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Revision as of 22:40, 9 June 2017
Response to The Changing World of Mormonism
A FAIR Analysis of: 'The Changing World of Mormonism' A work by author: Jerald and Sandra Tanner
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The Changing World of Mormonism by Jerald and Sandra Tanner
This is an index of claims made in this work with links to corresponding responses within the FairMormon Answers Wiki.
Chapter 1
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 1: A Marvelous Work?" (1–27)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 21 - Joseph Smith stated that the final battle in the Book of Mormon was fought in New York
- Response to claim: 21 - Brigham Young stated that there was a cave in the Hill Cumorah that was full of records
- Response to claim: 22 - Joseph Smith found a seer stone while digging a well
- Response to claim: 22 - LeGrand Richards claimed that Mormons do not have to rely on the Bible
- Response to claim: 22 - Mormon leaders taught that the Garden of Eden was located in Jackson County
- Response to claim: 22 - A remnant of Adam's altar remained in Missouri
- Response to claim: 23 - Joseph Smith described the inhabitants of the moon
- Response to claim: 25 - Brigham Young taught that the moon and sun were inhabited
- Response to claim: 27 - Orson Pratt preached against the Catholic Church
- Response to claim: 27 - John Taylor taught that "we are the saviors of the world"
- Response to claim: 27 - Joseph Fielding Smith taught that Mormons are "the best people in the world"
- Response to claim: 27 - Brigham Young claimed that every person that does not confess that Joseph Smith was a prophet is "anti-Christ"
- Response to claim: 27 - Joseph Fielding Smith taught that there is no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith
Chapter 2
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 2: Change, Censorship and Suppression" (28–37)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 29 - John Taylor said that we are not ashamed of polygamy
- Response to claim: 29 - Brigham Young said that the only men who become gods are those who enter into polygamy
- Response to claim: 29 - Bruce R. McConkie said that plural marriage is not essential to salvation or exaltation
- Response to claim: 31 - Joseph Smith drank beer despite having received the Word of Wisdom
- Response to claim: 33 - Joseph encouraged others to break the Word of Wisdom by drinking whiskey
- Response to claim: 33 - Joseph asked for a pipe and tobacco to settle Willard Richards' stomach
- Response to claim: 34 - Brigham Young ordered the destruction of Lucy Mack Smith's history Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith published by Orson Pratt in 1853
Chapter 3
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 3: Changes in Revelations" (38-63)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 38 - "Mormon writers" have "admitted" that revelations have been modified after they have been received
- Response to claim: 39 - John A. Widtsoe said that the revelations "have remained unchanged. There has been no tampering with God's word"
- Response to claim: 41-42 - David Whitmer said that the revelations in the Book of Commandments were printed correctly and didn't need to be modified later
- Response to claim: 42 - David Whitmer objected to changing the revelations
- Response to claim: 43 - D&C 68 was changed from its original printing in the Evening and Morning Star
- Response to claim: 45 - It is claimed that Joseph Smith was not supposed to do any translating beyond the Book of Mormon, as shown in Book of Commandments 4:2, which was changed in D&C 5:4
- Response to claim: 52 - The name "Urim and Thummim" was added to the revelations later
- Response to claim: 59 - The United Order was simply a form of Communism
- Response to claim: 59 - The United Order was claimed to have actually been Sidney Rigdon's idea
- Response to claim: 62 - a section on marriage that was removed from the D&C
- Response to claim: 62 - The Lectures on Faith were removed from the D&C
- Response to claim: 62 - It is claimed that few LDS writers will "admit" to changes made in the D&C
- Response to claim: 63 - The name "Michael" was deleted from Joseph Smith's vision of the Celestial Kingdom because Adam is Michael
Chapter 4
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 4: Joseph Smith and Money-Digging" (64–89)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 67-70 - Joseph Smith was convicted of "glass looking" in 1826
- Response to claim: 72 - Hugh Nibley is claimed to have said that "...if this court record is authentic it is the most damning evidence in existence against Joseph Smith"
- Response to claim: 75 - Joseph Smith was "deeply involved in money-digging"
- Response to claim: 79 - Joseph said that the angel told him to "quit the company of the money-diggers"
- Response to claim: 80 - The author proposed that Joseph fastened two of his seer stones together to make his "Urim and Thummim"
- Response to claim: 80 - Joseph's father-in-law Isaac Hale claimed that Joseph's occupation was "pretending to see by means of a stone placed in his hat"
- Response to claim: 82 - Joseph Fielding Smith "admitted" that the "seer stone" was sometimes called the Urim and Thummim
- Response to claim: 83 - Mormon apologists have difficulty explaining Joseph's use of seer stones
- Response to claim: 84 - The plates didn't even have to be present while Joseph was translating
- Response to claim: 84 - Joseph Smith originally wanted to obtain the plates in order to get rich, and he was rebuked by the angel
- Response to claim: 85 - The authors say that Brigham Young claimed that a chest of money "moved by itself" into the bank
- Response to claim: 86 - Joseph is claimed to have attempted to "cover up" Oliver Cowdery's alleged work with a divining rod by changing a revelation
- Response to claim: 87 - Joseph went to Salem, Massachusetts to look for money hidden in a cellar
- Response to claim: 89 - Joseph Smith is claimed to have had a "Jupiter Talisman" in his possession at the time of his death
- Chapter 5—
Brief Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 5: The Book of Mormon" (90–144) (Click here for full article)∗ ∗ ∗
Chapter 6
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 6: The First Vision" (145–171)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 149 - Oliver Cowdery's 1834 attempt at writing a history of the Church ignored the First Vision
- Response to claim: 149-150 - In 1832, 12 years after the First Vision, Joseph had a revelation that said that a man could not see God without the priesthood
- Response to claim: 150 - There were no references to the First Vision in the 1830s
- Response to claim: 152 - Joseph's 1832 account mentions that he was in the 16th year of his age rather than the 15th
- Response to claim: 154 - The 1832 account only mentions one personage
- Response to claim: 156 - The personages in the 1835 version are not explicitly identified as God the Father and Jesus Christ
- Response to claim: 157 - The 1835 account talks about a visitation of angels instead of the Father and Son
- Response to claim: 159 - Joseph's claim of seeing the Father and the Son was not unique
- Response to claim: 160 - Oliver Cowdery's 1834 history in the Messenger and Advocate did not mention the First Vision
- Response to claim: 162 - "Mormon apologists are beginning to retreat from the idea that God the Father appeared to Joseph Smith"
- Response to claim: 162-163 - The Book of Mormon teaches that there is only one God
- Response to claim: 164 - Brigham Young denied that the Lord came to Joseph Smith in the First Vision
- Response to claim: 164 - John Taylor claimed that an angel appeared during the First Vision
- Response to claim: 164 - George A. Smith claimed that an angel appeared during the First Vision
- Response to claim: 166-171 - There was no revival in the area where Joseph Smith lived in 1820
Chapter 7
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 7: The Godhead" (172-191)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 172 - The Book of Mormon teaches that God is a spirit
- Response to claim: 173 - The Book of Moses says that God created the earth, but the Book of Abraham says that "the Gods" created the earth
- Response to claim: 177 - Mormons believe that God is "just an exalted man"
- Response to claim: 178 - There is a "Heavenly Mother"
- Response to claim: 180 - Jesus Christ was conceived through a physical act rather than by the power of the Holy Ghost
- Response to claim: 183 - Four verses in the Book of Mormon were modified in which references to God were changed to refer to the Son of God
- Response to claim: 185 - The Lectures on Faith state that God is a spirit
- Response to claim: 185 - The Lectures on Faith were removed from the Doctrine and Covenants
- Response to claim: 187 - The Book of Mormon teaches that God is "unchangable," but LDS leaders taught otherwise
- Response to claim: 188 - The Lectures on Faith indicate that there are only two personages in the Godhead, and that their mind is the Holy Spirit
- Response to claim: 190 - LDS leaders can't explain why the Holy Ghost should be denied a body since the Father has one
- Response to claim: 190 - The Holy Ghost can't be a God since he doesn't have a body
- Response to claim: 191 - During the First Vision, Joseph learned that the Father and Jesus Christ have bodies of flesh and bones
Chapter 8
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 8: Adam-God Doctrine" (192–204)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 192-193 - Mormons consider the fall of Adam a fortunate event
- Response to claim: 193-195 - Brigham Young preached that Adam was our God
- Response to claim: 196 - Brigham continued to teach Adam-God
- Response to claim: 198-199 - Brigham taught that Adam is the only god that we should worship
- Response to claim: 202 - The Church is therefore inconsistent because it will excommunicate someone for believing something taught by one of its prophets
- Chapter 9—
Brief Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 9: Plural marriage" (205-290) (Click here for full article)∗ ∗ ∗
Chapter 10
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 10: Changing the Anti-Black Doctrine" (291–328)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 291-293 - It was taught that the denial of priesthood to blacks was due to some behavior in the pre-existence
- Response to claim: 294 - Blacks were said to be the descendants of Cain
- Response to claim: 302 - Joseph Smith is said to have endorsed slavery
- Response to claim: 303 - Slavery was accepted in Utah
- Response to claim: 306 - Church leaders defended segregation
- Response to claim: 312-314 - Brigham Young said that blacks would not receive the priesthood until all of Adam's other children received it
Chapter 11
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 11: Fall of the Book of Abraham" (329–364)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 329-330 - Joseph claimed that the papyrus was written by Abraham himself
- Response to claim: 330-331 - Hugh Nibley said that the papyri does not prove the Book of Abraham to be true and the LDS scholars were unprepared
- Response to claim: 335 - Since the translation of the papyri was turned over to Hugh Nibley, this proves that the prophet does not have the ability to translate ancient records
- Response to claim: 336 - Facsimile 1 does not show Abraham fastened to an altar being sacrificed, but instead shows Hor being prepared for burial
- Response to claim: 337 - LDS leaders were unable to detect the Hofmann forgeries
- Response to claim: 339 - "Mormon elder" Dee Jay Nelson, who claimed to be an Egyptologist, translated the papyri but was unable to find any mention of Abraham
- Response to claim: 342 - Joseph Smith translated a "large number of English words" from each Egyptian character
- Response to claim: 343 - Joseph used four lines from the papyrus to generate 49 verses in the Book of Abraham
- Response to claim: 351 - The papyri have been dated to a much later time than Abraham, therefore they could not have been written by Abraham's "own hand on papyrus"
- Response to claim: 358-361 - In Facsimile #1, the penciled-in restoration is incorrect
Chapter 12
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 12: Mormon Scriptures and the Bible" (365–397)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 365 - The Bible has secondary status in the Mormon Church
- Response to claim: 365 - Joseph Smith taught that the Bible contains errors
- Response to claim: 365 - Thomas Paine's book The Age of Reason influenced early Church leaders to criticize the Bible
- Response to claim: 366-367 - Orson Pratt attacked the accuracy of the Bible
- Response to claim: 368 - A phrase concerning baptism was later added to the Book of Mormon quotation of Isaiah 48:1, quoted in 1 Nephi 20:1
- Response to claim: 371-373 - The authors suggest that the Dead Sea Scrolls "present serious problems" for the Book of Mormon and the Joseph Smith "Inspired Version" of the Bible
- Response to claim: 378-379 - LDS leaders claimed that "Catholics conspired to alter the Bible," but this is proven wrong by the Dead Sea Scrolls
- Response to claim: 383 - The "Inspired Version" of the Bible has been a "source of much embarrassment" for leaders of the Church
- Response to claim: 383 - The Church would never allow the Inspired Version of the Bible to be printed
- Response to claim: 385 - The contents of the "Inspired Version" of the Bible contradict doctrines taught by the Mormon church
- Response to claim: 385-386 - Joseph Fielding Smith said that the "Inspired Version" was never completed, yet Joseph Smith stated that he completed the translation of the Bible
- Response to claim: 393 - Joseph's "Inspired Version" of the Bible does not restore any of the "lost books" of the Bible
Chapter 13
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 13: Changes in Joseph Smith's History" (398–415)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 398 - Mormon leaders claim that "Joseph Smith's" 'History of the Church' is the "most accurate history in all the world"
- Response to claim: 400-401 - The History of the Church was not written by Joseph Smith himself
- Response to claim: 403-404 - Much of the History of the Church was completed after Joseph Smith's death. This means that Joseph Smith's history is not "authentic"
- Response to claim: 405 - The "Rocky Mountain prophecy" was added to the history of the Church sometime after the original was written
- Response to claim: 408 - The angel that gave Joseph Smith the plates was originally identified as "Nephi" rather than "Moroni." History of the Church changed it to "Moroni"
- Response to claim: 415 - Most of Joseph Smith's history was written by his scribes and modified to read as if it were written in the first person, therefore this history must be a forgery
Chapter 14
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 14: False Prophecy" (416–424)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 417 - Joseph Smith gave many false prophecies
- Response to claim: 417 - Joseph Smith received a false revelation to go to Canada and sell the Book of Mormon copyright
- Response to claim: 418-419 - In 1835 Joseph Smith prophesied that the Lord would come in "fifty-six years," or when Joseph was 85 years old
- Response to claim: 420-421 - Joseph prophesied that a temple in Missouri would be built "in this generation"
- Response to claim: 424 - Joseph's "Civil War prophecy" could have been deduced from the news at the time
Chapter 15
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 15: The Arm of Flesh" (425–441)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 431-439 - There has been no new revelation since the time of Joseph Smith
- Response to claim: 431 - The Church teaches that you must let the leaders do your thinking for you
- Response to claim: 433 - Joseph F. Smith said that he never received revelation
- Response to claim: 434 - The Church chose to canonize two "new" revelations in order to counter claims made by the Tanners
- Response to claim: 435 - The Church has never produced a copy of the revelation granting Blacks the ability to receive the priesthood
- Response to claim: 437 - Brigham Young claimed that his sermons were the same as scripture
Chapter 16
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 16: Mountain Meadows Aftermath" (442–446)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 442 - The concept of "priesthood" was added later to the Church and was a creation of Sidney Rigdon
- Response to claim: 443 - Revelations on the restoration of the priesthood are not present in the Book of Commandments
- Response to claim: 443-444 - The Aaronic priesthood was abolished at that death of Christ
- Response to claim: 445 - The date of the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood is not known and the record of the event was added later
- Response to claim: 445-446 - The idea of the Melchizedek Priesthood and ordaining men to be High Priests came from Sidney Rigdon
Chapter 17
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 17: Joseph Smith" (447-464)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 448 - No man can enter the Celestial Kingdom without Joseph Smith's consent
- Response to claim: 448 - Joseph Smith would be looked upon as a god
- Response to claim: 450 - Church members elevate Joseph Smith almost to the level of Jesus Christ
- Response to claim: 451-452 - Joseph Smith liked to fight
- Response to claim: 452-454 - Joseph Smith liked military trappings and titles
- Response to claim: 456-457 - Joseph Smith was ordained "King on earth" by the Council of Fifty
- Response to claim: 458 - Joseph Smith ran for president because he thought that he could win and rule as king over the United States
- Response to claim: 460 - Joseph Smith felt that he was "almost equal with God" and that God was his "right hand man"
- Response to claim: 460 - Joseph boasted that he was the only one who kept a whole church together
- Response to claim: 462-463 - Response to claim: The destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor was illegal
- Response to claim: 465 - Joseph fought his attackers at Carthage using a six-shooter
Chapter 18
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 18: Word of Wisdom" (465-483)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 468 - The admonition not to eat meat is mostly ignored by the Church
- Response to claim: 469-470 - Joseph Fielding Smith said that drinking tea can bar a person from the Celestial Kingdom
- Response to claim: 470 - Joseph sometimes drank wine
- Response to claim: 471 - Joseph Smith asked "Brother Markam" to get "a pipe and some tobacco" for Apostle Willard Richards
- Response to claim: 471 - Joseph wrote in his diary that he had tea with breakfast
- Response to claim: 471 - Joseph prophesied that he would drink wine with Orson Hyde in the east
- Response to claim: 472 - George A. Smith reported that some church members left the church after finding that their leaders drank tea and coffee
- Response to claim: 472 - Almon W. Babbitt was brought to church trial for breaking the Word of Wisdom, but he said that he was following Joseph's example
- Response to claim: 472-473 - Joseph Smith sold liquor in Nauvoo
- Response to claim: 474 - Brigham Young broke the Word of Wisdom by taking "snuff and tea"
- Response to claim: 474 - Brigham Young told Church members to "make beer as a drink" and sponsored a bar in Salt Lake City
- Response to claim: 475 - Brigham built a whiskey distillery
Chapter 19
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 19: Old Testament Practices" (484-488)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 484 - The Book of Mormon teaches that you should bless those that curse you, but the D&C says that you should curse your enemies
- Response to claim: 484-485 - Cursing of enemies was carried out in the Kirtland Temple
- Response to claim: 485 - George A. Smith prayed that the Lord would kill the mob
- Response to claim: 486 - Heber C. Kimball cursed the President of the United States
- Response to claim: 488 - Joseph Smith taught animal sacrifice
Chapter 20
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 20: Blood Atonement" (490-501)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 490 - Heber C. Kimball claimed that the apostles killed Judas
- Response to claim: 490-491 - Brigham Young advocated blood atonement
- Response to claim: 491-492 - Jedediah Grant advocated blood atonement
- Response to claim: 493 - Murder was worthy of death
- Response to claim: 493 - Adultery and immorality were worthy of death
- Response to claim: 493 - Brigham Young said that he would put a javelin through the heart of an adulterous woman
- Response to claim: 496 - Stealing was worthy of death
- Response to claim: 496 - Using the name of the Lord in vain was worthy of death
- Response to claim: 496 - Not receiving the Gospel was worthy of death
- Response to claim: 496 - Marrying an African was worthy of death
- Response to claim: 498 - Breaking covenants was worthy of death
- Response to claim: 498-499 - Apostasy was worthy of death
- Response to claim: 500 - Lying was worthy of death
- Response to claim: 500 - Counterfeiting was worthy of death
- Response to claim: 500 - Condemning Joseph Smith was worthy of death
- Response to claim: 501-503 - Blood atonement was "put into practice" in Utah
- Response to claim: 501 - Modern church leaders have confirmed the principle but denied the practice of blood atonement
Chapter 21
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 21: The Hereafter" (502-510)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 506 - LDS leaders teach the "endless punishement" won't last forever
- Response to claim: 506 - Joseph Smith's later teachings regarding endless punishment contradict the Book of Mormon
- Response to claim: 507 - Brigham Young taught that there would be no women in hell
- Response to claim: 507 - LDS leaders teach that "very few" will become "sons of perdition"
- Response to claim: 508 - The idea of "spirit prison" as an opportunity for the dead to be taught and receive the gospel contradicts the Book of Mormon
- Response to claim: 510 - The concept of three degrees of glory is not consistent with the Book of Mormon
Chapter 22
Summary: Response to claims made in "Chapter 22: Temple Work" (511-547)Jump to Subtopic:
- Response to claim: 512 - Early Mormon leaders were "very confused" about baptism for the dead
- Response to claim: 514 - Baptism for the dead was not a doctrine in the early church
- Response to claim: 515 - Wilford Woodruff "felt he had saved" all of the presidents of the United States, except for three
- Response to claim: 515-516 - The Mormons spend millions of dollars on genealogical research that would be better spent feeding the starving people in the world
- Response to claim: 517 - Mormons are very similar to ancient Egyptians regarding their attitude toward the dead
- Response to claim: 517 - The Mormon "obsession with the dead" is close to "ancestral worship"
- Response to claim: 517-518 - Paul said to avoid "endless genealogies"
- Response to claim: 518 - The Book of Mormon is supposed to contain "the fulness of the Gospel," yet it doesn't teach baptism for the dead
- Response to claim: 520 - Jesus "taught the opposite" of eternal marriage when he said that people "neither marry, nor are given in marriage" in the afterlife
- Response to claim: 530-534 - The endowment has been changed over the years
- Response to claim: 535-547 - The endowment was derived from Freemasonry
About this work
The Tanners seem to be playing a skillful shell game in which the premises for judgment are conveniently shifted so that the conclusion is always the same—negative.
— Lawrence Foster, "Career Apostates: Reflections on the Works of Jerald and Sandra Tanner," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 17 no. 2 (Summer 1984), 49.
— Lawrence Foster, "Career Apostates: Reflections on the Works of Jerald and Sandra Tanner," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 17 no. 2 (Summer 1984), 49.