By Jerald and Sandra Tanner

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Sometime ago we announced that we were working on a book which we felt would be one of the most revealing works ever written on the subject of Mormonism. Because of a lack of money and time we have not been able to do much on this work. We now have a plan, however, which we feel will enable us to get this work out. Since it is such a large work, it will have to be printed in several volumes. We have now written part of volume one, and we are ready to start printing. It will entitled The Case Against Mormonism. We feel that it is our largest and most important work.

We are asking our readers to pay for volume one in advance so we can start printing right away. We will mail the sheets out as they are printed. We will try to send at least 20 printed sheets at a time. Volume one will contain 100 or more 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheets, which will contain a lot of information.

We are very anxious to see these pages preserved; therefore, we are including a top quality vinyl loose-leaf binder with 19 rings (most binders have only 3 rings) the pages will be punched and our readers can put the pages in the binder as they arrive.

These loose-leaf binders sell retail from General Binding Corp. for over $3.00 a piece but we plan to get them in quantity at a much lower price. Therefore, we will be able to sell both the binder and volume one of The Case Against Mormonism for only $4.95. The loose-leaf binder will be large enough to hold several other volumes. In these volumes we will deal with many new subjects. We can only present a very small portion of the material here.

Is All Well in Zion?

In 1966 Wallace Turner, former Pulitzer Prize winner and correspondent for the New York Times, published his book The Mormon Establishment. In this book Mr. Turner shows that the Mormon Church is facing several serious problems. Fawn M. Brodie, author of No Man Knows My History, has called this a “courageous book.” At the same time Mr. Turner’s book was published another book appeared, entitled The Latter-day Saints: The Mormons Yesterday and Today. This book was written by Robert Mullen, a former editor of Life Magazine who now “runs a world-wide public relations agency.” Although Mr. Mullen claims to be a non-Mormon, the book is obviously written in defense of the Mormon Church. John Cogley, of the New York Times, reviewed both Mr. Turner’s book and Mr. Mullen’s book in an article entitled “Where the Saints Have Trod.” In this review he stated:

The Mullen book smacks of the “authorized” account, with just enough mildly unfavorable material to make it credible to modern critical readers. Not surprising, Mr. Mullen, a Washington public relations professional, has been retained by the Church of Latter-Day Saints. Mr. Turner is a New York Times correspondent, who has made a study of the church’s teachings and regards the Mormons as a “fine people” but finds some of their doctrines repellent.

. . . .

Forty-eight pages of the Turner book, for example, are devoted to what the author terms the Mormon’s “anti-Negro doctrine.” Mr. Mullen glides past the same doctrine in one-half of a compound sentence: “The Mormon theology has taught that the Negro race is not eligible for certain priesthood activities, although Negroes are welcome as Church members . . .”

. . . .

Mr. Mullen’s book traces the familiar history . . . The story as history is endlessly fascinating. Unfortunately though, Mr. Mullen is too obvious about avoiding the “back corners” of Mormonism to put the Gentile reader wholly at ease. His swift passing over of issues that might possible embarrass the church is all too evident all too frequently. Even his choice of words to describe the few disedifying incidents he tackles appears to have been made with Madison Avenue forethought.

Mr. Turner filled in what Mr. Mullen avoided, but at times perhaps a bit too eagerly. Mr. Turner is a skilled, experienced reporter. . . . It is known that Mr. Turner’s earlier newspaper accounts of the Mormon dilemmas upset some in the church hierarchy. It does seem not altogether coincidental, then, that these two books should be turning up at the same time. (New York Times, Book Review Section, October 23, 1966, page 4 and 22)

[Bold in quotations added for emphasis and does not appear in originals.]

One area in which Robert Mullen’s book is way off is that concerning the effectiveness of the Mormon missionary program. He claims:

Ten years later, 1962, the number of missionaries had almost quadrupled to 11,768 and the number of converts for the year was listed at 104,841.

In the years since, these figures have stabilized at about 12,000 missionaries and upward of 180,000 converts a year. But the interesting figure to many non-Mormon church people is the figure of average converts per missionary. This has risen in the past decade and a half from under four per missionary to above nine!

This reveals that the acceleration is not due merely to an increase in missionary numbers, but even more significantly is due to an improvement in missionary effectiveness. It is a point of immense interest to other denominations, faced with the desire for more members. (The Latter-day Saints: The Mormons Yesterday and Today, page 225)

While it must be admitted that the Mormon missionary effort has been very effective, it has not been nearly as successful as Mr. Mullen would have us believe. If Mr. Mullen had stated that the Mormon missionary program is bringing in 80,000 converts a year, instead of 180,000, he would have been much closer to the truth. Below are two charts showing the number of fulltime missionaries from 1961 to 1965 (the figures were not yet available for 1966). These figures were taken from the Church Section of the Deseret News and from the Conference Reports.

When the number of converts began to drop the excuse given was that there were less full-time missionaries. While it is true that there were less missionaries in 1963 and 1964 than there were in 1962, there were more missionaries in 1965 than any other year. There were 1,725 more full-time missionaries in 1965 than there were in 1961, and yet there were less converts. There were more full-time missionaries in 1965 than there were in 1962, and yet there were 33,379 less converts!

In 1959 the Mormon missionaries brought 23,026 people into the Church. In 1960 they brought in 48,586. This was an increase of 100%. In 1961 they brought in 88,807 converts. In 1962 Henry D. Moyle, a member of the First Presidency, felt that they would “record another 100 per cent increase.” The following appeared in the Deseret News:

In his publicly expressed view, President Henry D. Moyle of the First Presidency, who, under the assignment of President David O. McKay, directs the great world-wide missionary effort of the Church, feels 1962 will record another 100% increase as did 1961. (Deseret News, Church Section, December 30, 1961, page 4)

In order to meet Mr. Moyle’s prediction, the missionaries would have needed to bring in over 170,000 converts in 1962. Instead they brought in 115,834. Still, this was a good increase. A minister reported that when he called the Church and asked for the number of converts for 1962, the man in the Missionary Department read the number and then stated that they would soon be bringing in a million converts a year. The next year after this prediction was made, the number of converts dropped to 105,210. In 1964 it was predicted that 100,000 converts would be brought into the Church:

Constant march of LDS missionaries to all parts of the world will maintain its high tempo in 1965 with a total of approximately 100,000 converts expected by the end of 1964.

. . . .

Preaching the Gospel and baptizing of converts has been on a steady upward trend since the first missionaries started their march . . . in 1830. (Deseret News, Church Section, December 26, 1964)

Instead of bringing in the 100,000 converts, the figures dropped to 93,483. The next year (1965) the number of converts again fell off. That year they brought in only 82,455 converts.

Skyscrapers

In 1960 the Mormon Church leaders announced some fantastic building plans. These plans would almost make a person think that the Mormon leaders believed that they would be bringing in a million converts a year. The headline of the Deseret News for October 7, 1960 read: “Pres. McKay Opens Conference; Vast Building Plans Disclosed.” In the article which followed these statements were made:

A dramatic multi-million dollar building program for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which will make sweeping changes on the administrative square and on Temple Square, was disclosed Friday.

The program, covering a period of many years, calls for:

—Erection of a 38-story office building on the administrative square bordered by State, South Temple, Main and North Temple Streets.
—Construction of a modernistic 11-story Archives Building on the northeast corner of the intersection of Main and North Temple Streets.

Larger Annex

—Building a larger and more functional Temple Annex building that will provide 91,000 square feet of space.
—Addition of a 17 story annex to the Hotel Utah . . .

Church Building Committee Chairman Wendell Mendenhall said demolition of the buildings that will be razed—many of them well-known landmarks—should begin next spring.

He could not give an estimate of the amount of time that will be required to complete the project, but observed that “it will take years.”

A plaza with a fountain will be centered in the block behind the new Administration Building.

A reflecting pool on an axis across Main Street from the Temple will mirror the historic building.

To tower 500 feet above ground level, the new office building will be the first structure on the block to go up, Mr. Mendenhall said.

It will be erected on the northeast corner of the block, . . .

Mr. Mendenhall said the skyscraper will provide more than a million square feet of office space, with 30,000 square feet on each floor.

Plans for an observation tower atop the proposed 38-story Administration Building are tentative. Building Office spokesmen said telescopes may be installed for viewing the Salt Lake Valley from atop the building.

He said that the building, when completed, will have extra space for expansion.

. . . .

It will require about 20 elevators, Mr. Mendenhall said.

. . . .

The new Archives Building will house the Church Historian’s offices and library, the archives and library of the Genealogical Society.

The building will be of steel and concrete construction, and will provide approximately 400,000 square feet of office space, . . .

Construction of the Archives Building may begin in approximately a year to 15 months, Mr. Dunn said. (Deseret News, October 7, 1960 page 1 and 10A)

According to the Deseret News for May 6, 1961, the Mormon Church had even greater plans. Not only were they going to build a 38-story office building, but also a new Genealogical building “expected to be the largest genealogical research center in the world, “and the 11-story Archives Building had been increased to 15 stories:

The Historian’s Office and Library will be quartered in a new 15-story Archives building on the northeast corner of Main and North Temple opposite the Relief Society Building.

The Genealogical Society, including the Temple Archives and the rapidly expanding research library with their microfilm viewing machines, will occupy a new research center to be erected on Redwood Road and 21st South.

Construction of both buildings is expected to get under way next spring.

. . . It is expected to be the largest genealogical research center in the world.

Present quarters of the Genealogical Society . . . will be razed to provide for widening of North Temple Street and permit construction of the planned 38-story Church Administration Building. (Deseret News, Church Section, May 6, 1961, page 3)

Newsweek, for January 22, 1962, announced that the Mormon leaders also were going to build a 30- or 40-story skyscraper in New York:

The biggest commercial enterprise in the West, excepting only the massive Bank of America in California, is a strictly non-commercial organization . . . known as the Mormons . . . income pours in from the church’s vast collection of business and real-estate investments, . . . the cash flow reaches an estimated $1 million a day . . .

But even true believers might be surprised by the latest investment, announced last week in New York. The Mormon church purchased (for $1.3 million) a plot of land in the heart of Mid-town Manhattan as a site for a “30- or 40-story” skyscraper to include a chapel, auditorium, library, church administrative offices, along with offices or apartments for public rental. The building, scheduled to open in 1965, . . . (Newsweek, January 22, 1962, pages 67-68)

Just one week later, the Deseret News announced that work would soon begin on the skyscraper in Salt Lake City. The article stated, however, that the size of the building had been cut from 38 stories to 30 stories. The article also stated that the work of clearing the site for the 15-story Archive Building was to begin in May:

Work will soon begin on one of the major building projects of the Church—a 30-story General Administration Building in the heart of Salt Lake City.

Plans for the building, first announced in October 1960 indicated the building would rise upward 38 stories.

J. Howard Dunn, in charge of project development for the Church Building Committee, said this week plans were changed to meet mechanical requirements of the engineering department. Heating and air conditioning factors will best be handled in 14-story units above the second floor, he said. . . .

Elder Dunn said present plans call for work to start April 15 . . .

Also included in the extensive building program to care for the fast growing administrative needs of the Church is the Archives Building, expected to reach 15 stories, on the northeast corner of Main and North Temple Streets across from the Relief Society Building. Historical offices and files have outgrown present available space in the Church Office Building.

The Church Building Committee said the work of clearing the site for the Archives Building will start in May according to present plans. (Deseret News, Church Section January 27, 1962, pages 8-9)

The site for the Archives Building was cleared, however, instead of the building going up, the site was made into a parking lot.

In an article published in the Deseret News, November 17, 1962, we find that the 38-story building was again cut down this time to 25 stories. No explanation appeared in the article as to why the building was to be smaller: These old school buildings have been torn down to make way for the new 25-story Church Administration building and huge half-block subterranean parking area.

In 1966 Wallace Turner gave this report in regard to the progress of this building:

The building was started. The great underground garage has been completed. It includes the foundations for the twenty-five-story building. But as this is written, the plans for the building itself seem to have been shoved into a drawer somewhere. The roof of the garage is being covered with dirt for lawn, and the bare metal of the steel supports for the walls of the building are being treated against corrosion, since they stick up about three feet above the concrete of the garage roof. The plans are at a standstill.

But in typical Mormon fashion, the top leaders of the church speak of a “progression of plans for the building. The work is moving forward.” Hugh B. Brown, the first counselor to President McKay, insisted that the office building was being constructed according to plan. (The Mormon Establishment, by Wallace Turner, pages 115-116)

The Mormon leaders will, no doubt, put up a building, but even if it is 25 stories, it will certainly not be according to the original plan.

The skyscraper in New York which, according to Newsweek, was supposed to be finished in 1965 has not even been started. On February 9, 1967, we called the Building Department of the Mormon Church. After talking with four different people, we were unable to find out anything concerning this building except that the plans had not even been drawn up!

The proposed Genealogical Research Center (which was expected to be “the largest genealogical research center in the world”) was supposed to have been started in 1962, but according to a statement given by an employee of the Genealogical Society of February 9, 1967, the plans are at a standstill. He felt that when the 25-story Administration Building was completed, the Genealogical Society would move into it.

The Mormon writer John J. Stewart assures us that “Today the LDS Church is in excellent financial condition, having one of the greatest incomes of any private organization in the United States. More than a million dollars per day in tithing and other funds pour continuously into its treasury” (Joseph Smith The Mormon Prophet, 1966, page 183).

If the Mormon Church is in such excellent financial condition, why have they not gone forward with their “vast” building plans? Actually, it is almost impossible to find out the true financial condition of the Church because the Mormon leaders will not make this information available. Under such a system it would be very easy for someone in authority to walk off with some of the funds or for the Mormon leaders to make bad investments without the membership of the Church being aware of it. We feel that it is wrong for a church to keep this information from its people.

False Scripture

Wallace Turner stated:

The foundation on which this whole doctrine of Negro exclusion is based is the clause or so in the Book of Abraham. Yet, of all the works attributed to Joseph Smith, this one is the most thoroughly denounced by the scholarly world. . . . I am convinced by very simple direct evidence that the Book of Abraham is a spurious translation. (The Mormon Establishment, pages 232-233)

In The Case Against Mormonism we hope to bring forth a lot of new information upon this subject.

In 1966 one of the world’s greatest Egyptologists Dr. Labib Habachi visited Salt Lake City. The Mormon leaders entertained him and even published an article about him in the Church Section of the Deseret News. This article called him an “ Egyptian Expert.” Below is a photograph of this article as it appeared in the Deseret News, Church Section, March 12, 1966.

Grant Heward, a Mormon who wanted to know the truth concerning Joseph Smith’s purported translations of the Egyptian language, wrote to Dr. Habachi. He sent him the facsimiles from the Book of Abraham (which is published in the Pearl of Great Price and is one of the four standard works of the Mormon Church) and Joseph Smith’s Egyptian Alphabet & Grammar. Dr. Habachi examined the documents, and, in a letter dated January 15, 1967, he stated:

I have been very late in answering your letters, but believe me, I have been hesitating to write the answer at all. The reason is that when I have been in Salt Lake City and saw the wonderful organizations of the Mormons, I could only admire them and their way of life. I have been in the welfare center for helping the poor, in the Music Hall, in the headquarters of the top people, where I met many distinguished personalities, and in the caves where the records are kept.

Now you are sending me a film, an Egyptian Grammar, some quotations about Egyptians and coloured people. These, I have to say, are simple imaginations and no scholar at all can ever approve anything in these documents of the Mormons. A long time ago, the Mormons were able to purchase some chapters of the Book of the Dead found everywhere in many tombs of the New Kingdom. These were interpreted in a rather funny way, not based on any scientific foundations. This is perhaps the reason why they attacked Egyptologists who would never understand Joseph Smith’s translations. Of course, they cannot understand with their background any of such translations!

I would not like to shake your faith. There is no question that the Mormons have planned a wonderful organization, but I have to tell you, as an Egyptologist, that their claim to understand hieroglyphics is mere imagination. So forget about that claim and go on with a true Christian spirit in the life you are leading. (Letter from Dr. Labib Habachi to Grant Heward, dated January 15, 1967)

In one of the volumes of The Case Against Mormonism we plan to have many other letters from Egyptologists showing that Joseph Smith’s translations were spurious.

Some of our readers have requested us to mark the changes in Joseph Smith’s revelations. We hope to show many of these changes in volume one of The Case Against Mormonism.

The following are some of the other subjects we hope to deal with in these volumes:

• The Temple Ceremony
• Changes in the Temple Ceremony
• Proof that the Book of Mormon is a product of the 19th century
• The failure of the bank that was established by revelation
• The truth about Robert C. Webb
• Bogus money
• The book that disappeared
• The Mormon Battalion
• Treason
• The Inspired Revision of the Bible
• The 1826 trial of Joseph Smith
• The principle of Adoption
• The Church Law Observance and Enforcement Committee
• The secret Council of 50 and its attempt to destroy freedom in America
• The Mormon wars in Missouri and Utah
• David Whitmer’s little-known revelation
• Many cases of stealing and killing in the name of the Lord, and hundreds of other important subjects.

We also hope to include hundreds of photographs of rare Mormon documents and publications. In short, we feel that this will be the most revealing work ever written on the subject of Mormonism.

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