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.
Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/"Questions and Answers" on Mormon Stories
John Dehlin's "Questions and Answers"
Detailed responses by section are found in linked subarticles below
Response to questions regarding the First Vision
Summary: The author states, "I learned that Joseph Smith provided multiple and varying accounts of his first vision story, and that some of these accounts (e.g., his descriptions of the Godhead) seemed to evolve over time to correspond with his own changing beliefs." [1]Response to questions regarding Joseph Smith's practice of polygamy
Summary: The author states, "Joseph Smith married over 30 women, some as young as 14 years old, many of whom were married to other men at the time he married them (i.e., polyandry)." [1]Response to questions regarding Joseph Smith's practice of treasure digging
Summary: The author states, "As a youth and young adult Joseph Smith engaged in folk magic and treasure digging, promoting himself as one who could help others find buried treasure by placing a magic stone in a hat. I am unaware of Joseph ever finding any treasure, though it appears as though Joseph was still able to convince many people that he had special powers." [1]Response to questions regarding Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Mormon
Summary: The author states, "Joseph Smith used this same stone in the hat (from his folk magic days) to produce the Book of Mormon. It is also well-documented that this “translation” process did not involve the golden plates (as we have been taught as Mormons) — which begs the question as to why the plates were needed at all? This, of course, has led me to question whether or not the Book of Mormon is a translation of an ancient record, as the church continues to teach." [1]Response to questions regarding the historicity of the Book of Mormon
Summary: The author states, "A mountain of scientific evidence strongly suggests that the Book of Mormon is a 19th century work of fiction, and not an ancient history of the Native Americans." [1]Response to questions regarding the relationship of Masonry to the temple
Summary: The author states, "Joseph Smith borrowed heavily from the Masonic ritual when he created the LDS temple endowment ceremony." [1]Response to questions regarding the Book of Abraham
Summary: The author states, "The Book of Abraham, which Joseph Smith claimed to have translated from some Egyptian papyrus that he purchased in the early 1830s, has been demonstrated to be a fraud by modern Egyptologists." [1]Response to questions regarding Brigham Young and the priesthood ban
Summary: The author states, "Joseph Smith ordained black men to the LDS priesthood while he was alive, and that it was actually Brigham Young who implemented his restriction of LDS priesthood to black people." [1]Response to questions regarding racism and the Book of Mormon
Summary: The author states, "I began to feel deeply troubled by the racist narrative of the Book of Mormon, which to this day claims that God cursed the Native Americans with dark skin, as a result of their wickedness." [1]Notes