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Mormon History and Common Criticisms

A starting point for exploring the history, texts, controversies, and major criticisms covered by Lucifer's Lantern.

History of Mormonism Major events, claimed revelations, institutional changes, and controversies from 1820-2026. Read the History →
Common Criticisms
The Book of Mormon Read → The Book of Abraham Read → The Book of Moses Read → The Old Testament Read → The New Testament Read →

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Complete historical works and primary-source collections, formatted for direct reading on Lucifer's Lantern.

Complete 1830 Text The Book of Mormon First Edition · 1830 Read the wording and structure of the first published edition. Open full text → Complete Historical Text View of the Hebrews Ethan Smith · 1823 Read the first edition of a work frequently discussed in Book of Mormon studies. Open full text → Complete Letter Collection Ezra Booth Letters Ezra Booth · 1831 Read all nine letters as they appeared during the church's earliest years. Open full text → Complete Historical Text Delusions Alexander Campbell · 1832 Read one of the earliest extended published criticisms of the Book of Mormon. Open full text →

What "Mormonism Explained" Had to say about Torn

Mormonism Explained recently published a response to Jeff Strong’s 2026 book Torn: Why People We Love Are Leaving the Church and What We Can Learn From Them.  (affiliate link) The response argues that Strong’s description of Latter-day Saint “spiritual starvation” should show up in measurable outcomes if it is true. It points to ten studies involving religious attendance, happiness, parental love, longevity, education, and meaning in life, then concludes that the data show the opposite of Strong’s diagnosis. [1] Many of the underlying findings are real. Pew does find unusually high attendance among people who currently identify as Latter-day Saints. A University of Chicago study using smartphone location data finds unusually frequent attendance among people observed visiting Latter-day Saint meetinghouses. A long-running California study found very low mortality among highly active Latter-day Saints. [2] [5] [6] But those findings do not answer the same question as religious disaf...
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Darth Vader Could Be Your Bishop: The Problem With Corbridge’s “You Will Stay” Argument

A short clip from Scripture Central’s current Stand Forever series has turned an old Lawrence E. Corbridge argument into a new controversy. In the clip, Corbridge says, “Darth Vader could be your bishop. The culture could be like Alcatraz,” and argues that a believer who sees the LDS Church as God’s kingdom will still stay.[1][4] The line is dramatic, but it isn’t the real issue. Corbridge’s argument is that bad leaders, painful culture, and even serious institutional failures do not decide whether someone should remain Mormon. The decisive question is whether the Church is true.[1] Corbridge’s framework works only if the Church’s truth is already treated as settled. Once that premise is granted, nearly any counterevidence can be classified as secondary, cultural, institutional, or simply something to endure. That makes the framework much better at preserving belief than evaluating whether the belief is warranted. The new video extends an older argument Corbridge’s new series takes it...
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A Bit of Original Evidence

In May 1900, Theodore A. Schroeder published an article titled A Bit of Original Evidence  in issue no. 9 of Lucifer’s Lantern . [1] The piece reproduces part of an 1887 letter apparently written by Mississippi attorney E. E. Baldwin to W. O. Norrell of Salt Lake City. [1] [2] Baldwin attributed the story to his uncle by marriage, James G. Horton, who allegedly said that Joseph Smith and several companions staged the discovery of the Book of Mormon plates as a practical joke and used a Bible-shaped box packed with sand. [1] Other accounts conflict with the claim that the box contained only sand. William Smith stated that members of the Smith family felt the plates through the cloth covering them and could distinguish their individual leaves. Martin Harris reported that Alvah Beman heard a metallic sound when the plates were placed inside the box. Those who said they lifted the covered object also estimated that it weighed between forty and sixty pounds, which would be difficult ...
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Don't Be a Sea Lion

Religious arguments online tend to follow a familiar pattern. Someone makes a claim. Another person asks a question. An answer is given, but the questioner does not really engage with it. They ask for another source, then another explanation, then proof of some smaller point buried inside the original answer. Every response produces three new questions. When the other person finally becomes irritated or leaves, the questioner declares victory. “I was only asking questions.” “Why are you afraid of a civil discussion?” “If your position were true, you should be able to defend it.” This behavior is often called sea lioning. It looks like curiosity, but functions as harassment. It uses the language of calm discussion without accepting the responsibilities of an honest one. Religious believers do it. Critics of religion do it. Apologists, atheists, pastors, ex-believers, missionaries, and anonymous accounts do it...  No position has a monopoly on good faith. The name itself comes from D...
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Caring for the Poor Has Been Low on the Mormon Priority List

We can't deny that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides millions of dollars each year in humanitarian aide, and that many members serve generously. But this aide is pennies compared to what the church spends on temples, their stock portfolio and real estate collections. Which begs the question, where does humanitarian work rank in the Church’s own mission? For decades, Church leaders defined that mission around preaching, ordinances, and salvation. By the Church’s own messaging, caring for the poor has historically been one of the Church's lowest institutional priorities. 1936 to 1981: Welfare was meant to build character During the Great Depression, the First Presidency tied welfare to work, independence, thrift, and self-respect. The goal was to help people provide for themselves. In 1936, J. Reuben Clark said that the welfare system had one primary goal: building character , an idea in which he repeated again in 1981. The real long-term objective of th...
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Who Was Ezra Booth?

Ezra Booth was a Methodist minister who joined Joseph Smith’s church in 1831 and abandoned it only a few months later. His time inside the movement was brief, but the nine letters he published after leaving became one of the earliest detailed critiques written by a former Mormon participant. A Methodist Minister Joins Mormonism Booth was born in Newtown, Connecticut, on February 14, 1792. He entered the Methodist ministry in 1816, became a deacon in 1818, and was ordained an elder in 1820. By 1831, he was serving as a Methodist minister in Mantua, Ohio. He had years of preaching experience and a reputation that gave weight to his sudden conversion to the new church. [1] Latter-day Saint accounts connect Booth’s conversion to a reported healing. Booth accompanied John and Elsa Johnson to meet Joseph Smith. Elsa had limited movement in one arm, and Smith was said to have restored it. Booth accepted the healing as miraculous and was baptized. He was ordained a high priest on June 4, 1831,...
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Why Young Women Are Leaving Mormonism

Young women are leaving Mormonism at a rate the church cannot dismiss as ordinary generational drift. A 2025 report placed retention among 18-year-old women raised Latter-day Saint just below 40 percent, compared with nearly 60 percent among men the same age. A separate national study found that 49 percent of women ages 18 to 49 who were raised in the church still identified with it, compared with 66 percent of women 50 and older. [1] [3] The headline figures establish the problem, but they do not explain it. The first survey used an online, opt-in panel, and its single-age estimates deserve caution. [2] Neither study followed every woman who left or asked her to name one controlling reason. The evidence supports a gendered retention problem, not a simple verdict about its cause. The better question is what young women encounter when they compare the church's claims of female value with the institution they actually inhabit. Three pressures stand out: a patriarchal system that res...
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Why is God so Hard to Find?

Christianity does not just claim that a god exists somewhere beyond the universe. It describes a God who knows us, loves us, wants to be known, and invites us into a relationship. Jesus tells people to ask, seek, and knock. James says that those who draw near to God will find God drawing near to them. Yet many people sincerely search and find no clear response. They pray, study scripture, attend church, and ask for guidance. Some spend years trying to hold on to a faith they do not want to lose. Still, what they were taught to recognize as God never becomes clearly distinguishable from their own thoughts, emotions, hopes, or coincidences. This is the problem of divine hiddenness: If a perfectly loving God wants a relationship with people, why do sincere and willing people so often fail to find him? [1][2] What Christianity Says God Wants The argument starts with Christianity’s own claims, not with an atheist demanding constant miracles. The Bible repeatedly says that God wants to be kn...
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Mormon Blood and the Esther Cohen-Tizer-Epstein Letter

With the recent release of nearly 3.5 million pages of the Epstein files, there have been several connections made regarding Jeffery Epstein paying tuition for several students at BYU. The most notable of which is presented in what is known as the Esther Cohen-Tizer-Epstien Letter.    Some are questioning the authenticity of the letter, but some clues seem to point us to a woman named   Esther Cohen .  Lets look at a few connections. Note that these connections are not an attempt at making any accusations and are simply connections made through publicly available information. I will be updating this page as I find more information. EFTA00129111  Reference to the Seven Bowls School of Nutrition From Esther's website: alchemyofnourishment.com (Update March 04, 2026: The site seems to have been taken down) She began studying nutrition as a teenager: Which also seems to align with her site. Alchemy of Nourishment Along with the claim of residing in Colorado Alc...
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Candon Dahle to Marry After Child Abuse Conviction

Former BYU baseball player Candon Dahle is expected to marry this week, less than a year after receiving a plea deal that allowed him to avoid sex offender registration despite admitting guilt to two felony counts involving the abuse of a child. News of the wedding has reignited criticism online, where many argue Dahle's return to ordinary life has come far too quickly in light of the allegations against him.  The topic was recently discussed on Instagram by  @justinthenickofcrime View this post on Instagram A post shared by Justin (@justinthenickofcrime) Dahle first made headlines in February 2025 when he was charged in Fremont County, Idaho, with felony lewd conduct with a child under the age of 16. According to the probable cause affidavit summarized by East Idaho News , prosecutors alleged Dahle sexually abused an 11-year-old girl and covered her mouth during one of the assaults. Authorities also filed a separate juvenile case in neighboring Bing...
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Martinsburg Testimony Meeting Protest - Explained

A video from an LDS sacrament meeting in Martinsburg, West Virginia is once again making the rounds on social media. The footage shows two mothers interrupting a testimony meeting to warn fellow members that, in their view, local Church leaders had failed to protect children from a convicted child molester within their own congregation. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Brett Henry (@beardedrealtorutah) This event came after years of criminal proceedings, civil litigation, and allegations that Church leaders ignored warning signs while children continued to be abused. The case centered on Christopher Michael Jensen, who was sentenced in 2013 to 35 to 75 years in prison for sexually abusing two children, ages three and four. Court records also show that allegations against Jensen stretched back to 2004, when, at just 13 years old, he was arrested and charged with two felony counts involving the sexual abuse of two girls at his middle school. According...
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[Satire] Mormon Church Announces Grand Prismatic Temple in Yellowstone National Park

 SALT LAKE CITY. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced plans today to construct the Grand Prismatic Temple near Yellowstone National Park's Grand Prismatic Spring. The temple will serve members throughout the Greater Yellowstone region while providing worthy visitors with an opportunity to worship in one of the world's most recognizable natural settings. Church President Dallin H. Oaks announced the temple during a special localized broadcast, describing it as "another house of the Lord built to bless God's children and stand as a witness of Jesus Christ." According to the Church, the temple will be positioned directly beyond the Grand Prismatic Spring, allowing the building to be visible from much of the existing boardwalk and observation areas. Officials said the location was selected following years of planning, prayer, environmental study, and consultation with local Church leaders. The proposed site is located on federally protected land t...
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"Musket Fire" - a Response to Jeffery Holland

      On August 23, 2021, Jeffrey R. Holland stood before Brigham Young University’s faculty, staff, and administrators at the school’s annual University Conference in Provo, Utah. Holland was not merely a visiting Church leader. He was a former president of BYU, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and, at the time, chairman of the executive committee of the university’s Board of Trustees. His address, titled “ The Second Half of the Second Century of Brigham Young University, ” was presented as a reflection on BYU’s future and the religious mission that, in his view, must continue to distinguish it from other universities.     The full speech was shared by @byuspheeches      The timing could hardly have been more charged. That same day, BYU president Kevin Worthen announced the creation of a new Office of Belonging , intended to coordinate the university’s efforts to address prejudice and help marginalized members of the campus co...
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Arizona Supreme Court Ruling on Child Abuse Reporting

  On July 30, 2026, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that two bishops of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were not legally required to report a member’s admissions of child sexual abuse. [1] The ruling did not dispute that the bishops knew about the abuse. It did not dispute that no report was made. It also did not dispute that the abuse continued for years before law enforcement began investigating a video that the abuser had posted online. [1] [3] Instead, the court focused on a narrower legal question: Was it legally acceptable for the two bishops NOT to report the abuse? What the LDS Bishops Knew Around 2011, Paul Adams privately told Bishop John Herrod of the Bisbee Ward in Arizona that he had sexually abused one of his children. Herrod then arranged another meeting with Adams and his wife, Leizza, during which Adams repeated the disclosure. [1] [3] When Robert “Kim” Mauzy replaced Herrod as bishop in 2012, Herrod told him about the abuse. Mauzy convened a for...
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The "Mormon" Trademark is About to Expire

 The request for Mormon Stories to rebrand has spread quickly through Mormon spaces. Followers learned that om November 14th 2025, the LDS Church had reached out with claims that the podcast was infringing on the “Mormon” trademark. The demand leaned on the legal idea that the Church owns the word.  The request was shared on social media by @mormstories, but those posts seem to have been removed. Fortunately, copies of the email were  shared on reddit. But there is a significant detail sitting behind this entire dispute. The Church will have to renew the "Mormon" trademark in the 2026 to 2027 window.  Source: USPTO database When that time comes, they must prove that they still use the word “Mormon” in active commerce. USPTO rules are clear on this point. A trademark only survives if the owner can show that it is still printed on actual goods or services that are still being sold or distributed. The official guidelines spell it out at uspto.gov under “ Keeping your r...
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What Would It Take to Show Christianity Is False?

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Are You Temple Worthy?

Temple worthiness isn’t just about "good behavior" in Mormon teaching. It’s a gate that determines who qualifies for the highest blessings the religion offers. The church teaches that only people judged worthy can enter the temple, make covenants, and receive the ordinances that lead to exaltation, which is the belief that humans can become like God and live forever with their families in the celestial kingdom.  This makes worthiness interviews a spiritual checkpoint that can shape someone’s identity, their standing in the community, and even their hope for eternity.    Are You Worthy to Enter a Mormon Temple? Are You Worthy of the Mormon Temple? Yes No Restart Enter the Temple
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How the Book of Mormon Has Changed Since 1830

     Discussion of changes to the Book of Mormon often settles into two opposing claims: either the book has remained essentially unchanged since 1830, or later editors rewrote it beyond recognition. The reality is that both positions carry a bit of truth. Although the main narrative remains recognizable, the book has changed in several distinct ways. Its wording and grammar were revised in the early editions.⁶ , ⁷ The chapter and verse system was reorganized in 1879, while chapter summaries were added in 1920.¹⁹ Those summaries and other study aids were revised again in 2013 and 2025.²⁰ , ²¹ Following these changes in chronological order makes their differences easier to see. The history begins with dictation in 1829 and continues through the original and printer’s manuscripts, the 1830 printing, Joseph Smith’s revisions, and the later editorial committees that produced the modern edition. Tracing that sequence also makes it possible to distinguish changes to the script...
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