Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church/Introduction

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Contents

Response to claims made in "Introduction"


A work by author: Dr. Simon G. Southerton
 Chapter 1

xiii

The author(s) of Losing a Lost Tribe make(s) the following claim:

* The Book of Mormon talks primarily of a small group of Jews who sailed from Jerusalem in 600 B.C.

Author's sources: *No specific verse given. This is an incorrect statement.—

FAIR's Response

Fact checking results: This claim is false

Lehi was a descendant of Manasseh, and was not a Jew, however, author later makes the correct statement regarding Lehi's ancestry on page 5. The author makes the same error, however on p. 188. This is our first hint that the author's familiarity with the necessary detail in the Book of Mormon is not adequate.
The work repeats itself on p. xiii and 188.

xiii

The author(s) of Losing a Lost Tribe make(s) the following claim:

* Mormons believe that the dark skinned race constitutes the principal ancestors of the American Indians

Author's sources: * [ATTENTION!]

FAIR's Response

xiv

The author(s) of Losing a Lost Tribe make(s) the following claim:

* Joseph Smith claimed that the Book of Mormon was the most correct book on earth.

Author's sources: *No source given.
  • The common source for this statement is History of The Church 4:461

FAIR's Response

xiv

The author(s) of Losing a Lost Tribe make(s) the following claim:

* The Israelites are said to have arrived in a land kept from the knowledge of other nations.

Author's sources: *2 Nephi 1꞉8

FAIR's Response

xiv

The author(s) of Losing a Lost Tribe make(s) the following claim:

* There is no mention of any non-Israelite people in the New World.

Author's sources: *None given.

FAIR's Response

xiv

The author(s) of Losing a Lost Tribe make(s) the following claim:

* The Book of Mormon describes the farming of Old World domesticated plants.

Author's sources: *None given.

FAIR's Response

xiv

The author(s) of Losing a Lost Tribe make(s) the following claim:

* The Book of Mormon mentions horse, oxen, cattle and goats in the New World.

Author's sources: *None given.

FAIR's Response

xv

The author(s) of Losing a Lost Tribe make(s) the following claim:

* Little has been discovered to support the civilizations described in the Book of Mormon.

Author's sources: *No specific sources.
  • General reference to "anthropologists and archaeologists."

FAIR's Response

xv

The author(s) of Losing a Lost Tribe make(s) the following claim:

* The Mesoamerican cultures worshipped multiple gods and performed human sacrifice, which is not consistent with the culture of the Book of Mormon people.

Author's sources: * None given

FAIR's Response

xv

The author(s) of Losing a Lost Tribe make(s) the following claim:

* Many LDS scholars criticize mainstream scientific views in their defense of the Book of Mormon.

Author's sources: * None given

FAIR's Response

xv

The author(s) of Losing a Lost Tribe make(s) the following claim:

* The Church employs academics to professionally defend the Book of Mormon.

Author's sources: *None given.
  • This is an accusation frequently made on anti-Mormon discussion boards.

FAIR's Response

xv

The author(s) of Losing a Lost Tribe make(s) the following claim:

* The weight of evidence has forced LDS scholars to scale back the scope of the Book of Mormon.

Author's sources: *None given.

FAIR's Response

xvi

The author(s) of Losing a Lost Tribe make(s) the following claim:

* LDS leaders ignore LDS scholarship and continue to teach that Native Americans and Polynesians are literal descendants of the Israelites.

Author's sources: * None given

FAIR's Response

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