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Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Nauvoo Polygamy/Preface: Difference between revisions

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====flyleaf====
====flyleaf====
|| "Bishop Edwin Woolley…convinced [his future plural wife] to marry him.  She did so without first divorcing her legal husband."
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*The book claims that Bishop Edwin Woolley married a plural wife without having her first divorce her legal husband.
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*[[Polygamy/Remarrying without civil divorce]]
*[[Polygamy/Remarrying without civil divorce]]
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====ix====
||Joseph was inspired by Napoleon's Egyptian discoveries
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*Was Joseph inspired by Napoleon's Egyptian discoveries?
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*[[../../Napoleon's Egyptian discoveries]]
*[[../../Napoleon's Egyptian discoveries]]
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||Joseph proposed a tryst with Sarah Ann Whitney
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*Did Joseph propose a "tryst" with his plural wife Sarah Ann Whitney?
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*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/"Love letters"]]
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/"Love letters"]]
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||Joseph age 36, versus Sarah 17
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*The point is made that Joseph was age 36, versus Sarah Ann Whitney at age 17.
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*Smith commonly exploits the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presentism_(literary_and_historical_analysis) presentist fallacy] in the matter of Joseph's wives' ages.
*Smith commonly exploits the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presentism_(literary_and_historical_analysis) presentist fallacy] in the matter of Joseph's wives' ages.
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====ix====
====ix====
||Joseph's letter to Sarah Whitney was analogous to Napoleon's passionate love letter to Josephine.||
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*The book presents Joseph's letter to Sarah Whitney as analogous to Napoleon's passionate love letter to Josephine.
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*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/"Love letters"]]
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy/"Love letters"]]
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
*{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS}}
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====x====
====x====
||Joseph had a "predilection" to "take an interest in more than one woman."||
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*Did Joseph have a "predilection" to "take an interest in more than one woman?"
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*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy]]
*[[Joseph Smith and polygamy]]
*[[../../Loaded and prejudicial language]]
*[[../../Loaded and prejudicial language]]
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====x====
====x====
||Napoleon's Egyptian findings "lit a fire in Smith that inspired even the language of his religious prose."||
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*The author posits that Napoleon's Egyptian findings "lit a fire in Smith that inspired even the language of his religious prose."
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* G.D. Smith provides no evidence for this claim, aside from the Book of Mormon's use of the term "Reformed Egyptian."
* G.D. Smith provides no evidence for this claim, aside from the Book of Mormon's use of the term "Reformed Egyptian."
* [[../../Napoleon's Egyptian discoveries]]
* [[../../Napoleon's Egyptian discoveries]]
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||Not the lost ten tribes||NOTE||
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====xi====
====xi====
||"Little did Napoleon dream that by unearthing the Egyptian past, he would provide the mystery language of a new religion."
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*{{AuthorQuote|"Little did Napoleon dream that by unearthing the Egyptian past, he would provide the mystery language of a new religion."}}
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*[[../../Napoleon's Egyptian discoveries]]
*[[../../Napoleon's Egyptian discoveries]]
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====xii====
====xii====
||"Beyond his quest for female companionship...."
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*{{AuthorQuote|"Beyond [Joseph's] quest for female companionship...."}}
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*[[../../Mind reading]]
*[[../../Mind reading]]
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====xii====
====xii====
||"...Smith utilized plural marriage to create a byzantine structure of relationships intended for successive worlds."
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*{{AuthorQuote|"...Smith utilized plural marriage to create a byzantine structure of relationships intended for successive worlds."}}
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* There is no evidence that Joseph intended the relationship structure to be "byzantine."  He ''did'' however, want all believers connected into one family.
* There is no evidence that Joseph intended the relationship structure to be "byzantine."  He ''did'' however, want all believers connected into one family.
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====xii====
====xii====
||Joseph "was arrested for destroying a local press"
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*After the ''Nauvoo Expositor'' was destroyed, was Joseph arrested for "destroying a local press?"
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* The destruction of the press was a decision ordered by Joseph as mayor with the approval of the Nauvoo city council.  Joseph was charged with riot because of the press' destruction, released on bail, and offered to pay a fine if necessary.  He was rearrested on a capital charge of treason.
* The destruction of the press was a decision ordered by Joseph as mayor with the approval of the Nauvoo city council.  Joseph was charged with riot because of the press' destruction, released on bail, and offered to pay a fine if necessary.  He was rearrested on a capital charge of treason.
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====xii====
====xii====
||"Whether Joseph's wife Emma, consented to any of these marriages remains a mystery.  She was aware of at least five of her husbands wives whom she sent away..."
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*The book claims that it is not known whether or not Joseph's wife Emma ''consented'' to plural marriages, and that this "remains a mystery," although she is known to have "sent away" at least five of Joseph's plural wives.
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* This is not a mystery.  We know Emma consented to at least four marriages.
* This is not a mystery.  We know Emma consented to at least four marriages.
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====xiii====
====xiii====
||"Smith's wives remain unacknowledged in the official ''History of the Church''..."
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*None of Joseph's plural wives are mentioned in ''History of the Church''.
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*[[Censorship and revision of LDS history]]
*[[Censorship and revision of LDS history]]
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====xiii====
====xiii====
||"...today, in official Mormon circles, Smith's granting of favors to chosen followers, allowing them to take extra women into the home, is rarely mentioned."
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*{{AuthorQuote|"...today, in official Mormon circles, Smith's granting of favors to chosen followers, allowing them to take extra women into the home, is rarely mentioned."}}
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*[[Censorship and revision of LDS history]]
*[[Censorship and revision of LDS history]]
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====xiii-xiv====
====xiii-xiv====
||"extant records constitute a secret chronicle, an addendum...to the carefully edited official history from which any mention of the topic has been expurgated for the early period."
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*Has all mention of plural marriage "been expurgated" from Church historical records?
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*[[Censorship and revision of LDS history]]
*[[Censorship and revision of LDS history]]
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====xiv====
====xiv====
||"After 1890, when polygamy went underground again, it became difficult to access records."
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*Did it become "difficult to access" Church records regarding polygamy after the 1890 Manifesto was issued?
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*[[Censorship and revision of LDS history]]
*[[Censorship and revision of LDS history]]
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====xiv====
====xiv====
||"The cyclical nature of this suppression of information, first in Illinois and later in Utah, left a brief window in Mormon history from which most of the documentation has been recovered."
||
*{{AuthorQuote|"The cyclical nature of this suppression of information, first in Illinois and later in Utah, left a brief window in Mormon history from which most of the documentation has been recovered."}}
||
||
*[[Censorship and revision of LDS history]]
*[[Censorship and revision of LDS history]]

Revision as of 01:58, 19 January 2009


A FAIR Analysis of:
Criticism of Mormonism/Books
A work by author: George D. Smith
 Chapter 1

Claims made in Preface

Page Claim Response Author's sources

flyleaf
  • The book claims that Bishop Edwin Woolley married a plural wife without having her first divorce her legal husband.
  • No source provided

ix
  • Was Joseph inspired by Napoleon's Egyptian discoveries?
  • No source provided.

Egyptian influence? (edit)

ix
  • Did Joseph propose a "tryst" with his plural wife Sarah Ann Whitney?
  • Joseph Smith to "Brother and Sister, [Newel K.] Whitney, and &c. [Sarah Ann,] Nauvoo, Illinois, August 18, 1842, Joseph Smith Collections, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), Salt Lake City, Utah
  • Full text of the letter may be viewed at Letter from Joseph Smith to the Whitneys (18 August 1842) (Wikisource)

Whitney "love letter" (edit)

ix
  • The point is made that Joseph was age 36, versus Sarah Ann Whitney at age 17.
  • No source provided

Ages of wives (edit)

  • See also ch. Preface: ix
  • See also ch. 1: 1, 22, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 44
  • See also ch. 2: 53
  • See also ch. 2a: 142-143
  • See also ch. 3: 198
  • See also ch. 6: 408

ix
  • The book presents Joseph's letter to Sarah Whitney as analogous to Napoleon's passionate love letter to Josephine.
  • Author's opinion.

Whitney "love letter" (edit)

Womanizing & romance (edit)

x
  • Did Joseph have a "predilection" to "take an interest in more than one woman?"
  • Author's opinion.

Womanizing & romance (edit)

x
  • The author posits that Napoleon's Egyptian findings "lit a fire in Smith that inspired even the language of his religious prose."
  • No source provided.

Egyptian influence? (edit)

xi
  •  Author's quote: "Little did Napoleon dream that by unearthing the Egyptian past, he would provide the mystery language of a new religion."
  • Author's opinion.

Egyptian influence? (edit)

xii
  •  Author's quote: "Beyond [Joseph's] quest for female companionship...."
  • Author's opinion.

Womanizing & romance (edit)

xii
  •  Author's quote: "...Smith utilized plural marriage to create a byzantine structure of relationships intended for successive worlds."
  • No source provided.

xii
  • After the Nauvoo Expositor was destroyed, was Joseph arrested for "destroying a local press?"
  • The destruction of the press was a decision ordered by Joseph as mayor with the approval of the Nauvoo city council. Joseph was charged with riot because of the press' destruction, released on bail, and offered to pay a fine if necessary. He was rearrested on a capital charge of treason.
  • Nauvoo Expositor
  • No source provided.
  •  History unclear or in error

Nauvoo Expositor (edit)

  • See also ch. Preface: xii
  • See also ch. 4: 285
  • See also ch. 6: 408
  • See also ch. 7: 435

xii
  • The book claims that it is not known whether or not Joseph's wife Emma consented to plural marriages, and that this "remains a mystery," although she is known to have "sent away" at least five of Joseph's plural wives.
  • No source provided.
  •  History unclear or in error

xiii
  • None of Joseph's plural wives are mentioned in History of the Church.
  • No source provided.

Necessary for salvation? (edit)

  • See also ch. Preface: xiv
  • See also ch. 1: 6
  • See also ch. 2: 55
  • See also ch. 6: 356

xiii
  •  Author's quote: "...today, in official Mormon circles, Smith's granting of favors to chosen followers, allowing them to take extra women into the home, is rarely mentioned."
  • No source provided.

Censorship of Church History (edit)

xiii-xiv
  • Has all mention of plural marriage "been expurgated" from Church historical records?
  • No source provided.

Censorship of Church History (edit)

xiv
  • Did it become "difficult to access" Church records regarding polygamy after the 1890 Manifesto was issued?
  • No source provided.

Censorship of Church History (edit)

xiv
  •  Author's quote: "The cyclical nature of this suppression of information, first in Illinois and later in Utah, left a brief window in Mormon history from which most of the documentation has been recovered."
  • No source provided.

Censorship of Church History (edit)

xiv

 "because the history of polygamy in Nauvoo was never officially rewritten, even during the period of openness, Joseph Smith's initiation of the practice has remained in an historical penumbra to this day."
  • No source provided.

Censorship of Church History (edit)

xiv

 Joseph "courted and eloped with his first wife."
  • No source provided.

Emma and Joseph Eloped (edit)

  • See also ch. Preface: xiv
  • See also ch. 1: 12

xiv

 "The topic [of polygamy] was already on Joseph's mind, even in the 1820s."
  • No source provided.

Early preoccupation with polygamy (edit)

xv

 "...these same polygamists continued marrying to the point that they had acquired an average of nearly six wives per family. This model became the blueprint for forty years of Utah polygamy."
  •  Internal contradiction: p. 289: "the typical Utah polygamist whose roots in the principle extended back to Nauvoo, had between three and four wives."
    Prevalence of polygamy
  • No source provided.
  •  History unclear or in error

Statistical problems (edit)

  • See also ch. Preface: xv
  • See also ch. 4: 253 and 289
  • See also ch. 8: 535-536

xv

 "suppressed history"
  • No source provided.

Censorship of Church History (edit)

xv

 Nauvoo "a more or less insignificant river town"
  •  Internal contradiction: p. 2: Nauvoo was "a bustling Mississippi River town with several thousand inhabitants." And, ultimately only Chicago was a larger city in all of Illinois.[1]
  • No source provided.
  •  History unclear or in error

xv

 "sources which somehow survived both neglect and contempt so that we are able to know both the facts of the matter and the behind-the-scenes human emotions"
  • No source provided.

Censorship of Church History (edit)

xvi

 Mormon "grandparents considered [polygamy] requisite for heaven."
  • No source provided.

Necessary for salvation? (edit)

  • See also ch. Preface: xiv
  • See also ch. 1: 6
  • See also ch. 2: 55
  • See also ch. 6: 356

Endnotes

  1. [note]  Leonard J. Arrington and Davis Bitton, The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-Day Saints, 2nd ed. (New York: Knopf : distributed by Random House/University of Illinois Press, [1979] 1992), 69. ISBN 0252062361. off-site

Further reading

Template code Inserts this reference Click to edit
{{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
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{{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
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{{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
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