Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mormonism 101/Chapter 17

Chapter 16: Lamanites, Seed of Cain, and Polygamy
A FAIR Analysis of:
Criticism of Mormonism/Books
A work by author: Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson
 Chapter 18: The Church and Its Leadership

Index of Claims made in Chapter 17: Joseph Smith

"They will circulate falsehoods to destroy your reputation, and also will seek to take your life" --Angel Moroni to Joseph Smith (1823)2

251

Claim
  • Having made regular visits to Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, we have noticed a more subdued reference to Mormonism's founder by tour guides and various displays. In the public area, emphasis on Smith seems to be diminishing.

Response

252

Claim
  • The authors condescendingly claim,

...almost feel sympathetic toward the Mormon apologist who has to defend Smith's bad social behavior...


Response

  • Regardless of a token acknowledgement to the contrary, McKeever and Johnson leave the reader with the impression that not one person ever had anything good or positive to say about Joseph Smith. It is important to consider a few recorded opinions of Joseph in his day from those who knew and understood him, had the opportunity to interact with him, and ultimately finds itself in harmony with what he actually taught.
  • For a detailed response, see: Joseph Smith/Personality and temperament  [needs work]


253

Claim
  • The authors claim,

...should people accept Smith as a prophet of God when his behavior was sometimes less than what we would expect from political leaders? Should character be ignored when it comes to men who claim to be prophets of God?


Response


Polyandry and the Prophet

253

Claim
  • The authors quote Richard Van Wagoner to describe Joseph's "lust for manly achievement" and his alleged "inclination toward extra-marital romantic liaisons."

Author's source(s)

  • n2
  • n3
  • n4

Response

  • In the tasteless pursuit of tabloid details, the authors have merely excerpted sensational passages from the works of Richard Van Wagoner and Todd Compton in an effort to deconstruct Joseph.
  • Richard Van Wagoner, whose writings the authors make much use of, wrote what certainly applies to McKeever and Johnson's approach to Joseph's marital matters:

Contrary to popular nineteenth-century notions about polygamy, the Mormon harem, dominated by lascivious males with hyperactive libidos, did not exist. The image of unlimited lust was largely the creation of Gentile travelers to Salt Lake City more interested in titillating audiences back home than in accurately portraying plural marriage. [1]

The authors portray Joseph's plural marriages as lustful passion. This, however, is contrary to what polygamy was about. [2]


253-255

Claim
  • The authors use the terms "secret marriages" "secret plural wives" "secretly married" "amorous advances" "errant yearnings" "extra-marital romantic liaisons" "still teenagers" "affairs" "sexual relations" to describe Joseph's martial arrangements.

Author's source(s)

Response

  • The authors' emotionally laced words of suggested deception are tactically employed to control their readers' perceptions of Joseph's marital engagements. In this case, the authors superficially gloss over Joseph's plural marriages of which Emma had limited knowledge. The authors repeatedly indicate on the one hand that Joseph's plural marriages were a secret to Emma, yet on the other hand describe her feelings as "jealously battling" something she supposedly did not know about. While there is ample evidence that shows Emma consented to at least a half-dozen wives, the authors ignore any discussion on the implications and meaning of this or her overall mixed feelings on
  • For a detailed response, see: Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Emma Smith

253

Claim
  • The authors note,

One misconception concerning Joseph's polyandry is that it was a practice represented in only one or two unusual marriages; however, fully one-third of Joseph's plural wives, eleven of them, were polyandrous.


Response

  • In regard to polyandry, Daynes wrote: "Perhaps nothing is less understood than Joseph Smith's sealings to women already married, because the evidence supports conflicting interpretations." [3]
  • The authors base their shallow glimpse of this subject on what at times could be described as the historical guesswork of Compton, which carries its own subsequent set of problems. The authors merely repeat one sentence from Compton's book and fail to mention or consider any of Compton's long list of theories for reasons behind polyandry which might provide some understanding for the reader. [4]
  • For a detailed response, see: Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Polyandry


254

Claim
  • The authors state,

Some might argue that these relationships were strictly platonic. Compton disagrees, "Though it is possible that Joseph had some marriages in which there were no sexual relations, there is no explicit or convincing evidence for such a marriage (except, perhaps, in the cases of the older wives). And in a significant number of Joseph's marriages, there is evidence for sexual relations."

Author's source(s)

Response

  • While the authors readily accept the insinuation that all of Joseph's relationships were sexual, they fail to consider or even recognize the speculative (and what at times has been described as the self-serving) nature of Compton's exploration of polyandrous marriages. Sources do not show nor is there any reliable evidence that the way Joseph practiced polyandry included sexual or familial relations.
  • For a detailed response, see: Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Children of polygamous marriages


Claim
  • The authors claim,

In May 1843 the thirty-seven-year-old prophet of Mormonism convinced fifteen-year-old Helen Mar Kimball to be sealed as his plural wife. The daughter of Heber C. Kimball stated how Smith promised that if she would "take this step," it would insure the eternal salvation and exaltation of her father's household and kindred. Helen was led to believe that the relationship was more of a spiritual nature and claimed she would have never gone through with it had she known otherwise.

Author's source(s)

Response

  • At this point in the authors' book, their sources are intermingled between Todd Compton and Richard Van Wagoner. While both books cover this same paragraph, the authors chose Van Wagoner's paragraph over Compton's entire chapter on the subject. This is likely because Van Wagoner provides no hint that the source of Helen's later claim of "would have never gone through with it" comes from an anti-Mormon writer whom Compton describes as displaying "extremism," "is suspect," "not credible," "unreliable," and to be "regarded with caution." [5]
  • For a detailed response, see: Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Helen Mar Kimball


255

Claim
  • The authors state,

For instance, would Mormons living in today's society follow as their prophet a man who was known to be a money digger and advocate of folk magic? According to Quinn, Smith and his family were well versed in such things: Joseph Smith...had unquestionably participated in treasure seeking and seer stone divination and had apparently also used divining rods, talismans, and implements of ritual magic.


Response


Claim
  • The authors bring up magic again,

The fact that Smith owned a Jupiter talisman shows that his fascination with the occult was not just a childish fad. At the time of his death, Smith had on his person this talisman...


Response


256

Claim
  • The authors claim that "[t]here is no question that many Mormon historians have painted Smith as a man of high morals and impeccable integrity. Any reports to the contrary are often assumed to have been made by enemies of the church or disgruntled ex-Mormons. Despite what may have been written about him, it is evident that Smith had an ego and expected to be followed without question." 129

Response

  • Interestingly the authors seem to have no problem citing "LDS" and "Mormon" authorities to construct an entire chapter of "contraries." Is the reader to conclude that every single "LDS" or "Mormon" historian that they cite is an enemy or apostate?
  • The authors state that despite what may have been written about Joseph, he remains an egotist that controlled his people. Do Mormon leaders control the faithful and expect to be followed without question? There are several examples that show just the opposite expectation. Brigham Young, quoting Joseph Smith, said:

The question was asked a great many times of Joseph Smith, by gentlemen who came to see him and his people, 'How is it that you can control your people so easily? It appears that they do nothing but what you say; how is it that you can govern them so easily?' Said he, 'I do not govern them at all. The Lord has revealed certain principles from the heavens by which we are to live in these latter days. The time is drawing near when the Lord is going to cut short his work in righteousness, and the principles which he has revealed I have taught to the people and they are trying to live according to them, and they control themselves.' Gentlemen, this is the great secret now in controlling this people. It is thought that I control them, but it is not so. It is as much as I can do to control myself and to keep myself straight and teach the people the principles by which they should live.130


The Proud Prophet

257

Claim
  • The authors claim Joseph was boastful when he said,

I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I.123

Author's source(s)

Response


No Salvation Without Joseph Smith

258

Claim
  • The authors use a quote from Brigham Young and from Joseph Field Smith to "prove" that Joseph is the gateway to the Celestial Kingdom,

Young stated that entrance into the celestial kingdom was conditional on Smith's consent. "No man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith. From the day that the Priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding-up scene of all things, every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are-I with you and you with me. I cannot go there without his consent. He holds the keys of that kingdom for the last dispensation-the keys to rule in the spirit world."140

President Joseph Fielding Smith affirmed this, saying that nobody could reject this "testimony without incurring the most dreadful consequences, for he cannot enter the kingdom of God."142

Author's source(s)

Response


258-259

Claim
  • The authors claim that Latter-day Saints believe that Joseph will save them,

Christians throughout the centuries have pointed to Jesus Christ as the only way to eternal life, Mormon leaders have taught that Joseph Smith will apparently be a deciding factor as well"... "The Bible clearly states that every person-both believer and non-believer-will be judged by Jesus, not Joseph! There is no hint that somebody like Smith would assist in the judgment.134


Response

  • There is little doubt that through reading the Bible and rest of the Standard Works of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that we all will stand before the great judgment bar of God.
  • For a detailed response, see: Joseph Smith/Status in LDS belief


Joseph Smith as Prophet

261

Claim
  • The authors claim evidence of failed prophecies,

[Smith's] followers were forced to leave Missouri...It should come as no surprise that among the many excuses Mormons have raised for the failure of Smith's Missouri predictions, few admit it was due to his lack of prophetical insight.119


Response

  • It is important to understand the context in which "historians" are quoted for a proper understanding of their material. Interestingly, the authors freely called upon dead "LDS historian Andrew Jenson"120 for an earlier quote in their chapter that served to question the truthfulness of Joseph as a prophet. That quote had nothing to do with the context of Jenson's talk. His entire lecture was on proving that Joseph was in fact a prophet of God by describing numerous instances of fulfilled prophecies and other such witnesses to the truthfulness of his call. McKeever and Johnson ignore the fact that Jenson, in his 110-year-old Friday-evening lecture to the Student's Society, illustrated how Smith's predictions were proof of his "prophetical insight."
  • Ironically, Jenson uses Missouri as one proof of Joseph's "prophetical insight." Jenson states:

In 1831 the Saints were commanded to gather to Jackson County, Mo., which was designated as a land of inheritance for the Saints in the last days, and also as the identical spot where they should build that great city, the New Jerusalem, about which the ancient Prophets and Saints had sung, prayed and rejoiced so much. Joseph Smith had just arrived in that goodly land, together with a number of his brethren, when a revelation, containing some very strange sayings was given on the 1st of August, 1831.121

  • Jenson then relates D&C 58:1-5, wherein the Lord talks of the land they had just arrived in and speaks of "much tribulation" and blessings to those that remain faithful after that which is to follow. Jenson points out that if Joseph was a fraud attempting to make financial gain or seeking the vain glory and honor of men, then it would be pretty absurd to be predicting trouble when there was none immediately apparent. In less than three years after this revelation, the Saints were driven out of Jackson County and three years after that they were forced from Clay County, Missouri, then two more years later the Governor issued an extermination order driving them from the State of Missouri. If McKeever and Johnson do not think this means "much tribulation," then what, as Jenson states, does it mean?
  • For a detailed response, see: Joseph Smith/Prophecies


The "Martyrdom" of the Prophet

262

Claim
  • The authors now attempt to cast doubt on Joseph's status as a martyr for his beliefs,

Knowing full well that he would be in great danger by placing himself in the hands of his enemies, Smith attempted to flee into Iowa and ultimately to the Rockies. While waiting for horses, his wife Emma sent him a message stating that the Latter-day Saints were accusing Smith of cowardice and urged him to return. Smith did so.144


Response

  • Was Joseph a coward? Joseph and Hyrum returned to Carthage for reasons that the authors omit from their narration. Joseph was, and always had been, willing to die for his faith, his God, and his people. Danel Bachman, illustrating this willingness, cited an 1838 incident when Joseph and Hyrum were in the hands of their enemies and were sentenced to be executed. Did he resist? No! Joseph, speaking of his feelings at the time said:

As far as I was concerned, I felt perfectly calm, and resigned to the will of my heavenly Father.... And notwithstanding that every avenue of escape seemed to be entirely closed, and death stared me in the face, and that my destruction was determined upon, as far as man was concerned; yet, from my first entrance into the camp, I felt an assurance, that I with my brethren and our families should be delivered. Yes, that still small voice, which has so often whispered consolation to my soul, in the depth of sorrow and distress, bade me be of good cheer, and promised deliverance.


Claim
  • The authors which to emphasize that Joseph drank wine at Carthage,

After dinner, Smith and several church officials ordered some wine to be brought to the jail.157

Author's source(s)

Response

  • The authors lead the reader to think that Joseph and his associates sat around drinking wine all night. Joseph's final night consisted of testimony, study, and prophecy. The record reads:

During the evening the Patriarch Hyrum Smith read and commented upon extracts from the Book of Mormon, on the imprisonments and deliverance of the servants of God for the Gospel's sake. Joseph bore a powerful testimony to the guards of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon, restoration of the Gospel, the administration of angels, and that the kingdom of God was again established upon the earth, for the sake of which he was then incarcerated in that prison, and not because he had violated any law of God or man.158

  • Later that night we read:

Soon after Dr. Richards retired to the bed which Joseph had left, and when all were apparently fast asleep, Joseph whispered to Dan Jones, "are you afraid to die?" Dan said, "Has that time come, think you?" "Engaged in such a cause I do not think that death would have many terrors." Joseph replied, "You will yet see Wales, and fulfill the mission appointed you before you die."159


Claim
  • The authors claim that Joseph's use of a gun disqualifies him as a martyr.

Smith was visited by Cyrus H. Wheelock who, as he was about to leave, "drew a small pistol, a six-shooter from his pocket, remarking at the same time, 'Would any of you like to have this?"' The narrative states that Smith "immediately replied, 'Yes, give it to me."' He then proceeded to take the pistol and put it into his pants pocket.160

Author's source(s)

Response

  • There is no question Joseph intended to defend himself and his friends, as was his right. As to the details that shed light on his acquisition of the weapon, another narrative from the History of the Church paints a different and clearer picture than the one the authors present. The account reads:

The morning being a little rainy, [Wheelock] favored his wearing an overcoat, in the side pocket of which he was enabled to carry a six shooter, and he passed the guard unmolested. During his visit in the prison he slipped the revolver into Joseph's pocket. Joseph examined it, and asked Wheelock if he had not better retain it for his own protection... Joseph then handed the single barrel pistol which had been given him by John S. Fullmer, to his brother Hyrum, and said, 'You may have use for this.' Brother Hyrum observed, 'I hate to use such things or to see them used.' 'So do I,' said Joseph, 'but we may have to, to defend ourselves;' upon this Hyrum took the pistol.161


263

Claim
  • The authors repeat a popular rumor that Joseph killed two of his attackers with his gun,

John Taylor stated that before Smith was shot, he used his smuggled gun to shoot three of his attackers, killing two of them.167

Author's source(s)

Response


Claim
  • The authors attempt a comparison between the death of Joseph Smith and the death of Jesus Christ,

The differences between Jesus and Joseph Smith are obvious. On the one hand, Jesus quietly and humbly went like a lamb to the slaughter. He went peacefully and without resistance. When Peter attempted to defend his Lord from the mob by drawing his sword, he was told to put it away (John 18:11)...it is wrong for Mormons to draw a similarity between Smith's final actions and those of the Savior. There can be no comparison between the sacrificial death of Christ and the way Smith died!173


Response

  • Professional critics Jerald and Sandra Tanner would no doubt approve of the authors' conclusions about the martyrdom of Joseph Smith. Why wouldn't they? The same material can be found in a pamphlet that they sell entitled Jesus and Joseph Smith. For example:
    • Tanner: "It is interesting to compare the death of Joseph Smith with that of Jesus."
    • McKeever: "The differences between Jesus and Joseph Smith are obvious."
    • Tanner: "Jesus did go like a 'lamb to the slaughter'"
    • McKeever: "Jesus quietly and humbly went like a lamb to the slaughter"
    • Tanner: When Peter tried to defend Jesus with the sword, Jesus told him: "Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11)
    • McKeever: When Peter attempted to defend his Lord from the mob by drawing his sword, he was told to put it away (John 18:11)
    • Tanner: "can be seen that the death of Joseph Smith can in no way be compared to the death of Jesus."
    • McKeever: "can be no comparison between the sacrificial death of Christ and the way Smith died!"
  • Additionally, the previously addressed narratives of Cyrus H. Wheelock's pistol, details of the "shoot-out," and the two dead men, can all be found in the Tanner's free pamphlet. The fact that this information can be had via the Tanner's Internet site, or thirty copies of the pamphlet can be had for the price of one dollar at the Tanners' store in Salt Lake City, demonstrates the stale and tired recompilation of 170+ years of asked-and-answered anti-Mormon rhetoric.
  • While both sets of critics make much of Jesus telling Peter to put his sword away, both fail to mention the instruction was preceded by Jesus telling the apostles who did not have swords to sell their garments and buy one, which was followed by Peter cutting the servants ear off, then Jesus said it was enough.174 Why did Jesus tell his followers to equip themselves with swords if he did not want them to defend themselves? Jesus himself said, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword."175
  • Regardless, "Mormons" draw no such comparison between the matchless sacrifice of Christ and that of the cold-blooded murder of the Prophet. This theme of denying Joseph Smith status as a Martyr is popular in anti-Mormon publications. They conclude that his use of a gun, and attempted escape from a window (to save the lives of those in the room, no less) voids him as a martyr. While this defies definition, it is nonetheless used as a basis for denial. The question must be asked, can a martyr give resistance? There is nothing in its definition that suggests they cannot. Webster's definition of a Martyr certainly fits Joseph. The definition states that a martyr is someone "put to death for adhering to a belief, faith, or profession." The authors apparently want the definition to be re-written to exclude Joseph Smith. If the authors suggest he was put to death for some other reason, they fail to make their case. Can the authors deny Christ as the Savior because he resisted earlier attempts against His life? Paul similarly fought death through following a lengthy legal process in hopes of freedom. So are we to conclude that Paul is not a Martyr either? It is puzzling how the authors can contrast between Jesus and Joseph and arrive at the conclusion they do. We see through examples above, just how Joseph acted under due process. He was a willing sacrifice and his words and actions repeatedly confirm this.


Endnotes

  1. [note] Richard S. Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy: A History (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1989), 89.
  2. [note] Of the non-biblical cultural abhorrence of polygamy, Stephen E. Robinson writes: "In Western culture plural marriage is generally abhorred, but the roots of this abhorrence can hardly be described as biblical, for the Old Testament explicitly sanctions polygamy and the New Testament does not forbid it. The practice could not have been abhorrent to Jesus and the first-century Jewish Christians, for their culture was not Western, and plural marriage was sanctioned in the law of Moses, the holiness of which was endorsed by both Jesus and Paul. Indeed, it is possible that some Jewish Christians of the first century continued to practice plural marriage just as they continued Sabbath observance, circumcision, and other practices related to their cultural and religious background. The cultural milieu of Judaism and early Christianity simply cannot be the source of the Western horror of plural marriage, for plural marriages were common in the environment of the earliest Christian church.

    I do not deny that polygamy is now abhorred in Western culture generally and in modern Christianity particularly. What I deny is that the source of that abhorrence is biblical. It is derived not from the biblical heritage but the classical-the abhorrence of polygamy comes from Greece and Rome. As orthodox a figure as Saint Augustine knew that the prohibition of plural marriage in the church of his day was only a matter of Roman custom: 'Again, Jacob the son of Isaac is charged with having committed a great crime because he had four wives. But here there is no ground for a criminal accusation: for a plurality of wives was no crime when it was the custom; and it is a crime now, because it is no longer the custom… The only reason of its being a crime now to do this, is because custom and the laws forbid it.' Though pagan culture could freely tolerate multiple sexual partners, it could tolerate only one wife. In that respect Greco-Roman culture was very similar to contemporary Western culture.

    Clearly, then, the antagonism to plural marriage was not biblical in origin, for the bosom of Abraham, where most Christians long to repose, is a polygamous bosom, and the house of Israel, into which most Christians seek admission, is a polygamous house. [Stephen E. Robinson, Are Mormons Christians? (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1991), 92-93.]
  3. [note] Daynes, More Wives than One, 29.
  4. [note] Compton, In Sacred Lonliness, 15-23.
  5. [note] Compton, In Sacred Lonliness, 501-502.

100 Oaks, "Recent Events Involving Church History and Forged Documents."

101 Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, 68. Reviews of this aspect of Quinn's work are included here for balance and comparison. In the FARMS Review of Books, William J. Hamblin reviews the work of Owens who, like McKeeever and Johson, rely entirely on Quinn's flawed work. A portion of Hamblin's analysis is included here as it is relevant to McKeever's work. Hamblin writes:

Owens insists that Joseph Smith or members of his immediate family owned a magical talisman, a ceremonial dagger, and parchments early in their lives. Based on Quinn's claims, Owens maintains the following seven propositions: 

  1. Joseph himself owned these items (p. 161).
  2. His possession dates to his early days of "treasure seeking" (p. 162).
  3. He used them for magical purposes (p. 162).
  4. He made them himself or commissioned them (p. 161).
  5. He therefore must have used magic books to make them (p. 162).
  6. He therefore must have had an occult mentor to help him with the difficult process of understanding the magical books and making these items (p. 162).
  7. This occult mentor transmitted extensive arcane hermetic lore to Joseph beyond the knowledge necessary to make the artifacts (p. 163).

In reality, Owens's seven propositions are simply a tissue of assumptions, assertions, and speculations. There is no contemporary primary evidence that Joseph himself owned or used the parchments or dagger; one late source claims he had a talisman in his pocket at the time of his death. We do not know why Joseph had the talisman, or even if he really did. And we do not know-if he had it-what he thought of it. We do not know when, how, or why these items became heirlooms of the Hyrum Smith family. Again, there is no contemporary primary evidence that mentions Joseph or anyone in his family using these artifacts-as Quinn himself noted, "possession alone may not be proof of use." There is no evidence that Joseph ever had any magic books. There is no evidence that Joseph ever had an occult mentor who helped him make or use these items.

The methodology used by Owens is a classic example of what one could call the miracle of the addition of the probabilities. The case of Quinn and Owens relies on a rickety tower of unproven propositions that do not provide certainty, rather a geometrically increasing improbability. Probabilities are multiplied, not added. Combining two propositions, each of which has a 50% probability, does not create a 100% probability, it creates a 25% probability that both are true together. Allowing each of Owens's seven propositions a 50% probability-a very generous allowance-creates a .0078% probability that the combination of all his seven propositions is true. And this is only one element of a very complex and convoluted argument, with literally dozens of similar unverified assertions. The result is a monumentally high improbability that Owens's overall thesis is correct.

Based on the evidence of these artifacts alone, it is just as plausible to speculate that these items were obtained from Masonic friends or European converts late in the Nauvoo period; that they were owned by Joseph's friends or family rather than by Joseph himself; that they were essentially heirlooms, good-luck charms, or ornaments for Masonic pageantry; or that neither Joseph nor anyone associated with him had any idea what they were "really" made for. If there were some solid contemporary primary evidence from Joseph or other early Mormons of magical activity-like Mark Hofmann's forged "Salamander Letter"-then these artifacts might provide useful circumstantial confirmation. But there is no such solid corroborating contemporary primary evidence! ["Owens: Joseph Smith and Kabbalah: The Occult Connection," reviewed by William J. Hamblin, FARMS Review of Books, Volume 8, Number 2 (1996), 282, 283.]

In yet another similar review of Quinn's material, Stephen E. Robinson writes:

Another example of Quinn's strange sense of what proves what is provided by chapter 4 on magic parchments and occult mentors. Quinn concludes from the fact that Hyrum Smith may once have owned a dagger and two parchments with magical symbols on them that Hyrum, Joseph, and generations of the entire Smith family must have believed in and practiced magic. Even if these items were Hyrum's--and that provenance is by no means certain--it proves only that Hyrum once owned them, nothing more. It does not tell us why he had them, how he got them, what he thought of them, whether or how he may have used them, or what his brother Joseph may have thought about them. To refer to these artifacts as the 'Joseph Smith family parchments' is a willful distortion, and Quinn's conclusions about the possible meaning of these artifacts are pure speculation. I happen to have among my cherished possessions a St. Christopher medallion, but that does not make me a practicing Roman Catholic any more than my menorah makes me Jewish or my Egyptian religious papyri make me a closet pagan. Moreover, my possession of these objects certainly does not prove that my brother, Reid, is a Catholic, Jew, or pagan. Such 'proof' violates logic, wouldn't stand up in court, and shouldn't stand up in historical research. [Stephen E. Robinson, BYU Studies, Vol. 27, No. 4 (1987): 91.]

102 Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, 72.

103 Ibid., 104, 109, 111.

104 Quinn notes that the term "occult" means evil for many people. However, that is not correct. Quinn clarifies the meaning and puts it into historical context by defining it from the dictionary as "deliberately kept hidden, not reveled to others, secret, undisclosed; not to be apprehended or understood, demanding more than ordinary perception or knowledge, abstruse, mysterious, recondite; hidden from view, not able to be seen, concealed; of, relating to, or dealing in matters regarded as involving the action or influence of supernatural agencies or some secret knowledge of them, not manifest or detectable by clinical methods alone." (Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, xxiii.)

105 Richard Lloyd Anderson, "The Mature Joseph Smith and Treasure Searching," BYU Studies Vol. 24 No. 4 (1984): 536; Spelling of Moumford in Anderson corrected to read Mountford as noted by Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, 249.

106 McKeever and Johnson, Mormonism 101, 255.

107 Robinson writes of the Talisman story: "In the case of the Jupiter coin, this same extrapolation error is compounded with a very uncritical acceptance of the artifact in the first place. If the coin were Joseph's, that fact alone would tell us nothing about what it meant to him. But in fact there is insufficient evidence to prove that the artifact ever belonged to the Prophet. The coin was completely unknown until 1930 when an aging Charles Bidamon sold it to Wilford Wood. The only evidence that it was Joseph's is an affidavit of Bidamon, who stood to gain financially by so representing it. Quinn uncritically accepts Bidamon's affidavit as solid proof that the coin was Joseph's. Yet the coin was not mentioned in the 1844 list of Joseph's possessions returned to Emma. Quinn negotiates this difficulty by suggesting the coin must have been worn around Joseph's neck under his shirt. But in so doing Quinn impeaches his only witness for the coin's authenticity, for Bidamon's affidavit, the only evidence linking the coin to Joseph, specifically and solemnly swears that the coin was in Joseph's pocket at Carthage. The real empirical evidence here is just too weak to prove that the coin was really Joseph's, let alone to extrapolate a conclusion from mere possession of the artifact that Joseph must have believed in and practiced magic. The recent Hofmann affair should have taught us that an affidavit from the seller, especially a 1930 affidavit to third hand information contradicted by the 1844 evidence, just isn't enough 'proof' to hang your hat on." (Robinson, BYU Studies, Vol. 27, No. 4 (1987): 91).

108 Dr. Reed Durham's Presidential Address before the Mormon History Association, April 20, 1974.

109 Johansen, After the Martyrdom, 79.

110 Anderson, "The Mature Joseph Smith and Treasure Seeking," 541.

111 Ibid., 558.

112 Ibid., with the original coming from LaMar C. Berett, The Wilford Wood Collection, Vol. 1 (Provo, Utah: Wilford C. Wood Foundation, 1972), 173.

113 Anderson, "The Mature Joseph Smith and Treasure Seeking," 558; Anderson points to its original source in J.W. Woods, "The Mormon Prophet," Daily Democrat (Ottumwa, Iowa, 10 May 1885); and in Edward H. Stiles, Recollections and Sketches of Notable Lawyers and Public Men of Early Iowa (Des Moines, Iowa: Homestead Publishing, 1916), 271.

114 Anderson, "The Mature Joseph Smith and Treasure Seeking," 541.

115 These are examples of later arguments by Quinn in an attempt to refute Anderson.

116 Gilbert W. Scharffs, The Truth About "The God Makers," Second Edition (Salt Lake City: Publishers Press, 1989), 180.

117 Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, 89-90, 94.

118 Ibid., 317-318.

119 McKeever and Johnson, Mormonism 101, 261.

120 Ibid., 259. The author's ignore Jenson's entire listing of evidences in the body of his talk and instead only excerpt the one sentence shown with emphasis below:

Jenson said, "We claim for him that he was visited by holy beings, who restored to him the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, with authority to administer in all the ordinances of the same; that he received from the angel Moroni certain gold plates that had been hidden in the earth for fourteen hundred years, and that he translated the engravings upon these plates into the English language by the gift and power of God, the result of which was the Book of Mormon. We further claim that he organized the Church of Christ once more upon the earth, and that he received by direct revelation a code of laws and commandments by which to govern the affairs of that Church, according to the original pattern given by Jesus and His Apostles eighteen hundred years ago. We further claim that it is of the utmost importance for all people who desire eternal salvation to know whether these things are true or not. If Joseph Smith is what he professed to be: A true Prophet of God, no one can reject his testimony without being condemned, while on the other hand, if he was an impostor, or a false prophet, we can reject him without fear of Divine punishment, and the condemnation will rest upon the man who assumes to speak in the name of the Lord presumptuously. In this lecture I shall confine myself to his prophetic and inspired utterances by proving their fulfillment and truthfulness mostly from a historic standpoint."

121 Andrew Jenson, "Joseph Smith: A True Prophet," a lecture delivered by Elder Andrew Jenson, before the Students' Society, in the Social Hall, Salt Lake City, Friday evening, January 16, 1891, as found in Collected Discourses, Vol. 2, edited by Brian H. Stuy (Burbank, California: B.H.S. Publishing, 1988).

122 Ibid.; This prophecy comes from Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 5, 85, footnote.

123 McKeever and Johnson, Mormonism 101, 257; cited from Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 6, 408.

124 Paul H. Peterson, "Understanding Joseph: A Review of Published Documentary Sources," Joseph Smith: The Prophet, The Man, edited by Susan Easton Black and Charles D. Tate, Jr. (Provo, Utah: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1993), 104.

125 Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 6, 408.

126 John 14:12.

127 Truman G. Madsen, Joseph Smith the Prophet (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1989), 28. Madsen notes: "Eliza wrote of him: 'Though his expansive mind grasped the great plan of salvation and solved the mystic problem of man's destiny-though he had in his possession keys that unlocked the past and the future with its succession of eternities, in his devotions he was humble as a little child' ("Sketch of My Life," p. 136)."

128 B.H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 1 (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1965), 131.

129 McKeever and Johnson, Mormonism 101, 256.

130 Discourses of Brigham Young, edited by John A. Widtsoe (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1954), 470.

131 Brigham Young, "Eternal Punishment-'Mormonism,' Etc.," Journal of Discourses, reported by G.D. Watt 12 January 1862, Vol. 9 (London: Latter-Day Saint's Book Depot, 1862), 150.

132 Boyd K. Packer, "Agency and Control," Ensign (May 1983): 66.

133 Elder George F. Richards, Conference Report (April 1907), 15-17.

134 McKeever and Johnson, Mormonism 101, 259.

135 Daniel 7:21-22.

136 Matthew 19:27-28.

137 Luke 22:29-30.

138 1 Corinthians 6:1-3.

139 Revelation 20:4.

140 McKeever and Johnson, Mormonism 101, 258.

141 Brigham Young, "Intelligence, Etc.," Journal of Discourses, reported by G.D. Watt 9 October 1859, Vol. 7 (London: Latter-Day Saint's Book Depot, 1860), 289-290. Also consider Helen Mar Kimball's words on the "saving Joseph." She writes:

How gross is the darkness that covers the minds of the people who are fighting against the principles of salvation. No one actuated by the spirit of God would do this or speak against his servants, but would be attended by the Holy Ghost, which would give them faith and reveal to them the power of God unto salvation; but which without faith, is impossible. We read that 'the just shall live by faith,' and that 'faith without works is dead.' We can understand the things of God only by the spirit and power of God. The revelations of Joseph Smith can never save others, unless they receive revelation from heaven of their truth, and they must seek for it in order to obtain it. Those who are too careless and slothful to read or to 'search and believe in me, not in man,' as Jesus said for, 'who leans on him leans on a broken reed,' will be left as many others have to stumble even at noonday. The sorrows and privations and all the persecutions endured by the Saints of God are light, when compared with the punishment of a guilty conscience and this is the punishment that awaits, not only those who persecute his people, but the ones who are too indolent to make inquiries for themselves, or to forego the momentary and fleeting pleasures of today, in the vain hope of gaining a little worldly pomp and praise. Here, we are as strangers in a strange land, and those who are too proud or obstinate to look up and read the directions so plainly written upon the guide board, which has been set by a Father's loving hand, that his children may not miss the track and be lost in the darkness, or refuse to listen to his servants who are crying, 'Come out of her my people, and be not partakers of her sins, that ye receive not of her plagues,' because He in his wisdom has chosen the meek of the earth who will do his bidding, being poor and unpopular in the world, renounce them as impostors, persecute and destroy them, will see their mistake when too late to retrace their steps and will have to pass through another probation. Helen Mar Whitney, A Woman's View: Helen Mar Whitney's Reminiscences of Early Church History (Provo, Utah: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1999), 222-223.

142 McKeever and Johnson, Mormonism 101, 258.

143 Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 1, edited by Bruce R. McConkie (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954), 189-191.

144 McKeever and Johnson, Mormonism 101, 262.

145 Danel W. Bachman, "Joseph Smith, a True Martyr," Joseph Smith: The Prophet, The Man, edited by Susan Easton Black and Charles D. Tate, Jr. (Provo, Utah: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1993), 324-325.

146 Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 5, 464.

147 Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 6, 547-550.

148 Bachman, "Joseph Smith, a True Martyr," 328, cited from The Historians Corner, BYU Studies, Vol. 19, No. 2 (1978-1979), 235.

149 Woodruff, Wilford. Wilford Woodruff's Journal. 9 vols Ed. Scott G. Kenney. (Midvale, UT: Signature Book, 1983-85) 2:217 as cited in Bachman, "Joseph Smith, a True Martyr," 328-329.

150 Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 6, 500 and Bachman, "Joseph Smith, a True Martyr," 328-329.

151 Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, They Knew the Prophet (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974), 183.

152 Bachman, "Joseph Smith, a True Martyr," 330.

153 Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 6, 555.

154 Bachman, "Joseph Smith, a True Martyr," 328.

155 Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 6, 605.

156 Ibid., 546.

157 McKeever and Johnson, Mormonism 101, 262.

158 Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 6, 600.

159 Ibid., 601.

160 McKeever and Johnson, Mormonism 101, 262.

161 Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 6, 607 and J. Christopher Conkling, A Joseph Smith Chronology (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1979), 243-245.

162 Orson F. Whitney, The Mormon Prophet's Tragedy: A Review (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1905), 68-79; taken from the original, John Hay, "The Mormon Prophet's Tragedy," Atlantic Monthly 24, No. 146 (December 1869): 674-675.

163 Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 6, 617-618.

164 Bachman, "Joseph Smith, a True Martyr," 325-326. Bachman concurs that Joseph's attempted escape from the window was to save the lives of his friends in the room.

165 Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 6, 619.

166 Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 6, 629-631.

167 McKeever and Johnson, Mormonism 101, 263.

168 Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 7, 102-103.

169 Whitney, The Mormon Prophet's Tragedy: A Review, 75; and Hay, "The Mormon Prophet's Tragedy," 675.

170 Whitney, The Mormon Prophet's Tragedy: A Review, 87; and Hay, "The Mormon Prophet's Tragedy," 677.

171 Dallin Oaks and Marvin Hill, Carthage Conspiracy, The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1975), 79.

172 Ibid., 52-53.

173 McKeever and Johnson, Mormonism 101, 263.

174 Luke 22:36-51.

175 Matthew 10:34.

176 Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 361.

177 Brigham Young, "Where the Wicked Go, Etc.," Journal of Discourses, reported by G.D. Watt 19 June 1853, Vol. 1 (London: Latter-Day Saint's Book Depot, 1854), 189.

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