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Chapter 2 (pp. 53-107) | A FAIR Analysis of: Criticism of Mormonism/Books A work by author: George D. Smith
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Chapter 3 |
Page | Claim | Response | Author's sources |
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108 |
"Sarah Pratt told…Wyl…'There was an old Woman called Durfee…to keep her quiet, he admitted her to the secret blessings of celestial bliss—she boasted here in Salt Lake of having been one of Joseph Smith's wives." |
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110-111 |
"When Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798 and exposed the world to then-indecipherable ancient writings, Europe and the United States became fascinated with Egyptian artifacts. Egyptian hieroglyphics, like the origin of Native American tribes, were mysteries of the times, sometimes regarded as clues to Indian Origins."
"Joseph Smith had grown up…during the time when public interest in the enigmatic Egyptians was burgeoning. The Manchester, New York, rental library, within five miles of the Smith family farm, had acquired a volume on Napoleon." |
Egyptian influence? (edit) Environmental explanations (edit) | |
111 |
"This is not to suggest that Smith necessarily visited the library…." |
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111 |
"…but from the age of ten…to about age twenty-two (December 1827) when he began dictating the Book of Mormon, published accounts of Napoleon and his foray into Egypt would have been available in books, periodicals, and possibly tracts." |
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Fallacy of probability (edit) |
110 – 111 n. 150 |
[Of the Chandler papyri] Joseph "translated some of the hieroglyphics by means of his white seer stone to produce 'an alphabet…[and] grammar of the Egyptian language' through July 1835." |
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112 |
A scholar in 1823 "rightly concluded that these American [Indian] symbols 'appear to have had little or nothing in common with those of the Egyptians.'" |
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112 |
"As we consider Joseph Smith's new religious texts in early 1842, we should review what was known of the language of ancient Egyptian, not only in 1823 when Smith began to anticipate the Book of Mormon's 'reformed Egyptian records,' but later in the 1830s and 1840s when he prepared his second Egyptian scripture, the Book of Abraham." |
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112 |
"Joseph Smith… [made] the association of Native American pictographs with 'reformed Egyptian.'" |
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112 |
"Smith's association of these unrelated cultures [Egypt and the New World] simply reflected the prevailing misperceptions of the pre- to mid-nineteenth century." |
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Environmental explanations (edit) |
113 |
"The first ancient scripture Smith presented since the Book of Mormon was the Book of Abraham." |
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113 n. 157 |
The JST "altered over 3,400 verses but left the deities singular and in a Trinitarian format." |
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114 |
"The prophet coalesced astronomy, biblical mystery, ancient Egyptian writing, and Masonic ritual into portentous ceremony for his followers." |
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Temple (edit)
Environmental explanations (edit) Egyptian influence? (edit) |
114 |
"The spring of 1842 was also the time when John C. Bennett began to separate himself from Smith…." |
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John C. Bennett (edit) |
116 |
Marinda Johnson "met Joseph while he was retranslating the Bible with Sidney Rigdon in her parents' home in 1831." |
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Womanizing & romance (edit)
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117-118 |
Orson Hyde "was reportedly 'furious'" with Joseph's plural marriage doctrine. |
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119 |
"[A]fter John C. Bennett's disagreement with Smith, the record of his celestial marriages was apparently expunged." |
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John C. Bennett (edit) Censorship of Church History (edit) |
119 |
"Smith told Bennett he could not withdraw from the church because he had been 'disfellowshipped' two weeks before on May 11. This apparent backdating was an attempt to discredit Bennett." |
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John C. Bennett (edit) |
122 |
"In Bennett's first letter…he reported that Smith 'attempted to seduce Miss Nany [check spelling] Rigdon,'…." |
John C. Bennett (edit) | |
123-125 |
Bennett's version of the Sarah Pratt episode |
John C. Bennett (edit) | |
129-134 |
Emma Smith pushing Eliza Snow down the stairs |
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Emma, Eliza & stairs (edit)
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131-132 |
"…historian Fawn M. Brodie thought the documentation was strong enough to include it in her biography of Smith." |
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Emma, Eliza & stairs (edit)
Presendia Buell (edit)
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131 n. 195 |
Smith cites BYU Studies on Emma and Eliza, but does not disclose that those authors find that the story is not plausible. |
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Emma, Eliza & stairs (edit)
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132 |
Smith cites Newel and Avery, Mormon Enigma without acknowledging or engaging their arguments against the story of Emma and Eliza. |
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Emma, Eliza & stairs (edit)
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133 |
"Most convincing of all is to think that these stories [about Emma] were circulating widely and Eliza never bothered to clarify or refute them." |
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Emma, Eliza & stairs (edit)
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137 |
"The History of the Church reports the day's activities…without a hint of a wedding" to Sarah Ann Whitney. |
Censorship of Church History (edit) | |
138 |
"Three weeks after the wedding, Joseph took steps to spend some time with his newest bride." |
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Whitney "love letter" (edit) |
139 |
"In an extraordinary move, the Nauvoo City Council issued an ordinance limiting the power of state courts and claiming the right to review and dismiss future writs." |
Nauvoo city charter (edit) | |
142 |
"It was the ninth night of Joseph's concealment, and Emma had visited him three times, written him several letters, and penned at least one letter on his behalf…For his part, Joseph's private note about his love for Emma was so endearing it found its way into the official church history. In it, he vowed to be hers 'forevermore.' Yet within this context of reassurance and intimacy, a few hours later the same day, even while Joseph was still in grave danger and when secrecy was of the utmost urgency, he made complicated arrangements for a visit from his fifteenth plural wife, Sarah Ann Whitney." |
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Whitney "love letter" (edit) |
142-143 |
"Smith urged his seventeen-year-old bride to 'come to night' and 'comfort' him—but only if Emma had not returned….Joseph judiciously addressed the latter to 'Brother, and Sister, Whitney, and &c." |
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Whitney "love letter" (edit) Ages of wives (edit) |
147 |
"Invites Whitneys to visit, Sarah Ann to 'comfort me' if Emma not there. Invitation accepted." |
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Whitney "love letter" (edit) |
147–154 |
Nancy Rigdon episode |
John C. Bennett (edit) | |
149 |
[Sidney Rigdon] "was in many ways a mentor to Joseph." |
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149 |
Sidney Rigdon "was not someone Joseph felt comfortable approaching to ask for his daughter's hand in polygamy. So Joseph appealed to the young woman directly." |
John C. Bennett (edit) | |
149 |
"For some reason, Marinda [Johnson Hyde] stayed [in the same house as] Apostle Willard Richards, whose wife, Jennetta, was in Massachusetts….Although the two may have lived in separate parts of the building…their living arrangements seemed to be an open scandal." |
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154 |
"…both Nancy [Rigdon] and Martha [Brotherton] were…isolated in a locked room during the persuasive effort." |
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155 |
"As if Sarah Ann Whitney's liaison were not enough…another marriage took place…." |
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Whitney "love letter" (edit) |
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