Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Chapter 3

1. REDIRECTTemplate:Test3

Response to claims made in "Chapter 3: From Profit to Prophet"

Claims made in "Chapter 2: Moroni, Magic, and Masonry"

A FAIR Analysis of: One Nation Under Gods A work by author: Richard Abanes

Claims made in "Chapter 4: Smith's Golden Book"

Claim

• Did Joseph use at least two seer stones?

Author's source(s)

• D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, revised and enlarged edition, (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998), 245 ( Index of claims )
• E.W. Vanderhoof, Historical Sketches of Western New York, quoted in Quinn, 43.
• Quinn, 43.

Response

• Joseph Smith/Seer stones

Claim

• Did Isaac Hale, Emma's father, disapprove of Joseph because of his money digging activities?

Author's source(s)

• Isaac Hale, cited in Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, OH, 1834), 262-263. (Affidavits examined).
• Martin Harris, Tiffany's Monthly, August 1859, vol. 5, 164.

Response

• The Hurlbut affidavits—Isaac Hale

The author(s) of One Nation Under Gods make(s) the following claim:

Was Joseph pronounced "guilty" of performing illegal activities with his seer stone?

Author's sources: A.W. Benton, Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate, April 9, 1831, New Series 2, 120.

FAIR's Response

1. REDIRECTJoseph Smith's 1826 trial#What is Joseph Smith's 1826 South Bainbridge "trial" for "glasslooking"?
2. REDIRECTJoseph Smith's 1826 trial#What events resulted in Joseph Smith's 1826 court appearance in South Bainbridge?
3. REDIRECTJoseph Smith's 1826 trial#Why was Joseph fined if he wasn't found guilty of anything?
4. REDIRECTJoseph Smith's 1826 trial#''Ensign'' (June 1994): "'''Highlights in the Prophet’s Life''' 20 Mar. 1826: Tried and acquitted on fanciful charge of being a "disorderly person," South Bainbridge, Chenango County, New York

Claim

• Regarding Joseph's "trial," Hugh Nibley said, "If this court record is authentic, it is the most damning evidence in existence against Joseph Smith."

Author's source(s)

• Hugh Nibley, The Myth Makers, 142.

Response

• Joseph Smith/Legal trials/1826 glasslooking trial

Claim

• Francis Kirkham claimed that "If any evidence had been in existence that Joseph Smith had used a seer stone for fraud and deception, and especially had he made this confession in a court of law as early as 1826, or four years before the Book of Mormon was printed, and this confession was in a court record, it would have been impossible for him to have organized the restored Church."

Author's source(s)

• Francis Kirkham, A New Witness for Christ in the America, 386.

Response

• Joseph Smith/Legal trials/1826 glasslooking trial

Claim

• Did Joseph realize that money-digging was only earning him $14 a month, and that this was "not nearly enough to support a family?"

Author's source(s)

• History of the Church 3:29

Response

• Joseph Smith/Money digging

Claim

• Is it true that Joseph initially "attached no religious significance" to the "golden book" that he told people he would be retrieving, and that he instead said that the book would "tell him how to get money that was buried in the ground?"

Author's source(s)

• Parley Chase, letter to James T. Cobb, April 3, 1879 quoted in Wyl, Joseph Smith, the Prophet, His Family, and His Friends, 276.

Response

• The Hurlbut affidavits

Claim

• Did Joseph decide to convert his book into a saga about America's ancient inhabitants as a money making scheme?

Author's source(s)

• Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 83. ( Index of claims )

Response

• The author simply repeats Brodie's supposition. There is no actual evidence that this was the case.
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mind reading

The author(s) of One Nation Under Gods make(s) the following claim:

Joseph tried to sell the copyright of the Book of Mormon in Canada.

Author's sources:

• Hiram Page, letter to William McLellin, February 2, 1848.
• David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ, 30-31.

Question: Are there any eyewitness accounts of the events that resulted in the trip to Canada to sell the Book of Mormon copyright?

Book of Mormon Central, KnoWhy #556: Why Did Joseph Smith Attempt to Secure the Book of Mormon Copyright in Canada? (Video)

Joseph Smith decided this could be an opportunity to relieve some of the financial pressure associated with publishing the Book of Mormon

Joseph Smith had been told there were people in Canada willing to buy the copyrights to useful books. Due to the dire financial position of the Church, he decided this could be an opportunity to relieve some of the financial pressure associated with publishing the Book of Mormon. Four men went to Canada.

Joseph Smith received a revelation directing them to go to Kingston, Canada, with some conditions placed upon their success

Before leaving, Joseph Smith received a revelation directing them to go to Kingston, Canada, with some conditions placed upon their success.

...it Pleaseth me that Oliver Cowderey Joseph Knight Hyram Pagee & Josiah Stowel shall do my work in this thing yea even in securing the Copyright & they shall do it with an eye single to my Glory that it may be the means of bringing souls unto me Salvation through mine only Be{t\gotten} Behold I am God I have spoken it & it is expedient in me Wherefor I say unto you that ye shall go to Kingston seeking me continually through mine only Be{t\gotten} & if ye do this ye shall have my spirit to go with you & ye shall have an addition of all things which is expedient in me. amen & I grant unto my servent a privelige that he may sell a copyright through you speaking after the manner of men for the four Provinces if the People harden not their hearts against the enticeings of my spirit & my word for Behold it lieth in themselves to their condemnation &{◊\or} th{er\eir} salvation.

The text of the actual revelation was recently discovered and published in The Joseph Smith Papers

The text of the revelation was published in the The Joseph Smith Papers: The Revelations and Translations Series. According to Marlin K. Jensen, Church Historian and Recorder,

Another interesting development from work on the Revelations and Translations Series has been the identification of a previously unpublished revelation on securing a copyright for the Book of Mormon in Canada. David Whitmer, after he left the Church, recalled that the revelation promised success in selling the copyright, but upon return of the men charged with the duty, Joseph Smith and others were disappointed by what seemed like failure. Historians have relied upon statements of David Whitmer, Hiram Page, and William McLellin for decades but have not had the actual text of the revelation. Revelation Book 1 will provide that.

Although we still do not know the whole story, particularly Joseph Smith’s own view of the situation, we do know that calling the divine communication a “failed revelation” is not warranted. The Lord’s directive clearly conditions the successful sale of the copyright on the worthiness of those seeking to make the sale as well as on the spiritual receptivity of the potential purchasers.

Hiram Page, one of the participants, stated he for the first time understood how some revelations given to people were not necessarily for their direct benefit

Hiram Page, who was one of the individuals sent to Canada, laid out the event in a letter in 1848. Page wrote that the revelation Joseph Smith received conditioned success upon whether those individuals in Canada capable of buying the Book of Mormon copyright would have their hearts softened. When unable to sell the copyright, the four men returned to Palmyra. Hiram Page stated he for the first time understood how some revelations given to people were not necessarily for their direct benefit—in fact, Hiram Page believed that the revelation was actually fulfilled.

Question: After receiving the revelation to attempt to sell the Book of Mormon copyright in Canada, did Joseph Smith later claim that the revelation was false?

Book of Mormon Central, KnoWhy #556: Why Did Joseph Smith Attempt to Secure the Book of Mormon Copyright in Canada? (Video)

David Whitmer, years after he left the Church, claimed that Joseph said that the revelation did not come from God

David Whitmer claimed that Joseph Smith received a revelation and prophesied that Oliver Cowdery and Hiram Page should go to Canada where they would find a man willing to buy the copyright to the Book of Mormon. When they failed to sell the copyright, Whitmer states that Joseph admitted that the revelation had not come from God.

David Whitmer was not a participant in the trip to Canada

The primary evidence supporting the negative aspects of the Canadian Mission story comes from David Whitmer, who was not a participant in the event, and who had left the church many years before. With the discovery of the Hiram Page letter of 1848 showing that the actual participants involved in the trip felt that Joseph Smith delivered an accurate revelation of what would transpire on the Mission, and in fact even found the event uplifting rather than negative, it is evident that no individual contemporary to the event felt that this represented a false prophecy by Joseph Smith. What we do see is excellent evidence in fulfillment of the teachings of Deuteronomy 12 and 18 that Joseph Smith was perceived as a true prophet of God by those involved in the Mission to Canada in early 1830.

Claim

• Was one of Joseph's early descriptions of Moroni that of a "bloody ghost" with his throat cut?

Author's source(s)

• Hiel Lewis, Amboy Journal, April 30, 1879, quote in Wesley P. Walters, "The Mormon Prophet Attempts to Join the Methodists," reprinted in Wyl, Mormon Portraits, 79-80.
• Fayette Lapham [May 1870], reprinted in Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996–2003), 5 vols, 1:459.
•  Citation error: the reference to the dream and bloody clothes is on p. 458.

Response

• These supposed "early" accounts comes from hostile statements made forty to fifty years later!
• The 1870 account from Lapham says only that "a man" with "bloody clothes" appeared in a dream. (He also says this is what Joseph Jr. told his father, so this is hearsay.)
  • Mark Ashurst-McGee, "Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 34–100. [{{{url}}} off-site] wiki
  • Larry E. Morris, "'I Should Have an Eye Single to the Glory of God’: Joseph Smith’s Account of the Angel and the Plates (Review of: "From Captain Kidd’s Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism")," FARMS Review 17/1 (2005): 11–82. off-site

Claim

• Did a "toad-like" creature which "assumed the appearance of a man" and struck Joseph on the side of his head, prevent him from retriving the gold plates?

Author's source(s)

• Willard Chase, cited in Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, OH, 1834), 242. (Affidavits examined).

Response

• The Hurlbut affidavits—Willard Chase

Claim

• The author refers to "[A] subsequent version of Smith's ever-changing tale..."

Author's source(s)

• No source given.

Response

• The author wishes to portray all of these stories as successive evolutions. In fact, the religious aspects appear in the very earliest accounts; only later hostile accounts add more and more "magical" aspects:
  • Mark Ashurst-McGee, "Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 34–100. [{{{url}}} off-site] wiki
  • Larry E. Morris, "'I Should Have an Eye Single to the Glory of God’: Joseph Smith’s Account of the Angel and the Plates (Review of: "From Captain Kidd’s Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism")," FARMS Review 17/1 (2005): 11–82. off-site

Claim

• Was it "widely understood" in the 1800s the Joseph located the plates by using his seer stone to see where they had been deposited?

Author's source(s)

• Orasmus Turner, History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase, and Morris Reserve. (1852)
• Hosea Stout, On the Mormon Frontier: The Diary of Hosea Stout, vol. 2, 593.
• Martin Harris, Tiffany's Monthly, vol. 5, 163, 169.
• Widely understood?? The author cites several second-hand sources...from the 1850s!

Response

• Absurd claims
• Mark Ashurst-McGee, "Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 34–100. [{{{url}}} off-site] wiki
• Larry E. Morris, "'I Should Have an Eye Single to the Glory of God’: Joseph Smith’s Account of the Angel and the Plates (Review of: "From Captain Kidd’s Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism")," FARMS Review 17/1 (2005): 11–82. off-site

Claim

• Is it true that "all of the religious aspects" of Joseph's story were added later?

Author's source(s)

• Orasmus Turner, 214.
• Hiel Lewis.

Response

•  The author's claim is false: In fact, the religious aspects appear in the very earliest accounts; only later hostile accounts add more and more "magical" aspects:
  • Mark Ashurst-McGee, "Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 34–100. [{{{url}}} off-site] wiki
  • Larry E. Morris, "'I Should Have an Eye Single to the Glory of God’: Joseph Smith’s Account of the Angel and the Plates (Review of: "From Captain Kidd’s Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism")," FARMS Review 17/1 (2005): 11–82. off-site

Claim

• Did Joseph Smith claim that the moon was inhabited?

Author's source(s)

• Oliver B. Huntington, "The Inhabitants of the Moon," The Young Woman's Journal, 1892, vol. 3, 263-264.

Response

• Joseph Smith/Moon inhabited

Claim

• Did Joseph teach the doctrine of "Caucasians advancing to godhood?"

Author's source(s)

• No source provided.

Response
 FAIR WIKI EDITORS: Check sources

Claim

• Did Joseph teach the notion that "Blacks, Indians, and other people of color are cursed spirits?"

Author's source(s)

• No source provided.

Response

• Book of Mormon/Lamanites/Curse
• Blacks and the priesthood/The "curse of Cain" and "curse of Ham"

Claim

• The author states: "After all, no one had actually seen the plates, nor would anyone ever see them"

Author's source(s)

•  Misrepresentation of source: these testimonies cited below assert that they did see the plates, not that "no one" had.
  • Testimony of the Three Witnesses
  • Testimony of the Eight Witnesses

Response

•  The author's claim is false: Use of sources: Seeing the Plates
• Absurd claims
• Book of Mormon/Witnesses

Claim

• Did the witnesses only see the plates through "visionary experiences?"

Author's source(s)

• No source provided.

Response

• Book of Mormon/Witnesses/Spiritual or literal
• Book of Mormon/Witnesses/Eight witnesses/shown to me by a supernatural power

Claim

• Did the eight witnesses only "see" the plates as long as they were covered with a cloth of some kind?

Author's source(s)

• No source provided.

Response

• Book of Mormon/Witnesses/Spiritual or literal
• Book of Mormon/Witnesses/Eight witnesses

Claim

• Did Martin Harris say that none of the eight witnesses ever saw the plates, and that he only handled them in a box or under a cloth?

Author's source(s)

• Stephen Burnett, letter to Br Johnson, April 15, 1838, Joseph Smith Papers, Letterbook, April 20, 1837-February 9, 1843, 64-66 cited in Jerald and Sandra Tanner, The Changing World of Mormonism (Moody Press, 1979), 108.( Index of claims ).

Response

• Book of Mormon/Witnesses/"Eye of Faith" and "Spiritual Eye" statements by Martin Harris

Claim

• Joseph Smith claimed that the Three Witnesses saw the plates in a vision.

Author's source(s)

• Joseph Smith, "History of Joseph Smith—Continued", Times and Seasons, September 1, 1842, vol. 3, no. 21, 897-898.

Response

• Book of Mormon/Witnesses/Spiritual or literal

Claim

• Did David Whitmer say that none of the Three Witnesses ever actually physically saw or handled the plates?

Author's source(s)

• David Whitmer, interview recorded by P. Wilhelm Poulson, c. early 1878, reprinted in Deseret Evening News, August 16, 1878. [Available in Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996–2003), 5 vols, 6:37–40.]
• Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 77-80. ( Index of claims )
• Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Mormonism—Shadow or Reality?, 5th edition, (Salt Lake City: Utah Lighthouse Ministry, 1987), 50-55.

Response

•  The author's claim is false: Whitmer wrote a letter in which he said: "As to what you Say about the correspondence published by P Whilhelm Poulson M D Aug[ust] 20th 1878. I surely did not make the Statement which you Say he reports me to have made, for it is not according to the facts. And I have always in the fear of God, tried to give a true statement to the best of my recollection in regard to all matters which I have attempted to Explain."
• The author ignores multiple confirmed statements from the witnesses, and cites a statement which the witness explicitly rejects.
• Book of Mormon/Witnesses/Recant
• Spiritual or literal?

Claim

• Do Latter-day Saint try to discredit statements of Charles Anthon by pointing out a discrepancy between his letters, where no actual discrepancy exist?

Author's source(s)

• Persuitte, 303-304, endnote#19.

Response

• Richard Bushman disagrees:
• Book of Mormon/Translation/Anthon transcript

Claim

• Have scholars have declared that there is no language called "Reformed Egyptian?"

Author's source(s)

• John A. Wilson, letter to Marvin Cowan, March 16, 1966 quoted in Jerald and Sandra Tanner, The Changing World of Mormonism (Moody Press, 1979), 144.( Index of claims )

Response

• Reformed Egyptian
• Use of sources: Reformed Egyptian

Claim

• Did Joseph use his "peep stone" to translate the Book of Mormon?

Author's source(s)

• Hiel Lewis, "Review of Mormonism: Rejoinder to Elder Cadwell." Amboy Journal, June 4, 1879, quoted in D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, revised and enlarged edition, (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998), 172 ( Index of claims ).

Response

• Book of Mormon/Translation/Method
• Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Loaded and prejudicial language

Claim

• Did Emma Smith and David Whitmer confirm that Joseph translated using his seer stone in a hat?

Author's source(s)

• Emma Smith Bidamon, Interview with Joseph Smith, III, February 1879, reprinted in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 1, 539.
• Martin Harris, Interview with Anthony Metcalf, c. 1873-1874. Quoted in A. Metcalf, Ten Years Before the Mast..., reprinted in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, vol. 2, 346-347.
• David Whitmer, An Address to all believers in Christ, 12.

Response

• Book of Mormon/Translation/Method

Notes