
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.
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
Line 19: | Line 19: | ||
|summary= | |summary= | ||
}} | }} | ||
{{:Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/ | This is an index of claims made in this work with links to corresponding responses within the FairMormon Answers Wiki. | ||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 1 | |||
|subject=Chapter 1 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 1: A Marvelous Work?" (1–27) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 21 - Joseph Smith stated that the final battle in the Book of Mormon was fought in New York | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 21 - Brigham Young stated that there was a cave in the Hill Cumorah that was full of records | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 22 - Joseph Smith found a seer stone while digging a well | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 22 - LeGrand Richards claimed that Mormons do not have to rely on the Bible | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 22 - Mormon leaders taught that the Garden of Eden was located in Jackson County | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 22 - A remnant of Adam's altar remained in Missouri | |||
|sublink7=Response to claim: 23 - Joseph Smith described the inhabitants of the moon | |||
|sublink8=Response to claim: 25 - Brigham Young taught that the moon and sun were inhabited | |||
|sublink9=Response to claim: 27 - Orson Pratt preached against the Catholic Church | |||
|sublink10=Response to claim: 27 - John Taylor taught that "we are the saviors of the world" | |||
|sublink11=Response to claim: 27 - Joseph Fielding Smith taught that Mormons are "the best people in the world" | |||
|sublink12=Response to claim: 27 - Brigham Young claimed that every person that does not confess that Joseph Smith was a prophet is "anti-Christ" | |||
|sublink13=Response to claim: 27 - Joseph Fielding Smith taught that there is no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 2 | |||
|subject=Chapter 2 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 2: Change, Censorship and Suppression" (28–37) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 29 - John Taylor said that we are not ashamed of polygamy | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 29 - Brigham Young said that the only men who become gods are those who enter into polygamy | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 29 - Bruce R. McConkie said that plural marriage is not essential to salvation or exaltation | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 31 - Joseph Smith drank beer despite having received the Word of Wisdom | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 33 - Joseph encouraged others to break the Word of Wisdom by drinking whiskey | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 33 - Joseph asked for a pipe and tobacco to settle Willard Richards' stomach | |||
|sublink7=Response to claim: 34 - Brigham Young ordered the destruction of Lucy Mack Smith's history Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith published by Orson Pratt in 1853 | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 3 | |||
|subject=Chapter 3 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 3: Changes in Revelations" (38-63) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 38 - "Mormon writers" have "admitted" that revelations have been modified after they have been received | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 39 - John A. Widtsoe said that the revelations "have remained unchanged. There has been no tampering with God's word" | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 41-42 - David Whitmer said that the revelations in the Book of Commandments were printed correctly and didn't need to be modified later | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 42 - David Whitmer objected to changing the revelations | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 43 - D&C 68 was changed from its original printing in the Evening and Morning Star | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 45 - It is claimed that Joseph Smith was not supposed to do any translating beyond the Book of Mormon, as shown in Book of Commandments 4:2, which was changed in D&C 5:4 | |||
|sublink7=Response to claim: 52 - The name "Urim and Thummim" was added to the revelations later | |||
|sublink8=Response to claim: 59 - The United Order was simply a form of Communism | |||
|sublink9=Response to claim: 59 - The United Order was claimed to have actually been Sidney Rigdon's idea | |||
|sublink10=Response to claim: 62 - a section on marriage that was removed from the D&C | |||
|sublink11=Response to claim: 62 - The Lectures on Faith were removed from the D&C | |||
|sublink12=Response to claim: 62 - It is claimed that few LDS writers will "admit" to changes made in the D&C | |||
|sublink13=Response to claim: 63 - The name "Michael" was deleted from Joseph Smith's vision of the Celestial Kingdom because Adam is Michael | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 4 | |||
|subject=Chapter 4 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 4: Joseph Smith and Money-Digging" (64–89) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 67-70 - Joseph Smith was convicted of "glass looking" in 1826 | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 72 - Hugh Nibley is claimed to have said that "...if this court record is authentic it is the most damning evidence in existence against Joseph Smith" | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 75 - Joseph Smith was "deeply involved in money-digging" | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 79 - Joseph said that the angel told him to "quit the company of the money-diggers" | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 80 - The author proposed that Joseph fastened two of his seer stones together to make his "Urim and Thummim" | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 80 - Joseph's father-in-law Isaac Hale claimed that Joseph's occupation was "pretending to see by means of a stone placed in his hat" | |||
|sublink7=Response to claim: 82 - Joseph Fielding Smith "admitted" that the "seer stone" was sometimes called the Urim and Thummim | |||
|sublink8=Response to claim: 83 - Mormon apologists have difficulty explaining Joseph's use of seer stones | |||
|sublink9=Response to claim: 84 - The plates didn't even have to be present while Joseph was translating | |||
|sublink10=Response to claim: 84 - Joseph Smith originally wanted to obtain the plates in order to get rich, and he was rebuked by the angel | |||
|sublink11=Response to claim: 85 - The authors say that Brigham Young claimed that a chest of money "moved by itself" into the bank | |||
|sublink12=Response to claim: 86 - Joseph is claimed to have attempted to "cover up" Oliver Cowdery's alleged work with a divining rod by changing a revelation | |||
|sublink13=Response to claim: 87 - Joseph went to Salem, Massachusetts to look for money hidden in a cellar | |||
|sublink14=Response to claim: 89 - Joseph Smith is claimed to have had a "Jupiter Talisman" in his possession at the time of his death | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem55 | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 5 | |||
|subject=Chapter 5 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 5: The Book of Mormon" (90–144) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 94 - Brigham Young claimed that some of the Book of Mormon witnesses doubted that they had ever seen an angel | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 94 - The authors claim that Oliver Cowdery may have had doubts about his testimony | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 96 - The story of Hiram Page and his stone is used as an example of the witnesses' gullibility | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 97 - David Whitmer said that God told him to separate himself from among the Latter Day Saints | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 97 - Joseph said that John Whitmer, David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris are "too mean to mention" | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 98 - Oliver Cowdery was accused of being involved in counterfeiting | |||
|sublink7=Response to claim: 99 - Oliver Cowdery is not a reliable witness because he joined a Methodist church after his excommunication | |||
|sublink8=Response to claim: 99-100 - Some of the Book of Mormon witnesses later followed James Strang | |||
|sublink9=Response to claim: 103 - Latter-day Saint author Richard Anderson was "forced to acknowledge that Martin Harris' life shows evidence of 'religious instability'" | |||
|sublink10=Response to claim: 108 - Martin Harris said that he only saw the plates with his "spiritual eyes" | |||
|sublink11=Response to claim: 108 - David Whitmer said that he "handled the plates," but that he "did not touch nor handle the plates" | |||
|sublink12=Response to claim: 108 - Martin Harris said that the eight witnesses never saw the plates | |||
|sublink13=Response to claim: 109 - No visions actually occurred in the Kirtland Temple. William McClellin claimed that there was "no endowment" | |||
|sublink14=Response to claim: 111 - Material from the Presbyterian "Westminster Confession" is "probably" the source for Alma 40 | |||
|sublink15=Response to claim: 114 - Joseph is claimed to have copied the name "Nephi" from the Apocrypha | |||
|sublink16=Response to claim: 115 - The story of Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egypt is claimed to be the source for the book of 1 Nephi | |||
|sublink17=Response to claim: 115 - The Book of Mormon is proven false because it quotes Malachi many years before it was written | |||
|sublink18=Response to claim: 116 - The story of Lazarus being raised from the dead is a source for the story of Ammon | |||
|sublink19=Response to claim: 118 - The story of Alma was taken from the story of Paul | |||
|sublink20=Response to claim: 119-121 - The Book of Mormon is proven false because it contains material found in the New Testament | |||
|sublink21=Response to claim: 122 - In the Book of Mormon, Jesus quotes a paraphrase of Moses' words found in Acts 3:22-26, rather than Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19 | |||
|sublink22=Response to claim: 123 - The Greek terms "Alpha" and "Omega" appear in the Book of Mormon, thereby proving that it is not an ancient work | |||
|sublink23=Response to claim: 124 - The Book of Mormon is proven false because it contains the Greek name Timothy | |||
|sublink24=Response to claim: 125 - Joseph Smith's mother said that he used to entertain them with stories about the ancient inhabitants of the American continent | |||
|sublink25=Response to claim: 127 - B.H. Roberts concluded that the book View of the Hebrews could have provided a structural foundation for the Book of Mormon | |||
|sublink26=Response to claim: 127 - B.H. Roberts listed a number of parallels between View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon | |||
|sublink27=Response to claim: 128 - The Book of Mormon may have used Josiah Priest's book The Wonders of Nature as a source | |||
|sublink28=Response to claim: 128-129 - The Book of Mormon contains changes that altered the original meaning of the text | |||
|sublink29=Response to claim: 132 - According to Oliver B. Huntington, the proper spelling of words was given by the Lord | |||
|sublink30=Response to claim: 133 - Members of the Church have claimed that the Smithsonian uses the Book of Mormon in archaeological research | |||
|sublink31=Response to claim: 139 - Some Mormon archaeologists have begun to "face the truth" regarding Book of Mormon archeology by declaring that it is a "myth" | |||
|sublink32=Response to claim: 140-141 - Mormon archaeologist Thomas Stuart Ferguson lost his testimony because he couldn't find any archaeological evidence for the Book of Mormon | |||
|sublink33=Response to claim: 141-142 - Lehi would never have written using an Egyptian language | |||
|sublink34=Response to claim: 144 - There is no such language as "Reformed Egyptian" | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 6 | |||
|subject=Chapter 6 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 6: The First Vision" (145–171) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 149 - Oliver Cowdery's 1834 attempt at writing a history of the Church ignored the First Vision | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 149-150 - In 1832, 12 years after the First Vision, Joseph had a revelation that said that a man could not see God without the priesthood | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 150 - There were no references to the First Vision in the 1830s | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 152 - Joseph's 1832 account mentions that he was in the 16th year of his age rather than the 15th | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 154 - The 1832 account only mentions one personage | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 156 - The personages in the 1835 version are not explicitly identified as God the Father and Jesus Christ | |||
|sublink7=Response to claim: 157 - The 1835 account talks about a visitation of angels instead of the Father and Son | |||
|sublink8=Response to claim: 159 - Joseph's claim of seeing the Father and the Son was not unique | |||
|sublink9=Response to claim: 160 - Oliver Cowdery's 1834 history in the Messenger and Advocate did not mention the First Vision | |||
|sublink10=Response to claim: 162 - "Mormon apologists are beginning to retreat from the idea that God the Father appeared to Joseph Smith" | |||
|sublink11=Response to claim: 162-163 - The Book of Mormon teaches that there is only one God | |||
|sublink12=Response to claim: 164 - Brigham Young denied that the Lord came to Joseph Smith in the First Vision | |||
|sublink13=Response to claim: 164 - John Taylor claimed that an angel appeared during the First Vision | |||
|sublink14=Response to claim: 164 - George A. Smith claimed that an angel appeared during the First Vision | |||
|sublink15=Response to claim: 166-171 - There was no revival in the area where Joseph Smith lived in 1820 | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 7 | |||
|subject=Chapter 7 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 7: The Godhead" (172-191) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 172 - The Book of Mormon teaches that God is a spirit | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 173 - The Book of Moses says that God created the earth, but the Book of Abraham says that "the Gods" created the earth | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 177 - Mormons believe that God is "just an exalted man" | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 178 - There is a "Heavenly Mother" | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 180 - Jesus Christ was conceived through a physical act rather than by the power of the Holy Ghost | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 183 - Four verses in the Book of Mormon were modified in which references to God were changed to refer to the Son of God | |||
|sublink7=Response to claim: 185 - The Lectures on Faith state that God is a spirit | |||
|sublink8=Response to claim: 185 - The Lectures on Faith were removed from the Doctrine and Covenants | |||
|sublink9=Response to claim: 187 - The Book of Mormon teaches that God is "unchangable," but LDS leaders taught otherwise | |||
|sublink10=Response to claim: 188 - The Lectures on Faith indicate that there are only two personages in the Godhead, and that their mind is the Holy Spirit | |||
|sublink11=Response to claim: 190 - LDS leaders can't explain why the Holy Ghost should be denied a body since the Father has one | |||
|sublink12=Response to claim: 190 - The Holy Ghost can't be a God since he doesn't have a body | |||
|sublink13=Response to claim: 191 - During the First Vision, Joseph learned that the Father and Jesus Christ have bodies of flesh and bones | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 8 | |||
|subject=Chapter 8 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 8: Adam-God Doctrine" (192–204) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 192-193 - Mormons consider the fall of Adam a fortunate event | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 193-195 - Brigham Young preached that Adam was our God | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 196 - Brigham continued to teach Adam-God | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 198-199 - Brigham taught that Adam is the only god that we should worship | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 202 - The Church is therefore inconsistent because it will excommunicate someone for believing something taught by one of its prophets | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem55 | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 9 | |||
|subject=Chapter 9 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 9: Plural marriage" (205-290) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 205 - The 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants had a section denouncing polygamy | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 207 - Section 101 was replaced with Section 132 in 1876 | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 207 - A revelation on plural marriage given in 1831 was "suppressed" which said that the Indians would become "white and delightsome" | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 208-209 - Spencer Kimball believed that the Indians were becoming a "white and delightsome" people | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 212 - Brigham Young believed that the Indians skin would become white through intermarriage | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 214 - Church leaders did not approve of interracial marriage | |||
|sublink7=Response to claim: 215 - Oliver Cowdery believed that Joseph had an improper relationship with Fanny Alger | |||
|sublink8=Response to claim: 219 - Lorenzo Snow said that anyone who had a plural marriage prior to the date of the revelation (July 12, 1843) was living in adultery | |||
|sublink9=Response to claim: 219 - It is claimed that Mormon leaders say that the 1843 revelation was actually received earlier | |||
|sublink10=Response to claim: 220 - Brigham Young said that he lived "above the law" | |||
|sublink12=Response to claim: 220 - Polygamy is forbidden by the Book of Mormon | |||
|sublink13=Response to claim: 220-221 - Joseph F. Smith and Orson Pratt said that the Book of Mormon forbid polygamy | |||
|sublink14=Response to claim: 222 - Joseph took wives without his first wife's consent | |||
|sublink15=Response to claim: 225 - It is claimed that LDS leaders were worried that the missionaries would "take the best women" | |||
|sublink16=Response to claim: 226 - Heber C. Kimball remarked on the "great sorrow" of plural marriage | |||
|sublink17=Response to claim: 226 - Brigham Young spoke of the "problems" of plural marriage | |||
|sublink18=Response to claim: 228 - Brigham Young offered to let any wife go who wanted to | |||
|sublink19=Response to claim: 230-231 - Joseph and Emma fought about plural marriage | |||
|sublink20=Response to claim: 231 - Joseph had between 27 to "sixty or more" wives | |||
|sublink21=Response to claim: 231 - There is a rumor that Emma beat Eliza Snow with a broomstick and caused her to fall down the stairs, preventing her from having Joseph's child | |||
|sublink22=Response to claim: 232 - Joseph was sealed to a large number of women after his death | |||
|sublink23=Response to claim: 233 - Brigham Young had "fifty or sixty" wives, and boasted of his ability to obtain more | |||
|sublink24=Response to claim: 234 - Mormon men believed that they "could have all the wives they wanted." Heber C. Kimball said that in the resurrection, he could have "thousands" of wives | |||
|sublink25=Response to claim: 236 - Joseph asked for other men's wives, such as the wife of Heber C. Kimball | |||
|sublink26=Response to claim: 237 - Joseph married Heber C. Kimball's daughter, Helen | |||
|sublink27=Response to claim: 239 - Joseph married Zina, the wife of Henry Jacobs | |||
|sublink28=Response to claim: 239 - Brigham Young publicly told Henry Jacobs to find another wife | |||
|sublink29=Response to claim: 239-240 - Some women who were associated with Joseph claimed that they did not know who the father of their children were | |||
|sublink30=Response to claim: 243 - Joseph performed a "pretended" marriage for time for Sarah Ann Whitney to Joseph Kingsbury | |||
|sublink31=Response to claim: 245-246 - The Bible prohibited a man from marrying sisters or mothers and daughters, therefore Mormon polygamy was not Biblical | |||
|sublink32=Response to claim: 246-247 - Joseph sealed brothers and sisters together | |||
|sublink33=Response to claim: 248 - Brigham said that monogamy was a "fruitful source of prostitution and whoredom" | |||
|sublink34=Response to claim: 249 - Some Mormons believed that Joseph taught that Adam had two wives | |||
|sublink35=Response to claim: 249-251 - Early Church leaders taught that Jesus was married to more than one wife | |||
|sublink36=Response to claim: 258 - Brigham Young said that the "only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy" | |||
|sublink37=Response to claim: 258-259 - Polygamy was practiced in secret and denied publicly | |||
|sublink38=Response to claim: 262-263 - John Taylor stated that he believed in keeping every law except the law against polygamy | |||
|sublink39=Response to claim: 263 - Brigham Young said the polygamy would never go away | |||
|sublink40=Response to claim: 270-281 - Polygamy was practiced after the Manifesto was issued | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 10 | |||
|subject=Chapter 10 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 10: Changing the Anti-Black Doctrine" (291–328) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 291-293 - It was taught that the denial of priesthood to blacks was due to some behavior in the pre-existence | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 294 - Blacks were said to be the descendants of Cain | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 302 - Joseph Smith is said to have endorsed slavery | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 303 - Slavery was accepted in Utah | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 306 - Church leaders defended segregation | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 312-314 - Brigham Young said that blacks would not receive the priesthood until all of Adam's other children received it | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 11 | |||
|subject=Chapter 11 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 11: Fall of the Book of Abraham" (329–364) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 329-330 - Joseph claimed that the papyrus was written by Abraham himself | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 330-331 - Hugh Nibley said that the papyri does not prove the Book of Abraham to be true and the LDS scholars were unprepared | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 335 - Since the translation of the papyri was turned over to Hugh Nibley, this proves that the prophet does not have the ability to translate ancient records | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 336 - Facsimile 1 does not show Abraham fastened to an altar being sacrificed, but instead shows Hor being prepared for burial | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 337 - LDS leaders were unable to detect the Hofmann forgeries | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 339 - "Mormon elder" Dee Jay Nelson, who claimed to be an Egyptologist, translated the papyri but was unable to find any mention of Abraham | |||
|sublink7=Response to claim: 342 - Joseph Smith translated a "large number of English words" from each Egyptian character | |||
|sublink8=Response to claim: 343 - Joseph used four lines from the papyrus to generate 49 verses in the Book of Abraham | |||
|sublink9=Response to claim: 351 - The papyri have been dated to a much later time than Abraham, therefore they could not have been written by Abraham's "own hand on papyrus" | |||
|sublink10=Response to claim: 358-361 - In Facsimile #1, the penciled-in restoration is incorrect | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 12 | |||
|subject=Chapter 12 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 12: Mormon Scriptures and the Bible" (365–397) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 365 - The Bible has secondary status in the Mormon Church | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 365 - Joseph Smith taught that the Bible contains errors | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 365 - Thomas Paine's book The Age of Reason influenced early Church leaders to criticize the Bible | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 366-367 - Orson Pratt attacked the accuracy of the Bible | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 368 - A phrase concerning baptism was later added to the Book of Mormon quotation of Isaiah 48:1, quoted in 1 Nephi 20:1 | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 371-373 - The authors suggest that the Dead Sea Scrolls "present serious problems" for the Book of Mormon and the Joseph Smith "Inspired Version" of the Bible | |||
|sublink7=Response to claim: 378-379 - LDS leaders claimed that "Catholics conspired to alter the Bible," but this is proven wrong by the Dead Sea Scrolls | |||
|sublink8=Response to claim: 383 - The "Inspired Version" of the Bible has been a "source of much embarrassment" for leaders of the Church | |||
|sublink9=Response to claim: 383 - The Church would never allow the Inspired Version of the Bible to be printed | |||
|sublink10=Response to claim: 385 - The contents of the "Inspired Version" of the Bible contradict doctrines taught by the Mormon church | |||
|sublink11=Response to claim: 385-386 - Joseph Fielding Smith said that the "Inspired Version" was never completed, yet Joseph Smith stated that he completed the translation of the Bible | |||
|sublink12=Response to claim: 393 - Joseph's "Inspired Version" of the Bible does not restore any of the "lost books" of the Bible | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 13 | |||
|subject=Chapter 13 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 13: Changes in Joseph Smith's History" (398–415) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 398 - Mormon leaders claim that "Joseph Smith's" 'History of the Church' is the "most accurate history in all the world" | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 400-401 - The History of the Church was not written by Joseph Smith himself | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 403-404 - Much of the History of the Church was completed after Joseph Smith's death. This means that Joseph Smith's history is not "authentic" | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 405 - The "Rocky Mountain prophecy" was added to the history of the Church sometime after the original was written | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 408 - The angel that gave Joseph Smith the plates was originally identified as "Nephi" rather than "Moroni." History of the Church changed it to "Moroni" | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 415 - Most of Joseph Smith's history was written by his scribes and modified to read as if it were written in the first person, therefore this history must be a forgery | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 14 | |||
|subject=Chapter 14 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 14: False Prophecy" (416–424) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 417 - Joseph Smith gave many false prophecies | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 417 - Joseph Smith received a false revelation to go to Canada and sell the Book of Mormon copyright | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 418-419 - In 1835 Joseph Smith prophesied that the Lord would come in "fifty-six years," or when Joseph was 85 years old | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 420-421 - Joseph prophesied that a temple in Missouri would be built "in this generation" | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 424 - Joseph's "Civil War prophecy" could have been deduced from the news at the time | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 15 | |||
|subject=Chapter 15 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 15: The Arm of Flesh" (425–441) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 431-439 - There has been no new revelation since the time of Joseph Smith | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 431 - The Church teaches that you must let the leaders do your thinking for you | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 433 - Joseph F. Smith said that he never received revelation | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 434 - The Church chose to canonize two "new" revelations in order to counter claims made by the Tanners | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 435 - The Church has never produced a copy of the revelation granting Blacks the ability to receive the priesthood | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 437 - Brigham Young claimed that his sermons were the same as scripture | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 16 | |||
|subject=Chapter 16 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 16: Mountain Meadows Aftermath" (442–446) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 442 - The concept of "priesthood" was added later to the Church and was a creation of Sidney Rigdon | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 443 - Revelations on the restoration of the priesthood are not present in the Book of Commandments | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 443-444 - The Aaronic priesthood was abolished at that death of Christ | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 445 - The date of the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood is not known and the record of the event was added later | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 445-446 - The idea of the Melchizedek Priesthood and ordaining men to be High Priests came from Sidney Rigdon | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 17 | |||
|subject=Chapter 17 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 17: Joseph Smith" (447-464) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 448 - No man can enter the Celestial Kingdom without Joseph Smith's consent | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 448 - Joseph Smith would be looked upon as a god | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 450 - Church members elevate Joseph Smith almost to the level of Jesus Christ | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 451-452 - Joseph Smith liked to fight | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 452-454 - Joseph Smith liked military trappings and titles | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 456-457 - Joseph Smith was ordained "King on earth" by the Council of Fifty | |||
|sublink7=Response to claim: 458 - Joseph Smith ran for president because he thought that he could win and rule as king over the United States | |||
|sublink8=Response to claim: 460 - Joseph Smith felt that he was "almost equal with God" and that God was his "right hand man" | |||
|sublink9=Response to claim: 460 - Joseph boasted that he was the only one who kept a whole church together | |||
|sublink10=Response to claim: 462-463 - Response to claim: The destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor was illegal | |||
|sublink11=Response to claim: 465 - Joseph fought his attackers at Carthage using a six-shooter | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 18 | |||
|subject=Chapter 18 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 18: Word of Wisdom" (465-483) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 468 - The admonition not to eat meat is mostly ignored by the Church | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 469-470 - Joseph Fielding Smith said that drinking tea can bar a person from the Celestial Kingdom | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 470 - Joseph sometimes drank wine | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 471 - Joseph Smith asked "Brother Markam" to get "a pipe and some tobacco" for Apostle Willard Richards | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 471 - Joseph wrote in his diary that he had tea with breakfast | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 471 - Joseph prophesied that he would drink wine with Orson Hyde in the east | |||
|sublink7=Response to claim: 472 - George A. Smith reported that some church members left the church after finding that their leaders drank tea and coffee | |||
|sublink8=Response to claim: 472 - Almon W. Babbitt was brought to church trial for breaking the Word of Wisdom, but he said that he was following Joseph's example | |||
|sublink9=Response to claim: 472-473 - Joseph Smith sold liquor in Nauvoo | |||
|sublink10=Response to claim: 474 - Brigham Young broke the Word of Wisdom by taking "snuff and tea" | |||
|sublink11=Response to claim: 474 - Brigham Young told Church members to "make beer as a drink" and sponsored a bar in Salt Lake City | |||
|sublink12=Response to claim: 475 - Brigham built a whiskey distillery | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 19 | |||
|subject=Chapter 19 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 19: Old Testament Practices" (484-488) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 484 - The Book of Mormon teaches that you should bless those that curse you, but the D&C says that you should curse your enemies | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 484-485 - Cursing of enemies was carried out in the Kirtland Temple | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 485 - George A. Smith prayed that the Lord would kill the mob | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 486 - Heber C. Kimball cursed the President of the United States | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 488 - Joseph Smith taught animal sacrifice | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 20 | |||
|subject=Chapter 20 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 20: Blood Atonement" (490-501) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 490 - Heber C. Kimball claimed that the apostles killed Judas | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 490-491 - Brigham Young advocated blood atonement | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 491-492 - Jedediah Grant advocated blood atonement | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 493 - Murder was worthy of death | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 493 - Adultery and immorality were worthy of death | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 493 - Brigham Young said that he would put a javelin through the heart of an adulterous woman | |||
|sublink7=Response to claim: 496 - Stealing was worthy of death | |||
|sublink8=Response to claim: 496 - Using the name of the Lord in vain was worthy of death | |||
|sublink9=Response to claim: 496 - Not receiving the Gospel was worthy of death | |||
|sublink10=Response to claim: 496 - Marrying an African was worthy of death | |||
|sublink11=Response to claim: 498 - Breaking covenants was worthy of death | |||
|sublink12=Response to claim: 498-499 - Apostasy was worthy of death | |||
|sublink13=Response to claim: 500 - Lying was worthy of death | |||
|sublink14=Response to claim: 500 - Counterfeiting was worthy of death | |||
|sublink15=Response to claim: 500 - Condemning Joseph Smith was worthy of death | |||
|sublink16=Response to claim: 501-503 - Blood atonement was "put into practice" in Utah | |||
|sublink17=Response to claim: 501 - Modern church leaders have confirmed the principle but denied the practice of blood atonement | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 21 | |||
|subject=Chapter 21 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 21: The Hereafter" (502-510) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 506 - LDS leaders teach the "endless punishement" won't last forever | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 506 - Joseph Smith's later teachings regarding endless punishment contradict the Book of Mormon | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 507 - Brigham Young taught that there would be no women in hell | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 507 - LDS leaders teach that "very few" will become "sons of perdition" | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 508 - The idea of "spirit prison" as an opportunity for the dead to be taught and receive the gospel contradicts the Book of Mormon | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 510 - The concept of three degrees of glory is not consistent with the Book of Mormon | |||
}} | |||
==== ==== | |||
{{SummaryItem | |||
|link=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The Changing World of Mormonism/Chapter 22 | |||
|subject=Chapter 22 | |||
|summary=Response to claims made in "Chapter 22: Temple Work" (511-547) | |||
|sublink1=Response to claim: 512 - Early Mormon leaders were "very confused" about baptism for the dead | |||
|sublink2=Response to claim: 514 - Baptism for the dead was not a doctrine in the early church | |||
|sublink3=Response to claim: 515 - Wilford Woodruff "felt he had saved" all of the presidents of the United States, except for three | |||
|sublink4=Response to claim: 515-516 - The Mormons spend millions of dollars on genealogical research that would be better spent feeding the starving people in the world | |||
|sublink5=Response to claim: 517 - Mormons are very similar to ancient Egyptians regarding their attitude toward the dead | |||
|sublink6=Response to claim: 517 - The Mormon "obsession with the dead" is close to "ancestral worship" | |||
|sublink7=Response to claim: 517-518 - Paul said to avoid "endless genealogies" | |||
|sublink8=Response to claim: 518 - The Book of Mormon is supposed to contain "the fulness of the Gospel," yet it doesn't teach baptism for the dead | |||
|sublink9=Response to claim: 520 - Jesus "taught the opposite" of eternal marriage when he said that people "neither marry, nor are given in marriage" in the afterlife | |||
|sublink10=Response to claim: 530-534 - The endowment has been changed over the years | |||
|sublink11=Response to claim: 535-547 - The endowment was derived from Freemasonry | |||
}} | |||
</onlyinclude> | </onlyinclude> | ||
A FAIR Analysis of: 'The Changing World of Mormonism' A work by author: Jerald and Sandra Tanner
|
This is an index of claims made in this work with links to corresponding responses within the FairMormon Answers Wiki.
The Tanners seem to be playing a skillful shell game in which the premises for judgment are conveniently shifted so that the conclusion is always the same—negative.
— Lawrence Foster, "Career Apostates: Reflections on the Works of Jerald and Sandra Tanner," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 17 no. 2 (Summer 1984), 49.
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.
We are a volunteer organization. We invite you to give back.
Donate Now