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2 ——————
Beginnings: Myth and Reality
According
to Joseph Smith, the experiences which led him to produce the Book of Mormon and
then start a new church began in 1820 when he was fourteen years old. He began
writing an official history of these events in 1838—some eighteen years later.
This history was first published in the church's newspaper Times and Seasons
beginning in March of 1842. It is this history which both the Mormon and RLDS
churches have enshrined as their official story.
We cannot, therefore, overstate the importance of this story. It is the
bedrock upon which both churches are built. It represents the “first cause”
of all Mormon history. Many Mormons and RLDS alike are so familiar with this
story that they can quote certain portions of it from memory, as if it were
scripture.[1]
Their children are taught it in Sunday school at very early ages. Utah Mormons
act out certain portions of it in visitor centers throughout the world. It is
their defining story—the common denominator for all followers of Joseph Smith.
Because Joseph Smith himself penned this story, its integrity is held as
unimpeachable to most Latter Day Saints. They are satisfied that he was God's
true prophet, and this represents their prophet's own true story. But in
reality, his story is impeachable. In fact, practically all of the
objective historical evidence from this time period testifies against his
account. This information is so damaging that the leadership of both Mormon and
RLDS churches have kept it suppressed, therefore keeping their membership in
ignorance. And understandably so. The nature of the evidence is so startling
that most Latter Day Saints cannot deal with it honestly. Most come to the
conclusion that it was developed by either apostates or enemies of the church as
a means of thwarting the true work of God, and so they dismiss it out of hand.
But in so doing they also dismiss many testimonies from the very people who were
instrumental in founding the new church—including Joseph Smith himself and
members of his own family.
In this chapter I will begin by summarizing this most popular version of
Joseph Smith's story, which I refer to as Myth. In the second part of the
chapter I will present a variety of evidence from other historical sources which
I call Reality. I will end with some observations in a Summary and
Conclusion.
Myth
[2]
Joseph Smith's First
Vision
Born in 1805 in Sharon, Vermont, Joseph Smith moved with his family to
Palmyra, New York in 1815 at the age of nine. About five years later he
describes a Christian revival which he says swept through this region. While he
was impressed with the general excitement associated with this revival, he was
also very much confused by the conflicting doctrines of the various
denominations represented. This led Joseph into a period of “serious
reflection” accompanied by “deep and often pungent” feelings.
In the spring of 1820, in the midst of this reflection, he became deeply
impressed by James 1:5 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that
giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (KJV).
Based upon his present confusion, he felt that no one needed the wisdom of God
any more than he did, and so decided to act upon this exhortation to ask of God
for himself. So he went to a near-by grove where he could be by himself and
began to offer up the desires of his heart. He claims this is the first time he
had ever engaged in vocal prayer. Before long he was engulfed in a thick
darkness and seized by a supernatural force which he felt was threatening his
very existence. In desperation he called upon God for help. In Joseph's own
words, here is what then happened.
“Just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly
over my head, above the brightness of the sun; which descended gradually until
it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the
enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two personages
(whose brightness and glory defy all description) standing above me in the air.
One of them spake to me, calling me by name, and said, (pointing to the other)
`This is my beloved Son, hear him.'
“My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the
sects was right that I might know which to join. No sooner therefore did I get
possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the personages who
stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right, (for at this time
it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong), and which I should
join.
“I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong,
and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an
abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt, `they draw
near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for
doctrine the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the
power thereof.' He again forbade me
to join with any of them: and many other things did he say unto me which I
cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again I found myself lying on
my back, looking up into heaven.”
The Golden Plates are
Announced
For the next three-and-a-half years, due in large part to the persecution
he claims he was experiencing for telling about his vision, he “fell into many
foolish errors and displayed the weakness of youth and the corruption of human
nature.” On the evening of September 21, 1823 he had gone to his bedroom to
ask forgiveness for these sins when he had another visitation.
“I betook myself to prayer and supplication to almighty God for
forgiveness of all my sins and follies, and also for a manifestation to me, that
I might know of my state and standing before him: for I had full confidence in
obtaining a divine manifestation as I previously had done.
“While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light
appearing in the room which continued to increase until the room was lighter
than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside standing in
the air, for his feet did not touch the floor.
“He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness
beyond any thing earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly
thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant; his hands were
naked and his arms also a little above the wrist. So also were his feet naked as
were his legs a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I
could discover that he had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open so
that I could see into his bosom. Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but
his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like
lightening. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as
immediately around his person.
“When I first looked upon him I was afraid, but the fear soon left me.
He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the
presence of God unto me, and that his name was Nephi.[3]
That God had a work for me to do, and that my name should be had for good and
evil, among all nations, kindreds and tongues; or that it should be both good
and evil spoken of among all people.
“He said there was a book deposited written upon golden plates, giving
an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from
whence they sprang. He also said that the fullness of the everlasting gospel was
contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants. Also
that there were two stones in silver bows, and these stones fastened to a
breastplate constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim, deposited with the
plates, and the possession and use of these stones was what constituted seers in
ancient or former times, and that God had prepared them for the purpose of
translating the book.
“After telling me these things he commenced quoting the prophecies of
the Old Testament, he first quoted part of the third chapter of Malachi; and he
quoted also the fourth or last chapter of the same prophecy though with a little
variation from the way it reads in our Bibles.
“Instead of quoting the first verse as it reads in our books he quoted
it thus, For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the
proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall burn as stubble, for they that cometh
shall burn them saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root
or branch, and again he quoted the fifth verse thus, Behold I will reveal
unto you the priesthood by the hand of Elijah the prophet before the coming of
the great and dreadful day of the Lord. He also quoted the next verse
differently, And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises
made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers;
if it were not so the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.
“In addition to these he quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah saying
that it was about to be fulfilled. He quoted also the third chapter of Acts,
twenty-second and twenty-third verses precisely as they stand in our New
Testament. He said that the prophet was Christ, but the day had not yet come
when they who would not hear his voice should be cut off from among the
people, but soon would come.
“He also quoted the second chapter of Joel from the twenty-eighth to
the last verse. He also said that this was not yet fulfilled but was soon to be.
And he further stated that the fullness of the gentiles was soon to come in. He
quoted many other passages of scripture and offered many explanations which
cannot be mentioned here.
“Again he told me that when I got those plates of which he had spoken
(for the time that they should be obtained was not yet fulfilled) I should not
show them to any person, neither the breastplate with the Urim and Thummim, only
to those to whom I should be commanded to show them, if I did I should be
destroyed.
“While he was conversing with me about the plates the vision was opened
to my mind that I could see the place where the plates were deposited and that
so clearly and distinctly that I knew the place again when I visited it.
“After this communication I saw the light in the room begin to gather
immediately around the person of him who had been speaking to me, and it
continued to do so until the room was again left dark except just around him,
when instantly I saw as it were a conduit open right up into heaven, and he
ascended up till he entirely disappeared and the room was left as it had been
before this heavenly light had made its appearance.”
Joseph claims that this experience repeated itself two additional times
that same evening. The next day he collapsed from exhaustion during the day's
work and the scene was repeated once again, whereupon he was instructed to
relate the whole experience to his father. After doing so he went in search of
the place where the plates were located, in the side of a large hill near by.
There he found a buried stone box which contained the plates, the Urim and
Thummim and the breastplate. After attempting to remove them from the box the
same messenger came and told him it was not yet time. He was told to return at
this same time for the next four years, at which times the messenger would meet
with him. He returned as he was instructed and each time was given
“instruction and intelligence” by this same messenger.
Plates Received; Book
of Mormon Produced
At the appointed time, September 22, 1827, Joseph returned to the hill
one final time and was given the plates by the messenger. With some financial
help from a well-to-do local farmer by the name of Martin Harris, Joseph
relocated to Pennsylvania and began translating the Book of Mormon from these
plates by means of the Urim and Thummim. Joseph's wife Emma was his initial
scribe, soon replaced by Martin Harris himself. The following year a school
teacher by the name of Oliver Cowdery came inquiring after Joseph, having
already heard the story of the plates. Before long he would become Joseph's
third scribe in the translation process, which would be completed by August
1829.
The Three and Eight
Witnesses
During the translation process, it was revealed that two separate groups
were to view the original plates as witnesses. The first group was to be
comprised of three special witnesses,[4] and the second group to be comprised of a
“few,”[5]
which ended up being eight in number. Accordingly, Joseph drafted two separate
statements which were signed by a total of eleven witnesses. These two
statements are printed in the front of every Book of Mormon as The
Testimony of Three Witnesses and And Also the Testimony of Eight
Witnesses. The full text of these statements is included in Appendix A.
Key phrases from these statements are “we beheld and saw the plates, and the
engravings thereon” and “we did handle [the plates] with our hands: and we
also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient
work, and of curious workmanship.”
By March 1830 the Book of Mormon was in the hands of the printer. And in
April 1830 Joseph started his church. By all measures this is an incredible
story. It would be even more incredible if it were true.
Reality
Joseph's “First
Vision” Story: A Study in Evolution
In 1945 Fawn Brodie published a biography of Joseph Smith entitled No
Man Knows My History. Most students of Joseph Smith and Mormonism continue
to regard it as the best work ever written on him. Mrs. Brodie, professor of
history at UCLA and a distinguished biographer, comments perceptively on Joseph
Smith's 1838 History which we have just reviewed. “When Joseph began
his autobiography, in 1838, he was writing not of his own life but of one who
had already become the most celebrated prophet of the nineteenth century. And he
was writing for his own people. Memories are always distorted by the wishes,
thoughts, and above all, the obligations of the moment” (p. 25).
Regarding Joseph's so-called 1820 “First Vision,” Mrs. Brodie notes
that virtually no contemporary account of it can be found. No mention of it is
made in any family writings of the time period. Nor is it mentioned in any of
the local newspapers of the time. These are the same papers which had plenty
of scandalous things to say about Joseph after he started his church. If, in
1820, Joseph had actually seen God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, if They
had instructed him as he reports, and if he had actually been persecuted as
widely as he claims for relating the event, wouldn't there be some record
of it by someone near the time that it supposedly happened? But of this
earth-shaking event we find nothing at all until many years have passed. In
summarizing her findings Mrs. Brodie concludes,
“If something happened that spring morning in 1820, it passed totally
unnoticed in Joseph's home town, and apparently did not even fix itself in the
minds of members of his own family. The awesome vision he described in later
years was probably the elaboration of some half-remembered dream stimulated by
the early revival excitement and reinforced by the rich folklore of visions
circulating in his neighborhood. Or it may have been sheer invention, created
some time after 1830 when the need arose for a magnificent tradition to cancel
out the stories of his fortune-telling and money-digging. Dream images came
easily to this youth, whose imagination was as untrammeled as the whole West.”
(p. 25)
Multiple Versions
.
Not until twelve years later did Joseph—or anyone else—begin recording the
experience of this first vision. The problem at this point, however, is that he
ended up creating several different versions of it which conflict with each
other at significant points. There are at least six different versions of his
“First Vision” which begin with Joseph's combination Diary/History of the
Church written in 1832, and end with a letter from Joseph Smith to John
Wentworth, editor of the Chicago Democrat in 1842. For example, these
various accounts place Joseph's age all the way from 14 to 17 years old. And the
official dating of the vision, the year 1820, has also been called into serious
question by recent documentation that no revival actually took place in Palmyra
at that time.[6]
To illustrate the contradictions between these various versions, we will
compare the “first vision” portion of Joseph's History of the Church,
written in 1838, with that contained in his Diary/History of the Church,
written in 1832. This first excerpt is from Joseph Smith's 1838 History of
the Church.
“Just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly
over my head, above the brightness of the sun; which descended gradually until
it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the
enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two personages
(whose brightness and glory defy all description) standing above me in the air.
One of them spake to me, calling me by name, and said, (pointing to the other)
`This is my beloved Son, hear him.'
“My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all
the sects was right that I might know which to join. No sooner therefore did
I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the
personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right, (for
at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong), and
which I should join.
“I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong,
and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an
abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt, `they draw
near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for
doctrine the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the
power thereof.' He again forbade me
to join with any of them....” (see above, Joseph Smith's First Vision,
emphasis added)
The following two excerpts are taken directly from Joseph's handwritten
1832 Diary. The spelling and punctuation may seem awkward, but they
accurately reflect the manuscript. <Angle brackets> indicate
above-the-line insertions; words stricken from the manuscripts are shown as
“At about the age of twelve years my mind become seriously imprest with
regard to the all importent concerns for the wellfare of my immortal Soul which
led me to searching the scriptures...thus from the age of twelve years to
fifteen I pondered many things in my heart concerning the sittuation of the
world of mankind the contentions and divi[si]ons the wicke[d]ness and
abominations and the darkness which pervaded the He
goes on to describe the first vision.
“When I considered all these things and that <that> being
[God] seeketh such to worship him as worship him in spirit and in truth
therefore I cried unto the Lord for mercy for there was none else to whom I
could go and
Fundamental Conflict with the Official
Version of 1838
.
In September 1832 Joseph received a spiritual message concerning priesthood and
church government. This message was later canonized and today is Section 83 of
the RLDS Doctrine & Covenants. Paragraph 3c of Section 83 reads,
“Therefore, in the ordinances thereof the power of godliness is manifest; and
without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the
power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; for without this,
no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live” (emphasis
added).
Joseph claims that the priesthood was not “restored” until 1829.[8]
But in his History of the Church (1838) he very clearly says that he saw
the Father during his first vision experience, in 1820. We have to ask ourselves
how this was possible in 1820, since Joseph claims that no priesthood yet
existed on the earth.
Joseph's Motivation for Praying
.
In his 1838 History of the Church Joseph claims, “My object in going
to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right that I might
know which to join.” But in
his 1832 Diary he says, “and when I considered all these things and
that <that> being [God] seeketh such to worship him as worship him in
spirit and in truth therefore I cried unto the Lord for mercy for there was none
else to whom I could go and
“All Churches are Wrong.”
In Joseph's 1838 History it was the
“personages” who first alerted him to the fact that all churches were wrong,
“...for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were
wrong.” But in his 1832 Diary he claims that he had already reached
this conclusion for himself based on his own study of the scriptures, “...by
searching the scriptures I found that
This evolution of his story makes sense. It would sound much more
convincing if “the personages” told him that all churches were wrong than to
say that he had already reached that conclusion based merely on his own studies.
By the way, speaking of “personages”...
How Many Personages?
In his 1838 History Joseph claims
that he saw and conversed with “two personages” in the pillar of light, one
of whom pointed to the other saying, “This is my beloved Son, hear him.”
These personages could only be thought of as God the Father and His Son
Jesus Christ. If this experience had actually transpired, we can think of no
more significant a feature than having actually seen both the Father and the Son
at the same time.
Joseph's claim of having seen both the Father and the Son in
bodily form—and at the same time—is certainly at variance with orthodox
Biblical theology. And this distorted concept of God has accordingly added much
confusion and speculation to RLDS thinking regarding the Godhead.
But this evolved concept of “two personages” is not at all present in
Joseph's 1832 Diary version of his first vision. There he simply says
that, “...the <Lord> opened the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord
and he spake unto me.” Throughout the entire story there is not even a
hint of more than one entity involved. It seems very clear that Joseph's
embellished version of 1838 was, as Fawn Brodie says, “distorted by...the
obligations of the moment.”
The Smith Family: Occult
Practitioners
It is impossible to understand Joseph Smith, his Book of Mormon or
the church he produced without first realizing that he and his family were
heavily steeped in the occult. The Smiths were part of a class of people in New
England for whom occultism was a way of life. They practiced a variety of
magical arts including sooth-saying, divination, crystal-gazing, fortune
telling, necromancy (communication with the dead) and magic circles.[9]
According to pastor and researcher Wesley Walters:
“Joseph's use of such magic devices in his early years gave his mother
concern in later life that the family not be thought of as having devoted their entire
time to such occult matters. In the preliminary draft of her history of that
early period (but omitted from the printed version) she wrote:
`... let not the reader suppose that...we stopt our labor and went at
trying to win the faculty of Abrac, drawing magic circles, or sooth saying, to
the neglect of all kinds of business. We never during our lives suffered one
important interest to swallow up every other obligation.'
“Thus it seems quite clear from all sides that Joseph wove occult
religious material into his money digging practices, and this led the
communities where he dug for treasure to associate him with divination,
necromancy, and wizardry.”[10] Walters'
footnote to the above quote provides additional insight.
“In the Historical Department, LDS Church, Salt Lake City, p. 77 of
Xerox copy, punctuation mine [regarding Mrs. Smith's history]. Abrac derives
from Abracadabra and Abraxas, both of which were used by the Gnostics on magic
amulets. To make the charm work required a knowledge of how the amulet was to be
used. The Masonic Lodge of the 18th century claimed they knew how to conceal
`the way of obtaining the faculty of Abrac' (James Hardie, The New
Freemason's Monitor, N.Y., 1818, p. 203). Since Joseph's brother Hyrum
claimed membership in the Palmyra Masonic Lodge, the Smiths may have been
encouraged in some of their occult lore from that source.”
Joseph's mother, Lucy Smith, provides us another most interesting
reflection from their early family life. You will recall that Joseph claimed
that a spiritual visitor guided him to the Book of Mormon plates in
September 1823. From that time on his family began gathering each evening to
hear of the various revelations he was continuing to have. In the course of
these family gatherings “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 traveling, 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 with them.”[11]
It should be noted that these interesting tales began occurring in
1823–1824—over three years before Joseph was supposedly granted possession
of the Book of Mormon plates in order to begin “translating” them. We
have to ask ourselves, then, from what source this information came. (Actually,
it seems clear that Joseph borrowed from a variety of sources to produce the Book
of Mormon. A number of these sources will be examined in detail in chapter
6.) But regardless of the actual source of his information, it is very clear
that (1) it was not based on the Book of Mormon plates and (2)
Joseph had sufficient prior data and imagination to concoct the Book of
Mormon story himself—without any help at all from the brass plates—as we
shall soon see.
Money-digging,
“Glass-looking” and Joseph's Peep-stone
The Smith family often utilized a variety of occult devices to engage in
a practice called “money-digging.” The spirit world would make known certain
treasures hidden in the earth, giving these money-diggers the confidence that
they could find them. This would often involve charging a landowner for the
services of finding the treasure, with the promise of sharing the ultimate
proceeds with him. From all accounts it seems that this business of
money-digging consumed a large portion of the Smith's time.
In the course of his money-digging Joseph Smith would on occasion
practice blood sacrifice in order to appease the spirit which controlled the
treasure. One account of such sacrifice is given by William Stafford, a neighbor
of their's from Palmyra.
“Old Joseph and one of the boys came to me one day, and said that
Joseph Smith Jr. had discovered some very remarkable and valuable treasures,
which could be procured in only one way. That way, was as follows:—That a
black sheep should be taken on to the ground where the treasures were
concealed—that after cutting its throat, it should be led around a circle
while bleeding. This being done, the wrath of the evil spirit would be appeased:
the treasures could then be obtained, and my share of them was to be four fold.
To gratify my curiosity, I let them have a large fat sheep. They afterwards
informed me, that the sheep was killed pursuant to commandment; but as there was
some mistake in the process, it did not have the desired effect. This I believe,
is the only time they ever made money-digging a profitable business....”[12]
One of the more popular money-digging techniques during this period was
generically referred to as “glass-looking,” another term for the ancient
practice of crystal-gazing. This is what a medium does when looking into a
crystal ball. “Crystal-gazing is an old profession and has been an honored
one. Egyptians stared into a pool of ink, the Greeks into a mirror, the Aztecs
into a quartz crystal, and Europeans into a sword blade or glass of sherry—any
translucent surface that made the eyes blur with long gazing.”[13]
In the early 1800s glass-looking included the use of “peep-stones” or
seer stones. These stones would be placed in a hat whose brim was then pulled up
tight around the subject's face to exclude all light. In this darkness the
stones would reveal things to their holders, whether past, present or future.
Joseph Smith's father, Joseph Smith, Sr. made use of such a stone in his own
money-digging business.[14]
In 1822 Joseph Smith, Jr. followed his father's lead and acquired his own
stone. He and his brother Alvin had been hired by Willard Chase to dig a well.
According to Chase,
“After digging about twenty feet below the surface of the earth, we
discovered a singularly appearing stone, which excited my curiosity. I brought
it to the top of the well, and as we were examining it, Joseph put it into his
hat, and then his face into the top of his hat...The next morning he came to see
me, and wished to obtain the stone, alleging that he could see in it; but I told
him I did not wish to part with it on account of its being a curiosity, but
would lend it. After obtaining the stone, he began to publish abroad what
wonders he could discover by looking in it....”[15] Against
Mr. Chase's wishes Joseph retained this stone and began using it in his
money-digging activities.
Joseph Smith's 1826
Glass-looking Trial
Before long Joseph had acquired a considerable reputation as a seer by
use of this stone. Because of this reputation he was sought out by a
Pennsylvania farmer by the name of Josiah Stowel (Stoal). According to Joseph's
mother Mr. Stowel was interested in him “...on account of having heard that he
possessed certain keys, by which he could discern things invisible to the
natural eye.”[16]
Mr. Stowel became quickly impressed by a display of Joseph's supernatural
talent and immediately hired him to search for a lost silver mine. After several
months of effort Joseph failed to produce the treasure, or anything else of
value. In reaction to this series of failures Mr. Stowel's nephew, Peter
Bridgman, swore out a warrant for
Joseph's arrest, charging him with being a disorderly person and an imposter. The
Revised Laws of 1813 in force at the time included a Vagrant Act
which specifically defined Disorderly Persons as “...all persons who,
not having wherewith to maintain themselves, live idle without employment...”
and included “...all jugglers, and all persons pretending to have skill in
physiognomy, palmistry, or like crafty science, or pretending to tell fortunes,
or to discover where lost goods may be found.”[17]
Accordingly, Joseph was arrested, jailed and brought to trial on March
20, 1826. Apart from the incriminating testimony of others, Joseph makes a
number of most interesting confessions in the course of his own testimony at
this trial. He admits that he had been “employed in looking for mines” and
that,
“...he had a certain stone, which he had occasionally looked at to
determine where hidden treasures in the bowels of the earth were; that he
professed to tell in this manner where gold-mines were a distance under ground,
and had looked for Mr. Stowel several times, and informed him where he could
find those treasures, and Mr. Stowel had been engaged in digging for them; that
at Palmyra he pretended to tell, by looking at this stone, where coined money
was buried in Pennsylvania, and while at Palmyra he had frequently ascertained
in that way where lost property was, of various kinds; that he has occasionally
been in the habit of looking through this stone to find lost property for three
years, but of late had pretty much given it up on account its injuring his
health, especially his eyes—made them sore.”[18]
After hearing these confessions directly from Joseph and then some
confirming testimonies from a few others the court quickly found him guilty as
charged. But because he was a minor at this time (20 years old) “...and
thinking he might reform his conduct, he was designedly allowed to escape...”
without sentencing.[19]
Book of Mormon
Plates Found by Joseph's Peep-stone
In Joseph's 1838 History he claims that a spiritual visitor
announced the existence of the Book of Mormon plates and ultimately
guided him to their exact location. Historical evidence, however, indicates that
Joseph actually used his peep-stone to find the plates.
Among Joseph's very earliest converts was a man by the name of Martin
Harris. Martin was a prosperous farmer who lived nearby the Smiths. It was
Martin who financed Joseph's migration to Pennsylvania and his stay there while
the Book of Mormon was being produced. After Joseph's wife, Emma, Martin
became the second person to act as his scribe as he dictated the book. And when
the book was complete he became one of only three men to sign The Testimony
of Three Witnesses, which vouched for the book's authenticity. Here is what
Martin said in an interview with Tiffany's Monthly:
“These plates were found at the north point of a hill two miles north
of Manchester village. Joseph had a stone which was dug from the well of Mason
Chase, twenty-four feet from the surface. In this stone he could see many things
to my certain knowledge. It was by means of this stone he first discovered these
plates.
“Joseph had before this described the manner of his finding the plates.
He found them by looking in the stone found in the well of Mason Chase. The
family had likewise told me the same thing.”[20]
That Joseph actually used his peep-stone to find the Book of Mormon
plates is also attested by the Mormon Hosea Stout.
“President [Brigham] Young exhibited the seer's stone with which The Prophet
Joseph Smith discovered the plates of the Book of Mormon, to the regents this
evening. It is said to be a silecious granite dark color almost black with light
colored stripes somewhat resembling petrified poplar or cotton wood bark. It was
about the size but not the shape of a hen's egg.”[21]
Joseph's early claims of having found the Book of Mormon plates by
use of his peep-stone revived community sentiments against his money-digging
activities and led to another warrant for his arrest and subsequent trial on
July 1, 1830—three months after he had organized his church. This time twelve
witnesses were called to testify against him. “During the trial it was shown
that the Book of Mormon was brought to light by the same magic power by which he
pretended to tell fortunes, discover hidden treasure, &c.”[22]
Book of Mormon
Produced by Use of the Stone
In Joseph's 1838 History he claims to have translated the Book
of Mormon plates by direct use of the ancient Urim and Thummim, which he had
discovered along with the plates. We tend to see Joseph sitting at a table in
front of the plates and viewing them through the Urim and Thummim, which he
describes simply as “...two stones in silver bows, and these stones fastened
to a breastplate.”[23] As the Urim and Thummim would convert each
Reformed Egyptian hieroglyphic into English we envision Joseph dictating the
translation to a scribe on the other side of the table who thus created the
actual manuscript. Based on Joseph Smith's 1838 History, this is how
practically all of his present followers, Mormon and RLDS alike, view his
process of producing the Book of Mormon.
The amazing thing is that virtually every other person connected
with the book's production, including his own wife, testifies to an altogether
different process. And by now I'm sure you can guess what was involved in that
other process. That's right—Joseph's use of his peep-stone buried in a hat!
Testimony of David Whitmer
.
The most detailed description of this process is given to us by David Whitmer.
David Whitmer became acquainted with Joseph part way through the translation
process, and his family, according to Joseph, “...assisted us very much in
writing during the remainder of the work...” and “...became our zealous
friends and assistants.”[24]
“I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of
Mormon was translated. Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put
his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light;
and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something
resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One
character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in
English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was
his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother
Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character
with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by
the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man.”[25]
It is significant to note that the final portion of the Book of Mormon
was actually produced in David Whitmer's own house, where Joseph and Emma Smith,
Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery had taken up residence. When the time came
David was selected along with Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery to sign The
Testimony of Three Witnesses which was to vouch for the authenticity of the
book. He remained a staunch believer in the Book of Mormon throughout his
entire life, even though he became sharply critical of Joseph Smith and his
practices. And so while David Whitmer was not an actual scribe for Joseph, he
was very closely associated both with the process itself as well as with all
those who actually were scribes.
Testimony of Emma and William Smith
.
Joseph's wife Emma was the first of three people to scribe for him, followed by
Martin Harris and then Oliver Cowdery. In 1879 she was interviewed by her son,
Joseph Smith, III, who was then president of the RLDS church. The interview was
first published in the RLDS magazine Saints' Herald and later included in
their official history.[26]
Here are two excerpts from that interview.
“ `Q.– [Joseph Smith, III doing the questioning] What of the truth of
Mormonism?
`A.–I know Mormonism to be the truth; and believe the church to have
been established by divine direction. I have complete faith in it. In writing
for your father I frequently wrote day after day, often sitting at the table
close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone in it,
and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us.
`Q.–Are you sure that he had the plates at the time you were writing
for him?
`A.–The plates often lay on the table without any attempt at
concealment, wrapped in a small linen tablecloth which I had given him to fold
them in.' ”
Writing in the Saints' Herald in 1962 James E. Lancaster comments
on an 1876 letter from Emma which also describes this process.
“How can the testimonies of Emma Smith and David Whitmer, describing
the translation of the Book of Mormon with a seer stone, be reconciled with the
traditional account of the church that the Book of Mormon was translated by the
`interpreters' found in the stone box with the plates? It is the extreme good
fortune of the church that we have testimony by Sister Emma Smith Bidamon on
this important issue...a woman...wrote to Emma Bidamon,
requesting information as to the translation of the Book of Mormon. Emma
Bidamon rep[l]ied...March 27, 1876. Sister Bidamon's letter states in part:
`Now the first that my husband translated, was translated by use of the
Urim and Thummim, and that was the part that Martin Harris lost, after that he
used a small stone, not exactly black, but was rather a dark color....'
“Sister Bidamon's letter indicated that at first the Book of Mormon was
translated by the Urim and Thummim. She refers to the instrument found with the
plates. However, this first method was used only for the portion written on the
116 pages of foolscap which Martin Harris lost. After that time the translation
was done with the seer stone.”[27]
Both Emma and Martin Harris refer to Joseph's use of the Urim and Thummim
during only the initial stage of the process, for the first 116 pages.
Martin's wife was not a believer in any of the Book of Mormon business
and was upset over Martin's involvement. Consequently, when Martin showed this
first 116 pages to her she retaliated by confiscating and then either hiding or
destroying them. These 116 pages have not been seen since. Because of this loss,
Joseph claims the Urim and Thummim were taken from him. Emma and David Whitmer
say they were never returned. Mr. Lancaster confirms this further along in the
same Saints' Herald article cited above by quoting an interview with
David Whitmer first published in the Chicago Inter-Ocean, Oct. 17, 1886.
“By fervent prayer and by otherwise humbling himself, the prophet,
however, again found favor, and was presented with a strange, oval-shaped,
chocolate-colored stone, about the size of an egg, only more flat, which, it was
promised, should serve the same purpose as the missing Urim and Thummim (the
latter was a pair of transparent stones set in a bow-shaped frame and very much
resembles a pair of spectacles). With this stone all of the present Book of
Mormon was translated.” (emphasis added)[28]
Whatever role the so-called “Urim and Thummim” had, if any, it is
clear that it was only used early on. The entire surviving portion of the
Book of Mormon—the only part that we have today—was produced by
Joseph's use of his peep-stone in a hat. Part of the confusion over the use of
the “Urim and Thummim” is that over time people began using that phrase when
referring to Joseph's peep-stone. This is clearly reflected in the testimony of
Joseph's brother, William Smith regarding the production of the Book of
Mormon. “The manner in which this was done was by looking into the Urim
and Thummim, which was placed in a hat to exclude the light, (the plates lying
near by covered up), and reading off the translation, which appeared in the
stone by the power of God.”[29]
In addition to confirming Joseph's use of his peep-stone in a hat to
produce the Book of Mormon, Emma's interview with her son, Joseph III,
and the testimony of Joseph's brother William also make it clear that the plates
themselves were not used in the process in any way whatsoever. At various
times during the production process the plates would be covered up on the same
table, perhaps be in another room of the house—and at still other times would
even be hidden out in the woods! We have to ask ourselves what the point was of
having the plates in the first place if they were not to be used. We can only
conclude that they were merely a prop in Joseph's attempt to convince the world
that his Book of Mormon originated somewhere other than his own fertile
imagination—or through his money-digging peep-stone.
The Testimony of Martin Harris
.
As Joseph's second of three scribes, Martin not only says that Joseph found
the plates by use of his peep-stone (see above), but that he also used it to produce
the Book of Mormon. “On Sunday, Sept.4, 1870, Martin Harris addressed a
congregation of Saints in Salt Lake City. He related an incident which occurred
during the time that he wrote that portion of the translation of the Book of
Mormon which he was favored to write direct from the mouth of the Prophet Joseph
Smith, and said that the Prophet possessed a seer stone, by which he was
enabled to translate as well as from the Urim and Thummim, and for convenience
he then used the seer stone....” (emphasis added).[30]
While here he makes a distinction between the Urim and Thummim and
Joseph's peep-stone, he says they were functionally equivalent, and therefore
Joseph just used the seer stone for convenience. From this kind of statement we
can see how people came to use the two terms interchangeably. And so Joseph's
use of his peep-stone in a hat over time came to be viewed as his actually using
the “Urim and Thummim.”
The Testimony of Oliver Cowdery
.
Oliver was Joseph's third and final scribe. He was also chosen as one of the
three to sign The Testimony of Three Witnesses. Regarding his
participation in producing the Book of Mormon he confesses, “I have
sometimes had seasons of skepticism, in which I did seriously wonder whether the
prophet and I were men in our sober senses when we would be translating from
plates through the `Urim and Thummim' and the plates not be in sight at all.
But I believed both in the Seer and in the `Seer Stone,' and what the
First Elder announced as revelation from God, I accepted as such; and committed
to paper with a glad mind and happy heart and swift pen....” (emphasis added).[31]
Oliver's statement here confirms the testimonies of the others involved
in the process. He, too, uses the terms “Urim and Thummim” and “Seer
Stone” interchangeably and also confirms that the plates were not used at all.
His testimony is especially significant because he was Joseph's scribe for the
vast majority of Book of Mormon which we have today. The initial 116
pages, scribed by Emma Smith and Martin Harris, were confiscated by Martin's
wife and never seen again.
Oliver Cowdery became the guardian of Joseph Smith's peep-stone after he
stopped using it. We saw from Hosea Stout's Diary above (p.
29
) that this stone wound up in Salt Lake
City. David Whitmer tells us how this happened.
“With this stone all of the present Book of Mormon was translated. It
is the only one of these relics which is not in the possession of the Whitmers.
For years Oliver Cowdery surrounded it with care and solicitude, but at his
death old Phineas Young, a brother of Brigham Young, and an old-time and once
intimate friend of the Cowdery family, came out of Salt Lake City, and during
his visit he contrived to get the stone from its hidding place, through a little
deceptive sophistry, expended upon the grief-stricken widow. When he re-turned
to Utah he carried it in triumph to the apostles of Brigham Young's `lion
house.' ”[32]
The stone reportedly remains in Utah to this day. It is said to be locked
up in a safe in the office of the Mormon church President, where it has been
observed as recently as 1971 by Joseph Anderson, then Assistant to the Council
of the Twelve [Apostles].[33] No One Really Ever Saw the Plates |