By Jerald and Sandra Tanner

About forty years ago we (Jerald and Sandra Tanner) became acquainted with LaMar Petersen. Mr. Petersen, raised in a devout LDS home, had been studying Mormonism for many years before we came on the scene, and had written a very important pamphlet entitled, “Problems in Mormon Text.” In addition, Mr. Petersen was working on another manuscript and allowed us to read it. At that time we were thoroughly convinced that the Book of Mormon was divinely inspired and came from ancient gold plates that Joseph Smith translated.

Although we respected LaMar Petersen’s diligent research and kindness towards us, we could not agree with the material we found in his manuscript. It obviously was an attempt to connect Smith with the occult and to undermine belief in the Book of Mormon. Consequently, we tried to disprove the allegations.

As it turned out, we continued to believe in the authenticity of the Book of Mormon until near the end of 1962. We then concluded that Mr. Petersen was correct after all. We were the ones who had not adequately done our homework.

Mr. Petersen paid a high price for delving into the mysteries of Mormonism. He was, in fact, excommunicated from the Mormon Church because of his stand for the truth. We highly recommend LaMar Petersen’s new book, The Creation of the Book of Mormon: A Historical Inquiry.

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