Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Use of sources/Destroying Governments and Religions

Christ Setting up a Theocracy in Missouri

A FAIR Analysis of: Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods A work by author: Richard Abanes

Seeing the Plates

A Thread of Prophecy: Destroying Governments and Religions

The Quote

One Nation under Gods, page xx-xxi (hardback)

As for other governments and religions, according to Joseph Smith, they "must eventually be destroyed from the earth."17

One Nation under Gods, page xiv-xvii (paperback)

As for all non-Mormon (i.e. heathen) nations, according to Joseph Smith, they "must eventually be destroyed from the earth."17

The Reference

Endnote 17, page 479

17. Joseph Smith, statement of December 30, 1842, HC (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1976/1980), vol. 5, 212.

The Problems

This quote is the closing sentence of a paragraph in which the author asserts that "Mormons [after the return of Christ] will reign with Christ, and every American citizen, along with the rest of the world, will be forced to recognize Mormonism as the one true religion." It is unfortunate that the Joseph Smith quote offered by the author can only support his thesis in the watered-down, out-of-context way he presents it. Take a look at the full quote, in context (the portion shown in bold is the portion of the quote that the author used):

While at conversation at Judge Adams' during the evening, I said, Christ and the resurrected Saints will reign over the earth during the thousand years. They will not probably dwell upon the earth, but will visit it when they please, or when it is necessary to govern it. There will be wicked men on the earth during the thousand years. The heathen nations who do not come up to worship will be visited with the judgments of God, and must eventually be destroyed from the earth.

In the hardback, the author asserts that Joseph Smith stated "other governments and religions" must be destroyed. In the paperback, this is changed to "all non-Mormon" nations, which is simply another way for the author to imply his original meaning: "other governments and religions." While the quote does say something about nations being destroyed, it says nothing about governments or religions or "non-Mormon nations" being destroyed. Note that the author must equate the term "non-Mormon" with the word "heathen" in order to make his comparision. The terms nations and governments are not always synonymous, particularly in a religious sense. A nation is best described as "a group of people," whereas a government is always political in nature. Thus, Jesus could refer to "nations" being gathered before the Son of God and being judged, even though a full analysis of the passage is speaking of an individual judgment of people, not a judgment of political bodies. (See Matthew 25:31-46, particularly vs. 32.)

Further, Joseph doesn't speak of anyone being "forced to recognize Mormonism as the one true religion." That editorial assertion is made by the author, without any support from the quote. In fact, Joseph states that there "will be wicked men on the earth during the thousand years." If religious recognition by force is expected by Joseph, it seems inconsistent for him to acknowledge that he expects wicked men to still live during the millennium.

Thus, Joseph speaks of the eventual demise of 'heathen peoples' who refuse to come worship Christ during the millennium, but the author twists this into an indictment of non-LDS governments and non-LDS religions. The evidence for such fraudulent twisting and turning is not in the original words, but in the mind of the author as he seeks to support his flawed thesis of an LDS Church bent on world domination.