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Criticism of Mormonism/Books/An Insider's View of Mormon Origins/Chapter 5
Response to claims made in "Chapter 5: Moroni and 'The Golden Pot'"
| Claims made in "Chapter 4: Evangelical Protestantism in the Book of Mormon" | A FAIR Analysis of: An Insider's View of Mormon Origins A work by author: Grant Palmer
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Claims made in "Chapter 6: Witnesses to the Golden Plates" |
What I believe from this is that the European beliefs about spirit guardians of wealth and wisdom influenced the early accounts of how the Book of Mormon came to be.
—An Insider's View of Mormon Origins, p. 173
138
Claim
- The author claims that the story of "The Golden Pot" involves the copying and translation of ancestral records
Author's source(s) - Author's speculation
- The author's claim is false
- The story mentions copying records. The author has extrapolated this to also mean translated, despite the fact that the story itself does not mention "translation."
- Book of Mormon and the Golden Pot
- Use of sources: "Copying" becomes "translation"
139-142
Claim
- Luman Walters likely informed Joseph Smith about story of "The Golden Pot"
Author's source(s) - Author's speculation
- The author's claim is false
- This is pure conjecture on the part of the author—there is no evidence to support this assertion.
- Book of Mormon/Authorship theories/Golden Pot
157 - Joseph was told to bring Emma to the hill Cumorah on "the next fall equinox"
The author(s) of An Insider's View of Mormon Origins make(s) the following claim:
It is claimed that Joseph was told to bring Emma to the hill Cumorah on "the next fall equinox."
Author's sources: Joseph Knight Sr.
FAIR's Response
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157
Claim
- Joseph's father said that Joseph married Emma in order to ensure success in obtaining the plates.
Author's source(s) - Lapham
163 - Joseph regarded the autumnal equinox as a special day
The author(s) of An Insider's View of Mormon Origins make(s) the following claim:
Joseph regarded the autumnal equinox as a special day.
Author's sources:
- 1838, vv. 29, 48-54, 59
- L. Smith, 133-34
FAIR's Response
Question: Was Joseph Smith aware that the date of the autumnal equinox was somehow significant?
Joseph and other members made no claims about 21-22 September being significant for any reason
Joseph and other members made no claims about 21-22 September being significant for any reason. He may not have known its significance, in either an astrological or religious context. Critics often assume that Joseph was fabricating his story, and so they must ascribe a significance to this date which Joseph was likely to know—they seize, therefore, on the astrological connection while severing it from its deep religious roots. This is again question begging, since it presumes at the outset that Joseph's tale was fraudulent, and that the Book of Mormon had nothing to do with ancient Judaism.
172
Claim
- It is claimed that variants of the Moroni story were told and then standardized after 1830.
- The author claims that Joseph's later narratives talk about a more biblical-type angel and that many of the "magical elements" of the Moroni story began disappearing around 1830.
Author's source(s) - Author's opinion.