FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Mark Hofmann
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Contents
Criticism
Gordon B. Hinckley, then a member of the First Presidency, purchased several apparently nineteenth-century documents from Mark Hofmann. They later turned out to be forgeries. Critics say that if Gordon B. Hinckley were a true prophet, he would not have been fooled into buying the forgeries.
Response
As with many criticisms, this one stems from incorrect expectations of what a prophet is. Prophets are not omniscient nor infallible.
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
FAIR web site
- George Throckmorton and Steve Mayfield, "Mythmaking and the Hofmann Case" (2006 FAIR Conference presentation); link forthcoming
External links
- Utah History Encyclopedia, "Mark Hofmann" off-site
Printed material
- Linda Sillitoe and Allen Roberts, Salamander: The Story of the Mormon Forgery Murders, 2nd. ed. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1989. ISBN 0941214877
- Richard E. Turley, Victims: The LDS Church and the Mark Hofmann Case, Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992. ISBN 0252018850