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Joseph Smith/Moon inhabited
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Contents
Question
Critics claim that Joseph Smith teach that the moon was inhabited, and that this is proof he was a false prophet.
Source(s) of the criticism
- Jay Jacobson, "Three Reasons Not to Become a Mormon," p. 7.
Response
The source for this claim is not Joseph Smith himself; the first mention comes in 1881 in Oliver B. Huntington's journal, who claimed that he had the information from Philo Dibble. So, we have a late, third-person account of something Joseph is supposed to have said.[1] Hyrum Smith[2] and Brigham Young[3] both expressed their view that the moon was inhabited.
A patriarchal blessing given to Huntington also indicated that "thou shalt have power with God even to translate thyself to Heaven, & preach to the inhabitants of the moon or planets, if it shall be expedient."[4]
Huntington later wrote an article about the concept for a Church magazine:
- As far back as 1837, I know that he [Joseph SmithJ said the moon was inhabited by men and women the same as this earth, and that they lived to a greater age than we d~that they live generally to near the age of a 1,000 years.
- He described the men as averaging nearly six feet in height, and dressing quite uniformly in something near the Quaker style.[5]
There is a news
Endnotes
- [note] Van Hale, "Mormons And Moonmen," Sunstone 7 no. (Issue #5) (September/October 1982), 13–14. off-site
- [note] BYU Studies 18:177.
- [note] Brigham Young, "X," Journal of Discourses, reported by D.W. Evans and John Grimshaw, (Y), Vol. 13 (London: Latter-day Saint's Book Depot, 1871), 271–271.off-site
- [note] Patriarchal Blessings Books 9:294–295.
- [note] Young Woman's Journal (1892) Vol. 3: 263.
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
FAIR web site
- FAIR Topical Guide: Infallibility
- FAIR Topical Guide: Personal beliefs of prophets
External links
- Stephen R. Gibson, Didn't Joseph Teach the Moon was Inhabited?