The credits list people associated with the production of the video. There is one section of the
credits, entitled Special Thanks, that lists people who provided commentary on the video.
It may be helpful to those viewing the video to know a little more about some of these people—more
than what you will discover through the video itself. We are sure that the video's producers, who
want people to know more about the "true" Joseph Smith, won't mind if others know more about the
people they have selected as experts on Mormonism.
Individuals are highlighted, below, in alphabetical order.
Marvin Cowan
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Scott Gallatin
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Dennis Higley
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Rauni Higley
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Tim and Karen Howard
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Dave Hunt
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Scott Johnson
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Joel Kramer
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Charles Larson
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Larson is the author of the well-known but deeply flawed anti-Mormon book "By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus": A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri. This book has been reviewed by LDS Egyptologists who hold degrees in the field. One reviewer summed up Larson's work:
- Larson's historical method is as follows: Invent evidence, read minds, attribute motives, misquote sources, argue from circumstantial evidence—or better yet—argue from no evidence....
- If Larson stumbles as a historian, he falls flat on his face as an Egyptologist. He betrays no knowledge of any foreign language, yet offers to guide us through Egyptian, "a unique area of study that is extremely difficult to master."
- —John Gee, "A Tragedy of Errors," p. 99.
The only qualifications listed for Larson at his publisher's web site are "former Mormon and Brigham Young University graduate." If the producers of the video can dismiss trained Egyptologists only because they are Mormon, is it reasonable to likewise dismiss critics like Larson because of his religious beliefs? Or should we add to those critical religious beliefs the fact that he is not trained in Egyptology at all? The producers willingly apply a double standard here.
To read more:
- John Gee, "A Tragedy of Errors (Review of By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri by Charles M. Larson," FARMS Review of Books 4/1 (1992): 93–119. off-site
- Michael D. Rhodes, "The Book of Abraham: Divinely Inspired Scripture (Review of By His Own Hand upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri by Charles M. Larson)," FARMS Review of Books 4/1 (1992): 120–126. off-site
- Reviews of Charles Larson
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Brian Mackert
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John McCartney
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Floyd McElveen
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Roger Oakland
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Phil Roberts
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Sandra Tanner
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Sandra Tanner and her late husband are certainly among the most prolific anti-Mormon authors. However, non-Mormon scholars of LDS issues have noted that the Tanners display a consistent bias in their work:
- [The Tanners] always assume the worst possible motives in assessing the actions of Mormon leaders, even when those leaders faced extremely complex problems with no simple solutions.... Every bit of evidence, even if it could be most plausibly presented in a positive way, is represented as yet another nail in the coffin being prepared for the Mormon Church. There is no spectrum of colors, only blacks and whites, good guys and villains in the Tanners' published writings.... The Tanners have repeatedly assumed a holier-than-thou stance, refusing to be fair in applying the same debate standards of absolute rectitude which they demand of Mormonism to their own actions, writings, and beliefs.
- —Lawrence Foster, "Career Apostates:Reflections on the Works of Jerald and Sandra Tanner," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 17 no. 2 (Summer 1984), 45–46.
Sandra Tanner's research is agenda-driven and unreliable. Sincere seekers of the truth about Latter-day Saint beliefs and history deserve more reliable sources.
To read more:
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Chip Thompson
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John Whitcomb
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