Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Absurd claims

Absurd claims

The following claims (highlighted in bold) are simply absurd.

Reference	The claim...	The rest of the story...	Use of sources
23	"LDS documents are strangely silent about their prophet's activities during the three years immediately following his 1820 First Vision."	Why would there be any "LDS documents" dealing with Joseph's life between 1820 to 1823? The Church didn't even exist until 1830, and Joseph wrote the stories of his First Vision and Moroni's visit well after 1823. The author simply wants to dramatically set the stage to talk about Joseph's money digging activities.	None
74	The author claims that the Book of Mormon "describes Arabia as being 'bountiful' because of its fruit and wild honey. The fact is that Arabia has never had bountiful supplies of either fruit or honey."	This is an absurd statement to make. The Book of Mormon does not describe Arabia as being bountiful in fruit and honey. It talks of a specific place within the Arabian peninsula which was bountiful in fruit an honey—such a location does indeed exist.	None
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. (emphasis added)	Widely understood?? The author cites several second-hand sources...from 1850s! By the "late 1800s" there were many published accounts of Moroni's visit, including the "official" 1838 version that was printed in the Pearl of Great Price! It is therefore absurd for the author to claim that it was "widely understood" that the plates were found using the seer stone "well into the late 1800s."	Orasmus Turner, History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase, and Morris Reserve. (1852)
287 (PB)	"More spirit children means more power, which in turn pushes a Mormon male further up the hierarchical ladder of gods in our universe."	Where did this idea come from? This is never taught in Church...	None
288	"Unlike most men, however, Jesus did not need these wives, nor temple rituals to become a god. He became a god befoe coming to earth through perfect obedience to Elohim's commands. For others the road to godhood is far more difficult and takes considerably longer."	The author has no idea how Jesus Christ became a god, and his statement actually implies that Latter-day Saints believe that it is more difficult for men to achieve such a thing than it was for Jesus Christ himself! This is an arrogant statement. In his effort to ridicule the statements of past LDS leaders such as Orson Pratt, the author makes a comment which completely ignores Christ's suffering for us through His atonement.