Specific works/Jerald and Sandra Tanner

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Notes

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, Dialogue

FAIR Wiki articles

These wiki articles address claims made by this author.

Discussions in New York

Summary: Book of Mormon authorship theories: discussions in New York

Quote mining and textual distortion in the works of Jerald and Sandra Tanner

Summary: The Tanners are well-known for their practice of selective citation, textual distortion, and omission of context. Some examples are available on this dedicated page.

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Learn more about responses to: Jerald and Sandra Tanner

Wiki links	Jerald and Sandra Tanner Answering Mormon Scholars Answering Mormon Scholars (Vol. 2) Archaeology and the Book of Mormon Covering Up the Black Hole The Changing World of Mormonism — (Index of claims) Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? — (Index of claims)
FAIR links	Barry R. Bickmore, "The Tanners on the Hereafter:A Case Study in 'Studied Ignorance'," FAIR FAIR link Michael R. Ash, "Up In Smoke: A Response to the Tanners' Criticism of the Word of Wisdom," FAIR Conference, 2000. off-site Mike Ash, "Up In Smoke: A Response To the Tanners’ Criticism of the Word of Wisdom," Proceedings of the 2000 FAIR Conference (August 2000). link Danel Bachman, "Mormonism—Shadow or Reality?: History or Propaganda? Joseph Smith as a Case Study," Proceedings of the 2000 FAIR Conference (August 2000). link Daniel C. Peterson, "'Easier than Research, More Inflammatory than Truth'," Proceedings of the 2000 FAIR Conference (August 2000). link Robert Vukich, "An Incident Concerning Page 81 of 'Mormonism—Shadow or Reality?'," Proceedings of the 2000 FAIR Conference (August 2000). link
Online	Lawrence Foster, Dialogue<ref>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. Todd Compton's response to Jerald and Sandra Tanners' Review of In Sacred Loneliness off-site Allen Wyatt, "Largely Shadow, Short of Reality," Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 59/6 (17 November 2023). [135–158] link Tom Nibley, "A Look at Jerald and Sandra Tanner's Covering Up the Black Hole in the Book of Mormon," Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 5/1 (1993). [273–289] link L. Ara Norwood, "Review of Covering Up the Black Hole in the Book of Mormon by Jerald and Sandra Tanner," Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 3/1 (1991). [158–169] link Matthew Roper, "'A Black Hole That's Not So Black (Review of Answering Mormon Scholars: A Response to Criticism of the Book, vol. 1 by Jerald and Sandra Tanner)'," Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 6/2 (1994). [156–203] link John A. Tvedtnes and Matthew Roper, "Joseph Smith's Use of the Apocrypha: Shadow or Reality? (Review of Joseph Smith's Use of the Apocrypha by Jerald and Sandra Tanner)," FARMS Review 8/2 (1996). [326–372] link Matthew Roper, "Review of Covering Up the Black Hole in the Book of Mormon by Jerald and Sandra Tanner," Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 3/1 (1991). [170–187] link Matthew P. Roper, "Review of Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? by Jerald and Sandra Tanner," Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 4/1 (1992). [169–215] link Matthew Roper, "Unanswered Mormon Scholars (Review of Answering Mormon Scholars: A Response to Criticism Raised by Mormon Defenders)," FARMS Review 9/1 (1997). [87–145] link John A. Tvedtnes, "'Review of Answering Mormon Scholars: A Response to Criticism of the Book, vol. 1 by Jerald and Sandra Tanner,'," Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 6/2 (1994). [204–249] link John A. Tvedtnes, "Review of Covering Up the Black Hole in the Book of Mormon by Jerald and Sandra Tanner," Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 3/1 (1991). [188–230] link
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