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Moroni's visit/Joseph reported "a spirit" visiting in him in 1827
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Criticism
Critics are anxious to paint Joseph's early experiences as linked to "magick" or treasure seeking. They thus argue that Joseph Smith described his first angelic visitor as "a dream" in which "a spirit" visited him three times in one night.
Source(s) of the Criticism
- Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism (Harvest House Publishers: 2005). 35, 342n79-80. ( Index of claims )
- Dan Vogel, Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2004), 45
Critics cite such works as the following:
- From the Palmyra Freeman: Golden Bible, Niagra Courier, Aug. 27, 1829, vol. 2, no. 18.
- "The Gold Bible," Rochester Advertiser and Telegraph, Aug. 31, 1829.
- "Golden Bible," Rochester (NY) Gem 1 (5 September 1829): 70.
Response
Hostile sources
Critics generally gloss over the fact that these newspapers were unremittingly hostile to Joseph and his claims. They were not disinterested, neutral reporters of "both sides of the story." They tended to polemic and sensationalism. Thus, the Palmyra Freeman would write a few weeks earlier that the Book of Mormon was "the greatest piece of superstition that has ever come within our knowledge," and "It is certainly a "new thing" in the history of superstition, bigotry, inconsistency, and foolishness. -- It should, and it doubtless will, be treated with the neglect it merits."[1] It was, continued the Freeman (reprinted in the Rochester Advertiser and Telegraph) "almost invariably treated as it should have been—with contempt".[2]
Other papers followed in this vein, describing the Book of Mormon as "an evidence of fraud, blasphemy and credulity," cooked up by Joseph Smith, "who, by some hocus pocus, acquired such an influence over a wealthy farmer of Wayne county, that the latter mortgaged his farm for $3000, which he paid for printing and binding 5000 copies of the blasphemous work."[3]
"Spirit"?
Critics wish to invoke the term "spirit" to associate the Book of Mormon predominantly with treasure magic. However, a consideration of the complete statements makes it clear that the evidence does not support this interpretation—the religious elements predominate
For example, a second-hand account from Martin Harris reads, in part:
- In the autumn of 1827...Joseph Smith...said that he had been visited by the spirit of the Almighty in a dream...[regarding a hill] containing an ancient record of divine origin....He states that after a third visit from the same spirit in a dream, he proceeded to the spot, removed earth, and there found the bible, together with a large pair of spectacles....[4]
The author obviously does not believe Joseph's story, and so characterizes his experience as "a dream," rather than a vision. But, we note that even at this very early date (1827, reported in 1829), the visit is divine: "the spirit of the Almighty," and Joseph is directed to a "bible" that is "of divine origin."
Other very early accounts[5]
The Palmyra (NY) Wayne Sentinel (26 June 1829):
- ...much speculation has existed, concerning a pretended discovery, through superhuman means, of an ancient record, of a religious and a divine nature and origin, written in ancient characters, impossible to be interpreted by any to whom the special gift has not been imparted by inspiration. It is generally known and spoken of as the "Golden Bible."(emphasis added)
Here again, the religious' character of the Book of Mormon is emphasized (even labeled a Bible), with the need for divine inspiration.
Conclusion
This pattern recurs repeatedly—the earliest letters and newspapers accounts describe Joseph's claims in religious terms. Gradually, over time, hostile versions of Joseph's claims appear, which introduce "magic" or treasure-seeking elements to the tale.[6] Modern critics have simply followed where Joseph's early critics led them—while ignoring the earliest documents and witness of both friendly and hostile sources.
Endnotes
- [note] [J. A. Hadley], Palmyra Freeman, August 11, 1829 off-site; cited in part on p. 6 of John S. Welch, "Straight (Not Strait) and Narrow," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 16/1 (2007). [18–25] link
- [note] Rochester Daily Advertiser and Telegraph, 31 August 1829, quoting the Palmyra Freeman (Kirkham, New Witness, 2:31).
- [note] Rochester Daily Advertiser and Telegraph, April 2, 1830
- [note] "Golden Bible," Rochester (NY) Gem 1 (5 September 1829): 70; cited in Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996–2003), 5 vols, 2:272.
- [note] From Appendix A and B of Larry E. Morris, "'I Should Have an Eye Single to the Glory of God’: Joseph Smith’s Account of the Angel and the Plates (Review of: "From Captain Kidd’s Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism")," FARMS Review 17/1 (2005): 11–82. off-site
- [note] For an analysis of all these early accounts in tabular form, see Larry E. Morris, "'I Should Have an Eye Single to the Glory of God’: Joseph Smith’s Account of the Angel and the Plates (Review of: "From Captain Kidd’s Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism")," FARMS Review 17/1 (2005): 11–82. off-site . See also Mark Ashurst-McGee, "Moroni as Angel and as Treasure Guardian," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 34–100. [{{{url}}} off-site] wiki