The Mormon Delusion. Volume 4. The Mormon Missionary Lessons - A Conspiracy to Deceive.

by Jim Whitefield

The fourth in ‘The Mormon Delusion’ series tracks the Mormon ‘Missionary Lesson Manual’ as taught to investigators, and lesson by lesson, exposes and explains the truth behind the false teachings. At every stage, unsuspecting investigators are taught a fictional account of Mormon history and teachings by faithful missionaries who themselves have no idea they are teaching provable fiction. This book exposes the underlying truth behind Joseph Smith’s original fraudulent claims and modern-day fictional Mormon teachings. Evidence from within Mormon Church history and Mormon so-called scripture proves conclusively that the Mormon Church continues in a conspiracy to deceive its own members, missionaries and their investigators alike. At the end of a journey through this book there will be nothing left for an investigator to take to the Lord in prayer in order to obtain an answer as to whether what the Mormon Church teaches is true. Common sense and reason alone will be enough to determine the truth of the matter.

Genres: Mormonism, History

574 pages, Paperback

First published February 9, 2011

About the author

Jim lives with his wife Catriona in Surrey, England.
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Converted to the Mormon Church in 1960 at age fourteen, after forty-three years of clinging to that faith, Jim resigned membership in 2003 for no other reason than he could no longer hold to belief in God. He never considered why the Mormon Church was not true and assumed Joseph Smith to have been a good, albeit deluded man. Three years later, quite by accident, Jim stumbled across early Mormon polyandry which Church leaders then confirmed was and is contrary to Mormon doctrine. Yet Jim had discovered evidence that early leaders married women who had living husbands. Something was seriously and alarmingly wrong.

This led to further research and day after devastating day, Jim discovered more and more of the truth. He somehow had to face and accept and then deal with the fact that Smith was a fraud who deliberately created a hoax to satisfy his own ambitions. Every aspect Jim looked at was demonstrably not true. Writing has been his therapy, resulting in ‘The Mormon Delusion’ series.

Jim did not intend to write further work but the Bible kept bothering him – so he decided to read it again. His latest book - The Bibe Delusion (which is not directly associated with Mormonism), is the result of this research.

Reviews

[Michael Oborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE MORMON DELUSION, Vol., 4.
What happens to a 19 Yr old member of the Mormon Church when he or she is called by the First Presidency to fulfill a 2-year mission to Canada, Mexico, Japan or any other country in the world?

Volume 4, The Mormon Delusion answers that question.
You would think that by age 19 a Mormon would know what his or her religion is all about. Not the case. These two years are where the backbone of Mormonism is created. Converts to The Church are gravy. The genius of this system is the Army of young Mormon men that return home steeled with testimony and a service ethic.

For two years the minds of young Mormon men, 57,000 strong, spend 15 hrs a day learning what the correct questions are and what the correct answers are. They pray (also a form of conditioning) over 20 times per day, profess a testimony (witness) a like number of times per day, plus or minus. When they meet resistance in the field they do not argue they ‘bear testimony’ to what they are teaching, namely; the truth of the restored gospel, that the Mormon Church is the only true church on earth, and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God.

There are several reasons that the Mormon Church has endured. This Army of conditioned young men is one of the most vital reasons.

Jim Whitefield covers this aspect of Mormonism in Volume 4 with veracity and careful attention to detail. It is an original work. Whitefield covered every inch of church history with an open-minded attitude. My copy of this work is replete with yellow markings and side notes. I could quote so many this would turn into another book instead of a review. It distills down to this, the approved history of Mormonism by the Mormon Church is absurd and fraudulent.

The harm done to the central nervous system by promoting inferior belief systems is the ultimate damage accomplished on human beings. In the case of Mormonism inferior beliefs retard growth, expression, democracy, and self-responsible freedom.

It took great heart to undertake a project of this magnitude.
No one paid Whitefield to write these four volumes. The research alone to make sure all the dates and facts were precise and accurate was prodigious. Whitefield’s reward could only come from one place; his devotion to others suffering the same deceit and heartbreak he had. After years of servitude that was euphemized by the Mormon Church as service to God Jim Whitefield sat down to write one of the most comprehensive and detailed account of the Mormon church available today.

I was born and raised in the Mormon Church, Southern Idaho, Northern Utah. At 19 I was called and fulfilled a two-year mission to Eastern Canada. I was 27-yrs of age when I came to understand that the beliefs I was raised with and had taught were less than healthy. Whitefield’s 5 volumes would have saved me many years or research if they had existed in 1964.

I know no other written works that are as thorough as The Mormon Delusion, Volumes One through Four. They need to be in every city and university library in the English-speaking world.
The Complete Mystery of Matthew Alcott

[Barbara O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Religion had a wild ride in 19th century America. Transcendentalism was born about 1830 and grew into a major cultural movement that still influences us today. The antebellum period saw prominent Christian denominations split apart over slavery. After the Civil War Americans became fascinated with spiritism and trying to contact the dead through seances. Transcendentalism plus spiritism plus Orientalism gave rise to Theosophy. Idealistic Christians formed the Social Gospel movement. Premillennialist eschatology grew in popularity and by the end of the century had been folded into a new movement, Fundamentalism, which would have a huge impact on the 20th century.

Within this dynamic crucible of religious development, Mormonism was born. Founded by Joseph Smith in the 1820s, at first Smith and his Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seemed like many other "restorationist" Christian groups that had sprung up in the 18th and early 19th centuries. But Smith and his teachings grew increasingly distant from Christian orthodoxy. After Smith's death at the hands of a mob in 1844, most of the LDS faithful were led West by Brigham Young to begin building their church into the controversial international organization it is today.

I think it's useful to look at Mormonism's beginnings in 19th century America, because much of it still echoes with 19th century American religious culture. In particular the exotic esotericism combined with literalist scripture interpretation makes it seem like the love child of B. B. Warfield and Madame Blavatsky. But how is it surviving in the 21st century?

Jim Whitefield's series The Mormon Delusion is essential reading for anyone trying to understand Mormonism, both its history and how it exists today. Whitefield is a former Mormon-turned-atheist who provides an insider's exhaustive knowledge of a faith that remains mysterious to outsiders.

What is the appeal of this relic of 19th century Americana? Why, among so many other religious movements initiated then, has Mormonism continued to thrive?

I chose to begin with The Mormon Delusion. Volume 4. The Mormon Missionary Lessons - A Conspiracy to Deceive. to answer this question. Young Mormon men are strongly encouraged to devote two years to proselyting, and some young women do likewise. Volume 4 of TMD explains exactly how the young people are prepared to go forth and win converts to their oddly anachronistic faith.

Whitefield describes a pattern of rigid indoctrination that discourages genuine questioning and reflection. This is necessary, Whitefield says, because Mormon doctrines -- which have undergone many changes since Joseph Smith's day -- are full of internal inconsistencies, never mind having been subject to sudden and radical changes over the years.

Mormonism also is fenced in by literalism. Mormonism developed at a time when literalist scriptural interpretation was taking hold of Christianity. But most of Christianity has deep roots in earlier times, when mythic language still spoke to the psyche, and it has a deep tradition of theological scholarship that allows for questioning.

But Mormonism's roots are not that deep, and its origins are not nearly mysterious enough to hide how it was cobbled together out of fantastical stories that make no sense as myths. Like the proverbial frog, if you have to swallow the thing it's best to not chew it or even think about it much.

Although fundamentalists deny this, much Christian theology shows us that Christianity and faith in God are not dependent on believing the Garden of Eden had a geographical location or that an actual large fish swallowed Jonah. Bible stories have rich allegorical meanings that shine forth more clearly when you don't have to "believe in" them literally.

But I don't see that Mormonism's founding "myths" enjoy the same benefit; they appear to have no meaning other than to give divine authority to Joseph Smith and his doctrines. This means Mormonism really does depend on literal belief in fantastical things and could not survive a loss of that belief. This eventually could lead to its downfall, but at the moment it seems to be surviving pretty well.

There was a lot I did not realize about Mormon teachings. Whitefield says Mormons today are taught God has a physical body, for example, although that wasn't originally a Mormon doctrine. However, even in the early days as Whitefield presents them, Smith appeared to make it up as he went along. Whitefield argues also that the LDS Church is perpetually retooling itself to keep itself marketable. Polygamy was dropped years ago, of course. The Church is currently struggling to justify a teaching central to its myths, that Native Americans are descendents of a lost Hebrew tribe, which is now thoroughly debunked by DNA.

In short, Mormonism requires a degree of credulity high even by American religious standards. Is that credulity sustainable in an Internet age? I suspect the LDS Church will eventually be forced to move back toward mainstream Christian doctrine to survive.

Whitefield also criticizes Mormonism's current antagonism toward homosexuality and same-sex marriage. You may know that the LDS Church put a lot of effort into "Prop 8," a law meant to stop same-sex marriage in California that was found unconstitutional. More recently a church member named John P. Dehlin, who publicly advocated for welcoming homosexuals into the LDS Church, was ordered to either resign from the church or face a disciplinary council. Apparently the church isn't budging.

My biggest criticism of The Mormon Delusion, Volume 4: The Mormon Missionary Lessons is that (for my taste) Whitefield spends way too much time arguing with an unseen Mormon reader that Mormon doctrinal claims cannot possibly be factual. Someone who doesn't need to be persuaded can see this without being told and probably would be inclined to skip those parts, although I understand why Whitefield felt it important to make the arguments.

This is a richly detailed book, and the series as a whole is an invaluable resource for anyone trying to understand Mormonism.