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| + | #REDIRECT [[Criticism of Mormonism/Websites/MormonThink/Moroni's Visitation]] |
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| − | {{FAIRAnalysisHeader
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| − | |title=[[../|MormonThink]]
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| − | |author=Anonymous
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| − | |section=Moroni's Visitation
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| − | ==A FAIR Analysis of MormonThink page "Moroni's Visitation"==
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| − | {{Website response summary}}
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| − | {{MormonThinkSummaryHeader|Moroni's Visitation}}
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| − | *That Moroni's visit would have awakened the rest of the Smith family.
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| − | *That Church artwork does not accurately show Joseph's siblings asleep in the room during Moroni's visit, except those paintings that actually do show it.
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| − | *That if the Church continues to use artwork that shows Joseph alone in bed during Moroni's visit, that the Church is "not becoming more open and forthright about this issue."
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| − | *That Moroni's visit was likely a "dream or hallucination."
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| − | {{Website response label}}
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| − | {{MormonThinkIndexClaim
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| − | |claim=Now the big question is when Moroni came and spoke with Joseph in the night of September 21, 1823, why didn't this wake up Joseph's brothers who were sleeping in the very same room with him? Surely the grand appearance of an angelic being with the countenance of lightning would have awoken the entire Smith family including his parents, two sisters that were sleeping in the adjoining room, his other sister sleeping downstairs and his five brothers in the small house they lived in. At the very least, Joseph's five brothers that slept in the same room would surely not have slept through this grand event.
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| − | |think=
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| − | *You mean to say that the God of Heaven and Earth, who has all power, cannot make sure that Joseph's family remained asleep during Moroni's visit?
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| − | *Genesis 2:21 tells us, "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;" What if we were to state, "Now the big question is that when the Lord God removed one of Adam's ribs, why didn't he wake up?"
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| − | |quote=
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| − | "This argument falls short theoretically. For those who do not believe in Joseph's visions, there was nothing to wake anyone anyway. For those who do believe in Joseph's visions, the argument sounds theologically naive. Could not Moroni manifest himself to Joseph only? None of Paul's companions on the road to Damascus saw the resurrected Christ. A vision needs only to hold the attention of the visionary. Joseph's brothers can sleep in peace." {{ref|ashurst.293}}
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| − | </blockquote>
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| − | |response=
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| − | |link=Moroni's visit/Siblings remained asleep
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| − | |subject=Why didn't Joseph's siblings wake up when Moroni appeared?
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| − | |summary=Critics claim that when Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith in his room on September 21, 1823, his siblings who were sleeping in the same room should have woken up. They claim that this is evidence that Joseph's story is false.
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| − | {{MormonThinkIndexClaim
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| − | |claim=Also, Moroni must have been a very short man to be able to float significantly off the floor and yet have his head beneath the rather short ceiling of the room Joseph slept in.
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| − | |think=
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| − | *You've got to be kidding...are we supposed to literally pick apart the details of Moroni's visit in this manner?
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| − | *That's like asking what physical process prevented the burning bush from turning to ash.
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| − | |quote=
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| − | {{MormonThinkIndexClaim
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| − | |claim=It is also somewhat deceptive of the LDS Church to show the illustrations of Joseph with Moroni all by themselves. Why don't they show Joseph's five brothers in the room sleeping with him? Showing Joseph in bed by himself gazing at Moroni is not accurate as he would have had two brothers sleeping in the bed with him.
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| − | *They do show it.
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| − | {{MormonThinkIndexClaim
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| − | |claim=Critic's response
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| − | There has never been anything recorded by Joseph Smith that the all-powerful creator used his powers to keep ten people from waking up during the night of September 21, 1823. Most Latter-day Saints have not even thought about this problem and its significance. There is no precedent for our Heavenly Father using his divine powers to keep people from waking up during spectacular events.
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| − | |think=
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| − | *Well, no precedent in the Bible except...
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| − | **that thing with Adam and the rib...
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| − | **the Lord calling to Samuel and Eli sleeping through it...
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| − | **Stephen's vision while being stoned...
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| − | *Why should Joseph Smith have recorded this mundane fact? Even the writer of the paragraph acknowledges that most people don't even think about it. Why should Joseph Smith have thought to mention it? Joseph didn't mention if he had short or long hair in his account, but we do not assume his head was shaved bald.
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| − | {{MormonThinkIndexClaim
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| − | |claim=Critic's response: [T]he 'vision' must have been entirely contained in Joseph's young mind. If this is the case, how is this really different than a dream or a hallucination? To the believers that say the Angel Moroni's visit was entirely in Joseph's mind and that is the reason none of his family could see the angel that night, we agree - it was in his mind as an intense dream, hallucination or inspired fantasy or what some call 'a vision'.
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| − | |think=
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| − | *Joseph said that he saw an angel, and described him. If you don't want to believe that, then calling it a dream or hallucination should settle your mind on the matter.
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| − | {{MormonThinkIndexClaim
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| − | |claim=Critic's response
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| − | The Church is well aware that Joseph's brothers all slept in the same room as he did. The LDS tour guides at the restored Smith home confirm this. The Church purposely omits this part of the story in its publications, paintings and illustrations as it would sound very unbelievable to show the entire Smith family sleeping during Moroni's visit, even though this is what happened. For a church that preaches such honesty, they can be very deceptive. To approve of less-than-accurate paintings, sugarcoated stories and depictions of historical events is deceptive and totally out-of-line with a church that espouses the virtues of total honesty.
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| − | |think=
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| − | *''Some'' Church artwork does indeed portray Joseph as being alone—this is simply an artistic interpretation.
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| − | *The August 2009 ''Ensign'', page 54, however, shows a painting of Joseph sitting up in his bed looking at Moroni. Next to Joseph one can clearly see three of his siblings in the same bed...sound asleep. (May be viewed here: [http://www.ldscompanion.org/index.php?op=art&page=author&artist=50&off=18&id=304 Artwork by Liz Lemon Swindle])
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| − | *''Even the official LDS web site'' has a painting that shows one of Joseph's siblings asleep in bed during Moroni's visit. See: [http://www.josephsmith.net/josephsmith/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=c08679179acbff00VgnVCM1000001f5e340aRCRD The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ].
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| − | |quote=
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| − | {{MormonThinkIndexClaim
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| − | |claim=Update: Perhaps web sites like [MormonThink] are inspiring the church to be more accurate in its depictions of historical events. We support the effort. Perhaps next month they will have a depiction of Joseph translating the Book of Mormon by putting his face in a hat?
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| − | |think=
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| − | *Actually, MormonThink added this "Update" after ''FAIR'' pointed out the two paintings that refuted their claim.
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| − | *We seriously doubt that artist Liz Lemon Swindle painted three of Joseph's siblings asleep in bed during Moroni's visit because of MormonThink.
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| − | *We seriously doubt that lds.org added a painting showing Joseph's siblings asleep because of anything found on the web.
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| − | |quote=
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| − | {{MormonThinkIndexClaim
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| − | |claim=Update
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| − | In the October 2011 Ensign, page 8, the church did not use the more accurate image of Joseph with his brothers in the room when Moroni appeared. Instead the church reverted to using the same old painting of Joseph alone in the bed with Moroni appearing over him. So it appears that the church is not becoming more open and forthright about this issue as we had hoped.
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| − | |think=
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| − | *Or, more likely, that the Church and most members simply don't care about this silly argument. They are illustrating the visit of Moroni, not attempting to explain every physical and spiritual aspect of the visit.
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| − | |quote=
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| − | }}
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| − | =={{Endnotes label}}==
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| − | #{{note|ashurst.293}}Mark Ashurst-McGee, "A Pathway to Prophethood: Joseph Smith Junior as Rodsman, Village Seer, and Judeo-Christian Prophet," (Master's Thesis, University of Utah, Logan, Utah, 2000), 293.
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