Key sources |
Source evolution
- Original source: Talk given by Elder David B. Haight, “Live the Commandments,” Ensign, May 1998, p 6.
—Elder Haight comments to his wife, after leaving a meeting at the Whitmer cabin, "“I would imagine that on the night of April the 6th, 1830, there was a full moon shining, showing that our Savior was smiling upon that occasion and upon that setting.” A transcription of a video recording of the actual talk shows that Elder Haight said "I said I would imagine that the night of April the 6th, 1830, the moon was shining showing that our Savior smiled upon that occasion and upon that setting."
- Source (level 2): D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, revised and enlarged edition, (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998), 290–291 ( Index of claims )
—"Nonetheless, in April 1998 an LDS apostle (ordained in 1976) presented an astrological correlation for the organization date of the LDS church. ' I would imagine that on the night of April the 6th, 1830, there was a full moon shining,' David B. Haight told the general conference. [Note that Quinn omits the phrase which follows this remark, explaining Elder Haight's meaning: "...showing that our Savior was smiling upon that occasion and upon that setting.] This possibility was sufficiently important to him that the apostle inquired with the director of a local planetarium, who had to contact associates in England for evidence that 'there was a full or beautifully shining moon those days before and after April the 6th.' The apostle did not explain why he initially assumed there was a full moon when 'the glories of the Lord had been poured out upon the occasion,' but this was obviously more significant to him than a mere coincidence of astronomy.' [ref 410, p. 564 - David B. Haight, "Live the Commandments," Ensign 28 (May 1998): 6–7.]...[para] Without mentioning astrology, Apostle David B. Haight in 1998 reinvoked the astrological principle that people should 'do nothing without the assistance of the Moon' (see ch. 3)."[n. 412, p. 565 - "Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, 279; Barrett, The Magus, 1:148; also Patrick Curry, Prophecy and Power: Astrology In Early Modern England (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989), 11.]
- Source (level 3): Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism (Harvest House Publishers: 2005). 352, n155. ( Index of claims )
—Abanes uses Quinn as a source to claim that Elder Haight "reinvoked the astrological principle that people should 'do nothing without the assistance of the moon'".
- Source (level 4): Richard Abanes, One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church (New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2003), 521n58 (HB) 519n58 (PB) ( Index of claims )
—Abanes, apparently noting that Elder Haight's published talk said nothing about doing "nothing without the assistance of the moon," cites Quinn once again but claims that "when the transcribed text of the speech was made available online through the LDS Church's official Internet site, the phrase had been deleted." (emphasis added)
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