Criticism of Mormonism/Books/No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith/Index

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Index to claims made in No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith

This is an index of claims made in this work with links to corresponding responses within the FAIRwiki.

Chapter 2: Treasure in the Earth

Page Claim Response
16 Joseph's reputation was that of a "likeable ne'er-do-well"
16 Joseph was notorious for telling tall tales, necromantic arts and treasure digging Joseph Smith and money digging
16 Joseph was charged with being "a disorderly person and an impostor" at his 1826 trial
17 The Hurlbut affidavits corroborated and supplemented the court record
18 Fifty-one of Joseph's neighbors signed affidavits accusing him of being "destitute of moral character" and "addicted to vicious habits"
18 Joseph dreamed of an "illustrious and affluent" future
18 Joseph "detested the plow" and despaired about the family's debts
19 A "vagabond fortune-teller" named Walters became popular in the area
19 When Walters left the area, "his mantle fell upon" Joseph Smith
20 William Stafford told a story about Joseph could find money using a bleeding black sheep
20 Joseph could see "ghosts, infernal spirits" and "mountains of gold" in his seer stone
23 Palmyra newspapers took no notice of Joseph's vision at the time it was supposed to have occurred
24 The story of Joseph first vision evolved greatly between his 1832 and 1838 accounts
24 Oliver Cowdery described Joseph's first vision as having occurred in 1823 Oliver Cowdery not aware of First Vision in 1834-35
24 Some of Joseph's close relatives confused the first vision with Moroni's visit
25 Joseph's own family did not know of his first vision at the time that it happened
25 Joseph's vision may have been an invention to cancel out stories of his fortune telling and money digging
26 Joseph liked preaching because it gave him an audience, and this was as "essential to Joseph as food."
27 Joseph stared into his crystal and saw gold in every odd-shaped hill Joseph Smith and money digging
30 In March 1826 Joseph got into serious trouble because of his "magic arts" Joseph Smith's 1826 glasslooking trial
30 The court pronounced Joseph "guilty" at the 1826 trial Joseph Smith's 1826 glasslooking trial
31 Joseph's mentor was "the conjurer Walters."

Chapter 3: Red Sons of Israel

Page Claim Response
35 Joseph's mother reported that he was "spinning theories" about the moundbuilders before he was twenty years old
35 Between 1820 and 1827 Joseph decided to write a history of the moundbuilders Moundbuilders [needs work]
37 Peter Ingersoll claimed that Joseph told him that no one could see the golden Bible and live
39 The "magic" Urim and Thumminn was found with the plates Joseph Smith and seer stones
40 The four year period during which Joseph waited to get the plates corresponded with his most intensive money-digging activities Joseph Smith and money digging
40 Lucy Smith described the Urim and Thummin as "two smooth three-cornered diamonds set in glass and the glasses set in silver bows." Joseph Smith and seer stones
40 Martin Harris described the Urim and Thummin as "white, like polished marble, with a few grey streaks." Joseph Smith and seer stones
40 David Whitmer described the Urim and Thummin as "two small stones of a chocolate color, nearly egg shape, and perfectly smooth, but not transparent." Joseph Smith and seer stones
41 Joseph warned his family that it meant instant death to look at the plates
43 Joseph was able to translate the plates without unwrapping them by using his stone Book of Mormon translation method
43 Emma said that Joseph used the Urim and Thummin for the first 116 pages and then the seer stone for the remainder of the translation Joseph Smith and seer stones
43 God cursed the Lamanites and all their descendents with a "red skin"
43 A neighbor, Lemuel Durfee. Signed an affidavit in 1833 charging Joseph with vicious habits and an immoral character
44 After each battle in the Book of Mormon, the dead were "heaped upon the face of the earth, and they were covered with a shallow covering" - a reference to the Indian mounds Moundbuilders [needs work]
46 Joseph's familiarity with the idea that the Indians descended from the Hebrews seems to have come primarily from Ethan Smith's View of the Hebrews Book of Mormon and View of the Hebrews
49 Joseph Smith took the whole Western Hemisphere as the setting for the Book of Mormon Book of Mormon geography:New World:HGT

Further reading

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{{To learn more box:responses to: 8: The Mormon Proposition}} To learn more box:responses to: 8: The Mormon Proposition edit
{{To learn more box:''Under the Banner of Heaven''}} To learn more about responses to: Under the Banner of Heaven edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Robert Price}} To learn more about responses to: Robert Price edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ankerberg and Weldon}} To learn more about responses to: Ankerberg and Weldon edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ashamed of Joseph}} To learn more about responses to: Ashamed of Joseph edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Beckwith and Moser}} To learn more about responses to: Beckwith and Moser edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Beckwith and Parrish}} To learn more about responses to: Beckwith and Parrish edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Benjamin Park}} To learn more about responses to: Benjamin Park edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Bible versus Joseph Smith}} To learn more about responses to: Bible versus Joseph Smith edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Bible versus Book of Mormon}} To learn more about responses to: Bible versus Book of Mormon edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: ''Big Love''}} To learn more about responses to: Big Love edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Brett Metcalfe}} To learn more about responses to: Brett Metcalfe edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Bill Maher}} To learn more about responses to: Bill Maher edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Bruce H. Porter}} To learn more about responses to: Bruce H. Porter edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Carol Wang Shutter}} To learn more about responses to: Carol Wang Shutter edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: CES Letter}} To learn more about responses to: CES Letter edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Charles Larson}} To learn more about responses to: Charles Larson edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Christopher Nemelka}} To learn more about responses to: Christopher Nemelka edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Colby Townshed}} To learn more about responses to: Colby Townshed edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Contender Ministries}} To learn more about responses to: Contender Ministries edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Crane and Crane}} To learn more about responses to: Crane and Crane edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: D. Michael Quinn}} To learn more about responses to: D. Michael Quinn edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Dan Vogel}} To learn more about responses to: Dan Vogel edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: David John Buerger}} To learn more about responses to: David John Buerger edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: David Persuitte}} To learn more about responses to: David Persuitte edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Denver Snuffer}} To learn more about responses to: Denver Snuffer edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Dick Bauer}} To learn more about responses to: Dick Bauer edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Duwayne R Anderson}} To learn more about responses to: Duwayne R Anderson edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Earl Wunderli}} To learn more about responses to: Earl Wunderli edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ed Decker}} To learn more about responses to: Ed Decker edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Erikson and Giesler}} To learn more about responses to: Erikson and Giesler edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ernest Taves}} To learn more about responses to: Ernest Taves edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Fawn Brodie}} To learn more about responses to: Fawn Brodie edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: George D Smith}} To learn more about responses to: George D Smith edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Grant Palmer}} To learn more about responses to: Grant Palmer edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Hank Hanegraaff}} To learn more about responses to: Hank Hanegraaff edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Hurlbut-Howe}} To learn more about responses to: Hurlbut-Howe edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: James Brooke}} To learn more about responses to: James Brooke edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: James Spencer}} To learn more about responses to: James Spencer edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: James White}} To learn more about responses to: James White edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Jerald and Sandra Tanner}} To learn more about responses to: Jerald and Sandra Tanner edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Jesus Christ-Joseph Smith or Search for the Truth DVD}} To learn more about responses to: Jesus Christ-Joseph Smith or Search for the Truth DVD edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: John Dehlin}} To learn more about responses to: John Dehlin edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Jonathan Neville}} To learn more about responses to: Jonathan Neville edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Kurt Van Gorden}} To learn more about responses to: Kurt Van Gorden edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Laura King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery}} To learn more about responses to: Laura King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Loftes Tryk aka Lofte Payne}} To learn more about responses to: Loftes Tryk aka Lofte Payne edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Luke WIlson}} To learn more about responses to: Luke WIlson edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Marquardt and Walters}} To learn more about responses to: Marquardt and Walters edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Martha Beck}} To learn more about responses to: Martha Beck edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Mcgregor Ministries}} To learn more about responses to: Mcgregor Ministries edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: McKeever and Johnson}} To learn more about responses to: McKeever and Johnson edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: New Approaches}} To learn more about responses to: New Approaches to the Book of Mormon edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Richard Abanes}} To learn more about responses to: Richard Abanes edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Richard Van Wagoner}} To learn more about responses to: Richard Van Wagoner edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Richard and Joan Ostling}} To learn more about responses to: Richard and Joan Ostling edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Rick Grunger}} To learn more about responses to: Rick Grunger edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Robert Ritner}} To learn more about responses to: Robert Ritner edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Rod Meldrum}} To learn more about responses to: Rod Meldrum edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Roger I Anderson}} To learn more about responses to: Roger I Anderson edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ronald V. Huggins}} To learn more about responses to: Ronald V. Huggins edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Sally Denton}} To learn more about responses to: Sally Denton edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Simon Southerton}} To learn more about responses to: Simon Southerton edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Thomas Murphy}} To learn more about responses to: Thomas Murphy edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Todd Compton}} To learn more about responses to: Todd Compton edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Vernal Holley}} To learn more about responses to: Vernal Holley edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Walter Martin}} To learn more about responses to: Walter Martin edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Wesley Walters}} To learn more about responses to: Wesley Walters edit
{{To learn more box:responses to: Will Bagley}} To learn more about responses to: Will Bagley edit