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=={{Criticism label}}==
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Critics claim that Joseph Smith's theology as described in the Book of Abraham was influenced by Thomas Dick's book ''The Philosophy of a Future State''.


==={{Criticism source label English}}===
<onlyinclude>
*{{CriticalWork:Brodie:No Man Knows|pages=171&ndash;172}}
{{H2
*{{CriticalWork:Palmer:Insider|pages=22&ndash;24}}
|L=Thomas Dick’s The Philosophy of a Future State
*{{CriticalWork:Smith:Nauvoo Polygamy|pages=7}}
|H=Thomas Dick’s The Philosophy of a Future State
|S=
|L1=Could Joseph Smith's theology as described in the Book of Abraham have been influenced by Thomas Dick's book The Philosophy of a Future State?
|L2=How do the theological concepts of Joseph Smith actually compare to those of Thomas Dick?
}}
</onlyinclude>


=={{Response label}}==
{{:Could Joseph Smith's theology as described in the Book of Abraham have been influenced by Thomas Dick's book The Philosophy of a Future State?}}
This criticism was advanced by Fawn Brodie, who suggested that Joseph Smith developed the theology described in the Book of Abraham by reading Thomas Dick’s ''The Philosophy of a Future State''. An excerpt from Dick’s work was published by Oliver Cowdery in the ''Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate'' in December 1836,{{ref|ma1}} therefore one could assume that Joseph had access to the book in the 1835-1836 timeframe during which the Book of Abraham was being produced. Dick's book was also in the possession of the Prophet by 1844, at which time he donated his copy to the Nauvoo Library. {{ref|godfrey}}
{{:How do the theological concepts of Joseph Smith actually compare to those of Thomas Dick?}}


It is also known that two of Dick's books were available in the Manchester Library, {{ref|paul.333-356}}, although none of the Smith family were actually members of the library and were unlikely to have had access to its resources.{{ref|brooke.207}} Based upon this circumstantial evidence, Brodie not only assumes that the Prophet must have read the book, but that he incorporated Dick’s ideas into the Book of Abraham.


Thomas Dick was a Scottish born minister, writer, astronomer and philosopher, whose published works in the early 1800’s attempted to reconcile science with Christianity. Dick believed that "mind and matter" were the two basic principles of the universe.{{ref|jones.27}} Dick believed God was of "a spiritual uncompounded substance, having no visible form."{{ref|dick.188}} The reason for the existence of matter is to allow the mind to be able to focus on God through the observance of his creations.
{{Critical sources box:Thomas Dick’s The Philosophy of a Future State/CriticalSources}}
{{endnotes sources}}
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[[Category:Book of Abraham]]


According to Dick:
[[es:El Libro de Abraham/Acusaciones de plagio/Thomas Dick]]
 
[[pt:O Livro de Abraão/Acusações de plágio/Thomas Dick]]
:[F]or the Creator has ordained, as one part of their mental enjoyments, that they shall be furnished with the means of tracing the mode of his operations, and the designs they are intended to accomplish in the different departments of nature.{{ref|dick.212}}
 
The following is a comparison and contrast of several of the theological concepts of both Joseph Smith and Thomas Dick.
 
{| valign="top" border="1" style="width:100%; font-size:85%"
!width=20%|Concept
!width="40%"|Thomas Dick
!width="40%"|Joseph Smith
|-
|Creation
||None but that Eternal Mind which counts the number of the stars, '''which called them from nothing''' into existence, and arranged them in the respective stations...{{ref|dick.192}}
|| Now, I ask all who hear me, '''why the learned men who are preaching salvation, say that God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing'''? The reason is, that they are unlearned in the things of God... {{ref|smith.350}}
|-
|Intelligences
|| The Creator stands in '''no need of innumerable assemblages of worlds and of inferior ranks of intelligences''', in order to secure or to augment his felicity. Innumerable ages before the universe was created, he existed alone, independent of every other being, and infinitely happy in the contemplation of his own eternal excellencies.{{ref|dick.52}}
|| I dwell in the midst of them all; I now, therefore, have come down unto thee to declare unto thee the works which my hands have made, wherein my wisdom excelleth them all, for I rule in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, in all wisdom and prudence, over all the intelligences thine eyes have seen from the beginning; '''I came down in the beginning in the midst of all the intelligences thou hast seen'''. Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; ({{scripture||Abraham|3|21-22}})
|-
|Nature of God
||a spiritual uncompounded substance, '''having no visible form'''.{{ref|dick.188}}
||God himself was once as we are now, and '''is an exalted man''', and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!{{ref|smith.345}}
|-
|Ability to comprehend God
||But the eternity, the omnipresence, and the omniscience of the Deity, are equally mysterious; for they are equally incomprehensible, '''and must for ever remain incomprehensible''' to all limited intelligences.{{ref|dick.183}}
|| It is the first principle of the Gospel '''to know for a certainty the Character of God''', and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another, and that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth. {{ref|smith.345}}
|}
 
=={{Conclusion label}}==
Many of the ideas promoted by Thomas Dick were common Protestant beliefs and were therefore available without having to read Dick’s work. Joseph Smith never made any public or written statements indicating that he was aware of or that he had ever read Dick’s book. The only evidence that even suggests the possibility is circumstantial and is based upon the appearance of several passages from ''A Philosophy of a Future State'' in the ''Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate''. More importantly, Joseph Smith rejected or contradicted many of the ideas put forth by Dick in ''A Philosophy of a Future State''. It is therefore unlikely, contrary to Brodie’s speculation, that Joseph had been “recently reading” Dick’s work and that it made a “lasting impression” upon the Prophet.{{ref|nibley1}}{{ref|jones.94-96}}
 
=={{Endnotes label}}==
 
#{{note|ma1}}{{MA | author=Oliver Cowdery (editor) | article=ON THE ABSURDITY OF SUPPOSING THAT THE THINKING PRINCIPLE IN MAN WILL EVER BE ANNIHILATED |vol=3|num=3|date=December 1836|start=423|end=425 }} (An extract from "Thomas Dick's Philosophy of a Future State.") It should be noted that the November 1836 date given for this article given by Brodie in ''No Man Knows My History'' on page 171 is incorrect.
#{{note|godfrey}}Kenneth W. Godfrey, "A Note on the Nauvoo Library and Literary Institute," ''BYU Studies'' 14, no. 3 (1974) {{link|url=http://byustudies.byu.edu/PDFLibrary/14.3Godfrey.pdf}}
#{{note|paul.333-356}}{{BYUS | author=Robert Paul| article=Joseph Smith and the Manchester (New York) Library|vol=22|num=3|date=1982|start=333|end=356 }} 
#{{note|brooke.207}}John Brooke, ''The Refiner's Fire'' (Cambridge University Press, 1994), p. 207.
#{{note|jones.27}}Edward T. Jones, [http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/MTGM&CISOPTR=40776 ''The Theology of Thomas Dick and its Possible Relationship to that of Joseph Smith''], Master's Thesis, 1969, p. 27.
#{{note|dick.188}}Thomas Dick, ''The Philosophy of a Future State'' (New York: R. Shoyer, 1831) p. 188.
#{{note|dick.212}}Dick, p. 212.
#{{note|dick.192}}Dick, p. 192.
#{{note|smith.350}}Joseph Fielding Smith, ''Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1977) p. 350.
#{{note|dick.52}}Dick, p. 52.
#{{note|dick.188}}Dick, p. 188.
#{{note|smith.345}}Smith, p. 345.
#{{note|dick.183}}Dick, p. 183.
#{{note|smith.345}}Smith, p. 345.
#{{note|nibley1}}{{NoMa'am0}}
#{{note|jones.94-96}}Jones, pp. 94-6.
 
=={{Further reading label}}==
 
==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
{{BookofAbrahamWiki}}
 
==={{FAIR web site label}}===
{{BookofAbrahamFAIR}}
 
==={{External links label}}===
*Thomas Dick, [http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=KwI3AAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Philosophy+of+a+Future+State%22&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=6RrMxJrVe8&sig=ltFDmcBlOdMLVp9eWhjlyZwL2o4#PPR1,M1|''The Philosophy of a Future State'' (1831)]
{{BookofAbrahamLinks}}
 
==={{Printed material label}}===
{{BookofAbrahamPrint}}
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[[fr:Book of Abraham/Plagiarism accusations/Thomas Dick]]

Latest revision as of 03:12, 1 May 2024
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Thomas Dick’s The Philosophy of a Future State


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Could Joseph Smith's theology as described in the Book of Abraham have been influenced by Thomas Dick's book The Philosophy of a Future State?

Fawn Brodie suggested that Joseph Smith developed the theology described in the Book of Abraham by reading Thomas Dick’s The Philosophy of a Future State

This criticism was advanced by Fawn Brodie, who suggested that Joseph Smith developed the theology described in the Book of Abraham by reading Thomas Dick’s The Philosophy of a Future State. An excerpt from Dick’s work was published by Oliver Cowdery in the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate in December 1836,[1] therefore one could assume that Joseph had access to the book in the 1835-1836 timeframe during which the Book of Abraham was being produced. Dick's book was also in the possession of the Prophet by 1844, at which time he donated his copy to the Nauvoo Library and Literary Institute. [2]

It is also known that two of Dick's books were available in the Manchester Library;[3] although none of the Smith family were actually members of the library and were unlikely to have had access to its resources.[4] Based upon this circumstantial evidence, Brodie not only assumes that the Prophet must have read the book, but that he incorporated Dick’s ideas into the Book of Abraham.

Many of the ideas promoted by Thomas Dick were common Protestant beliefs, however, Joseph Smith rejected or contradicted many of the ideas put forth by Dick

It should first be noted that commentary on Abraham in Philosophy of a Future State does not mention him in any context that is similar to the Book of Abraham. There are references to "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,"[5] to Abraham living as an intelligent being in another state at the time of Moses at the burning bush,[6] to Abraham "giving up the ghost" and being "gathered to his people,"[7] to Abraham being buried at Machpelah,[8] to the ability to sit with "Abraham , and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,"[9] and to Abraham's "[expectation] of a future city which had foundations, whose builder and maker is God." It is said that "[h]e obtained no such city in the earthly Canaan; and therefore we must necessarily suppose, that his views were directed at the mansions of perpetuity beyond the confines of the present world."[10] With regards to Moses, he is not mentioned in a context similar to that of the Book of Moses. There is reference to Moses being animated by the conviction of a future world and life, [11] reference to Moses "being gathered to his people" as an evidence for the doctrine of afterlife in the Old Testament,[12] a reference to "holy intelligences" singing praises to God with the song of Moses--a reference to Revelations 15:3,[13] another reference to the same verse on page 225, a reference to Moses as a possible messenger to John regarding the "New Jerusalem" mentioned in revelations,[14] and a reference to Moses and others hypothetically forming "something approaching to a paradise on earth."[15] Many of the ideas promoted by Thomas Dick were common Protestant beliefs and were therefore available without having to read Dick’s work. Joseph Smith never made any public or written statements indicating that he was aware of or that he had ever read Dick’s book. The only evidence that even suggests the possibility is circumstantial and is based upon the appearance of several passages from A Philosophy of a Future State in the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. More importantly, Joseph Smith rejected or contradicted many of the ideas put forth by Dick in A Philosophy of a Future State. It is therefore unlikely, contrary to Brodie’s speculation, that Joseph had been “recently reading” Dick’s work and that it made a “lasting impression” upon the Prophet.[16][17]


Thomas Dick’s The Philosophy of a Future State


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Source(s) of the criticism
Critical sources

Notes

  1. ↑ Oliver Cowdery (editor), "ON THE ABSURDITY OF SUPPOSING THAT THE THINKING PRINCIPLE IN MAN WILL EVER BE ANNIHILATED," (December 1836) Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate 3:423-425. (An extract from "Thomas Dick's Philosophy of a Future State.") It should be noted that the November 1836 date given for this article given by Brodie in No Man Knows My History on page 171 is incorrect.
  2. ↑ Kenneth W. Godfrey, "A Note on the Nauvoo Library and Literary Institute," BYU Studies 14, no. 3 (1974).
  3. ↑ Robert Paul, "Joseph Smith and the Manchester (New York) Library," BYU Studies 22, no. 3 (1982): 333–356.
  4. ↑ John L. Brooke, The Refiner's Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644-1844 (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 207.
  5. ↑ Thomas Dick, Philosophy of a Future State (London: William Collins, 1830), 121.
  6. ↑ Ibid.
  7. ↑ Ibid.
  8. ↑ Ibid.
  9. ↑ Ibid., 123.
  10. ↑ Ibid., 119.
  11. ↑ Ibid.
  12. ↑ Ibid., 121.
  13. ↑ Ibid., 125.
  14. ↑ Ibid., 276.
  15. ↑ Ibid., 279.
  16. ↑ Hugh Nibley, No, Ma'am, That's Not History: A Brief Review of Mrs. Brodie's Reluctant Vindication of a Prophet She Seeks to Expose (Bookcraft: 1946). off-site
  17. ↑ Edward T. Jones, "The Theology of Thomas Dick and its Possible Relationship to that of Joseph Smith," BYU Master's Thesis, 1969, 94–96.
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