Response to claims made in "Chapter 1" (pp. 1-25)

1

Claim

• The author claims that Louisa Beaman "was about to become the first plural wife of Joseph Smith."

•  History unclear or in error
• No source provided.

• See also ch. 1: 1, 1n1, 38n81, 39–41, and 50
• See also ch. 3: 237

• The author ignores the Hancock testimony of a marriage ceremony with Fanny Alger.
• Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Initiation of the practice
•  The author or publisher responds: The publisher responded by claiming that the reviewer of Nauvoo Polygamy offers no documentation for evidence of a marriage between Joseph and Fanny Alger in Kirtland. See: Joseph Smith Had "Conjugal Relations" with Eight Plural Wives, Says FARMS, Signature Books web site, March 25, 2009.
• The publisher's response continues to ignore the Hancock testimony. The review states that the book's author "virtually ignores, however, the data that [Todd] Compton clearly considers the most important—the Mosiah Hancock autobiography, in which Hancock reports that "Father gave her [Fanny] to Joseph repeating the Ceremony as Joseph repeated to him." ^[1]

1n1

Claim

• The author dismisses a marriage with Fanny Alder by simply stating that "[t]here is some evidence that Smith might have engaged in the practice prior to this, but this is the first documented marriage."

• No source provided.
•  History unclear or in error

• See also ch. 1: 1, 1n1, 38n81, 39–41, and 50
• See also ch. 3: 237

• The author ignores the Hancock testimony of a marriage ceremony with Fanny Alger.
• Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Initiation of the practice
• Fanny Alger—affair or marriage?

1

Claim

•  Author's quote: "Had romance blossomed between her and the charismatic...prophet"?

• No source provided.

• See also ch. Preface: x and xii
• See also ch. 1: 1, 21, 22, 31, 44, 49, and 54
• See also ch. 2a: 116
• See also ch. 3: 198, 227, and 237

• The author implies that romance was a commonly expressed reason for women practicing plural marriage with Joseph.
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mind reading
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Romance
• Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Lustful motives

1

Claim

• It is noted that Joseph is age 35, while Louisa was 26.

• No source provided.

• See also ch. Preface: ix
• See also ch. 1: 1, 22, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 44
• See also ch. 2: 53
• See also ch. 2a: 142-143
• See also ch. 3: 198
• See also ch. 6: 408

• The author commonly exploits the presentist fallacy in the matter of Joseph's wives' ages.
• Age of wives
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Presentism

2

Claim

• The author claims that Nauvoo was "a bustling Mississippi River town with several thousand inhabitants."

• No source provided.

•  Internal contradiction: p. xv: Nauvoo was "a more or less insignificant river town". Yet, Nauvoo was ultimately largest city in the entire state except for Chicago. ^[2]

2

Claim
It is claimed that "[n]o one knew precisely when the final end would come, but they knew it was imminent."

Author's source(s)

• No source provided.

Response

• The author leaves unmentioned that many Christians have always seen the end as imminent, and that Joseph's view was more restrained and pragmatic than most of the sects of the day. See: Richard Lloyd Anderson, "Joseph Smith and the Millenarian Time Table," Brigham Young University Studies 3 no. 3 (1961), 55–66. off-site

2

Claim

•  Author's quote: "With an acquisitive eye on neighboring lands and the will to triumph over older settlers through political bloc voting, Joseph's behavior concerned some of the longtime Illinoisans who lived around the Saints."

• No source provided.

• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language

2

Claim

• "Now fear of [the Mormons'] city-wide militia, use of local petitions of habeas corpus to dismiss state warrants, and rumors of a 'plurality of wives' had put citizens on edge."

• No source provided.

• See also ch. 1: 2
• See also ch. 2a: 139
• See also ch. 3: 160, 161, and 163

• The author fails to tell us that

1. the Mormons were equally (or more) afraid, having been driven by state militias from two states;
2. their use of habeas corpus had contemporary case law and legal theory on their side;
3. dislike for the Mormons was also a strong political motivation in their enemies.

• City of Nauvoo/City charter
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Presentism
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language

2

Claim

• The author implies that Latter-day Saints had left their homes in New York "under uneasy circumstances."

• No source provided.

•  History unclear or in error It is not clear what "uneasy circumstances" the author refers to. The Mormons were not driven from New York, but immigrated to Kirtland, Ohio at Joseph's direction.

3

Claim

• The author suggests that plural marriage "was central to the broad sweep of LDS experience..."

• No source provided.

•  History unclear or in error Polygamy was unpracticed by anyone but Joseph Smith prior to Nauvoo. Polygamy had nothing to do with Mormons moving from New York. The need to flee Missouri likewise had little to do with plural marriage. Joseph's marriage to Fanny Alger was one factor among many causing problems in Ohio (though the financial problems and collapse of the Kirtland Safety Society were probably more significant).

3

Claim

• It is claimed that plural marriage was illegal in 1841 when Joseph married Louisa Beaman.

• Revised Laws of Illinois, 1833; Revised States of the State of Illinois, 1845, secs 121, 122.

• Joseph Smith and polygamy—Illegal?

3-4

Claim

• The author claims that Joseph "chose some thirty three men...who would join him in denying its practice."

• No source provided.

• See also ch. 1: 3-4 and 51
• See also ch. 4: 247

• Joseph Smith and polygamy—Hiding the truth?

4

Claim

• The inner circle of plural marriage "would lose one of its key members in 1842 when John C. Bennett quarreled with Smith and then left."

• No source provided.

• See also ch. 1: 5
• See also ch. 2: 65, 69, 70, 71, 72, and 73
• See also ch. 2a: 114, 119, 122, and 123-125
• See also ch. 3: 230
• See also ch. 4: 243, 274, and 309
• See also ch. 7: 429

• There is no evidence that Bennett was ever sanctioned to practice plural marriage. He was never part of the Quorum of the Anointed who received the full temple endowment.
• John C. Bennett

5

Claim

• The author considers it remarkable that Joseph's involvement in polygamy was "largely excised from the official telling of LDS history."

• No source provided.

• See also ch. Preface: xiii, xiii-xiv, and xv
• See also ch. 1: 5
• See also ch. 2: 57 and 75
• See also ch. 2a: 88, 103, 119, 137, and 185
• See also ch. 4: 289
• See also ch. 6: 356
• See also ch. 8: 453 and 473

• Church history/Censorship and revision
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Censorship

5

Claim

• The author claims that Danel Bachman and Ron Esplin's Encyclopedia of Mormonism entry on plural marriage only "briefly mention[s] the 'rumors' of plural marriage in the 1830s and 1840s but only obliquely refer[s] to the teaching [of] new marriage and family arrangements."

• "Plural Marriage", Encyclopedia of Mormonism
• Text: "Rumors of plural marriage among the members of the Church in the 1830's and 1840's led to persecution, and the public announcement of the practice after August 29, 1852, in Utah gave enemies a potent weapon to fan public hostility against the Church.

• Items "briefly" and "obliquely" mentioned?

6

Claim

• It is claimed that Joseph revealed "God's rule" that "no one can reject [polygamy] and enter into my glory" (D&C 132, 51, 52, 54).

• DC 132꞉52-53,54

• See also ch. Preface: xiv
• See also ch. 1: 6
• See also ch. 2: 55
• See also ch. 6: 356

• The actual text reads: "I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory." Plural marriage was at times a manifestation of the new and everlasting covenant, but even during the polygamous era leaders were clear that one did not necessarily have to practice polygamy to be saved.
• Polygamy/Requirement for exaltation
• Polygamy/The only men who become gods are those that practice polygamy

6 - It is claimed that Joseph predicted that the Second Coming would occur in 1890

The author(s) of Nauvoo Polygamy make(s) the following claim:

It is claimed that Joseph predicted that the Second Coming would occur in 1890.

Author's sources: No source provided

Predicting 2nd Coming (edit)

• See also ch. 1: 6 and 9
• See also ch. 8: 535

FAIR's Response

• The author does not provide Joseph's careful caveats about his prediction, and his admitted uncertainties surrounding this issue.

1. REDIRECTAlleged false prophecies of Joseph Smith#Did Joseph Smith prophesy that Jesus Christ would return in 1890?

7

Claim

• It is claimed that Joseph "was familiar with nineteenth century writer Thomas Dick..."

• Thomas Dick, The Philosophy of a Future State, 2d. American ed. (Brookfield, Mass: n.p., 1830); quoted in LDS Messenger and Advocate 3 (Dec 1836): 423-25.

• See also ch. 1: 7 and 8
• See also ch. 2a: 110-111, 112, and 114

• Book of Abraham/Plagiarism accusations/Thomas Dick
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Assumptions and presumptions

7

Claim

• The author states that Joseph "had already proven his own mettle among God's elect when he mastered the use of magic stones and 'translated' the Book of Mormon."

• No source provided.

• Joseph Smith/Seer stones
• Joseph Smith and "magick"
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/"Magick"

8

Claim

• It is claimed that Joseph's "dispensationalism had many past antecedents."

• No source provided.

• See also ch. 1: 7 and 8
• See also ch. 2a: 110-111, 112, and 114

• The author here presumes that past dispensationalism had an influence on Joseph. This must be proved, not assumed.
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Assumptions and presumptions

9

Claim

• "Joseph preached [apocalyptically] as regularly as any other apocalyptic preacher of his day…."

• No source provided.

• How does The author know this? How frequently did other preachers use apocalyptic imagery and themes? Was their percentage of such uses equal to or greater than Joseph's usage?
• Richard Lloyd Anderson, "Joseph Smith and the Millenarian Time Table," Brigham Young University Studies 3 no. 3 (1961), 55–66. off-site (Discusses many contrasts between Joseph and the millenialist sects of his day, from both LDS and non-LDS historians of religion.)
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Assumptions and presumptions

9

Claim

• The author speculates that Joseph was "understandably hesitant to specify a precise date for the end of the world," but that he knew that "our redemption draweth near."

• Jesse, 306

• See also ch. 1: 6 and 9
• See also ch. 8: 535

• The source is referring to the redemption of the Saints in Missouri and their deliverance from persecution. The quote has nothing to do with the "end of the world."
• Missouri Saints' "redemption draweth near" reinterpreted to refer to refer to the "end of the world?"

10

Claim

• On Joshua the Jewish minister [Robert Matthews]: "Smith found him credible enough to converse with from 11:00 a.m. until evening when Smith invited him to stay for dinner." "Without objection from Smith, Matthias asserted: 'The silence spoken of by John the Revelator…is between 1830 & 1851…."

• Jesse, Papers of Joseph Smith, 2:68–73, 568–69.

• "Without objection from Smith...?

11

Claim

• Robert Matthews (see above) "advocated what he called a 'community of property and of wives,' in a more 'spiritual generation.' Mormons avoided the idiom but not the practice." "…Mormon communal practices extended to property as well as to marriage."

• Richard S. Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy: A History (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1989), 8.

• Latter-day Saint plural wives were "communal property?"

11

Claim

•  Author's quote: "Across the Atlantic, the communal experiment advocated by Marx and Engels appeared in London only a few years later in 1848."

• Communist Manifesto (1848; New York: Bantam, 1992).

• Marx and Engels have no relevance for LDS practice, and are unlikely to have been influenced by Joseph Smith. Invoking Communists may unnecessarily prejudice the modern reader.
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language

12

Claim

•  Author's quote: Polygamy was evidently on Smith's mind even before founding the Mormon Church, if that can be deduced from the marriage formula inscribed in the Book of Mormon.

• No source provided

• See also ch. Preface: xiv
• See also ch. 1: 12, 15-16, 16-20, and 29
• See also ch. 3: 235
• See also ch. 4: 259-260

• The author assumes that the Book of Mormon reflects Joseph's mind and preoccupations. If Joseph was the translator, it may not.
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Assumptions and presumptions
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mind reading

12

Claim

• Yet again the author mentions "elopement," when he notes that the Book of Mormon was "…begun shortly after he eloped with Emma Hale in January 1827."

• No source provided.

• See also ch. Preface: xiv
• See also ch. 1: 12

• Nauvoo Polygamy reminds us that Joseph and Emma eloped whenever their marriage is discussed. Perhaps this is intended to demonstrate Joseph's disregard for authority or propriety in all romantic matters.
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language

12

Claim

• Joseph is claimed to have performed a "ritualized five-year search for the gold plates…"

• No source provided

• The author assumes that Joseph's acquisition was ritualized, and he presumes that the "magick" thesis is correct in this instance.
• Joseph Smith and "magick"
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/"Magick"
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Assumptions and presumptions
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language

12

Claim

• It is noted that "[e]ach year at the autumnal equinox, which according to rodsmen and seers was a favourable time to approach the spirits guarding buried treasures, Smith had gone to the hill where he sought after the plates.

• No source provided

• The author presumes that the "magick" thesis is correct in this instance. He ignores the religious significance of this date:
• Book of Mormon recovered on autumnal equinox
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/"Magick"
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Assumptions and presumptions
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language

12n29

Claim

• Quoting D. Michael Quinn, it is noted that "that day in September 1823 was ruled by Jupiter, Smith's ruling planet…"

• D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, revised and enlarged edition, (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998), 120–121 ( Index of claims )
•  History unclear or in error.

• The author ignores the many problems which have been pointed out with Quinn's "magick" argument. Chief among these is that (as even Quinn admits), "according to the standard contemporary interpretations of astrology, Joseph was born under Saturn, not Jupiter." Quinn's only source for this claim is an 1870 book which used an alternative means of performing such calculation. Joseph can hardly have been aware of a method outlined nearly 50 years later. ^[3] The present author acknowledges or treats none of these issues.
• Joseph Smith and "magick"
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/"Magick"
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Assumptions and presumptions
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language

13

Claim

• Oliver Cowdery is claimed to have said that Joseph wanted to "commune with some kind of messenger."

• Oliver Cowdery to W.W. Phelps, LDS Messenger and Advocate 1 [No. 5] (Feb 1835): 79.
• The quote is incorrect in Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, 125, 134, which the author appears to be quoting without checking Quinn's primary source for accuracy.

• The quote is incorrect. The correct phrase is "some kind messenger."
• "Some kind [of] messenger..."
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/"Magick"
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Assumptions and presumptions
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language

13

Claim

• Oliver Cowdery said Joseph "had heard of the power of enchantment, and a thousand like stories, which held the hidden treasures of the earth."

• Oliver Cowdery to W.W. Phelps, LDS Messenger and Advocate 1 (Feb 1835): 79.
• CITATION is in ERROR. He is quoting from Quinn, Early Mormonism, 125, 134 & Vogel, Indian Origins, 14–15.
• Actual quote is found in: Oliver Cowdery to W.W. Phelps, LDS Messenger and Advocate 2/1 (October 1835): 197.

• The phrase is removed from context to emphasize the words "enchantment" and "treasures of the earth."
• The "power of enchantment" and "hidden treasures of the earth"
• Joseph_Smith_and_money_digging
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/"Magick"
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language

13-14

Claim

•  Author's quote: "Smith elaborated this idea to 'raise up seed' [in Jacob 2:30] with the signal might [sic] be given again and polygamy would be re-introduced….

• No source provided

• See also ch. Preface: xiv
• See also ch. 1: 12, 15-16, 16-20, and 29
• See also ch. 3: 235
• See also ch. 4: 259-260

• The author again presumes that Joseph is the author of the Book of Mormon.
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Assumptions and presumptions

14 - Smith's charge to missionaries to the Indians when he told single and married men alike that they should marry native women

The author(s) of Nauvoo Polygamy make(s) the following claim:

The author states that in 1831 Joseph Smith "sanctioned the first breach in marriage mores. It occurred in Smith's charge to missionaries to the Indians when he told single and married men alike that they should marry native women. Polygamy may have been on his mind….

Author's sources: *No source provided.

FAIR's Response

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?

The only evidence for this revelation is a letter written by W. W. Phelps in 1861 in which he recounts from memory some of Joseph's comments in Independence, Missouri, on 17 July 1831

It is claimed that the church "suppressed" a 1831 revelation in which the Church was commanded to make the Indians a “white and delightsome” people through polygamous intermarriage. The basis for this claim is a letter written by W. W. Phelps in 1861 (30 years after the revelation was said to have been given) in which he recounts from memory some of Joseph's comments in Independence, Missouri, on 17 July 1831. At present, the only evidence that an 1831 revelation was given is the 1861 document written by Phelps.

According to critics, Joseph Fielding Smith, who was Church historian at the time, stated that the principle of plural marriage was revealed to Joseph Smith in a revelation given in July 1831.^[4] Critic Fawn Brodie claims that Joseph Fielding Smith told her about the revelation but would not allow her to see it.^[5] Critics conclude that the “real reason” that the revelation was not released was because it commanded Church members to marry the Indians in order to make them a “white and delightsome” people.

The text of W. W. Phelps' 1861 recollection of the revelation

In 1861, 30 years after it was said to have been given, W. W. Phelps wrote from memory his recollection of what he claimed was the revelation given in 1831 by the Prophet:

Part of a revelation by Joseph Smith Jr. given over the boundary, west of Jackson Co. Missouri, on Sunday morning, July 17, 1831, when Seven Elders, viz: Joseph Smith, Jr., Oliver Cowdery, W. W. Phelps, Martin Harris, Joseph Coe, Ziba Peterson, and Joshua Lewis united their hearts in prayer, in a private place, to inquire of the Lord who should preach the first sermon to the remnants of the Lamanites and Nephites, and the people of that Section, that should assemble that day in the Indian country, to hear the gospel, and the revelations according to the Book of Mormon.

Among the company, there being neither pen, ink or paper, Joseph remarked that the Lord could preserve his words as he had ever done, till the time appointed, and proceeded:

Verily, verily, saith the Lord your Redeemer, even Jesus Christ, the light and the life of the world, ye can not discerne with your natural eyes, the design and the purpose of your Lord and your God, in bringing you thus far into the wilderness for a trial of your faith, and to be especial witnesses, to bear testimony of this land, upon which the Zion of God shall be built up in the last days, when it is redeemed. …

[I]t is my will, that in time, ye should take unto you wives of the Lamanites and Nephites, that their posterity may become white, delightsome, and Just, for even now their females are more virtuous than the gentiles.

Gird up your loins and be prepared for the mighty work of the Lord to prepare the world for my second coming to meet the tribes of Israel according to the predictions of all the holy prophets since the beginning; …

Be patient, therefore, possessing your souls in peace and love, and keep the faith that is now delivered unto you for the gathering of scattered Israel, and lo, I am with you, though ye cannot see me, till I come: even so. Amen.

Phelp's wrote his note 30 years after the revelation was said to have been given, after polygamy had been openly practiced for a number of years

A note written by W. W. Phelps in the 1861 document implies that marriage with the Indians coincided with Joseph Smith's planned intent to institute polygamy.

About three years after this was given, I asked brother Joseph, privately, how "we," that were mentioned in the revelation could take wives of the "natives" as we were all married men? He replied instantly "In the same manner that Abraham took Hagar and Keturah; and Jacob took Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah; by revelation—the saints of the Lord are always directed by revelation."

It is important to note that Phelps wrote his note 30 years after the revelation was said to have been given, after polygamy had been openly practiced for a number of years.

Question: Was Ezra Booth commanded to take a wife from among the Indians?

The only contemporary report of a possible revelation on marriage with the Indians was written in a letter to the Ohio Star on 8 December, 1831 by Ezra Booth

The only contemporary report of a possible revelation on marriage with the Indians was written in a letter to the Ohio Star on 8 December, 1831 by Ezra Booth, who had apostatized from the Church.^[6] This letter was republished in Eber D. Howe's anti-Mormon book Mormonism Unvailed. Booth states that,

...it has been made known by revelation, that it will be pleasing to the Lord, should they form a matrimonial alliance with the natives; and by this means the Elders, who comply with the thing so pleasing to the Lord, and for which the Lord has promised to bless those who do it abundantly, gain a residence in the Indian territory, independent of the agent....^[7]

Booth makes no mention of polygamy, and instead implies that the "matrimonial alliance" was for the purpose of gaining "residence" in the Indian territory

Booth makes no mention of polygamy, and instead implies that the "matrimonial alliance" was for the purpose of gaining "residence" in the Indian territory.^[8] One would think that if Booth, given his opposition to the Church at the time, had been aware of something as controversial as a proposal that polygamy be instituted among the Indians, that he would have been highly motivated to proclaim this in a public forum. In fact, Booth actually states that in order to marry one of the natives, that one elder needed to be "free from his wife." Booth does go on to say:

...It has been made known to one, who has left his wife in the State of New York, that he is entirely free from his wife, and he is at pleasure to take him a wife from among the Lamanites. It was easily perceived that this permission was perfectly suited to his desires. I have frequently heard him state that the Lord had made it known to him, that he is as free from his wife as from any other woman; and the only crime I have ever heard alleged against her is, she is violently opposed to Mormonism. But before this contemplated marriage can be carried into effect, he must return to the State of New York and settle his business, for fear, should he return after that affair had taken place, the civil authority would apprehend him as a criminal (emphasis added).^[9]

This quote implies that it was not to be a polygamous union.

It was always implied that the process of becoming "white and delightsome" was to be achieved through the power of God—not through intermarriage

There are quotes from Church leaders indicating that they believed that the Indians were becoming "white and delightsome." However, it was always implied that the process of becoming "white and delightsome" was to be achieved through the power of God—not through intermarriage. Critics cite a statement made by Spencer W. Kimball in the October 1960 General Conference, 15 years before he became president of the Church:

I saw a striking contrast in the progress of the Indian people today ... they are fast becoming a white and delightsome people.... For years they have been growing delightsome, and they are now becoming white and delightsome, as they were promised.... The children in the home placement program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservation.^[10]

Although this is an interesting statement by President Kimball, it has nothing whatsoever to do with polygamy or intermarriage with the Indians. It is simply President Kimball’s own observation that he felt that the Indians were becoming a “white and delightsome” people through the power of God. Then-Elder Kimball was likely unaware that Joseph Smith had edited the Book of Mormon text in 1837 to say "pure and delightsome," possibly to counter the idea that the change referred to was predominantly physical, rather than spiritual. This change was lost in future LDS versions of the Book of Mormon until 1981.

There is no evidence that the instructions contained in the revelation regarding intermarriage with the Native Americans were actually implemented

There is no contemporary evidence, other than that provided by Booth, that anyone was even aware of the revelation at the time that it was supposed to have been given. The only evidence that a revelation was even given is the 1861 document by W. W. Phelps, which he recalled word-for-word from memory 30 years later at a time when the Church was actively and publicly justifying the practice of polygamy.

It is also interesting to note that the typical critical argument against polygamy is that a revelation on polygamy was not received until 1843 and that prior to that time that Joseph Smith was living in adultery with his plural wives. Yet, in this case, the critics are perfectly content to argue the case for a revelation on polygamy actually existing in 1831 as long as it can be tied to making the Native Americans a "white and delightsome" people. While there is evidence that Joseph was discussing plural marriage by 1831, it is difficult to believe that Phelps' text is an exact rendition of any revelation Joseph may have shared with him.

14

Claim

•  Author's quote: …W.W. Phelps reported on the prophet's instructions in all their antebellum racism. Through intermarriage, Smith said, the Indians would become white, delightsome, and just" and fulfill the Book of Mormon prophecy that 'the scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white [pure] and delightsome people."

• W.W. Phelps to Brigham Young, Aug. 12, 1861, LDS Archives.

• The author presumes that Joseph's expression was about race, rather than behavior. (The expression is the Book of Mormon's, but for The author its views are always the same as Joseph Smith's because he is presumed to be the author.)
• Skin color important in LDS scriptures?
• Polygamy/Lamanites to become "white and delightsome" through polygamous marriage
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Assumptions and presumptions

14n34

Claim

• It is noted that the 1840 Book of Mormon substituted the word 'pure' for 'white,' and that the wording "reverted back to "white" again in the English 1841 and later foreign editions, then became 'pure' again in 1981."

• No source provided.

• The author doesn't tell us dropping Joseph's change from "white" to "pure" was an accident, and intended to be permanent from 1837 onward.
• Book of Mormon/Textual changes/"white" changed to "pure"

14n34 - "other passages in the Book of Mormon still refer to 'white' as 'delightsome' and a 'skin of blackness' as a 'curse'"

The author(s) of Nauvoo Polygamy make(s) the following claim:

The author states that "other passages in the Book of Mormon still refer to 'white' as 'delightsome' and a 'skin of blackness' as a 'curse' (2 Ne. 5; Jacob 3:5, 8-10; Alma 3-6-9; 3 Ne. 2:14-15; Morm. 5:15)."

Author's sources: N/A

FAIR's Response

The author ignores that many (if not most/all) of these scriptures have a symbolic role, as illustrated in Joseph's change discussed above (though the author apparently tries to undercut that impression). Richard L. Bushman, LDS author of a recent biography of Joseph Smith, writes:

...[T]he fact that [the Lamanites] are Israel, the chosen of God, adds a level of complexity to the Book of Mormon that simple racism does not explain. Incongruously, the book champions the Indians' place in world history, assigning them to a more glorious future than modern American whites.... Lamanite degradation is not ingrained in their natures, ineluctably bonded to their dark skins. Their wickedness is wholly cultural and frequently reversed. During one period, "they began to be a very industrious people; yea, and they were friendly with the Nephites; therefore, they did open a correspondence with them, and the curse of God did no more follow them." (Alma 23꞉18) In the end, the Lamanites triumph. The white Nephites perish, and the dark Lamanites remain. ^[11]

Skin color important in LDS scriptures?

Question: What was the Lamanite curse?

The Book of Mormon talks of a curse being placed upon the Lamanites

And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them. 2 Nephi 5꞉21

It is claimed by some that the Church believed that Lamanites who accepted the Gospel would become light-skinned, and that "Mormon folklore" claims that Native Americans and Polynesians carry a curse based upon "misdeeds on the part of their ancestors."

One critic asks, "According to the Book of Mormon a dark skin is a curse imposed by God on the unrighteous and their descendants as a punishment for sin. Do you agree with that doctrine? (Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 12:22-23, Alma 3:6, 2 Nephi 5:21-22, Jacob 3:8, 3 Nephi 2:15-16, Mormon 5:15; references to the "Lamanites" are taken to be referring to Native American "Indians".)" ^[12]

Although the curse of the Lamanites is often associated directly with their skin color, it may be that this was intended in a far more symbolic sense than modern American members traditionally assumed

The curse itself came upon them as a result of their rejection of the Gospel. It was possible to be subject to the curse, and to be given a mark, without it being associated with a change in skin color, as demonstrated in the case of the Amlicites. The curse is apparently a separation from the Lord. A close reading of the Book of Mormon text makes it untenable to consider that literal skin color was ever the "curse." At most, the skin color was seen as a mark, and it may well have been that these labels were far more symbolic and cultural than they were literal.

Question: Did some Church leaders believe that the skin of the Lamanites would turn white?

Some Church leaders, most notably Spencer W. Kimball, made statements indicating that they believed that the Indians were becoming "white and delightsome"

Once such statement made by Elder Kimball in the October 1960 General Conference, 15 years before he became president of the Church:

I saw a striking contrast in the progress of the Indian people today ... they are fast becoming a white and delightsome people.... For years they have been growing delightsome, and they are now becoming white and delightsome, as they were promised.... The children in the home placement program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservation. ^[13]

President Kimball felt that the Indians were becoming a “white and delightsome” people through the power of God as a result their acceptance of the Gospel. This was not an uncommon belief at the time. At the time that this statement was made by Elder Kimball, the Book of Mormon did indeed say "white and delightsome." This passage is often quoted relative to the lifting of the curse since the phrase "white and delightsome" was changed to "pure and delightsome" in the 1840 (and again in the 1981) editions of the Book of Mormon. The edit made by Joseph Smith in 1840 in which this phrase was changed to "pure and delightsome" had been omitted from subsequent editions, which were actually based upon the 1837 edition rather than the 1840 edition. The modification was not restored again until the 1981 edition with the following explanation:

Some minor errors in the text have been perpetuated in past editions of the Book of Mormon. This edition contains corrections that seem appropriate to bring the material into conformity with prepublication manuscripts and early editions edited by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Is the lifting of the curse associated with a change in skin color?

The Lamanites are promised that if they return to Christ, that "the scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes:"

And the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among them; wherefore, they shall be restored unto the knowledge of their fathers, and also to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which was had among their fathers.

And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and a delightsome people.2 Nephi 30꞉5-6

The Book of Mormon indicates that the lifting of the curse of the Lamanites was the removal of the "scales of darkness" from their eyes

It seems evident from the passage in 2 Nephi that the lifting of the curse of the Lamanites was the removal of the "scales of darkness" from their eyes. It is sometimes indicated that Lamanites who had converted to the Gospel and thus had the curse lifted also had the mark removed. If the mark was more in the eyes of the Nephites than in a physical thing like actual skin color, its removal is even more easily understood.

And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites; And their young men and their daughters became exceedingly fair, and they were numbered among the Nephites, and were called Nephites. And thus ended the thirteenth year. 3 Nephi 2꞉15-16

As with the invocation of the curse followed by the application of the mark, this passage indicates that the curse was revoked and the mark was removed when the Lamanites' skin "became white like unto the Nephites." The Book of Mormon makes no mention of any change in skin color as the result of the conversion of Helaman's 2000 warriors, yet these Lamanites and their parents had committed themselves to the Lord, and were often more righteous than the Nephites were.

Thus, although a change in skin color is sometimes mentioned in conjunction with the lifting of the curse, it does not appear to always have been the case. And, as discussed above, it may well be that Nephite ideas about skin were more symbolic or rhetorical than literal/racial. This perspective harmonizes all the textual data, and explains some things (like the native Lamanite and his band of Nephite troops deceiving the Lamanites) that a literal view of the skin color mark does not.

Leaders were probably unaware of a change made by Joseph Smith to the first edition text

Main article: "white" changed to "pure" in 2 Nephi 30:6

Joseph Smith altered the phrase "white and delightsome" (in 2 Nephi 30꞉6) to "pure and delightsome" in the second edition of the Book of Mormon. This change was lost to LDS readers until the 1981 edition of the scriptures. It may, however, demonstrate that Joseph Smith intended the translation to refer to spiritual state, not literal skin color per se.

Question: Why were the chapter headings in the Book of Mormon modified to remove "skin of blackness"?

Chapter headings modified in the 2006 Doubleday edition of the Book of Mormon reflect the view of the curse being a separation from the presence of the Lord, rather than a "skin of blackness."

Some recent changes in the Book of Mormon's modern chapter headings further reinforce the idea that the "skin of blackness" was actually a separation from the Lord.

These headings are not part of the translated text and were never present in the 1830 edition. The most significant expansion of chapter headings occurred in the 1981 edition of all of the Standard Works. Changes made in the chapter headings of the 2006 Doubleday edition reflect the view of the curse being a separation from the presence of the Lord, rather than a "skin of blackness." Note the following two changes to the chapter headings between the 1981 and 2006 (Doubleday) editions (emphasis added): ^[14]

14n34

Claim

• The author claims that skin color was important in LDS scriptures, and notes that "blacks of African ancestry were denied full participation in the church until 1978."

• N/A

• The author ignores that issues of race and skin color may well have been read into these scriptures in a post hoc manner. His brief treatment of these volatile issues is inadequate, and serves only to prejudice the reader against the early Saints and their later religious heirs. (See next entry below.)
• Skin color important in LDS scriptures?
• Scripture and race in LDS tradition
• Blacks and the priesthood
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Presentism
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language

14n34

Claim

•  Author's quote: "Interestingly, the rhetoric underlying the theology may have resulted from 1830s Mormons trying to convince their neighbors in the slave state of Missouri that they were not abolitionists."

• Campbell, "'White' or 'Pure': Five Vignettes," Dialogue 29 (Winter 1996) 119-120
• Lester E. Bush Jr. and Armand L. Mauss, Neither White nor Black (SLC, Signature Books, 1994).

• The author avoids drawing the obvious conclusion—the "importance" of skin color "in other LDS scriptures" as it applied to race may have been read in as justification for the rhetoric. Thus, the scripture reading followed the rhetoric; the theology did not derive from the scriptures.
• Skin color important in LDS scriptures? (note that The author completely inverts his cited source's intent).
• Blacks and the priesthood/The "curse of Cain" and "curse of Ham"
• Scripture and race in LDS tradition
• Blacks and the priesthood
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Presentism
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language

15

Claim

• Ezra Booth claimed that the mission to the Lamanites was to secure a "matrimonial alliance with the natives." The author notes that the missionaries "did not seem successful in this area."

• Deseret News (20 May 1886); Ezra Booth letter, Ohio Star, (8 Dec 1831).

• Booth is probably wrong; the accounts say Joseph didn't explain the plural marriage issue until 3 years later, so married men could hardly be out looking for Indian wives in 1831.
• Polygamy/Lamanites to become "white and delightsome" through polygamous marriage

15

Claim

• The author speculates that "One wonders when Emma Smith might have first suspected that her husband was contemplating plural marriage…As Emma regarded her handsome spouse, what in Joseph's youthful experiences may have suggested the unusual family arrangements that were to follow?"

• No source provided.

• The author again presumes that Joseph's "youthful experiences" presaged plural marriage. He has not demonstrated this.
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Assumptions and presumptions
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mind reading

15

Claim

•  Author's quote: "We know Joseph often stayed overnight on visits with other families. Was Emma aware that later marriages would develop out of these family visits among their close friends? Could she have seen this coming—the injunction to enter into 'celestial marriage'?"

• No source provided.

• Of course, everyone else at the time probably stayed overnight on visits with families too, especially if poor and on the frontier.
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Presentism
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mind reading

15-16

Claim

•  Author's quote: "An examination of Smith's adolescence from his personal writings reveals some patterns and events that might be significant in understanding what precipitated his polygamous inclination."

• See also ch. Preface: xiv
• See also ch. 1: 12, 15-16, 16-20, and 29
• See also ch. 3: 235
• See also ch. 4: 259-260

• Joseph Smith/Psychobiographical analysis of
• Polygamy book/Early womanizer
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mind reading
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Use of sources
• Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)

16-20

Claim

• The author refers to the "vices and follies of youth…."

• See also ch. Preface: xiv
• See also ch. 1: 12, 15-16, 16-20, and 29
• See also ch. 3: 235
• See also ch. 4: 259-260

• Polygamy book/Early womanizer#Early struggles with chastity?
• Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)

19-20

Claim

• William Stafford is quoted as remembering "Joseph…looking in his glass" and seeing "spirits…clothed in ancient dress" standing guard over treasures."

• Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, OH, 1834), 234–35. (Affidavits examined)

• The Hurlbut affidavits—Williams Stafford
• Mark Ashurst-McGee, "Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 34–100. [{{{url}}} off-site] wiki
• Larry E. Morris, "'I Should Have an Eye Single to the Glory of God’: Joseph Smith’s Account of the Angel and the Plates (Review of: "From Captain Kidd’s Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism")," FARMS Review 17/1 (2005): 11–82. off-site

20

Claim

• Joseph is claimed to have cut "a sheep's throat [and] led [it] around a circle while bleeding," in order to "appease the evil spirit."

• No source provided, but is from William Stafford affidavit in Howe.

• The author is here using the Hurlbut-Howe affidavits uncritically, without addressing their numerous problems.
• The Hurlbut affidavits—Williams Stafford
• The Hurlbut affidavits—C.R. Stafford

20

Claim

• It is claimed that Joseph "'professed to tell people's fortunes' by gazing at a 'stone which he used to put in his hat,'…."

• No source provided, but is from Henry Harris affidavit in Howe.

• The author is here using the Hurlbut-Howe affidavits uncritically, without addressing their numerous problems.
• Joseph Smith/Occultism and magic
• Joseph Smith/Seer stones
• The Hurlbut affidavits—Henry Harris

21

Claim

• The author states that Joseph's 1842 letter to John Wentworth "left out any reference to the sinful thoughts he had previously mentioned. He had come effectively to de-emphasize the feelings of sin and guilt he had once experienced."

• History of the Church 4:535–41
• Jesse, Writings of Joseph Smith, 241–248.

• See also ch. Preface: x and xii
• See also ch. 1: 1, 21, 22, 31, 44, 49, and 54
• See also ch. 2a: 116
• See also ch. 3: 198, 227, and 237

• Polygamy book/Early womanizer#Early struggles with chastity?
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mind reading
• Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)

21

Claim

• The author implies that Joseph "took an interest in polygamy at an early period, beyond what we read in his autobiographies or in the Book of Mormon."

• No source provided.

• See also ch. Preface: x and xii
• See also ch. 1: 1, 21, 22, 31, 44, 49, and 54
• See also ch. 2a: 116
• See also ch. 3: 198, 227, and 237

• There is no indication that Joseph took this early interest in polygamy, unless one presumes Joseph wrote the Book of Mormon and follows the author's sexualized misreading of Joseph's early histories.
• Polygamy book/Early womanizer#Early struggles with chastity?
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mind reading
• Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)

21

Claim

•  Author's quote: "What was new about this [1838] account [of Moroni's visit] was that this time the 1823 angelic announcement was preceded by an 1820 'First Vision,' which included not just 'personages' or 'angels' but a visitation by the God of heaven—'The Father and The Son.'"

• No sources provided.

• First Vision/Accounts

22

Claim

• Lucy Mack Smith said in her history that "in the course of our evening conversation[,] Joseph would give us some of the most ammusing [sic in Smith] recitals…[and] describe the ancient inhabitants of this [American] continent their dress their manner of traveling the animals which they rode."

• Anderson, Lucy's Book, 329, 345.

• Joseph Smith/"Amusing recitals" of ancient American inhabitants

22

Claim

• It is noted that there is nothing in Lucy Mack Smith's history about "women, wives, or early struggles with chastity…."

• No source provided.

• See also ch. Preface: x and xii
• See also ch. 1: 1, 21, 22, 31, 44, 49, and 54
• See also ch. 2a: 116
• See also ch. 3: 198, 227, and 237

• The author is again presuming that he has demonstrated his claims about early struggles with chastity. He has not, but takes it as a given here.
• Polygamy book/Early womanizer#Early struggles with chastity?
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mind reading
• Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)

22

Claim

• The book notes that in 1832 Joseph had become involved with Fanny Alger.

• No source provided.

• See also ch. 1: 22, 38, 38n81, 39, 39-41, 41–42, 42, and 42–43
• See also ch. 3: 237

• See also ch. Preface: ix
• See also ch. 1: 1, 22, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 44
• See also ch. 2: 53
• See also ch. 2a: 142-143
• See also ch. 3: 198
• See also ch. 6: 408

• The date is not at all sure. The evidence dates it to either 1833 or 1835; others have not argued for 1832 specifically, and the author provides no evidence or argument for this early date.

22

Claim

• The author states that "Emma never indicated that her husband had told her anything specifically about his experiences prior to their marriage or the details of his involvement with other women, although she did know about Fanny Alger."

• No source provided.

• See also ch. 1: 22, 38, 38n81, 39, 39-41, 41–42, 42, and 42–43
• See also ch. 3: 237

• Despite the author's efforts, there is no good evidence of Joseph's involvement with any other women besides Emma before his plural marriage to Fanny Alger.
• Polygamy book/Early womanizer#Early struggles with chastity?
• Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)

22

Claim

•  Author's quote: "…it must have been a fascinating courtship, conducted as it was among unseen spirits and Joseph's unsettling conversations with angels."

• No source provided.

• This claim (besides mind reading) also distorts the textual record, since Cowdery's account (cited above) made it clear that there was nothing unsettling at all about it.
• Joseph Smith/Psychobiographical analysis of
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mind reading
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language

22

Claim

• The author speculates that "Joseph and Emma had been bound by treasure magic from their first meeting in 1825, because Joseph…[came] to help Josiah Stowell located buried treasure [and] boarded with Emma's father."

• No source provided

• There is no evidence they felt "bound" by "treasure magic."
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Assumptions and presumptions
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/"Magick"
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mind reading
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language

22

Claim

• The author speculates that "[i]t was in a mysterious atmosphere of imaginative lore and a mix of theology and magic that Joseph and Emma eloped."

• No source provided.

• How does he know? A page earlier we are told, "Emma did not leave a diary, and her letters do not mention anything about Joseph's adolescence or later experiences with women." (p. 22) This is all supposition—invented out of thin air.
• Joseph and Emma eloped in an atmosphere of "imaginative lore and mix of theology and magic?"

23

Claim

• The author speculates that "[t]he treasure seeker presented himself as someone who had special knowledge that was beyond the woman's ken."

• No source provided.

• How does he know? Again, there is no evidence presented.
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Assumptions and presumptions
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/"Magick"
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mind reading
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language

25

Claim

•  Author's quote: "What Joseph failed to explain in this [1838] version [of his history of money digging] was the apparent continuum from treasure seeking to finding gold plates or the similar modus operandi in placing a 'seer stone' in a hat…"

• Van Wagoner and Walker, "Joseph Smith: 'The Gift of Seeing,' Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 15 (Summer 1982): 2:50 [sic];
• George D. Smith, "Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon," Free Inquiry 4 (Winter 1983-84): 27n2.

• Joseph may not have seen it as a continuum, since he always insisted that the Book of Mormon was both revealed and translated "by the gift and power of God." God made him capable of things he was not otherwise able to do. The author is again presuming and assuming that Quinn's magic thesis is correct and applicable in this case.
• Joseph Smith/Seer stones
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Assumptions and presumptions
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/"Magick"
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mind reading

25

Claim

•  Author's quote: "It is also true that Joseph's career in money digging was much more extensive than he intimated in his 1838 narrative."

• No source provided.

• The point of Joseph's 1838 account was not to give extensive details on his youth or past, but to provide the key events of the restoration as he understood them.
• Joseph Smith/Money digging

25

Claim

• The Bainbridge "glass-looking" appearance is called "a trial"

• No source provided.
•  History unclear or in error

• This event was not a trial—current scholarship suggests that it was a hearing only.
• Joseph Smith/Legal trials/1826 glasslooking trial
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language

Notes

1. ↑ Mosiah F. Hancock, Autobiography, MS 570, LDS Church Archives, 61–62; Todd Compton, "Fanny Alger Smith Custer: Mormonism's First Plural Wife?" Journal of Mormon History 22/1 (Spring 1996): 189–90. The author of Nauvoo Polygamy says only (in a footnote) that "Compton, Sacred Loneliness, 33, 646, draws from a late reminiscence by Mosiah Hancock to suggest that Smith married Alger in early 1833" (p. 41 n. 90).
2. ↑ Leonard J. Arrington and Davis Bitton, The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-Day Saints, 2nd ed. (New York: Knopf : distributed by Random House/University of Illinois Press, [1979] 1992), 69. ISBN 0252062361. off-site
3. ↑ William J. Hamblin, "That Old Black Magic (Review of Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, revised and enlarged edition, by D. Michael Quinn)," FARMS Review of Books 12/2 (2000): 225–394. [{{{url}}} off-site]
4. ↑ The source is said to be a letter from Joseph Fielding Smith to J. W. A. Baily dated September 5, 1935.
5. ↑ Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 184, footnote. ( Index of claims )
6. ↑ Ezra Booth letter, Ohio Star (Ravenna, Ohio), 8 December 1831.
7. ↑ Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, OH, 1834), 220. (Affidavits examined)
8. ↑ David Whittaker, "Mormons and Native Americans: A Historical and Bibliographical Introduction," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 18 no. 4 (Winter 1985), 33–60.off-site
9. ↑ Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, OH, 1834), 220. (Affidavits examined)
10. ↑ Spencer W. Kimbal, Improvement Era (December 1960), 922-23.
11. ↑ Richard L. Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Knopf, 2005), 99.
12. ↑ Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism (Harvest House Publishers: 2005). 73, 367 n.138. ( Index of claims ); Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 43. ( Index of claims );Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults (Revised) (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1997), 193, 235. ( Index of claims );Richard Packham, "Questions for Mitt Romney," 2008.;Simon Southerton, Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church (Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 2004) 40, 184. ( Index of claims )
13. ↑ Spencer W. Kimball, General Conference Report, October, 1960
14. ↑ No More “Skin of Blackness”?: Race and Recent Changes in the Book of Mormon