Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Becoming Gods

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About this work

Author: Richard Abanes

Notable and Quotable

Many evangelical books offer little help. Some are strident or mocking.

—Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods, p. 11

Mormons do in fact seek salvation within the historical person known to the world as Jesus of Nazareth, as they see him.

—Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods, p. 265

This does not mean that Mormons are "Christian" in an objective theological sense. It merely means there exists no other category in which they can be placed. Allowing for the broad viewpoint, however, opens up a large can of worms. What about the Branch Davidians, who called themselves "Christian" but stored illegal weapons, abused children, and murdered law enforcement officers? What about The Family, a "Christian" group that currently engages in premaritial "sharing" with multiple partners and allows adultery with consent? How about so-called "Christian" witches? There are also a significant number of liberal "Christian"...who deny the virgin birth, the deity of Jesus, and Christ's physical resurrection. And let us not forget "Christan" nudists.

—Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods, p. 265

So if Daniel Peterson and Barry Bickmore, for example, have no problem being called "heretical Christians," then I have no problem obliging them.

—Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods, p. 266

Claims made in this work

A list of claims indexed by page number made in Becoming Gods with links to the corresponding responses in the FAIRwiki may be found here: Index to claims made in Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism.

Quote mining, selective quotation and distortion

Many critics who write about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not content to portray the Church and its doctrines fairly. Some critics mine their sources by extracting quotes from their context in order to make the statement imply something other that what it was originally intended to mean. Other critics make statements that are self-contradictions—instances in which a critic says or writes one thing, and then makes another statement elsewhere that flatly contradicts their first statement.

These examples do not prove that these critics' arguments are without merit; they do suggest caution is warranted before accepting these authors or their works as reliable witnesses when they speak of their own experiences connected with "Mormonism." In particular, one should also be cautious about accepting their interpretation of primary sources without double-checking the original sources themselves.

Something to Consider

This author places most of his references and comments at the end of the book. This requires a tedious process of looking up each citation at the end of the book by those who wish to study the author's sources. This author, however, also uses the endnotes to provide information which ought to have been acknowledged in the main text. The average reader will not check the end notes—they will read the main text with its sensationalistic spin, without looking up the "rest of the story" in the endnote. Some examples this are provided in the following sections.

Mormons believe in Celestial Sex?

Reference	First the author says...	The author then continues in the endnotes...	Use of sources
331 n.35	Mormons often seek to distance themselves and their church from a problematic past comment of an LDS leader by ... narrowly splitting terms in order to focus on a minor issue while dismissing the broader point that is being made by a critic of the church.	For example, I have often spoken of the LDS belief in eternal "Celestial Sex" (i.e. the process by which Mormons believe they will procreate spirit children in eternity with their spouses, see chapter 6). But this has brought LDS criticisms because the actual phrase "Celestial Sex" is not used by LDS leaders—even though sexual union is how many Mormons believe they will procreate in the Celestial Kingdom. (emphasis added)	A search of the endnotes of Chapter 6 shows no references to 1982 anti-Mormon film The God Makers, from which the offensive term "Celestial Sex" originated.

Commentary

• The author speaks of the "LDS belief in 'Celestial Sex'" as a fact, yet this characterization is abhorrent and offensive to Latter-day Saints. The author continues by stating that "sexual union is how many Mormons believe they will procreate in the Celestial Kingdom." We challenge the author to provide support for this assertion. Latter-day Saints do not know the process by which spirit children are created.
• It is ironic that the author uses this as an example of Mormons "splitting terms" while "dismissing the broader point" raised by critics. The broader point is that LDS believe that they will be able to have spirit children if they achieve exaltation. The narrow point is the assignment of the ugly and offensive term "Celestial Sex" to this process—a term coined by Ed Decker in the 1982 anti-Mormon film The God Makers.

∗       ∗       ∗

Comparing population sizes at the beginning and end of a 1000-year period?

Reference	First the author says...	The author then concludes...	Use of sources
p. 69-70	"LDS apologists and BYU professors are advocating a new unofficial opinion that Lehi and his people represented only a 'small band' of Israelites, compared to a larger population of indigenous people in the New world."	"But according to Mormon 1:7 in the Book of Mormon, the Nephite and Lamanite populations were hardly small: "The whole face of the land had become covered with buildings, and the people were as numerous almost, as it were the sand of the sea [about A.D. 322]."	*Jeffrey Meldrum, "The Children of Lehi: DNA and the Book of Mormon, lecture at the 2003 FAIR Conference, aug. 8, 2003.

Commentary

• The author seems to believe that the proposition that Lehi's small group intermingled with a larger population of Native Americans in approximately 600 B.C. is somehow contradicted and invalidated by the fact that the population was as numerous as "the sand of the sea" in A.D. 322, almost 1000 years later. The logic behind this comparison is elusive. If anything, the idea that Lehi's group mingled with an existing population supports the idea that they would become quite numerous over a long period of time.

∗       ∗       ∗

The Book of Commandments was printed?

Reference	The author says...	What the author puts in the endnotes...	Use of sources
p. 84	[The revelations] were subsequently arranged, edited by Smith for accuracy, then printed as A Book of Commandments (1833). But because very few copies of the Book of Commandments were produced, it remained unavailable to most Mormons. So in 1835 LDS leaders republished the revelations. But by that time the declarations were showing their age. Many contained outdated information. Some included erroneous statements. Others presented abandoned doctrines. A few of the revelations simply revealed too much information about LDS beliefs... (emphasis added)	(p. 370 n.9)The press that printed the sheets of revelations was destroyed by an anti-Mormon mob. The sheets, scattered in the streets, were gathered up and assembled into a 160-page book.	Joseph Smith's diary, Dec. 1, 1832, "[I] wrote and corrected revelations &c." Dean Jessee, PJS, vol. 2, p. 4

Commentary

• The author's tendency to spin a statement in the main text and then provide crucial clarification in the endnotes at the back of the book is on display here. In the main text, the author makes it appear as if the Book of Commandments was successfully printed and distributed, but that it was unavailable to most Church members because there were "very few copies." Then, just two years later, the revelations were supposed to be "showing their age" for a variety of reasons.
• See also: Doctrine and Covenants textual changes

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