Documentary Refutes Long-Held Tenet of LDS Church
by Chad Groening
December 8, 2003
(AgapePress) - One of the nation's best-known critics of Mormonism says a new video questioning the authenticity of the Book of Mormon is powerful because it presents research done by Mormons themselves.Living Hope Ministries has produced the film DNA vs. the Book of Mormon, which uses the testimonies of scientific experts -- including several Mormons and former Mormons, one a former bishop in the church. They say their research shows there is no DNA evidence supporting the Book of Mormon's claim that the people described in the book migrated from Israel to America centuries before Christ and were the ancestors of the American Indian. [See Earlier Article]
Sandra Tanner, a long-time critic of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, says the Mormon scientists' realization of the truth is what makes the video so powerful. She says during the interviews with the scientists, it was obvious they had hoped and anticipated that their findings would validate -- not refute -- the claims found in the Book of Mormon.
"These were not men jumping on the bandstand saying 'Hurrah! We now have the evidence against the Book of Mormon,'" Tanner says. "These were men who obviously were feeling bad that this was the outcome -- and that's what makes it powerful."
Tanner explains the researchers struggled with what they discovered. "[The video] becomes powerful by the mere fact that these guys are not 'anti-Mormon;' they're Mormons who have grieved over this [and] have struggled with this," she says.
Despite the powerful evidence in the 49-minute documentary, Tanner says the average Mormon is trained to rely on emotion or spiritual experience beyond anything in science when it comes to believing the truth about the Book of Mormon. The website for the video includes short clips of interviews with several of the scientists involved in the research.
