View source for Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Chapter 1

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{{H1
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Chapter 1
|H=Response to claims made in "Chapter 1: Vagabond Visionaries"
|T=[[../../|One Nation Under Gods]]
|A=Richard Abanes
|<=[[../Introduction|Claims made in "Introduction: A Thread of Prophecy"]]
|>=[[../Chapter 2|Claims made in "Chapter 2: Moroni, Magic, and Masonry"]]
}}
{{ChartOneNationUnderGodsChapter1}}
<onlyinclude>		
{{H2
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Chapter 1
|H=Response to claims made in One Nation Under Gods, "Chapter 1: Vagabond Visionaries"
|S=
|L1=Response to claim: 6 - Did "most" of Joseph Smith's contemporaries consider him "a charlatan from a family of illiterate wanderers"?
|L2=Response to claim: 9-11 - The Smith family eventually gave up on any sort of "legitimate" employment to become lazy money-diggers
|L3=Response to claim: 15 - Do local newspapers show that no revival occurred in 1820 in the area of Palmyra-Manchester, New York?
|L4=Response to claim: 15 - Did Joseph incorporate a documented 1824 revival into his First Vision story?
|L5=Response to claim: 15 - Why does Joseph's 1832 First Vision account state that he was 15 rather than 14 years old?
|L6=Response to claim: 15 - Why does Joseph's 1832 account state that he only saw Jesus without mentioning God the Father?
|L7=Response to claim: 15 - The main message of the 1832 account was the forgiveness of Joseph's sins
|L8=Response to claim: 15 - The 1832 account omits information about "God condemning Christian churches as corrupt"
|L9=Response to claim: 16 - Did LDS leaders only begin teaching that Joseph saw both Jesus and God the Father in the 1870s-80s?
|L10=Response to claim: 16-17 - Orson Pratt said that the two personages that appeared to Joseph in the First Vision were angels
|L11=Response to claim: 17 - Church historian Andrew Jenson said that "The angel again forbade Joseph to join any of these churches"
|L12=Response to claim: 18 - Did the 1824 revival cause Joseph's mother, sister and two brothers to join the Presbyterian church?
|L13=Response to claim: 18, 487n62-63 (PB) - Did the 1824 revival actually cause Joseph to join a Baptist church, contrary to his instructions in the First Vision?
|L14=Response to claim: 18 - No publications from the Palmyra or Manchester areas in the 1830s mentioned Joseph's vision
|L15=Response to claim: 22, 490 n.78 (HB) - Didn't Lucy Mack Smith say that the first vision was that of a "holy Angel"?
}}	
</onlyinclude>

==Response to claim: 6 - Did "most" of Joseph Smith's contemporaries consider him "a charlatan from a family of illiterate wanderers"?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Did "most" of Joseph Smith's contemporaries consider him "a charlatan from a family of illiterate wanderers; a shiftless trouble-maker&mdash;albeit a charismatic and imaginative one&mdash;with a penchant for superstitions, storytelling, and decision-making based on the occult traditions of nineteenth century rural folk magic?"
|authorsources=<br>
#Nathaniel Lewis cited in *{{CriticalWork:Howe:Mormonism Unvailed|pages=267}}
}}
{{propaganda|The author is taking statements that were published in an anti-Mormon book in 1834, four years after the publication of the Book of Mormon and 14 years after the First Vision, and accepting them as if they were proven fact. The reality is that there were many who attested to Joseph Smith's good character during his youth.
}}
{{:Question: What are the Hurlbut affidavits?}}

==Response to claim: 9-11 - The Smith family eventually gave up on any sort of "legitimate" employment to become lazy money-diggers==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Response to claim: 9-11 - The Smith family eventually gave up on any sort of "legitimate" employment to become lazy money-diggers.
|authorsources=<br>
*Joseph Capron, cited in *{{CriticalWork:Howe:Mormonism Unvailed|pages=260}}
*Roswell Nichols, cited in Howe, 257
*Parley Chase, cited in Howe, 248
*Howe, 261
*Richard L. Anderson, ""Joseph Smith's New York Reputation Reappraised,"" BYU Studies (Spring 1970), vol. 10, 283-314."
|provenance={{CriticalWork:Brodie:No Man Knows|pages=405}}
}}
{{propaganda|There is plenty of evidence that Joseph was ''not'' lazy. Nor did the Smith family consider "money digging" their employment.
}}
*[[../Loaded and prejudicial language|Loaded and prejudicial language]]
*[[../Presentism|Presentism]]
*{{CrossRef:Abanes:Becoming Gods|pages=24}}
{{:Question: Was Joseph Smith's family lazy, shiftless and seeking to make a living without performing any labor?}}

==Response to claim: 15 - Do local newspapers show that no revival occurred in 1820 in the area of Palmyra-Manchester, New York?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Do local newspapers show that no revival occurred in 1820 in the area of Palmyra-Manchester, New York?
|authorsources=<br>
#H. Michael Marquardt and Wesley P. Walters, ''Inventing Mormonism'', 15-41.
}}
{{misinformation|Joseph mentions an "excitement" on the subject of religion, which most interpret to mean "revival." However, Joseph's 1832 account shows that he began to become concerned about religion at age 12, which coincides with a known 1818 revival.
}}
{{CrossRef:Abanes:Becoming Gods|pages=35}}
{{:Question: Was there no mention of revival activity in 1820 in the newspaper?}}
{{:Source:Christofferson:The Prophet Joseph Smith:BYUI Devotional:2013:Critics have also claimed that there were no religious revivals in the Palmyra, New York, area in 1820}}
{{:Source:Palmyra Register:28 June 1820:5 July 1820:It was far from our intention to charge the Methodists with retailing ardent spirits while professedly met for the worship of their God}}

==Response to claim: 15 - Did Joseph incorporate a documented 1824 revival into his First Vision story?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Did Joseph incorporate a documented 1824 revival into his First Vision story?
|authorsources=<br>
#Marvin S. Hill, "The First Vision Controversy: A Critique and Reconciliation," ''Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought'' (Summer 1982), vol. 15, 31-46.
}}
{{misinformation|Joseph describes a religious "excitement" in the region in 1820, and states that his interest in religion began when he was twelve years old. This coincides with the 1818 revival.
}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith simply conflate elements of the 1818 and 1824-25 revivals in his story of the First Vision?}}

==Response to claim: 15 - Why does Joseph's 1832 First Vision account state that he was 15 rather than 14 years old?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Why does Joseph's 1832 First Vision account state that he was 15 rather than 14 years old?
|authorsources=<br>
#}}
{{information|Joseph's scribe Frederick G. Williams inserted the phrase about Joseph being in the "16th year" of his age in the 1832 account.
}}
{{:Question: Why does Joseph Smith state in his 1832 First Vision account that he was in his "16th year" of age?}}

==Response to claim: 15 - Why does Joseph's 1832 account state that he only saw Jesus without mentioning God the Father?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Why does Joseph's 1832 account state that he only saw Jesus without mentioning God the Father?
|authorsources=<br>
#}}
{{information|The 1832 account states that Joseph saw and conversed with the Lord, without explicitly mentioning the presence of the other personage.
}}
{{CrossRef:Abanes:Becoming Gods|pages=30, 337n52}}
{{:Question: Why does Joseph Smith's 1832 account of the First Vision not mention two personages?}}

==Response to claim: 15 - The main message of the 1832 account was the forgiveness of Joseph's sins==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
The main message of the 1832 account was the forgiveness of Joseph's sins.
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{information|Joseph had two motivations: obtain a forgiveness of sins, and a desire to know which church was right
}}
{{:Question: What was Joseph Smith's motivation for going to the grove to pray in 1820?}}

==Response to claim: 15 - The 1832 account omits information about "God condemning Christian churches as corrupt"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
The 1832 account omits information about "God condemning Christian churches as corrupt."
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{misinformation|God did not condemn other Christian churches - he condemned their creeds and those who taught false doctrines.	
}}
{{CrossRef:Abanes:Becoming Gods|pages=30}}
{{:Question: Does the 1832 account of the First Vision not prohibit Joseph from joining any church?}}

==Response to claim: 16 - Did LDS leaders only begin teaching that Joseph saw both Jesus and God the Father in the 1870s-80s?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Did LDS leaders only begin teaching that Joseph saw both Jesus and God the Father in the 1870s-80s?
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{disinformation|There are at least 39 published sources mentioning the First Vision which include the phrase "This is my Beloved Son" spanning 1843 to 1863&mdash;many of these prior to 1870.
}}
{{:Question: Did any publications prior to 1870 mention the phrase "This is My Beloved Son" in connection with the First Vision?}}

==Response to claim: 16-17 - Orson Pratt said that the two personages that appeared to Joseph in the First Vision were angels==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Orson Pratt said that the two personages that appeared to Joseph in the First Vision were angels.
|authorsources=<br>
#Orson Pratt, sermon by Orson Pratt, reprinted in Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', vol. 1, 146-147.
}}
{{misinformation|Critics of the Church note that Orson Pratt said on 19 December 1869 that Joseph "proclaimed the startling news that God had sent an angel to him." However, they fail to note that Orson Pratt also said on 19 December 1869 that he also "saw two glorious personages clothed upon with this pillar of fire."
}}
{{CrossRef:Abanes:Becoming Gods|pages=31}}
{{:Question: Did Orson Pratt state that it was an angel that appeared during the First Vision?}}
{{:Question: What did Orson Pratt state about Joseph Smith's First Vision?}}

==Response to claim: 17 - Church historian Andrew Jenson said that "The angel again forbade Joseph to join any of these churches"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Church historian Andrew Jenson said that "The angel again forbade Joseph to join any of these churches"
|authorsources=<br>
#Andrew Jenson, ''Joseph Smith, The Prophet'', Jan. 1888, vol. 3, nos. 1-3, p. 355. 
}}
{{misinformation|Andrew Jenson is quoting - at length - from the official 1838 Church history account of the First Vision. He was aware that one personage had declared the other as his "beloved Son." Jenson deliberately referred to Jesus Christ as "the angel."
}}
{{CrossRef:Abanes:Becoming Gods|pages=31}}
{{:Question: Who was the "angel" in the First Vision that Andrew Jenson was referring to?}}

<!-- ==Response to claim: 18 - Why does John Taylor only call the Father and Son "two glorious personages" in 1850 without mentioning the phrase "this is my beloved son?"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Why does John Taylor only call the Father and Son "two glorious personages" in 1850 without mentioning the phrase "this is my beloved son?"
|authorsources=<br>
#John Taylor, letter to the Editor of the ''Interpreter Anglais et Francais'', June 25, 1850 cited in Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', vol. 1, 191.
}}
*[[../../Use of sources/"This is My Beloved Son"|Use of sources: "This is My Beloved Son"]]
{{:Source:John Taylor:2 March 1879:JD 20:167 and 257:First Vision Father and Son or angel}} -->

==Response to claim: 18 - Did the 1824 revival cause Joseph's mother, sister and two brothers to join the Presbyterian church?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Did the 1824 revival cause Joseph's mother, sister and two brothers to join the Presbyterian church?
|authorsources=<br>
#Wesley Walters, "New Light On Mormon Origins From the Palmyra N.Y. Revival," ''Evangelical Theological Society'' (Fall 1967), vol. 10, no. 4, 227-244; ''Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought'', (Spring 1969), vol. 4, no 1, 60-81.
}}
{{misinformation|Lucy Mack Smith was baptized before her son Alvin died.
}}
{{:Question: When was Lucy Mack Smith baptized?}}
{{:Question: Did Lucy Mack Smith join the Presbyterian Church after her son Alvin died in 1823?}}
{{:Question: Did Lucy Mack Smith state when she joined the Presbyterians?}}

==Response to claim: 18, 487n62-63 (PB) - Did the 1824 revival actually cause Joseph to join a Baptist church, contrary to his instructions in the First Vision?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=<br>
*Did the 1824 revival actually cause Joseph to join a Baptist church, contrary to his instructions in the First Vision?
*Joseph is also claimed to have become an "exhorter" for the Methodists after his First Vision.
|authorsources=<br>
*Fayette Lapham cited in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 1 458.
*Orasmus Turner, ''Lockport Daily Courier'', May 5, 1854.; Orsamus Turner, ''History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase''.
}}
{{misinformation|Nobody who has charged Joseph Smith with joining a church between 1820 and 1830 has ever produced any authentic denominational membership record that would substantiate such a claim.
}}
{{CrossRef:Abanes:Becoming Gods|pages=35, 342n78, 348n130}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith become a baptized member of the Baptist Church in 1822?}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith join the Methodists as an "exhorter" years after being told not to join another church during the First Vision?}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith join the Methodist, Presbyterian, or Baptist churches between 1820 and 1830 despite the claim made in his 1838 history that he was forbidden by Deity from joining any denomination?}}
{{:Questions: Are there contemporary witnesses that confirm that Joseph Smith didn't join any church after the First Vision?}}

==Response to claim: 18 - No publications from the Palmyra or Manchester areas in the 1830s mentioned Joseph's vision==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
No publications from the Palmyra or Manchester areas in the 1830s mentioned Joseph's vision.
|authorsources=<br>
#Persuitte, p. 21.
}}
{{propaganda|Why would the newspapers be interested in a story of a fourteen year old boy who had claimed to see God? Joseph didn't even tell his own family about it initially - he appears to have only told at least one of the local ministers, who severely chastised him for it.
}}
*{{CrossRef:Abanes:Becoming Gods|pages=34}}
{{:Question: Why didn't the newspapers in Palmyra take notice of Joseph Smith's First Vision?}}

==Response to claim: 22, 490 n.78 (HB) - Didn't Lucy Mack Smith say that the first vision was that of a "holy Angel"?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Was the vision of Moroni the ''only'' vision that was discussed for many years? After all, didn't Lucy Mack Smith say that the first vision was that of a "holy Angel?"
|authorsources=<br>
#Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'', vol. 1, 216.
}}
{{misinformation|Lucy Mack Smith's 1831 letter does NOT say that her son's first heavenly visitation was from an angel: Her letter contains an easily recognizable First Vision storyline fragment.
}}
{{CrossRef:Abanes:Becoming Gods|pages=34}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith's mother say that the First Vision was of an "angel"?}}

{{endnotes sources}}


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