Ensign''''': However, a correct understanding of the nature of the revelations the Prophet Joseph Smith received and how he updated them in light of continued revelation explains why many changes occurred. Indeed, '''each of the sections has been edited to some degree''', demonstrating that Joseph Smith did not receive all these revelations as word-for-word dictations from the Lord (although he may have received some this way). Rather, he received inspiration and wrote the revelations using his own words, often couched in Victorian English. <br>&mdash;{{Ensign1|author=Robert J. Woodford|article=How the Revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants Were Received and Compiled|date=January 1985|start=27}} {{ea}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/1985/01/how-the-revelations-in-the-doctrine-and-covenants-were-received-and-compiled?lang=eng}}
*'''December 1984 ''Ensign''''': This was the beginning of controversies and charges made by persons who do not know or understand that '''the text of recorded revelation can be edited and “changed.”''' First, we must recognize that Joseph Smith’s purposeful changes are in a different category from copying errors.  <br>&mdash;{{Ensign1|author=Robert J. Woodford|article=The Story of the Doctrine and Covenants|date=December 1984|start=32}} {{ea}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/1984/12/the-story-of-the-doctrine-and-covenants?lang=eng}}
*'''May 1974 ''Ensign''''': Some have alleged that these books of revelation are false, and they place in evidence changes that have occurred in the texts of these scriptures since their original publication. They cite these changes, of which there are many examples, as though they themselves were announcing revelation. As though they were the only ones that knew of them. '''Of course there have been changes and corrections'''. Anyone who has done even limited research knows that. When properly reviewed, such corrections become a testimony for, not against, the truth of the books. <br>&mdash;{{Ensign1|author=Boyd K. Packer|article=We Believe All That God Has Revealed|date=May 1974|start=93}} {{ea}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/1974/05/we-believe-all-that-god-has-revealed?lang=eng}}; also in {{CR1|author=Boyd K. Packer|date=April 1974|article=We Believe All That God Has Revealed|start=137}}

= Church sources discussing issues with First Vision Accounts=
A more full summary of discussion of the multiple The First Vision accounts can be found here:

{{Main|Joseph Smith's First Vision/First Vision accounts in Church publications|l1=First Vision accounts in Church publications}}
==Multiple accounts==
{{HiddenFact|fact=Joseph recorded multiple accounts of the First Vision, and some of the details of these accounts differ from one another|location=The ''Ensign'', CES Student Manual}}
Critics charge that the existence of multiple accounts of the [[First Vision/Accounts|First Vision]] has been hidden.  A review of just some of the sources demonstrates that this is simply false:

===The ''Improvement Era''===
*'''April 1970 ''Improvement Era:''''' Here printed for the first time is a report on eight different accounts of the First Vision. <br>Dr. James B. Allen, "Eight Contemporary Accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision - What Do We Learn from Them?", ''Improvement Era'', April 1970, 4-13. {{link|url=http://us.archive.org/31/items/improvementera7304unse/improvementera7304unse.pdf}}

On page 12 of this official publication, all known accounts of the First Vision were compared in an easy-to-understand chart, demonstrating that the author and the Church did not think they had anything to hide:

[[File:First_Vision_Chart_IE_April_1970.PNG|thumb|center|500px|Chart of First Vision account elements from ''Improvement Era'' (April 1970): 12.]]

===The ''Ensign''===
*'''January 1985 ''Ensign:''''' On at least four different occasions, Joseph Smith either wrote or dictated to scribes accounts of his sacred experience of 1820. Possibly he penned or dictated other histories of the First Vision; if so, they have not been located. The four surviving recitals of this theophany were prepared or rendered through different scribes, at different times, from a different perspective, for different purposes and to different audiences. It is not surprising, therefore, that each of them emphasizes different aspects of his experience. <br>&mdash;{{Ensign1|author=Milton V. Backman, Jr.|article=Joseph Smith's Recitals of the First Vision|date=January 1985|start=8}}{{link|url=https://www.lds.org/ensign/1985/01/joseph-smiths-recitals-of-the-first-vision?lang=eng}}
*'''January 1996 ''Ensign:''''': I am glad, for example, that we have several accounts of the First Vision, the ministry of Christ, the Atonement, the plan of salvation, the signs of the last days, and the conditions during the millennium. None of the various accounts exhaust the subject; each contributes to its advancement line upon line, even though important elements may be repeated. We need not regard them as competing or as being at odds with each other, but rather, as enhancing our understanding of the whole.<br>{{Ensign1|author=Keith Meservy|article=Four Accounts of the Creation|date=January 1986|start=?}} {{link|url=https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/01/four-accounts-of-the-creation?lang=eng&_r=1}}
*'''April 1996 ''Ensign:''''' How many First Vision reports were made while the Prophet was alive? It is better to ask how many independent accounts came from contact with the Prophet. Some vision narratives were republished and are really copies of an original record.

We now know of nine contemporary reports from the Prophet himself or from those who personally heard him relate his first vision: (1) the Prophet’s handwritten description in 1832, an attempt to start a manuscript history of the Church; (2) a Church secretary’s brief 1835 journal entry of Joseph talking with a visitor who called himself Joshua, the Jewish minister; (3) the 1838 history discussed above, published in 1842 and now in the Pearl of Great Price; (4) Orson Pratt’s publication, the first publicly disseminated, of the Prophet’s vision in his Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, issued in 1840 in Edinburgh, Scotland; (5) Orson Hyde’s revision of Orson Pratt’s pamphlet, published in 1842 for German readers and adding some insights that may have come from his contact with Joseph Smith; (6) the Wentworth Letter, created in response to editor John Wentworth’s inquiry and published by Joseph Smith in 1842 in Times and Seasons; this account adapted parts of Orson Pratt’s pamphlet; (7) Levi Richards’s diary about Joseph Smith preaching in the summer of 1843 and repeating the Lord’s first message to him that no church was His; (8) a newspaper interview in the fall of 1843; (9) Alexander Neibaur’s 1844 journal entry of a conversation at the Prophet’s house.<br> {{Ensign1|author=Richard L. Anderson|date=April 1996|article=Joseph Smith’s Testimony of the First Vision|start=}} {{link|url=https://www.lds.org/ensign/1996/04/joseph-smiths-testimony-of-the-first-vision?lang=eng&_r=1}}
*'''January 2005 ''Ensign:''''' During the lifetime of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the story of his First Vision was told in print several times, by him (in 1832, 1835, 1838–39, and 1842), or by others who had heard his account and retold it (in 1840, 1842, 1843, and 1844). <br>&mdash;{{Ensign1|author=Ronald O. Barney|article=The First Vision: Searching for the Truth|date=January 2005|start=14–19}} {{link|url=https://www.lds.org/ensign/2005/01/the-first-vision-searching-for-the-truth?lang=eng&_r=1}}

===CES manuals===
*'''CES Manual 2003''': Church Educational System, “Additional Details from Joseph Smith’s 1832 Account of the First Vision,” in ''Presidents of the Church: Student Manual'' (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2003), 5–6. {{link|url=http://institute.lds.org/manuals/presidents-of-the-church-student-manual/pres-ch-01-03-1.asp}}
*'''CES Manual 2003''': Church Educational System, “The First Vision,” in ''Church History in the Fullness of Times: Student Manual'' (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2003), 29–36. {{link|url=http://institute.lds.org/manuals/church-history-institute-student-manual/chft-01-05-3.asp}}

===Journals===
* Dean C. Jessee, "The Early Accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision," BYU Studies 9 (Spring 1968-1969): 275-294.
* Richard Lloyd Anderson, "Circumstantial Confirmation of the First Vision Through Reminiscences," BYU Studies 9 (1968-1969): 373-403.

===Books===
*'''2009''': Matthew B. Brown, ''A Pillar of Light: The History and Message of the First Vision'' (American Fork, UT: Covenant, 2009). 
*'''2005''': {{OpeningtheHeavens|author=James B. Allen and John W. Welch|article=The Appearance of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith in 1820|start=35|end=75}} See also ''BYU Studies'' version:{{pdflink|url=http://byustudies.byu.edu/Products/MoreInfoPage/MoreInfo.aspx?prodid=1954&type=7}}
*'''2002''': {{PWJSOrig|start=5|end=6, 75&ndash;76, 199&ndash;200, 213}}
*'''2002''': {{PWJS|start=9|end=20}}<!--Jessee-->
*'''1989''':Milton V. Backman, Jr., "Verification of the 1838 Account of the First Vision," in Pearl of Great Price: Revelations from God, edited by Charles D. Tate and H. Donl Peterson (Salt Lake City: UT, Deseret Book, 1989), 237-247.
*'''1989''': {{PJSVol1|start=6|end=7, 127, 272&ndash;73, 429&ndash;30, 444, and 448&ndash;49.}}
*'''1985''': Dean C. Jessee, “The Early Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision,” in Robert L. Millet and Kent P. Jackson, eds., ''Studies in Scripture, Volume 2: The Pearl of Great Price'' (Salt Lake City: Randall Book, 1985), 303–314.
*'''1984''': Dean C. Jessee, ''The Early Accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision (Mormon Miscellaneous reprint series)'' (Mormon Miscellaneous, 1984).
*'''1980''': Milton V. Backman Jr., ''Joseph Smith’s First Vision: Confirming Evidences and Contemporary Accounts'', 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1980).
*'''1981''': Adele Brannon McCollum, “The First Vision: Re-Visioning Historical Experience,” in Neal E. Lambert, ed., ''Literature of Belief: Sacred Scripture and Religious Experience'' (Provo, UT: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1981), 177–96.
*'''1978''' Truman G. Madsen, "The First Vision and Its Aftermath," in Joseph Smith the Prophet (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 1978), 7-18.
*'''1971''': Milton V. Backman, ''Joseph Smith’s First Vision: The first vision in its historical context'' (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1971).
*'''1971''': Milton V. Backman, ''Joseph Smith's First Vision: Confirming Evidences and Contemporary Accounts'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1971). 
*'''1965''': Paul R. Cheesman, "An Analysis of the Accounts Relating to Joseph Smith's Early Visions" (Master's thesis. College of Religious Instruction, Brigham Young University, 1965). '''''Cheeseman was a graduate student who was the first to discover the 1832 account.'''''



= Church sources discussing issues with Kinderhook plates=

==Joseph and the Church thought the Kinderhook plates were authentic for many years==

{{HiddenFact|fact=Many in the Church believed that the Kinderhook plates were authentic for many years until they were shown to be forgeries. Joseph was offered the chance to translate them, but did not.|location=The ''Ensign''}}

===The ''Ensign''===

*'''August 1981 ''Ensign:''''' "A recent electronic and chemical analysis of a metal plate (one of six original plates) brought in 1843 to the Prophet Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois, appears to solve a previously unanswered question in Church history, helping to further evidence that the plate is what its producers later said it was—a nineteenth-century attempt to lure Joseph Smith into making a translation of ancient-looking characters that had been etched into the plates. Joseph Smith did not make the hoped-for translation. In fact, no evidence exists that he manifested any further interest in the plates after early examination of them, although some members of the Church hoped that they would prove to be significant. But the plates never did." <br>&mdash;{{Ensign1|author=Stanley B. Kimball|article=Kinderhook Plates Brought to Joseph Smith Appear to Be a Nineteenth-Century Hoax|date=Aug 1981|start=66}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=b6a8aeca0ea6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}

= Church sources discussing issues with Kirtland Safety Society=

==Bank was unchartered==

{{HiddenFact|fact=The Kirtland Safety Society was unchartered, failed, and Joseph Smith was legally charged because of this.|location=The ''Ensign''}}

* {{Ensign1|author=Milton V. Backman Jr.|article=A Warning from Kirtland|date=Apr 1989|start=26}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=821f27cd3f37b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}

* {{Ensign1|author=Milton V. Backman Jr.|article=Kirtland: The Crucial Years|date=Jan 1979|start=24}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=8b25d0640b96b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}

* {{Ensign1|author=Ronald K. Esplin|article=Hyrum Smith: The Mildness of a Lamb, the Integrity of Job|date=Feb 2000|start=30}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=62606a4430c0c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}

* Glen M. Leonard, “Triumph and Tragedy,” ''Tambuli'' (Mar 1979): 34. {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=ad105991d66db010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}

* {{Ensign1|author=Larry C. Porter|article=Christmas with the Prophet Joseph|date=Dec 1978|start=9}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=4444d0640b96b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}

*{{Ensign1|author=Russell R. Rich|article=Nineteenth-Century Break-offs|date=Sep 1979|start=68}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=09cd615b01a6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}

==Bank was held to be illegal==

{{HiddenFact|fact=Kirtland Safety Society was judged illegal.|location=''BYU Studies''}}

*{{BYUS1|author=Dale W. Adams|article=Chartering the Kirtland Bank|vol= 23|num=4|date=Fall 1983|start=467&ndash;482}}{{pdflink|url=http://byustudies.byu.edu/Products/MoreInfoPage/MoreInfo.aspx?Type=7&ProdID=885}} 

*{{BYUS|author=Marvin S. Hill, Keith C. Rooker and Larry T. Wimmer|article=The Kirtland Economy Revisited: A Market Critique of Sectarian Economics|vol=17|num=4|date=Summer 1977|start=389|end=471}}{{pdflink|url=http://byustudies.byu.edu/Products/MoreInfoPage/MoreInfo.aspx?Type=7&ProdID=1457}}

*{{BYUS|author=Paul Sampson and Larry T. Wimmer|article=The Kirtland Safety Society: The Stock Ledger Book and the Bank Failure|vol=12|num=4|date=Summer 1972|start=427|end=436}}{{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/byustudies&CISOPTR=277&CISOSHOW=271&REC=2}}

*{{BYUS|author=Scott H. Partridge|article=The Failure of the Kirtland Safety Society|vol=12|num=4|date=Summer 1972|start=437|end=454}}{{pdflink|url=http://byustudies.byu.edu/Products/MoreInfoPage/MoreInfo.aspx?Type=7&ProdID=655}}

=Church sources discussing issues with Martyrdom and Joseph's use of a gun=

==Joseph fired a gun at Carthage Jail==

{{HiddenFact|fact=Joseph Smith was smuggled a gun while in Carthage Jail, and fired it at his attackers|location=Joseph's gun displayed in the Museum of Church History and Art, ''History of the Church'', The ''Ensign'', Primary lessons 32 and 37}}

===Museum of Church History and Art===

[[Image:Joseph_Gun_at_Carthage.png|right|thumb|200px|''Ensign'' ([http://media.ldscdn.org/pdf/magazines/ensign-june-2013/2013-06-12-two-witnesses-three-days-and-the-aftermath-of-the-martyrdom-eng.pdf June 2013]): 40, shows Joseph with the pepperbox pistol he would fire to defend himself and others prior to his murder.]]

*Joseph's pistol is displayed in the Museum of Church History and Art in Salt Lake City, Utah, and labeled as such. An image of the pepperbox pistol may be viewed [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JosephSmithPepperbox1.jpg here]

===The ''Ensign''===

*'''June 2013 ''Ensign:''''' A full-page painting shows John Taylor with the hickory stick he used to defend himself, and Joseph Smith with the pepperbox pistol in his pocket.

*'''June 1994 ''Ensign:''''' The Prophet dropped to his brother. “Oh! My poor, dear brother Hyrum,” he groaned. The deep look of sympathy on Joseph’s face fastened itself to Elder Taylor’s mind. The Prophet then stood, and with a firm step he went to the door, '''pulled the pepperbox from his pocket, and, reaching around the door casing, fired blindly into the hallway. He snapped all six shots.''' Half discharged, striking three men. <br>&mdash;{{Ensign1|author=Reed Blake|article=Martyrdom at Carthage|date=June 1994|start=30}} {{ea}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=35b6425e0848b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}

*'''April 1984 ''Ensign:''''' ...the Mormons on the inside of the jail, '''including the Smiths, presented pistols through the windows and doors''' of the jail, and fired upon the guard" <br>&mdash;{{Ensign1|author=Larry C. Porter|article=I Have A Question: "How did the U.S. press react when Joseph and Hyrum were murdered?|date=April 1984|start=22&ndash;23}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=ed0c05481ae6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}} {{ea}} A photo of the pistol is in January 1984 edition of the ''Ensign''.

===Church lesson manuals===

*'''Primary manual, 1997:''' The brethren tried to bar the door shut and use their few weapons to drive off the mob. '''Joseph Smith fired a pistol''' and John Taylor used his heavy cane to try to knock down the guns of the mob as they were pushed into the room through the door, but there were too many people in the mob for the brethren to defend themselves. <br>&mdash;“Lesson 37: Joseph and Hyrum Smith Are Martyred,” ''Primary 5: Doctrine and Covenants: Church History'' (1997), 210. {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=048ba41f6cc20110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=637e1b08f338c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}} {{ea}} Note that the pistol is here described even in a children's lesson manual!

*'''Gospel Doctrine manual, Lesson 32''': '''Joseph continued snapping his revolver''' round the casing of the door into the space as before.  <br>&mdash;“To Seal the Testimony”, ''Doctrine and Covenants and Church History Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual'', 183. {{ea}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=c2719207f7c20110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=32c41b08f338c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}

===The ''History of the Church''===

*''History of the Church'' tells about the pistol x 2.

There are many more references to the pistol in Church publications.

{{SeeAlso|Joseph Smith/Martyrdom/Joseph fired a gun|Joseph Smith/Martyrdom/Hiding Joseph's gun|l1=Joseph Smith fired a pistol|l2=Hiding Joseph's gun}}

=Changes to the Word of Wisdom=

==Joseph drank wine==

{{HiddenFact|fact=Joseph drank wine while at Carthage Jail|location=''History of the Church''}}

[[Word of Wisdom|Joseph and others drank wine]] at Carthage. This fact is presented without apology in {{HoC1|vol=6|start=616}}:

<blockquote>

Before the jailor came in, his boy brought in some water, and said the guard wanted some wine. Joseph gave Dr. Richards two dollars to give the guard; but the guard said one was enough, and would take no more.

<br><br>

The guard immediately sent for a bottle of wine, pipes, and two small papers of tobacco; and one of the guards brought them into the jail soon after the jailor went out. '''Dr. Richards uncorked the bottle, and presented a glass to Joseph, who tasted, as also Brother Taylor and the doctor, and the bottle was then given to the guard''', who turned to go out. When at the top of the stairs some one below called him two or three times, and he went down. {{ea}}

</blockquote>

= Church sources discussing issues with Joseph Smith firing a pistol in Carthage Jail = 
{{HiddenFact|fact=Joseph Smith fired a gun at Carthage Jail|location=The ''Ensign'', ''History of the Church'', and elsewhere.}}

{{SummaryItem
|link=Joseph Smith fired a gun at Carthage Jail#Has the Church hidden the fact that Joseph fired a gun while in Carthage Jail?
|subject=Has the Church hidden the fact that Joseph fired a gun while in Carthage Jail?
|summary=Joseph's use of a pistol to defend himself, his brother, and his friends from an armed mob prior to his murder has been mentioned repeatedly in Church sources, including ''History of the Church..
}}

= Church sources discussing issues with Joseph Smith and politics=

==Joseph's campaign for President==

{{HiddenFact|fact=Joseph campaigned for President of the United States|location=The ''Ensign''}}

*'''February 2009, ''Ensign''''': It was unanimously decided that '''Joseph Smith would run for president of the United States on an independent platform'''. Thus began one of the most fascinating third-party presidential campaigns in American history. <br>&mdash;Arnold K. Garr, “Joseph Smith: Campaign for President of the United States,” Ensign, Feb 2009, 48–52 {{Link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=ea469d9ff732f110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}} {{ea}}

=Church sources discussing issues with Origin of the Book of Abraham and Joseph Smith papyri=

==The papyri and the Book of the Dead==

{{HiddenFact|fact=The text of the Joseph Smith papyri does not match the text of the Book of Abraham|location=The ''Improvement Era '', the ''Ensign'', "The Encyclopedia of Mormonism", FARMS }}

*'''August 1968 ''Improvement Era:''''' The largest part of the papyri in the possession of the Church consists of fragments from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. <br>&mdash;{{IE|author=Hugh Nibley|article=A New Look at the Pearl of Great Price|date=August 1968|start=56|end=57}} This issue contains color photographs of the papyri. A scan of the page from the article can be viewed [[Book of Abraham/Book of the Dead/Scan (full size)|here]].

*'''March 1976 ''Ensign:''''' A Book of Breathings text that closely matches the Joseph Smith version (and there are precious few of them) is the so-called Kerasher Book of Breathings. It too has a frontispiece, only in this case it is the same as our Facsimile No. 3, showing that it too is closely associated with our text." <br>&mdash;Hugh Nibley, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, Mar. 1976, 34–36 {{Link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=294cfd758096b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}

*'''July 1988 ''Ensign:''''' Why doesn’t the translation of the Egyptian papyri found in 1967 match the text of the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price? <br>&mdash;Michael D. Rhodes, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, July 1988, 51–53 {{Link|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=a8c1d7630a27b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}

*[https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Book_of_Abraham Encyclopedia of Mormonism - Book of Abraham]

*FARMS Website - hundreds of publications regarding the controversies surrounding it.

*Gospel Topics Essay "Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham" found on lds.org

A more complete listing of publications can be found elsewhere on the wiki.

{{Main|Book of Abraham/Publications on the Book of Abraham}}

=Church sources discussing issues with Violence and conflict=

==The Danites==

{{HiddenFact|fact=A group Church members called the Danites attacked non-Mormons|location=The ''Friend'', the ''New Era'', the ''Ensign''}}

===The ''Friend''===

*'''July 1993 ''Friend''''': One Mormon, Sampson Avard, formed a group, called the Danites, to seek revenge on the Missourians. But when the Danites attacked the nonmembers, it only gave them more reason to distrust the Saints.<br>&mdash;Sherrie Johnson, “Persecutions in Missouri,” Friend, Jul 1993, 47 {{link|url=http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=042555faa5cab010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=21bc9fbee98db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}

===The ''New Era''===

*'''March 1972 ''New Era''''': Zane Grey, Robert Louis Stevenson, Joaquin Miller, and a host of lesser-known writers have used the Danites, but perhaps the most well-known treatment is that of A. Conan Doyle in A Study of Scarlet...<br>&mdash;Neal E. Lambert and Richard H. Cracroft, “Through Gentile Eyes: A Hundred Years of the Mormon in Fiction,” New Era, Mar 1972, 14 {{link|url=http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=6abc18e7c379b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=024644f8f206c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}

===The ''Ensign''===

*'''April 1979 ''Ensign''''': Sampson Avard, an elder in Far West, may have taken license from the address to organize a covert society called the Danites which engaged in activities that did much damage to the Church’s reputation.<br>&mdash;Max H Parkin, “Missouri’s Impact on the Church,” Ensign, Apr 1979, 57 {{link|url=http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=bcf7d0640b96b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}

===Other Church magazines===

*'''March 1979 ''Tambuli''''': Exaggerated reports of this confrontation reached Governor Boggs. He was told that the Saints were burning towns, driving established settlers from their homes and undermining civil authority through the activities of a group known as the “Danites”—a band of avengers. Joseph Smith was charged with being the prime instigator but had nothing to do with it and exposed the participants when he became aware of it.<br>&mdash;Glen M. Leonard, “Triumph and Tragedy,” Tambuli, Mar 1979, 34 {{link|url=http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=ad105991d66db010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD}}

= Church sources discussing issues with Isaiah in the Book of Mormon=

{{HiddenFact|fact= the Book of Mormon contains passages from Isaiah which were supposedly written by more than one author. The second author supposedly wrote his portion of Isaiah some time after the departure of Lehi into Jerusalem. Additionally portions of Isaiah more closely match the KJV rendition|location=The ''Ensign''}}

===The Ensign===

* '''March 1980''' ''Why do the Book of Mormon selections from Isaiah sometimes parallel the King James Version and not the older—and thus presumably more accurate—Dead Sea Scrolls text?'' {{link|url=https://www.lds.org/ensign/1980/03/i-have-a-question/why-do-the-book-of-mormon-selections-from-isaiah-sometimes-parallel-the-king-james-version-and-not-the-dead-sea-scrolls-text?lang=eng}}

<blockquote> With that in mind, let me suggest two reasons why the Isaiah passages in the Book of Mormon are more like those in the King James Version than those in the Dead Sea Scrolls.</blockquote>

* '''October 1984''' ''I have a question: How do we explain material from Isaiah in the Book of Mormon''{{link|url=https://www.lds.org/ensign/1984/10/i-have-a-question/how-do-we-explain-material-from-isaiah-in-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng}}

<blockquote>The problem giving birth to the multiple-authorship theory is the prophecies of Isaiah. For example, Isaiah identifies King Cyrus of Persia by name and indicates that Cyrus will set the Israelites free of Babylon. This event actually occurred many decades after Isaiah lived. To a person with a testimony of prophecy, such a pronouncement isn’t astonishing. But to a person who lacks that testimony, it’s impossible. Those who reject the existence of prophecy as we know it have no choice but to conclude that the book of Isaiah must have been written by more than one man.</blockquote>

* '''June 1986''' ''The Book of Mormon As a Witness of the Old Testament'' {{link|url=https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/06/the-book-of-mormon-as-a-witness-of-the-old-testament?lang=eng}}

<blockquote> Critics also question whether Isaiah was the author of the book that bears his name. One of the assumptions they make is that a prophet cannot foretell. Hence, since Isaiah named Cyrus as the future deliverer of the Jews from captivity (see Isa. 44:28; Isa. 45:1), critics assume that a later person, a “deutero,” or second, Isaiah—someone who lived after Cyrus—must have written this part of Isaiah in approximately 540 B.C. (See Encyclopedia Judaica, s .v. “Isaiah.”)

For some readers, this issue casts doubt on the integrity of the Bible and on its value as an inspired authority. But those who believe the Book of Mormon know that prophets can prophesy. Christ’s name was known centuries before his birth (see 2 Ne. 10:3), and so was his mother Mary’s (see Mosiah 3:8). Joseph Smith was identified by name some 3500 years before he was born. (See 2 Ne. 3:15.) If one understands the role of a prophet, it’s not hard to believe that a prophet could have identified Cyrus by name two hundred years before he was born.

The Nephite copy of the book of Isaiah came to America in 600 B.C., several decades before so-called Deutero-Isaiah supposedly lived and wrote. And it includes quotes from both the “first-Isaiah” chapters (Isa. 1–39) and the “second-Isaiah” chapters (Isa. 40–66), giving credit to Isaiah for all. Book of Mormon prophets and the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ refer to the prophet Isaiah many times—as a man who wrote (see 1 Ne. 15:20), who spoke judgments (see 2 Ne. 25:6), who saw the premortal Messiah (see 2 Ne. 11:2), and who testified of future events (see Hel. 8:18–20). </blockquote>

=Church sources discussing issues with Anachronisms in the Book of Mormon=

{{HiddenFact|fact= the Book of Mormon contains anachronisms or things that cannot be found within the frame of time that it is claimed to fit|location=The ''Ensign'', Book of Mormon Reference Companion, and ''The Blueprint of Christ's Church''}}

===The Ensign===

*'''December 1983''' "B.H. Roberts after Fifty Years" {{link|url=https://www.lds.org/ensign/1983/12/b-h-roberts-after-fifty-years-still-witnessing-for-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng}}

<blockquote> After talking with Elder James E. Talmage and later with Elder Richard R. Lyman, he gathered, under assignment, three sets of material: (1) problems of language and anachronisms; (2) attempts to explain the Book of Mormon in terms of Joseph Smith’s environment or his imaginative mind, or both; and (3) comparison of certain passages in a manuscript by Ethan Smith entitled View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon. Out of this study grew a lengthy manuscript in three basic parts: a 140-page section entitled “Book of Mormon Difficulties”; a 285-page section entitled “A Book of Mormon Study”; and an 18-page document simply called “A Parallel.”</blockquote>

*'''June 2007''' "The Quest for Spiritual Knowledge" {{link|url=https://www.lds.org/ensign/2007/06/the-quest-for-spiritual-knowledge?lang=eng}}

<blockquote> At school the following Monday, I spoke with a good friend, not a member of the Church. He said he had a list of 50 anachronisms in the Book of Mormon that demonstrated the book was a nineteenth-century invention. An anachronism refers to something that is chronologically out of place, a bit like saying Julius Caesar drove his SUV into Rome. Well, I told my friend that he was too late, for I had received a witness of the truth of the Book of Mormon. But I said to him, “Give me your list, and I will keep it.” I did keep that list, and over the years, as more research was done by various academics, one item after another dropped off the list.

A few years ago when I was speaking to a group at Cornell University, I mentioned my list and noted that, after these many years, only one item remained. After my presentation a distinguished professor said to me, “You can remove your last item, for our studies indicate that it is not an anachronism.”</blockquote>

===Book of Mormon Reference Companion===

Dennis Largey (ed.) “Book of Mormon Reference Companion” (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2003)

This book, published through Church owned Deseret Book, has an entry dedicated to anachronisms and discusses all different animals, plants, and other materials in the Book of Mormon in detail. 

===The Blueprint of Christ's Church===

'''2015'''

<blockquote>

''Alleged Ticking Clocks''

For many years critics argued that a ticking clock was to be found in the Book of Mormon because of its references to the use of cement by the ancient inhabitants of America. The following scripture is an example: "The people who went forth became exceedingly expert in the working of cement; therefore they did build houses of cement, in the which they did dwell" (Hel 3:7). Archaeologists were "certain" that cement was not invented until years after the recorded history of the Book of Mormon in the Americas. One critic alleged: There is zero archaeological evidence that any kind of cement existed in the Americas prior to modern times." 

[. . .]

Another ticking clock was asserted soon after the Book of Mormon came forth from te printers. The existence of gold plates was hailed as ridiculous. Surely Joseph Smith knew the ancient civilizations recorded their histories on papyrus or parchments, not metal plates. All the evidence supported the critics; their argument seemed so convincing, so incontrovertible, so ironclad. Then time and truth began to work their magic. Discoveries of ancient metal plates began to unfold, and the critics' myth was shattered.<ref>Tad R. Callister, "The Blueprint of Christ's Church" (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book Company, 2015), 316&ndash;20.</ref></blockquote>

Elder Tad R. Callister wrote the book and goes on to mention "and it came to pass" and "Alma" as a name that wasn't understood as male originally but then was found to be male years later. 

= Church sources discussing issues with Blacks=

{{HiddenFact|fact=Several black individuals were ordained to the priesthood during Joseph Smith's lifetime|location=Encyclopedia of Mormonism}}

===Alan Cherry and Jessie Embry, "Blacks," ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism'' (1992; 2007)===

From the entry on "[https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Blacks Blacks]" in ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism'':

<blockquote>The reasons for these restrictions have not been revealed. Church leaders and members have explained them in different ways over time. '''Although several blacks were ordained to the priesthood in the 1830s''', there is no evidence that Joseph Smith authorized new ordinations in the 1840s, and between 1847 and 1852 Church leaders maintained that blacks should be denied the priesthood because of their lineage. According to the book of Abraham (now part of the Pearl of Great Price), the descendants of Cain were to be denied the priesthood of God (Abr. 1:23-26). Some Latter-day Saints theorized that blacks would be restricted throughout mortality. As early as 1852, however, Brigham Young said that the "time will come when they will have the privilege of all we have the privilege of and more" (Brigham Young Papers, Church Archives, Feb. 5, 1852), and increasingly in the 1960s, Presidents of the Church taught that denial of entry to the priesthood was a current commandment of God, but would not prevent blacks from eventually possessing all eternal blessings.</blockquote>

{{HiddenFact|fact=Jane Manning James did not receive her endowments and was denied them as well as the opportunity to be sealed to her family during her lifetime|location=Several books and articles}}

*H.J. Wolfinger “[https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s63n6f87 A Test of Faith: Jane Elizabeth James and the Origin of the Utah Black Community],” in ''Social Accommodation in Utah'', ed. C.S. Knowlton, 1975.

*Linda K. Newell and Valeen Tippets Avery “[https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1979/08/jane-manning-james-black-saint-1847-pioneer?lang=eng Jane Manning James: Black Saint, 1847 Pioneer]” ''Ensign'' (August 1979).

*Margaret Blair Young, "The Lord's Blessing Was With Us," in ''Women of Faith in the Latter Days, Volume Two: 1821&ndash;1845'', ed. Richard E. Turley Jr. and Brittany A. Chapman (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 2012), 132&ndash;34.

*''Church History Topics'', “[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/topics/jane-elizabeth-manning-james?lang=eng Jane Elizabeth Manning James]”.




{{endnotes sources}}
<!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->
[[es:El Mormonismo y la historia/La censura y la revisión/Ocultar los hechos]]