An article posted July 20 at the NY Times
website sent shock waves throughout The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, otherwise
known as the Mormon church. Hans Mattson, a Swedish ?Area Authority? (equivalent to a Cardinal) overseeing the
church?s works in Europe, provided an interview expressing doubts about the church after learning
of historical facts online that are never taught in Sunday School classes. Among the facts he found out include the truth
surrounding Joseph Smith?s polygamous ways and some historical inconsistencies with the
church?s scriptures, such as the Book of Mormon. That a high-ranking church official had not
been aware of these facts throughout his church membership reveals the great lengths to which
the Mormon church had gone in hiding the many truths that paint the church in a bad light. And with that, here are ten facts the Mormon
Church would not want its members to know. 10. Joseph Smith Married Girls As Young As 14 While the practice of polygamy in the church?s
early days is fairly common knowledge today, Mormon leaders and average members normally
justify that by saying that it was done only to protect the widows at a time when male
Mormon members were dying due to persecution. ?Yet a quick search of Joseph Smith?s genealogy
at church-owned FamilySearch.org?would prove that he was married to teenage girls. Documents further show that the youngest girl
that Joseph Smith married was Helen Mar Kimball, who was 14 years old at the time of marriage. One would have to really stretch the truth
to believe that these teenage girls were widows that needed to be taken cared of. 9. Past Prophets Preached False Doctrines Joseph Smith has said that there are men living
in the moon, describing them as over six feet tall and dressing like Quakers. Brigham Young preached that there are people
living in the Sun. He also preached that Adam was God the Father,
that black people are descendants of Cain, and that their skin color is a curse from
God. Joseph Fielding Smith, another Mormon prophet,
said in 1961 that no man will ever reach the moon. These and other various statements made by
Mormon prophets have all been proven false over time. How could one accept these men as true prophets
of God when just about everything they say is wrong? 8. Joseph Smith Used Peep-Stones To ?Translate? The Book Of Mormon The church has been deceiving members about
the manner Smith translated the Book of Mormon. In paintings commonly seen in Mormon scriptures
and pamphlets, Smith is depicted translating from the Gold Plates as Oliver Cowdery transcribed
his dictation. The truth is that the plates were not even
used in the ?translation? process. He merely used two peep stones that he placed
in a hat. ?He would then bury his face in the hat and
dictate whatever he purportedly saw there. This stones-in-a-hat method is even acknowledged
by current Mormon Apostle Russell M. Nelson in an obscure 1992 talk for Mission Presidents
that can actually still be found in the Church?s official website. It is also worth noting that these are the
same stones he found while digging a well for Mason Chase, and the same stones he used
for treasure-hunting. So he may have been a fraud, but at least
he believed in the power of recycling. 7. Temple Rituals Were Copied From The Freemasonry Joseph Smith became a Freemason in March 1842. In May 1842, he introduced what is now known
as the Temple Endowment Session. The Temple Endowment session is among the
most secretive rituals in the Mormon Church. Unlike other rituals such as baptisms or the
administration of the sacrament (bread and water,) members are not allowed to discuss
the endowment session in public. During an actual session, members perform
rituals involving secret handshakes and passwords, all necessary to be allowed entry into the
Celestial Kingdom where God the Father and Son live. What they don?t know is that these rituals
were heavily borrowed from the Freemasonry, almost word-for-word in fact. The few members who know about the Masonry
connection would defend it by saying that the Freemasons in turn copied their ritual
from King Solomon?s Temple. Yet even the church?s most prominent apologetic
site, FAIR LDS, would refute that, admitting that what went on in Solomon?s Temple had
absolutely nothing in common with the Masonic rituals or the Mormon?s endowment session. 6. The Kinderhook Plates Was A Hoax The Kinderhook Plates are six brass plates
that allegedly contained ancient characters. These plates were found by locals in Kinderhook,
Illinois along with a skeleton. Smith, believing them to be genuine ancient
artifacts, later translated a portion of the brass plate writings, claiming that it tells
the story of the skeleton back when he far less skeletal and far more alive. According to Smith, he was a descendant of
Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh. In 1980 however, scientists examined the plates
and determined that they were not ancient at all; they were eventually proven to be
nothing more than a hoax. After this discovery, Mormon apologists tried
to put a spin on it by saying that Smith never actually tried to translate it, yet in pages
372-379 of the Mormon?s History of the Church book, Smith did confirm to have translated
the plates, discussing the details of the translation in the aforementioned pages. 5. There Are Multiple Accounts Of The ?First
Vision? ?There is no middle ground. Joseph Smith talked with the Father and the
Son or he didn?t. ?If he didn?t, then we are embraced in a great
fraud. A terrible fraud.? ? Gordon B. Hinckley The First Vision, as known today in Mormon
records, is an account of the literal appearance of God, as both the Father and the Son, to
Joseph Smith in the spring of 1820. Today, it holds an important place in the
Mormon Church?s official history. Yet this event wasn?t actually taught in the
church until 1842, 22 years after it was supposed to have happened. Records also show that there are nine versions
of the account. Among the inconsistencies seen when compared
side-by-side include Smith?s age at the time it happened, the place where he received the
vision, the personage he saw, and the instructions he received. One would think that remembering the details
of such a remarkable experience would not have been that hard. But the inconsistencies of the multiple first
vision accounts and the fact that it was not even mentioned in the church?s early years
cast doubts upon the validity of Smith?s claims. 4. Church Leaders Were Deceived By Mark Hoffman One of the most embarrassing episodes in recent
church history is that involving convicted murderer and counterfeiter Mark Hofmann. Hofmann sold what he asserted to be official
church documents that he found. Among them included what he claimed was the
original Anthon Transcript- a piece of paper containing characters that Joseph Smith copied
from the Gold Plates, an 1825 Joseph Smith holograph detailing Smith?s exploits as a
treasure hunter and practitioner of black magic, and the infamous Salamander Letter
— supposedly a letter written by Martin Harris claiming that it was a white salamander
and not an angel that appeared to Joseph Smith in 1823. Church leaders, such as eventual prophet Gordon
B. Hinckley and current apostle Dallin H. Oaks, were tricked into believing those were
genuine, shelling out thousands of dollars to purchase them, and even defending the contents
of the documents in pulpit talks. Of course it would be proven later, when Hofmann
was convicted of murder, that these documents were nothing more than forgeries created by
Hofmann to make a fool out of church leaders and earn a profit in the process. 3. The Facts Surrounding The Death Of Joseph
Smith Mormon Church members sing of hymns portraying
Joseph Smith as a martyr who died for his faith. It is never taught in classes that he was
actually imprisoned for destroying a newspaper printing press as retaliation for the negative
press about him that was published. ?While in prison, he removed his ?garments,?
the Mormon magic underwear, and instructed the others in jail with him to do the same. Mormons are also not aware that he had a gun
and killed two people shortly before he was shot to death. He also made the Masonic symbol for distress
as a last-ditch effort to save his life. Certainly not the ?lamb to the slaughter?
that the Mormons like to describe his death as. 2. The Book Of Abraham Has Been Proven False
By Egyptologists In 1835, Joseph Smith purchased a scroll of
papyri containing Egyptian hieroglyphics from a travelling showman named Michael Chandler. He then proceeded to examine the scroll, claiming
that it contained writings of Abraham, and translated it into what is now known as the
Book of Abraham. In 1966, several fragments of the original
scroll that Smith used resurfaced. With the discovery of the Rosetta stone, Egyptology
had advanced profoundly by this time, and Egyptologists were able to validate whether
Smith?s translation of the scroll was accurate. Turns out, the scroll was merely a common
Egyptian funerary text that had absolutely nothing to do with Abraham. As with the Kinderhook Plates, this put into
question Smith?s credibility as a divinely-aided translator. Egyptologist Dr. James H. Breasted of the
University of Chicago said, ?Joseph Smith?s interpretations of them as part of a unique
revelation through Abraham, therefore, very clearly demonstrates that he was totally unacquainted
with the significance of these documents, and absolutely ignorant of the simplest facts
of Egyptian writing and civilization.” 1. Evidence Against The Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is often called the ?keystone?
of the Mormon religion. ?The validity of the church?s claim as the
one true church, and Joseph Smith as the chosen prophet of God, hinges upon whether the book
is really an ancient record translated by the power of God or not. The problem is that the book has failed under
scrutiny on so many levels. It has been well-documented that the Book
of Mormon contains various anachronisms. Heavy plagiarism from the King James Bible
is also apparent, including translation errors. Up to this day, the geographical location
of the events of the book has not been located, and no supporting archaeological evidence
has ever been discovered. Perhaps the most damning evidence against
the book is the fact that DNA testing disproved its claim that a Jewish family, who left Jerusalem
in 600 BC to settle in the New World, are the principal ancestors of the American Indians. With that, there simply is only one logical
conclusion that can be made about the Book of Mormon ? that it is in fact a 19th century
fiction manufactured by Joseph Smith, therefore making all of his other claims, along with
his entire religion, mere fabrications.
How anyone could watch this and stay in the Mormon church is beyond my ability to comprehend.
All of these points, one by one, brought my shelf down. As a TBM I was certain God's church had in fact been re-established upon the earth, and now I know without a shadow of doubt it was all a fabrication, a lie, and a hoax.
A beautifully succinct and perfectly accurate list that should instantly crash any reasonable person’s shelf!
They could add that the Book of Mormon fails BYU's own plagiarism-identifying computer program, linking it to multiple sources.
This is great. I think this video would be a perfect response to someone who sincerely asks why I left the Mormon church. Handing them the CES letter can be a bit much, so I think it’s easier for someone to not really read it and just call it Anti-Mormon literature. But this is brief, moderate in tone, and chock full of plain facts that destroy the church.
On my mission, a super friendly and knowledgeable guy shared many of these things with us. I was of course not ready to hear it.
My response, and the end of the discussion, was "I know through the spirit that the church is true. Everything hinges on that communication from God. If the church isn't true, then nothing is."
Years later, that epistemological statement was the foundation for my eventual faith crisis. If those warm feelings aren't an indicator of Truth, where does that leave us? Where does that leave the church?
If that doesn’t make a person seriously question their beliefs nothing will.
This is a tiny nitpick, but I wish he hadn’t said magic underwear. Up until then everything he said felt very objective. The term magic underwear just has such a biased connotation that might lead some potential doubters to dismiss the entire video as anti-Mormon rather than truth. I’ve never heard the term magic yarmulke or magic crucifix.
As a longtime fan of TopTenz, I was surprised to see this video release! Thank you Simon!