View source for Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 1

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{{H1
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 1
|H=Response to claims made in "Chapter 1: A Marvelous Work?"
|T=[[../../]]
|A=Jerald and Sandra Tanner
|<=
|>=[[../Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
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<onlyinclude>
{{H2
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 1
|H=Response to claims made in The Changing World of Mormonism, "Chapter 1: A Marvelous Work?"
|S=
|L1=Response to claim: 21 - Joseph Smith stated that the final battle in the Book of Mormon was fought in New York
|L2=Response to claim: 21 - Brigham Young stated that there was a cave in the Hill Cumorah that was full of records
|L3=Response to claim: 22 - Joseph Smith found a seer stone while digging a well
|L4=Response to claim: 22 - LeGrand Richards claimed that Mormons do not have to rely on the Bible
|L5=Response to claim: 22 - Mormon leaders taught that the Garden of Eden was located in Jackson County
|L6=Response to claim: 22 - A remnant of Adam's altar remained in Missouri
|L7=Response to claim: 23 - Joseph Smith described the inhabitants of the moon
|L8=Response to claim: 25 - Brigham Young taught that the moon and sun were inhabited
|L9=Response to claim: 27 - Orson Pratt preached against the Catholic Church
|L10=Response to claim: 27 - John Taylor taught that "we are the saviors of the world"
|L11=Response to claim: 27 - Joseph Fielding Smith taught that Mormons are "the best people in the world"
|L12=Response to claim: 27 - Brigham Young claimed that every person that does not confess that Joseph Smith was a prophet is "anti-Christ"
|L13=Response to claim: 27 - Joseph Fielding Smith taught that there is no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith
}}
</onlyinclude>

==Response to claim: 21 - Joseph Smith stated that the final battle in the Book of Mormon was fought in New York==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=The Changing World of Mormonism
|claim=
Joseph Smith stated that the final battle in the Book of Mormon was fought in New York.
|authorsources=<br>
#''Mormon Doctrine'', p. 175.
}}
{{information|Joseph, and everyone else, assumed that the burial location of the plates was the Hill Cumorah mentioned in the Book of Mormon.
}}
{{:Question: Where is the Hill Cumorah?}}

==Response to claim: 21 - Brigham Young stated that there was a cave in the Hill Cumorah that was full of records==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=The Changing World of Mormonism
|claim=
Bruce R. McConkie said that Brigham Young stated that there was a cave in the Hill Cumorah that was full of records.
|authorsources=<br>
#''Mormon Doctrine'', p. 454.
}}
{{information|This is what Brigham reported.
}}
{{:Question: Is there a cave in the Hill Cumorah containing the Nephite records?}}

==Response to claim: 22 - Joseph Smith found a seer stone while digging a well==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=The Changing World of Mormonism
|claim=
Joseph Smith found a seer stone while digging a well.
|authorsources=<br>
#B.H. Roberts, ''Comprehensive History of the Church'', vol.1, p.129.
}}
{{information|One of Joseph's seer stones was located while digging a well. This has been documented in the official Church magazine the ''Ensign''.
}}
{{:Question: How did Joseph use his seer stones as a youth?}}

==Response to claim: 22 - LeGrand Richards claimed that Mormons do not have to rely on the Bible==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=The Changing World of Mormonism
|claim=
LeGrand Richards claimed that Mormons do not have to rely on the Bible.
|authorsources=<br>
#''A Marvelous Work and a Wonder'', p. 41.
}}
{{misinformation|Page 41 of this work contains a reprint of the Joseph Smith story (i.e., {{s||JS-H|1|26-28}}).  The word "bible" is used only once in the entire chapter (p. 43), where Richards cites {{s||JS-H|1|36}}. It is true, however, that Joseph Smith did not gain all his knowledge about God from the Bible, but through direct revelation.
}}

==Response to claim: 22 - Mormon leaders taught that the Garden of Eden was located in Jackson County==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=The Changing World of Mormonism
|claim=
Mormon leaders taught that the Garden of Eden was located in Jackson County.
|authorsources=<br>
#''Mormon Doctrine'', p. 20.
}}
{{information|This is correct.
}}
{{:Question: Is it true that Mormons believe the original Garden of Eden was located in Missouri?}}

==Response to claim: 22 - A remnant of Adam's altar remained in Missouri==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=The Changing World of Mormonism
|claim=
A remnant of Adam's altar remained in Missouri.
|authorsources=<br>
#''Mormon Doctrine'', p. 21.
}}
{{information|This is correct.
|provenance=Fawn Brodie, ''No Man Knows My History'', 211
}}
{{:Question: What is Adam-ondi-Ahman?}}

<!-- ====23====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|claim=
*Joseph Smith taught that Noah built his ark "near Carolina." 
|response= 
|authorsources=<br>
#''The Juvenile Instructor'', Nov. 15, 1895, pp. 700-1.
}} -->

==Response to claim: 23 - Joseph Smith described the inhabitants of the moon==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=The Changing World of Mormonism
|claim=
Joseph Smith described the inhabitants of the moon.
|authorsources=<br>
#Journal of Oliver B. Huntington
}}
{{propaganda|It is possible the Joseph said this, but the only account of it is a very late, third-hand account. There is no record of Joseph actually teaching this. Critics of the Church like to use this quote as evidence that Joseph was not a prophet.
}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith state that the moon was inhabited, and that it's inhabitants were dressed like Quakers?}}

==Response to claim: 25 - Brigham Young taught that the moon and sun were inhabited==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=The Changing World of Mormonism
|claim=
Brigham Young taught that the moon and sun were inhabited.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{JDfairwiki|author=Brigham Young|disc=31|vol=13|start=271}}
}}
{{information|Some in the 19th century believed that this was true.
}}
The quote and its use by the critic(s):

{| valign="top" border="1" style="width:100%; font-size:85%"
!width="4%"|List
!width="48%"|Actual quote
!width="48%"|Critical use
|-
|

====*====
{{QuoteMining:JoD 13:271}}
|}
*{{QuoteMining|Journal of Discourses|13:271}}

==Response to claim: 27 - Orson Pratt preached against the Catholic Church==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=The Changing World of Mormonism
|claim=
Orson Pratt preached against the Catholic Church
|authorsources=<br>
#''Pamphlets by Orson Pratt'', p. 112
}}
{{information|This was Pratt's own opinion.
}}
{{:Question: Do Latter-day Saints believe that the scriptural terms "church of the devil," the "great and abominable church," and the "whore of all the earth" refer to a specific religion?}}

==Response to claim: 27 - John Taylor taught that "we are the saviors of the world"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=The Changing World of Mormonism
|claim=
John Taylor taught that "we are the saviors of the world."
}}
{{misinformation|While the critical usage focuses on apparently arrogant claims by John Taylor, when taken in context the argument Taylor is making is that we should rejoice and be filled with gratitude. The critical usage misrepresents Taylor's intent by omitting the consequent of his argument in order to imply that his speech was one of self-congratulatory aggrandizement rather than the grateful rejoicing present in the actual speech.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{JDfairwiki|author=John Taylor|disc=25|vol=6|start=163}}
}}
The quote and its use by the critic(s):

{| valign="top" border="1" style="width:100%; font-size:85%"
!width="4%"|List
!width="48%"|Actual quote
!width="48%"|Critical use
|-
|
====*====
{{QuoteMining:JoD 6:163}}
|}
*{{QuoteMining|Journal of Discourses|6:163}}

==Response to claim: 27 - Joseph Fielding Smith taught that Mormons are "the best people in the world"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=The Changing World of Mormonism
|claim=
Joseph Fielding Smith taught that Mormons are "the best people in the world."
}}
{{misinformation|Anxious to exclude members of the Church from Christianity and wanting to make them appear arrogant, the authors omit the ''reason'' for which Joseph Fielding Smith praised the Saints&mdash;because they accepted and lived the gospel of Christ. 
|authorsources=<br>
#{{DoS1|vol=1|start=236}}
}}
The quote and its use by the critic(s):

{| valign="top" border="1" style="width:100%; font-size:85%"
!width="4%"|List
!width="48%"|Actual quote
!width="48%"|Critical use
|-
|
====*====
{{QuoteMining:Doctrines of Salvation 1:236}}
|}
*{{QuoteMining|Doctrines of Salvation|1:236}}
*This claim is repeated in ''One Nation Under Gods'' and is responded to here: [[One Nation Under Gods/Use of sources/Morally, ethically, spiritually superior|Mormons believe they are morally, ethically, spiritually superior to others?]]
{{:Question: Do Mormons actually believe that they are morally, ethically, spiritually superior to others?}}

==Response to claim: 27 - Brigham Young claimed that every person that does not confess that Joseph Smith was a prophet is "anti-Christ"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=The Changing World of Mormonism
|claim=
Brigham Young claimed that every person that does not confess that Joseph Smith was a prophet is "anti-Christ."
|authorsources=<br>
#{{HoC1|vol=7|start=287}}
}}
{{information|This is correct.
}}
Here is what Brigham said. Notice that his focus is on believing in Jesus "as Joseph did":
<blockquote>
'Are the keys of the kingdom taken from Joseph? Oh no; well then he still lives. He that believes in Jesus as Joseph did, they will never die. They may lay down their lives, but they still hold the keys. You are not going to be led without revelation. The Prophet has stepped behind the veil and you have the right to obtain revelations for your own salvation. Who stood next to the Prophet when he was here. You have all acknowledged that the Twelve were the Presidents of the whole church when Joseph was not; and now he has stepped behind the veil, he is not here, and the Twelve are the Presidents of the whole church. When did Joseph become a Prophet? I can tell you, when he became an Apostle. 1Years and years before he had the right of holding the keys of the Aaronic priesthood, he was a Prophet, even before he was baptized. There has been a perfect flood of revelation poured from this stand all the time and you did not know it. Every spirit that confesses that Joseph Smith is a Prophet, that he lived and died a Prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true, is of God, and every spirit that does not is of anti-Christ.<ref>{{HoC1|vol=7|start=287}}</ref>
</blockquote>
{{:Question: Do Mormons believe that Joseph Smith must approve whether or not they get into heaven?}}
{{:Question: What is the origin of the idea that Joseph Smith will participate in the final judgement?}}

==Response to claim: 27 - Joseph Fielding Smith taught that there is no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=The Changing World of Mormonism
|claim=
Joseph Fielding Smith taught that there is no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{DoS|vol=1|start=189|end=190}}
}}
{{misinformation|The authors' version of the quote carefully omits the explanation that Joseph's role hinges on his being called of God and as a minister of Christ.
}}
The quote and its use by the critic(s):

{| valign="top" border="1" style="width:100%; font-size:85%"
!width="4%"|List
!width="48%"|Actual quote
!width="48%"|Critical use
|-
|

====*====
{{QuoteMining:Doctrines of Salvation 1:189-90}}
|}
*{{QuoteMining|Doctrines of Salvation|1:189-90}}

{{endnotes sources}}




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