One hundred things you should know about Mormonism (1-10)

The following is a list of things that ex-Mormons wish they would have been exposed to and considered more thoughtfully.

[edit] Kinderhook plates

"The Kinderhook Plates were a set of 6 small, bell-shaped pieces of brass with strange engravings discovered in 1843 in an Indian mound near Kinderhook, Illinois. Designed to appear ancient, the plates were in fact a forgery created by three men in Kinderhook..." [1]

"I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth." (William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843, as cited in Trials of Discipleship - The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon, page 117)

See main page: Kinderhook plates

[edit] Joseph Smith's early reputation for money digging

Joseph Smith showed himself to be a fraud and conman through the practice of money digging. [2] [3]

"[Of significance] are the affadavits and statements made by a number of Smith's neighbors in Palmyra, about Smith's lifestyle in the 1820's. Several neighbors have stated that Joseph Smiths Senior and Junior were both money-diggers, and that Jr. (i.e. the Mormon founder) was particularly good at it and was the head of a group of money-diggers.

"In late 1825 a wealthy Pennsylvania farmer named Josiah Stowell (sometimes spelled Stoal) came 150 miles to hire Smith because of Smith's reputation. Smith was hired to help Stowell locate a supposed old Spanish silver mine on Stowell's farm. During this time two significant things happened. First, Smith met his future wife, Emma Hale, and in later interviews her father explained how he didn't like Joseph Smith when he first met him because Smith was a money-digger, and Mr. Hale didn't want any criminals marrying his daughter! Perhaps even more damaging, however, was the fact that Smith was tried and convicted in court in March 1826 for 'glass-looking'. The charge had been brought up by Stowell's nephew, who saw through the con that his uncle didn't. Mormon historians now acknowledge that this trial happened and that Smith was convicted on this charge." [4]

See main page: Joseph Smith and money-digging

[edit] Joseph Smith's false prophecies

Smith made a number of false prophecies [5]. One example is a prophecy that Christ would return in 1891. (History of the Church, Vol. 2 page 182). Another is:

"Verily, thus saith the Lord: It is wisdom in my servant David W. Patten, that he settle up all his business as soon as he possibly can, and make a disposition of his merchandise, that he may perform a mission unto me next spring, in company with others, even twelve including himself, to testify of my name and bear glad tidings unto the world." (Doctrine & Covenants 114:1)

See main page: False prophecies of Joseph Smith

[edit] Development of First Vision accounts

"Joseph Smith, the founding prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, claimed that as a 14-year-old boy he had a vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ. The official account of this first vision found in Mormon Scripture (Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith — History, 1:14-20) was not recorded by Joseph Smith until 1838, 18 years after the supposed event. However, for years before this, Joseph, and his close associates did talk about his early visionary experiences. These earlier accounts contain significant variations from the official First Vision account." [6]

See main page: First vision accounts

[edit] Archaeology and the Book of Mormon

There is no archaeological evidence that supports the Book of Mormon. [7]

See main page: Book of Mormon

[edit] DNA and the Book of Mormon

DNA evidence has shown that the Native Americans, simply put, are not Lamanites. [8]

See main page: DNA and the Book of Mormon

[edit] Lectures on Faith as canon

"[According to non-apologetic commentators], the Lectures represented official church doctrine in 1835, but that by 1897 or 1921 when the work was decanonized by the major Latter Day Saint denominations, the doctrine concerning the Godhead had changed, and were no longer generally consistent with the Lectures." [9]

See main page: Lectures on Faith

[edit] The last days of Joseph Smith

"Joseph Smith, as Mayor of Nauvoo, ordered the press of the Nauvoo Expositor destroyed because it revealed his political aspirations and the secret practice of polygamy among the Mormons." [10]

"Joseph Smith died in a gun battle using a pistol that was smuggled to him while incarcerated at Carthage jail. According to The Documentary History of the Church (published six years after the fact), Joseph Smith pulled this six-shooter from his pocket 'and snapped the pistol six successive times; only three of the barrels, however, were discharged. I afterwards understood that two or three were wounded by these discharges, two of whom, I am informed, died' (John Taylor, Volume 7, pp. 102-103)." [11]

[edit] The three witnesses

David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris revealed that their experiences with the Book of Mormon were "visionary". [12]

[edit] Book of Mormon isn't that Mormon

• "If belief in the Book of Mormon was a prerequisite to joining the Church, it was a belief in the book's divine origin rather than the doctrinal content of the book. The Book of Mormon taught nothing different from what early 19th-century religious seekers would have already been familiar with. The theology of the Book of Mormon was monotheistic. Early Mormon theology then would not have been unique in comparison to other beliefs of the day." -Kurt Widmer, Mormonism and the Nature of God: A Theological Evolution, 1830-1915

The Book of Mormon does not teach most distinctive doctrines of mainstream Mormonism.

See main page: Book of Mormon

One hundred things you should know about Mormonism (11-20) ->

[edit] Other lists

• Apostasy A to Z, by Chris Tolworthy (non-Christian ex-Mormon)