DOCSLIB.ORG

The Mormon Challenge

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Mormon Challenge 1 The Mormon Challenge A presentation of the other side of Mormonism using LDS-approved sources 2 Table of Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................................4 Sources ................................................................................................................................4 PART ONE: THE SCRIPTURES ....................................................................................5 The Book of Mormon.........................................................................................................5 Joseph Smith Sr. and the Tree of Life ............................................................................................................. 5 Ancient Evangelists ......................................................................................................................................... 7 Joseph’s Ability ............................................................................................................................................. 10 Possible Flaws Ch. 1 – Conviction and Moroni’s Promise ........................................................................... 11 Ch. 2 – A Precise Text .................................................................................................................................. 19 Ch. 3 – Testing the Book of Mormon with the Bible .................................................................................... 22 Ch. 4 – The Reality of the Law of Moses ...................................................................................................... 26 Ch. 5 – Trinitarian Beliefs ............................................................................................................................. 28 Ch. 6 – Contradictions ................................................................................................................................... 30 Ch. 7 – View of the Hebrews: Israelites in America ..................................................................................... 33 Ch. 8 – DNA: The Natives Weigh In ............................................................................................................ 36 Ch. 9 – Contradictions ................................................................................................................................... 39 Ch. 10 – Other Flaws in the Story ................................................................................................................. 40 The Importance of the Witnesses .................................................................................................................. 41 Other Potential Sources ................................................................................................................................. 42 The Doctrine and Covenants...........................................................................................45 Obscuring Oliver’s Divining Rod .................................................................................................................. 45 The Words of Christ? .................................................................................................................................... 46 Removing Pure Language ............................................................................................................................. 46 One or Two People? – Isaiah and Esaias ....................................................................................................... 47 One or Two People? – Adam and Michael .................................................................................................... 48 The Book of Abraham .....................................................................................................49 The Kinderhook Plates ....................................................................................................53 Midway Thoughts ............................................................................................................54 PART TWO: THE CHURCH ........................................................................................55 The Restoration ................................................................................................................55 1832 – The First Written Account ................................................................................................................. 55 3 Changing the 1835 Account .......................................................................................................................... 56 The Restoration of the Priesthood ................................................................................................................. 57 Joseph’s Honesty ........................................................................................................................................... 57 Polygamy and Polyandry ................................................................................................58 The Beginnings .............................................................................................................................................. 58 Polyandry ...................................................................................................................................................... 59 Women in the Polygamous Church ............................................................................................................... 61 Public Denial ................................................................................................................................................. 65 The Temple .......................................................................................................................68 Prophets and Revelators..................................................................................................70 Special Witnesses of Christ ........................................................................................................................... 70 The Mouthpiece of God ................................................................................................................................. 70 The Journal of Discourses as a Source .......................................................................................................... 73 Reliability Check Ch. 1 – Prophecy .............................................................................................................. 74 Ch. 2 – The Word of Wisdom ....................................................................................................................... 76 Ch. 3 – The Plan of Salvation ........................................................................................................................ 77 Ch. 4 – Blood Atonement .............................................................................................................................. 79 Ch. 5 – Adam-God Theory ............................................................................................................................ 81 Ch. 6 – Race and the Priesthood/Temple Ban ............................................................................................... 82 Ch. 7 – Women in the Modern Church.......................................................................................................... 87 Ch. 8 – Homosexuality .................................................................................................................................. 89 Ch. 9 – Intimacy and Guilt ............................................................................................................................ 93 Ch. 10 – Mark Hofmann and the Gift of Discernment .................................................................................. 94 Tithing and the City Creek Mall ....................................................................................95 Anti-Intellectualism .........................................................................................................96 Whitewashing and Dishonesty ........................................................................................97 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................100 Appendix A – Additional Cases of Evangelical Influence ..........................................101 Appendix B –The Two-Continent (Hemispheric) Model ...........................................104 Appendix C – Sidney Rigdon: The Lost Chapter .......................................................111 Appendix D – Miscellaneous Quotes ...........................................................................115 Appendix E – The November Policy ............................................................................119 4 Introduction In recent years, I’ve been researching questions I’ve had regarding Mormonism. I began this research when I decided that I couldn’t consider myself to be an honest seeker of truth when I was deliberately avoiding such research. This document provides my findings, complete with sources, that you may check the full context of each. This is a very sensitive topic for many people. Unpleasant and unwelcome information usually arrives with painful feelings, and I’m sorry to say that some of the information you find here may do the same. I will recount some of my own experiences to help you out in that regard.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Moroni: Angel Or Treasure Guardian? 39
    Mark Ashurst-McGee: Moroni: Angel or Treasure Guardian? 39 Moroni: Angel or Treasure Guardian? Mark Ashurst-McGee Over the last two decades, historians have reconsidered the origins of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the context of the early American tradition of treasure hunting. Well into the nineteenth century there were European Americans hunting for buried wealth. Some believed in treasures that were protected by magic spells or guarded by preternatural beings. Joseph Smith, founding prophet of the Church, had participated in several treasure-hunting expeditions in his youth. The church that he later founded rested to a great degree on his claim that an angel named Moroni had appeared to him in 1823 and showed him the location of an ancient scriptural record akin to the Bible, which was inscribed on metal tablets that looked like gold. After four years, Moroni allowed Smith to recover these “golden plates” and translate their characters into English. It was from Smith’s published translation—the Book of Mormon—that members of the fledgling church became known as “Mormons.” For historians of Mormonism who have treated the golden plates as treasure, Moroni has become a treasure guardian. In this essay, I argue for the historical validity of the traditional understanding of Moroni as an angel. In May of 1985, a letter to the editor of the Salt Lake Tribune posed this question: “In keeping with the true spirit (no pun intended) of historical facts, should not the angel Moroni atop the Mormon Temple be replaced with a white salamander?”1 Of course, the pun was intended.
    [Show full text]
  • MEMBERS of the CHURCH of JESUS CHRIST of LATTER-DAY SAINTS Bmby S-ER 26,1830 Ly Mmd
    MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS BmBY S-ER 26,1830 Ly mmD. Platt On September 26,1830 at the second conference By her I had one son and two daughters. The Church of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints it was was not organized but soon after, April 6, 1830. A few days stated that there were sixty-two members, and that thrrty- afterwards] I was baptized in the waters of Seneca Lake by five of them had joined the church since the fist conference Joseph Smith." (0PH2599)It is possible that Solomon was on June 9th. This means that fiom April 6,1830 to June 9, baptized between April 8th and April 10th. As nearly all of 1830 there were twenty-seven people who joined the the baptisms talk place on Sunday during these initial Church, each of whom has been identified for many years, months, the fact that he was not part of the group baptized except fur two. The complete number of sixty-two members on Sunday, April 1 Ith, points to a date of the 8th, 9th or by September 26th has never been identifled prior to this 10th to quai@ for the "few days" noted in his article. autobiography. He had had to iraveI from his home in the vicinity of Lyons, Wayne. New York, just north of Fayette, Joseph Smith, Jr., Oliver Cowdery, and Samuel H. to be baptized, so it was not far. Smith were all initially baptized on May 15, 1829 (LMS:337).
    [Show full text]
  • Automatic Writing and the Book of Mormon: an Update
    ARTICLES AND ESSAYS AUTOMATIC WRITING AND THE BOOK OF MORMON: AN UPDATE Brian C. Hales At a Church conference in 1831, Hyrum Smith invited his brother to explain how the Book of Mormon originated. Joseph declined, saying: “It was not intended to tell the world all the particulars of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.”1 His pat answer—which he repeated on several occasions—was simply that it came “by the gift and power of God.”2 Attributing the Book of Mormon’s origin to supernatural forces has worked well for Joseph Smith’s believers, then as well as now, but not so well for critics who seem certain natural abilities were responsible. For over 180 years, several secular theories have been advanced as explanations.3 The more popular hypotheses include plagiarism (of the Solomon Spaulding manuscript),4 collaboration (with Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, etc.),5 1. Donald Q. Cannon and Lyndon W. Cook, eds., Far West Record: Minutes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1844 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983), 23. 2. “Journal, 1835–1836,” in Journals, Volume. 1: 1832–1839, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Mark Ashurst-McGee, and Richard L. Jensen, vol. 1 of the Journals series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2008), 89; “History of Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons 5, Mar. 1, 1842, 707. 3. See Brian C. Hales, “Naturalistic Explanations of the Origin of the Book of Mormon: A Longitudinal Study,” BYU Studies 58, no.
    [Show full text]
  • GENERAL HANDBOOK Serving in the Church of Jesus Christ Jesus of Church Serving in The
    GENERAL HANDBOOK: SERVING IN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS • JULY 2020 2020 SAINTS • JULY GENERAL HANDBOOK: SERVING IN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST LATTER-DAY GENERAL HANDBOOK Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints JULY 2020 JULY 2020 General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Salt Lake City, Utah © 2020 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. Version: 7/20 PD60010241 000 Printed in the United States of America Contents 0. Introductory Overview . xiv 0.0. Introduction . xiv 0.1. This Handbook . .xiv 0.2. Adaptation and Optional Resources . .xiv 0.3. Updates . xv 0.4. Questions about Instructions . xv 0.5. Terminology . .xv 0.6. Contacting Church Headquarters or the Area Office . xv Doctrinal Foundation 1. God’s Plan and Your Role in the Work of Salvation and Exaltation . .1 1.0. Introduction . 1 1.1. God’s Plan of Happiness . .2 1.2. The Work of Salvation and Exaltation . 2 1.3. The Purpose of the Church . .4 1.4. Your Role in God’s Work . .5 2. Supporting Individuals and Families in the Work of Salvation and Exaltation . .6 2.0. Introduction . 6 2.1. The Role of the Family in God’s Plan . .6 2.2. The Work of Salvation and Exaltation in the Home . 9 2.3. The Relationship between the Home and the Church . 11 3. Priesthood Principles . 13 3.0. Introduction . 13 3.1. Restoration of the Priesthood .
    [Show full text]
  • Evolution and the Origin of Man
    evolution and the origin of man This packet contains, as far as could be found, all statements issued by the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints on the subject of evolution and the origin of man, and a statement on the Church's attitude toward science. The earliest First Presidency statement, "The Origin of Man," was issued during the administration of President Joseph F. Smith in 1909. This was followed by a First Presidency Message in 1910 that included brief comments related to the study of these topics. The second statement, "Mormon View of Evolution," was issued during the administration of President Heber J. Grant in 1925. Although there has never been a formal declaration from the First Presidency addressing the general matter of organic evolution as a process for development of biological species, these documents make clear the official position of the Church regarding the origin of man. This packet also contains the article on evolution from the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, published in 1992. The current First Presidency authorized inclusion of the excerpt from the First Presidency minutes of 1931 in the 1992 Encyclopedia article. Various views have been expressed by other Church leaders on this subject over many decades; however, formal statements by the First Presidency are the definitive source of official Church positions. It is hoped that these materials will provide a firm foundation for individual study in a context of faith in the restored gospel. Approved by the Board of Trustees, June 1992. THE ORIGIN OF MAN By The First Presidency of the Church Inquiries arise from time to time respecting the attitude of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints upon questions which, though not vital from a doctrinal standpoint, are closely connected with the fundamental principles of salvation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Secret Mormon Meetings of 1922
    University of Nevada, Reno THE SECRET MORMON MEETINGS OF 1922 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History By Shannon Caldwell Montez C. Elizabeth Raymond, Ph.D. / Thesis Advisor December 2019 Copyright by Shannon Caldwell Montez 2019 All Rights Reserved UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA RENO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL We recommend that the thesis prepared under our supervision by SHANNON CALDWELL MONTEZ entitled The Secret Mormon Meetings of 1922 be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS C. Elizabeth Raymond, Ph.D., Advisor Cameron B. Strang, Ph.D., Committee Member Greta E. de Jong, Ph.D., Committee Member Erin E. Stiles, Ph.D., Graduate School Representative David W. Zeh, Ph.D., Dean, Graduate School December 2019 i Abstract B. H. Roberts presented information to the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in January of 1922 that fundamentally challenged the entire premise of their religious beliefs. New research shows that in addition to church leadership, this information was also presented during the neXt few months to a select group of highly educated Mormon men and women outside of church hierarchy. This group represented many aspects of Mormon belief, different areas of eXpertise, and varying approaches to dealing with challenging information. Their stories create a beautiful tapestry of Mormon life in the transition years from polygamy, frontier life, and resistance to statehood, assimilation, and respectability. A study of the people involved illuminates an important, overlooked, underappreciated, and eXciting period of Mormon history.
    [Show full text]
  • Mormon Studies Review Volume 4 Mormon Studies Review
    Mormon Studies Review Volume 4 | Number 1 Article 25 1-1-2017 Mormon Studies Review Volume 4 Mormon Studies Review Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/msr2 Part of the Mormon Studies Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Review, Mormon Studies (2017) "Mormon Studies Review Volume 4," Mormon Studies Review: Vol. 4 : No. 1 , Article 25. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/msr2/vol4/iss1/25 This Full Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the All Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mormon Studies Review by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Review: <em>Mormon Studies Review</em> Volume 4 2017 MORMON Volume 4 STUDIES Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship REVIEW Brigham Young University Editor-in-chief J. Spencer Fluhman, Brigham Young University MANAGING EDITOR D. Morgan Davis, Brigham Young University ASSOCIATE EDITORS Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye, University of Auckland Benjamin E. Park, Sam Houston State University EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Michael Austin, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Evansville Philip L. Barlow, Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture, Utah State University Eric A. Eliason, Professor of English, Brigham Young University Kathleen Flake, Richard L. Bushman Chair of Mormon Studies, University of Virginia Terryl L. Givens, James A. Bostwick Chair of English and Professor of Literature and Religion, University of Richmond Matthew J. Grow, Director of Publications, Church History Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Grant Hardy, Professor of History and Religious Studies, University of North Carolina–Asheville David F.
    [Show full text]
  • Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat Doctrine and Covenants 3-5 “My Work Shall Go Forth”
    Follow Him Episode 4 Guest: Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat Doctrine and Covenants 3-5 “My Work Shall Go Forth” Show Notes Podcast General Description Follow Him: A Come, Follow Me Podcast with Hank Smith & John Bytheway ​ ​ Do you ever feel that preparing for your weekly Come, Follow Me lesson falls short? Join hosts ​ ​ ​ ​ Hank Smith and John Bytheway as they interview experts to make your study for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Come, Follow Me course not only enjoyable but original and ​ ​ educational. If you are looking for resources to make your study fresh, faithful, and fun--no matter your age--then join us every Sunday. Podcast Episode Description Episode 4 Part 1: Have you made a mistake that takes 2400+ years to repair? How did the stolen 116 pages affect the relationship between Joseph Smith, Lucy Mack Smith, Lucy Harris, and Martin Harris? Join us for Episode 4 as Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat dramatically shares details about Emma’s brush with death, Joseph and Emma’s first baby’s passing, and why the pages were stolen and not lost--stolen! Part 2: Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat is as exciting a storyteller as his name is difficult to spell! He tells us about the Redemption of Martin Harris, explains how one of the smartest men in the Church gets from Manchester to Pennsylvania, and why we no longer have the plates. Join us for Part II for one of our most dramatic episodes yet. Bonus Episode: Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat explains how historians use various sources, how audiences should examine them, and why this matters.
    [Show full text]
  • Articles of the Church of Christ” in Relation to Section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants
    An Examination of the 829 “Articles of the Church of Christ” in Relation to Section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants Scott H. Faulring he 829 “Articles of the Church of Christ” is a little-known anteced- Tent to section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants. This article explores Joseph Smith’s and Oliver Cowdery’s involvement in bringing forth these two documents that were important in laying the foundation for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Section 20 was originally labeled the “Articles and Covenants.” It was the first revelation canonized by the restored Church and the most lengthy revelation given before the first priesthood conference was held in June 830. Scriptural commentators in recent years have described the inspired set of instructions in section 20 as “a constitution for the restored church.”1 In many respects, the Articles and Covenants was the Church’s earliest General Handbook of Instructions. Although Latter-day Saints typically associate the Articles and Covenants with the organization of the Church on April 6, 830, this regulatory document had roots in earlier events: in the earliest latter-day revelations, in statements on Church ordinances and organization from the Book of Mormon, and in the preliminary set of Articles written by Oliver Cowdery in the last half of 829. This article will review those early revelations to show how the organi- zation of the Church was prophetically foreshadowed and instituted. It will then identify certain prescriptions in the Book of Mormon that influenced the steps taken and pronouncements issued as the Church was organized on April 6, 830.
    [Show full text]
  • Mormon Classification Schedules
    Mormon Classification Schedules Harold B. Lee Library Provo, Utah Revised 2019 Devised by Naoma Rich and Chad Flake From the work of Robert Divett Enlarged and edited by the Committee on Mormon Classification of the Utah Library Association, 1959 Modified for use with the Library of Congress Classification Schedules at Brigham Young University, 1977 Revised, reformatted, and with a new index by Dale Swensen, 1997 Updated by Dale Swensen, 2009 Updated by Kayla Willey, 2013 Updated by Kayla Willey, 2019 First published 1959 Second edition 1962 Revised and reformatted with new index 1997 Updated 2009 Updated 2013 Updated 2019 CONTENTS Preface ............................................................................................................................................. v Synopsis ........................................................................................................................................ vii Outline ........................................................................................................................................... ix BX8600 (Mormon Church) ..............................................................................................................1 Index to BX8600+ ..........................................................................................................................31 Index to Mormon Sects ..................................................................................................................38 Appendix 1: BYU Policy on classification of biography,
    [Show full text]
  • Cowdery, Oliver
    Cowdery, Oliver Richard Lloyd Anderson Oliver Cowdery (1806—1850) was next in authority to Joseph Smith in 1830 (D&C 21:10—12), and was a second witness of many critical events in the restoration of the gospel. As one of the three Book of Mormon witnesses, Oliver Cowdery testied that an angel displayed the gold plates and that the voice of God proclaimed them correctly translated. He was with Joseph Smith when John the Baptist restored to them the Aaronic Priesthood and when Peter, James, and John ordained them to the Melchizedek Priesthood and the apostleship, and again during the momentous Kirtland Temple visions (D&C 110). Oliver came from a New England family with strong traditions of patriotism, individuality, learning, and religion. He was born at Wells, Vermont, on October 3, 1806. His younger sister gave the only reliable information about his youth: “Oliver was brought up in Poultney, Rutland County, Vermont, and when he arrived at the age of twenty, he went to the state of New York, where his older brothers were married and settled . Oliver’s occupation was clerking in a store until 1829, when he taught the district school in the town of Manchester” (Lucy Cowdery Young to Andrew Jenson, March 7, 1887, Church Archives). While boarding with Joseph Smith’s parents, he learned of their convictions about the ancient record that their son was again translating after Martin Harris had lost the manuscript in 1828. The young teacher prayed and received answers that Joseph Smith mentioned in a revelation (D&C 6:14—24).
    [Show full text]
  • Analogical Modeling: an Exemplar-Based Approach to Language"
    <DOCINFO AUTHOR "" TITLE "Analogical Modeling: An exemplar-based approach to language" SUBJECT "HCP, Volume 10" KEYWORDS "" SIZE HEIGHT "220" WIDTH "150" VOFFSET "4"> Analogical Modeling human cognitive processing is a forum for interdisciplinary research on the nature and organization of the cognitive systems and processes involved in speaking and understanding natural language (including sign language), and their relationship to other domains of human cognition, including general conceptual or knowledge systems and processes (the language and thought issue), and other perceptual or behavioral systems such as vision and non- verbal behavior (e.g. gesture). ‘Cognition’ should be taken broadly, not only including the domain of rationality, but also dimensions such as emotion and the unconscious. The series is open to any type of approach to the above questions (methodologically and theoretically) and to research from any discipline, including (but not restricted to) different branches of psychology, artificial intelligence and computer science, cognitive anthropology, linguistics, philosophy and neuroscience. It takes a special interest in research crossing the boundaries of these disciplines. Editors Marcelo Dascal, Tel Aviv University Raymond W. Gibbs, University of California at Santa Cruz Jan Nuyts, University of Antwerp Editorial address Jan Nuyts, University of Antwerp, Dept. of Linguistics (GER), Universiteitsplein 1, B 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium. E-mail: [email protected] Editorial Advisory Board Melissa Bowerman, Nijmegen; Wallace Chafe, Santa Barbara, CA; Philip R. Cohen, Portland, OR; Antonio Damasio, Iowa City, IA; Morton Ann Gernsbacher, Madison, WI; David McNeill, Chicago, IL; Eric Pederson, Eugene, OR; François Recanati, Paris; Sally Rice, Edmonton, Alberta; Benny Shanon, Jerusalem; Lokendra Shastri, Berkeley, CA; Dan Slobin, Berkeley, CA; Paul Thagard, Waterloo, Ontario Volume 10 Analogical Modeling: An exemplar-based approach to language Edited by Royal Skousen, Deryle Lonsdale and Dilworth B.
    [Show full text]