Criticism of Mormonism/Books

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Analysis of books critical of Mormonism

A

American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows by Sally Denton

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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An Insider's View of Mormon Origins by Grant Palmer

Summary: In Insider's View of Mormon Origins was developed during a period of time that its author worked as a teacher in the Church Educational System (CES), and was published after the author's retirement from Church employment. The book attempts to explain many otherwise clearly described events of the restoration by reinterpreting them as spiritual rather than physical events.

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in An Insider's View of Mormon Origins indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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  • Use of sources—
    Brief Summary: An examination and response to how the author of An Insider's View of Mormon Origins interprets the sources used to support this work, indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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Answering Mormon Scholars by Jerald and Sandra Tanner

Answering Mormon Scholars (Vol. 2) by Jerald and Sandra Tanner

Archaeology and the Book of Mormon by Jerald and Sandra Tanner

B

Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism by Richard Abanes

Summary: This book could best be described as an Evangelical apologetic work against Mormonism. The book spends much time refuting LDS interpretation of scriptural passages in the Bible, often claiming that Mormons have misinterpreted the scriptures and that they require "deeper study." In fact, it is claimed that LDS scholars have only a superficial knowledge of the scriptures, at one time stating that "[p]roperly interpreting them is not as simple as reading today's newspaper"

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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  • Use of sources—
    Brief Summary: An examination and response to how the author of Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism interprets the sources used to support this work, indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows by Will Bagley

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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  • Use of sources—
    Brief Summary: An examination and response to how the author of Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows interprets the sources used to support this work, indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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  • Omissions—
    Brief Summary: A listing of notable events which were omitted or not acknowledged by the author of Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows. (Click here for full article)
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By His Own Hand upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri by Charles Larson

C

Covering Up the Black Hole in the Book of Mormon by Jerald and Sandra Tanner

• • Index of Claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in Covering Up the Black Hole in the Book of Mormon indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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D

Decker's Complete Handbook on Mormonism by Ed Decker

Do Christians Believe in Three Gods by RBC Ministries

E

Early Mormonism and the Magic World View by D. Michael Quinn

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in Early Mormonism and the Magic World View indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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  • Use of sources—
    Brief Summary: An examination and response to how the author of Early Mormonism and the Magic World View interprets the sources used to support this work, indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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  • Apologetics—
    Brief Summary: Throughout the revised edition, the author often refers to the efforts of LDS apologetics related to his own works. He appears to have a particular issue with a review of the first edition of Early Mormonism and the Magic World View written by LDS scholar Bill Hamblin. This page addresses specific claims made by the author related to LDS apologetics. (Click here for full article)
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I

In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith by Todd Compton

Inside Today's Mormonism by Richard Abanes

Summary: This book is a 2007 re-issue of Becoming Gods.

L

Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church by Simon G. Southerton

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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  • Use of sources—
    Brief Summary: An examination and response to how the author of Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church interprets the sources used to support this work, indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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M

Mormonism 101 by McKeever & Johnson

• • Introduction (Click here for full article)
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  • Index of Claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in Mormonism 101 indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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  • Quote mining—
    Brief Summary: 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. We examine instances of such "quote mining" in Mormonism 101. (Click here for full article)
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Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? by Jerald and Sandra Tanner

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in Mormonism: Shadow or Reality indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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Mormonism Unvailed by Eber D. Howe

• • The Hurlbut affidavits—
    Brief Summary: Many of Joseph Smith’s friends and neighbors signed affidavits that accused him and his family of being lazy, indolent, undependable treasure-seekers. (Click here for full article)
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Mormon America: The Power and the Promise by Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in Mormon America: The Power and the Promise indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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  • Quote mining—
    Brief Summary: 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. We examine instances of such "quote mining" in Mormon America: The Power and the Promise. (Click here for full article)
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N

Nauvoo Polygamy: "... but we called it celestial marriage" by George D. Smith

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in Nauvoo Polygamy: "... but we called it celestial marriage" indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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  • Use of sources—
    Brief Summary: An examination and response to how the author of Nauvoo Polygamy: "... but we called it celestial marriage" interprets the sources used to support this work, indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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  • Prejudicial language—
    Brief Summary: An examination of how the author employs loaded and prejudicial language in this work in order to discredit Mormonism. (Click here for full article)
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  • Presentism—
    Brief Summary: “Presentism” is an analytical fallacy in which past behavior is evaluated by modern standards or mores. We examine some of our favorite examples of this fallacy in Nauvoo Polygamy: "... but we called it celestial marriage". (Click here for full article)
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  • Mind reading—
    Brief Summary: The author often attempts to interpret what Joseph was thinking as a way to lead the reader to a predetermined conclusion regarding Joseph Smith. (Click here for full article)
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  • Censorship—
    Brief Summary: The author claims that the Church deliberately hid or obscured information. We examine those claims in this section. (Click here for full article)
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  • Romance—
    Brief Summary: We point out some instances in which the author pursues his quest to show that Joseph was "romantic" with his plural wives. (Click here for full article)
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  • Assumptions—
    Brief Summary: In many cases, Joseph is simply assumed to be guilty of any offense. (Click here for full article)
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  • Magick—
    Brief Summary: The author, following the lead of D. Michael Quinn, emphasizes "magick" in Joseph's early life. (Click here for full article)
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No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith by Fawn McKay Brodie

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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O

One Nation Under Gods by Richard Abanes

Summary: In early 2002 a new book entitled One Nation under Gods (ONUG) appeared on bookshelves, promising to tell the "real" history of the Mormon Church. The author attempts to pull disparate sources together to paint a picture that, when compared to objective reality, more closely resembles a Picasso than a Rembrandt—skewed and distorted—obscuring and maligning the actual doctrines and beliefs as understood and practiced by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than 150 years.

• • Overview (Click here for full article)
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  • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in One Nation Under Gods indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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  • Source analysis—
    Brief Summary: An examination and response to how the author of One Nation Under Gods interprets the sources used to support this work, indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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  • Loaded and prejudicial language—
    Brief Summary: An examination of how the author employs loaded and prejudicial language in this work in order to discredit Mormonism. (Click here for full article)
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  • Absurd claims—
    Brief Summary: Some of the claims made in this work are simply absurd. We list and respond to those claims here. (Click here for full article)
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  • Presentism—
    Brief Summary: “Presentism” is an analytical fallacy in which past behavior is evaluated by modern standards or mores. We examine some of our favorite examples of this fallacy in One Nation Under Gods. (Click here for full article)
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  • Mind reading—
    Brief Summary: The author often attempts to interpret what Joseph was thinking as a way to lead the reader to a predetermined conclusion regarding Joseph Smith. (Click here for full article)
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  • Rewording secondary sources—
    Brief Summary: A list of paragraphs which echo the prose of Fawn Brodie's No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith. (Click here for full article)
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  • Sarcasm—
    Brief Summary: The author of One Nation Under Gods uses sarcasm to belittle what he claims to be LDS beliefs and doctrine. (Click here for full article)
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S

Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example by D. Michael Quinn

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example. (Click here for full article)
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Studies of the Book of Mormon by B.H. Roberts

Summary: The content of this book is not written by a critic, but its purpose and audience are often misrepresented by critics in an effort to make it appear that Roberts lost his testimony of the Book of Mormon.

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in Studies of the Book of Mormon indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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T

The "Book of Lehi" by Christopher Nemelka

Summary: The author claims to have been commanded to translate the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon, as well as the lost 116 pages. As part of his 'prophetic call,' the author produced what he claims is a translation of the lost 116 pages, or "Book of Lehi." This portion of Mormon's abridgement (from Lehi to King Benjamin, roughly) was lost by Martin Harris after the manuscript was loaned to him by Joseph Smith.

The Changing World of Mormonism by Jerald and Sandra Tanner

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in The Changing World of Mormonism indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism by Norman L. Geisler

The Kingdom of the Cults by "Dr." Walter Martin

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: A claim-by-claim examination of the chapter dealing with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Click here for full article)
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The Kingdom of the Cults by Stanley P. Hirshson

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in The Lion of the Lord indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power by D. Michael Quinn

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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U

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

• • Index of claims—
    Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in Under the Banner of Heaven indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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Analysis of articles critical of Mormonism

Summary: FairMormon analyzes and offers a claim-by-claim analysis and response to articles critical of Mormonism.

Jump to Subtopic:

• Response to "Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism", a work by author: Ronald V. Huggins
• Response to "LDS Church Authority and New Plural Marriages, 1890–1904", a work by author D. Michael Quinn
• Response to "Reinventing Lamanite Identity", a work by Brent Lee Metcalfe