A Non-Exhaustive Look at What the CES Letter Gets Right and Wrong

The CES Letter was written by Jeremy Runnells in 2013 as a compilation of concerns about the truth claims of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It’s been influential for many, troubling for others, and treated either as a testimony-breaker or total hogwash depending on readers’ prior assumptions. In reality, however, the CES Letter is an interesting mix of truth, incomplete scholarship, and straight-up mistakes.

An objective approach doesn’t require pretending the CES Letter PDF raises no valid points, nor does it require accepting its conclusions wholesale. Here’s a brief examination of three points where the CES Letter is technically correct, and three where its claims are demonstrably misleading. This list is far from exhaustive, but it aims to model a more careful, charitable way of engaging both criticism and belief.

Three Points the CES Letter Gets Right

1. Joseph Smith Translated the Book of Mormon Using a “Rock in a Hat”

The CES Lettter is correct about Joseph Smith using a seer stone in a hat as part of the Book of Mormon translation process. This fact is well supported by historical sources, including eyewitness accounts from Emma Smith, Martin Harris, and David Whitmer. The Church itself has published material favorably referencing the seer stone since at least the 1970s.

Where the CES Letter PDF misses the mark is not in stating the fact, but in how that fact is framed. Runnells presents the seer stone method in a dismissive tone, implicitly arguing that such a means of revelation is self-evidently fraudulent or absurd. This shows a modern mindset that doesn’t match Joseph Smith’s 19th-century religious world.

In early, rural America, seer stones, visions, and divinatory objects were part of a broader Christian supernatural worldview that was common at the time. The Old Testament describes sacred objects like the Urim and Thummim, the Ark of the Covenant, and prophetic divination. Joseph Smith’s use of a seer stone fits comfortably within that tradition. The real question is not whether the method seems legit to modern sensibilities, but whether God can speak to people in a way that’s culturally familiar to them. Latter-day Saints believe He can, and often does.

2. Joseph Smith Gave Multiple Accounts of the First Vision, and They Differ

It is also true that Joseph Smith left at least four primary accounts of the First Vision, and that they differ in emphasis and detail. Some mention angels, others explicitly mention God the Father and Jesus Christ. Some focus on forgiveness of sins; others on apostasy and authority.

The CES Letter treats these differences as a “smoking gun,” implying deception or later invention. But this conclusion oversimplifies the way human memory and reporting works. People recount important experiences differently depending on audience, purpose, and context. A private journal entry won’t sound like a missionary pamphlet, and a theological lecture won’t sound like a personal confession.

In fact, if all Joseph’s First Vision accounts were identical across decades, that would actually be much stronger evidence of fabrication or scripting. The consistency of Joseph’s core claim combined with natural variation aligns well with how people tend to remember and retell genuine experiences.

3. DNA Evidence Shows Native Americans Descend Mainly from East Asians

Modern genetic research clearly shows that the majority of Native American DNA traces back to East Asian populations. On this point, the CES Letter PDF is again technically correct.

What it gets wrong is assuming this finding directly contradicts the Book of Mormon. The text does not claim that all Indigenous peoples in the Americas descend from Israelites, nor that Israelite groups were the first or only inhabitants of the New World. It describes a few migrating groups—most of which were wiped out.

Population genetics demonstrate that small populations can have their DNA markers diluted or lost entirely over thousands of years through intermarriage, genetic drift, and population collapse. The absence of a clear Middle Eastern genetic signature today does not disprove the existence of small Israelite-descended groups in the ancient Americas. It simply means the genetic question is more complex than the CES Letter assumes.

Three Points the CES Letter Gets Wrong

1. The Church Is Anti-Intellectual and Discourages Questioning

The claim that the Church is hostile to intellectual inquiry is demonstrably false. Historically and sociologically, Latter-day Saints are unusually education-oriented. Church activity has been shown to correlate with higher college attendance—an inverse relationship compared to most Christian denominations.

More importantly, questioning is foundational to the Restoration itself. Joseph Smith’s First Vision began with a question. The Doctrine and Covenants repeatedly commands members to “seek learning, even by study and also by faith.”

What Church leaders caution against is not inquiry, but immersion in sources that are hostile, manipulative, or spiritually toxic. Their warning is against “junk food” for the mind or soul, not against intellectualism. Members are encouraged to use wisdom and discernment, seeking truth from “the best books.”

2. The Three Witnesses Are Unreliable

The CES Letter PDF argues that the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon—Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris—are unreliable due to later disagreements with Joseph Smith or supposed mystical experiences.

This claim collapses under scrutiny. All three men consistently testified throughout their lives that they saw the gold plates and the angel who presented them. They maintained this testimony even during periods of bitter estrangement from Joseph Smith and the Church, when they would have had every reason to expose Joseph if it had all been a lie.

They did not benefit financially or socially from maintaining their witness. Instead, they endured ridicule, abuse, and marginalization. Whatever one believes about the nature of their experience, their lifelong consistency under adverse conditions strongly supports their sincerity and reliability.

3. There Is No Archaeological Evidence for the Book of Mormon

Asserting that there is “no archaeological evidence” for the Book of Mormon reflects a misunderstanding of how archaeology works, particularly in the New World. The Americas present unique roadblocks for archaeologists, including humid climates that rapidly degrade materials, widespread use of perishable building materials, and catastrophic cultural disruption caused by the European conquest.

The deliberate razing of Indigenous populations, cities, and written records erased vast amounts of historical data that may have made it easier for archaeologists to interpret their findings. Expecting clear inscriptions reading “Nephite City, 200 BC” is not a realistic standard.

What archaeology can do is reconstruct cultural patterns. Recent discoveries reveal large urban centers, extensive road networks, complex warfare, writing systems, and population densities in ancient Mesoamerica that were unknown in Joseph Smith’s day, but align surprisingly well with Book of Mormon descriptions. While archaeology has not “proven” the Book of Mormon, it has steadily undermined the assumption that such a civilization was impossible.

Researching with Wisdom and Discernment

The CES Letter is not entirely wrong, nor is it the indisputable condemnation it seems to portray itself as. It raises real historical complications, but consistently interprets them through a cynical lens that assumes fraud as the default explanation. Faith and reason are not enemies in Latter-day Saint theology. The wisest approach to these issues requires slowing down, asking better questions, and resisting false dilemmas.

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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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