13

• Internet Mormons vs. Chapel Mormons

• Jason Gallentine (a.k.a. "Dr. Shades"), "Internet Mormonism vs. Chapel Mormonism"

15

• Journal of Discourses

• No source provided.

16

• We cannot find the disclaimer mentioned by the author about Gospel Principles not being an official publication. Please contact FairMormon if you have a source.
• Official Church publications

• Gospel Principles

17, 331n35

• "Celestial sex"

• The author uses as an example in the endnotes the alleged LDS belief in "Celestial Sex."

24

• Joseph Smith and money digging

• David Persuitte, Joseph Smith and the Origins of The Book of Mormon (2nd edition), (McFarland & Company, October 2000), 35 ( Index of claims )

24

• Joseph Smith and the occult

• No actual reference given by the author: The note simply says "Smith was well-known as a money-digger throughout western New York and northern Pennsylvania."

24

• The Hurlbut affidavits
• Lightplanet Response

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

26

• This claim is also made in One Nation Under Gods: p. 377, n8(PB)
• Individual versus organizational apostasy  ^{[needs work]}
• All churches were wrong

• No source provided.

26

• Joseph Smith's status in LDS belief

• In a note on page 332, the author says "I do not mean to say the Mormons hold Joseph Smith on an equal par with Jesus Christ. Smith holds a place just below Christ."
• Jerald and Sandra Tanner, The Case Against Mormonism, 2 vols., (Salt Lake City, 1967), vol. 1, p. 75.
• Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, p. 302

26

•  Misrepresentation of source: Turn to Joseph to gain salvation?
• Joseph Smith's status in LDS belief

• Bruce R. McConkie, Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1982), 334. ISBN 0877478961. GL direct link

26

•  Misrepresentation of source: The author omits Elder Oaks' very next words:

In all of my reading and original research, I have never been dissuaded from my testimony of his prophetic calling and of the gospel and priesthood restoration the Lord initiated through him. I solemnly affirm the testimony Joseph Smith expressed in the famous Wentworth letter of 1842:

“… The standard of truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing, persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done” (Times and Seasons, 1 March 1842, 709; quoted in Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 5 vols. [1992], 4:1754).

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

• Joseph Smith's status in LDS belief

• Dallin Oaks, "Joseph, the Man and the Prophet," Ensign (May 1996): 71. off-site

27

• Personal failings of Joseph Smith

• No source provided.

27

•  Misrepresentation of source: Note that the author removes all the surrounding text which discusses Jesus Christ (italic text is quoted by author; bold for emphasis):

As one of the special witnesses of the Lord, I desire to declare my testimony to you. I am grateful that I have always had a testimony of the gospel. I cannot remember when I did not believe. I have not always understood everything and do not claim to do so now, but through thousands and thousands of spiritual confirmations throughout my life, including my calling to the holy apostleship, I can declare my testimony to you that Jesus is the Christ. With every fiber and cell of my being, I know that He is our Savior and Redeemer. I testify that Joseph Smith was the greatest prophet who ever lived upon the earth and of great importance to the Savior in the work of God on the earth. I know this to be true.

• Joseph Smith's status in LDS belief

• James E. Faust, "The Importance of Bearing Testimony," Liahona, Mar. 1997, p.3. off-site

28

• Psychobiographical analysis of Joseph Smith
• This is the fallacy of probability

• Dan Vogel in Waterman, p. 50

28

• Personal failings of Joseph Smith

• No source provided.

28

• Joseph Smith and polygamy
• Lying about polygamy? (non-wiki)
• Lying in Nauvoo era? (non-wiki)

• Times and Seasons, Mar 15, 1843, vol. 4, no. 9, p. 143

28

• Joseph Smith's status in LDS belief
• Heber C. Kimball on Joseph as "a god"

• Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, 5:88.

28

• Joseph Smith's status in LDS belief
• Brigham Young applied 1 John 4:3 to Joseph Smith

• Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 8:176.

29

•  The author's claim is false
• First Vision accounts
• Church publications have long described the multiple accounts of the First Vision:
  • Milton V. Backman, Jr., "Joseph Smith's Recitals of the First Vision," Ensign (January 1985): 8.off-site
  • Dean C. Jessee, "Early Accounts of Joseph Smith (1831–1839)," Brigham Young University Studies 9 no. 3 (1969), 275–294. PDF link
  • Dean C. Jessee, The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, revised edition, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 2002), 9–20.

• Preston Nibley, Joseph Smith the Prophet (SLC: Deseret News, 1944), p. 30.

30

• Different age provided in the 1832 text

• Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 1:28

30

• Only one Personage appears in the 1832 account

• Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 1:28

30

• 1832 account doesn't forbid joining a church

• Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 1:28

31

• Contradiction about knowing all churches were wrong?

• Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 1:27

31

• Orson Pratt confused about "angel" or Father-Son

• Pratt in "Biography and Journal of William I. Appleby, Elder in the Church of Latter Day Saints," 1848 reprinted in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 1, pp. 146-147.

31

• Andrew Jenson called personage an "angel"

• Andrew Jenson, "Joseph Smith, The Prophet," Jan. 1888, vol. 3, nos. 1-3, p. 355.

31

• 1838 account modified to offset leadership crisis?

• No source provided.

31

• First Vision fabricated to give "Godly authority"

• No source provided.

34

• No reference to First Vision in 1830s publications?

• No source provided.

34

• Prophet's mother said First Vision was of an "angel"

• Lucy Mack Smith, letter to Solomon Mack Jr., Jan. 6, 1831, reprinted in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 1, p. 216.

34

• Oliver Cowdery not aware of First Vision in 1834-35

• Oliver Cowdery, Messenger and Advocate, Feb. 1835, vol. 1, no. 5, pp. 77-80.

34

• D&C 84 says God not seen without priesthood

• DC 84꞉21-22

34

• Date of the restoration of the Melchizedek priesthood

• Online reference to anti-Mormon site "lds-mormon.com"

34

• 1838 account modified to offset leadership crisis?

• Grant H. Palmer, An Insider's View of Mormon Origins (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2002) 251. ( Index of claims )

35

• The "Angels" of the 1835 account

• William Smith, Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 1, p. 495.
• George A. Smith
• Lucy Smith
• Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 2:171.
• John Taylor, Journal of Discourses vol. ?, p. 167.
• Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, 6:29.

35

•  History unclear or in error
• Religious revivals in 1820

• Oliver Cowdery, Messenger and Advocate, Feb. 1835, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 42.

35, 342n78, 348n130

• Joseph Smith is claimed to have joined other churches after having been told that churches were wrong.
• Joseph is claimed to have become a member of the Baptist Church after his First Vision.
• Joseph is claimed to have become an "exhorter" for the Methodists after his First Vision.

• Joseph Smith joined other churches
• This claim is also made in One Nation Under Gods: p. 18, 487n62-63 (PB)

• Fayette Lapham, "Interview," pp. 305-306, reprinted in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents 1:458.
• Mitchell Bronk, "The Baptist Church at Manchester," The Chronicle: A Baptist Historical Quarterly [January 1948], vol. 11, pp. 23-24.
• Orasmus Turner, Lockport Daily Courier, May 5, 1854.
• Sophia Lewis, Susquehanna Register, May 1, 1834 reprinted in Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, OH, 1834), 269. (Affidavits examined)

35, 342n79-80

• Joseph reported "a spirit" visiting in him in 1827

• From the 'Palmyra Freeman: Golden Bible, Niagara Courier, Aug. 27, 1829, vol. 2, no. 18.
• "The Gold Bible," Rochester Advertiser and Telegraph, Aug. 31, 1829.

35-36, 343n83

• These supposed "early" accounts comes from hostile statements made forty to fifty years later!
• The 1870 account from Lapham says only that "a man" with "bloody clothes" appeared in a dream. (He also says this is what Joseph Jr. told his father, so this is hearsay.)
  • 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

• Hiel Lewis, letter to James T. Cobb, Amboy Journal, Apr. 30, 1879, reprinted in Wyl, pp. 79-80
• Fayette Lapham [May 1870], in Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996–2003), 5 vols, 1:459.
•  Citation error: the reference to the dream and bloody clothes is on p. 458.

36, 343n85

•  Prejudicial or loaded language
• Joseph Smith and the occult

• Lance S. Owens, "Joseph Smith: America's Hermetic Prophet," Gnosis, Spring 1995, no. 35, p. 60

36

• Early members believed in "witchcraft"
• William J. Hamblin, "'Everything Is Everything': Was Joseph Smith Influenced by Kabbalah? Review of Joseph Smith and Kabbalah: The Occult Connection by Lance S. Owens," FARMS Review of Books 8/2 (1996): 251–325. off-site

• John L. Brooke, The Refiner's Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644-1844, pp. 71-72.

36

• Lucy Mack Smith on "faculty of Abrac" and "magic circles"
• 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]

• Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 1, p. 285.

37, 344n93

• Mars dagger
• 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]
• This claim is also made in One Nation Under Gods: p. 89

• No source given.
• The endnote describes the dagger and its alleged importance to Joseph without acknowledging the source of the information.

37, 344n94

• Magick parchments
• 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]
• This claim is also made in One Nation Under Gods: p. 89-90, 519n53-57

• No source given.
• The endnote mentions the ""Holiness to the Lord,"" the ""Saint Peter Bind Them,"" and the ""Jehovah, Jehovah, Jehovah"" parchments without showing how they are related to the Smith family.
• An indirect reference is made to the book Occult Sciences."

37, 344n95

•  The author's claim is false: there is no contemporary evidence that the talisman was on Joseph when he died.
• Joseph Smith and Jupiter talisman
• This claim is also made in One Nation Under Gods: p. 89

• No source given.
• The endnote simply states the date of Joseph's death.

38

• Joseph influenced by Kabbalah?
• William J. Hamblin, "'Everything Is Everything': Was Joseph Smith Influenced by Kabbalah? Review of Joseph Smith and Kabbalah: The Occult Connection by Lance S. Owens," FARMS Review of Books 8/2 (1996): 251–325. off-site
• William J. Hamblin, Daniel C. Peterson, and George L. Mitton, "Mormon in the Fiery Furnace Or, Loftes Tryk Goes to Cambridge] (Review of The Refiner's Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644-1844 by John L. Brooke)," FARMS Review of Books 6/2 (1994): 3–58. off-site

• No source provided.

38

• The author provides no evidence for what Joseph believed about April 6.
• He fails to mention the one bit of evidence that we do have for what Joseph may have thought: DC 20꞉1 suggests that April 6 was seen as the date of Christ's birth.^[1] The author fails to cite D&C 20.

• D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, revised and enlarged edition, (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998), 76-79, 278-280 ( Index of claims )

38-39, 346 n. 104-109

• Joseph Smith's 1826 glasslooking trial

• Dan Vogel, "Rethinking the 1826 Judicial Decision," Mormon Scripture Studies: An E-Journal of Critical Thought.

39

•  The author's claim is false
•  Misrepresentation of source: in the quoted article, Martin Harris reported that Joseph had told him that the angel Moroni instructed him "...he must quit the company of the money-diggers. That there were wicked men among them. He must have no more to do with them."^[2]
• In Joseph's time and place, there was nothing shameful or disgraceful about money digging per se—it was the fact that some were wicked that was the problem.
• Joseph Smith and money digging

• Sam Katich, "Joseph Smith," FAIR link

40, 348n123

• Religious revivals in 1820/Gordon B. Hinckley cited false information
• Religious revivals in 1820

• Gordon B. Hinckley, Truth Restored, pp. 1-2.

42, 349n126

• 1832 account doesn't mention persecution

• Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 1, p. 29, 46-47.

42, 43 (sidebar)

• Modern scholars disagree with the author's resolution, and the rule which he appeals to is broken by the NT text more than it is observed. Even Acts violates the author's claimed 'solution' three times!
  • Do Greek scholars solve the discrepancies in Paul's vision accounts?

• W.E. Vine, Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, p. 544.

42

•  Quotes another author's opinion as if it were fact
• Psychobiographical analysis of Joseph Smith

• Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 25. ( Index of claims )

44

•  Quotes another author's opinion as if it were fact
•  The author's claim is false: elements of the First Vision was being taught by LDS missionaries in 1830 (see References to First Vision in 1830s).
• Psychobiographical analysis of Joseph Smith

• Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 25. ( Index of claims )

45, 351 n. 144

•  History unclear or in error: The note simply mentions that seer stones continued to be used after the Church was organized in 1830—a fact that could be easily deduced from reading the Doctrine and Covenants.
• Joseph Smith and seer stones

• No specific reference is provided.

46

• One Nation Under Gods/Use of sources/Divining rods to Kimball and Young

• Anthon H. Lund Journal, under July 5, 1901.
• "The Psychological Needs of Mormon Women," Sunstone, volume 6, number 2, page 67.
• D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, revised and enlarged edition, (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998), 206 ( Index of claims )

46

• Divining rods to Kimball and Young

• Anthon H. Lund Journal, under July 5, 1901.
• "The Psychological Needs of Mormon Women," Sunstone, volume 6, number 2, page 67.
• D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, revised and enlarged edition, (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998), 206 ( Index of claims )

46

• Oliver Cowdery and the "rod of nature"

•  ^[ATTENTION!]

48

• Joseph Smith and seer stones  ^{[needs work]}

• D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, revised and enlarged edition, (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998), 200 ( Index of claims )

48

•  Prejudicial or loaded language
• Joseph Smith and the occult

• Author's conclusion.

49

•  Absurd claim
•  Prejudicial or loaded language
• Joseph Smith and the occult

• Author's conclusion.

51, 353n2, 354n3

•  Quotes another author's opinion as if it were fact
• Book of Mormon plagiarized from the Apocrypha
• Book of Mormon plagiarized from the Bible

• Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 62-63. ( Index of claims )

55, 355n28

• Nephi or Moroni

• 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."

56

•  Quotes another author's opinion as if it were fact

• D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, revised and enlarged edition, (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998), 198-199 ( Index of claims )

56, 357n34

• Joseph Smith and seer stones

• 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.

56, 357n33

• Joseph Smith and seer stones

• Steven C. Walker, "Joseph Smith: 'The Gift of Seeing,'" in Bryan Waterman ed., The Prophet Puzzle, p. 97.

56, 357n35-36

•  The author's claim is false
• These supposed "early" accounts comes from hostile statements made forty to fifty years later!
  • 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

• Parley Chase, letter to James T. Cobb, Apr. 3, 1879, in Wilhelm Wyl, Mormon Portraits Volume First: Joseph Smith the Prophet, His Family and Friends (Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing Co., 1886), 276. , reprinted in Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996–2003), 5 vols, 3:135.
• Hiel Lewis, The Amboy Journal, Apr. 30, 1879, quoted in Wesley P. Walters, "The Mormon Prophet Attempts to Join the Methodists"

56

• Book of Mormon translation method
• Joseph Smith and seer stones

• Isaac Hale, "Mormonism," Susquehanna Register, and Northern Pennsylvanian, May 1, 1834, p. 1.

57, 358-9n47

•  Author(s) impose(s) own fundamentalism on the Saints
• Book of Mormon translation method

• Joseph F. Smith, quoted by Oliver B. Huntington, Journal of Oliver Huntington, p. 168.

57-58, 359n49

•  Author(s) impose(s) own fundamentalism on the Saints: 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.
• Book of Mormon textual changes

• History of the Church, vol. 1, pp. 54-55.

58, 359n50-51

• Book of Mormon anachronisms/Synagogues

• Book of Mormon, 1830 edition, p. 268
• Alma 16꞉13
• The New International Dictionary of the Bible, p. 972

58, 359n52-53

• Book of Mormon anachronisms/Animals

• 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."

58, 359n53

•  The author's claim is false: 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.
• Book of Mormon anachronisms/Animals

• John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, pp. 191-276, 299.

58, 359n54

• Book of Mormon and the Mound Builders

• Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 34. ( Index of claims )

60, 360n58

• Book of Mormon plagiarism accusations/The Wonders of Nature

• Josiah Priest, The Wonders of Nature, 1825
• Abanes, p. 69
• 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."

60-61, 360n59-63

• Book of Mormon and View of the Hebrews

• 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?"

61

• Viewing the gold plates would result in death?

• Martin Harris, Tiffany's Monthly interview, 1859.

62, 361n69-72

•  The author's claim is false
• Book of Mormon witnesses/Spiritual or literal

• Grant H. Palmer, An Insider's View of Mormon Origins (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2002) 175-176. ( Index of claims )

64

•  Misrepresentation of source
• "Eye of Faith"/"Spiritual Eye" statements by Martin Harris

• LDS apostle Stephen Burnett, letter to Lyman E. Johnson, April 15, 1838 reprinted in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents 2:291

64, 362n81-82

•  The author's claim is false
• Book of Mormon witnesses/Spiritual or literal

• Grant H. Palmer, An Insider's View of Mormon Origins (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2002) 198-199. ( Index of claims )
• Harris, Tiffany's Monthly interview, 1859."

64, 362n83-84

• Book of Mormon witnesses/Spiritual or literal
• Eight witnesses
• John Whitmer: shown_to_me_by_a_supernatural_power

• Grant H. Palmer, An Insider's View of Mormon Origins (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2002) 204-206. ( Index of claims )

65

• 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) recanted later.
  • Strangite parallels for witnesses?
  • Book_of_Mormon_witnesses

• Grant H. Palmer, An Insider's View of Mormon Origins (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2002) 208-212. ( Index of claims )

65, 362n87

•  Quotes another author's opinion as if it were fact: the author quotes no "apologists," but only two critics.
•  The author's claim is false: 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.
• Book of Mormon anachronisms

• Dan Vogel, Brent Metcalfe, American Apocrypha, p. xiii.

66, 362n88

•  Misrepresentation of source: Green argued—in 1969—that the requisite work had not been done.
• 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:
  • John E. Clark, "'Archaeology, Relics, and Book of Mormon Belief'," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14/2 (2005). [38–49] link
• Book of Mormon archaeology

• Dee F. Green, "Book of Mormon Archeology: The Myths and the Alternatives," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 4 no. 3 (Summer 1969), 72-80.

66, 362n89

• Amerindians as Lamanites/Maya and Olmec

• Michael Coe, "Mormons and Archaeology: An Outside View," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (Winter 1973), vol. 8, p. 44.

66, 363n92

• The author acknowledges in his endnote that Givens "however, also quoted BYU professor Daniel Peterson, who made a statement in support of the BOM's unique character."
• See Daniel C. Peterson, "Editor's Introduction: By What Measure Shall We Mete? (Review of Hodgson's Test)," FARMS Review of Books 2/1 (1990): vii–vii. off-site
• Amerindians as Lamanites/Maya and Olmec

• Terryl L. Givens, By the Hand of Mormon, p. 155.

67, 363n95-96

•  Double standard: 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.
• Book of Mormon geography/New World/Limited Geography Theory

• 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.

67, 363n99

• 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.

• John L. Sorenson and Matthew Roper, "Before DNA," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 12/1 (2003). [6–23] link, p. 10.

70, 365n115

•  Double standard: 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.
•  Misrepresentation of source: all Amerindians are descendants of Lehi; they are not just descendants of Lehi:
• Amerindians as Lamanites
• All Amerindians are descended from Lehi
• Book_of_Mormon_and_DNA_evidence

• Joseph Smith's 1835 account of the First Vision found in the Ohio Journal—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"

71, 365n120

•  Misrepresentation of source: all Amerindians are descendants of Lehi; they are not just descendants of Lehi:
• Amerindians as Lamanites
• All Amerindians are descended from Lehi

• Oliver Cowdery's Speech to the Delawares. Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt.

72, 366 n.127

•  Internal contradiction: 66: The Green article argued in 1969 that Lehites were not the only source of Amerindian stock.
•  The author's claim is false: 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:
  • Statements about Book of Mormon geography and peoples
• Book of Mormon geography/Borders of the Lamanites

• DC 54꞉8—"And thus you shall take your journey into the regions westward, unto the land of Missouri, unto the borders of the Lamanites"

72, 366n128

• While the LDS are not opposed to new insights and concepts in principle, this is not an example of such—statements show that this "updated paradigm" has had advocates for at least one hundred years: Statements about Book of Mormon geography and peoples
• Amerindians as Lamanites

• Cooper Johnson, DNA and the Book of Mormon, FAIR web site

72, 366n130

•  Internal contradiction: 66: The Green article argued in 1969 that Lehites were not the only source of Amerindian stock.
•  The author's claim is false: 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: Statements about Book of Mormon geography and peoples
• Book of Mormon anachronisms/Demographics

• 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.

73, 367n131-135

• 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.
• Fundamentalist "suicide bombing"

• 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, "DNA and the Book of Mormon"

73, 367n136

• Native Americans to become "white and delightsome" through polygamous marriage?

• 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.

73, 367n137

•  History unclear or in error: The change was made by Joseph Smith in 1836; it was not made under the influence of science or DNA.
• Book of Mormon textual changes/"white" changed to "pure"

• 2 Nephi 30꞉6 (pre-1981 edition)

73, 367n138

• Lamanite curse
• 2 Nephi 5꞉21

• No source provided.

74

•  The author's claim is false: as shown above, leaders and members have not been of one mind on this issue about which there is no official Church position.
•  Misrepresentation of source: The author has failed to account for material in the sources he cites which disprove his claim.
• Mormonism and science

• Author's opinion

75, 368n142

•  The author's claim is false
•  Misrepresentation of source
• B.H. Roberts and "Studies of the Book of Mormon"

• B.H. Roberts, Studies of the Book of Mormon, p. 271, 243.

76, 368n143

•  The author's claim is false
•  Misrepresentation of source
• B.H. Roberts' testimony of the Book of Mormon

• Wesley P. Lloyd statement at www.lds-mormon.com/bhrlettr.shtml

76

•  The author's claim is false: there are statements both before and after his conclusion, some within weeks of Roberts' death.
• B.H. Roberts' testimony of the Book of Mormon
• Use of sources—Roberts and the Book of Mormon

• Truman G. Madsen, "B.H. Roberts and the Book of Mormon," BYU Studies (Summer 1979), volume 19, pp. 427-445.

77 368n145-147

• Thomas Stuart Ferguson
• Book of Mormon archaeology

• 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.

77 369n150-153

•  The author's claim is false: 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:
  • Brant Gardner, "Where Much Is Promised, Less Is Given, A review of Decoding Ancient America: A Guide to the Archaeology of the Book of Mormon by Diane E. Wirth," FARMS Review 20/1 (2008): 15–32. off-site wiki
  • Brant Gardner, "A New Chronicler in the Old Style," FARMS Review 19/1 (2007): 13–22. off-site wiki
  • Brant Gardner, "The Other Stuff: Reading the Book of Mormon for Cultural Information (Review of: Nephite Culture and Society: Selected Papers)," FARMS Review of Books 13/2 (2001): 21–52. off-site
  • Brant A. Gardner, Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 6 Vols. (Salt Lake City, UT: Greg Kofford Books, 2007), 4:1–.

• See also: Quetzalcoatl and Jesus Christ

• 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, "The White god Quetzalcoatl," Meridian Magazine, 2003.
• Adela Fernandez, Pre-Hispanic Gods of Mexico, p. 68
• Quetzalcoatl the Myth, www.weber.ucsd.edu.

84, 370n9-11

•  Absurd claim: The revelations were "showing their age" between 1833 and 1835?
• Doctrine and Covenants textual changes

• Karl F. Best, "Changes in the Revelations, 1833-1835," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (Spring 1992), vol. 25, no. 1, p. 90.
• H. Michael Marquardt, The Joseph Smith Revelations: Text & Commentary, p. 17.

85, 371n14

•  The author's claim is false: Latter-day Saints realize that their understanding of divine truth may grow and be enhanced, but this does not mean that the truth is changeable or flexible.
•  Quotes another author's opinion as if it were fact: once again, only a hostile author is cited; there are no quotes from LDS sources used to explore their supposed view.
• Changing doctrine

• Richard N. and Joan K. Ostling, Mormon America: The Power and the Promise, (New York:HarperCollins Publishers, 2000), 249. ( Index of claims )

87, 370n23

•  History unclear or in error
• Did Joseph Smith attempt to sell the Book of Mormon copyright?

• David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ.

87, 371n25

• Doctrine and Covenants textual changes

• D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power (Signature Books, 1994), 5.

89, 372n28

• Doctrine and Covenants textual changes

• Karl F. Best, "Changes in the Revelations, 1833-1835," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (Spring 1992), vol. 25, no.1, p. 98.

89, 372n29-30

•  Mind reading: author has no way of knowing this.
• Oliver Cowdery and the "rod of nature"

• D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, revised and enlarged edition, (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998), 206 ( Index of claims )
• H. Michael Marquardt, The Joseph Smith Revelations: Text & Commentary, pp. 14-15.

90, 372n34, 375n35

• This explanation (as shown by the dates of the material cited) came long after the fact. The author does not tell us that McLellin said at his excommunication hearing that:

he said he had no confidence in the presidency of the Church; consequently, he had quit praying and keeping the commandments of the Lord, and indulged himself in his sinful lusts. It was from what he had heard that he believed the presidency had got out of the way, and not from anything that he had seen himself.^[3]

• McLellin had previously been excommunicated for spending time with "a certain harlot" while on a mission.^[4] He had also been out of fellowship for "writing a letter which "cast…censure upon the [first] presidency."^[5]
• McLellin: Examining the Witness
• Doctrine_and_Covenants_textual_changes

• "The Early History of the Saints and Their Enemies," Sept. 28, 1875, Salt Lake Daily Tribune, Dec. 5, 1878
• William McLellin, Saint's Herald, vol. 17, pp. 556-557.

90

• Argument from silence?

• Stephen W. Gibson, One-Minute Answers to Anti-Mormon Question, p. 82

94

• Hiding Book of the Dead connection?
• Book of Abraham/Papyri

• No source provided.

94-98

• Book of Abraham/Papyri

• Charles M. Larson, By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri, 2nd ed., (Grand Rapids, MI: Institute for Religious Research, 1992), .

99

• Apologetics

• Author's opinion.

100

• Kirtland Egyptian Papers

• Richard L. Bushman, "Joseph Smith as Translator, in Waterman, p. 81.

109

• Polytheism

• Definition of "polytheism" taken from Vergilius Ferm, ed., The Encyclopedia of Religion, p. 774.

112 n25-26

• Polytheism

• The author adds the endnote: "LDS theology recognized that other supreme gods exist for other universes and world. But Mormons contend that we have nothing to do with these gods."
• John Widtsoe, A Rational Theology, p. 67.
• Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 11:41.
• Joseph Smith, Lecture on Faith, Lecture 2, paragraph 2.

114

• Godhead and the Trinity

• No source provided.

114

• Scripture consistently affirms that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are "one God." This is why members of the Church consider them as such. The just do not consider them "one God" in the same sense as Nicene trinitarians like the author.
• Godhead and the Trinity

• No source provided.

115, 379n47-48

• The Saints are trinitarians, just not Nicene trinitarians:
• Godhead and the Trinity
  • Nicene trinitarianism not part of early Christian beliefs
  • Non-LDS scholars on Nicea and the Bible

• Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 226.
• Stanley Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, p. 99.

130

• Creatio ex nihilo

• Source not provided.

130

• Terryl Givens, "When Souls Had Wings: What the Western Tradition Has to teach Us About Pre-Existence," FAIR Conference 2007 off-site

• The author claims that this is derived from "pure Greek philosophy."

130

• Deification of man

• Source not provided.

136

• Corporeality of God

• Author's opinion.

136

• God is a man?

• Numbers 23꞉19
• 1 Samuel 15꞉29
• Hosea 11꞉9

137

• God is a Spirit

• John 4꞉24
• Luke 24꞉39
• Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost," Ensign, Oct. 5, 1986.

149

• "Son of Man" or "son of a man?"

• No source given.

154

• "Celestial sex"

• Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 750.

156, 394 n. 28-31

• Heavenly Mother

• Milton R. Hunter, The Gospel Through the Ages, p. 98.
• Cannon, in Daniel H. Ludlow, vol. 2, p. 961.
• Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 516.
• Gordon B. Hinckley, "Daughters of God," Ensign, Nov. 1991, p. 100.

157

• "Celestial sex"

• Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 11:123.

162

• Heavenly Mother

• Jeremiah 7꞉17-19
• Jeremiah 44꞉17-19
• Jeremiah 44꞉25-27

183

• This claim is false.
• 1 Nephi 11꞉18-21
• Jesus Christ's conception
• This claim is also made in One Nation Under Gods: p. 287, 575n38(PB)

• Isaiah 7꞉14

184

• More distortion regarding Jesus Christ's conception

• Luke 1꞉35
• 1 Nephi 11꞉14
• 1 Nephi 11꞉16-18
• 1 Nephi 11꞉20
• 1 Nephi 11꞉24
• 1 Nephi 11꞉26-28
• 1 Nephi 11꞉32-33

185, 405n41

• This is the author's conclusion. The author wants to talk about a "sexual union" again, but the statement he uses in his citation in the endnotes says nothing about redefining "virgin" to mean a woman who has never known a mortal man. It is certainly true that Latter-day Saints believe Jesus Christ to be the literal son of our Heavenly Father, but the author takes liberties in drawing his conclusions about the event.
• Jesus Christ's conception

• Joseph F. Smith, Charles Penrose, "Message of the First Presidency," vol. 5, p. 34. "...his unique status in the flesh as the offspring of a mortal mother and of an immortal, or resurrected and glorified, Father"

187, 406n54-55

•  The author's claim is false: Atonement not carried out on the cross

• Cky J. Carrigan, "Did Jesus Christ Die on the Cross to Pay for Our Sins?: A Survey of Mormon Teachings on the Atonement of Christ," Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Ministries to New Religions, Biola University, Jan. 25, 2003.

201

• Three degrees of glory
• Human deification/theosis

• Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, "Those who obtain exaltation will gain all power and thus themselves be omnipotent...Godhood is to have the character, possess the attributes, and enjoy the perfections which the Father has. It is to do what he does, have the powers resident in him, and live as he lives."

201

• 2 Corinthians 12:2
• 1 Corinthians 15:40-41
• Three degrees of glory not biblical

• DC 76

205

• Deification of man

• Isaiah 43
• 1 Timothy 2꞉5
• James 2꞉19

213

• The concept of deification derived from Greek philosophy?

225

• "Celestial sex"

• Melodie Moench Charles, "The Need for a New Mormon Heaven," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Fall 1988, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 77-78. The reference to "sexual union" comes from Melodie Moench Charles.

226

• 1835 Doctrine and Covenants denies polygamy

• D&C CI:4 (1835 edition), p. 251.

233, 422n47

• Polygamy a requirement for exaltation

• J.W. Musser, "The New And Everlasting Covenant Of Marriage: An Interpretation Of Celestial Marriage, Plural Marriage, Polygamy."

233, 422n48-49

• The only men who become gods are those that practice polygamy?

• Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 11:268-269

237

•  The author's claim is false: The sources quoted in the endnotes do not say anything about "conjugal visits" to women to whom Joseph was sealed who already had husbands for time.
• Joseph Smith and polygamy

• Richard S. Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy: A History (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1989), 62.
• Jedediah Grant, Journal of Discourses 2:14.

237, 424n71

• Full details: Wyatt, "Zina and Her Men."

• Todd Compton, In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1997), 20, 48-49. ( Index of claims )

237, 425n73-75

•  The author's claim is false
• This claim is also made in One Nation Under Gods: p. 295, 582n81-82 (HB) 580n81-82 (PB)
• Grant's quote (see right) is about consecrating everything to God's service: money, wives, etc. It does not sanction "wife swapping."
• See: One Nation Under Gods/Use of sources/Wife swapping

• Jedediah M. Grant, Journal of Discourses 2:14..
• Lee, Confessions of John D. Lee, p. 165
• C.F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 1, p. 73.

237

• See p. 244
• Polygamy not Biblical

• Author's interpretation.

239, n. 80-83

• Was Jesus a polygamist

• Jedediah M. Grant, Journal of Discourses 1:346..
• Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses 2:210..
• Orson Pratt, "Celestial Marriage," The Seer, vol. 1, no. 11, p. 172.

240

• Book of Mormon condemns polygamy

• Jacob 1꞉15
• Jacob 2꞉24-27
• Jacob 3꞉5
• The author does not mention Jacob 2꞉30, which states "For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things" as the reason that Latter-day Saints "deny that this is the case."

241

• Jesus: premortal deification

• No source given

241

• Holy Ghost: premortal deification

• No source given

244

•  The author's claim is false: levirate marriage was mandated by the law of Moses (Deuteronomy 25:5-6).
• Even if true, this claim is immaterial. God did not condemn the practice of plural marriage in the Bible. If it was everywhere and always forbidden, God could and would have done so. Early Christian authors understood this.
• Polygamy_not_Biblical
• No biblical mandate for plural marriage?

• No source given.

245, n97

• Polygamy after the Manifesto

• 1911 telegram to Reed Smoot from Joseph F. Smith, Apr. 1, 1911.

255, 434n15

• Did early LDS leaders denounce Christianity?

• Joseph Smith, EJ", vol. 1, no. 4, p. 60 www.solomonspalding.com/docs/eldjur04.htm
• Joseph Smith, History of the Church 5:218.
• Orson Pratt, "Baptism for the Remission of Sins," The Seer, p. 255.
• Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, 2:196.
• Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 5:73.
• Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses 5:89-90.
• Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 5:229.
• John Taylor, Journal of Discourses 2:25.
• Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 8:171.
• Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 8:199.
• John Taylor, Journal of Discourses 13:225.
• Andrew Jenson, Collected Discourses 2:150.
• B.H. Roberts, The Mormon Doctrine of Deity, p. 116.
• Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, pp. 132, 246, 269, 314-315.

256

• Great and abominable church

• 1 Nephi 13꞉4-9
• 1 Nephi 13꞉24-29
• 1 Nephi 14꞉10-13
• D&C 19-21

257

• Did early LDS leaders denounce Christianity?

• Author's opinion

262, 440n46

• Polytheism
• The "Mormon Jesus" versus the "Traditional Jesus"

• Source not specified.

262, 440n46

• Jesus Christ is the brother of Satan
• The "Mormon Jesus" versus the "Traditional Jesus"

• No source specified.

262, 440n46

• The "Mormon Jesus" versus the "Traditional Jesus"

• Source not specified.

262, 440n46

• Joseph Smith's status in LDS belief
• The "Mormon Jesus" versus the "Traditional Jesus"

• Source not specified.

268

• No complete apostasy?

• 2 Peter 2꞉1-2
• Acts 20꞉29-30
• 2 Timothy 4꞉3-5
• 2 Timothy 1꞉15
• 2 Thessalonians 2꞉3
• 2 Thessalonians 2꞉7

273

• Baptism for the dead

• No source given.

274-276

• Hebrews 7 and the Aaronic Priesthood
• Christians don't need a mediating priesthood?
• Is There a "Priesthood of All Believers"?

• Hebrews 7-10

276-279

• Priesthood non-transferable?
• Jesus is the only Melchizedek priesthood holder
• Bible teachings about priesthood

• Hebrews 7꞉24
• D. Guthrie and J.A. Motyer, eds., The Eerdman's Bible Commentary, p. 1241.

Sites we recommend:

• Mormon Scholars Testify: Messages of faith from scholars who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints