Criticism of Mormonism/Books/No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith/Chapter 2

A FAIR Analysis of: No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith A work by author: Fawn Brodie

Claims made in "Claims made in "Chapter 3: Red Sons of Israel"

Claim

• Joseph was notorious for telling tall tales, necromantic arts and treasure digging.

Author's source(s)

• "Mormonism", New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, New York, 1883, Vol. II, p. 1576.
• Obadiah Dogberry (pseudonym for Abner Cole), Palmyra Reflector, Jan. 6 - March 19, 1831.
• Abner Cole, "The Book of Pukei," Palmyra Reflector June - July 1830.

Response

• Joseph Smith and money digging
• The magician Walters as a mentor to Joseph Smith?
• Revised or Unaltered?: Joseph Smith's Foundational Stories, Matthew Brown, 2006 FAIR Conference (Video)

Claim

• Joseph was charged with being "a disorderly person and an impostor" at his 1826 trial.

Author's source(s)

• "Mormonism", New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, New York, 1883, Vol. II, p. 1576.

Response

• Joseph Smith's 1826 glasslooking trial

Claim

• The Hurlbut affidavits corroborated and supplemented the court record.

Author's source(s)

• Author's opinion
• Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, OH, 1834). (Affidavits examined)

Response

• The Hurlbut affidavits

Claim

• Fifty-one of Joseph's neighbors signed affidavits accusing him of being "destitute of moral character" and "addicted to vicious habits."

Author's source(s)

• Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, OH, 1834). (Affidavits examined)

Response

• The Hurlbut affidavits

Claim

• Joseph dreamed of an "illustrious and affluent" future.

Author's source(s)

• Author's speculation.

Response

•  Mind reading: author has no way of knowing this.
• Psychobiographical analysis of Joseph Smith

Claim

• Joseph "detested the plow" and despaired about the family's debts.

Author's source(s)

• Author's speculation.

Response

•  Mind reading: author has no way of knowing this.
• Psychobiographical analysis of Joseph Smith
• Lazy Joseph?

Claim

• A "vagabond fortune-teller" named Walters became popular in the area. When Walters left the area, "his mantle fell upon" Joseph Smith.

Author's source(s)

• Author's conjecture.

Response

• The magician Walters as a mentor to Joseph Smith?
• Revised or Unaltered?: Joseph Smith's Foundational Stories, Matthew Brown, 2006 FAIR Conference (Video)

Claim

• William Stafford told a story about Joseph claimed that he could find money using a bleeding black sheep.

Author's source(s)

• Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, OH, 1834). (Affidavits examined)

Response

• The Hurlbut affidavits—William Stafford

Claim

• Joseph could see "ghosts, infernal spirits" and "mountains of gold" in his seer stone.

Author's source(s)

• Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, OH, 1834). (Affidavits examined)

Response

• The Hurlbut affidavits

Claim

• Palmyra newspapers took no notice of Joseph's vision at the time it was supposed to have occurred.

Author's source(s)

• Obediah Dogberry (Abner Cole), Palmyra Reflector, Feb. 1, 1831.

Response

• No reference to First Vision in 1830s publications?

Claim

• The story of Joseph first vision evolved greatly between his 1832 and 1838 accounts.

Author's source(s)

• Times and Seasons, March 15, 1842
• Dean D. Jessee's (Dean C. Jessee) "Early Accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision," Brigham Young University Studies, Vol. IX, 1969, pp. 275-294.

Response

• First Vision accounts

Claim

• Oliver Cowdery described Joseph's first vision as having occurred in 1823

Author's source(s)

• Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate, Letter IV, Feb. 1835, p. 78.

Response

• Oliver Cowdery not aware of First Vision in 1834-35

Claim

• Some of Joseph's close relatives confused the first vision with Moroni's visit.

Author's source(s)

• Lucy Smith to Solomon Mack, January 6, 1831 in Ben E. Rich: Scrapbook of Mormon Literature, Vol. I, p. 543.

Response

• Prophet's mother said First Vision was of an "angel"

Claim

• Joseph's own family did not know of his first vision at the time that it happened.

Author's source(s)

• Source not provided.

Response

• Prophet's mother said First Vision was of an "angel"

Claim

• Joseph's vision may have been an invention to cancel out stories of his fortune telling and money digging

Author's source(s)

• Author's speculation.

Response

•  Mind reading: author has no way of knowing this.
• Psychobiographical analysis of Joseph Smith

Claim

• Joseph liked preaching because it gave him an audience, and this was as "essential to Joseph as food."

Author's source(s)

• Author's conjecture.

Response

•  Mind reading: author has no way of knowing this.
•  Prejudicial or loaded language
• Psychobiographical analysis of Joseph Smith

Claim

• Joseph stared into his crystal and saw gold in every odd-shaped hill

Author's source(s)

• Author's speculation.

Response

•  The author's claim is false: the author has no evidence of this whatever.
• Joseph Smith and money digging

Claim

• In March 1826 Joseph got into serious trouble because of his "magic arts"

Author's source(s)

• "Mormonism", New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, New York, 1883, Vol. II, p. 1576.

Response

• Joseph Smith's 1826 glasslooking trial

Claim

• The court pronounced Joseph "guilty" at the 1826 trial

Author's source(s)

• "Mormonism", New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, New York, 1883, Vol. II, p. 1576.

Response

•  History unclear or in error: the 1826 hearing was not a trial; "guilty" was not a possible verdict.
• Joseph Smith's 1826 glasslooking trial

Claim

• Joseph's mentor was "the conjurer Walters."

Author's source(s)

• Author's conjecture.

Response

• The magician Walters as a mentor to Joseph Smith?
• Revised or Unaltered?: Joseph Smith's Foundational Stories, Matthew Brown, 2006 FAIR Conference (Video)