View of the Hebrews theory of Book of Mormon authorship

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Criticism

Critics claim that a 19th cenutry work by Ethan Smith, View of the Hebrews, provided source material for Joseph Smith's construction of the Book of Mormon.

Source(s) of the Criticism

• John Ankerberg and John Weldon, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Mormonism (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1992), 279–80, 301–2.
• Peter Bartley, Mormonism: The Prophet, the Book, and the Cult (Dublin: Veritas, 1989), 28–9.
• Charles A. Crane & Steven A. Crane, Ashamed of Joseph : Mormon Foundations Crumble (Joplin, Mo. : College Press Pub. Co., 1993), 123–5.
• Fawn Brodie, No Man Knows My History, (New York, A. A. Knopf, 1945), 47—.
• Robert N. Hullinger, "The Lost Tribes of Israel and the Book of Mormon," Lutheran Quarterly 22:3 (August 1970): 319–29.
• Larry W. Jonas, Mormon Claims Examined (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1961).
• Wesley M. Jones, A Critical Study of Book of Mormon Sources (Detroit: Harlo Press, 1964).
• Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Mormonism—Shadow or Reality (Salt Lake City: Modern Microfilm, 1964).
• Jerald and Sandra Tanner, The Changing World of Mormonism (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), 126–8.
• I. Wiley Woodbridge, The Founder of Mormonism (New York, 1902), 124—126.

Response

The first known reference to View of the Hebrews; or the Tribes of Israel in America with regards to the Book of Mormon actually comes from Joseph Smith himself:

If such may have been the fact, that a part of the Ten Tribes came over to America, in the way we have supposed, leaving the cold regions of Assareth behind them in quest of a milder climate, it would be natural to look for tokens of the presence of Jews of some sort, along countries adjacent to the Atlantic. In order to this, we shall here make an extract from an able work: written exclusively on the subject of the Ten Tribes having come from Asia by the way of Bherings Strait, by the Rev. Ethan Smith, Pultney, Vt., who relates as follows: "Joseph Merrick, Esq., a highly respectable character in the church at Pittsfield, gave the following account: That in 1815, he was leveling some ground under and near an old wood shed, standing on a place of his, situated on (Indian Hill)... [Joseph then discusses the supposed phylacteries found among Amerindians, citing View of the Hebrews p. 220, 223.]
— Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons, 3:15 (1 June 1842): 813-815.

Thus, advocates of the Ethan Smith theory must also explain why Joseph, the ostensible forger, had the chutzpah to point out the source of his forgery. And, they must explain why, if Joseph found this evidence so compelling, he did not exploit it for use in the Book of Mormon text itself, since the Book of Mormon contains no explicit quotation from Deuteronomy or mention of phylacteries.

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Conclusion

A summary of the argument against the criticism.

Further reading

FAIR web site

• FAIR Topical Guide: View of the Hebrews

External links

• John W. Welch, "B. H. Roberts: Seeker After Truth" Ensign 16 (Mar. 1986):56–62.

Printed material

• Spencer J. Palmer and William L. Knecht, "View of the Hebrews: Substitute for Inspiration?" BYU Studies 5 (1964): 105–13
• View of the Hebrews: 1825 2nd Edition Complete Text by Ethan Smith, edited by Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1996).
• John W. Welch, "An Unparallel" (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1985).