Revisão das 14h12min de 5 de junho de 2017

Índice

Foi Joseph Smith simplesmente dizendo "considerandos divertidas" e "contos de altura"?

Pergunta: Foi o jovem Joseph Smith um contador de "histórias imaginativas"?

The Prophet's mother's account of her son telling "amusing recitals" about the ancient inhabitants of the American continent occurred during the years that Joseph was being prepared to receive the plates

Lucy's 1853 autobiography, Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors for many Generations was considered inaccurate by Brigham Young and was ordered to be rewritten. The reasons for this had nothing to do with Lucy's account of her son Joseph's "amusing recitals." The 1853 autobiography and the 1845 manuscript upon which it was based still exist, and both confirm that the "amusing recitals" mentioned by Lucy were done during the period during which Joseph was being instructed by the angel as he waited to retrieve the gold plates. Lucy Mack Smith said the following in her 1853 autobiography:

During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of travelings, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life among them.^[1]

The quote from Lucy Mack Smith is used by critics of the Church to show how Joseph Smith told "yarns" about Native Americans "long before any golden plates had been found." The chronology found in Lucy Mack Smith's history, however, tells just the opposite story, and puts this quotation in its proper context. Lucy says that the angel Moroni told her son (during his first appearance) about the existence of the plates and informed him where they were buried (see Lavina F. Anderson, ed., Lucy's Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith's Family Memoir [Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2001], 335-36). Lucy then states that Joseph (the evening after he had seen the Nephite record in their place of deposit) told his family all about "the plates" (ibid., 343).

Lucy Mack Smith: "From this time forth Joseph continued to receive instructions from time to time and every evening we gathered our children"

Lucy Mack Smith's account of her son telling "amusing recitals" about the ancient inhabitants of the American continent occurred during the years that Joseph was being prepared to receive the plates. The stories that he was telling related to information that he was receiving from the angel Moroni: These were not "tall tales" that he fabricated for his family's amusement.

From Lucy's 1845 manuscript, we read:

Now said he[,] Father and Mother the angel of the Lord says that we must be careful not to proclaim these things or to mention them abroad For we do not any of us know the wickedness of the world which is so sinful that when we get the plates they will want to kill us for the sake of the gold if they know we had <have> them...by sunset [we] were ready to be seated and give our atten undivided attention to Josephs recitals...From this time forth Joseph continued to receive instructions from time to time and every evening we gathered our children togather [together]...In the course of our evening conversations Joseph would give us some of the most ammusing [amusing] recitals which could be immagined [imagined]. he would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent their dress their man[n]er of traveling the animals which they rode The cities that were built by them the structure of their buildings with every particular of their mode of warfare their religious worship as particularly as though he had spent his life with them...The angel informed him at one time that he might make an effort to obtain the plates <on> the <22nd of the> ensueing september....^[2]

Clearly, Joseph Smith told his stories after he learned about, and saw, the golden plates. Indeed, it is known that Moroni showed Joseph visions and gave him information regarding the people whose stories were found on the Nephite record (see Times and Seasons, vol. 3, no. 9, 1 March 1842, 707-708), so the young man undoubtedly had quite a few stories to tell. Lucy Mack Smith simply said in her autobiography that her son told the family about information connected with the angel and the Book of Mormon plates.^[3] Lucy told the same information to Wandle Mace about seven years prior to producing her 1845 autobiography and clarified that this information was connected with the Book of Mormon "Nephites" and was shown to her son by vision.

In Joseph Smith's own official history he confirmed that he learned this information through the power of visions^[4] and Oliver Cowdery made note of the same thing.^[5] Thus, the origin of the stories mentioned by Joseph's mother in her autobiography was a heavenly one—she was not even remotely implying that her son was a teller of tall tales.

Pergunta: É possível que B.H. Roberts afirmou que Joseph Smith poderia ter produzido o Livro de Mórmon em seu próprio país?

B.H. Roberts era um crente na origem divina do Livro de Mórmon, e falou do jovem Joseph Smith enquanto ele se sentava tarde detalhando à família as maravilhosas conversas que teve com o anjo

B.H. Roberts manteve sua crença de que o Livro de Mórmon era de origem divina, até o fim de sua vida. No entanto, de acordo com um sítio crítico, B.H. Roberts "postulado que era certamente possível que Joseph Smith vêm-se com o Livro de Mórmon em seu próprio país." ^[6] Roberts, no entanto, acredita que José teve conversas com o Anjo Moroni.

B.H. Roberts, em seu estudo crítico do Livro de Mórmon, apontou como críticos futuras possam fazer uso deste.

O rosto dela é estabelecido pela primeira vez pelo testemunho da mãe que lhe deu, Lucy Smith. Falando dos dias imediatamente após a revelação dar a conhecer a existência do Livro de Mórmon a seu filho ... Lucy Smith em seu História do Profeta Joseph Smith , conta como na noite daquele dia, o jovem profeta sentou-se tarde detalhando à família as maravilhosas conversas que teve com o anjo;^[7]

Notas

1. ↑ Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996–2003), 5 vols, 1:296. citing Predefinição:Book:Smith:Biographical Sketches
2. ↑ Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996–2003), 5 vols, 1:294–296. citing the 1845 manuscript of Lucy Mack Smith's autobiography.
3. ↑ Lucy Smith, Lucy's Book: Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith's Family Memoir, edited by Lavina Fielding Anderson and Irene M. Bates, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, 2001), 346. ISBN 1560851376.
4. ↑ Times and Seasons 3 no. 9 (1 March 1842), 707. off-site GospeLink (requires subscrip.)
5. ↑ Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate 1 no. 7 (April 1835), 112.
6. ↑ "Could Joseph Smith have written the Book of Mormon?", MormonThink.com
7. ↑ B. H. Roberts, Studies of the Book of Mormon, (Salt Lake City, UT; Signature Books, 1992) 243. Alguns ministérios on-line citar uso Roberts 'da citação de Lucy como "evidência" de que Roberts perdeu seu testemunho do Livro de Mórmon. Eles ignoram completamente as declarações de Roberts na mesma página que Joseph estava descrevendo os "maravilhoso conversas que teve com o anjo."