Category:Letter to a CES Director

Q

• Question: Did Joseph Smith confer the priesthood on several black men?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith consummate any of these marriages with married women?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith decide that all churches were wrong before he received the First Vision?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith ever publicly attempt to teach the doctrine of plural marriage?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith give a woman only one day to decide about entering a plural marriage, and would refusal mean terrible consequences?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith have access to materials related to Nahom at Allegheny College?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith have any children through any of his polyandrous marriages?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith identify any elements of Facsimile 2 that are in agreement with what Egyptologists say they represent?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith incorporate his father's dream of the tree of life into the Book of Mormon?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith marry Fanny Alger as his first plural wife in 1833?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith or his associates attempt to reconcile with William Law before he published the ''Nauvoo Expositor''?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith plagiarize passages from Gilbert Hunt's book ''The Late War, between the United States and Great Britain, from June, 1812, to February, 1815''?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith receive a revelation instructing him to to sell the copyright to the Book of Mormon in Canada and later claim that the revelation was false?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith send men on missions so that he could secretly marry their wives while they were gone?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith teach a hemispheric, rather than a limited, geography model for the Book of Mormon?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith use his own seer stone to translate the Book of Mormon?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith use the Nephite interpreters to translate? Or did he use his own seer stone?
• Question: Did Lorenzo Snow state that polygamy was actually adultery prior to 1843?
• Question: Did Lucy Mack Smith join the Presbyterian Church after her son Alvin died in 1823?
• Question: Did Lucy Mack Smith state when she joined the Presbyterians?
• Question: Did Martin Harris change his religion five times prior to the Restoration?
• Question: Did Martin Harris tell people that he did not see the plates with his natural eyes, but rather the "eye of faith"?
• Question: Did Martin Harris tell people that he only saw the plates with his "spiritual eye"?
• Question: Did Nephi commit "cold blooded murder" when he killed Laban?
• Question: Did one of the Book of Mormon witnesses actually only handle the plates while they were covered in a "tow frock"?
• Question: Did other Church leaders believe that plural marriage was a requirement for exaltation?
• Question: Did President Jimmy Carter threaten the Church's tax-exempt status because of their policy on blacks and the priesthood?
• Question: Did some of Joseph Smith's associates believe that he had an affair with Fanny Alger?
• Question: Did the actual words "God the Father" and "Jesus Christ" appear in Joseph's 1838 account of the First Vision?
• Question: Did the Church attempt to hide Brigham Young's practice of plural marriage in the ''Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young'' manual?
• Question: Did the Church purchase documents such as Mark Hofmann's "Salamander letter" with the intent of hiding and suppressing them?
• Question: Did the Three Witnesses each add their own signature to the original Book of Mormon manuscript?
• Question: Did the witnesses disagree with their testimony after it was printed in the Book of Mormon?
• Question: Did the witnesses make clear statements regarding their testimonies?
• Question: Didn't Hugh Nibley claim that a record of this trial would be "the most damning evidence in existence" against Joseph Smith?
• Question: Do academic translators copy translations of other documents to use as a "base text"?
• Question: Do all other religions confirm their beliefs through spiritual witness?
• Question: Do both the Book of Mormon and Gilbert Hunt's ''The Late War'' talk about people maintaining a "standard of liberty"?
• Question: Do Latter-day Saint ("Mormon") leaders teach us to avoid the internet?
• Question: Do Latter-day Saint apologists receive compensation for their efforts?
• Question: Do Latter-day Saints believe in a "part-time racist" and "psychopathic schizophrenic" god?
• Question: Do Latter-day Saints discount the spiritual witnesses that members of other religions may receive?
• Question: Do Martin Harris's statements related to the "spiritual eye" or "eye of faith" contradict the reality of his witness?
• Question: Do Mormon apologists claim that the horse referred to in the Book of Mormon is actually a deer or tapir?
• Question: Do Mormons believe that faith and science are mutually exclusive?
• Question: Do Mormons believe that if there is a conflict between science and religion, that the science is incorrect?
• Question: Do Mormons believe that other religions can be inspired by God?
• Question: Does anyone assert that the GAEL was an actual correlation between Egyptian and the explanations offered?
• Question: Does Book of Abraham Facsimile 1 show a hand, or does it show the wing of a second bird?
• Question: Does Church art always reflect reality?
• Question: Does Church manual, ''The Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young'', attempt to "hide history" by portraying Brigham Young (a well-known polygamist) as having only one wife?
• Question: Does FairMormon use the internet to teach a "bizarre version" of Mormonism riddled with logical fallacies?
• Question: Does Gilbert Hunt's ''The Late War'' describe "Boats and barges built from trees after the fashion of the ark"?
• Question: Does Gilbert Hunt's ''The Late War'' talk of 2000 "striplings" who go to war?
• Question: Does Martin Harris' involvement with other faiths after the Restoration discredit him?
• Question: Does Martin Harris' involvement with the Shakers undercut his testimony?
• Question: Does the 14 November 1835 account reference to the "first vision of Angels" mean that Joseph Smith did not see Deity?
• Question: Does the Bible prohibit polygamous marriages involving a mother and daughter?
• Question: Does the Book of Abraham state that the sun gets its photons from Kolob?
• Question: Does the Book of Mormon mention "steel" of "fine workmanship" as described in Gilbert Hunt's ''The Late War''?
• Question: Does the Book of Mormon phrase "curious workmanship" originate from Gilbert Hunt's ''The Late War''?
• Question: Does the Book of Mormon scripture "he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female" (2 Nephi 26:33) refer to race?
• Question: Does the Book of Mormon support trinitarianism?
• Question: Does the Book of Mormon, like Gilbert Hunt's ''The Late War'', talk of "freemen who came to the defence of the city, built strong holds and forts, and raised up fortifications in abundance"?
• Question: Does the Church claim that Native Americans were the exclusive descendants of Lehi or Mulek?
• Question: Does the fact that Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith distant cousins make Oliver an unreliable witness to the Book of Mormon?
• Question: Does the repudiation of a doctrine that was once taught by a prophet mean that that prophet is now considered a "heretic"?
• Question: Does the Strengthening Church Members Committee still exist?
• Question: Does the use of the capitalized word "Angel" in the 14 November 1835 account refer to Deity?
• Question: Does Vernal Holley rely on modern maps to create his comparison of actual place names with Book of Mormon names?
• Question: Doesn't the Bible say that the continents were divided immediately after the Flood?
• Question: Has the book ''View of the Hebrews'' been readily available?
• Question: Has the Church ever promoted a Limited Geography model for the Book of Mormon?
• Question: Has the name Abraham ever been associated with an Egyptian "lion couch" scene?
• Question: Have any ancient horse remains from the Nephite period been found in the New World?
• Question: Have edits to the revelations been discussed in the present day?
• Question: How can President Hinckley claim that polygamy is "not doctrinal" if it was a required practice in the 19th-Century Church?
• Question: How can we accept David Whitmer as a valid Book of Mormon witness if God told him to leave the Saints?
• Question: How can you know if an answer to prayer, a personal revelation, is true?
• Question: How can you know if your answer to prayer, your personal revelation, is true?
• Question: How could Joseph and Fanny have been married in 1831 if the sealing power had not yet been restored?
• Question: How could Joseph Smith come to the conclusion that all churches were wrong on his own?
• Question: How could the Garden of Eden have been in Missouri if the Flood was local?
• Question: How did Elder Holland respond during a BBC interview when asked how the Book of Abraham was translated?
• Question: How did Joseph Smith actually use the gold plates?
• Question: How did Joseph Smith use his seer stones as a youth?
• Question: How did Latter-day Saint scholars respond to the attempt to sell the Book of Mormon copyright prior to Page's letter coming to light?
• Question: How did newspaper accounts describe the nature of the witnesses experience?
• Question: How did the apostle Paul describe spiritual experiences?
• Question: How did the erroneous story of the attempt to sell the Book of Mormon copyright develop over time?
• Question: How do Church members assume that Joseph would have "used the plates" during translation?
• Question: How do Latter-day Saints reconcile scriptural accounts of the Flood of Noah with scientific evidence of continuous human habitation on the earth?
• Question: How do non-Mormon artists treat the Nativity?
• Question: How do the First Vision accounts compare on the subject of Joseph's motivation for praying?
• Question: How does archaeology in the New World fit with the Book of Mormon?
• Question: How does archaeology in the Old World compare to the first chapters in the Book of Mormon?
• Question: How does David Whitmer's account of the attempt to sell the Book of Mormon copyright compare to those of the eyewitnesses?
• Question: How early was the story of the First Vision known among the members of the Church?
• Question: How is it possible for a Church leader or prophet to have been influenced by racism, yet be consistent with the Lord not allowing prophets to lead the Church astray?
• Question: How is the Joseph Smith Translation best understood?
• Question: How long did the Church know about the papyri before they published information about them?
• Question: How many times was the name of the Church changed through revelation?
• Question: How much did the development of the mall cost? Did it really cost 5 billion dollars?
• Question: How valid are the names used in the Holley Map?
• Question: How was the decision reached to destroy the ''Nauvoo Expositor''?
• Question: How was the wording of the "rod of nature" revelation that became Doctrine and Covenants 8:6–8 altered over time?
• Question: How would an archaeologist distinguish a Christian's pot from that of a non-Christian?
• Question: How would Book of Mormon archaeology compare to that of the Bible?
• Question: I've seen Temple Lot court transcripts online. Are these not accurate?
• Question: If a doctrine is repudiated, does that mean that it was false when it was being taught?
• Question: If every President of the Church is a prophet, seer, and revelator, why have so few revelations after Joseph Smith been added to the Doctrine and Covenants?
• Question: If Gordon B. Hinckley were a true prophet, why did he not discern the nature of the Hofmann forgeries?
• Question: If modern Egyptologists say that this is a representation of Min, and Min is a “pagan” God, how could Joseph Smith say that it represents God sitting on his throne?
• Question: If polygamy was commanded of God in order to "raise seed," then why were Adam and Noah not commanded to practice polygamy?
• Question: If the Joseph Smith Translation (JST) is Joseph Smith's 'correction' of Biblical errors, why do these corrections not match known Biblical manuscripts?
• Question: If the only purpose of polygamy was to "raise up seed," then why did Joseph not have children by his plural wives?
• Question: In what context are chariots mentioned in the Book of Mormon?
• Question: In what context are elephants mentioned in the Book of Mormon?
• Question: In what manner was the Aaronic Priesthood restored?
• Question: In what manner was the Melchizedek Priesthood restored?
• Question: Is a "burning in the bosom" simply a subjective, emotion-based, unreliable way to practice self-deception?
• Question: Is a Latter-day Saint testimony simply based on "feelings"?
• Question: Is a man unreliable because he lived in the 19th-Century?
• Question: Is Gilbert Hunt's phrase "the fourth day of this seventh month" in ''The Late War'' a source for the Book of Mormon phrase "the fourth day of this seventh month" in Alma 10:6?
• Question: Is Joseph Smith papyri Facsimile 1 common and similar to other such scenes?
• Question: Is plural marriage required in order to achieve exaltation?
• Question: Is prayer the only element required in the determination of truth?
• Question: Is someone unreliable because they practiced "treasure hunting" and believed in the use of seer stones to find lost objects?
• Question: Is the Church trying to hide something through its use of artwork?
• Question: Is the concept of no death before the fall on the ''entire earth'' Church doctrine?
• Question: Is the mention of "Ur of the Chaldees" in the Book of Abraham an anachronism?
• Question: Is the phrase "by his own hand upon papyrus" a 19th century redaction?
• Question: Is the phrase "by his own hand upon papyrus" an Egyptian title?
• Question: Is the representation of Min actually Egyptian "pornography"?
• Question: Is the story of the attempted sacrifice of Abraham described in the Book of Abraham supported by any other sources?
• Question: Is there a case where Joseph stated that his age was 17 rather than 14 at the time of the First Vision?
• Question: Is there a link between Ethan Smith, author of ''View of the Hebrews'', and Oliver Cowdery?
• Question: Is there any reference to God the Father being present in Joseph Smith's 1832 account?
• Question: Is there significance to the fact that both the Book of Mormon and Gilbert Hunt's ''The Late War'' mention a "rod of iron"?
• Question: Is Wikipedia's portrayal of Martin Harris as a gullible, superstitious man accurate?
• Question: Many who listened to Elder Dunn's stories felt the spirit. Why would one feel the spirit upon hearing a story that was fabricated? Doesn't this confirm a lie?
• Question: Of what did the Strangite witnesses testify?
• Question: Should the restoration of Book of Abraham Facsimile 1 include a phallus?
• Question: Should we pay tithing before paying for food or rent?
• Question: Since its opening, has the redevelopment had the impact hoped for?
• Question: Since Joseph Smith "married" the wives of 11 other men, why were those women not "destroyed" as specified in the Doctrine and Covenants since they continued to live with their "previous" husbands?
• Question: Was Apostle Orson Hyde sent on a mission to dedicate Israel so that Joseph Smith could secretly marry his wife, Marinda Hyde, while he was away?
• Question: Was Captain Kidd "hanged for crimes allegedly committed in the vicinity of Moroni on Grand Comoro?"
• Question: Was Emma aware of the possibility that Joseph could take additional wives even without her consent?
• Question: Was Helen Mar Kimball's marriage to Joseph Smith ever consummated?
• Question: Was Joseph Smith ever charged with adultery under Illinois law?
• Question: Was Joseph Smith married or sealed to women who were already married to other living men?
• Question: Was Joseph Smith sealed or married to other men's wives without the knowledge or consent of their husband?
• Question: Was Martin Harris a gullible witness who would simply believe anything he was told?
• Question: Was Oliver Cowdery aware that some in the Church were practicing polygamy in 1835 at the time he authored the "Article on Marriage"?
• Question: Was President Hinckley suspicious that the Salamander letter might not be authentic?
• Question: Was the ''History of the Church'' falsified when "first visitation of Angels" was changed to "my first vision"?
• Question: Was the ''View of the Hebrews'' theory of Book of Mormon origin advanced during the lifetime of Joseph Smith?
• Question: Was the beginning of the Book of Mormon derived from ''The First Book of Napoleon''?
• Question: Was the Book of Mormon description of a cataclysm at the time of Christ's death derived from a similar description in Gilbert Hunt's ''The Late War''?
• Question: Was the Book of Mormon description of the Liahona derived from Gilbert Hunt's ''The Late War''?
• Question: Was the Book of Mormon phrase "it came to pass" derived from Gilbert Hunt's ''The Late War''?
• Question: Was the Church forthright in identifying the rediscovered papyri prior to their examination by non-LDS Egyptologists?
• Question: Was the Limited Geography model created in response to DNA claims?
• Question: Was the only purpose of polygamy to "multiply and replenish the earth" and "bear the souls of men"?
• Question: Was the original head of the priest in Book of Abraham Facsimile 1 actually the jackal head of Anubis?
• Question: Was the practice of polygamy general knowledge among Latter-day Saints in 1835 when the "Article on Marriage" was published?
• Question: Was the priest depicted in Book of Abraham Facsimile 1 holding a knife or was it some other object?
• Question: Was the priesthood ban lifted as the result of social or government pressure?
• Question: Was the revelation comprising the current Doctrine and Covenants 27 altered to include mention of the priesthood restoration?
• Question: Was there no death on the entire earth before the Fall?
• Question: Was Thomas Stuart Ferguson an archaeologist?
• Question: Were any of the changes to the Book of Mormon made in reaction to sectarian criticism?
• Question: Were plural wives forced into the marriage?
• Question: Were the changes to the revelations hidden from the Church members?
• Question: Were the Isaiah passages in the Book of Mormon simply plagiarized from the King James Bible?
• Question: Were the names "Moroni" and "Cumorah" available on maps accessible to Joseph Smith?
• Question: Were the Three Nephites of the Book of Mormon based upon three of the "lying prophets among the savages" in Gilbert Hunt's ''The Late War''?
• Question: Were there any similar cases under Illinois adultery statute which demonstrate that Joseph was not breaking the law?
• Question: Were women put under "tremendous pressure" to accept a proposal of plural marriage?
• Question: What about those who pray and don't receive a confirmation the Book of Mormon is true?
• Question: What archaeological evidence might be considered the minimal irrefutable proof needed to convince a non-believing world of the authenticity of the Nephite scripture?
• Question: What are the criticisms regarding Joseph's interpretation of specific textual elements of Facsimile 3?
• Question: What are the criticisms related to Book of Abraham Facsimile 1?
• Question: What are the criticisms related to Facsimile 3?
• Question: What are the criticisms related to Joseph Smith's accounts of the First Vision?
• Question: What are the differences between the Strangite witness statements and those of the Three and Eight Witnesses to the Book of Mormon?
• Question: What are the Hofmann forgeries and the Salamander Letter?
• Question: What are the Kinderhook Plates?
• Question: What are the Nephite interpreters?
• Question: What are the reasons for the changes to the Doctrine and Covenants?
• Question: What are the similarities and differences between ''View of the Hebrews'' and the Book of Mormon?
• Question: What are the two 1835 First Vision accounts that refer to angels?
• Question: What changes have been made to the ''Gospel Principles'' manual regarding the question of death on the earth before the Fall of Adam?
• Question: What changes were made to the 1837 edition of the Book of Mormon?
• Question: What changes were made to the Doctrine and Covenants?
• Question: What Church sources discuss either the use of the seer stone or the stone and the hat as part of the Book of Mormon translation process?
• Question: What criticisms are associated with the temple ritual and its relationship to Freemasonry?
• Question: What criticisms are put forth regarding the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood?
• Question: What did B.H. Roberts say about ''View of the Hebrews'' and the Book of Mormon?