Under The Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
by Jon Krakauer
New York: Anchor Books, 2004, 365 pp., $14.95, paperback.

Jon Krakauer, who gained fame with Into Thin Air, has created another fascinating read in Under The Banner of Heaven. This book takes us into the world of the Lafferty brothers, fundamentalist Mormons who murdered their younger brother's wife and daughter in 1984, ostensibly on orders from God. Krakauer delves into Mormon history, providing an informative and concise overview for those unfamiliar with the roots of the fast-growing religion created in America. LDS (Latter Day Saints) readers may not like some of what he says, but his research is thorough as he attempts to uncover aspects of the Lafferty clan's upbringing that contributed to the horrible turn taken by two of the sons.

Current-day Mormon polygamists play a prominent role in the tale, and Krakauer's interviews with them provide stories that are repulsively fascinating, as we learn of the dirty old men who believe they have a mandate from God to marry multiple young girls, often impregnating them before they're old enough for driver's ed classes, not that they'd ever get the opportunity to attend. It's difficult to grasp that this sort of behavior happens regularly today, most often in remote settlements in Arizona, Idaho and Utah.

As Krakauer comments on aspects of Mormon belief, he also addresses religious views in general and makes some statements that require a response. For example, he offers this universal assessment:

All religious belief is a function of nonrational faith. And faith, by its very definition, tends to be impervious to intellectual argument or academic criticism...Those who would assail The Book of Mormon should bear in mind that its veracity is no more dubious than the veracity of the Bible, say, or the Qur'an, or the sacred texts of most other religions. The latter texts simply enjoy the considerable advantage of having made their public debut in the shadowy recesses of the past, and are thus much harder to refute. [1]

Apparently Krakauer has not researched the veracity of the Bible to any serious degree, for to put it on a level with The Book of Mormon is to ignore centuries of scholarship. Archaeologists who use The Book of Mormon as a guide are doomed to endless frustration, but the Bible has been proven to be historically accurate time and time again. For example, the discovery of 26,000 tablets in the palace of an Assyrian king show that the Jewish Scriptures are consistent with the Assyrian records. Examples of New Testament verification include the discovery of an inscription referencing Gallio, proconsul of Achaea. Luke had described him with that title in Acts 18:12-17, but many scholars were skeptical before archaeology revealed the Bible's accuracy. Numerous other examples could be cited, but Mormon scholars have to strain to find any connections to reality at all.

I must also take issue with the first statement in the paragraph: all religious belief is a function of nonrational faith. That degree of skepticism is unwarranted, and that kind of blind faith is opposed by the Bible. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14, While anyone may dispute the resurrection, Paul gambled all of Christianity on its historical certitude, writing at a time when observers of the Passion week were still alive. Did he argue that our faith in Christ's resurrection was the ultimate concern? No, he emphasized that such a faith was itself utterly useless if not grounded in reality. He goes on to say in verse 19: So while skeptics may affirm that Christianity is nonrational and ahistorical, Christians must deny such evaluations, contrary to those faiths which embrace a blind leap apart from logic and reason. Once again quoting Paul, this time from 2 Corinthians 10:5, we see another denial of blind faith: Logical thought processes are the focus in this passage. Christians are required to confront intellectual challenges to their faith, a fact reinforced by Peter in 1 Peter 3:15, as he uses the language of courtroom-style debate: Another issue that arises a couple of times is the mention of a young earth. Describing prosecution psychiatrist Dr. Noel Gardner's testimony in a hearing regarding Ron Lafferty's sanity, Krakauer writes:

Then, in a fascinating digression, he used as an example his own upbringing in a conservative Protestant family that adhered to the teachings of Archbishop James Usher (sic), the Irish theologian who came to prominence in the seventeenth century. His family's beliefs, Gardner explained to the court, were "somewhat fundamentalist, not Mormon." Although his father was an intelligent and very well-read physician, "a highly respected person and scientist in the community," he raised his children to believe "the world was created in six literal days, 6,000 years ago..." [2]

The oft-maligned Ussher was a brilliant historian who received his master's degree at age 18 and was respected enough to be buried in Westminster Abbey. His unforgiveable sin was to believe in a young earth, which according to his calculations was created in 4004 B.C. That date has been the subject of ridicule for centuries by men incapable of writing a single page of the 1,600 found in Annals of the World, Ussher's incredible magnum opus that was recently republished in English (the original was in Latin).

What most people fail--or refuse--to understand is that there are brilliant men who believe that the scientific evidence favors a young earth. Granted, this is a minority position, but there are scientists with doctorates from places like Harvard who assert that Ussher was a lot closer to the truth than most scientists today. You can choose to disagree with them, but you can't discount their views as being mere blind leaps of faith in opposition to rational scientific facts. Unfortunately, the flawed explanation of the evidence by men like Gardner's father have hurt the young earth cause more than helped it:

The archaeological and geological evidence indicating the earth was many millions of years old was simply "a deception of Satan," intended to fool the gullible.

His father's stubborn belief that the world was created six thousands years ago, in just six days, was "a pretty irrational idea," Gardner testified. [3]

Very few people would be convinced by the argument that the evidence is a deception of Satan. Rather, the point must be made that the evidence portrays actual history, but the interpretation of that evidence is where the dispute lies. An old-earth evolutionist sees millions of fossils in sedimentary rock and sees layers laid down over millions of years, while a young earth creationist sees the same fossils and layers, but proposes that they were laid down in less than a year during a global flood. The data remain the same, but the presuppositions brought to the data drastically impact the resulting interpretation.

Krakauer closes with a very honest admission of his own beliefs:

I don't know if God even exists, although I confess that I sometimes find myself praying in times of great fear, or despair, or astonishment at a display of unexpected beauty...None of the ten thousand (religious sects) has yet persuaded me to make the requisite leap of faith...And if I remain in the dark about our purpose here, and the meaning of eternity, I have nevertheless arrived at an understanding of a few more modest truths: Most of us fear death. Most of us yearn to comprehend how we got here, and why--which is to say, most of us ache to know the love of our creator. And we will no doubt feel that ache, most of us, for as long as we happen to be alive. [4]

On that poignant note, the book ends. As Blaise Pascal wrote during the time of James Ussher, "There is a God-shaped vacuum in every heart." My prayer is that Mr. Krakauer will come to know the love of his creator, for replacing the empty ache--the God-shaped vacuum--with assurance grants one serenity in the difficult times, and gladness in the good times.

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