Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Becoming Gods/Index

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A work by author: Richard Abanes

Index to claims made in Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism

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.

Claims made in Preface: "Can't We All Just Get Along?"

Page Claim Response Author's sources

13

 Mormons exist in "two distinct groups:" Chapel Mormons and Internet Mormons.
  • Jason Gallentine (a.k.a. "Dr. Shades"), "Internet Mormonism vs. Chapel Mormonism"

15

 The Journal of Discourses was viewed on par with the Standard Works by early Church members.
  • No source provided.

16

 "Gospel Principles" is published by the Church, but contains a disclaimer that states that it is not an official publication of the Church.
  • Gospel Principles

17, 331 n.35

 Mormons "focus on a minor issue while dismissing the broader point that is being made by a critic of the church."
  • The author uses as an example in the endnotes the alleged LDS belief in "Celestial Sex."

Claims made in Chapter 1: God's Latter-Day Prophet

Page Claim Response Author's sources

24

 Joseph's family survived by "money digging."

24

 Joseph was adept at "occult ritual."
  • 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

 Joseph's neighbors thought that he was "an imposter, hypocrite and liar."

26

 During the First Vision, Joseph was told that "all Christian creeds" were an abomination and that "all Christian teachers" were corrupt.
  • No source provided.

26

 Many Mormons believe that "their salvation, to a limited degree, rests upon Smith."
  • 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

 Bruce R. McConkie said that "we must turn to Joseph Smith to gain salvation."
  • Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah (SLC: Deseret Book, 1982), p. 334.

26

 Dallin Oaks said that "I have built my life on the testimony and mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith."

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

27

 Joseph Smith was "harsh and violent."
  • No source provided.

27

 James E. Faust said that Joseph Smith "was the greatest prophet who ever lived upon the earth."
  • James E. Faust, "The Importance of Bearing Testimony," Liahona, Mar. 1997, p.3.

28

 Joseph Smith may have been a "pious fraud," who believed that he had been called of God while perpetrating fraud.
  • Dan Vogel in Waterman, p. 50

28

 Joseph Smith and other church leaders "often used deception to conceal their activities."
  • No source provided.

28

 Polygamy was practiced in secret and denied publicly.
  • Times and Seasons, Mar 15, 1843, vol. 4, no. 9, p. 143

28

 Heber C. Kimball predicted that the world would someday see Joseph Smith as "a god."

28

 Brigham Young applied 1 John 4:3 to Joseph Smith.

29

 LDS claim that Joseph Smith "told but one" First Vision.
  • 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

 The 1832 account of the First Vision states that Joseph was in his "sixteenth year," and that he "probably meant when he was 16 years old.
  • Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 1:28

30

 The 1832 account does not mention two personages.
  • Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 1:28

30

 The 1832 account does not mention that "all the churches in Joseph's day were false."
  • Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 1:28

31

 Joseph claimed that he learned about the errors in Christendom through personal Bible study several years before the First Vision.
  • Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 1:27

31

 Orson Pratt said that the two personages "declared themselves to be angels."
  • 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

 Church historian Andrew Jenson said that "The angel again forbade Joseph to join any of these churches."
  • Andrew Jenson, "Joseph Smith, The Prophet," Jan. 1888, vol. 3, nos. 1-3, p. 355.

31

 Joseph dictated the 1838 account of the First Vision to counter the leadership crisis in Kirtland.
  • No source provided.

31

 The visit of Moroni was confused with the First Vision, and "was probably the real first vision."
  • No source provided.

34

 "Not a single piece" of literature published in the 1830's mentions a visit by the Father and the Son.
  • No source provided.

34

 Joseph's mother said that the 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

 Joseph privately began reworking the story of seeing an angel into a vision of Christ.
  • Oliver Cowdery, Messenger and Advocate, Feb. 1835, vol. 1, no. 5, pp. 77-80.

34

 Without "Mormonism's so-called" Melchizedek Priesthood, no man can see God and live.

34

 Nobody knows "when or how" the Joseph received the Melchizedek Priesthood.
  • Online reference to anti-Mormon site "lds-mormon.com"

34

 Joseph "had to backdate" the First Vision to 1820 in response to a leadership crisis.

35

 The First Vision originally stated that the personages were angels.

35

 There was no 1820 revival in Palmyra that converted "great multitudes" of people.
  • Oliver Cowdery, Messenger and Advocate, Feb. 1835, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 42.

35

 Joseph Smith joined other churches after having been told that churches were wrong.
  • No source provided.

35, 342n79-80

 Newspapers reported in 1829 that Joseph Smith had a dream in 1827 about a spirit visiting him three times in one night.
  • From the Palmyra Freeman: Golden Bible, Niagra Courier, Aug. 27, 1829, vol. 2, no. 18.
  • "The Gold Bible," Rochester Advertiser and Telegraph, Aug. 31, 1829.

35-36, 343n83

 Joseph Smiths First Vision may have been a dream of a "bloody ghost dressed as a Spaniard.
  • 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

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

36

 Early Mormons believed in "witchcraft."
  • 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

 Joseph's mother talked about "magic circles" and the "faculty of Abrac."
  • Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 1, p. 285.

37, 344n93

 Joseph's family had a "magick dagger" that was owned by Hyrum Smith.
  • 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]
  • No source given.
  • The endnote describes the dagger and its alleged importance to Joseph without acknowledging the source of the information.

37, 344n94

 Joseph's family had "three magick parchments." One of these was owned by Hyrum Smith.
  • 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]
  • 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

 Joseph had a "Jupiter talisman" with him the day he died.
  • No source given.
  • The endnote simply states the date of Joseph's death.

38

 "Researchers of Mormonism" now believe that Joseph was influenced by "Jewish kabbalism."
  • 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

 Joseph considered the date April 6th to have "astrological significance."

 [needs work]

  • 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]

 [ATTENTION!] - Roger, I don't have Quinn. Please check what evidence (if any) is provided, and whether Abanes cites D&C 20.

38-39, 346 n. 104-109

 Joseph was arrested in 1826 for being a "disorderly person and an imposter."
  • Dan Vogel, "Rethinking the 1826 Judicial Decision," Mormon Scripture Studies: An E-Journal of Critical Thought.

39

 No "statements of repentance by Smith" for money digging have ever been found.
  • Sam Katich, "Joseph Smith," www.fairlds.org/apol/morm201/m20117b.html

40, 348n123

 Gordon B. Hinckley cited false documentation to support the story of an 1820 revival.
  • Gordon B. Hinckley, Truth Restored, pp. 1-2.

42, 349n126

 There is no evidence that Joseph Smith was "persecuted" for telling the story of his vision between 1820 and 1824.
  • Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 1, p. 29, 46-47.

42, 43 (sidebar)

 Contradictions in the stories of Paul's vision were "long ago resolved by scholars analyzing the Greek texts. The discrepancies in Paul's account involve modern ignorance of the Greek wording used."
  • W.E. Vine, Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, p. 544.

42

 Brodie's idea that the First Vision may have been "the elaboration of some half-remembered dream stimulated by the early revival excitement" is a satisfactory way to "explain things."

44

 Brodie's idea that the First Vision may have been "created some time after 1830 when the need arose for a magnificent tradition to cancel out the stories of his fortune-telling and money-digging" "further weakens" Mormon claims.

45, 351 n. 144

 Joseph "continued practicing magick, divination, astrology, and soothsaying long after the LDS Church was founded in 1830."
  • No specific reference is provided.
  • 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.

46

 Brigham Young used Oliver Cowdery's divining rod to point out the location where the temple would be built in Salt Lake City.

46

 Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball were given divining rods by Joseph Smith.

46

 Joseph received a revelation praising Oliver's gift of using his divining talents.

48

 Joseph continued to discover and use new seer stones.

48

 Joseph "never stopped being" an occultist.
  • Author's conclusion.

49

 The activities of Joseph's family may have been "satanic."
  • Author's conclusion.

Claims made in Chapter 2: And it Came to Pass

Page Claim Response Use of sources

51, 353 n. 2, 354 n. 3

 Some Book of Mormon stories are simply reworked from the Bible or the Apocrypha.

55

 The 1839 history of the Church identified the angel who delivered the plates to Joseph as Nephi rather than Moroni.
  • Joseph Smith 1839 History
  • Messenger and Advocate, 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

 The name "Nephi" is related to "generic terms used by nineteenth-century occultists for spirit messengers."

56, 357 n. 34

 Joseph used his seer stone to locate the plates.
  • 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, 357 n. 33

 Joseph Smith's vision of Moroni may have taken place through his seer stone.
  • Steven C. Walker, "Joseph Smith: 'The Gift of Seeing,'" in Bryan Waterman ed., The Prophet Puzzle, p. 97.

56, 357 n. 35, 36

 The "golden book" was originally supposed to be about "hidden treasure" — the "religious twist" was added later.
  • 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

 Joseph translated the plates by looking at his seer stone in his hat. The plates were not nearby.
  • Isaac Hale, "Mormonism," Susquehanna Register, and Northern Pennsylvanian, May 1, 1834, p. 1.

57, 358-9 n. 47

 Each sentence and word in the 1830 Book of Mormon "had supposedly come directly from God."
  • Joseph F. Smith, quoted by Oliver B. Huntington, Journal of Oliver Huntington, p. 168.

57-58, 359 n. 49

 A voice from heaven proclaimed that the translation was correct, therefore no further editing should have been required.
  • History of the Church, vol. 1, pp. 54-55.

58, 359 n. 50, 51

 The use of the word "synagogue" in the Book of Mormon is an anachronism.
  • Book of Mormon, 1830 edition, p. 268
  • Alma 16꞉13
  • The New International Dictionary of the Bible, p. 972

58, 359n52-53

 There are references to cows, oxen, horses, and goats in the New World hundreds of years before Christ.
  • 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

 "LDS apologist John Sorenson has suggested that Smith mistranslated numerous words" from the gold plates and that "cattle and oxen should have been rendered deer and bison," and that "horses should also have been translated deer."
  • John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, pp. 191-276, 299.

58, 359n54

 The Book of Mormon "is simply a rehashing" of the speculation in the 19th century regarding Indian origins due to the presence of burial mounds "dotting the land."

60, 360n58

 Joseph Smith incorporated text from Josiah Priest's The Wonders of Nature into the Book of Mormon.
  • 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

 Joseph Smith plagiarized Ethan Smith's 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

 Anyone who looked on the gold plates would die.
  • Martin Harris, Tiffany's Monthly interview, 1859.

62, 361n69-72

 The witnesses never actually physically saw the plates - they only saw them in visions.

64

 Martin Harris said that he never saw the plates with his "natural eyes."
  • LDS apostle Stephen Burnett, letter to Lyman E. Johnson, April 15, 1838 reprinted in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents 2:291

64, 362n81-82

 Cowdery, Whitmer and Harris's statements that they actually saw the plates only refer to times that the plates were either covered with a cloth or in a wooden box.

64, 362n83-84

 Martin Harris said that none of the eight witnesses had seen or handled the plates.

65

 The Book of Mormon "can hardly be considered unique" since James Strang produced a set of plates that were seen by witnesses.

65, 362n87

 LDS defenders (apologists) have redefined many of the terms that Joseph Smith used in the Book of Mormon text: steel means iron, horses are deer, tents are huts, etc.
  • Dan Vogel, Brent Metcalfe, American Apocrypha, p. xiii.

66, 362n88

 LDS scholars such as Dee F. Green have stated that Book of Mormon archaeology is a "myth."
  • Dee F. Green, "Book of Mormon Archeology: The Myths and the Alternatives," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (Summer 1969), vol. 4, pp. 72-80

66, 362n89

 Dr. Michael Coe stated that there was no Book of Mormon archaeology.
  • Michael Coe, "Mormons and Archaeology: An Outside View," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (Winter 1973), vol. 8, p. 44.

66, 363n92

 LDS scholar Terryl L. Givens "admitted" that no connection has been made between the Book of Mormon and cultures or civilizations in the Western hemisphere.
  • 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

 The limited geography theory "cannot bear rigorous scrutiny" and "does violence" to the text of the Book of Mormon.
  • 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

 Apologists have suggested that "not a single early Mormon, including Joseph Smith, ever bothered reading the Book of Mormon 'closely enough to grasp the fact' " that the plates were not buried in the hill where the final Nephite battle occurred.
  • Abanes 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, 365 n.115

 Joseph Smith said that the angel told him that all American Indians were "literal descendants of Abraham," but DNA has disproved this.
  • 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, 365 n.120

 Joseph Smith founded the "Restored Church" on the belief that all Native Americans were descendants of the Israelites.
  • Oliver Cowdery's Speech to the Delawares. Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt.
72, 366 n.127==== All modern Mormons believed that all inhabitants of the New World were descendants of the Lamanites until "science showed it to be erroneous."
  • 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, 366 n.128

 The "updated LDS paradigm" claims that Nephites intermarried with non-Israelite natives, thus diluting their DNA.

72, 366 n.130

 The LDS view has always been that Israelites were the first people to populate the Americas, since the land was "kept from the knowledge of other nations."
  • 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

 Not many Christians actually believe that the world was created around 4000 B.C., or that the flood occurred around 2000 B.C. In fact, "[T]he majority of traditional Christians understand that the world is older than 6000 years," therefore the claim that the DNA argument is fundamentalist "suicide bombing" is false.
  • Abanes 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

 The Lamanites were supposed to become "white" once they converted en masse to Mormonism. This was to be accomplished by having LDS men take Indian wives.
  • 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

 The phrase "white and delightsome" was changed to "pure and delightsome" in the Book of Mormon.

73, 367n138

 LDS leaders claimed that the alteration to the Book of Mormon had nothing to do with the Indians physically turning white. LDS leaders taught that the curse would one day be removed.
  • No source provided.

74

 LDS apologists dismiss Church teachings in order to make Mormonism compatible with scientific findings.
  • Author's opinion

75, 368n142

 LDS apologist B.H. Roberts "reached a shocking conclusion" that that Book of Mormon wasn't authentic.
  • B.H. Roberts, Studies of the Book of Mormon, p. 271, 243.

76, 368n143

 B.H. Roberts "had come to realize that the Book of Mormon was a nonhistorical document."
  • Wesley P. Lloyd statement at www.lds-mormon.com/bhrlettr.shtml

76

 FARMS claims that Roberts was playing "devils advocate," but have never provided documentation to support this assertion. They only focus on his declarations that he made before he reached his "final conclusion."
  • 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 lost his testimony of the Book of Mormon after failing to find archaeological evidence.
  • John Gee, "The Hagiography of Doubting Thomas (Review of Quest for the Gold Plates: Thomas Stuart Ferguson's Archaeological Search for the Book of Mormon)," FARMS Review of Books 10/2 (1998): 158–183. off-site
  • Daniel C. Peterson, "On the New World Archaeological Foundation (Review of: Behind the Mask of Mormonism)," FARMS Review 16/1 (2004): 221–234. off-site
  • Daniel C. Peterson and Matthew Roper, "Ein Heldenleben? On Thomas Stuart Ferguson as an Elias for Cultural Mormons (Review of: Quest for the Gold Plates: Thomas Stuart Ferguson’s Archaeological Search for the Book of Mormon)," FARMS Review 16/1 (2004): 175–220. off-site
  • 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

 LDS scholars believe that Quetzalcoatl was Jesus Christ. However, Quetzalcoatl's association with a "feathered serpent" constitutes "snake worship," and is therefore inconsistent with worship of 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.

Claims made in Chapter 3: Thus Saith Joseph

Page Claim Response Author's sources

84, 370n9-11

 The revelations in the Book of Commandments were modified because they were "showing their age," "contained outdated information," "included erroneous statements" and "abandoned doctrines." Some of the revelations "revealed too much information about LDS beliefs."
  • 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

 Mormons view divine truth as "not absolute or fixed; it is changeable, flexible."

87, 370n23

 Joseph received a "false revelation" through his seer stone to go to Toronto, Canada to sell the Book of Mormon copyright.
  • David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ.

87, 371n25

 Some of the modified revelations had their meanings "reversed."

89, 372n28

 Joseph modified the revelation now found in D&C 5:4 to add additional gifts. After translating the Book of Mormon he was not supposed to become a prophet or organize a Church.
  • 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

 Joseph modified what is now D&C 8:6-9 to hide Oliver Cowdery's use of a divining rod.

90, 372n34, 375n35

 Apostle William E. McLellin left the Church because he was "shaken by the changes made in the revelations."
  • This explanation (as shown by the dates of the material cited) came long after the fact. Abanes 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.[2]
  • "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

 Mormons claim that Biblical writers modified revelations, but cannot provide data to support this. This is an "argument from silence."
  • Stephen W. Gibson, One-Minute Answers to Anti-Mormon Question, p. 82

94

 Joseph Smith turned the "Book of Breathings" into the "Book of Abraham." Joseph claimed that the "Book of the Dead" had been written by Joseph of Egypt.
  • No source provided.

94-98

 The restoration of the missing portions of Facsimile 1 were "terribly wrong."
  • 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

 LDS apologists' main purpose is to explain away "any and all criticisms that might damage the validity of Smith's writings."
  • Author's opinion.

100

 Documents show how the hieroglyphs from the papyri were matched to the Book of Abraham text. One or two words in Egyptian were expanded to entire paragraphs in English.
  • Richard L. Bushman, "Joseph Smith as Translator, in Waterman, p. 81.

Claims made in Chapter 4: One God Versus Many Gods

Page Claim Response Author's sources

109

 Mormons embrace polytheism—the belief in a plurality of gods.
  • Definition of "polytheism" taken from Vergilius Ferm, ed., The Encyclopedia of Religion, p. 774.

112 n25-26

 Mormons redefine monotheism to be the worship of one "primary or supreme god above all other gods."
  • 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

 Early biblical church quotes used by Mormons to support tritheism only superficially support their position. Upon closer examination, they do not provide this support.
  • No source provided.

114

 Mormons worship the Godhead as "one god."
  • No source provided.

115, 379n47-48

 The Trinity is "one of the most important doctrines of the Christian faith" and is at the "heart of the Christian conception of God."
  • Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 226.
  • Stanley Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, p. 99.

130

 The Mormon concept of the "eternality of matter" is a pagan belief.
  • Source not provided.

130

 The Mormon concept of "pre-existence of spirits" is a pagan belief.
  • 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

 The Mormon concept of "human deification" is a pagan belief.
  • Source not provided.

Claims made in Chapter 5: Heavenly Father is a Man

Page Claim Response Use of sources

136

 Biblical verses that describe God as having body parts are "difficult to interpret and require careful study."
  • Author's opinion.

136

 Mormons do not believe that "God is not a man" in spite of Biblical verses that state such.

137

 God is a Spirit.

149

 The title "Son of Man," does not mean "son of a man," contrary to what Mormons may assert.
  • No source given.

Claims made in Chapter 6: Siblings from Eternity Past

Page Claim Response Author's sources

154

 Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother "through some kind of sexual union" clothed each of us with a spirit body.
  • Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 750.

156, 394 n. 28-31

 The belief in a "Heavenly Mother" is not supported by scripture and was simply added by Joseph Smith so that his views about God "would make sense."
  • 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

 According to Brigham Young, our spirit body was created via a sexual union of Heavenly Father and Mother.

162

 LDS belief in a "queen of heaven" is a pagan belief.

Claims made in Chapter 7: After All We Can Do

Page Claim Response Author's sources

183

 Mormons reject the "Evangelical belief" that "Christ was born of the virgin Mary, who, when the Holy Ghost came upon her, miraculously conceived the promised messiah."

184

 "Until recently, the common belief clearly implied throughout the history of Mormonism...was that Jesus' conception occurred via sexual intercourse between Heavenly Father (Elohim) and Mary."

185, 405n41

 Early LDS leaders redefined "virgin" to mean a woman who has never known a mortal man, since Heavenly Father is immortal.
  • 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

 Latter-day Saints reject the idea that the death of Jesus on the cross was a significant part of the atonement.
  • Cky 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

 The third and highest kingdom of glory has three levels, and only those who reach the highest level become gods.
  • 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

 The three heaven doctrine has no basis in the Bible, but is only based upon a vision of Joseph Smith.

Claims made in Chapter 8: Ye Are Gods

Page Claim Response Author's sources

205

 Many Bible verses refute the notion of deification.

213

 The concept of "deification" is actually derived from Greek philosophy.

Claims made in Chapter 9: More Than One Wife

Page Claim Response Author's sources

225

 In Mormon theology, "creating" includes not only making a world, but peopling it through procreating, through sexual union with one's spouse.
  • 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

 The statement in the 1835 D&C condemning polygamy was "perhaps in an attempt to conceal Smith's affair."
  • D&C CI:4 (1835 edition), p. 251.

233, 422n47

 Mormons believed that plural marriage was necessary for deification in the Celestial Kingdom.
  • J.W. Musser, "The New And Everlasting Covenant Of Marriage: An Interpretation Of Celestial Marriage, Plural Marriage, Polygamy."

233, 422n48-49

 Brigham Young said, "The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy."
  • Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 11:268-269

237

 "Although wives continued to live with their husbands, they would receive conjugal visits from Smith whenever the need arose."
  • This statement 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

 Zina Huntington married Brigham Young while still married to Henry Jacobs, and Henry stood as a witness.

237, 425n73-75

 "Wife swapping" was "wholly acceptable."
  •  The author's claim is false
  • This claim is also made in One Nation Under Gods:
  • 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

 The Bible does not sanction or command polygamy. "Most Israelites were monogamous." Abraham's polygamy "portrays his acceptance of plural marriage as a mark of disobedience to, and a lack of faith in, God."
  • Author's interpretation.

239, n. 80-83

 "Early Mormon leaders" believed that Jesus and his apostles were polygamists.

240

 The Book of Mormon "seems to condemn polygamy," but Latter-day Saints "deny that this is the case."
  • 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

 How could Jesus have been a god before he was born, before he had a physical body?

241

 How could the Holy Ghost be a god, since he does not have a physical body?

244

 "...nowhere in the Old Testament is polygamy linked with any mandates to practice it."
  • No source given.

245, n97

 Plural marriages were performed after the 1890 Manifesto.
  • 1911 telegram to Reed Smoot from Joseph F. Smith, Apr. 1, 1911.

Claims made in Chapter 10: The "Christian" Question

Page Claim Response Author's sources

255, 434n15

 LDS leaders spent decades denouncing mainstream Christianity.

256

 The Book of Mormon teaches that there are only two churches: 1) the false church of the devil and 2) the true church of the Lamb.

257

 The "ongoing condemnation of Christianity" is "built into the very core of Mormonism as a central tenet."
  • Author's opinion

262, 440n46

 The "Mormon Jesus" is one of three gods overseeing this planet.
  • Source not specified.

262, 440n46

 The "Mormon Jesus" is the literal brother of Lucifer.
  • No source specified.

262, 440n46

 The "Mormon Jesus" atoned only for Adam's transgression, providing us with the opportunity to obtain "eternal life" by our own efforts.
  • Source not specified.

262, 440n46

 The "Mormon Jesus" provides no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith as a prophet of God.
  • Source not specified.

268

 The bible does not mention a total apostasy.

273

 Baptism for the dead is unbiblical.
  • No source given.

274-276

 The need for the Aaronic priesthood ceased and was replaced by a new one that is held by all believers.
  • Hebrews 7-10

276-279

 The Melchizedek priesthood was never a literal order of priests. It belonged only to Melchizedek and Christ.
  • Hebrews 7꞉24
  • D. Guthrie and J.A. Motyer, eds., The Eerdman's Bible Commentary, p. 1241.

Endnotes

  1. [note]  John Franklin Hall, "April 6," in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, (New York, Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 1:61–62.
  2. [note]  "History of William E. McLellin," Millennial Star 26 (1864), 808.; see also Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 volumes, edited by Brigham H. Roberts, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1957), 3:31. Volume 3 link
  3. [note]  Quinn, Origins of Power, 44.
  4. [note]  "History of William E. McLellin," Millennial Star 26 (1864), 808.; see also Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 volumes, edited by Brigham H. Roberts, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1957), 3:31. Volume 3 link

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