FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Criticism of Mormonism/Books/No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith/Chapter 6
| Claims made in "Chapter 5: Witnesses for God" | A FAIR Analysis of: Criticism of Mormonism/Books A work by author: Fawn Brodie
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Claims made in "Chapter 7: The Perfect Society and the Promised Land" |
Claims made in "Chapter 6: The Prophet of Palmyra"
83
Claim
- The Book of Mormon was conceived as a money-making history of the Indians.
Author's source(s)
- Author's opinion.
Response
84
Claim
- A story circulated that Joseph Smith boasted he would walk upon the water, and secretly built a plank bridge underneath the surface of the pond.
Author's source(s)
- The Evening and Morning Star, April 1834, pp. 300-1.
- Messenger and Advocate, December 1835, pp. 230-1.
Response
- Absurd claim: the author is now relying on unsubstantiated gossip.
- Misrepresentation of source: the articles cited say nothing about Joseph; they are being cited to demonstrate the absurd slanders and ridicule that "Mormon elders" are subject to by their religious critics.
84-85
Claim
- Joseph began to sincerely believe what he was teaching.
Author's source(s)
- Author's opinion.
Response
86
Claim
- Joseph Smith performed "miracles," but was unaware that they were common occurrences.
Author's source(s)
- No source provided.
Response
89
Claim
- Joseph detested tedious and solitary field labor.
Author's source(s)
- Author's opinion.
Response
92
Claim
- Oliver Cowdery demanded that Joseph amend some of his own revelations.
Response
92
Claim
- Oliver Cowdery secretly encouraged Hiram Page to receive revelations through his seer stone.
Author's source(s)
- No source provided.
Response
- Mind reading: author has no way of knowing this.
- Absurd claim: If Oliver "secretly" encouraged this, then how does the author know this?
- Joseph Smith/Seer stones/Hiram Page's revelations
96
Claim
- Joseph experimented with the idea of "revealing" lost books of the Bible.
Response