Difference between revisions of "Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Nauvoo Polygamy/Chapter 2a"

(title)
(format)
Line 11: Line 11:
 
__NOTOC__
 
__NOTOC__
 
=Claims made in "Chapter 2" (pp. 108-158)=
 
=Claims made in "Chapter 2" (pp. 108-158)=
{{BeginClaimsTable}}
+
 
|
 
 
====108====
 
====108====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*It is claimed that "Sarah Pratt told…Wyl…'There was an old Woman called Durfee…to keep her quiet, he admitted her to the secret blessings of celestial bliss—she boasted here in Salt Lake of having been one of Joseph Smith's wives."
+
|claim=
||
+
It is claimed that "Sarah Pratt told…Wyl…'There was an old Woman called Durfee…to keep her quiet, he admitted her to the secret blessings of celestial bliss—she boasted here in Salt Lake of having been one of Joseph Smith's wives."
 +
|response=
 
* The author here follows Compton in misreading the Wyl data. Richard Anderson and Scott Faulring argue that  
 
* The author here follows Compton in misreading the Wyl data. Richard Anderson and Scott Faulring argue that  
 
::''In Sacred Loneliness'' misleads the reader by claiming that “Sarah Pratt mentions that she heard a Mrs. Durfee in Salt Lake City profess to have been one of Smith’s wives.”  But this changes the actual report of Sarah’s comments on Mrs. Durfee: “I don’t think she was ever sealed to him, though it may have been the case after Joseph’s death. . . . At all events, she boasted here in Salt Lake of having been one of Joseph’s wives.”{{ref|anderson1}}  
 
::''In Sacred Loneliness'' misleads the reader by claiming that “Sarah Pratt mentions that she heard a Mrs. Durfee in Salt Lake City profess to have been one of Smith’s wives.”  But this changes the actual report of Sarah’s comments on Mrs. Durfee: “I don’t think she was ever sealed to him, though it may have been the case after Joseph’s death. . . . At all events, she boasted here in Salt Lake of having been one of Joseph’s wives.”{{ref|anderson1}}  
Line 22: Line 22:
 
*[[../../Use of sources]] {{nw}}
 
*[[../../Use of sources]] {{nw}}
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*Wyl, ''Mormon Portraits'', 54.
 
*Wyl, ''Mormon Portraits'', 54.
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====110-111====
 
====110-111====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*{{AuthorQuote|"When Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798 and exposed the world to then-indecipherable ancient writings, Europe and the United States became fascinated with Egyptian artifacts.  Egyptian hieroglyphics, like the origin of Native American tribes, were mysteries of the times, sometimes regarded as clues to Indian Origins."}}
+
|claim=
 +
{{AuthorQuote|"When Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798 and exposed the world to then-indecipherable ancient writings, Europe and the United States became fascinated with Egyptian artifacts.  Egyptian hieroglyphics, like the origin of Native American tribes, were mysteries of the times, sometimes regarded as clues to Indian Origins."}}
 
*{{AuthorQuote|"Joseph Smith had grown up…during the time when public interest in the enigmatic Egyptians was burgeoning.  The Manchester, New York, rental library, within five miles of the Smith family farm, had acquired a volume on Napoleon."}}
 
*{{AuthorQuote|"Joseph Smith had grown up…during the time when public interest in the enigmatic Egyptians was burgeoning.  The Manchester, New York, rental library, within five miles of the Smith family farm, had acquired a volume on Napoleon."}}
||
+
|response=
 
*A string of speculations on the part of the author.
 
*A string of speculations on the part of the author.
 
*[[../../Napoleon's Egyptian discoveries]]
 
*[[../../Napoleon's Egyptian discoveries]]
 
*{{AuthorPublisherResponse}} The publisher notes that the author was not attempting to imply that Joseph plagiarized Napoleon, but rather that both of them wrote "amorous letters" and "shared a profound fascination with Egypt." {{link|url=http://www.signaturebooks.com/pluralmarriage.htm?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234200952&sr=1-1}}
 
*{{AuthorPublisherResponse}} The publisher notes that the author was not attempting to imply that Joseph plagiarized Napoleon, but rather that both of them wrote "amorous letters" and "shared a profound fascination with Egypt." {{link|url=http://www.signaturebooks.com/pluralmarriage.htm?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234200952&sr=1-1}}
||
+
|authorsources=
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Egypt}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Egypt}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo Polygamy:See also:Environmentalism}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo Polygamy:See also:Environmentalism}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====111====
 
====111====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author then continues: "This is not to suggest that Smith necessarily visited the library…."
+
|claim=
||
+
The author then continues: "This is not to suggest that Smith necessarily visited the library…."
 +
|response=
 
*So why mention it if not to give that impression?  If he did not, then it is irrelevant to Joseph Smith's thought or career.
 
*So why mention it if not to give that impression?  If he did not, then it is irrelevant to Joseph Smith's thought or career.
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*Joseph Smith and the Manchester (New York) Library," ''BYU Studies'' 22 (Summer 1982): 333-56.
 
*Joseph Smith and the Manchester (New York) Library," ''BYU Studies'' 22 (Summer 1982): 333-56.
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====111====
 
====111====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author then speculates: "…but from the age of ten…to about age twenty-two (December 1827) when he began dictating the Book of Mormon, published accounts of Napoleon and his foray into Egypt would have been available in books, periodicals, and possibly tracts."
+
|claim=
||
+
The author then speculates: "…but from the age of ten…to about age twenty-two (December 1827) when he began dictating the Book of Mormon, published accounts of Napoleon and his foray into Egypt would have been available in books, periodicals, and possibly tracts."
 +
|response=
 
*The author offers us only speculation, with no evidence that Joseph paid any attention to such matters.
 
*The author offers us only speculation, with no evidence that Joseph paid any attention to such matters.
 
*This is the [[Logical_fallacies#Appeal_to_probability|fallacy of probability]].
 
*This is the [[Logical_fallacies#Appeal_to_probability|fallacy of probability]].
 
*[[../../Napoleon's Egyptian discoveries]]
 
*[[../../Napoleon's Egyptian discoveries]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*No source provided.
 
*No source provided.
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Fallacy of probability}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Fallacy of probability}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====110 – 111 n. 150====
 
====110 – 111 n. 150====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*Regarding the Chandler papyri, the author claims that Joseph "translated some of the hieroglyphics by means of his white seer stone to produce 'an alphabet…[and] grammar of the Egyptian language' through July 1835."
+
|claim=
||
+
Regarding the Chandler papyri, the author claims that Joseph "translated some of the hieroglyphics by means of his white seer stone to produce 'an alphabet…[and] grammar of the Egyptian language' through July 1835."
 +
|response=
 
*The author here acts as if a highly debated matter is settled.  It is not at all clear that Joseph's seer stone was used "to produce" the alphabet and grammar. Rather, the alphabet and grammar may have been an attempt by some (possibly including Joseph) to 'reverse-engineer' a translation of Egyptian from the divine translation given of the Book of Abraham.
 
*The author here acts as if a highly debated matter is settled.  It is not at all clear that Joseph's seer stone was used "to produce" the alphabet and grammar. Rather, the alphabet and grammar may have been an attempt by some (possibly including Joseph) to 'reverse-engineer' a translation of Egyptian from the divine translation given of the Book of Abraham.
 
*[[Kirtland_Egyptian_Papers]]  
 
*[[Kirtland_Egyptian_Papers]]  
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*History of the Church 2:235-36, 238.
 
*History of the Church 2:235-36, 238.
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====112====
 
====112====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author claims that "a scholar" in 1823 "rightly concluded that these American [Indian] symbols 'appear to have had little or nothing in common with those of the Egyptians.'"
+
|claim=
||
+
The author claims that "a scholar" in 1823 "rightly concluded that these American [Indian] symbols 'appear to have had little or nothing in common with those of the Egyptians.'"
 +
|response=
 
*This is of no relevance to Joseph Smith unless we are to assume that Joseph taught that American writing could be used to illuminate ancient Egyptian. The Book of Mormon explicitly rejects any such idea, saying that "we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and ''altered by us'', according to our manner of speech…. ''none other people knoweth our language''; and because that none other people knoweth our language, therefore he hath prepared means for the interpretation thereof" ({{s||Mormon|9|31,34}}).
 
*This is of no relevance to Joseph Smith unless we are to assume that Joseph taught that American writing could be used to illuminate ancient Egyptian. The Book of Mormon explicitly rejects any such idea, saying that "we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and ''altered by us'', according to our manner of speech…. ''none other people knoweth our language''; and because that none other people knoweth our language, therefore he hath prepared means for the interpretation thereof" ({{s||Mormon|9|31,34}}).
 
*The author should also consider consulting scholarship more recent than 1823 if he wishes to know whether there are any links between Old World and New World languages.
 
*The author should also consider consulting scholarship more recent than 1823 if he wishes to know whether there are any links between Old World and New World languages.
 
*[[Hebrew_and_Native_American_languages]]
 
*[[Hebrew_and_Native_American_languages]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*Thomas Young, ''An Account of Some Recent Discoveries in Hieroglyphic Literature and Egyptian Antiquities'' (London: John Murray, 1823).
 
*Thomas Young, ''An Account of Some Recent Discoveries in Hieroglyphic Literature and Egyptian Antiquities'' (London: John Murray, 1823).
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====112====
 
====112====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*{{AuthorQuote|"As we consider Joseph Smith's new religious texts in early 1842, we should review what was known of the language of ancient Egyptian, not only in 1823 when Smith began to anticipate the Book of Mormon's 'reformed Egyptian records,' but later in the 1830s and 1840s when he prepared his second Egyptian scripture, the Book of Abraham."}}
+
|claim=
||
+
{{AuthorQuote|"As we consider Joseph Smith's new religious texts in early 1842, we should review what was known of the language of ancient Egyptian, not only in 1823 when Smith began to anticipate the Book of Mormon's 'reformed Egyptian records,' but later in the 1830s and 1840s when he prepared his second Egyptian scripture, the Book of Abraham."}}
 +
|response=
 
*The author is again presuming that studies of ancient Egyptian would have had any relevance for the Book of Mormon records—yet the Book of Mormon explicitly says they would not.
 
*The author is again presuming that studies of ancient Egyptian would have had any relevance for the Book of Mormon records—yet the Book of Mormon explicitly says they would not.
 
*[[../../Assumptions and presumptions]]
 
*[[../../Assumptions and presumptions]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
* No source provided.
 
* No source provided.
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====112====
 
====112====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author assumes that Joseph Smith made an association of Native American pictographs with 'reformed Egyptian.'
+
|claim=
||
+
The author assumes that Joseph Smith made an association of Native American pictographs with 'reformed Egyptian.'
 +
|response=
 
*What evidence is there of this?
 
*What evidence is there of this?
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*No source provided.
 
*No source provided.
|-
+
}}
|
 
 
====112====
 
====112====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author speculates that "Smith's association of these unrelated cultures [Egypt and the New World] simply reflected the prevailing misperceptions of the pre- to mid-nineteenth century."
+
|claim=
||
+
The author speculates that "Smith's association of these unrelated cultures [Egypt and the New World] simply reflected the prevailing misperceptions of the pre- to mid-nineteenth century."
 +
|response=
 
*Joseph's scriptural texts associated only a small group from the Old World with the New.  His 1842 scriptures had nothing at all to do with the New World.
 
*Joseph's scriptural texts associated only a small group from the Old World with the New.  His 1842 scriptures had nothing at all to do with the New World.
 
*That Joseph's own personal opinions may have reflected his time is irrelevant, unless we presume at the outset (as the author does) that the Book of Mormon was a fabrication by Joseph.  If it was not, then his personal views are irrelevant.
 
*That Joseph's own personal opinions may have reflected his time is irrelevant, unless we presume at the outset (as the author does) that the Book of Mormon was a fabrication by Joseph.  If it was not, then his personal views are irrelevant.
 
*[[../../Assumptions and presumptions]]
 
*[[../../Assumptions and presumptions]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*No source provided.
 
*No source provided.
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo Polygamy:See also:Environmentalism}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo Polygamy:See also:Environmentalism}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====113====
 
====113====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*{{AuthorQuote|"The first ancient scripture Smith presented since the Book of Mormon was the Book of Abraham."}}
+
|claim=
||
+
{{AuthorQuote|"The first ancient scripture Smith presented since the Book of Mormon was the Book of Abraham."}}
 +
|response=
 
*{{FalseStatement}} Joseph had also produced a Book of Moses and a Book of Enoch (begun June 1830) as part of his revision of the King James Bible.  These materials, however, did not rely on a modification of any extant Bible text.
 
*{{FalseStatement}} Joseph had also produced a Book of Moses and a Book of Enoch (begun June 1830) as part of his revision of the King James Bible.  These materials, however, did not rely on a modification of any extant Bible text.
 
*See: [http://farms.byu.edu/publications/transcripts/?id=75 here], [http://farms.byu.edu/publications/transcripts/?id=71 here], and [http://farms.byu.edu/publications/books.php?bookid=53 here.]
 
*See: [http://farms.byu.edu/publications/transcripts/?id=75 here], [http://farms.byu.edu/publications/transcripts/?id=71 here], and [http://farms.byu.edu/publications/books.php?bookid=53 here.]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
* No source provided.
 
* No source provided.
 
*{{HistoricalError}}
 
*{{HistoricalError}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====113 n. 157====
 
====113 n. 157====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible is claimed to have "altered over 3,400 verses but left the deities singular and in a Trinitarian format."
+
|claim=
||
+
The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible is claimed to have "altered over 3,400 verses but left the deities singular and in a Trinitarian format."
 +
|response=
 
*Since the original Bible has no Nicene Trinitarian format, it would be difficult to Joseph to leave it there.
 
*Since the original Bible has no Nicene Trinitarian format, it would be difficult to Joseph to leave it there.
 
*If The author does not mean a Nicene Trinity, then it would be strange for Joseph to alter it, since the Book of Mormon and Book of Abraham all teach a non-Nicene trinitarianism.
 
*If The author does not mean a Nicene Trinity, then it would be strange for Joseph to alter it, since the Book of Mormon and Book of Abraham all teach a non-Nicene trinitarianism.
Line 146: Line 146:
 
*The author wants to display an evolution in Joseph's views, but he has not done the necessary legwork.  He merely presumes, rather than demonstrates.
 
*The author wants to display an evolution in Joseph's views, but he has not done the necessary legwork.  He merely presumes, rather than demonstrates.
 
*[[../../Assumptions and presumptions]]
 
*[[../../Assumptions and presumptions]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*Quinn, ''Mormon Hierarchy: Origins'', 620.
 
*Quinn, ''Mormon Hierarchy: Origins'', 620.
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====114====
 
====114====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author presumes that Joseph "coalesced astronomy, biblical mystery, ancient Egyptian writing, and Masonic ritual into portentous ceremony for his followers."
+
|claim=
||
+
The author presumes that Joseph "coalesced astronomy, biblical mystery, ancient Egyptian writing, and Masonic ritual into portentous ceremony for his followers."
 +
|response=
 
*The author presumes that all these were sources for the temple endowment, and that Joseph combined them.
 
*The author presumes that all these were sources for the temple endowment, and that Joseph combined them.
 
*[[../../Loaded and prejudicial language]]
 
*[[../../Loaded and prejudicial language]]
 
*[[../../Mind reading]]
 
*[[../../Mind reading]]
 
*[[../../Napoleon's Egyptian discoveries]]
 
*[[../../Napoleon's Egyptian discoveries]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*No source provided.
 
*No source provided.
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo Polygamy:See also:Temple}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo Polygamy:See also:Temple}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo Polygamy:See also:Environmentalism}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo Polygamy:See also:Environmentalism}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Egypt}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Egypt}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====114====
 
====114====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author claims that "[t]he spring of 1842 was also the time when John C. Bennett began to separate himself from Smith…."
+
|claim=
||
+
The author claims that "[t]he spring of 1842 was also the time when John C. Bennett began to separate himself from Smith…."
 +
|response=
 
*Bennett did not separate himself, Joseph forced Bennett out because of his crimes.
 
*Bennett did not separate himself, Joseph forced Bennett out because of his crimes.
 
*[[Polygamy book/John C. Bennett|John C. Bennett]]
 
*[[Polygamy book/John C. Bennett|John C. Bennett]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*No source provided.
 
*No source provided.
 
*{{HistoricalError}}
 
*{{HistoricalError}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:John_C._Bennett}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:John_C._Bennett}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====116====
 
====116====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*Marinda Johnson "met Joseph while he was retranslating the Bible with Sidney Rigdon in her parents' home in 1831."
+
|claim=
||
+
Marinda Johnson "met Joseph while he was retranslating the Bible with Sidney Rigdon in her parents' home in 1831."
 +
|response=
 
*The author again does not tell us that Marinda testified against the version of Joseph's mobbing which he pushes on p. 44.
 
*The author again does not tell us that Marinda testified against the version of Joseph's mobbing which he pushes on p. 44.
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*No source provided.
 
*No source provided.
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Womanizing and romance}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Womanizing and romance}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====117-118====
 
====117-118====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*Orson Hyde "was reportedly 'furious'" with Joseph's plural marriage doctrine.
+
|claim=
||
+
Orson Hyde "was reportedly 'furious'" with Joseph's plural marriage doctrine.
 +
|response=
 
*Cites Ann Eliza Young, but fails to tell the reader there are three other versions, each of which is different and hostile.
 
*Cites Ann Eliza Young, but fails to tell the reader there are three other versions, each of which is different and hostile.
 
*Ann Eliza’s report of anger is also suspect. Later in the same work cited by the author, she describes Hyde “in a furious passion” because “he thought it no harm for him to win the affection of another man’s wife, . . . but he did not propose having his rights interfered with even by the holy Prophet whose teachings he so implicitly followed."  Yet Orson did not begin practicing plural marriage until after he knew of Marinda’s sealing to Joseph.
 
*Ann Eliza’s report of anger is also suspect. Later in the same work cited by the author, she describes Hyde “in a furious passion” because “he thought it no harm for him to win the affection of another man’s wife, . . . but he did not propose having his rights interfered with even by the holy Prophet whose teachings he so implicitly followed."  Yet Orson did not begin practicing plural marriage until after he knew of Marinda’s sealing to Joseph.
Line 201: Line 201:
 
*While it is possible that his initial reaction was heated, this perspective derives entirely from authors writing scandalous exposés of the Mormons long after the fact.
 
*While it is possible that his initial reaction was heated, this perspective derives entirely from authors writing scandalous exposés of the Mormons long after the fact.
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*Ann Eliza Young, ''Wife Number Nineteen'', 324–26.
 
*Ann Eliza Young, ''Wife Number Nineteen'', 324–26.
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====119====
 
====119====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author assumes censorship when he note that "after John C. Bennett's disagreement with Smith, the record of his celestial marriages was apparently expunged."
+
|claim=
||
+
The author assumes censorship when he note that "after John C. Bennett's disagreement with Smith, the record of his celestial marriages was apparently expunged."
 +
|response=
 
*The author is arguing from negative evidence—he claims that the absence of any record of Bennett's "marriages" is proof that the Church or Joseph suppressed them!
 
*The author is arguing from negative evidence—he claims that the absence of any record of Bennett's "marriages" is proof that the Church or Joseph suppressed them!
 
*He is presuming that Bennett's "marriages" were at one time sanctioned by Joseph.  All the evidence indicates that Joseph was upset whenever Bennett's behavior came to his attention.
 
*He is presuming that Bennett's "marriages" were at one time sanctioned by Joseph.  All the evidence indicates that Joseph was upset whenever Bennett's behavior came to his attention.
Line 215: Line 215:
 
*[[Censorship_and_revision_of_LDS_history]]
 
*[[Censorship_and_revision_of_LDS_history]]
 
*[[../../Censorship]]
 
*[[../../Censorship]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*No source provided.
 
*No source provided.
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:John_C._Bennett}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:John_C._Bennett}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Censorship}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Censorship}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====119====
 
====119====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*{{AuthorQuote|"Smith told Bennett he could not withdraw from the church because he had been 'disfellowshipped' two weeks before on May 11.  This apparent backdating was an attempt to discredit Bennett."}}
+
|claim=
||
+
{{AuthorQuote|"Smith told Bennett he could not withdraw from the church because he had been 'disfellowshipped' two weeks before on May 11.  This apparent backdating was an attempt to discredit Bennett."}}
 +
|response=
 
*The author has mentioned this before.  He has now adopted Bennett's version completely, with no hint that there is more to the story.
 
*The author has mentioned this before.  He has now adopted Bennett's version completely, with no hint that there is more to the story.
 
*(Already [[../Chapter_2#65|addressed above]], see pp. 65, 70, 72-73.)
 
*(Already [[../Chapter_2#65|addressed above]], see pp. 65, 70, 72-73.)
 
*[[Polygamy book/John C. Bennett|John C. Bennett]]
 
*[[Polygamy book/John C. Bennett|John C. Bennett]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*No source provided.
 
*No source provided.
 
*{{HistoricalError}}
 
*{{HistoricalError}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:John_C._Bennett}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:John_C._Bennett}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====122====
 
====122====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author reports that in John C. Bennett's first letter that "he reported that Smith 'attempted to seduce Miss Nany{{cs}} Rigdon,'…."
+
|claim=
||
+
The author reports that in John C. Bennett's first letter that "he reported that Smith 'attempted to seduce Miss Nany{{cs}} Rigdon,'…."
 +
|response=
 
*[[Polygamy book/John C. Bennett|John C. Bennett]]
 
*[[Polygamy book/John C. Bennett|John C. Bennett]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*Bennett to ''Sangamo Journal'', June 27, 1842.
 
*Bennett to ''Sangamo Journal'', June 27, 1842.
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:John_C._Bennett}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:John_C._Bennett}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====123-125====
 
====123-125====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author recounts John C. Bennett's version of the Sarah Pratt episode.
+
|claim=
||
+
The author recounts John C. Bennett's version of the Sarah Pratt episode.
 +
|response=
 
*[[Polygamy book/John C. Bennett|John C. Bennett]]
 
*[[Polygamy book/John C. Bennett|John C. Bennett]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:John_C._Bennett}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:John_C._Bennett}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====129-134====
 
====129-134====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The story of Emma Smith pushing Eliza Snow down the stairs is mentioned.
+
|claim=
||
+
The story of Emma Smith pushing Eliza Snow down the stairs is mentioned.
 +
|response=
 
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/Emma Smith/Eliza R. Snow and the stairs|Emma, Eliza, and the stairs]]
 
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/Emma Smith/Eliza R. Snow and the stairs|Emma, Eliza, and the stairs]]
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
||
+
|authorsources=
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Stairs}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Stairs}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====131-132====
 
====131-132====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author notes that "…historian Fawn M. Brodie thought the documentation was strong enough to include it in her biography of Smith."
+
|claim=
||
+
The author notes that "…historian Fawn M. Brodie thought the documentation was strong enough to include it in her biography of Smith."
 +
|response=
 
*Fawn Brodie's evidentiary standard was often depressingly low.  She was certain that Oliver Buell was Joseph's son (based on photographic evidence) but DNA evidence has resoundingly refuted her.
 
*Fawn Brodie's evidentiary standard was often depressingly low.  She was certain that Oliver Buell was Joseph's son (based on photographic evidence) but DNA evidence has resoundingly refuted her.
 
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/Emma Smith/Eliza R. Snow and the stairs|Emma, Eliza, and the stairs]]
 
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/Emma Smith/Eliza R. Snow and the stairs|Emma, Eliza, and the stairs]]
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*{{CriticalWork:Brodie:No Man Knows|pages=470–71}}
 
*{{CriticalWork:Brodie:No Man Knows|pages=470–71}}
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Stairs}}
+
*{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Stairs}}
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Buell}}
+
*{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Buell}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====131 n. 195====
 
====131 n. 195====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author cites ''BYU Studies'' on Emma and Eliza, but does not disclose that those authors find that the story is not plausible.
+
|claim=
||
+
The author cites ''BYU Studies'' on Emma and Eliza, but does not disclose that those authors find that the story is not plausible.
 +
|response=
 
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/Emma Smith/Eliza R. Snow and the stairs|Emma, Eliza, and the stairs]]
 
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/Emma Smith/Eliza R. Snow and the stairs|Emma, Eliza, and the stairs]]
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*Maureen Ursenbach Beecher et al., “Emma and Eliza and the Stairs,” ''BYU Studies'' 22/1 (Fall 1982): 86–96.
 
*Maureen Ursenbach Beecher et al., “Emma and Eliza and the Stairs,” ''BYU Studies'' 22/1 (Fall 1982): 86–96.
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Stairs}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Stairs}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====132====
 
====132====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author cites Newel and Avery, ''Mormon Enigma'' without acknowledging or engaging their arguments against the story of Emma and Eliza.
+
|claim=
||
+
The author cites Newel and Avery, ''Mormon Enigma'' without acknowledging or engaging their arguments against the story of Emma and Eliza.
 
+
|response=
 
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/Emma Smith/Eliza R. Snow and the stairs|Emma, Eliza, and the stairs]]
 
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/Emma Smith/Eliza R. Snow and the stairs|Emma, Eliza, and the stairs]]
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*Newell and Avery, ''Mormon Enigma'', 134.
 
*Newell and Avery, ''Mormon Enigma'', 134.
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Stairs}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Stairs}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====133====
 
====133====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author assumes rumors are evidence: "Most convincing of all is to think that these stories [about Emma] were circulating widely and Eliza never bothered to clarify or refute them."
+
|claim=
||
+
The author assumes rumors are evidence: "Most convincing of all is to think that these stories [about Emma] were circulating widely and Eliza never bothered to clarify or refute them."
 +
|response=
 
*Uncorrected rumor or gossip is more convincing than the absence of diary or behavioral evidence for a pregnancy as outlined by Newel and Avery (see [[Joseph Smith and polygamy/Emma Smith/Eliza R. Snow and the stairs|previous]])?
 
*Uncorrected rumor or gossip is more convincing than the absence of diary or behavioral evidence for a pregnancy as outlined by Newel and Avery (see [[Joseph Smith and polygamy/Emma Smith/Eliza R. Snow and the stairs|previous]])?
 
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/Emma Smith/Eliza R. Snow and the stairs|Emma, Eliza, and the stairs]]
 
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/Emma Smith/Eliza R. Snow and the stairs|Emma, Eliza, and the stairs]]
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*No source provided.
 
*No source provided.
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Stairs}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Stairs}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
 
 
 
====137====
 
====137====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*Censorship is again implied, when the author notes that the ''History of the Church'' "reports the day's activities…without a hint of a wedding" to Sarah Ann Whitney.
+
|claim=
||
+
Censorship is again implied, when the author notes that the ''History of the Church'' "reports the day's activities…without a hint of a wedding" to Sarah Ann Whitney.
 +
|response=
 
*[[Censorship_and_revision_of_LDS_history]]
 
*[[Censorship_and_revision_of_LDS_history]]
 
*[[../../Censorship]]
 
*[[../../Censorship]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*No source provided.
 
*No source provided.
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Censorship}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Censorship}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====138====
 
====138====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author talks about Joseph's letter to the Whitneys ''again'': "Three weeks after the wedding, Joseph took steps to spend some time with his newest bride."
+
|claim=
||
+
The author talks about Joseph's letter to the Whitneys ''again'': "Three weeks after the wedding, Joseph took steps to spend some time with his newest bride."
 +
|response=
 
*Again, The author fails to acknowledge that Joseph wanted Sarah Ann '''and her parents''' to visit him.
 
*Again, The author fails to acknowledge that Joseph wanted Sarah Ann '''and her parents''' to visit him.
 
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/"Love letters"]]
 
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/"Love letters"]]
Line 343: Line 341:
 
*[[../../Romance]]
 
*[[../../Romance]]
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*No source provided.
 
*No source provided.
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Love_letters_Whitney}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Love_letters_Whitney}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====139====
 
====139====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The book claims that in an "extraordinary move, the Nauvoo City Council issued an ordinance limiting the power of state courts and claiming the right to review and dismiss future writs."
+
|claim=
||
+
The book claims that in an "extraordinary move, the Nauvoo City Council issued an ordinance limiting the power of state courts and claiming the right to review and dismiss future writs."
 +
|response=
 
*[[Nauvoo city charter]]
 
*[[Nauvoo city charter]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*Roberts, ''Comprehensive History'' 2:468-69.
 
*Roberts, ''Comprehensive History'' 2:468-69.
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Nauvoo city charter}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Nauvoo city charter}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====142====
 
====142====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author really wants readers to understand Joseph's letter to the Whitneys:
+
|claim=
 +
The author really wants readers to understand Joseph's letter to the Whitneys:
 
<blockquote>
 
<blockquote>
 
"It was the ninth night of Joseph's concealment, and Emma had visited him three times, written him several letters, and penned at least one letter on his behalf…For his part, Joseph's private note about his love for Emma was so endearing it found its way into the official church history.  In it, he vowed to be hers 'forevermore.'  Yet within this context of reassurance and intimacy, a few hours later the same day, even while Joseph was still in grave danger and when secrecy was of the utmost urgency, he made complicated arrangements for a visit from his fifteenth plural wife, Sarah Ann Whitney."
 
"It was the ninth night of Joseph's concealment, and Emma had visited him three times, written him several letters, and penned at least one letter on his behalf…For his part, Joseph's private note about his love for Emma was so endearing it found its way into the official church history.  In it, he vowed to be hers 'forevermore.'  Yet within this context of reassurance and intimacy, a few hours later the same day, even while Joseph was still in grave danger and when secrecy was of the utmost urgency, he made complicated arrangements for a visit from his fifteenth plural wife, Sarah Ann Whitney."
 
</blockquote>
 
</blockquote>
||
+
|response=
 
*Joseph’s behavior is painted as callous toward Emma and also as evidence of an almost insatiable sexual hunger.
 
*Joseph’s behavior is painted as callous toward Emma and also as evidence of an almost insatiable sexual hunger.
 
*Yet again, the author does not acknowledge that Joseph wants all the Whitneys there.
 
*Yet again, the author does not acknowledge that Joseph wants all the Whitneys there.
Line 374: Line 372:
 
*[[../../Romance]]
 
*[[../../Romance]]
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
||
+
|authorsources=
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Love_letters_Whitney}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Love_letters_Whitney}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====142-143====
 
====142-143====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*Referring to the Whitney letter, the author notes: "Smith urged his seventeen-year-old bride to 'come to night' and 'comfort' him—but only if Emma had not returned….Joseph judiciously addressed the letter to 'Brother, and Sister, Whitney, and &c."
+
|claim=
||
+
Referring to the Whitney letter, the author notes: "Smith urged his seventeen-year-old bride to 'come to night' and 'comfort' him—but only if Emma had not returned….Joseph judiciously addressed the letter to 'Brother, and Sister, Whitney, and &c."
 +
|response=
 
*Despite mentioning (finally!) that the letter is addressed to all three Whitneys, the author continues to insist that Sarah Ann is the one who is to "come" and "comfort" him.
 
*Despite mentioning (finally!) that the letter is addressed to all three Whitneys, the author continues to insist that Sarah Ann is the one who is to "come" and "comfort" him.
 
*He here (p. 143) reproduces the letter's full text (having used it at least four times to push his reading of Joseph needing Sarah to "comfort" him), but does not address the reason why Joseph sought a visit with his plural wife and her parents: to “tell you all my plans . . . [and] to git the fulness of my blessings sealed upon our heads, &c.”  
 
*He here (p. 143) reproduces the letter's full text (having used it at least four times to push his reading of Joseph needing Sarah to "comfort" him), but does not address the reason why Joseph sought a visit with his plural wife and her parents: to “tell you all my plans . . . [and] to git the fulness of my blessings sealed upon our heads, &c.”  
Line 395: Line 393:
 
*[[Polygamy book/Age of wives|Age of wives]]
 
*[[Polygamy book/Age of wives|Age of wives]]
 
*[[../../Presentism]]
 
*[[../../Presentism]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Love_letters_Whitney}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Love_letters_Whitney}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Age_wives}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Age_wives}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====147====
 
====147====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*Referring yet again to the Whitney letter, the author notes: "Invites Whitneys to visit, Sarah Ann to 'comfort me' if Emma not there.  Invitation accepted."
+
|claim=
||
+
Referring yet again to the Whitney letter, the author notes: "Invites Whitneys to visit, Sarah Ann to 'comfort me' if Emma not there.  Invitation accepted."
 +
|response=
 
*Having just reproduced the entire letter, the author again insists that Sarah Ann is the one to "comfort" Joseph, even though the letter says nothing of the sort.
 
*Having just reproduced the entire letter, the author again insists that Sarah Ann is the one to "comfort" Joseph, even though the letter says nothing of the sort.
 
*The author does not indicate how he knows the invitation was accepted.
 
*The author does not indicate how he knows the invitation was accepted.
Line 413: Line 411:
 
*[[../../Romance]]
 
*[[../../Romance]]
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
||
+
|authorsources=|authorsources=
 
*No source provided.
 
*No source provided.
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Love_letters_Whitney}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Love_letters_Whitney}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====147–154====
 
====147–154====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The book recounts the Nancy Rigdon episode
+
|claim=
||
+
The book recounts the Nancy Rigdon episode
 +
|response=
 
*[[Polygamy book/John C. Bennett|John C. Bennett]]
 
*[[Polygamy book/John C. Bennett|John C. Bennett]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:John_C._Bennett}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:John_C._Bennett}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====149====
 
====149====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author assumes that Sidney Rigdon "was in many ways a mentor to Joseph."
+
|claim=
||
+
The author assumes that Sidney Rigdon "was in many ways a mentor to Joseph."
 +
|response=
 
*What evidence is there of this?  Joseph was always in charge and always the senior partner, though he was happy to make use of Rigdon's skills as an orator.
 
*What evidence is there of this?  Joseph was always in charge and always the senior partner, though he was happy to make use of Rigdon's skills as an orator.
 
*Joseph had published the Book of Mormon and had the Church well established before Rigdon appeared.  He did not need Sidney to "mentor" him at all.
 
*Joseph had published the Book of Mormon and had the Church well established before Rigdon appeared.  He did not need Sidney to "mentor" him at all.
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*No source provided.
 
*No source provided.
|-
+
}}
|
 
 
====149====
 
====149====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author speculates that Sidney Rigdon "was not someone Joseph felt comfortable approaching to ask for his daughter's hand in polygamy.  So Joseph appealed to the young woman directly."
+
|claim=
||
+
The author speculates that Sidney Rigdon "was not someone Joseph felt comfortable approaching to ask for his daughter's hand in polygamy.  So Joseph appealed to the young woman directly."
 +
|response=
 
*[[../../Mind reading]]
 
*[[../../Mind reading]]
 
*[[Polygamy book/John C. Bennett|John C. Bennett]]
 
*[[Polygamy book/John C. Bennett|John C. Bennett]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*No source provided.
 
*No source provided.
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:John_C._Bennett}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:John_C._Bennett}}
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====149====
 
====149====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*{{AuthorQuote|"For some reason, Marinda [Johnson Hyde] stayed [in the same house as] Apostle Willard Richards, whose wife, Jennetta, was in Massachusetts….Although the two may have lived in separate parts of the building…their living arrangements seemed to be an open scandal."}}
+
|claim=
||
+
{{AuthorQuote|"For some reason, Marinda [Johnson Hyde] stayed [in the same house as] Apostle Willard Richards, whose wife, Jennetta, was in Massachusetts….Although the two may have lived in separate parts of the building…their living arrangements seemed to be an open scandal."}}
 +
|response=
 
*This hardly has the appearance of an "open scandal." From ''History of the Church'':
 
*This hardly has the appearance of an "open scandal." From ''History of the Church'':
 
<blockquote>
 
<blockquote>
Line 461: Line 459:
 
Verily thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have called upon me to know my will concerning my handmaid Nancy Marinda Hyde—behold it is my will that she should have a better place prepared for her, than that in which she now lives, in order that her life may be spared unto her; therefore go and say unto my servant, Ebenezer Robinson, and to my handmaid his wife—Let them open their doors and take her and her children into their house and take care of them faithfully and kindly until my servant Orson Hyde returns from his mission, or until some other provision can be made for her welfare and safety. Let them do these things and spare not, and I the Lord will bless them and heal them if they do it not grudgingly, saith the Lord God; and she shall be a blessing unto them; and let my handmaid Nancy Marinda Hyde hearken to the counsel of my servant Joseph in all things whatsoever he shall teach unto her, and it shall be a blessing upon her and upon her children after her, unto her justification, saith the Lord.
 
Verily thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have called upon me to know my will concerning my handmaid Nancy Marinda Hyde—behold it is my will that she should have a better place prepared for her, than that in which she now lives, in order that her life may be spared unto her; therefore go and say unto my servant, Ebenezer Robinson, and to my handmaid his wife—Let them open their doors and take her and her children into their house and take care of them faithfully and kindly until my servant Orson Hyde returns from his mission, or until some other provision can be made for her welfare and safety. Let them do these things and spare not, and I the Lord will bless them and heal them if they do it not grudgingly, saith the Lord God; and she shall be a blessing unto them; and let my handmaid Nancy Marinda Hyde hearken to the counsel of my servant Joseph in all things whatsoever he shall teach unto her, and it shall be a blessing upon her and upon her children after her, unto her justification, saith the Lord.
 
</blockquote>
 
</blockquote>
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*''History of the Church'' 4:467
 
*''History of the Church'' 4:467
 
**{{CitationError}} Bennett, ''History of the Saints'', 241; [Error! The correct page is 243 for the claim of scandal.]
 
**{{CitationError}} Bennett, ''History of the Saints'', 241; [Error! The correct page is 243 for the claim of scandal.]
 
*Ebenezer Robinson, ''The Return'' (Oct 1890): 347 [Actually most is on p. 346].
 
*Ebenezer Robinson, ''The Return'' (Oct 1890): 347 [Actually most is on p. 346].
*(Did the author just copy these from Van Wagoner, ''Sidney Rigdon'', who uses the same page numbers, rather than check the originals?)
+
*(Did the author just copy these from Van Wagoner, ''Sidney Rigdon'', who uses the same page numbers, rather than check the originals?
|-
+
}}
|
 
 
 
 
====154====
 
====154====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author claims that both Nancy Rigdon and Martha Brotherton were "isolated in a locked room during the persuasive effort."
+
|claim=
||
+
The author claims that both Nancy Rigdon and Martha Brotherton were "isolated in a locked room during the persuasive effort."
 +
|response=
 
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/Women locked in a room]]  
 
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/Women locked in a room]]  
 
*[[Polygamy book/John C. Bennett|John C. Bennett]]
 
*[[Polygamy book/John C. Bennett|John C. Bennett]]
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*No source provided.
 
*No source provided.
|-
+
}}
|
 
  
 
====155====
 
====155====
||
+
{{IndexClaim
*The author refers to Joseph's visit by the Whitneys as a "liaison" with Sarah Ann.
+
|claim=
||
+
The author refers to Joseph's visit by the Whitneys as a "liaison" with Sarah Ann.
 +
|response=
 
*The author persists with Sarah Ann Whitney and "liaison" fiction.
 
*The author persists with Sarah Ann Whitney and "liaison" fiction.
 
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/"Love letters"]]
 
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/"Love letters"]]
Line 491: Line 488:
 
*[[../../Romance]]
 
*[[../../Romance]]
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
 
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
||
+
|authorsources=
 
*No source provided.
 
*No source provided.
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Love_letters_Whitney}}
 
{{CriticalWorks:Smith:Nauvoo_Polygamy:See_also:Love_letters_Whitney}}
{{EndClaimsTable}}
+
}}
  
 
=={{Endnotes label}}==
 
=={{Endnotes label}}==

Revision as of 09:44, 26 March 2011

  1. REDIRECTTemplate:Test3


A work by author: George D. Smith

Claims made in "Chapter 2" (pp. 108-158)

108

Claim
It is claimed that "Sarah Pratt told…Wyl…'There was an old Woman called Durfee…to keep her quiet, he admitted her to the secret blessings of celestial bliss—she boasted here in Salt Lake of having been one of Joseph Smith's wives."

Author's source(s)

  • Wyl, Mormon Portraits, 54.

Response

  • The author here follows Compton in misreading the Wyl data. Richard Anderson and Scott Faulring argue that
In Sacred Loneliness misleads the reader by claiming that “Sarah Pratt mentions that she heard a Mrs. Durfee in Salt Lake City profess to have been one of Smith’s wives.” But this changes the actual report of Sarah’s comments on Mrs. Durfee: “I don’t think she was ever sealed to him, though it may have been the case after Joseph’s death. . . . At all events, she boasted here in Salt Lake of having been one of Joseph’s wives.”[1]


110-111

Claim
 Author's quote: "When Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798 and exposed the world to then-indecipherable ancient writings, Europe and the United States became fascinated with Egyptian artifacts. Egyptian hieroglyphics, like the origin of Native American tribes, were mysteries of the times, sometimes regarded as clues to Indian Origins."
  •  Author's quote: "Joseph Smith had grown up…during the time when public interest in the enigmatic Egyptians was burgeoning. The Manchester, New York, rental library, within five miles of the Smith family farm, had acquired a volume on Napoleon."

Author's source(s)
Egyptian influence? (edit) Environmental explanations (edit) Response
  • A string of speculations on the part of the author.
  • Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Napoleon's Egyptian discoveries
  •  The author or publisher responds: The publisher notes that the author was not attempting to imply that Joseph plagiarized Napoleon, but rather that both of them wrote "amorous letters" and "shared a profound fascination with Egypt." off-site

111

Claim
The author then continues: "This is not to suggest that Smith necessarily visited the library…."

Author's source(s)

  • Joseph Smith and the Manchester (New York) Library," BYU Studies 22 (Summer 1982): 333-56.

Response

  • So why mention it if not to give that impression? If he did not, then it is irrelevant to Joseph Smith's thought or career.


111

Claim
The author then speculates: "…but from the age of ten…to about age twenty-two (December 1827) when he began dictating the Book of Mormon, published accounts of Napoleon and his foray into Egypt would have been available in books, periodicals, and possibly tracts."

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.

Fallacy of probability (edit)

  • See also ch. 2: 56
  • See also ch. 2a: 111

Response


110 – 111 n. 150

Claim
Regarding the Chandler papyri, the author claims that Joseph "translated some of the hieroglyphics by means of his white seer stone to produce 'an alphabet…[and] grammar of the Egyptian language' through July 1835."

Author's source(s)

  • History of the Church 2:235-36, 238.

Response

  • The author here acts as if a highly debated matter is settled. It is not at all clear that Joseph's seer stone was used "to produce" the alphabet and grammar. Rather, the alphabet and grammar may have been an attempt by some (possibly including Joseph) to 'reverse-engineer' a translation of Egyptian from the divine translation given of the Book of Abraham.
  • Kirtland_Egyptian_Papers


112

Claim
The author claims that "a scholar" in 1823 "rightly concluded that these American [Indian] symbols 'appear to have had little or nothing in common with those of the Egyptians.'"

Author's source(s)

  • Thomas Young, An Account of Some Recent Discoveries in Hieroglyphic Literature and Egyptian Antiquities (London: John Murray, 1823).

Response

  • This is of no relevance to Joseph Smith unless we are to assume that Joseph taught that American writing could be used to illuminate ancient Egyptian. The Book of Mormon explicitly rejects any such idea, saying that "we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech…. none other people knoweth our language; and because that none other people knoweth our language, therefore he hath prepared means for the interpretation thereof" (Mormon 9꞉31,34).
  • The author should also consider consulting scholarship more recent than 1823 if he wishes to know whether there are any links between Old World and New World languages.
  • Hebrew_and_Native_American_languages


112

Claim
 Author's quote: "As we consider Joseph Smith's new religious texts in early 1842, we should review what was known of the language of ancient Egyptian, not only in 1823 when Smith began to anticipate the Book of Mormon's 'reformed Egyptian records,' but later in the 1830s and 1840s when he prepared his second Egyptian scripture, the Book of Abraham."

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.

Response


112

Claim
The author assumes that Joseph Smith made an association of Native American pictographs with 'reformed Egyptian.'

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.

Response

  • What evidence is there of this?


112

Claim
The author speculates that "Smith's association of these unrelated cultures [Egypt and the New World] simply reflected the prevailing misperceptions of the pre- to mid-nineteenth century."

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.

Environmental explanations (edit)

Response

  • Joseph's scriptural texts associated only a small group from the Old World with the New. His 1842 scriptures had nothing at all to do with the New World.
  • That Joseph's own personal opinions may have reflected his time is irrelevant, unless we presume at the outset (as the author does) that the Book of Mormon was a fabrication by Joseph. If it was not, then his personal views are irrelevant.
  • Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Assumptions and presumptions


113

Claim
 Author's quote: "The first ancient scripture Smith presented since the Book of Mormon was the Book of Abraham."

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.
  •  History unclear or in error

Response

  •  The author's claim is false Joseph had also produced a Book of Moses and a Book of Enoch (begun June 1830) as part of his revision of the King James Bible. These materials, however, did not rely on a modification of any extant Bible text.
  • See: here, here, and here.


113 n. 157

Claim
The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible is claimed to have "altered over 3,400 verses but left the deities singular and in a Trinitarian format."

Author's source(s)

  • Quinn, Mormon Hierarchy: Origins, 620.

Response


114

Claim
The author presumes that Joseph "coalesced astronomy, biblical mystery, ancient Egyptian writing, and Masonic ritual into portentous ceremony for his followers."

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.

Temple (edit)

  • See also ch. 2: 75 and 85
  • See also ch. 2a: 114

Environmental explanations (edit)

Egyptian influence? (edit)

Response


114

Claim
The author claims that "[t]he spring of 1842 was also the time when John C. Bennett began to separate himself from Smith…."

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.
  •  History unclear or in error

John C. Bennett (edit)

Response

  • Bennett did not separate himself, Joseph forced Bennett out because of his crimes.
  • John C. Bennett


116

Claim
Marinda Johnson "met Joseph while he was retranslating the Bible with Sidney Rigdon in her parents' home in 1831."

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.

Womanizing & romance (edit)

Response

  • The author again does not tell us that Marinda testified against the version of Joseph's mobbing which he pushes on p. 44.
  • Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)


117-118

Claim
Orson Hyde "was reportedly 'furious'" with Joseph's plural marriage doctrine.

Author's source(s)

  • Ann Eliza Young, Wife Number Nineteen, 324–26.

Response

  • Cites Ann Eliza Young, but fails to tell the reader there are three other versions, each of which is different and hostile.
  • Ann Eliza’s report of anger is also suspect. Later in the same work cited by the author, she describes Hyde “in a furious passion” because “he thought it no harm for him to win the affection of another man’s wife, . . . but he did not propose having his rights interfered with even by the holy Prophet whose teachings he so implicitly followed." Yet Orson did not begin practicing plural marriage until after he knew of Marinda’s sealing to Joseph.
  • Despite the hostile reports of Orson Hyde’s anger, there are no contemporary accounts of problems between Orson and Joseph, who repeatedly dined with the Hydes following Orson’s return from Palestine.
  • While it is possible that his initial reaction was heated, this perspective derives entirely from authors writing scandalous exposés of the Mormons long after the fact.
  • Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)


119

Claim
The author assumes censorship when he note that "after John C. Bennett's disagreement with Smith, the record of his celestial marriages was apparently expunged."

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.

John C. Bennett (edit)

Censorship of Church History (edit)

Response


119

Claim
 Author's quote: "Smith told Bennett he could not withdraw from the church because he had been 'disfellowshipped' two weeks before on May 11. This apparent backdating was an attempt to discredit Bennett."

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.
  •  History unclear or in error

John C. Bennett (edit)

Response

  • The author has mentioned this before. He has now adopted Bennett's version completely, with no hint that there is more to the story.
  • (Already addressed above, see pp. 65, 70, 72-73.)
  • John C. Bennett


122

Claim
The author reports that in John C. Bennett's first letter that "he reported that Smith 'attempted to seduce Miss Nany [check spelling] Rigdon,'…."

Author's source(s)

  • Bennett to Sangamo Journal, June 27, 1842.

John C. Bennett (edit)

Response


123-125

Claim
The author recounts John C. Bennett's version of the Sarah Pratt episode.

Author's source(s)
John C. Bennett (edit)

Response


129-134

Claim
The story of Emma Smith pushing Eliza Snow down the stairs is mentioned.

Author's source(s)
Emma, Eliza & stairs (edit)

Response


131-132

Claim
The author notes that "…historian Fawn M. Brodie thought the documentation was strong enough to include it in her biography of Smith."

Author's source(s)

Response

  • Fawn Brodie's evidentiary standard was often depressingly low. She was certain that Oliver Buell was Joseph's son (based on photographic evidence) but DNA evidence has resoundingly refuted her.
  • Emma, Eliza, and the stairs
  • Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)


131 n. 195

Claim
The author cites BYU Studies on Emma and Eliza, but does not disclose that those authors find that the story is not plausible.

Author's source(s)

  • Maureen Ursenbach Beecher et al., “Emma and Eliza and the Stairs,” BYU Studies 22/1 (Fall 1982): 86–96.

Emma, Eliza & stairs (edit)

Response


132

Claim
The author cites Newel and Avery, Mormon Enigma without acknowledging or engaging their arguments against the story of Emma and Eliza.

Author's source(s)

  • Newell and Avery, Mormon Enigma, 134.

Emma, Eliza & stairs (edit)

Response


133

Claim
The author assumes rumors are evidence: "Most convincing of all is to think that these stories [about Emma] were circulating widely and Eliza never bothered to clarify or refute them."

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.

Emma, Eliza & stairs (edit)

Response

  • Uncorrected rumor or gossip is more convincing than the absence of diary or behavioral evidence for a pregnancy as outlined by Newel and Avery (see previous)?
  • Emma, Eliza, and the stairs
  • Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:...but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. FARMS Review, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Detailed book review)


137

Claim
Censorship is again implied, when the author notes that the History of the Church "reports the day's activities…without a hint of a wedding" to Sarah Ann Whitney.

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.

Censorship of Church History (edit)

Response


138

Claim
The author talks about Joseph's letter to the Whitneys again: "Three weeks after the wedding, Joseph took steps to spend some time with his newest bride."

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.

Whitney "love letter" (edit)

Response


139

Claim
The book claims that in an "extraordinary move, the Nauvoo City Council issued an ordinance limiting the power of state courts and claiming the right to review and dismiss future writs."

Author's source(s)

  • Roberts, Comprehensive History 2:468-69.

Nauvoo city charter (edit)

  • See also ch. 1: 2
  • See also ch. 2a: 139
  • See also ch. 3: 160, 161, and 163

Response


142

Claim
The author really wants readers to understand Joseph's letter to the Whitneys:

"It was the ninth night of Joseph's concealment, and Emma had visited him three times, written him several letters, and penned at least one letter on his behalf…For his part, Joseph's private note about his love for Emma was so endearing it found its way into the official church history. In it, he vowed to be hers 'forevermore.' Yet within this context of reassurance and intimacy, a few hours later the same day, even while Joseph was still in grave danger and when secrecy was of the utmost urgency, he made complicated arrangements for a visit from his fifteenth plural wife, Sarah Ann Whitney."

Author's source(s)
Whitney "love letter" (edit)

Response


142-143

Claim
Referring to the Whitney letter, the author notes: "Smith urged his seventeen-year-old bride to 'come to night' and 'comfort' him—but only if Emma had not returned….Joseph judiciously addressed the letter to 'Brother, and Sister, Whitney, and &c."

Author's source(s)
Whitney "love letter" (edit)

Ages of wives (edit)

  • See also ch. Preface: ix
  • See also ch. 1: 1, 22, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 44
  • See also ch. 2: 53
  • See also ch. 2a: 142-143
  • See also ch. 3: 198
  • See also ch. 6: 408

Response


147

Claim
Referring yet again to the Whitney letter, the author notes: "Invites Whitneys to visit, Sarah Ann to 'comfort me' if Emma not there. Invitation accepted."

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.

Whitney "love letter" (edit)

Response


147–154

Claim
The book recounts the Nancy Rigdon episode

Author's source(s)
John C. Bennett (edit)

Response


149

Claim
The author assumes that Sidney Rigdon "was in many ways a mentor to Joseph."

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.

Response

  • What evidence is there of this? Joseph was always in charge and always the senior partner, though he was happy to make use of Rigdon's skills as an orator.
  • Joseph had published the Book of Mormon and had the Church well established before Rigdon appeared. He did not need Sidney to "mentor" him at all.


149

Claim
The author speculates that Sidney Rigdon "was not someone Joseph felt comfortable approaching to ask for his daughter's hand in polygamy. So Joseph appealed to the young woman directly."

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.

John C. Bennett (edit)

Response


149

Claim
 Author's quote: "For some reason, Marinda [Johnson Hyde] stayed [in the same house as] Apostle Willard Richards, whose wife, Jennetta, was in Massachusetts….Although the two may have lived in separate parts of the building…their living arrangements seemed to be an open scandal."

Author's source(s)

  • History of the Church 4:467
    •  Citation error Bennett, History of the Saints, 241; [Error! The correct page is 243 for the claim of scandal.]
  • Ebenezer Robinson, The Return (Oct 1890): 347 [Actually most is on p. 346].
  • (Did the author just copy these from Van Wagoner, Sidney Rigdon, who uses the same page numbers, rather than check the originals?

Response

  • This hardly has the appearance of an "open scandal." From History of the Church:

Thursday, 2.—I received the following revelation to Nancy Marinda Hyde— Revelation.
Verily thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have called upon me to know my will concerning my handmaid Nancy Marinda Hyde—behold it is my will that she should have a better place prepared for her, than that in which she now lives, in order that her life may be spared unto her; therefore go and say unto my servant, Ebenezer Robinson, and to my handmaid his wife—Let them open their doors and take her and her children into their house and take care of them faithfully and kindly until my servant Orson Hyde returns from his mission, or until some other provision can be made for her welfare and safety. Let them do these things and spare not, and I the Lord will bless them and heal them if they do it not grudgingly, saith the Lord God; and she shall be a blessing unto them; and let my handmaid Nancy Marinda Hyde hearken to the counsel of my servant Joseph in all things whatsoever he shall teach unto her, and it shall be a blessing upon her and upon her children after her, unto her justification, saith the Lord.


154

Claim
The author claims that both Nancy Rigdon and Martha Brotherton were "isolated in a locked room during the persuasive effort."

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.

Response


155

Claim
The author refers to Joseph's visit by the Whitneys as a "liaison" with Sarah Ann.

Author's source(s)

  • No source provided.

Whitney "love letter" (edit)

Response


== Notes ==

  1. [note]  Richard Lloyd Anderson and Scott H. Faulring, "The Prophet Joseph Smith and His Plural Wives (Review of In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith)," FARMS Review of Books 10/2 (1998): 67–104. off-site

Further reading

Template code Inserts this reference Click to edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: 8: The Mormon Proposition}} To learn more box:responses to: 8: The Mormon Proposition edit
{{To learn more box:''Under the Banner of Heaven''}} To learn more about responses to: Under the Banner of Heaven edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Robert Price}} To learn more about responses to: Robert Price edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ankerberg and Weldon}} To learn more about responses to: Ankerberg and Weldon edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ashamed of Joseph}} To learn more about responses to: Ashamed of Joseph edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Beckwith and Moser}} To learn more about responses to: Beckwith and Moser edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Beckwith and Parrish}} To learn more about responses to: Beckwith and Parrish edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Benjamin Park}} To learn more about responses to: Benjamin Park edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Bible versus Joseph Smith}} To learn more about responses to: Bible versus Joseph Smith edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Bible versus Book of Mormon}} To learn more about responses to: Bible versus Book of Mormon edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: ''Big Love''}} To learn more about responses to: Big Love edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Brett Metcalfe}} To learn more about responses to: Brett Metcalfe edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Bill Maher}} To learn more about responses to: Bill Maher edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Bruce H. Porter}} To learn more about responses to: Bruce H. Porter edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Carol Wang Shutter}} To learn more about responses to: Carol Wang Shutter edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: CES Letter}} To learn more about responses to: CES Letter edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Charles Larson}} To learn more about responses to: Charles Larson edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Christopher Nemelka}} To learn more about responses to: Christopher Nemelka edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Colby Townshed}} To learn more about responses to: Colby Townshed edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Contender Ministries}} To learn more about responses to: Contender Ministries edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Crane and Crane}} To learn more about responses to: Crane and Crane edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: D. Michael Quinn}} To learn more about responses to: D. Michael Quinn edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Dan Vogel}} To learn more about responses to: Dan Vogel edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: David John Buerger}} To learn more about responses to: David John Buerger edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: David Persuitte}} To learn more about responses to: David Persuitte edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Denver Snuffer}} To learn more about responses to: Denver Snuffer edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Dick Bauer}} To learn more about responses to: Dick Bauer edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Duwayne R Anderson}} To learn more about responses to: Duwayne R Anderson edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Earl Wunderli}} To learn more about responses to: Earl Wunderli edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ed Decker}} To learn more about responses to: Ed Decker edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Erikson and Giesler}} To learn more about responses to: Erikson and Giesler edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ernest Taves}} To learn more about responses to: Ernest Taves edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Fawn Brodie}} To learn more about responses to: Fawn Brodie edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: George D Smith}} To learn more about responses to: George D Smith edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Grant Palmer}} To learn more about responses to: Grant Palmer edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Hank Hanegraaff}} To learn more about responses to: Hank Hanegraaff edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Hurlbut-Howe}} To learn more about responses to: Hurlbut-Howe edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: James Brooke}} To learn more about responses to: James Brooke edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: James Spencer}} To learn more about responses to: James Spencer edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: James White}} To learn more about responses to: James White edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Jerald and Sandra Tanner}} To learn more about responses to: Jerald and Sandra Tanner edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Jesus Christ-Joseph Smith or Search for the Truth DVD}} To learn more about responses to: Jesus Christ-Joseph Smith or Search for the Truth DVD edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: John Dehlin}} To learn more about responses to: John Dehlin edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Jonathan Neville}} To learn more about responses to: Jonathan Neville edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Kurt Van Gorden}} To learn more about responses to: Kurt Van Gorden edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Laura King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery}} To learn more about responses to: Laura King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Loftes Tryk aka Lofte Payne}} To learn more about responses to: Loftes Tryk aka Lofte Payne edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Luke WIlson}} To learn more about responses to: Luke WIlson edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Marquardt and Walters}} To learn more about responses to: Marquardt and Walters edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Martha Beck}} To learn more about responses to: Martha Beck edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Mcgregor Ministries}} To learn more about responses to: Mcgregor Ministries edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: McKeever and Johnson}} To learn more about responses to: McKeever and Johnson edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: New Approaches}} To learn more about responses to: New Approaches to the Book of Mormon edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Richard Abanes}} To learn more about responses to: Richard Abanes edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Richard Van Wagoner}} To learn more about responses to: Richard Van Wagoner edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Richard and Joan Ostling}} To learn more about responses to: Richard and Joan Ostling edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Rick Grunger}} To learn more about responses to: Rick Grunger edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Robert Ritner}} To learn more about responses to: Robert Ritner edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Rod Meldrum}} To learn more about responses to: Rod Meldrum edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Roger I Anderson}} To learn more about responses to: Roger I Anderson edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ronald V. Huggins}} To learn more about responses to: Ronald V. Huggins edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Sally Denton}} To learn more about responses to: Sally Denton edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Simon Southerton}} To learn more about responses to: Simon Southerton edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Thomas Murphy}} To learn more about responses to: Thomas Murphy edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Todd Compton}} To learn more about responses to: Todd Compton edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Vernal Holley}} To learn more about responses to: Vernal Holley edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Walter Martin}} To learn more about responses to: Walter Martin edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Wesley Walters}} To learn more about responses to: Wesley Walters edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Will Bagley}} To learn more about responses to: Will Bagley edit