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< Mormonism and Wikipedia | Joseph Smith, Jr.(Redirected from Mormonism and Wikipedia/Joseph Smith, Jr./1827 to 1830: Organizing the Church)
Early years | A FairMormon Analysis of Wikipedia: "Joseph Smith" A work by a collaboration of authors (Link to Wikipedia article here)
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Life in Ohio (1831-1838) |
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Joseph Smith, Jr. was born on December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont to Lucy Mack Smith and her husband Joseph, a merchant and farmer.Author's sources:
After a crippling bone infection at age eight, the younger Smith hobbled on crutches as a child.Author's sources:
Early years | A FairMormon Analysis of Wikipedia: "Joseph Smith" A work by a collaboration of authors (Link to Wikipedia article here)
|
1831 to 1838 |
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Every witness to Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Mormon said that he looked at a stone in his hat. Arguing that Smith never said how he translated is arguing from silence. There is no evidence for anything else but the hat and just Mormon embarrassment at how silly this method must seem to most prospective converts today.....The burden of proof is on you. There are no accounts of Smith translating that indicate he used any other method but the hat. You can't argue from silence. Where are the references to any other method? Even the father of lies himself didn't spell one out.....Baloney. No other eyewitness said there was any other method. No scholarship argues for any other method. You're just pushing this POV because there's no reason to preserve golden plates for generations if Smith made no use of them. But according to all eyewitnesses that's exactly what happened. Embarrassing, isn't it?
—Editor "John Foxe," posting using his banned sockpuppet "Hi540," insisting that the stone-in-hat was the only Book of Mormon translation method ever documented, 23 October 2009 off-site
In October 1827, Smith and his pregnantAuthor's sources:
wife moved from Palmyra to Harmony (now Oakland), Pennsylvania,Author's sources:
aided by money from a comparatively prosperous neighbor Martin Harris.Author's sources:
Because of mounting pressure in Manchester to see and examine the plates, Joseph realized he could never translate them in peace and safety if he stayed in town. He would have to leave Palmyra to do it; but that created a problem. He was debt-ridden, and any sudden departure would bring his creditors chasing after him with subpoenas for his arrest. Fortunately the angel had revealed to Joseph that Martin Harris, a prosperous farmer, had been chosen to help in the translation of the plates.
Living near his disapproving in-laws,Author's sources:
Smith transcribed some of the characters (what he called "reformed Egyptian") engraved on the plates and then dictated a translation to his wife.Author's sources:
For at least some of the earliest translation, Smith said he used "Urim and Thummim",Author's sources:
Now the way he translated was he put the urim and thummim into his hat and Darkned his Eyes than he would take a sentance and it would apper in Brite Roman Letters. (MANUSCRIPT OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF JOSEPH SMITH, 22 Sept. 1827)
For two months, form about April 12 to June 14, 1828, Joseph and Harris were hard at work. Joseph translated using the interpreters (also called the Urim and Thummim, crystals mounted on a breast plate), and Harris wrote down the text as it was dictated. A curtain divided the men to prevent Harris from seeing the plates.
a pair of seer stones he said were buried with the golden plates.Author's sources:
Later, however, he used the single chocolate-colored stone he had found in 1822 and used for treasure hunting.Author's sources:
"To help him with the translation, Joseph found with the gold plates “a curious instrument which the ancients called Urim and Thummim, which consisted of two transparent stones set in a rim of a bow fastened to a breastplate.” Joseph also used an egg-shaped, brown rock for translating called a seer stone."
—“A Peaceful Heart,” Friend, Sep 1974, 7 off-site (emphasis added)
As when divining the location of treasure,Author's sources:
Smith said he saw the words of the translation while he gazed at the stone or stones in the bottom of his hat, excluding all light.Author's sources:
[A]s work on the Book of Mormon proceeded, a seerstone took the place of the Urim and Thummim as an aid in the work, blending magic with inspired translation." (Bushman, p. 131) "There is evidence that the translation stone was given him after he lost the Urim and Thummim when the 116 pages disappeared. (Bushman, p. 590, note 24 citing Van Wagoner and Walker, "'The Gift of Seeing,'" 54)
The plates themselves were not directly consulted.Author's sources:
Smith did this in full view of witnesses, but sometimes concealed the process by raising a curtain or dictating from another room.Author's sources:
[Martin Harris] says he wrote a considerable part of the book, as Smith dictated, and at one time the presence of the Lord was so great, that a screen was hung up between him and the Prophet; at other times the Prophet would sit in a different room, or up stairs, while the Lord was communicating to him the contents of the plates.
Smith may have considered giving up the translation because of opposition from his in-laws,Author's sources:
From my standing in the Methodist Episcopal Church, I suppose he was careful how he conducted or expressed himself before me. At one time, however, he came to my house, and asked my advice, whether he should proceed to translate the Book of Plates (referred to by Mr. Hale) or not. He said that God had commanded him to translate it, but he was afraid of the people: he remarked, that he was to exhibit the plates to the world, at a certain time, which was then about eighteen months distant. I told him I was not qualified to give advice in such cases. Smith frequently said to me that I should see the plates at the time appointed.
but in February 1828, Martin Harris arrived to spur him onAuthor's sources:
Joseph Smith, Jun., Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery, and Martin Harris, may be considered as the principals in this work; and let Martin Harris tell the story, and he is the most conspicuous of the four.—He informed me, that he went to the place where Joseph resided, and Joseph had given it up, on account of the opposition of his wife and others: but he told Joseph. "I have not come down here for nothing, and we will go on with it." Martin Harris is what may be called a great talker, and an extravagant boaster; so much so, that he renders himself disagreeable to many of his own society.
by taking the characters and their translations to a few prominent scholars.Author's sources:
Harris claimed that one of the scholars he visited, Charles Anthon, initially authenticated the characters and their translation, then recanted upon hearing that Smith had received the plates from an angel.Author's sources:
Anthon denied this claimAuthor's sources:
In the first letter Anthon said he refused to give Harris a written opinion; according to the second, the opinion was written "without any hesitation," in an attempt to expose the fraud.
and Harris returned to Harmony in April 1828 motivated to act as Smith's scribe.Author's sources:
Translation continued until mid-June 1828, until Harris began having doubts about the existence of the golden plates.Author's sources:
Harris importuned Smith to let him take the existing 116 pages of manuscript to Palmyra to show a few family members.Author's sources:
Harris then lost the manuscript—of which there was no copy—at about the same time as Smith's wife Emma gave birth to a stillborn son.Author's sources:
Smith said the angel had taken away the plates and he had lost his ability to translateAuthor's sources:
until September 22, 1828, when they were restored.Author's sources:
Smith did not earnestly resume the translation again until April 1829, when he met Oliver Cowdery, a teacher and dowser,Author's sources:
...remember this is thy gift now this is not all for thou hast another gift which is the gift of working with the sprout Behold it hath told you things Behold there is no other power save God that can cause this thing of Nature to work in your hands. (Revelation, April 1829–B [D&C 8], in Robin Scott Jensen, Robert J. Woodford, and Stephen C. Harper, eds., Manuscript Revelation Books, vol. 1 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, ed. Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2009), 17. )
who now became Smith's scribe.Author's sources:
They worked full time on the translation between April and early June 1829,Author's sources:
and then moved to Fayette, New York where they continued to work at the home of Cowdery's friend Peter Whitmer. When the translation spoke of an institutional church and a requirement for baptism, Smith and Cowdery baptized each other,Author's sources:
with written documents five years later stating that John the Baptist had appeared and ordained them to a priesthood.Author's sources:
Translation was completed around July 1, 1829.Author's sources:
Knowing that potential converts to the planned church might find Smith's story of the plates incredible,Author's sources:
Smith asked a group of eleven witnesses, including Martin Harris and male members of the Whitmer and Smith families, to sign a statement testifying that they had seen the golden plates, and in the case of the latter eight witnesses, had actually hefted the plates.Author's sources:
According to Smith, the angel Moroni took back the plates after Smith was finished using them.Author's sources:
The translation, known as the Book of Mormon, was published in Palmyra on March 26, 1830, by printer E. B. Grandin.Author's sources:
Martin Harris financed the publication by mortgaging his farm.Author's sources:
Soon thereafter on April 6, 1830, Smith and his followers formally organized the Church of Christ,Author's sources:
"The manuscript may have the effect, [Steven C. Harper] said, of resolving a controversy that has arisen over whether the Church was organized at Fayette, N.Y., as has traditionally been understood, or at Manchester, N.Y. It does so by affirming that a revelation given on April 6, 1830, was given at Fayette, not at Manchester. 'The 1833 Book of Commandments, heretofore the earliest source available, located this revelation in Manchester,' he explained. Some authors thus argued that the traditional story of the Church's founding in Fayette lacked foundation in the historical record, 'but we can now see that in this case, tradition and the historical record match up,' he said."
(R. Scott Lloyd, "'Major Discovery' Discussed at Mormon History Association Conference," Church News, 22 May 2009.)
and small branches were established in Palmyra, Fayette, and Colesville, New York.Author's sources:
The Book of Mormon brought Smith regional notoriety,Author's sources:
but also strong opposition by those who remembered Smith's money-digging and his 1826 trial near Colesville.Author's sources:
Soon after Smith reportedly performed an exorcism in Colesville,Author's sources:
"Almost immediately [Newel Knight] spoke to me," Joseph wrote in his autobiography, "and with great earnestness requested me to cast the devil out of him, saying the he knew he was in him, and that he also knew that I could cast him out." "If you know that I can, it shall be done," Joseph replied, and in the conventional exorcist's fashion commanded the devil in the name of Christ to release the man's soul. Immediately Knight cried out that he saw the devil leave him and vanish from sight. His convulsions ceased and he fell upon the bed unconscious, awakening later to testify that he had glimpsed eternity.
he was again tried as a disorderly person but was acquitted.Author's sources:
When village toughs failed to stop the baptisms, the law stepped in. Before the newly baptized members could be confirmed, a constable from South Bainbridge delivered a warrant for Joseph's arrest. Doctor A. W. Benton of Chenago County, whom Joseph Knight called a "catspaw" of a group of vagabonds, brought charges against Joseph as a disorderly person. (Bushman, p. 116).
Even so, Smith and Cowdery had to flee Colesville to escape a gathering mob. Probably referring to this period of flight, Smith told years later of hearing the voices of Peter, James, and John who he said gave Smith and Cowdery an apostolic authority.Author's sources:
When Oliver Cowdery and other church members attempted to exercise independent authorityAuthor's sources:
—as when Book of Mormon witness Hiram Page used his seer stone to locate the American New Jerusalem prophesied by the Book of MormonAuthor's sources:
}}
This event is discussed in the Doctrine and Covenants and Church History Seminary Teacher Manual (2013):
In 1830, the Prophet Joseph Smith encountered a challenge because Church members did not understand the order of revelation in the Church. Hiram Page claimed to receive revelations for the Church through the medium of a special stone, and some Church members, including Oliver Cowdery, believed him. Shortly before a Church conference that was held on September 26, 1830, the Lord revealed truths that helped Oliver Cowdery and others understand the order of revelation in the Church.[2]
Oliver was actually directed by the Lord to correct Hiram Page in this matter. It was a "teaching moment" for Oliver:
11 And again, thou shalt take thy brother, Hiram Page, between him and thee alone, and tell him that those things which he hath written from that stone are not of me and that Satan deceiveth him;
12 For, behold, these things have not been appointed unto him, neither shall anything be appointed unto any of this church contrary to the church covenants.
13 For all things must be done in order, and by common consent in the church, by the prayer of faith.
14 And thou shalt assist to settle all these things, according to the covenants of the church, before thou shalt take thy journey among the Lamanites. (D&C 28꞉11-14).
—Smith responded by establishing himself as the sole prophet.Author's sources:
Smith disputed Page's location for the New Jerusalem,Author's sources:
but dispatched Cowdery to lead a mission to Missouri to find its true locationAuthor's sources:
{{IndexClaimItemShort
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and to proselytize the Native Americans.
|authorsources=
Smith also dictated a lost "Book of Enoch," telling how the biblical Enoch had established a city of Zion of such civic goodness that God had taken it to heaven.Author's sources:
On their way to Missouri, Cowdery's party passed through the Kirtland, Ohio area and converted Sidney Rigdon and over a hundred members of his Disciples of Christ congregation,Author's sources:
more than doubling the size of the church.Author's sources:
Rigdon visited New York and quickly became second in command of the church,Author's sources:
to the discomfort of Smith's earlier followers.Author's sources:
In the face of acute and growing opposition in New York, Smith announced that Kirtland was the "eastern boundary" of the New Jerusalem,Author's sources:
and that the Saints must gather there.Author's sources:
In 1816–17, the family moved to the western New York village of PalmyraAuthor's sources:
and eventually took a mortgage on a 100 acre farm in nearby Manchester town.Author's sources:
During the Second Great Awakening, the region was a hotbed of religious enthusiasm.Author's sources:
Although the Smith family was caught up in this excitement,Author's sources:
they disagreed about religion.Author's sources:
Joseph Smith may not have joined a church in his youth,Author's sources:
After this, Joseph spent about two years looking into this stone, telling fortunes, where to find lost things, and where to dig for money and other hidden treasure. About this time he became concerned as to his future state of existence, and was baptized, becoming thus a member of the Baptist Church. Soon after joining the Church, he had a very singular dream; but he did not tell his father of his dream, until about a year afterwards. He then told his father that, in his dream, a very large and tall man appeared to him, dressed in an ancient suit of clothes, and the clothes were bloody.
but he participated in church classesAuthor's sources:
and read the Bible. With his family, he took part in religious folk magic,Author's sources:
a common practice at the time.Author's sources:
At this time the revivals of western New York's so-called "Burned-over District" were bringing thousands out of private folk religion and into organized churches, whose clergy opposed folk magic.
Like many people of that era,Author's sources:
Standing on the margins of instituted churches, they [the Smiths] were as susceptible to the neighbors' belief in magic as they were to the teachings of orthodox ministers.
both his parents and his maternal grandfather had visions or dreams that they believed communicated messages from God.Author's sources:
Smith later said that he had his own first vision in 1820, in which God told him his sins were forgivenAuthor's sources:
and that all the current churches were false.Author's sources:
The Smith family supplemented its meager farm income by treasure-digging,Author's sources:
Some neighbors also said that in "1819 or '20, they [the Smith family] commenced digging for money for a subsistence." Other neighbors specified that during "the spring of 1820" Joseph Jr. was extremely active in the treasure-quest.
likewise relatively common in contemporary New EnglandAuthor's sources:
though the practice was frequently condemned by clergymen and rationalists and was often illegal.Author's sources:
Joseph claimed an ability to use seer stones for locating lost items and buried treasure.Author's sources:
To do so, Smith would put a stone in a white stovepipe hat and would then see the required information in reflections given off by the stone.Author's sources:
In 1823, while praying for forgiveness from his "gratification of many appetites,"Author's sources:
Smith said he was visited at night by an angel named Moroni, who revealed the location of a buried book of golden plates as well as other artifacts, including a breastplate and a set of silver spectacles with lenses composed of seer stones, which had been hidden in a hill near his home.Author's sources:
Smith said he attempted to remove the plates the next morning but was unsuccessful because the angel prevented him.Author's sources:
During the next four years, Smith made annual visits to the hill, only to return without the plates because he claimed that he had not brought with him the right person required by the angel.Author's sources:
Stories circulated of a requirement to bring Alvin to the hill to get the plates; and when he died, someone else. Emma, it was said, was designated as a key. The stories have a magical flavor, but other stories have the angel warning Joseph about greed and the evildoings of the money-diggers, as if the messenger was moving him away from his treasure-hunting ways.
Meanwhile, Smith continued traveling western New York and Pennsylvania as a treasure seeker and also as a farmhand.Author's sources:
In 1826, he was tried in Chenango County, New York, for "glass-looking," the crime of pretending to find lost treasure.Author's sources:
While boarding at the Hale house in Harmony, he met Emma Hale and, on January 18, 1827, eloped with her because her parents disapproved of his treasure hunting.Author's sources:
Claiming his stone told him that Emma was the key to obtaining the plates,Author's sources:
Emma, it was said, was designated as a key.
Smith went with her to the hill on September 22, 1827. This time, he said, he retrieved the plates and placed them in a locked chest.Author's sources:
He said the angel commanded him not to show the plates to anyone else but to publish their translation, reputed to be the religious record of indigenous Americans.Author's sources:
Joseph later promised Emma's parents that his treasure-seeking days were behind him.Author's sources:
Although Smith had left his treasure hunting company, his former associates believed he had double-crossed them by taking for himself what they considered joint property.Author's sources:
They ransacked places where a competing treasure-seer said the plates were hidden,Author's sources:
and Smith soon realized that he could not accomplish the translation in Palmyra.Author's sources:
Notes
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