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|H=Response to claims made in "Chapter 2: And it Came to Pass"
|S=
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|T=[[../../|Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism]]
|A=Richard Abanes
|<=[[../Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
|>=[[../Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
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{{H2
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Becoming Gods/Chapter 2
|H=Response to claims made in Becoming Gods, "Chapter 2: And it Came to Pass"
|S=
|L1=Response to claim: 51, 353n2, 354n3 - Some Book of Mormon stories are simply reworked from the Bible or the Apocrypha
|L2=Response to claim: 55, 355n28 - The 1839 history of the Church identified the angel who delivered the plates to Joseph as Nephi rather than Moroni
|L3=Response to claim: 56, 357n34 - Joseph used his seer stone to locate the plates
|L4=Response to claim: 56, 357n35-36 - The "golden book" was originally supposed to be about "hidden treasure" — the "religious twist" was added later
|L5=Response to claim: 56 - Joseph translated the plates by looking at his seer stone in his hat. The plates were not nearby
|L6=Response to claim: 57, 358-9n47 - Each sentence and word in the 1830 Book of Mormon "had supposedly come directly from God"
|L7=Response to claim: 57-58, 359n49 - A voice from heaven proclaimed that the translation was correct, therefore no further editing should have been required
|L8=Response to claim: 58, 359n50-51 - The use of the word "synagogue" in the Book of Mormon is an anachronism
|L9=Response to claim: 58, 359n52-53 - There are anachronistic references to cows and oxen in the New World hundreds of years before Christ
|L10=Response to claim: 58, 359n52-53 - There are anachronistic references to horses in the New World hundreds of years before Christ
|L11=Response to claim: 58, 359n52-53 - There are anachronistic references to goats in the New World hundreds of years before Christ
|L12=Response to claim: 58, 359n53 - "LDS apologist John Sorenson has suggested that Smith mistranslated numerous words" from the gold plates
|L13=Response to claim: 58, 359n54 - The Book of Mormon "is simply a rehashing" of the speculation in the 19th century regarding Indian origins due to the presence of burial mounds "dotting the land"
|L14=Response to claim: 60, 360n58 - Joseph Smith incorporated text from Josiah Priest's The Wonders of Nature into the Book of Mormon
|L15=Response to claim: 60-61, 360n59-63 - Joseph Smith plagiarized Ethan Smith's View of the Hebrews
|L16=Response to claim: 61 - Anyone who looked on the gold plates would die
|L17=Response to claim: 62, 361n69-72 - The witnesses never actually physically saw the plates - they only saw them in visions
|L18=Response to claim: 64 - Martin Harris said that he never saw the plates with his "natural eyes"
|L19=Response to claim: 64, 362n81-82 - Cowdery, Whitmer and Harris's statements that they actually saw the plates only refer to times that the plates were either covered with a cloth or in a wooden box
|L20=Response to claim: 64, 362n83-84 - Martin Harris said that none of the eight witnesses had seen or handled the plates
|L21=Response to claim: 65 - The Book of Mormon "can hardly be considered unique" since James Strang produced a set of plates that were seen by witnesses
|L22=Response to claim: 65, 362n87 - LDS defenders (apologists) have redefined many of the terms that Joseph Smith used in the Book of Mormon text
|L23=Response to claim: 66, 362n88 - LDS scholars such as Dee F. Green have stated that Book of Mormon archaeology is a "myth"
|L24=Response to claim: 66, 362n89 - Dr. Michael Coe stated that there was no Book of Mormon archaeology
|L25=Response to claim: 66, 363n92 - LDS scholar Terryl L. Givens "admitted" that no connection has been made between the Book of Mormon and cultures or civilizations in the Western hemisphere
|L26=Response to claim: 67, 363n95-96 - The limited geography theory "cannot bear rigorous scrutiny" and "does violence" to the text of the Book of Mormon
|L27=Response to claim: 67, 363n99 - Apologists have suggested that "not a single early Mormon, including Joseph Smith, ever bothered reading the Book of Mormon 'closely enough to grasp the fact' " that the plates were not buried in the hill where the final Nephite battle occurred
|L28=Response to claim: 70, 365n115 - Joseph Smith said that the angel told him that all American Indians were "literal descendants of Abraham," but DNA has disproved this
|L29=Response to claim: 71, 365n120 - Joseph Smith founded the "Restored Church" on the belief that all Native Americans were descendants of the Israelites
|L30=Response to claim: 72, 366 n.127 - All modern Mormons believed that all inhabitants of the New World were descendants of the Lamanites until "science showed it to be erroneous"
|L31=Response to claim: 72, 366n128 - The "updated LDS paradigm" claims that Nephites intermarried with non-Israelite natives, thus diluting their DNA
|L32=Response to claim: 72, 366n130 - The LDS view has always been that Israelites were the first people to populate the Americas
|L33=Response to claim: 73, 367n131-135 - Not many Christians actually believe that the world was created around 4000 B.C.
|L34=Response to claim: 73, 367n136 - The Lamanites were supposed to become "white" once they converted en masse to Mormonism. This was to be accomplished by having LDS men take Indian wives
|L35=Response to claim: 73, 367n137 - The phrase "white and delightsome" was changed to "pure and delightsome" in the Book of Mormon
|L36=Response to claim: 73, 367n138 - LDS leaders claimed that the alteration to the Book of Mormon had nothing to do with the Indians physically turning white
|L37=Response to claim: 74 - LDS apologists dismiss Church teachings in order to make Mormonism compatible with scientific findings
|L38=Response to claim: 75, 368n142, 76, 368n143 - LDS apologist B.H. Roberts "reached a shocking conclusion" that the Book of Mormon wasn't authentic
|L39=Response to claim: 76 - FARMS claims that Roberts was playing "devils advocate," but have never provided documentation to support this assertion
|L40=Response to claim: 77 368n145-147 - Thomas Stuart Ferguson lost his testimony of the Book of Mormon after failing to find archaeological evidence
|L41=Response to claim: 77 369n150-153 - LDS scholars believe that Quetzalcoatl was Jesus Christ. However, Quetzalcoatl's association with a "feathered serpent" constitutes "snake worship"
}}
</onlyinclude>

==Response to claim: 51, 353n2, 354n3 - Some Book of Mormon stories are simply reworked from the Bible or the Apocrypha==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
Some Book of Mormon stories are simply reworked from the Bible or the Apocrypha.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{CriticalWork:Brodie:No Man Knows|pages=62-63}}
}}
{{propaganda|The author simply repeats Fawn Brodie's speculation. There is no actual evidence to support this claim.
}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith create the story of Nephi and Laban by plagiarizing concepts and phrases from the story of Judith and Holofernes in the Apocrypha?}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith copy the name "Nephi" from the Apocrypha?}}

==Response to claim: 55, 355n28 - The 1839 history of the Church identified the angel who delivered the plates to Joseph as Nephi rather than Moroni==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
The 1839 history of the Church identified the angel who delivered the plates to Joseph as Nephi rather than Moroni.
|authorsources=<br>
*Joseph Smith 1839 History
*''Millennial Star'', vol. 3, no 12, pp. 53, 71.
*1851 Pearl of Great Price, "Joseph Smith History," p. 41
*Lucy Mack Smith, ''Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors for many Generations'', p. 79.
*John C. Whitmer, "The Eight Witnesses," published in Andrew Jenson, HR, Oct. 1888, vol. 7, p. 621."
}}
{{misinformation|This was a scribal error that was propagated into a number of other sources.
}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith originally identify the angel that visited him as "Nephi" instead of "Moroni"?}}

<!-- ====56====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=The name "Nephi" is related to "generic terms used by nineteenth-century occultists for spirit messengers."
}}
* {{SecondaryFact}}
|authorsources=<br>
#{{CriticalWork:Quinn:Magic World View|pages=198-199}}
}} -->

==Response to claim: 56, 357n34 - Joseph used his seer stone to locate the plates==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
Joseph used his seer stone to locate the plates.
|authorsources=<br>
*Martin Harris, ''Tiffany's Monthly'' interview, 1859.
*Hosea Stout, ''On the Mormon Frontier: The Diary of Hosea Stout'', Juanita Brooks, ed., vol. 2. p. 593.
}}
{{information|This is likely true. After Moroni told Joseph of the plates, there is an account of him looking into his seer stone and seeing the hill in which they were buried.
}}
{{:Question: How were Joseph Smith's seer stones involved in the translation of the Book of Mormon?}}
<!-- ====56, 357n33====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=Joseph Smith's vision of Moroni may have taken place through his seer stone.
}}
* [[Joseph Smith/Seer stones]]
|authorsources=<br>
#Steven C. Walker, "Joseph Smith: 'The Gift of Seeing,'" in Bryan Waterman ed., ''The Prophet Puzzle'', p. 97.
}} -->

==Response to claim: 56, 357n35-36 - The "golden book" was originally supposed to be about "hidden treasure" &mdash; the "religious twist" was added later==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
The "golden book" was originally supposed to be about "hidden treasure" &mdash; the "religious twist" was added later.
|authorsources=<br>
*Parley Chase, letter to James T. Cobb, Apr. 3, 1879, in {{CriticalWork:Wyl:Mormon Portraits Volume First|pages=276}} , reprinted in {{EarlyMormonDocs1|vol=3|start=135}}
*Hiel Lewis, ''The Amboy Journal'', Apr. 30, 1879, quoted in Wesley P. Walters, "The Mormon Prophet Attempts to Join the Methodists"
}}
{{disinformation|These supposed "early" accounts comes from hostile statements made forty to fifty years later!
*{{FR-18-1-5}}
*{{FR-17-1-4}}
}}

==Response to claim: 56 - Joseph translated the plates by looking at his seer stone in his hat. The plates were not nearby==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
Joseph translated the plates by looking at his seer stone in his hat. The plates were not nearby.
|authorsources=<br>
#Isaac Hale, "Mormonism," ''Susquehanna Register'', and Northern Pennsylvanian, May 1, 1834, p. 1.
}}
{{information|Joseph translated the plates while looking at the seer stone, which was placed in a hat to block out the light. The plates could remain covered on the table.
}}
{{:Question: Why were the gold plates needed at all if they weren't used directly during the translation process?}}

==Response to claim: 57, 358-9n47 - Each sentence and word in the 1830 Book of Mormon "had supposedly come directly from God"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
Each sentence and word in the 1830 Book of Mormon "had supposedly come directly from God."
|authorsources=<br>
#Joseph F. Smith, quoted by Oliver B. Huntington, ''Journal of Oliver Huntington'', p. 168.
}}
{{propaganda|This is fundamentalist speculation.
}}
{{:Question: Was every word of the Book of Mormon translation provided directly from God?}}

==Response to claim: 57-58, 359n49 - A voice from heaven proclaimed that the translation was correct, therefore no further editing should have been required==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
A voice from heaven proclaimed that the translation was correct, therefore no further editing should have been required.
}}
{{propaganda|A translation may be correct, and yet another way of expressing the idea may be equally (or more) correct.  There is no such thing as a perfect or "one true" translation.
|authorsources=<br>
#''History of the Church'', vol. 1, pp. 54-55.
}}

==Response to claim: 58, 359n50-51 - The use of the word "synagogue" in the Book of Mormon is an anachronism==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
The use of the word "synagogue" in the Book of Mormon is an anachronism.
|authorsources=<br>
*Book of Mormon, 1830 edition, p. 268
*{{s||Alma|16|13}}
*The ''New International Dictionary of the Bible'', p. 972
}}
{{misinformation|The claim that no synagogues were present before the Babylonian captivity is based on out-of-date information.
}}
{{:Question: Why does the Book of Mormon mention "synagogues" when they were not present among the Jews until after the Babylonian captivity?}}

==Response to claim: 58, 359n52-53 - There are anachronistic references to cows and oxen in the New World hundreds of years before Christ==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
There are anachronistic references to cows in the New World hundreds of years before Christ.
|authorsources=<br>
*{{s|1|Nephi|18|25}}
*Thomas D.S. Key, ""A Biologist Looks at the Book of Mormon,"" Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, June 1985, XXX-VIII, p. 3."
}}
{{information|The current consensus is that ancient Americans did not keep herds of large animals for use as food. There is, however, some evidence to the contrary.
}}
{{:Source:Sorensen:Ancient American Setting:294:Cattle}}
{{:Source:Miller and Roper:Animals in the Book of Mormon:Interpreter:Cattle and horses}}
{{:Source:Pietro Martire d'Anghiera:Herds of deer}}

==Response to claim: 58, 359n52-53 - There are anachronistic references to horses in the New World hundreds of years before Christ==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
There are anachronistic references to horses in the New World hundreds of years before Christ.
|authorsources=<br>
*{{s|1|Nephi|18|25}}
*Thomas D.S. Key, ""A Biologist Looks at the Book of Mormon,"" Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, June 1985, XXX-VIII, p. 3."
}}
{{information|Ancient horses are believed to have vanished before the time of the Lehite's arrival, and modern horses were brought to the New World by the Spaniards. Yet there are a few pieces of circumstantial evidence of horses which are currently not accepted as valid by the scientific community. The idea that all defenders of the Church (e.g. "apologists") believe that New World horses are actually "tapirs" is a popular strawman put forth by the ex-Mormon community, and only represents a single suggestion offered by LDS anthropologist John L. Sorenson.
}}
{{:Question: Why are horses considered an anachronism in the Book of Mormon?}}
{{:Question: What is the origin of the modern horse in the New World?}}
{{:Source:BoM verses:Horses}}
{{:Question:What role do horses ''not'' play in the Book of Mormon?}}
{{:Question:Have any ancient horse remains from the Nephite period been found in the New World?}}
{{:Question:Why don't potential pre-Columbian horse remains in the New World receive greater attention from scientists?}}
{{:Question:Could ancient Americans have expanded the definition of "horse" to include new meanings?}}
{{:Source:JBMS:10:1:Out of the Dust:Horse bones in Yucatan}}
{{:Source:Martin:The Discovery of America:Science 179:974:No theoretical reason mastodons, horses and slots could not have survived}}
{{:Source:Grayson:Deciphering North American Pleistocene Extinctions:5:losses...ended in Florida perhaps as recently as 2000 years ago}}
{{:Source:Bernardino de Sahagun:The War of Conquest: How It Was Waged Here in Mexico:Aztecs viewed Spanish horses as deer}}
{{:Source:Reexploring the Book of Mormon:Ch:26:1:Excavations at the Post-Classic site of Mayapan in Yucatan in 1957}}

==Response to claim: 58, 359n52-53 - There are anachronistic references to goats in the New World hundreds of years before Christ==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
There are anachronistic references to goats in the New World hundreds of years before Christ.
|authorsources=<br>
*{{s|1|Nephi|18|25}}
*Thomas D.S. Key, ""A Biologist Looks at the Book of Mormon,"" Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, June 1985, XXX-VIII, p. 3."
}}
{{misinformation|Modern goats were brought to the New World by the Spaniards in the same manner as modern horses. However, according to Wikipedia, "The mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus), also known as the Rocky Mountain goat, is a large-hoofed mammal found only in North America." <ref>Wikipedia article "Mountain goat" (accessed 8 January 2015) {{link|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_goat}}</ref>
}}
{{:Source:Miller and Roper:Animals in the Book of Mormon:Interpreter:Goats}}
{{:Source:Miller and Roper:Animals in the Book of Mormon:Interpreter:Wild goats}}

==Response to claim: 58, 359n53 - "LDS apologist John Sorenson has suggested that Smith mistranslated numerous words" from the gold plates==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
"LDS apologist John Sorenson has suggested that Smith mistranslated numerous words" from the gold plates and that "cattle and oxen should have been rendered deer and bison," and that "horses should also have been translated deer."
}}
{{misinformation|Sorenson does ''not'' say they are a mistranslation.  He says that linguistic patterns of naming new animals show us that the name of a familiar animal is often used to name a new animal that has only passing resemblance to the familiar creature.
|authorsources=<br>
#John L. Sorenson, ''An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon'', pp. 191-276, 299.
}}

==Response to claim: 58, 359n54 - The Book of Mormon "is simply a rehashing" of the speculation in the 19th century regarding Indian origins due to the presence of burial mounds "dotting the land"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
The Book of Mormon "is simply a rehashing" of the speculation in the 19th century regarding Indian origins due to the presence of burial mounds "dotting the land."
|authorsources=<br>
#{{CriticalWork:Brodie:No Man Knows|pages=34}}
}}
{{propaganda|The author is simply repeating Fawn Brodie's speculation.
}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith believe that the Book of Mormon explained local legends associated with the "Mound Builders" of the Eastern United States?}}

==Response to claim: 60, 360n58 - Joseph Smith incorporated text from Josiah Priest's ''The Wonders of Nature'' into the Book of Mormon==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
Joseph Smith incorporated text from Josiah Priest's ''The Wonders of Nature'' into the Book of Mormon.
|authorsources=<br>
*Josiah Priest, ''The Wonders of Nature'', 1825
*Abanes, p. 69
}}
{{propaganda|The Tanners are the source of this comparison, although it is not explicitly stated by the author. The author does mention that the Tanners demonstrate that a copy of the book was available in the Manchester library. However, just because a book was available in the library does not prove that Joseph used Priest's book to produce Book of Mormon text. There is no evidence that such a thing ever happened.
}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith plagiarize Josiah Priest's ''The Wonders of Nature and Providence Displayed''?}}

==Response to claim: 60-61, 360n59-63 - Joseph Smith plagiarized Ethan Smith's View of the Hebrews==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
Joseph Smith plagiarized Ethan Smith's View of the Hebrews.
|authorsources=<br>
*Ethan Smith, ''View of the Hebrews'', 1825
*David Persuitte, p. 107, 122
*Sandra Tanner, "Where Did Joseph Smith Get His Ideas for the Book of Mormon?"
}}
{{misinformation|Regarding the claim of plagiarism, the two books are so different that BYU actually republished it so that it could be made more widely available to those who wanted to compare them.
}}
{{:Question: Could Joseph Smith have used Ethan Smith's ''View of the Hebrews'' as a guideline for creating the Book of Mormon?}}
{{:Question: Was the ''View of the Hebrews'' theory of Book of Mormon origin advanced during the lifetime of Joseph Smith?}}
{{:Question: What are the similarities and differences between ''View of the Hebrews'' and the Book of Mormon?}}

==Response to claim: 61 - Anyone who looked on the gold plates would die==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
Anyone who looked on the gold plates would die.
|authorsources=<br>
#Martin Harris, ''Tiffany's Monthly'' interview, 1859.
}}
{{misinformation|Joseph said that ''he'' would be destroyed if ''he'' showed the plates to anyone, not that anyone else would be destroyed.
}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith say that viewing the gold plates would result in death?}}

==Response to claim: 62, 361n69-72 - The witnesses never actually physically saw the plates - they only saw them in visions==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
The witnesses never actually physically saw the plates - they only saw them in visions.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{CriticalWork:Palmer:Insider|pages=175-176}}
}}
{{disinformation|The author takes Grant Palmer's assertion and treats it as fact. There are many statements from the witnesses indicating that they physically viewed the plates.
}}
{{:Question: Did the three witnesses's experience of seeing the plates and the angel take place only in their minds?}}

==Response to claim: 64 - Martin Harris said that he never saw the plates with his "natural eyes"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
Martin Harris said that he never saw the plates with his "natural eyes."
|authorsources=<br>
#LDS apostle Stephen Burnett, letter to Lyman E. Johnson, April 15, 1838 reprinted in Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'' 2:291
}}
{{misinformation|{{SourceDistortion}} Harris said many times that he actually saw the plates, but he sometimes used scriptural language to describe the experience. Critics assume this to mean that he didn't actually see them, or that it was his imagination.
}}

{{:Question: Did Martin Harris tell people that he did not see the plates with his natural eyes, but rather the "eye of faith"?}}
{{:Question: Did Martin Harris tell people that he only saw the plates with his "spiritual eye"?}}
{{:Question: Why would Martin Harris use the phrases "eye of faith" or "spiritual eye" to describe his visionary experience?}}
{{:Question: Do Martin Harris's statements related to the "spiritual eye" or "eye of faith" contradict the reality of his witness?}}

==Response to claim: 64, 362n81-82 - Cowdery, Whitmer and Harris's statements that they actually saw the plates only refer to times that the plates were either covered with a cloth or in a wooden box==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
Cowdery, Whitmer and Harris's statements that they actually saw the plates only refer to times that the plates were either covered with a cloth or in a wooden box.
|authorsources=<br>
*{{CriticalWork:Palmer:Insider|pages=198-199}}
*Harris, Tiffany's Monthly interview, 1859."
}}
{{disinformation|This is a false statement.
}}
{{:Question: Did Martin Harris claim that he only saw the gold plates as they were covered "as a city through a mountain"?}}

==Response to claim: 64, 362n83-84 - Martin Harris said that none of the eight witnesses had seen or handled the plates==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
Martin Harris said that none of the eight witnesses had seen or handled the plates.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{CriticalWork:Palmer:Insider|pages=204-206}}
}}
{{misinformation|This is a second-hand quote of something that Martin Harris is alleged to have said. Critics of the Church usually quote the "hesitated to sign" statement without noting that Harris is said to have retracted everything that he had previously said.
}}
{{:Question: Did Martin Harris claim that he only saw the gold plates as they were covered "as a city through a mountain"?}}

==Response to claim: 65 - The Book of Mormon "can hardly be considered unique" since James Strang produced a set of plates that were seen by witnesses==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
The Book of Mormon "can hardly be considered unique" since James Strang produced a set of plates that were seen by witnesses.
}}
{{misinformation|The author fails to tell us that the Strangite witnesses only testified about how the plates were found, and some of these witnesses (unlike the Book of Mormon witnesses) [[Book of Mormon witnesses/Recant|recanted]] later.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{CriticalWork:Palmer:Insider|pages=208-212}}
|provenance={{CriticalWork:Tanner:Changing World|pages=99-100}}
|provenance2={{CriticalWork:Palmer:Insider|pages=208-212}}
}}
{{:Question: Who was James Strang?}}
{{:Question: Of what did the Strangite witnesses testify?}}
{{:Question: What are the differences between the Strangite witnesse statements and those of the Three and Eight Witnesses to the Book of Mormon?}}

==Response to claim: 65, 362n87 - LDS defenders (apologists) have redefined many of the terms that Joseph Smith used in the Book of Mormon text==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
LDS defenders (apologists) have redefined many of the terms that Joseph Smith used in the Book of Mormon text: steel means iron, horses are deer, tents are huts, etc.
}}
{{misinformation|The author quotes no "apologists," but only two critics. LDS defenders argue that such terms have more than one meaning, and that ancient linguistic conventions sometimes apply old terms to new concepts.  This version is a straw man and caricature of the argument, which the author has either not understood or misrepresented.
|authorsources=<br>
#Dan Vogel, Brent Metcalfe, ''American Apocrypha'', p. xiii.
}}

==Response to claim: 66, 362n88 - LDS scholars such as Dee F. Green have stated that Book of Mormon archaeology is a "myth"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
LDS scholars such as Dee F. Green have stated that Book of Mormon archaeology is a "myth."
}}
{{misinformation|Green argued&mdash;''in 1969''&mdash;that the requisite work had not been done.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Dialogue1|author=Dee F. Green|article=Book of Mormon Archaeology: The Myths and the Alternatives|date=Summer 1969|vol=4|num=3|start=72-80}}
}}
* [[../../Use of sources/Dee F. Green on Book of Mormon archaeology|Dee F. Green on Book of Mormon archaeology]]
* It is telling that the author must resort to a source that is at least 35 years old.  A more current assessment is available:
** {{JBMS-14-2-8}}
{{:Question: Did Dee F. Green say that there is no such thing as Book of Mormon archaeology?}}

==Response to claim: 66, 362n89 - Dr. Michael Coe stated that there was no Book of Mormon archaeology==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
Dr. Michael Coe stated that there was no Book of Mormon archaeology.
|authorsources=<br>
#Michael Coe, "Mormons and Archaeology: An Outside View," ''Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought'' (Winter 1973), vol. 8, p. 44.
}}
{{misinformation|The assumption by critics that LDS associate the Nephites and the Lamanites with "the Maya" is an oversimplification of the facts. Most Church members view "the Maya" as a single, homogeneous group of people whom they associate with the magnificent ruins of the Classic Mayan civilization found in Mesoamerica. LDS research has focused on identifying the characteristics of the Preclassic Mayan culture, which does indeed cover the time period addressed by the Book of Mormon.
}}
{{:Question: Do Latter-day Saints believe that Mayan cities were inhabited by the Nephites?}}
{{:Question: Were Mayan cities inhabited by the Nephites?}}
{{:Question: Is it possible that the Nephites and Lamanites are associated with the pre-Classic Maya, and the Jaredites are associated with the Olmec?}}
{{:Question: Who are the Maya, and how might they be related to the Nephites or Lamanites?}}
{{:Question: How do current Mesoamerican limited geographical theories fit with the existing data?}}
{{:Question: What is the focus of Latter-day Saint research regarding the Maya?}}

==Response to claim: 66, 363n92 - LDS scholar Terryl L. Givens "admitted" that no connection has been made between the Book of Mormon and cultures or civilizations in the Western hemisphere==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
LDS scholar Terryl L. Givens "admitted" that no connection has been made between the Book of Mormon and cultures or civilizations in the Western hemisphere.
}}
{{propaganda|The author hides more information in his endnote, in which he acknowledges (or in the author's terminology "admits") that Givens "however, also quoted BYU professor Daniel Peterson, who made a statement in support of the BOM's unique character."  
|authorsources=<br>
#Terryl L. Givens, ''By the Hand of Mormon'', p. 155. 
}}
*See {{FR-2-1-1}}

==Response to claim: 67,  363n95-96 - The limited geography theory "cannot bear rigorous scrutiny" and "does violence" to the text of the Book of Mormon==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
The limited geography theory "cannot bear rigorous scrutiny" and "does violence" to the text of the Book of Mormon.
}}
{{misinformation|On p. 66, the author cited Green's opinion from 1969.  Green argues that a limited geography should be given serious consideration, and that seeing all Amerindians as only Lamanites is a mistake not supported by the text.  But, the author will not accept Green's view of ''this'' matter.
|authorsources=<br>
*Vogel and Metcalfe, ''American Apocrypha'', pp. viii-ix.
*Deanne G. Matheny, "Does the Shoe Fit? A critique of the Limited tehuantepec Geography," in ''New Approaches to the Book of Mormon: Explorations in Critical Methodology.''
}}

==Response to claim: 67, 363n99 - Apologists have suggested that "not a single early Mormon, including Joseph Smith, ever bothered reading the Book of Mormon 'closely enough to grasp the fact' " that the plates were not buried in the hill where the final Nephite battle occurred==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
Apologists have suggested that "not a single early Mormon, including Joseph Smith, ever bothered reading the Book of Mormon 'closely enough to grasp the fact' " that the plates were not buried in the hill where the final Nephite battle occurred.
}}
{{misinformation|The author omits the line preceding the quoted phrase, where Sorenson and Roper indicate that "there is no evidence that in the early years any detailed thought was given to geography.  Actually, the Book of Mormon was little referred to or used among church members in the first decades except as a confirming witness of the Bible. The writings or preaching of some of the best-informed church leaders of that day show that they did not read the text carefully on matters other than doctrine." Early members' preoccupations and interests were almost entirely doctrinal and theological.  Since geography is incidental to the Book of Mormon's message, this is to be expected. If Joseph Smith was the author of the Book of Mormon, his ignorance on such points would be astonishing.  Since he was only a translator, however, the fact that he was unaware of some of the book's nuances is unsurprising.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{JBMS-12-1-2}}, p. 10. <!-- Sorenson and Roper-->
}}

==Response to claim: 70, 365n115 - Joseph Smith said that the angel told him that ''all'' American Indians were "literal descendants of Abraham," but DNA has disproved this==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
Joseph Smith said that the angel told him that ''all'' American Indians were "literal descendants of Abraham," but DNA has disproved this.
}}
{{misinformation|All Amerindians ''are'' descendants of Lehi; they are not ''exclusive'' descendants of Lehi On p. 66, the author cited Green's opinion from 1969.  Green argues that seeing all Amerindians as only Lamanites is a mistake not supported by the text.  But, the author will not accept Green's view of ''this'' matter.  Further, this is evidence for the position (which the author mocks on p. 67) that Joseph did not know his own book's contents.
|authorsources=<br>
*Joseph Smith's 1835 account of the First Vision found in the ''Ohio Journal&mdash;1835-1836, Nov. 9, 1835, reprinted in Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', vol. 1, p. 44.
*Joseph Smith, Mar. 1, 1842, letter to John Wentworth, ''History of the Church'', Vol. 4, p. 537.
*Meldrum, "Children of Lehi"
}}
{{:Question: What is Lehi's ancestry?}}

==Response to claim: 71, 365n120 - Joseph Smith founded the "Restored Church" on the belief that all Native Americans were descendants of the Israelites==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
Joseph Smith founded the "Restored Church" on the belief that all Native Americans were descendants of the Israelites.
}}
{{misinformation|ll Amerindians ''are'' descendants of Lehi; they are not ''just'' descendants of Lehi:
|authorsources=<br>
#Oliver Cowdery's Speech to the Delawares. Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt.
}}
{{:Gospel Topics:Book of Mormon and DNA Studies:The Book of Mormon...does not claim that the peoples it describes were either the predominant or the exclusive inhabitants of the lands they occupied}}
{{:Question: Does the Church claim that Native Americans were the exclusive descendants of Lehi or Mulek?}}

==Response to claim: 72, 366 n.127 - All modern Mormons believed that all inhabitants of the New World were descendants of the Lamanites until "science showed it to be erroneous"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
All modern Mormons believed that all inhabitants of the New World were descendants of the Lamanites until "science showed it to be erroneous."
}}
{{misinformation|The Green article argued in ''1969'' that Lehites were not the only source of Amerindian stock. The Green article proves that "all modern Mormons" did not think this.  There are also many other statements which show that this view was not universal:
|authorsources=<br>
#{{s||D&C|54|8}}&mdash;"And thus you shall take your journey into the regions westward, unto the land of Missouri, unto the borders of the Lamanites"
}}
{{:Question: Does a Mesoamerican limited geographical Book of Mormon setting contradict D&C 54:8, which discusses the "borders of the Lamanites" being in North America?}}
{{:Question: Who can be called "Lamanites"?}}

==Response to claim: 72, 366n128 - The "updated LDS paradigm" claims that Nephites intermarried with non-Israelite natives, thus diluting their DNA==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
The "updated LDS paradigm" claims that Nephites intermarried with non-Israelite natives, thus diluting their DNA.
}}
{{misinformation|While the Latter-day Saints are not opposed to new insights and concepts in principle, this is not an example of such&mdash;statements show that this "updated paradigm" has had advocates for at least one hundred years.
|authorsources=<br>
#Cooper Johnson, [http://www.fairlds.org/Book_of_Mormon/DNA_and_the_Book_of_Mormon.html DNA and the Book of Mormon], FAIR web site
}}
*[[Book of Mormon geography/Statements|Statements about Book of Mormon geography and peoples]]

==Response to claim: 72, 366n130 - The LDS view has ''always'' been that Israelites were the first people to populate the Americas==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
The LDS view has ''always'' been that Israelites were the first people to populate the Americas, since the land was "kept from the knowledge of other nations."
}}
{{misinformation|The word "land" that was "kept from the knowledge of other nations" does not mean the entire North and South American continent. It refers to the land that was first settled by the Lehits. The Green article proves that "all modern Mormons" did not think this.  There are also many other statements which show that this view was not universal. {{InternalContradiction|66}}: The Green article argued in ''1969'' that Lehites were not the only source of Amerindian stock.
|authorsources=<br>
*{{s|2|Nephi|1|6}}
*J. Reuben Clark, "Prophecies, Penalties, and Blessings," ''Improvement Era'', July 1940, vol. xliii., no. 7 quoted in Bill McKeever, "DNA and the Book of Mormon Record," Mormonism Research Ministry.
}}

==Response to claim: 73, 367n131-135 - Not many Christians actually believe that the world was created around 4000 B.C.==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
Not many Christians actually believe that the world was created around 4000 B.C., or that the flood occurred around 2000 B.C. In fact, "[T]he majority of traditional Christians understand that the world is older than 6000 years," therefore the claim that the DNA argument is fundamentalist "suicide bombing" is false.
}}
{{propaganda|The author ignores that many critics who ''use'' DNA evidence against the Book of Mormon ''do'' belong to denominations that advocate a Young Earth and/or a universal Noachian flood. The criticism is therefore valid as it applies to them.
|authorsources=<br>
*No source is provided by the author for his claim that the "majority of Christians" understand that the world is older than 6000 years.
*Daniel C. Peterson, FAIR Conference, untitled lecture, Aug. 8, 2003, author's private notes.
*David Stewart, [http://www.fairlds.org/Book_of_Mormon/DNA_and_the_Book_of_Mormon_2.html "DNA and the Book of Mormon"]
}}
{{:Question: Do Christian critics of the Book of Mormon have a double standard regarding DNA evidence?}}

==Response to claim: 73, 367n136 - The Lamanites were supposed to become "white" once they converted ''en masse'' to Mormonism. This was to be accomplished by having LDS men take Indian wives==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
The Lamanites were supposed to become "white" once they converted ''en masse'' to Mormonism. This was to be accomplished by having LDS men take Indian wives.
|authorsources=<br>
#W.W. Phelps, "Revelation Received West of Jackson County, Missouri, July 17, 1831," reprinted in H. Michael Marquardt, ''The Joseph Smith Revelations: Text & Commentary'', p. 375.
}}
{{misinformation|The revelation is based upon a late recollection from W.W. Phelps, and there is no evidence that it was suppressed, as the Tanners assert.
}}
{{:Question: Did the Church suppress a revelation given to Joseph Smith in 1831 which encouraged the implementation of polygamy by intermarriage with the Indians in order to make them a “white and delightsome” people?}}
{{:Question: Was Ezra Booth commanded to take a wife from among the Indians?}}

==Response to claim: 73, 367n137 - The phrase "white and delightsome" was changed to "pure and delightsome" in the Book of Mormon==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
The phrase "white and delightsome" was changed to "pure and delightsome" in the Book of Mormon.
}}
{{information|The change was made by Joseph Smith in 1836; it was not made under the influence of science or DNA.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{s|2|Nephi|30|6}} (pre-1981 edition)
}}
{{:Question: Why was the phrase "white and delightsome" changed to "pure and delightsome" in the 1840 edition of the Book of Mormon?}}

==Response to claim: 73, 367n138 - LDS leaders claimed that the alteration to the Book of Mormon had nothing to do with the Indians physically turning white==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
LDS leaders claimed that the alteration to the Book of Mormon had nothing to do with the Indians physically turning white. LDS leaders taught that the curse would one day be removed.
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{propaganda|This is nonsense. Church leaders never mentioned the idea of the Lamanites "turning white" in connection with Joseph Smith's alteration to the Book of Mormon text.
}}
{{:Question: What was the Lamanite curse?}}
{{:Question: Did some Church leaders believe that the skin of the Lamanites would turn white?}}

==Response to claim: 74 - LDS apologists dismiss Church teachings in order to make Mormonism compatible with scientific findings==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
LDS apologists dismiss Church teachings in order to make Mormonism compatible with scientific findings.
}}
{{propaganda|Church leaders and members have not been of one mind on this issue about which there is no official Church position. The author has failed to account for material in the sources he cites which disprove his claim.
|authorsources=<br>
#Author's opinion
}}

==Response to claim: 75, 368n142, 76, 368n143 - LDS apologist B.H. Roberts "reached a shocking conclusion" that the Book of Mormon wasn't authentic==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
LDS apologist B.H. Roberts "reached a shocking conclusion" that the Book of Mormon wasn't authentic. B.H. Roberts "had come to realize that the Book of Mormon was a nonhistorical document."
}}
{{disinformation|Roberts explicitly said that these conclusions did not represent his own thinking. B.H. Roberts wrote the material contained in ''Studies of the Book of Mormon'' to illustrate the positions that ''critics'' would take. He was playing "devil's advocate" for the purpose of inspiring Church leadership to work on a better defense (as critics typically point out, Roberts was a "LDS apologist").
|authorsources=<br>
#B.H. Roberts, ''Studies of the Book of Mormon'', p. 271, 243.
}}
{{:Question: Did B.H. Roberts lose his faith in the Church and the Book of Mormon?}}

==Response to claim: 76 - FARMS claims that Roberts was playing "devils advocate," but have never provided documentation to support this assertion==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
FARMS claims that Roberts was playing "devils advocate," but have never provided documentation to support this assertion. They only focus on his declarations that he made before he reached his "final conclusion."
}}
{{misinformation|here are statements both before ''and'' after his conclusion, some within weeks of Roberts' death.
|authorsources=<br>
#Truman G. Madsen, "B.H. Roberts and the Book of Mormon," ''BYU Studies'' (Summer 1979), volume 19, pp. 427-445.
}}
*[[../../Use of sources/Madsen-B.H. Roberts and the Book of Mormon|Use of sources&mdash;Roberts and the Book of Mormon]]
{{:Question: Did B.H. Roberts lose his faith in the Church and the Book of Mormon?}}

==Response to claim: 77 368n145-147 - Thomas Stuart Ferguson lost his testimony of the Book of Mormon after failing to find archaeological evidence==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
Thomas Stuart Ferguson lost his testimony of the Book of Mormon after failing to find archaeological evidence.
|authorsources=<br>
*Thomas Stuart Ferguson, ''One fold and One Shepherd''.
*Jerald and Sandra Tanner, "Ferguson's Two Faces," ''Salt Lake City Messenger'' #69, Sept. 1988, p. 3
*Ferguson letter dated Feb. 9, 1976.
*Ferguson letter dated Feb. 9, 1976.
}}
{{misinformation|Ferguson was not in charge of the archaeology program at BYU. He wasn't even an archaeologist - he was a lawyer for whom archaeology was a hobby. Whether or not he lost his testimony is irrelevant.
}}
{{:Question: Was Thomas Stuart Ferguson an archaeologist?}}
{{:Source:Peterson and Roper:FR 16:1:We know of no one who cites Ferguson as an authority, except countercultists}}
{{:Source:Peterson:FR 16:1:makes every effort to portray Ferguson's apparent eventual loss of faith as a failure for 'LDS archaeology'}}
{{:Source:Gee:FR 10:2:Ferguson is largely unknown to the vast majority of Latter-day Saints; his impact on Book of Mormon studies is minimal}}

==Response to claim: 77 369n150-153 - LDS scholars believe that Quetzalcoatl was Jesus Christ. However, Quetzalcoatl's association with a "feathered serpent" constitutes "snake worship"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=Becoming Gods
|claim=
LDS scholars believe that Quetzalcoatl was Jesus Christ. However, Quetzalcoatl's association with a "feathered serpent" constitutes "snake worship," and is therefore inconsistent with worship of Jesus Christ.
|authorsources=<br>
*John L. Sorenson, "The Decline of the God Quetzalcoatl, " in ''Pressing Forward with the Book of Mormon'', p. 234.
*Joseph Allen, ''Exploring the Lands of the Book of Mormon''.
*Joseph Allen, [http://www.meridianmagazine.com/articles/030926white.html "The White god Quetzalcoatl,"] ''Meridian Magazine'', 2003.
*Adela Fernandez, ''Pre-Hispanic Gods of Mexico'', p. 68
*Quetzalcoatl the Myth, www.weber.ucsd.edu.
}}
{{disinformation|At best, ''some'' LDS scholars see Quetzalcoatl as a cultural memory or corruption of Christ's visit and teachings. Other LDS scholars, however, strongly disagree.  For example:
*{{FR-20-1-3}}
*{{FR-19-1-4}}
*{{FR-13-2-4}}
*{{SecondWitness1|vol=4|start=1&ndash;}}
}}
{{:Question: Do Latter-day Saints believe that Quetzalcoatl was actually Jesus Christ?}}
{{:Question: Does an association of Quetzalcoatl with Jesus Christ constitute "snake worship"?}}
{{:Question: Have Mormon apologists ignored aspects of Quetzalcoatl which are inconsistent with Jesus Christ?}}
{{:Question: What are the problems of trying to associate Quetzalcoatl with Jesus Christ?}}


{{endnotes sources}}