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Criticism
- Critics point out that Joseph Smith's mother reported that he told "amusing recitals" about the ancient inhabitants of the American continent well before he translated the Book of Mormon. This confirms that Joseph was simply a teller of "tall tales."
- How is it that Joseph Smith told these stories several years before he allegedly found the golden plates and wrote The Book of Mormon?
- Wasn't Lucy Mack Smith's original book ordered to be "burned" by Brigham Young because it contained this information?
Source(s) of the criticism
- Richard Abanes, One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church (New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2003), 64 ( Index of claims )
- Cephas Ministry, "A Mormon General Authority's Doubts About the Authenticity of the Book of Mormon"
- Richard N. and Joan K. Ostling, Mormon America: The Power and the Promise, (New York:HarperCollins Publishers, 2000), 23. ( Index of claims )
- George D. Smith, Nauvoo Polygamy: "...but we called it celestial marriage" (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2008), 22. ( Index of claims , Detailed book review )
- Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Mormonism—Shadow or Reality?, fifth edition (Salt Lake City: Utah Lighthouse Ministry, 1987), 81
- Jerald and Sandra Tanner, The Changing World of Mormonism (Moody Press, 1979), 125. ( Index of claims )
- Search for the Truth DVD
Response
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]
Critics use this as proof that Joseph Smith was a "teller of tall tales," and that he had a mind imaginative enough to create the story of the Book of Mormon on his own. B.H. Roberts, in his critical study of the Book of Mormon, pointed out how future critics might make use of this.
- The face of it is first established by the testimony of the mother who bore him, Lucy Smith. Speaking of the days immediately following the revelation making known the existence of the Book of Mormon to her son...Lucy Smith in her History of the Prophet Joseph Smith, recounts how in the evening of that day, the young prophet sat up late detailing to the family the wonderful conversations he had with the angel;[2]
What critics do not point out, however, is that immediately prior to making this statement, Lucy told the story of Joseph's vision of the angel, and how he talked with his family in the evenings about the instruction that he had received. From Lucy's 1853 biography, we read:
- Joseph commenced telling us the great and glorious things which God had manifested to him...he proceeded to relate further particulars concerning the work which he was appointed to do...From this time forth, Joseph continued to receive instructions from the Lord, and we continued to get the children together every evening, for the purpose of listening while he gave us a relation of the same...During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals... (emphasis added)[3]
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...[4]
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 (see Anderson, ed., Lucy's Book, 345). 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 (Times and Seasons, vol. 3, no. 9, 1 March 1842, 707) and Oliver Cowdery made note of the same thing (Messenger and Advocate, vol. 1, no. 7, April 1835, 112). 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.
Conclusion
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. 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.
Endnotes
- [back] Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996-2003), 5 vols, 1:296. citing Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors for many Generations (Liverpool: S. W. Richards, 1853) 36-173.
- [back] B. H. Roberts, Studies of the Book of Mormon, (Salt Lake City, UT; Signature Books, 1992) 243. Some online ministries quote Roberts' use of Lucy's quote as "evidence" that Roberts lost his testimony of the Book of Mormon. They completely ignore Roberts statements on the same page that Joseph was describing the "wonderful conversations he had with the angel."
- [back] Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996-2003), 5 vols, 1:294–296. citing Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors for many Generations (Liverpool: S. W. Richards, 1853) 36-173.
- [back] 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.
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
| | Joseph Smith, Jr. wiki articles
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| | Joseph Smith and legal issues wiki articles
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| | First Vision wiki articles
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- Claims about the 1832 First Vision account
- Claims about the 1835 First Vision account
- Claims about the 1838 First Vision account
- Claims about other members and the First Vision
| | Joseph Smith other visionary issues wiki articles
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Video
| | Revised or Unaltered?: Joseph Smith's Foundational Stories, Matthew Brown, 2006 FAIR Conference
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FAIR web site
| | Joseph Smith FAIR articles
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- FAIR Topical Guide: Joseph Smith FAIR link
- FAIR Topical Guide: Character FAIR link
- FAIR Topical Guide: Consent for others to enter heaven? FAIR link
- FAIR Topical Guide: Family and Background FAIR link
- FAIR Topical Guide: Status of Joseph Smith FAIR link
- FAIR Topical Guide: Prophets: Infallibility FAIR link
| | Joseph Smith other visionary issues FAIR links
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- Craig Ray, "Joseph Smith's History Confirmed," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, August 2002) FAIR link
External links
| | Joseph Smith, Jr. on-line articles
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- [back] Richard Lloyd Anderson, "Joseph Smith's New York Reputation Reappraised," Brigham Young University Studies 10:3 (1970): 285. GL direct link
- Richard Lloyd Anderson, "The Reliability of the Early History of Lucy and Joseph Smith," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 4:2 (Summer 1969): 16, 19.
- Leonard J. Arrington, "The Human Qualities of Joseph Smith, the Prophet," Ensign (January 1971): 35ff. off-site
- Richard L. Bushman, "Joseph Smith Miscellany," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, 2005 FAIR Conference). FAIR link
- Richard L. Bushman, Dean C. Jessee and Truman G. Madsen, "Smith, Joseph," Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, (New York, Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 3:1331–1348. ISBN 002904040X. off-site off-site off-site
- Donald L. Enders, "The Joseph Smith, Sr., Family: Farmers of the Genesee," in Joseph Smith: The Prophet, the Man, ed. Susan Easton Black and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1993), 213—25.
- Andrew H. Hedges and Dawson W. Hedges, "No, Dan, That's Still Not History (Review of: Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet, by Dan Vogel)," FARMS Review 17/1 (2005): 205–222. off-site PDF link
- Louis Midgley, "Editor's Introduction: Knowing Brother Joseph Again," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): xi–lxxiv. off-site PDF link wiki
- Louis Midgley, "Two Stories—One Faith," FARMS Review 19/1 (2007): 55–79. off-site PDF link wiki
- Larry E. Morris, "Joseph Smith and "Interpretive Biography", Review of Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet by Dan Vogel," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 321–374. off-site PDF link wiki
- Daniel C. Peterson and Donald L. Enders, "Can the 1834 Affidavits Attacking the Smith Family Be Trusted?" in Pressing Forward with the Book of Mormon: The FARMS Updates of the 1990s, ed. John W. Welch and Melvin J. Thorne (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1999), 286—87.
Printed material
| | Joseph Smith, Jr. printed materials
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- Richard L. Bushman, "Joseph Smith's Family Background," in The Prophet Joseph: Essays on the Life and Mission of Joseph Smith, ed. Larry C. Porter and Susan Easton Black (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1988), 1–18. ISBN 0875791778. GospeLink
- Richard L. Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Knopf, 2005), 1. ISBN 1400042704
- Mark L. McConkie, Remembering Joseph: Personal Recollections of Those Who Knew the Prophet Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book Company, 2003) (print version). ISBN 978-1570089633. GospeLink (Key source)
