Criticism of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Encyclopedia
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been the subject of criticism since it was founded by American religious leader Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1830. Historically, no issue brought greater criticism on the church than that of its practice of plural marriage
, which it officially abandoned
in 1890. Since then, criticisms have focused on claims of historical revisionism, homophobia, racism, sexist policies, and inadequate financial disclosure.
, Eber D. Howe, and Thomas C. Sharp
. Notable 20th-century critics of the LDS Church include Jerald and Sandra Tanner
, Richard Abanes
, Richard and Joan Ostling
, and Fawn M. Brodie
. In recent years, the Internet has provided a new forum for critics, and the church's 2008 support of California's Proposition 8
sparked heated debate and protesting by gay-rights organizations. Affirmation
is a group of former members of the LDS Church which criticize the church's policies on homosexuality. Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
is a Christian organization which has criticized the church's theology. The Institute for Religious Research
is an organization which has criticized the church, in particular the Book of Abraham
. Numerous other organizations maintain web sites that criticize the church.
Notable apologists
include Hugh Nibley
, B. H. Roberts, the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies
(FARMS), and the Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research
(FAIR).
point out that this reversal of policy occurred as the LDS Church began to expand outside the United States into countries such as Brazil
that have large, ethnically mixed populations and as the church prepared to open a new temple in São Paulo
, Brazil.
again applied for statehood, and this time the federal government did not object to starting the statehood process. Six years later, the process completed and Utah became a state in 1896. The Ostlings also point out that soon after the church suspended the practice of polygamy, the federal government reduced its legal efforts to seize church property.
Mormons Ron Wood and Linda Thatcher do not dispute that the change was a direct result of federal intervention and respond that the church was left with no choice. The 1887 Edmunds–Tucker Act was crippling the church and "something dramatic had to be done to reverse [the] trend." After the church appealed its case to the U.S. Supreme Court and lost
, church president Wilford Woodruff
issued the Manifesto
. Woodruff noted in his journal that he was "acting for the temporal salvation of the Church".
and the Institute for Religious Research
criticize the church for changing the principle asserting that God was once a man, citing changes to the LDS publication Gospel Principles
between the 1978 and 1997 editions, where "We can become Gods like our Heavenly Father" was changed to "We can become like our Heavenly Father" and "[O]ur Heavenly Father became a God" was changed to "[O]ur Heavenly Father became God".
, first wife of Mormon Apostle
Orson Pratt
, in an outspoken critique of Mormon polygamy said that Pratt ended her marriage to husband Orson Pratt
in 1868 because his "obsession with marrying younger women" (at age 57, Orson Pratt
married a sixteen year old girl, his tenth wife, younger than his daughter Celestia). Sarah Pratt lashed out at Orson in an 1877 interview,
The Tanners argue that early church leaders established the practice of polygamy in order to justify behavior that would otherwise be regarded as immoral. The Ostlings criticize Joseph Smith for marrying at least 32 women during his lifetime, including several under the age of 16, a fact acknowledged by Mormon historian Todd Compton
. Compton also acknowledges that Smith entered into polyandrous
marriages (that is, he married women who were already married to other men) and that he warned some potential spouses of eternal damnation if they did not consent to be his wife, and furthermore that, in at least two cases, he married orphan girls that had come to live at his home.
However, Bushman notes that evidence of sexual relations in Smith's plural marriages is sparse or unreliable, and Compton argues that some were likely dynastic
in nature.
, Richard and Joan Ostling
, and D. Michael Quinn
note that after the 1890 Manifesto
, church leaders authorized over 200 polygamous marriages and lied about the continuing practice.
Joseph F. Smith
acknowledged reports that church leaders didn't fully adhere to the 1890 prohibition. After the Second Manifesto
in 1904, anyone entering into a new plural marriage was excommunicated.
's teachings that God and Adam are the same being. One apostle, Franklin D. Richards, also accepted the doctrine as taught by Young, stating in a Conference held in June 1854 that "the Prophet and Apostle Brigham has declared it, and that it is the word of the Lord" (emphasis in original). However, at the time of its first introduction, several leaders disagreed with the doctrine, including Apostle Orson Pratt
, who expressed that disagreement publicly. The church never formally adopted the doctrine, and has since officially repudiated it.
introduced the doctrine known as "blood atonement", regarding unpardonable sin, or sin for which Jesus Christ's atonement does not apply. He taught that a person could only atone for such sins by giving up his or her life. Various church leaders since Young have taught likewise. Bruce R. McConkie
stated that "this doctrine can only operate in a day when there is no separation of church and state
and when the power to take life is vested in the ruling theocracy
as was the case in the day of Moses
."
, weddings
, and proxy baptism for the dead
.
, and Hugh F. Pyle claim that the LDS's policy on temple admission is unreasonable, noting that even relatives cannot attend a temple marriage unless they are members of the church in good standing. The Ostlings, the Institute for Religious Research and Jerald and Sandra Tanner
claim that the admission rules are unreasonable because admission to the temple requires that a church member must first declare that they pay their full tithe
before they can enter a temple. The Mormonism Research Ministry calls this "coerced tithing" because church members that do not pay the full tithe cannot enter the temple, and thus cannot receive the ordinances required to receive the highest order of exaltation in the next life.
are performed in temples. Critics challenge this doctrine and the manner in which the church puts it into practice.
claim that verses to support Baptism for the Dead are not justified by contextual exegesis
of the Bible
. In 2008 The Vatican
issued a statement calling the practice "erroneous" and directing its dioceses to keep parish records from Mormons performing genealogical research
.
survivors and other Jewish groups criticized the LDS Church in 1995, after discovering that the church had baptized more than 300,000 Jewish holocaust victims. After that criticism, church leaders put a policy in place to stop the practice, with an exception for baptisms specifically requested or approved by victims' relatives. Jewish organizations again criticized the church in 2002, 2004, and 2008 claiming that the church failed to honor the 1995 agreement. The LDS Church claims it has put institutional safeguards in place to avoid the submission of the names of Holocaust victims not related to Mormon members, but that the sheer number of names submitted makes policing the database of names impractical.
allege that Joseph Smith copied parts of the Mormon temple endowment
ceremony from Masonic rituals (such as secret handshakes, clothing, and passwords), and that this undermines the church's claim that the rituals were divinely inspired. The Tanners also point to the fact that Joseph Smith was himself a Freemason
prior to introducing the endowment rituals into Mormonism.
ceremony over the years, claiming revisions were made to obscure provocative practices of the early church.
The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research
acknowledges changes to the endowment ceremony and points out that (according to Joseph Fielding Smith
) Joseph Smith told Brigham Young the ceremony was "not arranged perfectly", and challenged him to organize and systemize it, which Young continued to do throughout his presidency.
. The church has not disclosed its assets in the U.S. since 1959. This has drawn criticism from the Ostlings and the Tanners, who consider its financial practices to be overly secretive.
The church does disclose financials in the United Kingdom
, where it is required to by law. In addition, the church employs an independent audit
department that provides its certification at each annual general conference that church contributions are collected and spent in accordance with church policy. Moreover, the church engages a public accounting firm (currently Deloitte & Touche
in the United States; PricewaterhouseCoopers
in the United Kingdom) to perform annual audits of its not-for-profit, for-profit, and educational entities.
It should be noted that lay leaders at the local level are not paid.
than a spiritual endeavor.
project will provide access to Smith's journals.
and biographer Fawn M. Brodie
. They further claim that the church suppresses intellectual freedom, citing the 1993 excommunication of "The September Six
", including gay LDS historian D. Michael Quinn
, and author Lavina Fielding Anderson
. The Ostlings write that Anderson was the first to reveal the LDS Church keeps files on LDS scholars, documenting questionable activities, and the Ostlings claim that "No other sizable religion in America monitors its followers in this way".
The American Association of University Professors
, since 1998, has put LDS-owned Brigham Young University
on its list of universities that do not allow tenured professors sufficient freedom in teaching and research.
Richard Abanes lists the following as church members excommunicated or censured for views unnaccepable to the church hierarchy:
and the Ostlings criticize the LDS Church for maintaining a group called the Strengthening Church Members Committee
, led by two church apostles. According to the Ostlings, the purpose of this committee is to collect and file "letters to the editor, other writings, quotes in the media, and public activities" of church members that may be publishing views contrary to those of the church leadership.
when compared to the original manuscripts from which it is drawn, "more than 62,000 words" can be identified that were either added or deleted,. Based on this analysis, Jerald and Sandra Tanner
contend that the church distorts its history in order to portray itself in a more favorable light. Specifically they allege that there was a systematic removal of events that portray Joseph Smith in a negative light.
D. Michael Quinn
responded to these charges by pointing out that methods by B. H. Roberts used in creating History of the Church—while flawed by today's standards—were not uncommon practices in the nineteenth century, even by reputable historians.
Jerald and Sandra Tanner
cite the selective use of Brigham Young's statements, presented in a manner to give the illusion that he was in favor of blacks joining the priesthood. The Tanners also claim that the church attempted to discredit evidence that Joseph Smith was arrested, tried, and found guilty by a justice of the peace in Bainbridge, New York, in 1826. They highlight changes such as the title page of the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon that described Joseph Smith as "Author and Proprietor" of the book, which was revised in subsequent editions to be "Translator", and the description of Oliver Cowdery's skill at using the divining rod found in the 1829 edition of the Book of Commandments, which does not appear in the corresponding section of the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants.
FARMS
responds to the "author and proprietor" charge by arguing this title conformed to the governing copyright
laws in 1830.
The Ostlings consider other omissions to be distortion, noting that the widely distributed church manual Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young omits any mention of Young's polygamy, and that the book's chronological summary of Young's life includes the date of his first marriage, the date of the first wife's death, and the date of the second legal marriage, but omits mention of Young's dozens of other marriages.
In 1842, Willard Richards
compiled a number of records in order to produce a history of the church. Among the records examined were the various accounts related to Zelph
. In the process of combining the accounts, Richards crossed out Woodruff's references to "hill Cumorah," and Heber C. Kimball's reference to the "last" great struggle with the Lamanites"
LDS historian D. Michael Quinn accuses LDS leaders of urging historians to hide "controversies and difficulties of the Mormon past". Mormon scholar Allen Robers says LDS leaders "attempt to control depictions of the Mormon past". Non-LDS professor John Hallwas of Western Illinois University says of LDS historians: "[they] do not mention Mormon intimidation, deception, repression, theft, and violence, or any other matters that might call into question the sacred nature of the Mormon experience."
Columbia University
professor Richard Bushman
, a member of The Joseph Smith Papers
advisory board, responds to critics that those on the project "work on the assumption that the closer you get to Joseph Smith in the sources, the stronger he will appear, rather than the reverse, as is so often assumed by critics."
In 1969, the Western History Association
published Jewish historian
Moses Rischin
's observation of a new trend among Mormons historians to report objectively. Quinn cites this as the origin of the term "New Mormon history
", while citing previous efforts towards objectivity such as Juanita Brooks’ 1950 publication of "The Mountain Meadows Massacre
" by Stanford University Press
.
(FARMS). FARMS is a research institute within church-owned Brigham Young University
that publishes Mormon scholarship. Critic Matthew Paulsen faults FARMS for limiting peer review to members of the LDS Church. He claims that FARMS's primary goal is to defend the LDS faith rather than to promote truthful scholarship. Molecular biologist Simon Southerton
, a former LDS bishop and author of Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church said, "I was amazed at the lengths that FARMS went to in order to prop up faith in the Book of Mormon. I felt that the only way I could be satisfied with FARMS explanations was to stop thinking.... The explanations of the FARMS researchers stretched the bounds of credibility to breaking point on almost every critical issue".
FARMS supports and sponsors what it considers to be 'faithful scholarship', which includes academic study and research in support of Christianity
and Mormonism
, and in particular, where possible, the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Critic and ex-Mormon
Steve Benson (grandson of Ezra Taft Benson
) quoted church apostle Neal A. Maxwell
as telling him that "one of the purposes of F.A.R.M.S. was to prevent the General Authorities from being outflanked by the Church's critics."
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
, which it officially abandoned
1890 Manifesto
The "1890 Manifesto", sometimes simply called "The Manifesto", is a statement which officially disavowed the continuing practice of plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
in 1890. Since then, criticisms have focused on claims of historical revisionism, homophobia, racism, sexist policies, and inadequate financial disclosure.
Critics
Many people have been critical of the LDS Church and Mormonism. Notable early critics of Mormonism included Abner ColeAbner Cole
Abner Cole , also known by his pen name Obadiah Dogberry, Esq., was a 19th-century American newspaper editor. He is notable as one of the earliest critics of the spiritual claims of Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, having commented on the "Golden Bible" before it was...
, Eber D. Howe, and Thomas C. Sharp
Thomas C. Sharp
Thomas Coke Sharp was a prominent opponent of Joseph Smith, Jr. and the Latter Day Saints in Illinois in the 1840s. Sharp promoted his anti-Mormon views largely through the Warsaw Signal newspaper, of which he was the owner, editor, and publisher...
. Notable 20th-century critics of the LDS Church include Jerald and Sandra Tanner
Jerald and Sandra Tanner
Jerald Dee Tanner was an American writer and researcher who, with his wife Sandra McGee Tanner spent nearly fifty years annotating and publishing archival and evidential materials which, the Tanners claim, accurately portrayed the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
, Richard Abanes
Richard Abanes
Richard Abanes , known as Richie Abanes in connection to his work as a professional singer, dancer, and actor—is a bestselling and award-winning American writer. As an author/journalist, Abanes specializes in the area of socio-religious issues, cults, the occult, world religions, the entertainment...
, Richard and Joan Ostling
Richard and Joan Ostling
Richard Ostling is an American author and journalist living in Ridgewood, New Jersey. He and his wife, the late Joan K. Ostling, are the co-authors of Mormon America: The Power and the Promise. They have two children, Margaret and Elizabeth. Elizabeth plays flute in the Boston Symphony...
, and Fawn M. Brodie
Fawn M. Brodie
Fawn McKay Brodie was a biographer and professor of history at UCLA, best known for Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History, a work of psychobiography, and No Man Knows My History, an early and still influential non-hagiographic biography of Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint...
. In recent years, the Internet has provided a new forum for critics, and the church's 2008 support of California's Proposition 8
California Proposition 8 (2008)
Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
sparked heated debate and protesting by gay-rights organizations. Affirmation
Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons
Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons is an international organization for gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, and intersex people who identify as members or ex-members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
is a group of former members of the LDS Church which criticize the church's policies on homosexuality. Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
The Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry is an Evangelical Christian apologetics ministry founded in 1995. The proprietor of the website is Matt Slick. The organization's materials may be accessed on the Internet, through its website at www.carm.org. The ministry is registered as a 5013...
is a Christian organization which has criticized the church's theology. The Institute for Religious Research
Institute for Religious Research
The Institute for Religious Research is a United States Christian apologetics organization based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It declares itself to be a non-denominational, non-profit Christian foundation for the study of religious claims, and was formerly known as Gospel Truths Ministries...
is an organization which has criticized the church, in particular the Book of Abraham
Book of Abraham
The Book of Abraham is a 1835 work by Joseph Smith, Jr. that he said was based on Egyptian papyri purchased from a traveling mummy exhibition. According to Smith, the book was "a translation of some ancient records....purporting to be the writings of Abraham, while he was in Egypt, called the Book...
. Numerous other organizations maintain web sites that criticize the church.
Notable apologists
Apologetics
Apologetics is the discipline of defending a position through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is the discipline of defending a position (often religious) through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers...
include Hugh Nibley
Hugh Nibley
Hugh Winder Nibley was an American author, Mormon apologist, and professor at Brigham Young University...
, B. H. Roberts, the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies
Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies
The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies is an informal collaboration of academics devoted to Latter-day Saint historical scholarship. The group is formally part of the Neal A...
(FARMS), and the Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research
Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research
The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research is a non-profit organization that specializes in Mormon apologetics and responds to criticism of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . FAIR is made up of volunteers who seek to answer questions submitted to its web site...
(FAIR).
Priesthood policy
The Tanners claim that the church's 1978 policy allowing all worthy male members, which included blacks, to hold the priesthood was not divinely inspired as the church claimed, but simply a matter of convenience. Richard and Joan OstlingRichard and Joan Ostling
Richard Ostling is an American author and journalist living in Ridgewood, New Jersey. He and his wife, the late Joan K. Ostling, are the co-authors of Mormon America: The Power and the Promise. They have two children, Margaret and Elizabeth. Elizabeth plays flute in the Boston Symphony...
point out that this reversal of policy occurred as the LDS Church began to expand outside the United States into countries such as Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
that have large, ethnically mixed populations and as the church prepared to open a new temple in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, Brazil.
Polygamy discontinued in 1890
The Tanners argue that the church's 1890 reversal of its policy on polygamy was done for political, not divine, reasons, citing the fact that it happened in the midst of a lengthy battle with the federal government over property seizures and statehood. The Ostlings further point to the fact that soon after the church received the revelation that polygamy was prohibited, UtahUtah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
again applied for statehood, and this time the federal government did not object to starting the statehood process. Six years later, the process completed and Utah became a state in 1896. The Ostlings also point out that soon after the church suspended the practice of polygamy, the federal government reduced its legal efforts to seize church property.
Mormons Ron Wood and Linda Thatcher do not dispute that the change was a direct result of federal intervention and respond that the church was left with no choice. The 1887 Edmunds–Tucker Act was crippling the church and "something dramatic had to be done to reverse [the] trend." After the church appealed its case to the U.S. Supreme Court and lost
The Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints v. United States
The Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. United States, was a Supreme Court case that upheld the Edmunds-Tucker Act on May 19, 1890...
, church president Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff, Sr. was the fourth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1889 until his death...
issued the Manifesto
1890 Manifesto
The "1890 Manifesto", sometimes simply called "The Manifesto", is a statement which officially disavowed the continuing practice of plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
. Woodruff noted in his journal that he was "acting for the temporal salvation of the Church".
God was once a man
Critics such as Richard AbanesRichard Abanes
Richard Abanes , known as Richie Abanes in connection to his work as a professional singer, dancer, and actor—is a bestselling and award-winning American writer. As an author/journalist, Abanes specializes in the area of socio-religious issues, cults, the occult, world religions, the entertainment...
and the Institute for Religious Research
Institute for Religious Research
The Institute for Religious Research is a United States Christian apologetics organization based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It declares itself to be a non-denominational, non-profit Christian foundation for the study of religious claims, and was formerly known as Gospel Truths Ministries...
criticize the church for changing the principle asserting that God was once a man, citing changes to the LDS publication Gospel Principles
Gospel Principles
Gospel Principles is a book that sets out some of the basic doctrines and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . The book is published by the LDS Church and is provided to its members as a personal study guide and as a church lesson manual.-History:Gospel Principles was...
between the 1978 and 1997 editions, where "We can become Gods like our Heavenly Father" was changed to "We can become like our Heavenly Father" and "[O]ur Heavenly Father became a God" was changed to "[O]ur Heavenly Father became God".
Polygamy used to justify immoral behavior
Sarah PrattSarah Marinda Bates Pratt
Sarah Marinda Bates Pratt was the first wife of Mormon Apostle and polygamist Orson Pratt and a later a critic of Mormon polygamy. She was a founder of the Anti-Polygamy Society in Salt Lake City and called herself a Mormon apostate...
, first wife of Mormon Apostle
Quorum of the Twelve
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve was one of the governing bodies of the church hierarchy organized by the movement's founder Joseph Smith, Jr., and patterned after the twelve apostles of Christ In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve (also known as the...
Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt, Sr. was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles...
, in an outspoken critique of Mormon polygamy said that Pratt ended her marriage to husband Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt, Sr. was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles...
in 1868 because his "obsession with marrying younger women" (at age 57, Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt, Sr. was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles...
married a sixteen year old girl, his tenth wife, younger than his daughter Celestia). Sarah Pratt lashed out at Orson in an 1877 interview,
The Tanners argue that early church leaders established the practice of polygamy in order to justify behavior that would otherwise be regarded as immoral. The Ostlings criticize Joseph Smith for marrying at least 32 women during his lifetime, including several under the age of 16, a fact acknowledged by Mormon historian Todd Compton
Todd Compton
Todd Merlin Compton is an American historian in the fields of Mormon history and Classics.- Biographical background :Compton is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who lived for a number of years in Santa Monica, California. He has served an LDS mission to Ireland...
. Compton also acknowledges that Smith entered into polyandrous
Polyandry
Polyandry refers to a form of marriage in which a woman has two or more husbands at the same time. The form of polyandry in which a woman is married to two or more brothers is known as "fraternal polyandry", and it is believed by many anthropologists to be the most frequently encountered...
marriages (that is, he married women who were already married to other men) and that he warned some potential spouses of eternal damnation if they did not consent to be his wife, and furthermore that, in at least two cases, he married orphan girls that had come to live at his home.
However, Bushman notes that evidence of sexual relations in Smith's plural marriages is sparse or unreliable, and Compton argues that some were likely dynastic
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
in nature.
Polygamy after 1890
Richard AbanesRichard Abanes
Richard Abanes , known as Richie Abanes in connection to his work as a professional singer, dancer, and actor—is a bestselling and award-winning American writer. As an author/journalist, Abanes specializes in the area of socio-religious issues, cults, the occult, world religions, the entertainment...
, Richard and Joan Ostling
Richard and Joan Ostling
Richard Ostling is an American author and journalist living in Ridgewood, New Jersey. He and his wife, the late Joan K. Ostling, are the co-authors of Mormon America: The Power and the Promise. They have two children, Margaret and Elizabeth. Elizabeth plays flute in the Boston Symphony...
, and D. Michael Quinn
D. Michael Quinn
Dennis Michael Quinn is a historian who has focused on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a professor at Brigham Young University from 1976 until his resignation in 1988. At the time, his work concerned church involvement with plural marriage after the 1890 Manifesto, in which...
note that after the 1890 Manifesto
1890 Manifesto
The "1890 Manifesto", sometimes simply called "The Manifesto", is a statement which officially disavowed the continuing practice of plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
, church leaders authorized over 200 polygamous marriages and lied about the continuing practice.
Joseph F. Smith
Joseph F. Smith
Joseph Fielding Smith, Sr. was the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
acknowledged reports that church leaders didn't fully adhere to the 1890 prohibition. After the Second Manifesto
Second Manifesto
The "Second Manifesto" was a 1904 declaration made by Joseph F. Smith, the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , in which Smith stated the church was no longer sanctioning marriages that violated the laws of the land and set down the principle that those entering into or...
in 1904, anyone entering into a new plural marriage was excommunicated.
Adam and God are the same
The Ostlings criticize Brigham YoungBrigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
's teachings that God and Adam are the same being. One apostle, Franklin D. Richards, also accepted the doctrine as taught by Young, stating in a Conference held in June 1854 that "the Prophet and Apostle Brigham has declared it, and that it is the word of the Lord" (emphasis in original). However, at the time of its first introduction, several leaders disagreed with the doctrine, including Apostle Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt, Sr. was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles...
, who expressed that disagreement publicly. The church never formally adopted the doctrine, and has since officially repudiated it.
Blood atonement
Brigham YoungBrigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
introduced the doctrine known as "blood atonement", regarding unpardonable sin, or sin for which Jesus Christ's atonement does not apply. He taught that a person could only atone for such sins by giving up his or her life. Various church leaders since Young have taught likewise. Bruce R. McConkie
Bruce R. McConkie
Bruce Redd McConkie was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1972 until his death...
stated that "this doctrine can only operate in a day when there is no separation of church and state
Separation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
and when the power to take life is vested in the ruling theocracy
Theocracy
Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion....
as was the case in the day of Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
."
Criticism of temple ceremonies
Critics find fault with the church's temple policies and ceremonies, which include an endowment ceremonyEndowment (Latter Day Saints)
In the theology of the Latter Day Saint movement, an endowment refers to a gift of "power from on high", typically associated with Latter Day Saint temples. The purpose and meaning of the endowment varied during the life of movement founder Joseph Smith, Jr...
, weddings
Celestial marriage
Celestial marriage is a doctrine of Mormonism, particularly The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and branches of Mormon fundamentalism.Within Mormonism, celestial marriage is an ordinance associated with a covenant that always...
, and proxy baptism for the dead
Baptism for the dead
Baptism for the dead, vicarious baptism or proxy baptism is the religious practice of baptizing a living person on behalf of one who is dead, with the living person acting as the deceased person's proxy...
.
Temple admission restricted
Richard and Joan OstlingRichard and Joan Ostling
Richard Ostling is an American author and journalist living in Ridgewood, New Jersey. He and his wife, the late Joan K. Ostling, are the co-authors of Mormon America: The Power and the Promise. They have two children, Margaret and Elizabeth. Elizabeth plays flute in the Boston Symphony...
, and Hugh F. Pyle claim that the LDS's policy on temple admission is unreasonable, noting that even relatives cannot attend a temple marriage unless they are members of the church in good standing. The Ostlings, the Institute for Religious Research and Jerald and Sandra Tanner
Jerald and Sandra Tanner
Jerald Dee Tanner was an American writer and researcher who, with his wife Sandra McGee Tanner spent nearly fifty years annotating and publishing archival and evidential materials which, the Tanners claim, accurately portrayed the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
claim that the admission rules are unreasonable because admission to the temple requires that a church member must first declare that they pay their full tithe
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
before they can enter a temple. The Mormonism Research Ministry calls this "coerced tithing" because church members that do not pay the full tithe cannot enter the temple, and thus cannot receive the ordinances required to receive the highest order of exaltation in the next life.
Baptism for the dead
The church teaches that a living person, acting as proxy, can be baptized by immersion on behalf of a deceased person, citing 1 Corinthians 15:29; Malachi 4:5–6; John 5:25; and 1 Peter 4:6 for doctrinal support. These baptisms for the deadBaptism for the dead
Baptism for the dead, vicarious baptism or proxy baptism is the religious practice of baptizing a living person on behalf of one who is dead, with the living person acting as the deceased person's proxy...
are performed in temples. Critics challenge this doctrine and the manner in which the church puts it into practice.
Doctrinal criticism
Floyd C. McElveen and the Institute for Religious ResearchInstitute for Religious Research
The Institute for Religious Research is a United States Christian apologetics organization based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It declares itself to be a non-denominational, non-profit Christian foundation for the study of religious claims, and was formerly known as Gospel Truths Ministries...
claim that verses to support Baptism for the Dead are not justified by contextual exegesis
Exegesis
Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used...
of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. In 2008 The Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
issued a statement calling the practice "erroneous" and directing its dioceses to keep parish records from Mormons performing genealogical research
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
.
Baptism of Holocaust victims
HolocaustThe Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
survivors and other Jewish groups criticized the LDS Church in 1995, after discovering that the church had baptized more than 300,000 Jewish holocaust victims. After that criticism, church leaders put a policy in place to stop the practice, with an exception for baptisms specifically requested or approved by victims' relatives. Jewish organizations again criticized the church in 2002, 2004, and 2008 claiming that the church failed to honor the 1995 agreement. The LDS Church claims it has put institutional safeguards in place to avoid the submission of the names of Holocaust victims not related to Mormon members, but that the sheer number of names submitted makes policing the database of names impractical.
Endowment ceremony allegedly copied
Jerald and Sandra TannerJerald and Sandra Tanner
Jerald Dee Tanner was an American writer and researcher who, with his wife Sandra McGee Tanner spent nearly fifty years annotating and publishing archival and evidential materials which, the Tanners claim, accurately portrayed the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
allege that Joseph Smith copied parts of the Mormon temple endowment
Endowment (Latter Day Saints)
In the theology of the Latter Day Saint movement, an endowment refers to a gift of "power from on high", typically associated with Latter Day Saint temples. The purpose and meaning of the endowment varied during the life of movement founder Joseph Smith, Jr...
ceremony from Masonic rituals (such as secret handshakes, clothing, and passwords), and that this undermines the church's claim that the rituals were divinely inspired. The Tanners also point to the fact that Joseph Smith was himself a Freemason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
prior to introducing the endowment rituals into Mormonism.
Endowment ceremony changed
The Tanners criticize the church's revision of the temple endowmentEndowment (Latter Day Saints)
In the theology of the Latter Day Saint movement, an endowment refers to a gift of "power from on high", typically associated with Latter Day Saint temples. The purpose and meaning of the endowment varied during the life of movement founder Joseph Smith, Jr...
ceremony over the years, claiming revisions were made to obscure provocative practices of the early church.
The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research
Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research
The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research is a non-profit organization that specializes in Mormon apologetics and responds to criticism of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . FAIR is made up of volunteers who seek to answer questions submitted to its web site...
acknowledges changes to the endowment ceremony and points out that (according to Joseph Fielding Smith
Joseph Fielding Smith
Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr. was the tenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1970 until his death. He was the son of Joseph F. Smith, who was the sixth president of the LDS Church...
) Joseph Smith told Brigham Young the ceremony was "not arranged perfectly", and challenged him to organize and systemize it, which Young continued to do throughout his presidency.
Financial secrecy
The church has often been secretive about its finances, especially in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The church has not disclosed its assets in the U.S. since 1959. This has drawn criticism from the Ostlings and the Tanners, who consider its financial practices to be overly secretive.
The church does disclose financials in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where it is required to by law. In addition, the church employs an independent audit
Audit
The general definition of an audit is an evaluation of a person, organization, system, process, enterprise, project or product. The term most commonly refers to audits in accounting, but similar concepts also exist in project management, quality management, and energy conservation.- Accounting...
department that provides its certification at each annual general conference that church contributions are collected and spent in accordance with church policy. Moreover, the church engages a public accounting firm (currently Deloitte & Touche
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited , commonly referred to as Deloitte, is one of the Big Four accountancy firms along with PricewaterhouseCoopers , Ernst & Young, and KPMG....
in the United States; PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest professional services firm measured by revenues and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms....
in the United Kingdom) to perform annual audits of its not-for-profit, for-profit, and educational entities.
It should be noted that lay leaders at the local level are not paid.
Emphasis on money
The Tanners and the Ostlings accuse the church of being overly greedy and materialistic, citing the large amount of wealth accumulated by the church, and citing the strong emphasis on tithing, and suggest that the church is more like a businessBusiness
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
than a spiritual endeavor.
Access to historical documents
The Tanners claim that throughout the 20th century the church denied scholars access to many key church documents, and in 1979 claimed that to date it had refused to publish Joseph Smith's diary. Apologists point out that The Joseph Smith PapersThe Joseph Smith Papers
The Joseph Smith Papers is a project researching, collecting, and publishing all manuscripts and documents created by, or under the direction of, Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. The documents will be published with transcriptions and annotations online and in...
project will provide access to Smith's journals.
Criticism of response to internal dissent
The Ostlings claim that the LDS Church retaliates against members that publish information that undermines church policies, citing excommunications of scientist Simon SouthertonSimon Southerton
Simon Southerton is an Australian plant geneticist. Southerton published the book Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church. The book uses genetic evidence to examine the historical accuracy of The Book of Mormon. The book received heavy criticism from members of The...
and biographer Fawn M. Brodie
Fawn M. Brodie
Fawn McKay Brodie was a biographer and professor of history at UCLA, best known for Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History, a work of psychobiography, and No Man Knows My History, an early and still influential non-hagiographic biography of Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint...
. They further claim that the church suppresses intellectual freedom, citing the 1993 excommunication of "The September Six
September Six
The September Six were six members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who were excommunicated or disfellowshipped by the LDS Church in September 1993 for speaking against Church doctrine and leadership. The term "September Six" was coined by The Salt Lake Tribune and the term was...
", including gay LDS historian D. Michael Quinn
D. Michael Quinn
Dennis Michael Quinn is a historian who has focused on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a professor at Brigham Young University from 1976 until his resignation in 1988. At the time, his work concerned church involvement with plural marriage after the 1890 Manifesto, in which...
, and author Lavina Fielding Anderson
Lavina Fielding Anderson
Lavina Fielding Anderson is a Latter Day Saint scholar, writer, editor, and feminist. Anderson holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington...
. The Ostlings write that Anderson was the first to reveal the LDS Church keeps files on LDS scholars, documenting questionable activities, and the Ostlings claim that "No other sizable religion in America monitors its followers in this way".
The American Association of University Professors
American Association of University Professors
The American Association of University Professors is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership is about 47,000, with over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations...
, since 1998, has put LDS-owned Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
on its list of universities that do not allow tenured professors sufficient freedom in teaching and research.
Richard Abanes lists the following as church members excommunicated or censured for views unnaccepable to the church hierarchy:
- Journalist Deborah LaakeDeborah LaakeDeborah Laake was a columnist at the Dallas Morning News in the 1980s and later a staff writer, columnist, editor, and executive at the Phoenix New Times...
, for her book Secret Ceremonies: A Mormon Woman's Intimate Diary of Marriage and BeyondSecret Ceremonies: A Mormon Woman's Intimate Diary of Marriage and BeyondSecret Ceremonies: A Mormon Woman's Intimate Diary of Marriage and Beyond is a 1993 autobiographical book written by American journalist and columnist Deborah Laake.-Description:... - BYU English teacher Cecilia Konchar-Farr, for her views on abortion laws
- Writer Janice Merrill Allred
- English Professor Gail Houston
- Anthropologist David Knowlton
Church monitors members' critical publications
Richard AbanesRichard Abanes
Richard Abanes , known as Richie Abanes in connection to his work as a professional singer, dancer, and actor—is a bestselling and award-winning American writer. As an author/journalist, Abanes specializes in the area of socio-religious issues, cults, the occult, world religions, the entertainment...
and the Ostlings criticize the LDS Church for maintaining a group called the Strengthening Church Members Committee
Strengthening Church Members Committee
The Strengthening Church Members Committee is a committee of general authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who monitor the publications of church members for possible criticism of local and general leaders of the church...
, led by two church apostles. According to the Ostlings, the purpose of this committee is to collect and file "letters to the editor, other writings, quotes in the media, and public activities" of church members that may be publishing views contrary to those of the church leadership.
Alleged distortion of its own history
An analysis of B. H. Roberts' work History of the ChurchHistory of the Church
History of the Church is a semi-official history of the early Latter Day Saint movement during the lifetime of founder Joseph...
when compared to the original manuscripts from which it is drawn, "more than 62,000 words" can be identified that were either added or deleted,. Based on this analysis, Jerald and Sandra Tanner
Jerald and Sandra Tanner
Jerald Dee Tanner was an American writer and researcher who, with his wife Sandra McGee Tanner spent nearly fifty years annotating and publishing archival and evidential materials which, the Tanners claim, accurately portrayed the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
contend that the church distorts its history in order to portray itself in a more favorable light. Specifically they allege that there was a systematic removal of events that portray Joseph Smith in a negative light.
D. Michael Quinn
D. Michael Quinn
Dennis Michael Quinn is a historian who has focused on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a professor at Brigham Young University from 1976 until his resignation in 1988. At the time, his work concerned church involvement with plural marriage after the 1890 Manifesto, in which...
responded to these charges by pointing out that methods by B. H. Roberts used in creating History of the Church—while flawed by today's standards—were not uncommon practices in the nineteenth century, even by reputable historians.
Jerald and Sandra Tanner
Jerald and Sandra Tanner
Jerald Dee Tanner was an American writer and researcher who, with his wife Sandra McGee Tanner spent nearly fifty years annotating and publishing archival and evidential materials which, the Tanners claim, accurately portrayed the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
cite the selective use of Brigham Young's statements, presented in a manner to give the illusion that he was in favor of blacks joining the priesthood. The Tanners also claim that the church attempted to discredit evidence that Joseph Smith was arrested, tried, and found guilty by a justice of the peace in Bainbridge, New York, in 1826. They highlight changes such as the title page of the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon that described Joseph Smith as "Author and Proprietor" of the book, which was revised in subsequent editions to be "Translator", and the description of Oliver Cowdery's skill at using the divining rod found in the 1829 edition of the Book of Commandments, which does not appear in the corresponding section of the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants.
FARMS
Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies
The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies is an informal collaboration of academics devoted to Latter-day Saint historical scholarship. The group is formally part of the Neal A...
responds to the "author and proprietor" charge by arguing this title conformed to the governing copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
laws in 1830.
The Ostlings consider other omissions to be distortion, noting that the widely distributed church manual Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young omits any mention of Young's polygamy, and that the book's chronological summary of Young's life includes the date of his first marriage, the date of the first wife's death, and the date of the second legal marriage, but omits mention of Young's dozens of other marriages.
In 1842, Willard Richards
Willard Richards
Willard Richards was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served as Second Counselor in the First Presidency to church president Brigham Young in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death.Willard Richards was born in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, to...
compiled a number of records in order to produce a history of the church. Among the records examined were the various accounts related to Zelph
Zelph
Zelph is a minor figure in Mormon history. In May and June 1834 Joseph Smith led a Mormon group on a march from Kirtland, Ohio to Jackson County, Missouri. On June 3, while passing through southern Illinois near Griggsville, some bones were discovered buried in a mound...
. In the process of combining the accounts, Richards crossed out Woodruff's references to "hill Cumorah," and Heber C. Kimball's reference to the "last" great struggle with the Lamanites"
LDS historian D. Michael Quinn accuses LDS leaders of urging historians to hide "controversies and difficulties of the Mormon past". Mormon scholar Allen Robers says LDS leaders "attempt to control depictions of the Mormon past". Non-LDS professor John Hallwas of Western Illinois University says of LDS historians: "[they] do not mention Mormon intimidation, deception, repression, theft, and violence, or any other matters that might call into question the sacred nature of the Mormon experience."
Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
professor Richard Bushman
Richard Bushman
Richard Lyman Bushman is an American historian and Gouverneur Morris Professor of History emeritus at Columbia University. He is currently the Howard W. Hunter Visiting Professor in Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University...
, a member of The Joseph Smith Papers
The Joseph Smith Papers
The Joseph Smith Papers is a project researching, collecting, and publishing all manuscripts and documents created by, or under the direction of, Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. The documents will be published with transcriptions and annotations online and in...
advisory board, responds to critics that those on the project "work on the assumption that the closer you get to Joseph Smith in the sources, the stronger he will appear, rather than the reverse, as is so often assumed by critics."
In 1969, the Western History Association
Western History Association
The Western History Association was organized in 1961 at Santa Fe, New Mexico, to "promote the study of the North American West in its varied aspects and broadest sense." Included in the field of study are the American West and western Canada. The Western History Association is headquartered at...
published Jewish historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
Moses Rischin
Moses Rischin
Moses Rischin is a United States Jewish historian, author, lecturer, editor, and Emeritus Professor of History at San Francisco State University. He coined the phrase New Mormon History in a 1969 article of the same name. Rischin is from New York City. His undergraduate studies were at Brooklyn...
's observation of a new trend among Mormons historians to report objectively. Quinn cites this as the origin of the term "New Mormon history
New Mormon history
New Mormon history refers to a style of reporting the history of Mormonism by both Mormon and non-Mormon scholars which departs from earlier more polemical styles of history...
", while citing previous efforts towards objectivity such as Juanita Brooks’ 1950 publication of "The Mountain Meadows Massacre
Mountain Meadows massacre
The Mountain Meadows massacre was a series of attacks on the Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train, at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah. The attacks culminated on September 11, 1857 in the mass slaughter of the emigrant party by the Iron County district of the Utah Territorial Militia and some local...
" by Stanford University Press
Stanford University Press
The Stanford University Press is the publishing house of Stanford University. In 1892, an independent publishing company was established at the university. The first use of the name "Stanford University Press" in a book's imprinting occurred in 1895...
.
FARMS scholarship questioned
Critics claim the LDS Church is academically dishonest, because it supports biased research conducted by the church-owned Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon StudiesFoundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies
The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies is an informal collaboration of academics devoted to Latter-day Saint historical scholarship. The group is formally part of the Neal A...
(FARMS). FARMS is a research institute within church-owned Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
that publishes Mormon scholarship. Critic Matthew Paulsen faults FARMS for limiting peer review to members of the LDS Church. He claims that FARMS's primary goal is to defend the LDS faith rather than to promote truthful scholarship. Molecular biologist Simon Southerton
Simon Southerton
Simon Southerton is an Australian plant geneticist. Southerton published the book Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church. The book uses genetic evidence to examine the historical accuracy of The Book of Mormon. The book received heavy criticism from members of The...
, a former LDS bishop and author of Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church said, "I was amazed at the lengths that FARMS went to in order to prop up faith in the Book of Mormon. I felt that the only way I could be satisfied with FARMS explanations was to stop thinking.... The explanations of the FARMS researchers stretched the bounds of credibility to breaking point on almost every critical issue".
FARMS supports and sponsors what it considers to be 'faithful scholarship', which includes academic study and research in support of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and Mormonism
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
, and in particular, where possible, the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Critic and ex-Mormon
Ex-Mormon
Ex-Mormon refers to a disaffiliate of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or any of its schismatic breakoffs, collectively called "Mormonism". Ex-Mormons, sometimes referred to as Exmo, typically neither believe in nor affiliate with the LDS church. In contrast, Jack Mormons may believe...
Steve Benson (grandson of Ezra Taft Benson
Ezra Taft Benson
Ezra Taft Benson was the thirteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985 until his death and was United States Secretary of Agriculture for both terms of the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower.-Biography:Born on a farm in Whitney, Idaho, Benson was the oldest of...
) quoted church apostle Neal A. Maxwell
Neal A. Maxwell
Neal Ash Maxwell was an apostle and a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1981 until his death.-Life:...
as telling him that "one of the purposes of F.A.R.M.S. was to prevent the General Authorities from being outflanked by the Church's critics."