From: gclapp@javelin.sim.es.com (Glenn Clapp)
Subject: SLCM1192-4/5
Organization: Evans & Sutherland Corp.
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 23:51:40 GMT


TESTING THE PROPHETS

        If the leaders of the Mormon Church did not make such
extravagant claims concerning their prophetic ability to detect
and fight off evil influences, it might be easier to accept the
idea that they were martyrs in the Hofmann scandal. Joseph Smith,
the first Mormon prophet, maintained that in his youth he had
seen a vision of both God and Christ. In this vision he was told
that all other churches were corrupt. The following statement by
Smith is taken from the Pearl of Great Price, one of the four
standard works of the church:

                "...I asked the Personages who stood above me in
        the light, which of all the sects was right... and which
        I should join. I was answered that I must join none of
        them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who
        addressed me said that all their creeds were an
        abomination in his sight; that those professors were all
        corrupt; that: 'they draw near to me with their lips, but
        their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines
        the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but
        they deny the power thereof.' He again forbade me to join
        with any of them..." (_Pearl of Great Price, Joseph
        Smith-- History_ 1:18-20)

        Mormon leaders teach that all other churches are in a
state of apostasy. More than fifty pages of the Introduction to
the _History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints_
are devoted to proving that all churches except the Mormon Church
are in apostasy. The following is found on page XL: "Nothing less
than a complete apostasy from the Christian religion would
warrant the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints." Church members are taught that only men who
hold the Mormon priesthood have the authority to administer in
the ordinances of the gospel. Consequently, those who perform
baptisms in other churches do not operate with any authority and
such baptisms are invalid in the sight of God.

        The Mormons, as we have pointed out, claim to be led by
revelation from God. Apostle Bruce R. McConkie made these claims
regarding Mormon revelation:


                "Our Lord's true Church is established and
        founded upon revelation. Its identity as the true Church
        continues as long as revelation is received to direct its
        affairs... without revelation there would be no legal
        administrators to perform the ordinances of salvation
        with binding effect on earth and in heaven.... Since The
        Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's
        true Church; and since the Lord's Church must be guided
        by continuous revelation ... we could safely conclude...
        that the Church today is guided by revelation.... the
        Spirit is giving direct and daily revelation to the
        presiding Brethren in the administration of the affairs
        of the Church.... The presence of revelation in the
        Church is positive proof that it is the kingdom of God on
        earth.... For those who reject these revelations there
        awaits the damnation of hell." (_Mormon Doctrine_, 1979,
        pages 646, 647, 650)

        Apostle McConkie also stated: "Members of the First
Presidency, Council of the Twelve, and the Patriarch to the
Church--because they are appointed and sustained as prophets,
seers, and revelators to the Church--are known as the living
oracles." (Ibid., p. 547)

        Unfortunately for church leaders, Mark Hofmann has put
the claim of revelation in the church to the acid test and found
that the "living oracles" are just as fallible as other men.
Because of this, President Hinckley, Apostle Oaks and other
Mormon leaders find themselves in a very embarrassing position.
At a time when revelation was really needed, they seemed to be
completely in the dark as to what was going on.

        In his youth Mark Hofmann undoubtedly was taught that
Mormon Church leaders were led by revelation and had the gift of
discernment to detect deceivers. The prophet Joseph Smith, in
fact, claimed he received a revelation from God himself warning
him that his enemies were falsifying an important religious
document (see _Doctrine and Covenants_, Section 10). Hofmann,
however, finally came to the conclusion that the church was not
led by revelation and that he could even deceive the "living
prophets" and the top Mormon scholars. In his confession, Mr.
Hofmann said that he could "look someone in the eye and lie" and
didn't believe that "someone could be inspired" in a religious
sense as to what "my feelings or thoughts were." He claimed that
he "had lost faith in the Mormon Church" and that he "wasn't
fearful of the Church inspiration detecting the forgery."
(_Hofmann's Confession_, pages 99, 112)

        Not only did church leaders fail to forsee through
revelation the threat Hofmann presented to the church, but they
completely ignored the many warnings about Hofmann's documents
which began appearing in our newsletter about eighteen months
before the bombings. In _Victims_, page 89 Richard Turley
commented about this matter: "Surprisingly, the article [in the
Salt Lake City Messenger, March 1984] concluded, 'While we would
really like to believe that the [Salamander] letter attributed to
Harris is authentic, we do not feel that we can endorse it until
further evidence comes forth....'" The _Los Angeles Times_,
August 25, 1984 reported that "The Tanners suggestion of forgery
has surprised some Mormons, who note that the parallels in
wording also could be taken as evidence of authenticity."
Thirteen months before the murders, September 1, 1984, the
church's own Deseret News printed the fact that "outspoken Mormon
Church critics Jerald and Sandra Tanner suspect the document is a
forgery, they told the Deseret News." In an article published in
the New York Times after the bombings Robert Lindsey wrote:


                "In a newsletter that he publishes with his wife,
        Sandra, Mr. Tanner began raising questions about their
        authenticity, in some cases comparing the texts with
        known Mormon writings.

                "But if senior Mormon officials were aware of his
        warnings they apparently paid little attention. Several
        of the church's highest officials have acknowledged
        negotiating to acquire documents from Mr. Hofmann until
        the day of the first two bombings." (_New York Times_,
        Feb. 16, 1986)

        Richard Lindsey has a quotation from Hugh Pinnock, the
Mormon General Authority who was working on the McLellin
transaction, which indicates that church leaders still believed
in Hofmann two or three days after the bombings. Writing on April
17, 1986, Pinnock observed: "'It seems that Hofmann has left a
trail of evidence. The only effective manner to understand this
situation is to realize that M[ark] H[ofman] was well considered
before 10-17 or 18th even though he fooled us all. M[ark]
H[ofmann] did not internalize the gospel.'" (_Victims_, page 271)

        Apostle Dallin Oaks met with Mark Hofmann just hours
after he had killed Kathleen Sheets and Steven Christensen. Oaks
never suspected that Hofmann was involved in the bombings and
encouraged him to go on with the McLellin transaction. On page
153 of Victims, Richard Turley wrote: "Oaks asked Hofmann if he
still intended to proceed with the closing on the collection...
Oaks told him he ought to get in touch with David E. West,
Sorensen's attorney, who would doubtless wonder how Christensen's
death would affect the transaction.... Oaks thanked Hofmann for
his work in discovering church documents and for his willingness
to sell the McLellin collection to someone 'friendly' to the
church."

        Apostle Oaks later made a feeble attempt to explain why
church leaders were unable to detect Hofmann's evil plans (see
_Confessions of a White Salamander_, page 64). He commented: "But
why, some still ask, were his deceits not detected by the several
Church leaders with whom he met?" Oaks maintained that Church
leaders "cannot be suspicious and questioning" of the many people
they meet with every year and noted that if "they fail to detect
a few deceivers... that is the price they pay to increase their
effectiveness in counseling, comforting, and blessing the
hundreds of honest and sincere people they see."

        Apostle Oaks never really answered the question. Mark
Hofmann was not meeting with church leaders for "counseling,
comforting, and blessing." He was meeting with them for the
express purpose of deceiving them so that they would give him
large amounts of money and authentic documents in exchange for
his fraudulent documents. Furthermore, he had many visits with
high Mormon officials. These meetings went on for years, yet
church leaders were unable to discern the wicked plan that
Hofmann had in his heart.

        While the Mormon leaders claim to have the same powers as
the ancient apostles in the Bible, their performance with regard
to Mark Hofmann certainly did not match up to that of Apostle
Peter when he caught Ananias and Sapphira red- handed in their
attempt to deceive the church with regard to a financial
transaction: "But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled
thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of
the price of the land?" (Acts 5:3)

        In a revelation given by Joseph Smith on March 8, 1831,
the Lord warned against being "seduced by evil spirits, or
doctrines of devils... beware lest ye are deceived; and that ye
may not be deceived seek ye earnestly the best gifts... it is
given by the Holy Ghost to some to know the diversities of
operations... to others the discerning of spirits.... And to the
bishop of the church, and unto such as God shall appoint... are
to have it given unto them to discern all those gifts lest there
shall be any among you professing and yet be not of God."
(_Doctrine and Covenants_ 46:7,8,16,23,27)

        Mormon Apostle Bruce R. McConkie proclaimed that church
leaders did have the gift of discernment: "...the gift of the
discerning of spirits is poured out upon presiding officials in
God's kingdom; they have it given to them to discern all gifts
and all spirits, lest any come among the saints and practice
deception.... There is no perfect operation of the power of
discernment without revelation. Thereby even 'the thoughts and
intents of the heart' are made known.... Where the saints are
concerned... the Lord expects them to discern, not only between
the righteous and the wicked, but between false and true
philosophies, educational theories, sciences, political concepts
and social schemes." (_Mormon Doctrine_ page 197)

        It would seem that if these powers were really
functioning in the church today, the "Prophet, Seer and
Revelator" would have received a revelation warning him
concerning Mark Hofmann's "cunning plan" to defraud and disgrace
the church. Furthermore, a revelation regarding his deception
would have prevented two people from dying.

        Spencer W. Kimball, who was the prophet and president of
the church at the time Hofmann first began deceiving church
leaders, was supposed to be a "seer" and have the power to
"translate all records that are of ancient date" (Book of Mormon,
Mosiah 8:13). The Book of Mormon also says that "a seer is
greater than a prophet... a seer is a revelator and a prophet
also; and a gift which is greater can no man have... a seer can
know of things which are past, and also of things which are to
come, and by them shall all things be revealed, or, rather, shall
secret things be made manifest, and hidden things shall come to
light..." (Mosiah 8:15-17)

        When Mark Hofmann brought the forged Anthon transcript,
which was supposed to contain characters Joseph Smith copied from
the gold plates of the Book of Mormon President Kimball was
unable to translate the characters. Instead of using the "seer
stone," he examined the characters which appear on the transcript
with a magnifying glass. Not only did he fail to provide a
translation, but he was unable to detect that the church was
being set up to be defrauded of a large amount of money and many
historical items out of its archives. Moreover, he entirely
failed to see the devastating and embarrassing effect this
transaction and others which followed would have on the Mormon
Church. If ever revelation from the Lord was needed, it was on
that day in 1980 when Mark Hofmann stood in the presence of
President Kimball.

        As President Kimball grew older, he became less able to
function and President Gordon B. Hinckley took over many of his
responsibilities and became to all appearances the acting
president of the church. Hinckley, who posed with Mark Hofmann,
President Kimball and other church leaders in a photograph taken
in 1980, was also deceived on a number of occasions by Mr.
Hofmann. He, together with Apostle Boyd K. Packer (also shown in
the picture) approved many of the deals the church made with
Hofmann.

        It appears that if the Mormon Church was ever led by
revelation, it has been lacking since Mark Hofmann came into the
church offices with the Anthon transcript. The inability of
Mormon leaders to detect the religious fraud perpetrated upon
them raises a question with regard to their testimony regarding
the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. After all, if they could
not determine that Hofmann's documents -- which were supposed to
be only 150 years old--were forgeries, how can we trust their
judgment with regard to a record which is supposed to be ten
times as old?

        The reader will remember that Apostle McConkie maintained
that "the Spirit is giving direct and daily revelation to the
presiding Brethren in the administration of the affairs of the
Church." One would think that if such revelation was in
operation, Mark Hofmann would have been exposed years before the
bombings. With regard to the inability of the Mormon leaders to
detect that the Hofmann documents were fraudulent, a person might
argue that these documents were not really important spiritual
writings, and therefore the Lord did not see fit to intervene
when the General Authorities examined them. The truth of the
matter, however, is that they contained extremely important
material directly relating to spiritual affairs. The Salamander
letter, for example, changed the story of the Angel Moroni
appearing to Joseph Smith to that of a cantankerous and tricky
"old spirit" who transformed himself from a white salamander and
struck Joseph Smith. Mormon Apostle Dallin Oaks tried to
reconcile the Salamander letter with Joseph Smith's account by
saying: "One wonders why so many writers neglected to reveal to
their readers that there is another meaning of 'salamander,'
which may even have been the primary meaning... That meaning...
is 'a mythical being thought to be able to live in fire.'... A
being that is able to live in fire is a good approximation of the
description Joseph Smith gave of the Angel Moroni.. the use of
the words white salamander and old spirit seem understandable."
("1985 CES Doctrine and Covenants Symposium," pages 22-23) After
the Salamander letter was proclaimed a forgery, Apostle Oaks must
have been very embarrassed that he ever made such an outlandish
statement.

        Significantly, some of the purported Joseph Smith
writings which Hofmann sold to the church contain revelations
from the Lord himself. For instance, the Joseph Smith III
Blessing document gives this message from the Lord: "Verily, thus
saith the Lord: if he abides in me, his days shall be lengthened
upon the earth, but, if he abides not in me, I, the Lord will
receive him, in an instant, unto myself."

        Mark Hofmann also forged an 1838 Joseph Smith letter to
his brother, Hyrum, which the Mormon Church purchased in 1983.
This letter was in its entirety a revelation purporting to come
from the Lord. It begins with the words, "Verily thus Saith the
Lord," and ends with the word "Amen." The fact that Mormon
leaders were not able to recognize the spurious nature of these
revelations casts doubt upon their ability to discern the
truthfulness of the other revelations given by Joseph Smith.

        The church has always claimed that it is virtually
impossible for a person to write a revelation that would compare
with Joseph Smith's. It now appears, however, that here is
someone who can write revelations comparable to Joseph Smith's
and that it is even possible to get them past the scrutiny of the
highest leadership of the Mormon Church.

        As we have noted earlier, another thing that shows the
church's lack of revelation in times of crisis is the way the
rediscovery of the McLellin collection was handled. President
Spencer W. Kimball died about three weeks after the bombings, and
Ezra Taft Benson became the 13th prophet on Nov. 10, 1985. It was
only four months after Benson became president of the church that
the McLellin collection was found in the First Presidency's
vault. On page 250 of his book, Richard Turley affirms that this
information was reported to the First Presidency in March 1986.

        One would think that at this vital period in the church's
history President Benson, "the living prophet," would have
had the insight to inform the other members of the First
Presidency that the McLellin collection must be made
available to investigators. Instead of Benson receiving the
word of the Lord to point the church in the proper way, it
seems that the heavens were silent and the Mormon leaders
were left to their own devices. While there are probably some
Mormons who would suggest that President Benson was led
by the Lord to suppress the discovery, we believe that most
members of the church would feel that such an idea would be
unthinkable.

        Some may excuse Benson's failure in this matter by saying
that he was too advanced in age to deal with such problems. While
there may be some truth in such an argument (he was 86 years old
at that time and just recently turned 93), this explanation does
not provide much comfort to the faithful. If Benson is not really
capable of leading the church through revelation, who is in
control? Although there were six General Authorities in the
Mormon Church who were informed about this matter, none of them
stepped forward to help investigators!

        Although Apostle Dallin Oaks would have us believe that
"Criticism is particularly objectionable when it is directed
toward Church authorities," there seems to be no way to get
around the fact that they must bear a great deal of the
responsibility in the Hofmann affair. If they had been open and
forthright about historical documents, Mr. Hofmann would not have
approached them with his blackmail-like documents with the idea
of filling his pockets with the church's money. Hofmann's
knowledge of the fact that church leaders were anxious to keep
anything embarrassing from falling into the hands of church
critics set the stage for the tragic events which followed.

        We understand that Lynn Packer, the man who brought to
light the story concerning Paul Dunn's deception, was working on
the story concerning the rediscovery of the McLellin even before
we became aware of it. It is reported that his article on the
subject may appear in the November issue of _Utah Holiday_
magazine. We are looking forward to this article.

        Those who wish to know more about the Mark Hofmann case
should obtain our books, _Tracking the White Salamander_ and
_Confessions of a White Salamander_. Both books are now available
in one volume for only $6.95 (mail orders add $1.50 minimum
postage). ------
-- 
=============================================================================
= Glenn Clapp                          |  gclapp@thunder.sim.es.com         =
= Evans and Sutherland Computer Corp.  |  My opinions are my own, but then  =
= Salt Lake City, Utah  (801) 582-5847 |  that's my opinion.                =