Criticism of Mormonism/Books/An Insider's View of Mormon Origins/Index/Chapter 2
From FAIRMormon
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| Claims made in "Chapter 1: Joseph Smith as Translator/Revelator" | A FAIR Analysis of: An Insider's View of Mormon Origins A work by author: Grant PalmerIndex of claims: Claims made in "Chapter 2: Authorship of the Book of Mormon"
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Claims made in "Chapter 3: The Bible in the Book of Mormon" |
| Note: This is a review of claims and/or responses to misrepresentations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints found in this work. The inclusion of an author's work here does not imply that he or she is "anti-Mormon," or that none of his or her works have value. Those who do not wish to examine the claims contained in what some would consider an "anti-Mormon" work are advised to proceed no further. |
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Claims made in "Chapter 2: Authorship of the Book of Mormon"
[T]he church has encouraged a thorough and impartial examination of the Book of Mormon,
including questions regarding its authorship.
—An Insider's View of Mormon Origins, p. 39
39
Claim
- Author's quote:"...the church has encouraged a 'thorough and impartial examination' of the Book of Mormon, including questions regarding its authorship."
Author's source(s) - Talmage, The Articles of Faith, 273.
- Widtsoe, In Search of Truth: Comments on the Gospel and Modern Thought, 80.
- Quinn, J. Reuben Clark: The Church Years, 24.
- Absurd claimThis is an absurd claim. The Church does not encourage members to question the authorship of the Book of Mormon.
- Book of Mormon authorship theories
40
Claim
- Joseph Smith was intellectually capable of writing the Book of Mormon himself.
Author's source(s) - B.H. Roberts, Brigham D. Madsen (ed.), Studies of the Book of Mormon (Signature Books, 1992), 10, 243, 247, 262-263 ( Index of claims )
40
Claim
- B.H. Roberts is claimed to have wondered if the Book of Mormon stories were just inspirational tales, and questioned whether it was history or the product of a "pious but immature" mind.
Author's source(s) - B.H. Roberts, Brigham D. Madsen (ed.), Studies of the Book of Mormon (Signature Books, 1992), 272-273 ( Index of claims ).
41-42
Claim
- The story of Zelph.
Author's source(s) - History of the Church, ed. B. H. Roberts, 2:79-80.
42
Claim
- Joseph reported that the Kinderhook Plates contained a genealogy back to Ham.
Author's source(s) - B.H. Roberts, Brigham D. Madsen (ed.), Studies of the Book of Mormon (Signature Books, 1992), 243-50 ( Index of claims ).
42
Claim
- Joseph gave many descriptions of heroes and their treasures hidden in the New York hills.
Author's source(s) - B.H. Roberts, Brigham D. Madsen (ed.), Studies of the Book of Mormon (Signature Books, 1992), 243-50 ( Index of claims ).
42
Claim
- B.H. Roberts concluded that Joseph Smith was capable of writing the Book of Mormon.
Author's source(s) - B.H. Roberts, Brigham D. Madsen (ed.), Studies of the Book of Mormon (Signature Books, 1992), 243-50 ( Index of claims ).
46
Claim
- The Book of Mormon reflects evangelical Protestantism.
Author's source(s) - Alexander Campbell, Delusions: An Analysis of the Book of Mormon, 19.
48
Claim
- The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is the source of Alma 19.
Author's source(s) - None cited, however, this section almost precisely matches the analysis shown in Jerald and Sandra Tanner, The Changing World of Mormonism (Moody Press, 1979), 117.( Index of claims ).
48
Claim
- Alma 19 is claimed to have been derived from evangelical conversion experiences common in the 19th century.
Author's source(s) - Author's opinion.
49
Claim
- Author's quote:Joseph said the Book of Mormon was translated "by the gift and power of God," coming "forth out of the treasure of the heart ... thus bringing forth out of the heart, things new and old." The evidence indicates that the Book of Mormon is in fact an amalgamation of ideas that were inspired by Joseph's own environment (new) and themes from the Bible (old).
Author's source(s) - Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate, Vol. 2, No. 3, p. 229.
- From the cited source:
For the work of this example, see the book of Mormon, coming forth out of the treasure of the heart; also the covenants given to the Latter Day Saints: also the translation of the bible: thus bringing forth out of the heart, things new and old: thus answering to three measures of meal, undergoing the purifying touch by a revelation of Jesus Christ, and the ministering of angels... (emphasis added)
- The author neglects to note Joseph's inclusion of covenants and the Bible in his statement in order to strengthen his own conclusion that the Book of Mormon came from Joseph's own heart. It is a stretch to interpret this phrase as some sort of admission by the Prophet that he actually created the Book of Mormon from his own mind and experience.
- Use of sources: Treasures of the heart?
49
Claim
- Alma 32 is claimed to have been derived from Jesus's parable of the sower.
Author's source(s) - No source provided.
49
Claim
- The Book of Mormon was an amalgamation of ideas from Joseph Smith's own environment.
Author's source(s) - Author's opinion.
50-53
Claim
- It is claimed that many Book of Mormon stories are derived from the New Testament.
Author's source(s) - No source provided.
55
Claim
- The decapitation of Laban parallels the story of Judith in the Apocrypha.
Author's source(s) - No source provided.
- Although not attributed, this information matches the claim made by the Tanners in Jerald and Sandra Tanner, The Changing World of Mormonism (Moody Press, 1979), 114.( Index of claims ).
57
Claim
- LDS position is that the Lamanites are the principal ancestors of the American Indians.
Author's source(s) - Book of Mormon, xii, "A Brief Explanation about the Book of Mormon."
57, n38
Claim
- No Hebrew or Egyptian writing or language has been discovered in the New World. The Book of Mormon provides too short a time for the disappearance of the Nephite/Lamanite language.
Author's source(s) - Thomas Stuart Ferguson, "Written Symposium on the Book of Mormon Geography: Response of Thomas S. Ferguson to the Norman and Sorenson Papers," 12 Mar. 1975, printed and updated in Stan Larson, Quest for the Gold Plates: Thomas Stuart Ferguson's Archaeological Search for the Book of Mormon, 175-268
- B.H. Roberts, Brigham D. Madsen (ed.), Studies of the Book of Mormon (Signature Books, 1992), 91-94 ( Index of claims ).
- Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Reformed Egyptian
- Book of Mormon/Anachronisms/Hebrew and Native American languages
- Book of Mormon/Archaeology/Thomas Stuart Ferguson
58, n40
Claim
- B.H. Roberts thought that View of the Hebrews could be a basis for the Book of Mormon. Roberts concluded that there was a great probability that the Smith family read View of the Hebrews.
Author's source(s) - B.H. Roberts, Brigham D. Madsen (ed.), Studies of the Book of Mormon (Signature Books, 1992), 28-29, 151-54 ( Index of claims ).
60
Claim
- Roberts concluded that a copy of View of the Hebrews could have been supplied by Oliver Cowdery.
Author's source(s) - Studies, 27, 151-61.
- "Poultney Church Records," bk. 3, Poultney Vermont, 1793-1828, Poultney Historical Society.
60-64
Claim
- B.H. Roberts' parallels between View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon.
Author's source(s) - B.H. Roberts, Brigham D. Madsen (ed.), Studies of the Book of Mormon (Signature Books, 1992), 240-242 ( Index of claims ).
65-66
Claim
- Joseph Smith received a revelation to send people to Canada to sell the Book of Mormon copyright for $8000. After expenses, the money was to go to the Smith family.
Author's source(s) - Hiram Page to William E. McLellin, 2 Feb. 1848, in RLDS Library Archives.
- Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ, 30-31.
66
Claim
- The writing of the 116 pages served as an "apprenticeship" to learning to write the Book of Mormon.
Author's source(s) - Author's opinion
Further reading
| A FAIR Analysis of Critical Works |
- American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows— (Index of claims)
- An Insider's View of Mormon Origins — (Index of claims—Use of sources)
- Archaeology and the Book of Mormon
- Ashamed of Joseph: Mormon Foundations Crumble
- Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism/Inside Today's Mormonism — (Index of claims—Use of sources)
- Behind the Mask of Mormonism
- Specific works/Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows
- Specific works/By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus
- Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism
- Covering Up the Black Hole in the Book of Mormon
- Decker's Complete Handbook on Mormonism
- Early Mormonism and the Magic World View — (Index of claims—Use of sources)
- Specific works/Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Mormonism
- Faithful History: Essays on Writing Mormon History
- From Captain Kidd's Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism
- In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith — (Index of Claims)
- Indian Origins and the Book of Mormon
- Inventing Mormonism: Tradition and the Historical Record
- Is the Mormon My Brother?
- Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet
- Joseph Smith and the Origins of The Book of Mormon (2nd edition)—(Index of claims)
- Joseph Smith's New York Reputation Reexamined
- The Kingdom of the Cults (Revised) — (Index of claims)
- Leaving the Saints
- Letters to a Mormon Elder
- Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church — (Index of claims)
- Mormon America: The Power and the Promise — (Index of claims)
- The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power — (Index of claims)
- The Mormon Mirage: Seeing Through the Illusion of Mainstream Mormonism
- Mormonism 101—Index of claims
- Mormonism (Kurt Van Gorden)
- Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? — (Index of claims)
- The Mysteries of Godliness—A History of Mormon Temple Worship
- Nauvoo Polygamy — (Index of claims—Use of sources—Prejudicial language—Presentism—Mind reading—Censorship—Romance—Assumptions—Magick)
- New Approaches to the Book of Mormon
- New Mormon Challenge
- No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith — (Index of claims)
- One Nation Under Gods — (Index of claims—Use of Sources—Prejudicial language—Absurd claims—Presentism—Mind reading—Rewording—Omissions—Sarcasm)
- The Refiner's Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644–1844
- Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example — (Index of claims)
- Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess
- The Changing World of Mormonism — (Index of claims)
- Trouble Enough: Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon
- Under the Banner of Heaven — (Index of claims)
- Word of God: Essays on Mormon Scripture
