So You Read the Mormon CES Letter. What Now?

Anyone researching the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints online has likely at least heard of the Mormon CES Letter. It’s a piece of anti-Mormon literature that many have read, and it’s stirred up a storm of emotions and debates. The CES Letter is a long list of criticisms aimed at the history and truth claims of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It’s presented with confidence and urgency, and can leave the reader feeling like they need all the answers right away.

But before diving into every issue raised in the Letter, take a step back. The first and most important thing to do is not to draw conclusions impulsively. Instead, ask these important questions: Who is the author, and what is their intent? Just as in evaluating any piece of journalism, scholarship, or historical writing, it’s critical to consider bias, context, and the nature of the source.

1. Every Source Has Bias

The author of the CES Letter PDF, Jeremy Runnells, is transparent about his position: he states plainly in the Letter that he is a disaffected member who no longer believes in the Church. This self-identification matters. When someone approaches a topic already assuming that the conclusions they’re challenging are false, it significantly colors how they interpret information and which evidence they emphasize or exclude.

This isn’t meant to discount Jeremy Runnells’ experience or sincerity. But it’s important to recognize that everyone has bias—including historians, religious leaders, and yes, even ourselves. As scholars of bias have observed, unconscious biases shape what questions one asks, what sources they trust, and how they interpret data.

It’s not wrong to have a point of view. What matters is acknowledging one’s bias and being cautious of conclusions drawn solely from one perspective.

2. History Is a Puzzle With Missing Pieces

One of the foundational challenges in examining Church history—or any history—is that people are trying to understand the past with incomplete information. Historical interpretation is inherently limited. There isn’t a perfect, panoramic video of every event. Historians must rely on fragments: journals, letters, memories, secondhand reports.

It isn’t uncommon for fragments of Church history to conflict, as they can be written decades after events occurred. Other records were written with specific agendas, faith-promoting or otherwise. And still others are filtered through the lens of cultural expectations that differ dramatically from ours today.

This is why modern historians caution against “presentism”—judging the past by today’s values and norms. What may seem strange or even troubling now might not have been unusual in another time. Understanding historical context is critical to honest inquiry.

3. The CES Letter as a Narrative Tool

The CESLetter presents itself as a list of sincere questions, but when examining the Letter’s origins, it’s clear that it’s an intentional attempt to reshape the Church’s narrative. Runnells crowdsourced questions from disaffected members, compiled them with commentary, and has since had the Letter translated into several languages and widely disseminated. In some cases, the Mormon CES Letter summary has even been used as a proselyting tool by being inserted into hymnbooks, copies of the Book of Mormon, or left in church buildings.

The goal of the CES Lettter isn’t just to ask questions; it’s to convince the reader that there are no sufficient answers. But this is a false dilemma. The reality is that answers do exist, but they often require context, nuance, and time—something the Letter’s fast-paced format does not allow. Few readers will have all the counterpoints to 77+ questions at their fingertips. That doesn’t mean those answers don’t exist; it just means it takes effort and patience to find them.

4. Study with an Open Mind and Heart

Latter-day Saint scripture urges people to seek “learning by study and also by faith” (D&C 109:7). Studying Church history is not just an academic exercise; it’s a spiritual one. When one approaches questions with an open mind and heart, rather than with the goal of finding fault, they create the most optimal conditions to learn and understand.

Russell M. Nelson, the president of the Church, advised: “Stop increasing your doubts by rehearsing them with other doubters. Allow the Lord to lead you on your journey of spiritual discovery.” That doesn’t mean avoiding hard questions. He’s advising people to choose to believe while seeking understanding, not the other way around.

Elder Lawrence Corbridge, another authority in the Church, once said that reading anti-Church material left him with a feeling of gloom. Yet, through study and spiritual experience, he reaffirmed his testimony in Joseph Smith and the Restoration of Christ’s Church. Similarly, Matthew Godfrey, a professional historian for the Joseph Smith Papers, has spent over a decade immersed in original Church documents. Instead of losing faith, he reported gaining admiration for Joseph Smith and a strengthened conviction in the Church’s message.

5. The Church Is Not Afraid of History

It’s also worth noting that the Church is not trying to hide its history, despite what Runnells would have readers of the CES Letter Mormon believe. In fact, it has embraced a more transparent and forthright approach in recent years, as seen in projects like the Joseph Smith Papers, Saints history volumes, and Gospel Topics Essays. These are professional, scholarly efforts to present both the inspiring and the difficult elements of the Church’s history.

Dallin H. Oaks, an apostle at the head of the Church, once remarked that we’re emerging from a time when Church history was often overly “adoring” and sanitized, into a new era of “warts and all” history. That shift is not evidence of deception; it’s evidence of maturity. All institutions go through this process. And while some historical writing in the past may have emphasized faith over objectivity, this practice was not unique to Mormonism, nor was it a deliberate cover-up.

A More Nuanced Perspective

Those wrestling with questions like those in the Mormon CES Letter are not alone. Many researchers and faithful Latter-day Saints alike have asked the same things. The outcome often lies in where they turn for answers. Reading the CES Letter LDS may feel like a moment of crisis, but it can also be a turning point for deeper, more mature faith. Instead of fearing the questions, confront them with spiritual curiosity. Recognize the biases of sources. Study the context of history. Turn to the best materials. The past may be a foreign country, but the future of an individual’s faith is still very much theirs to shape.

About Mormonism Explained

Mormonism Explained is a resource that was designed to provide objective and factual information about Mormonism, its history, doctrines, and policies. Our team of researchers consults experts and primary sources to present factual information on a variety of topics relevant to the Mormon Church.

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