Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Use of sources/Advertising for the Tanners

Chapter 18, Cover-Ups, Conspiracies, and Controversies: Advertising for the Tanners?

The Quote

One Nation under Gods, page 408 (hardback)

Another tactic utilized by Mormon leaders has been to revise Smith's revelations so as to make the church's history more palatable. Some of the most drastic alterations to the authoritative writings--e.g., paragraphs added/deleted, words added/deleted, wording changes to alter a meaning, phrases added/deleted--can be found by comparing sections of Smith's Book of Commandments with the text of the 1835 re-publication of these same revelations as the Doctrine and Covenants (Figure 18.1, 18.2, 18.3). Hundreds of changes were made to these revelations. In response to the discrepancies, famous Mormon scholar Hugh Nibley blithely stated: "Revelations have been revised whenever necessary. That is the nice thing about revelation--it is strictly open-ended."28

The Reference

Endnote 28, page 608

28. Hugh Nibley, letter to Morris L. Reynolds, May 12, 1966. Quoted in Jerald Tanner and Sandra Tanner, Case Against Mormonism (Salt Lake City: ULM, 1967), vol. 1, 132, online at http://www.xmission.com/~country/reason/changes.htm. This three-volume work is available for purchase online from ULM:

The Problems

This is not a citation; it is an advertisement. This kind of thing has no place in the endnotes of any book other than a catalog, much less a volume that claims to be a scholarly historical work.

In what seems to be standard practice, the author lists a primary source for the citation, in this case personal correspondence between Hugh W. Nibley and Morris L. Reynolds, and then he wastes no time calling the reader's attention to at least one, in this case two, secondary sources. Then, he crowns this endnote with what amounts to an advertisement for three books published by ULM, only one of which actually contains the quote he mentions.

There is nothing wrong with his use of personal correspondence as a reference; it's done fairly often. The only drawback for the reader is that it is sometimes difficult to access the original document to check up on the author's sources. However, the author's use of the aforementioned secondary sources cast immediate doubt on whether he actually looked at the original document himself. The author tells the reader that Jerald and Sandra Tanner quote the letter online at http://www.xmission.com/~country/reason/changes.htm. This Internet address yields what is promised, a portion of Case Against Mormonism. If the reader pages down only a little he will indeed find the Nibley quote, couched amongst commentary:

Strange as it may seem, Dr. Hugh Nibley, who at one time wrote that Mormon teachings are "FREE OF REVISIONS," has now written a letter in which he admits that Joseph Smith's revelations have been changed, In this letter he stated:

"1. REVELATIONS HAVE BEEN REVISED WHENEVER NECESSARY. That is the nice thing about revelation--it is strictly open-ended."

(Letter from Dr. Hugh Nibley to Morris L, Reynolds, dated May 12, 1966)

Not only does the author choose the exact quote the Tanners used, but his endnote contains the same typographical error, a comma after the "L" in Morris L. Reynolds' name, as cited by the Tanners on their Web site. There is little doubt that he "borrowed" this quote from this Web site, and that he likely did not view the original document or a copy thereof. In light of this error, it is easy to wonder if the author actually read the quote at all, or if he just cut and pasted it into his book. Such behavior exposes him as a lazy researcher.

Without the entire letter written by Brother Nibley, or a fair portion of it, it is impossible to tell if the author has drawn the quote out of context, or if he merely parrots the Tanners doing so. He doesn't provide enough of the letter to make it possible to connect it to the Book of Commandments revisions, if there is any connection to be made. Was Hugh W. Nibley commenting on the Book of Commandments to Morris L. Reynolds, or is this a quote drawn out of thin air by the Tanners first, and then the author, in a vain effort to prop up an argument? Once again, the author hobbles his own argument by tossing out a disparate quotation that actually does little more than expand the volume of the endnotes section of One Nation under Gods.

In the end, not even figures 18.1, 18.2 and 18.3, which he presents as evidence of some sort of conspiracy by LDS leadership to make the church's history "more palatable," do the job. He presents an argument, but miserably fails to support it. All he has shown is that there were indeed revisions made to the Book of Commandments when it became the Doctrine & Covenants. Big deal. This information is not only easy to find (I got many answers that I needed with a few questions and about an hour of research) but so is a modern printing of the Book of Commandments. One need only visit Church of Christ Temple Lot headquarters in Independence, Missouri, or purchase a reprint of the original version now offered by the Community of Christ and sold through Deseret Books, among other places. There is no conspiracy, no coverup. The cover was blown more than 150 years ago, and somehow the author missed it.