This is an index of claims made in this work with links to corresponding responses within the FAIRwiki. An effort has been made to provide the author's original sources where possible.
It should be noted that Richard Abanes' response to the list of problems documented by FAIR is that the editing on the hardback edition of One Nation Under Gods was incomplete and that many of the problems were corrected in the paperback edition, published a year later. (This corrected paperback edition bears no markings indicating that it is a second edition or an updated edition; it simply appears as a paperback edition of the original.) Despite the author's statements, many of the problems noted exist in both the hardback and paperback versions. FAIR members are in the process of updating the problems so they address both editions of the book.
In the table below the Hardback is represented by "HB" and the Paperback by "PB."
| Page
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Claim
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Response
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Author's sources
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| 23 |
The author claims that "LDS documents are strangely silent about their prophet's activities during the three years immediately following his 1820 First Vision." |
Absurd claims |
- Author's opinion.
- Just how much documentation does he think exists on the activities of a 14 to 17-year-old farm boy living on the frontier during this period? The Church didn't even exist during this time, therefore there would be no "LDS documents."
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| 25 |
The angel was originally named "Nephi" instead of "Moroni." |
Nephi or Moroni |
- Oliver Cowdery, Times and Seasons, April 15, 1842, vol. 3, no. 12, 753.
- 1851 edition of the Pearl of Great Price, p. 41.
- Joseph Smith 1832 History cited in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents vol. 1, 29-30.
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| 26, 492 n.19-20 |
Oliver Cowdery said that the First Vision took place in 1823 when Joseph was in his 17th year. |
Oliver Cowdery not aware of First Vision in 1834-35 |
- Oliver Cowdery, "Letter III," Messenger and Advocate, December 1834, vol. 1, no. 3, 41-43.
- Oliver Cowdery, "Letter IV," Messenger and Advocate, February 1835, vol. 1, no. 5, 77-80.
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| 26, 492 n.21 |
Joseph's brother William associates Moroni's visit with a revival. |
William Smith said First Vision was an "angel"? |
- William Smith, William Smith on Mormonism cited in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 1, 494.
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| 27, 493 n.23 |
George A. Smith merged the First Vision and Moroni's visit. |
George A. Smith said First Vision was an "angel" |
- George A. Smith, Journal of Discourses, vol. 12, 334. (November 15, 1863)
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| 27, 493 n.24 |
Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph's mother, said that the First Vision was of the angel in 1823. |
Prophet's mother said First Vision was of an "angel" |
- Lucy Mack Smith, "Preliminary Manuscript" of Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors for many Generations, cited in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 1, 289-291.
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| 27 |
Joseph engaged in "ritual magic and divination." |
Joseph Smith and the occult |
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| 28 |
Joseph was a "money digger" |
Joseph Smith and money digging |
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| 28 |
Joseph used a "peep stone" to search for treasure. |
Joseph Smith and seer stones |
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| 29, 494 n.30 |
Joseph's father was "a firm believer in witchcraft and other supernatural things; and had brought up his family in the same beief." |
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- Fayette Lapham, "Interview with the Father of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, Forty Years Ago. His Account of the Finding of the Sacred Plates," Historical Magazine (May 1870) cited in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 1 458.
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| 29, 494-5 n.33-34 |
Martin Harris said that Joseph was associated with a company of money diggers. |
Joseph Smith and money digging |
- Brooke, 362, endnote #2
- Martin Harris, "Mormonism-No. II", Tiffany's Monthly, August 1859, vol. 5, 164.
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| 29, 495 n.36 |
Joshua Stafford said that Joseph's family "told marvelous stories about ghosts, hob-goblins, caverns, and verious other mysterious matters." |
The Hurlbut affidavits—Joshua Stafford |
- Joshua Stafford cited in Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, p. 258.
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| 29-30, 495 n.37 |
"Most of the residents" of Palmyra and Manchester considered the Smith family a "close-knit clan of occultists." |
Joseph Smith and the occult |
- "Gold Bible, No. 3," Palmyra Reflector, February 1, 1831, cited in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 2, 242.
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| 30, 495 n.38 |
William Stafford stated that Joseph used a seer stone to see "the spirits in whose charge these treasures were, clotehd in ancient dress." |
The Hurlbut affidavits—William Stafford |
- William Stafford cited in Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, p. 238.
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| 30, 495 n.40 |
Joseph Capron stated that Joseph encouraged others to participate in money digging in order to obtain wealth. |
The Hurlbut affidavits—Joseph Capron |
- Joseph Capron cited in Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, p. 259.
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| 31, 495 n.41 |
Rev. John Sherer said that Joseph Smith was a "juggler" (i.e. a "con-man") |
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- John Sherer, letter to American Home Missionary Society, November 18, 1830 quote in Persuitte, p. 36.
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| 31, 495 n.42 |
William Stafford stated that Joseph believed that the state of the moon determined the best time to obtain treasures. |
The Hurlbut affidavits—William Stafford |
- William Stafford, cited in Howe, Mormonism Unvailed 238.
- NOTE: Stafford's testimony was given on Dec. 8th, 1833—three years after the publication of the Book of Mormon.
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| 31, 495 n.43 |
Joseph Smith made animal sacrifices to "appease whatever spirits might be guarding the buried treasure." |
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- Emily M. Austin, Mormonism; or, Life among the Mormons, 32ff quoted in Wesley P. Walters, "Joseph Smith's Bainbridge, N.Y., Court Trials," Westminster Theological Journal (Winder 1974), vol. 36, 125.
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| 31, 496 n.44 |
Hiel Lewis claimed that dogs, cats and other animals were sacrificed. |
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- Hiel Lewis, Amboy Journal, June 4, 1879 quote in Tanner and Tanner, Mormonism, Magic and Masonry, p. 33.
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| 33, 495 n.48 |
Joshua Stafford said that Joseph showed him a piece of wood from a box of money that had "mysteriously moved back into the hill." |
The Hurlbut affidavits—Joshua Stafford |
- Joshua Stafford, cited in Howe, Mormonism Unvailed 258.
- NOTE: Stafford's testimony was given Nov. 15, 1833—three years after the publication of the Book of Mormon.
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| 36, 497 n.63 |
LDS historian Reed C. Durham stated that "virtually all aspects of the Royal Arch Freemasonry legend of Enoch 'seem transformed into the history of Joseph Smith, so much that even it appears to be a kind of symbolic acting out of Masonic lore.'" |
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- Reed C. Durham, "Is There no Help for the Widow's Son," Presidential Address, Mormon History Association Conference, April 20, 1974.
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| 36 |
Joseph Smith adapted Masonic rituals for the temple endowment. |
Temple endowment and Freemasonry |
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| 40 |
The Book of Mormon denounces Freemasonry by condemning "secret combinations," "secret signs," and "secret oaths." |
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| Page
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Claim
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Response
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Author's sources
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| 41, 500 n.2-4 |
Joseph used at least two seer stones. |
Joseph Smith and seer stones |
- D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, 245.
- E.W. Vanderhoof, Historical Sketches of Western New York, quoted in Quinn, 43.
- Quinn, 43.
|
| 42, 500 n.7 |
Issac Hale, Emma's father, disapproved of Joseph because of his money digging activities. |
The Hurlbut affidavits—Isaac Hale |
- Isaac Hale, cited in Howe Mormonism Unvailed 262-263.
- Martin Harris, Tiffany's Monthly, August 1859, vol. 5, 164.
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| 44 |
Joseph was pronounced "guilty" of performing illegal activities with the stone. |
Joseph Smith's 1826 glasslooking trial |
- A.W. Benton, Evangelical Magazine and Gosepl Advocate, April 9, 1831, New Series 2, 120.
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| 46, 503 n.18 |
Hugh Nibley said, "If this court recored is authentic, it is the most damning evidence in existence against Joseph Smith. |
Joseph Smith's 1826 glasslooking trial |
- Hugh Nibley, The Myth Makers, 142.
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| 46, 503 n.20 |
Francis Kirkham claimed that "If any evidence had been in existence that Joseph Smith had used a seer stone for fraud and deception, and expcially had he made this confession in a court of law as early as 1826, or four years before the Book of Mormon was printed, and this confession was in a court record, it would have been impossible for hism to have organized the resorted Church. |
Joseph Smith's 1826 glasslooking trial |
- Francis Kirkham, A New Witness for Christ in the America, 386.
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| 47, 503 n.22 |
Joseph realized that "money-digging alone was bringing in ony about $14 a month, which was not nearly enough to support a family." |
Joseph Smith and money digging |
- History of the Church 3:29
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| 47, 503 n.23 |
Joseph initially "attached no religious significance" to the "golden book" that he told people he would be retrieving. He instead "touted it as a book that would 'tell him how to get money that was buried in the ground.'" |
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- Parley Chase, letter to James T. Cobb, April 3, 1879 quoted in Wyl, Joseph Smith, the Prophet, His Family, and His Friends, 276.
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| 48, 503 n.25 |
Joseph decided to convert his book into a saga about America's ancient inhabitants as a money making scheme. |
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| 503 n.25 |
Joseph tried to sell the copyright of the Book of Mormon in Canada. |
Did Joseph Smith attempt to sell the Book of Mormon copyright? |
- Hiram Page, letter to William McLellin, February 2, 1848.
- David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ, 30-31.
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| 48, 503-4 n.29-32 |
One of Joseph's early descriptions of Moroni was of a bloody ghost with his throat cut. |
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- Hiel Lewis, Amboy Journal, April 30, 1879, quote in Wesley P. Walters, "The Mormon Prophet Attempts to Join the Methodists," reprinted in Wyl, Mormon Portraits, 79-80.
- Fayette Lapham, reprinted in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 1, 459.
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| 50-51, n.34-36 |
"The Smiths eventually changed Joseph's 'dream' of a ghost to a 'vision' of a spirit (but not yet an angel)...A 'toad-like' creature 'assumed the appearance of a man' and struck Joseph on the side of his head, telling him that it was not yet time to retrieve the plates." |
The Hurlbut affidavits—Willard Chase |
- Willard Chase, cited in Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 242.
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| 51 |
"A subsequent version of Smith's ever-changing tale..." |
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- No source given.
- The author wishes to portray all of these stories as successive evolutions.
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| 51 |
"Until well into the late 1800s it was widely understood that Smith found the golden plates not by a dream, or a ghost, or a vision—but by looking into his peep-stone and seeing where they had been deposited. |
Absurd claims |
- Orasmus Turner, History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase, and Morris Reserve. (1852)
- Hosea Stout, On the Mormon Frontier: The Diary of Hosea Stout, vol. 2, 593.
- Martin Harris, Tiffany's Monthly, vol. 5, 163, 169.
- Widely understood?? The author cites several second-hand sources...from the 1850s!
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| 51 |
"all of the religious aspects of Smith's adventures came much later." |
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- Orasmus Turner, 214.
- Hiel Lewis.
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| 52 |
Joseph Smith claimed that the moon was inhabited. |
Joseph Smith and moonmen |
- Oliver B. Huntington, "The Inhabitants of the Moon," Th eYOung Woman's Journal, 1892, vol. 3, 263-264.
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| 52 |
Joseph taught the doctrine of "Caucasians advancing to godhood" |
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| 52 |
Joseph taught the notion that "Blacks, Indians, and other people of color are cursed spirits." |
Lamanite curse |
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53, 505-506n47 (HB)
53, 503-504n47 (PB) |
"After all, no one had actually seen the plates, nor would anyoneever see them" |
Absurd claims
Use of sources: Seeing the Plates |
- Testimony of the Three Witnesses
- Testimony of the Eight Witnesses
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| 505 n.47 |
The witnesses only saw the plates through "visionary experiences." |
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| 505 n.47 |
The eight witnesses only saw the plates as long as they were covered with a cloth of some kind. |
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| 505 n.47 |
Martin Harris said that none of the eight witnesses ever saw the plates, and that he only handled them in a box or under a cloth. |
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- Stephen Burnett, letter to Br Johnson, April 15, 1838, Joseph Smith Papers, Letterbook, April 20, 1837-February 9, 1843, 64-66 cited in Jerald and Sandra Tanner, The Changing World of Mormonism (Moody Press, 1979), 108.( Index of claims ).
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| 505 n.47 |
Joseph Smith claimed that the Three Witnesses saw the plates in a vision. |
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- Joseph Smith, "History of Joseph Smith—Continued", Times and Seasons, September 1, 1842, vol. 3, no. 21, 897-898.
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| 505 n.47 |
David Whitmer "agreed that neither he, nor the other Three Witnesses, ever physically saw or handled the plates. |
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- David Whitmer, interview recorded by P. Wilhelm Poulson, c. early 1878, reprinted in Deseret Evening News, August 16, 1878.
- Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 77-80. ( Index of claims )
- Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Mormonism—Shadow or Reality?, 5th edition, (Salt Lake City: Utah Lighthouse Ministry, 1987), 50-55.
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| 508 n.59 |
"Mormons often try to discredit Anthon by pointing out an alleged discrepancy between his letters, but there exists no such discrepancy. |
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- Persuitte, 303-304, endnote#19.
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55, 508n60 (HB)
55, 506n60 (PB) |
Scholars have declared that there is no language called "Reformed Egyptian." |
Reformed Egyptian
Use of sources: Reformed Egyptian |
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| 55, 508 n.62 |
Joseph used his "peep-stone" to translate the Book of Mormon. |
Book of Mormon translation method |
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| 56, 508 n.63-65 |
Emma Smith and David Whitmer said that Joseph translated using his seer stone in a hat. |
Book of Mormon translation method |
- Emma Smith Bidamon, Interview with Joseph Smith, III, February 1879, reprinted in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 1, 539.
- Martin Harris, Interview with Anthony Metcalf, c. 1873-1874. Quoted in A. Metcalf, Ten Years Before the Mast..., reprinted in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 2, 346-347.
- David Whitmer, An Address to all believers in Christ, 12.
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