Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Chapter 9

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Claims made in "Chapter 8: Big Trouble In Little Missouri"
A FAIR Analysis of:
Criticism of Mormonism/Books
A work by author: Richard Abanes
 Claims made in "Chapter 10: A New Beginning"

Claims made in "Chapter 9: March to Martyrdom"

...intellectual reasoning and logical thought never had played more than a minor role in their belief system.
—One Nation Under Gods, p. 172

∗       ∗       ∗
Page Claim Response Author's sources

171 epigraph, 542n1 (HB) 540n1 (PB)
  • Hardback edition:

"I combat the errors of the ages;...I solve mathematical problems of universities, with truth—diamond truth; and God is my 'right hand man.'...[God] will make me be God to you in his stead,...and if you don't like it, you must lump it....I have more to boast of than ever any man had....I boast that no man ever did such a work as I."
Joseph Smith
History of the Church, 1844

  • Paperback edition:

"I combat the errors of the ages;...I solve mathematical problems of universities, with truth—diamond truth; and God is my "right hand man" [1843]. God made Aaron to be the mouth piece for the children of Israel, and He will make me be god to you in His stead [1844]. I have more to boast of than ever any man had....I boast that no man ever did such a work as I [1844]."
Joseph Smith
History of the Church

172

 "...for Joseph, his followers were more than willing to accept any excuse he might give them...intellectual reasoning and logical thought never had played more than a minor role in their belief system."
  • N/A

173

 "[I]n lieu of Jesus Christ, who would reign supreme at his second coming, Smith installed himself as Zion's dictator."
  • N/A

174, n17

 Brigham Young said that Joseph Smith's character "was easily on par with Jesus Christ's."

175, 543n21 (HB)

 Joseph Smith is considered "as important to their spirituality as Jesus Christ." "...the 'grandeur of Joseph Smith's life' was noted as the all-important truth that the world needed to hear. Levi's prayer was that thousands would turn not to God, but to Joseph.'"
  • 21. Levi Edgar Young, letter dated April 14, 1961. Quoted in Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Mormonism—Shadow or Reality?, 5th edition, (Salt Lake City: Utah Lighthouse Ministry, 1987), 252.

175, 541n23

 Brigham Young "twisted" John 4:3 in order to apply it to Joseph.

175, 542n24

 Joseph "undoubtedly suffered from the mental pathology associated with narcissism."
  • Robert D. Anderson, Inside the Mind of Joseph Smith: Psychobiography and the Book of Mormon, xxxix, 222-242.

176

 Hezekiah McKune, Sophia Lewis and Levi Lewis stated that Joseph claimed that he was "nearly equal to" or "as good as" Jesus Christ.

 [needs work]

177, 544n29 (HB)

 Joseph Smith declared: "I am the only man that has been able to keep the whole church together....Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it."

 [needs work] - check source

178, 544n34 (HB)

 Joseph claimed: "I wrestled with William Wall, the most expert wrestler in Ramus, and threw him."

179, 544n36 (HB)

 "Smith fought and boasted again of his strength, saying: 'I feel as strong as a giant....I pulled up with one hand the strongest man that could be found. Then two men tried, but they could not pull me up.'"
  • History of the Church, vol. 5, 466.

178, 542n39

 Jedediah Grant said that "Smith hit the [Baptist] preacher and threw him to the ground so violently that the minister 'whirled round a few times, like a duck shot in the head'" (emphasis added)
  •  The author's claim is false: Use of sources: Joseph hit a baptist preacher
  •  Misrepresentation of source: Note that Joseph challenged the preacher to a wrestling match, which shocked the sanctimonious man—the "duck shot in the head" does not describe the result of a blow, but is a colorful simile describing how shocked the preacher was at Joseph's remark.

181-182

 The commissioned officers in the Nauvoo Legion were "given law-making powers."
  • The author's source is unclear. Some officers in the Legion were also civic lawmakers (e.g., mayor, councilors, alderman, etc.) but it is not clear what lawmaking powers the author is claiming for militia officers as such.
  • No source provided.

182, 542n46

 "In some ways the militia was a resurrection of the Missouri Danites."
  • In what ways? In what ways were they different?
  • The militia was organized with the sanction of the Illinois legislature, the state supplied arms, and its officers received commissions from the state.[2]
  • Hosea Stout, On the Mormon Frontier: The Diary of Hosea Stout, Juanita Brooks, ed., vol. 1, 140-141, 197, 259.

183

 "Where were all those rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence?"
  • One would assume that the author probably meant to say the "Constitution" or the "Bill of Rights."
  • None

186-187, 544n70

 Joseph set up a "shadow-government" called the "Council of Fifty" for the purpose of organizing the "political kingdom of God in preparation for the second coming of Christ."
  • Woodruff, in Kenny, under March 11, 1844, vol. 2, 366.

188, 544n78

 The Council of Fifty made Joseph "King and Ruler over Israel."
  • John Taylor, "A Revelation on the Kingdom of God in the Last Days given through President John Taylor at Salt Lake City," June 27, 1882, reprinted in Fred C. Coliier, ed., Unpublished Revelations, vol. 1, 133.

188

 "Smith no longer had to wait for the result of any kind of earthly presidential election. Mormon leaders already considered him the legitimate, God-ordained ruler over humanity.
  • If this is true, then why did he bother to continue to run for President?
  • Council of Fifty
  • Author's opinion.

189, 545n83

 Latter-day Saints believed that "the only acceptable government would be a global theocracy." Joseph said "It has been the design of Jehovah, from the commencement of the world, and is his purpose now, to regulate the affairs of the world...to stand as head of the universe, and take the reigns of government into his own hands."
  • Joseph Smith, "The Government of God," Times and Seasons 3 no. 18 (July 15, 1842), 856-857. off-site GospeLink

189

 Joseph's "coronation as king of the world."

191

 Joseph "may have commissioned one of his Danites—Orrin Porter Rockwell—to kill Missouri's ex-governor..."
  • Joseph denied the charge (History of the Church 5:15).
  • Rockwell was tried in Missouri and acquitted.[3]
  • Monte B. McLaws, "The Attempted Assassination of Missouri's Ex-Governor, Lilburn W. Boggs," Missouri Historical Review LX (October 1965), 50-62 examined the evidence and found it insufficient to assign blame to anyone.
  • This is the fallacy of probability
  • No source provided.

191

 D&C 98:31 justified the murder of personal enemies.

192, 546n98

 Porter Rockwell admitted that he had tried to kill Boggs.
  • Orrin Porter Rockwell. Quoted in Harold Schindler, Orrin Porter Rockwell, Man of God, Son of Thunder, 80.
  • Richard S. Van Wagoner and Steven C. Walker, A Book of Mormons, 250.

192, 546n99

 Joseph Smith was arrested twice for his alleged role in Boggs' assasination attempt, but "escaped on both occasions."
  •  History unclear or in error
  • In the first instance, Joseph was arrested by Missourians, and then released since he had been served an illegal warrant— it charged that he had fled Missouri after committing the crime, an impossibility.[4]
  • In the second case, Joseph submitted to arrest and the governor, a probate judge, the U.S. District Attorney for Illinois, and the Illinois Supreme Court found that the arrest warrant from Missouri was illegal.[5]
  • Joseph "escaped" through due process of law; in both cases the warrant was illegal; in the second case, it was so declared by the governor and state supreme court.
  • Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language
  • Hallwas and Launius, Cultures in Conflict, 88-89.

192

 "Not until 1841 in Nauvoo...was Smith's seemingly insatiable lust for women and young girls unleashed."
  • Author's opinion.

193

 Joseph Smith advocated polyandry.
  • No source provided.

193

 "[T]he wives continued to live with their husbands after marrying Smith, but would have conjugal visits from Joseph whenever it served his needs."
  • No source provided. Author's opinion.

194, 546n107

 "Heber and Vilate were 'intensely devoted to each other,' apparently a bit too devoted for Smith."

194

 By marrying one "mother/daughter pair (Patty Bartlett and Sylvia Sessions) and three sets of sisters: Delcena and Almera Johnson; Sarah and Maria Lawrence...and Emily and Eliza Partridge," Joseph "blatantly violated God's Old Testament prohibition against marrying either a woman and her mother (Lev. 18:17) or a woman and her sister (Lev. 18:18).
  • The author cannot make up his mind. First, he tells us that there is no Biblical approval or command to practice plural marriage (see p. 305, (PB)). This claim is false, since levirate marriage is commanded by the Bible (Deuteronomy 25:5-6), and laws are given about the proper care of plural wives (Deuteronomy 21:15-17).
  • Now, the author wishes to make Joseph bound by the marital codes of the Law of Moses. There are many other Law of Moses principles which Joseph did not keep either—but, neither does Abanes. A key tenet of Christianity is that the Law of Moses is no longer binding (e.g., Acts 15:20,29).
  • Joseph did not claim to practice plural marriage under biblical authority (Old Testament or otherwise), but on the basis of new revelation. He and his followers used the Old Testament as evidence that God did not always forbid plural marriage, but this is a different matter from believing they were re-enacting the Law of Moses' polygamy on the Bible's authority alone.

195, n117

 "Smith consistently and vehemently denounced polygamy as sinful, maintaining that monogamy was God's perfect design for maritial relationships and that it was the only model of marriage he wanted to see practiced by his followers."
  •  Misrepresentation of source
  • The cited source says nothing about polygamy being "sinful" or stating the "monogamy was God's perfect design for marital relationships."
  • The citation included by the author is a portion of a reprint in the T&S of a letter to the editor written by someone with the initials "H.R." and submitted to the Boston Bee:

We are charged with advocating a plurality of wives, and common property. Now this is as false as the many other ridiculous charges which are brought against us. No sect have a greater reverence for the laws of matrimony, or the rights of private property, and we do what others do not, practice what we preach.

  • Times and Seasons, March 15, 1843, vol. 4, no. 9, 143.

196, 549n119 (HB)
547n119 (PB)

 "Apostates...preached against the evils thriving in Joseph's city of debauchery and despotism."

197, 547n122

 Joseph's "entire plan to rule the world was a risk of being exposed."
  • Clayton, see Robert C. Fillerup, under June 22, 1844, in "Nauvoo Temple History Journal, William Clayton, 1845,".
  • Andrew F. Ehat, "'It Seems Like Heaven Began On Earth': Joseph Smith and the Constitution of the Kingdom of God," Brigham Young University Studies 20 (Spring 1980), 268.

197, 547n124

 The Nauvoo Expositor "lodged serious charges" regarding Joseph's abuse of "numerous women, who after swearing to never divulge what was revealed to them, under penalty of death, were told that they were to become Smith's spiritual wives."
  • Nauvoo Expositor, 2

198

 Joseph Smith decided not to flee to Iowa because of 1) guilt, 2) they wouldn't be safe in Iowa, 3) there was no leadership in Nauvoo and 4) the Nauvoo Legion was divided.
  • No sources provided.

199, 547-548n131-132

 Joseph wrote to Emma that he was "much resigned to my lot," yet he wrote a note to Jonathan Dunham telling him to bring the Nauvoo Legion and "break the jail, and save him at all costs."

199, 548n133

 Dunham never brought the Nauvoo Legion because "[p]erhaps he was secretly dissatisfied with Smith's leadership."
  • No source provided.

199, 548n133

 No man in Nauvoo other than Jonathan Dunham "knew of the prophet's peril."

199

 "A lynch mob of about 250 men with their faces blackened to conceal their identities had descended on the prison..."
  • No mention of the fact that the Carthage Greys, who were supposed to be guarding the prisoners, allowed the mob entry.
  • Notable omissions
  • No citation provided.

199

 Joseph had been "smuggled a six-shooter."
  • No citation provided.

Endnotes

  1. [note] Hugh W. Nibley, Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass: The Art of Telling Tales About Joseph Smith and Brigham Young (Vol. 11 of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by David J. Whittaker, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Company ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), 128. ISBN 0875795161. GL direct link
  2. [note]  James B. Allen and Glen M. Leonard, Story of the Latter-day Saints, 2nd edition revised and enlarged, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1992[1976]), 168–169. ISBN 087579565X. GospeLink
  3. [note]  Richard L. Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Knopf, 2005), 468–469.
  4. [note]  See: Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 volumes, edited by Brigham H. Roberts, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1957), 5:86–87. Volume 5 link Brigham H. Roberts, Comprehensive History of the Church (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1965), 2:150. GospeLink Edwin Brown Firmage and Richard Collin Mangrum, Zion in the Courts : a Legal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1900 (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 97. ISBN 0252069803.
  5. [note]  See: Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 volumes, edited by Brigham H. Roberts, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1957), 5:179, 205–231. 205–231 Volume 5 link Edwin Brown Firmage and Richard Collin Mangrum, Zion in the Courts : a Legal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1900 (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 100. ISBN 0252069803.

Further reading

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