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.