All About Mormons

I recently exchanged email messages with a “concerned Christian.” I’m posting the exchange here to demonstrate that not all people who oppose Mormonism are anti-Mormons. I think this man was quite sincere, though obviously very misguided. We Mormons need to do a better job of reserving the word “anti-Mormon” for those who are genuinely bigoted, intentionally spreading lies, misconceptions, and hatred. This man is not a bigot. Hope you enjoy the exchange. My responses are in bold.

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Hey [Daniel Rios],

I checked out the link that you sent me to provide information on the reliability of the Book of Abraham, thank you.

Happy I could help.

I do apologize that this will be hard for me to be brief.

I am sure that you are familiar with Thomas Stuart Furguson; the attorney, amateur archaeologist, and Mormon apologist.  As the founder of the New World Archaeology Foundation at BYU, he expected to prove through archaeology the validity of the BOM.  However when he came to believe that the BOM was not a factual account of the ancient Americas he took a position that I could not imagine myself even able to consider.  I found his letter about his opinion of Nibly’s defense of the Book of Abraham, but the one that really struck me was his letter to James Still.  He stated that even though he was perfectly convinced that the Joseph Smith was a false prophet he wasn’t going to separate himself from the church and even joked about how much more fun it would be this way, that is, knowing the “truth”.  I simply am beside myself to think that someone would want to be part of something that they know (in their mind) is a based upon lies.  I don’t understand what benefits could be so great to make one desire that kind of fairy tale existence. 

Actually, no, I had never heard of Thomas Stuart Furguson. He is not a prominent player in the field of Mormon apologetics. Subsequent research revealed that he was indeed an amateur archaeologist whose approaches were so “amateur” that they were even questioned by other Mormon scholars. I don’t exactly understand why you’re sharing his story with me. If you’re trying to convince me somehow that Mormonism is “false” because an amateur archaeologist couldn’t come up with convincing “evidence,” I’m sure you can appreciate that your efforts are misplaced, especially given other academic evidence put forth by more qualified investigators.

I wonder then: are there many members of the LDS church who share Furguson’s beliefs?  Is there a significant number of people who just like being “part of the club” and don’t need to know whether they’re right?  The main reason for my questioning this is because of some of the questions I have sought answers to, as I previously said, I can find no solid answers.  

As is the case with any Christian denomination, there are some who are members of the Church for social reasons, and others who have undergone true conversion through Jesus Christ. I would say that the vast majority of practicing Mormons have undergone a genuine spiritual conversion. Furthermore, your questions are very common and have been addressed by many, many Mormon researchers. It was my intent to research each of these questions for you and answer one per week, but given your latest email, I think I’ll just point you in the direction of fairmormon.org and leave it at that.

I am a man of faith who knows what I believe and why, even though I know that I still have much to learn and I am certain that there are things I am wrong about.  I am not naive, I do believe in faith but not ignorance.  I have formed my beliefs upon a standard of which I can measure my own thoughts and the doctrines that people teach.  That standard I have tested and still do, and have found to be accurate both in content and inasmuch as it doesn’t conflict with itself.  Although there is no perfect English translation of it, I can study the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts from over 2000 years ago and read them in their original language.  The Holy Bible.    

Brigham Young said to test the teachings of the Latter-day Saints by the Bible and see if it would stand the test. 

George A. Smith said that if you’re afraid to investigate your own faith that faith must have a weak foundation.

[Webmaster], have you tested the LDS teachings according to the Bible and found that they agree, or tested the LDS foundation? 

I believe you are a sincere person and that you do not wish to offend, but surely you must see that paragraphs like the above come across as pretentious. I myself have read the Bible, taken various university-level classes on the Bible, and tested my beliefs against that Holy Book. The problem here is not that Mormons do not test their beliefs against the Bible. Rather, we interpret a few isolated biblical passages a little differently than you do. In many cases, objective biblical scholars, many eminently qualified, actually side with the Mormon interpretation. I can say without any hesitation that my beliefs are in harmony with the Bible as I and many others understand it. The fact that we do not always read the Bible the same way does not automatically mean that you are right and I am wrong.

If you have not and would like to test your foundation with a sincerity I would like to recommend a book that I’m reading presently…by Richard Abanes…Thunder’s Mouth Press.  It is extensively documented and presents a complete (secular) history of Mormonism including many things that seem to be avoided among official LDS history.   

I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit when you recommended a book by Richard Abanes. I recently carried on a fairly extensive email conversation with him. If you think his version of Mormon history is at all objective, you are very deceived. Mr. Abanes has a definite agenda, and he is not afraid to bend the truth to achieve his goals. His “history” would never pass peer review in an academic setting. If you’d really like an “objective” account of Mormon history, I recommend “Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling” by Richard Bushman, the Gouverneur Morris Professor of History emeritus at Columbia University. That book was published by Oxford University Press, which I’m guessing has more rigorous academic standards than “Thunder’s Mouth.”

I pray that this is not the last time that we talk.
God bless you in all truth and wisdom, [Webmaster]

Best of luck to you.