Book of Mormon Historicity:

Jon Adams

A special thanks to my Facebook friends

LDS Beliefs and Their Implications

The Book of Mormon

• Published in 1830

• Purports to be a translation by Joseph Smith of “a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas...”

• BoM peoples are “among the principal ancestors of today's Native Americans.”

Or...

Why?

Because it’s interesting!

Seriously, why?

• Mormonism's relevance– Political/cultural influence– 13 million members– Latin American growth

• 1964: < 1%

• 2004: 37%

• Beliefs matter– Inform actions and attitudes

– Importance of racial sensitivity in an increasingly diverse LDS Church

Previous Research

• Most literature on LDS Church and blacks– Slavery, Civil Rights Era and pre-1978

priesthood ban

• Religious folklore about race pervasive among Mormons (Wilson)

– Found in LDS scriptures• “White and delightsome”

– Spencer W. Kimball's Oct 1960 talk

Previous Research, cont.

• Murphy's “Lamanite Identity”– Native/Latin Am. Mormons identify as

descendants of BoM peoples– Conflate native folkore with Mormon

folklore– Tension with white church hierarchy

• 1989 excommunication of George P. Lee

Methods

• Created a 10-question BoM survey– Demographic questions (gender, age, etc.)– Questions about BoM, faith, and racism

• Sent the survey to 200 Mormon friends via Facebook

• 115 responded– Response rate: 57%

Demographics

• Gender– Male: 68%– Female: 32%

Gender

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Male

Female

Demographics

• Age– 0-17: 4%– 18-24: 79%– 25-29: 12%– 30-34: 2%– 35+: 4%

Age

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

0-17

18-24

25-29

30-34

35+

Demographics

• Race– White: 95%– Hispanic: 6%– Native Am.: 2%– Bi/multiracial:

1%

Race

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

White

Hispanic

Native

Bi/multi

Church Membership

• Born into church?– Yes: 93%– No; convert:

10%

Born into church?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Yes

Convert

Church Activity

• Attendance– Weekly: 81%– Monthly: 8%– Yearly: 3%– Inactive: 10%

Attendance

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Weekly

Monthly

Yearly

Inactive

Book of Mormon Beliefs

• BoM historical?– Yes: 90%– No: 10%

Historical?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Yes

No

Book of Mormon Beliefs

• Historicity important to testimony?

– Yes: 51%– Somewhat: 24%– No: 26%

Historicity important?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Yes

Somewhat

No

Book of Mormon Peoples

• Who are BoM descendants?

– Mesoamericans: 58%

– Native Am.: 56%

– South Am.: 51%

– Pacific Islanders: 38%

– Not sure: 38%

– None: 6% BoM Descendants

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Meso

Native

South

Islanders

Not sure

None

Book of Mormon Peoples

• Book of Mormon peoples...

– Lost the promised land due to sin: 66%

– Had their skin literally darkened due to sin: 53%

– Are a covenant people like the Israelites: 88%

– Should have a more prominent role in LDS Church: 6%

– Should be prioritized in missionary work: 6%

BoM Peoples...

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Lost land

Dark skin

Covenant

Prominent role

Prioritized

Racism

• Is racism a problem in the LDS Church today?

– Yes: 14%– Somewhat: 38%– No: 43%– Not sure: 9%

Racism

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Yes

Somewhat

No

Not sure

Discussion

• Support for Murphy's “Lamanite Identity” theory

– All Hispanic respondents report high activity and believe BoM to be historical

– 43% of Hispanic respondents believe BoM peoples lost land and had skin darkened because of unrighteousness(!)

– 43% of Hispanic respondents believe BoM descendants should have a more prominent role in the church

• vs. 4% of non-Hispanic respondents

– 86% of Hispanic respondents identify Meso/South Americans as BoM descendants

Discussion, cont.

• Racism?– 71% of Hispanic respondents believed it's at

least somewhat of a problem in the church• vs. 48% of non-Hispanics respondents

• Disparity between BoM scholars and Mormon laity

– Only 41% of Dialogue's subscribers believed that the BoM is a historical document

• vs. 90% of my respondents who believe the same

Further Research

• The need for a systematic survey of Mormons both inside and outside the U.S.

• Exploration into the rift between Mormon scholars and Mormon laity

• Exploration into why people come to disbelieve in the BoM's historicity

Questions?