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One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church Paperback – Bargain Price, July 29, 2003

by Richard Abanes (Author)

4.8 155 ratings

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Founded in 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was initially perceived as a movement of polygamous, radical zealots; now in parts of the U.S. it has become synonymous with the establishment. In reevaluating its preoccupation with issues of church and state, Abanes uncovers the political agenda at Mormonism's core: the transformation of the world into a theocratic kingdom under Mormon authority. This illustrated edition has been revised and offers a new postscript by the author.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0058M6RXO
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books (July 29, 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 656 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1568582838
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1568582832
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.45 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.96 x 6.4 x 1.52 inches

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Northumbrian

Here's a Revelation for Some

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2011

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Richard Abanes has written a book, a study, that one imagines the leadership of the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City would prefer its members not to read. I'm guessing it won't be for sale in Deseret Books. With the Internet and international book buying opportunities, any publication that exposes LDS secret histories are, one imagines, now available to English-speaking peoples everywhere.

The Mormons have fewer missionaries in the field, and they seem to be going to more obscure places where English is not the first language: South America, Africa, the East Indies, and so on. One supposes this may be a fertile field for Mormon conversions because these peoples cannot read the new revelations about how Mormonism was founded, and how it got to where it is today, and how it intends to go on ... because books like "One Nation Under Gods" are not available in native languages and dialects.

An outstanding point made by Richard Abanes in his book is the edict by the Mormon leadership, the current Prophet, that anything that puts their Church in a bad light must (first) be evil and the work of Satan, and (second) be avoided if one wants to get back to the presence of the gods, to be a god.

Mormons tell prospective converts to pray to know if this or that is true, most especially the Book of Mormon, but these prospective converts are told to avoid anything that could lead them away from the Church's narrow aim. So, read what the Mormons tell you to, do not get the "other side" of the discussion.

In 2011, almost a decade after "One Nation Under Gods" was published, the Mormon Church is in the news for political reasons (could a Mormon become President of the USA?) and for the almost frivilous Broadway musical that makes light of the Church, but also makes it somehow loveable.

Richard Abanes discusses in some detail the concept of national and international domination that is in the Mormon handbook. The political kingdom of God is real to the committed LDS. When the present system is seen to break down, when the Constitution is seen to be "hanging by a thread" ... the Mormons will take over America, and then country by country around the world, ruling on behalf of their Gods (plural ... let's not forget that key belief ... Joseph Smith is a god now).

Is this nonsense? Richard Abanes goes through the story, the doctrine, the private papers and the sacred doctrines taught by Smith and his successors, and it becomes frighteningly clear.

There are other books now available that open other doors on Mormonism, on Joseph Smith's unpleasant personality, his upwards of 33 wives ... some young teenagers, his invention of Mormon doctrines. Then on to Brigham Young's continuation of Smith's near blood-lust. This is a fascinating area of study for Mormon or non-Mormon.

Should we give a hoot about Mormons? How many of them can there be? There are more Mormons than there are Jews, and Mormons, for the most part, are directed by a very few (elderly, ultra-conservative, bigotted, secretive, exclusively male, nearly exclusively white) men in Salt Lake City who all defer to the chief among them, the current Prophet. (Thomas Monson, at this moment.) Mormonism is a cult, plain and simple, no matter the toothy smiles and patriotic hymns from the Tabernacle Choir. Abanes covers this.

As I have said, Richard Abanes, with his look at the History of the Mormon Church, has made a fine and readable study. When you have read it, pass your copy along.

16 people found this helpful

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B & R

Everything about Mormonism hinges on Joseph Smith yet this book shows the truth Mormon's don't know

Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2011

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I also left the Mormon church. As an ex Mormon I see clearly how the structure of the church is used to train your mind to believe what they need you to believe. The many Mormon songs about the prophet or Joseph Smith keeps that teaching alive because they say the church is the only true church (per Joseph Smith) and that belief must be kept alive to keep people believing it.I feel that is why they print all study manuals so the work is done for you and you don't have to think for yourself.

I know when I was active everyone was told to avoid reading "anti Mormon" literature. Now I know why. The truth is in the History of the Church publications, the Journal of Discourses etc. There are many many changes to the first vision, and who Joseph Smith really was comes out in this book. For any of you current Mormon's reading this I do understand how you feel. I was just like you back then being obedient, too afraid to look because you are told you are safe with the prophet and how he will never lead you astray and how anything against the church is of the devil.

I was told by my sister to just pray about it and I will know the truth again(what she believes). I offered to send her copies of actual church history to show her that the real truth is in early church history and this Book One Nation Under Gods shows it.She kept saying "I don't want to see it", "I don't want to see it". My sister said the Holy Ghost departed from me because I left the church. Yes that same old story I remember hearing back then.... that fear of losing your family prevails.

I was afraid back then to look into what troubled my mind.I just couldn't get away from the thought of pologamy in heaven.I asked a lady how she felt about sharing her husband. She said there would need to be other mothers to produce millions of spirit babies. She told me she already had 10 kids and how hard it was. It would be too hard for 1 woman to have so many babies and it would not be thought of as sexual for her husband to have other wives...that is sick to me...I was told Heavenly Father won't make you do it if you are uncomfortable with it. That's not what the early prophets teach. They teach that is the ONLY way. Yes that is in this book and in the early church history. Pologamy is disgusting and just not really talked about much in the church.

What angered me the most about the brainwashing was how the love of our family is used to keep you hostage in the church especially when you went to the temple.You are told if you walk away you are walking away from your family and won't be with them in eternity. The fear is real when you are a faithful member. I used to defend Mormonism and really thought they had the same beliefs in Jesus as in Christianity. If that were so then why did Joseph Smith say God the Father and Jesus told them that all churches were corrupt and not to join any of them for they are all wrong? If that is the case why do Mormons say they ARE Christian? The bible is said to be corrupt in Mormonism " as far as it is translated correctly"(per Joseph Smith). How could Joseph Smith transalte the bible if he had no records from which to translate?

Yet the bible says there is a way to know if a prophet is a true prophet... if he makes a prophecy and just one prophecy doesn't come true then you know he is a FALSE prophet. Joseph Smith and the other Mormon prophets made MANY prophecies that didn't come to pass. Yet the LDS church explains away those things by saying the bible was corrupted. The Book of Mormon claims the Lamanites(American Indians) descended from the Israelites yet DNA proves that is not the case.The Mormon church explains that away saying the gene pool has been diluted over the years so it doesn't show the DNA. The Book of Mormon stories talk of horses and chariots used in wars, elephants, steel, wheat etc being used by the peoples in the Book of Mormon yet these things were not here on this continent at the time noted in the Book of Mormon. The great wars the books speaks of shows no archeological evidence of these people yet the Mormons claim they were the Inca and Mayan indians. This great battle at Hill Cumorah claims 10's of thousands died there yet there is no evidence and the church owns the property and could easily excavate to prove this yet they don't. The thousands of people in these stories are no where to be found. No steel swords at the battle ground of Hill Commorah, no evidence of the metals, certain grains etc. No cities waters, maps are anywhere to show where these places were that are told of in the Book of Mormon.Yet Biblical evidence is real of Jesus. The schrolls of Isiah have been found and Joseph's transaltion of Isiah have been shown to be false.

Reading this book One Nation under Gods I found out that Joseph Smith was a treasure digger, he and his family practiced the occult, used blood of an animal to make a circle around the area he claimed treasure was buried(his mother writes of it in he writings).....how Joseph Smith conned people out of money claiming he was a seer and used a "seer stone" in his hat to find such things. That same seer stone was also used to" translate the golden plates into the book of Mormon. The church doesn't teach that at all.How journals of the early leaders clearly speak of how Joseph put the stone in the hat, put his head into the hat and the images would appear and he would translate them.Once the scribe would write it and repeat it then it was assured it was correct and only then would the next image appear. Yet there were 1000's of changes made or deletions since then. Why if it was correct and of God during transaltion would there need to be so many changes? There is no known "reformed egyption" language known anywhere yet Joseph claims that was the what was etched on the plates. I never learned he used a hat and a stone for transaltion. The witness accounts are worded in the front of the Book of Mormon for one to believe the 3 and 8 witnesses actually "saw" the plates yet no one did. They were always covered. The they "saw" the plates was a vision not with their actual eyes. Makes you wonder why he felt the need to include a testimony of 3 and 8 witnesses in the fron of the book.

Joseph and other prophets also used divining rods regularly for revelations etc, like using the divining rod to find the place in Salt Lake where the temple would be built. Why does the church hide that? The church has these stones under lock and key in Salt Lake now.

The early writings of Joseph Smith's gold digging company and his partners talk of the story of the golden plates. They were to be used to find treasure, nothing about it was of a religious nature early on. It evolved into that. They church doesn't teach of the court case against Joseph Smith for gold digging and the people he ripped off. He lost the case. Actual records were found in New York proving this too.

The church doesn't teach Joseph Smith had 34 wives, many that he married while their husbands were alive and sent on missions. The church doesn't teach that Joseph Smith was a 33 degree Mason and the temple ceremony is a near replica of the Mason ceremony yet he is supposed to be a "true prophet".

The church knows that EVERYTHING about Mormonism hinges on the claim of Joseph Smith being a prophet. This is why I feel it is discouraged to find out about the early church history because you just can't deny the written word of the early church. The people in the Mormon church have to believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet or the church ceases to be true and the LDS church knows it.

Joseph Smith prophesied that there were people on the moon and they were 9 feet tall, prophecies gave specific dates of Jesus's second coming many times, and many many other bizaar things. Joseph Smith regularly carried a coin and cloth with occult marking on them.

So so many things I have discovered and I am not even done yet. The back of the book is full of footnotes showing exactly where this information came from so it is not just someone saying stuff to just bash the Mormon church. This book is written using the churches own history, journals newspaper accounts of various regions etc to validate what he has written.
.
This book is healing to me because I can read the truth and use it to deprogram my mind from the stuff I was told was true.I can say I know for myself that Joseph Smith was not a prophet. I used to be like the many great and fine people in the church.I trusted in the words of the prophet because we were always assured that he is the Lord's mouthpiece currently on the earth and you will NEVER be lead astray. So I did trust back then and I felt a comfort in that thought. There are many good things taught in the church like love of family. But now I know I don't need Joseph Smith's teachings to receive the gifts Jesus Christ gave to all of us. He already did it. It is written in the bible that Christs's church would never fail and he would be with us always. There never was a need for a restoration because Jesus said the gates of hell would never prevail against his church and I believe Jesus only.

I will continue to seek and find more and more "real truth" and continue to heal. Good luck to those that are searching and the healing that will come to you.

48 people found this helpful

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Jin-roh

honest history, Mormonism worst enemy

Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2002

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This book is so incredible. It does such an great job of showing how Mormonism is what many Skeptics wish Christianity was: A religion that is based on legend, brainwashes it's followers, and cannot stand up to judicious scrutiny.
I recently read "the Case for Christ" and it's remarkable how well Christianity can be defended on a historical basis and then reading about how Mormonism has almost nothing but rebuttal evidence against it. It's not made up either, there are 200 pages where the author cites his sources for the rest of the book.
Not that this is a bad book for skeptics either. The author, although a Christian, takes an extremely objective approach as he writes this. The only time he brings out a lot of theological points is when he is refuting Mormonism's claim to be Christian, and even then he states that the readers beliefs on Christianity aren't important.
If you live in a area where you regularly encounter Mormons read this book and invite them in the next time they come to your door. I also VERY HIGHLY recommend this book if you are a person who is considering converting.
Also, if you're a Mormon, I would encourage you to read this book as well. If this book is correct, critical thinking is not something that's encouraged within the LDS church. So ask yourself this, what is does truth have to be afraid of? If Mormonism is true then any argument against it must be a provable false right?
Matthew 7:15-23

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Amazon Customer

same old same old

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 10, 2011

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Sadly I have little to say about this book as it is just a regurging of the same old stories from the past as developed by the Tanners it would be lovely if the Tanners and the millions of others who make a living from running down the Mormon church could maybe pause and have a look at the good that has come from the Restoration I have first hand seen peoples life change by grasping the Truth and the Author could use his undoubted writing talents to develop some good and positive things in the world .

Richard Abanes have a good life but seek for the good in people you will be surprised what you find in the Mormon Church

George J Stewart

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One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church Paperback – Bargain Price, July 29, 2003

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