Criticism of Mormonism/Books

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Contents

Analysis of books critical of Mormonism

A

American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows by Sally Denton

    • Index of claims—
      Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows (Click here for full article)
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An Insider's View of Mormon Origins by Grant Palmer

Summary: In Insider's View of Mormon Origins was developed during a period of time that its author worked as a teacher in the Church Educational System (CES), and was published after the author's retirement from Church employment. The book attempts to explain many otherwise clearly described events of the restoration by reinterpreting them as spiritual rather than physical events.

Answering Mormon Scholars by Jerald and Sandra Tanner

Answering Mormon Scholars (Vol. 2) by Jerald and Sandra Tanner

Archaeology and the Book of Mormon by Jerald and Sandra Tanner

B

Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism by Richard Abanes

Summary: This book could best be described as an Evangelical apologetic work against Mormonism. The book spends much time refuting LDS interpretation of scriptural passages in the Bible, often claiming that Mormons have misinterpreted the scriptures and that they require "deeper study." In fact, it is claimed that LDS scholars have only a superficial knowledge of the scriptures, at one time stating that "[p]roperly interpreting them is not as simple as reading today's newspaper"
    • Index of claims—
      Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
      ∗       ∗       ∗
    • Use of sources—
      Brief Summary: An examination and response to how the author of Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism interprets the sources used to support this work, indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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Inside Today's Mormonism by Richard Abanes

Summary: This book is a 2007 re-issue of Becoming Gods.

Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows by Will Bagley

    • Index of claims—
      Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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    • Use of sources—
      Brief Summary: An examination and response to how the author of Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows interprets the sources used to support this work, indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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    • Omissions—
      Brief Summary: A listing of notable events which were omitted or not acknowledged by the author of Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows. (Click here for full article)
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By His Own Hand upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri by Charles Larson

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C

Covering Up the Black Hole in the Book of Mormon by Jerald and Sandra Tanner

D

Decker's Complete Handbook on Mormonism by Ed Decker

Do Christians Believe in Three Gods by RBC Ministries

E

Early Mormonism and the Magic World View by D. Michael Quinn

F

From Captain Kidd's Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism by Ronald V. Huggins

I

In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith by Todd Compton

L

"LDS Church Authority and New Plural Marriages, 1890–1904" by D. Michael Quinn

Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church by Simon G. Southerton

M

Mormon Enigma by Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery

Mormonism 101 by McKeever & Johnson

Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? by Jerald and Sandra Tanner

Mormonism Unvailed by Eber D. Howe

Mormon America: The Power and the Promise by Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling

N

Nauvoo Polygamy: "... but we called it celestial marriage" by George D. Smith

    • Index of claims—
      Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in Nauvoo Polygamy: "... but we called it celestial marriage" indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
      ∗       ∗       ∗
    • Use of sources—
      Brief Summary: An examination and response to how the author of Nauvoo Polygamy: "... but we called it celestial marriage" interprets the sources used to support this work, indexed by page number. (Click here for full article)
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    • Prejudicial language—
      Brief Summary: An examination of how the author employs loaded and prejudicial language in this work in order to discredit Mormonism. (Click here for full article)
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    • Presentism—
      Brief Summary: “Presentism” is an analytical fallacy in which past behavior is evaluated by modern standards or mores. We examine some of our favorite examples of this fallacy in Nauvoo Polygamy: "... but we called it celestial marriage". (Click here for full article)
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    • Mind reading—
      Brief Summary: The author often attempts to interpret what Joseph was thinking as a way to lead the reader to a predetermined conclusion regarding Joseph Smith. (Click here for full article)
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    • Censorship—
      Brief Summary: The author claims that the Church deliberately hid or obscured information. We examine those claims in this section. (Click here for full article)
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    • Romance—
      Brief Summary: We point out some instances in which the author pursues his quest to show that Joseph was "romantic" with his plural wives. (Click here for full article)
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    • Assumptions (Click here for full article)
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    • Magick—
      Brief Summary: The author, following the lead of D. Michael Quinn, emphasizes "magick" in Joseph's early life. (Click here for full article)
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No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith by Fawn McKay Brodie

O

One Nation Under Gods by Richard Abanes

Summary: In early 2002 a new book entitled One Nation under Gods (ONUG) appeared on bookshelves, promising to tell the "real" history of the Mormon Church. The author attempts to pull disparate sources together to paint a picture that, when compared to objective reality, more closely resembles a Picasso than a Rembrandt—skewed and distorted—obscuring and maligning the actual doctrines and beliefs as understood and practiced by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than 150 years.

R

Reinventing Lamanite Identity by Brent L. Metcalfe

S

Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example by D. Michael Quinn

    • Index of claims—
      Brief Summary: Responses to specific critical or unsupported claims made in Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example. (Click here for full article)
      ∗       ∗       ∗

Studies of the Book of Mormon by B.H. Roberts

Summary: The content of this book is not written by a critic, but its purpose and audience are often misrepresented by critics in an effort to make it appear that Roberts lost his testimony of the Book of Mormon.

T

The "Book of Lehi" by Christopher Nemelka

Summary: The author claims to have been commanded to translate the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon, as well as the lost 116 pages. As part of his 'prophetic call,' the author produced what he claims is a translation of the lost 116 pages, or "Book of Lehi." This portion of Mormon's abridgement (from Lehi to King Benjamin, roughly) was lost by Martin Harris after the manuscript was loaned to him by Joseph Smith.

The Changing World of Mormonism by Jerald and Sandra Tanner

The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism by Norman L. Geisler

The God Makers by Ed Decker

The Kingdom of the Cults by "Dr." Walter Martin

The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power by D. Michael Quinn

The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn

U

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer


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