FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Brigham Young/Criticisms related to
Criticisms of Brigham Young
Jump to Subtopic:
- Brigham Young's Adam-God theory
- Brigham Young's personal beliefs
- Brigham Young and Joseph Smith's First Vision
- Brigham Young's involvement in Freemasonry
- Brigham Young and the Word of Wisdom
- Response to Passing the Heavenly Gift: Claims about Brigham Young and apostles not being witnesses of Christ
- Prosecution of the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Brigham Young's Adam-God theory
Summary: Brigham Young taught that Adam, the first man, was God the Father. Since this teaching runs counter to the story told in Genesis and commonly accepted by Christians, critics accuse Brigham of being a false prophet. Also, because modern Latter-day Saints do not believe Brigham's "Adam-God" teachings, critics accuse Mormons of either changing their teachings or rejecting teachings of prophets they find uncomfortable or unsupportable.
Jump to details:
- Question: What is the Adam-God Theory?
- Question: What is the history of Brigham Young's Adam-God Theory and why was it rejected by the Church?
- Stephen E. Robinson: "Yet another way in which anti-Mormon critics often misrepresent LDS doctrine is in the presentation of anomalies as though they were the doctrine of the Church"
- Matthew Brown (2009): "Brigham Young repeated these ideas and expounded upon them during the next 25 years. His viewpoints have been variously classified as doctrine, theory, paradox, heresy, speculation, and some of the mysteries"
- Question: If the Adam-God doctrine isn't true, how come D&C 27:11 calls Adam the Ancient of Days which is clearly a title for God in Daniel 7?
- Question: What attempts have been made to reconcile the Adam-God Theory with the doctrines of the Church?
- Question: Was the "Adam-God" theory ever taught as part of the temple endowment ceremony as something called "the lecture at the veil"?
Brigham Young's personal beliefs
Jump to details:
- Question: Was Brigham Young a "young earth creationist"?
- Question: Did Brigham Young believe that he would one day become president of the United States?
- Question: Why did Brigham Young say that women "have no right to meddle in the affairs of the Kingdom of God"?
- REDIRECTEvents after the First Vision
Brigham Young's involvement in Freemasonry
Jump to details:
Brigham Young and the Word of Wisdom
Jump to details:
- Question: Did Brigham Young violate the Word of Wisdom by using snuff, tobacco, and tea?
- Question: Why did Brigham Young build a whiskey distillery in Utah?
- Question: Why did Brigham Young instruct members of the Church to grow tobacco in Utah?
Response to Passing the Heavenly Gift: Claims about Brigham Young and apostles not being witnesses of Christ
Jump to details:
- Apostles as personal witnesses of Christ
- Question: Did any nineteenth century leader after Joseph Smith report divine visions?
- Question: Did any twentieth century leader after Joseph Smith report divine visions?
Brigham Young and the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Jump to details:
- Question: Did Brigham Young block prosecution of the individuals responsible for the Mountain Meadows Massacre?
- Question: Was prosecution of those responsible for Mountain Meadows Massacre blocked by the Church?
- Question: Was there a "deal" made with Brigham Young regarding prosecution for the Mountain Meadows Massacre?
- Question: Did Brigham Young or the Church interfere with the trial of John D. Lee?
- Other Resources on Brigham Young and the Mountain Meadows Massacre