Difference between revisions of "Mormonism and Wikipedia/Golden plates/Significance"

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*Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.  
 
*Richard Bushman, ''Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.  
 
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*{{MissingWikipediaRef}} The editors quote Bushman, but fail to note that the Kinderhook hoax was addressed in the offical Church magazine, the ''Ensign''. See Stanley B. Kimball, [http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=b6a8aeca0ea6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD “Kinderhook Plates Brought to Joseph Smith Appear to Be a Nineteenth-Century Hoax,”] ''Ensign'', Aug 1981, 66.
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*{{WikipediaMissingRef}} The editors quote Bushman, but fail to note that the Kinderhook hoax was addressed in the offical Church magazine, the ''Ensign''. See Stanley B. Kimball, [http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=b6a8aeca0ea6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD “Kinderhook Plates Brought to Joseph Smith Appear to Be a Nineteenth-Century Hoax,”] ''Ensign'', Aug 1981, 66.
 
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Revision as of 12:41, 21 December 2009


A FairMormon Analysis of Wikipedia: Mormonism and Wikipedia/Golden plates
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An analysis of the Wikipedia article "Golden plates" (Version December 10, 2009)

The significance of the golden plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition

- Wikipedia Main Article: Golden plates– Wikipedia Footnotes: Golden plates–Notes A FAIR Opinion
  • Roberts (1908) , p. 461.
  • However, the golden plates are just one of many known and reputed metal plates with significance in the Latter Day Saint movement. The Book of Mormon itself refers to a long tradition of writing historical records on plates, of which the golden plates are a culmination. See List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement).
  • In addition, Joseph Smith once believed in the authenticity of a set of engraved metal plates called the Kinderhook Plates,
  • Bushman (2005) , p. 490 The original source is William Clayton's Journal, May 1, 1843 (See also, Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon, 117): "I have seen 6 brass plates... covered with ancient characters of language containing from 30 to 40 on each side of the plates. Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth." The information was deemed important enough to be republished in the first person (as if Smith had said it) in the History of The Church: "I insert facsimiles of the six brass plates found near Kinderhook...I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth." More than six pages in Volume Five of History of the Church discuss the Kinderhook plates.
  •  Violates Wikipedia: No Original Research off-site— Do not use unpublished facts, arguments, speculation, and ideas; and any unpublished analysis or synthesis of published material that serves to advance a position.
    Violated by Visorstuff —Diff: off-site

    The phrase "The information was deemed important enough..." is original research, and it leads the reader to conclude that there was something particularly special about the Kinderhook plates that it would be "republished in the first person." This is incorrect. Everything in History of the Church was written in the first person, as if Joseph himself had written it. This was according to the standards of documentation of the time.
  • For a detailed response, see: Authorship of History of the Church
  • For a detailed response, see: Kinderhook Plates
  • although these plates turned out to be a hoax by non-Mormons who sought to entice Smith to translate them in order to discredit his reputation.
  • Richard Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 489-90.
  • For many Latter Day Saints, however, particularly within the Community of Christ, the significance of these plates, including the golden plates, has waned as increasing numbers of adherents have doubted their historicity.
  •  A wiki editor's opinion is presented as fact— The wiki editor has placed his own opinion in the article as if it were fact.

    The citation pertains only to the Community of Christ. The wiki editor has used the qualifier "many" to imply that the "significance" of the plates has "waned" for "many Latter Day Saints." This gives a false impression that many in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also believe that that plates are no longer significant. This is incorrect. Most readers will not distinguish Wikipedia's use of "Latter Day Saints" (denoting the entire Latter Day Saint "movement") from "Latter-day Saints."
  • For many other Latter Day Saints, however, the physical existence and authenticity of these plates, and especially the golden plates, are essential elements of their faith. For them, the message of the Book of Mormon is inseparable from the story of its origins.
  • Givens (2003) , p. 37.

References

Wikipedia references for "Golden Plates"