Mormonism and Wikipedia/Joseph Smith, Jr./1831 to 1838

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An analysis of Wikipedia article "Joseph Smith"



1827 to 1830
A FairMormon Analysis of Wikipedia: "Joseph Smith"
 A work by a collaboration of authors (Link to Wikipedia article here) 		1838 to 1839
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Reviews of previous revisions of this section

19 May 2009

Summary: A review of this section as it appeared in Wikipedia on 19 May 2009.

Section review

Life in Ohio (1831–38)  Updated 9/3/2011

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

When Smith moved to Kirtland, Ohio in January 1831,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

his first task

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

was to bring the Ohio congregation within his own religious authority

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

by quashing the new converts' exuberant exhibition of spiritual gifts.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Rigdon's congregation of converts included a prophetess that Smith declared to be of the devil.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Prior to conversion, the congregation had also been practicing a form of Christian communism, and Smith adopted a communal system within his own church, calling it the United Order of Enoch.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  • It is Brodie's own opinion that Joseph got the idea for the United Order from Sidney Rigdon. Bushman notes that the establishment of the Order "put Joseph Smith's Zion in company with scores of utopians who were bent on moderating economic injustices in these years."

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

At Rigdon's suggestion,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Smith began a revision of the Bible in April 1831,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

on which he worked sporadically until its completion in 1833.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

 Correct, per cited sources
}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Rectifying what Rigdon perceived as a defect in Smith's church,

Author's sources:
    • Prince (1995) , p. 116.

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Smith promised the church's elders that in Kirtland they would receive an endowment of heavenly power.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Therefore, in the church's June 1831 general conference,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  • Brodie's source is Ezra Booth. Brodie's note on p.111: :

Booth's detailed account of the conference and the story of his own disillusionment were written in a series of letters to Edward Partridge and published in 1831-2 in the Ohio Start at Ravenna. They were reprinted in E. D. Howe: Mormonism Unvailed.

  • Booth claims the following (Mormonism Unvailed, pp. 189-90):

It now became clearly manifest, that "the man of sin was revealed," for the express purpose that the elders should become acquainted with the devices of Satan; and after that they would possess knowledge sufficient to manage him. This, Smith declared to be a miracle, and his success in this case, encouraged him to work other and different miracles. Taking the hand of one of the Elders in his own, a hand which by accident had been rendered defective, he said, "Brother Murdock, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to straighten your hand; in the mean while endeavoring to accomplish the work by using his own hand to open the hand of the other. The effort proved unsuccessful; but he again articulated the same commandment, in a more authoritative and louder tone of voice; and while uttering with his tongue, his hands were at work; but after all the exertion of his power, both natural and supernatural, the deficient hand returned to its former position, where it still remains. But ill success in this case, did not discourage him from undertaking another. One of the Elders who was decriped in one of his legs, was set upon the floor, and commanded, in the name of Jesus Christ to walk. He walked a step or two, his faith failed, and he was again compelled to have recourse to his former assistant, and he has had occasion to use it ever since.

A dead body. which had been retained above ground two or three days, under the expectation that the dead would be raised, was insensible to the voice of those who commanded it to awake into life, and is destined to sleep in the grave till the last trump shall sound, and the power of God easily accomplishes the work, which frustrated the attempts, and bid defiance to the puny efforts of the Mormonite.

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

he introduced the greater authority of a High ("Melchizedek") Priesthood to the church hierarchy.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

The church grew as new converts poured into Kirtland.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

By the summer of 1835, there were fifteen hundred to two thousand Mormons in the vicinity of Kirtland

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

expecting Smith to lead them shortly to the Millennial kingdom.

Author's sources:
    • Brodie (1971) , pp. 101–02, 121.

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Though Oliver Cowdery's mission to the Indians was a failure,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

he sent word he had found the site for the New Jerusalem in Jackson County, Missouri.

Author's sources:
    • Brodie (1971) , p. 108.

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

After he visited there in July 1831, Smith agreed and pronounced the county's rugged outpost

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Independence to be the "center place" of Zion.

Author's sources:
    • Smith (Cowdery) , p. 154.

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Rigdon, however, disapproved of the location, and for most of the 1830s, the church was divided between Ohio and Missouri.

Author's sources:
    • Brodie (1971) , p. 115.

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Smith continued to live in Ohio but visited Missouri again in early 1832 in order to prevent a rebellion of prominent Saints, including Cowdery, who believed Zion was being neglected.

Author's sources:
    • Brodie (1971) , pp. 119–22.

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Smith's trip was hastened

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

by a mob of residents led by former Saints who were incensed over the United Order and Smith's political power.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

The mob beat Smith and Rigdon unconscious and tarred and feathered them.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  • Bushman (p. 179): "The historian Fawn Brodie speculated that one of John Johnson's sons, Eli, meant to punish Joseph for an intimacy with his sister Nancy Marinda, but that hypothesis fell for lack of evidence." The editor cites Bushman, but only includes Brodie's speculation without noting that the her hypothesis was disproven.
  • Regarding the story of why Joseph was tarred and feathered, Brodie gets the woman's name wrong—it is "Marinda Nancy," not "Nancy Marinda." The account is further flawed because Marinda has no brother named Eli.
  • Van Wagoner in Mormon Polygamy describes the tar and feather incident. Unfortunately, Van Wagoner tucks this information into an endnote, where the reader will be unaware of it unless he checks the sources carefully:

One account related that on 24 March [1832] a mob of men pulled Smith from his bed, beat him, and then covered him with a coat of tar and feathers. Eli Johnson, who allegedly participated in the attack "because he suspected Joseph of being intimate with his sister, Nancy Marinda Johnson, … was screaming for Joseph's castration." There is more to the story than this, however—much more. Van Wagoner even indicates that it is "unlikely" that "an incident between Smith and Nancy Johnson precipitated the mobbing."

  • Todd Compton casts further doubt on this episode. He notes that Van Wagoner's source is Fawn Brodie, and Brodie's source is from 1884—quite late. Clark Braden, the source, also got his information second-hand, and is clearly antagonistic, since he is a member of the Church of Christ, the “Disciples,” seeking to attack the Reorganized (RLDS) Church.
  • For a detailed response, see: Marinda Nancy Johnson
  • For an analysis of Fawn Brodie's critical work, see A FAIR Analysis of No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith.

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

The old Jackson Countians resented the Mormon newcomers for various political and religious reasons.

Author's sources:
    • These reasons included the settlers' understanding that the Saints' intended to appropriate their property and establish a Millennial political kingdom (Brodie (1971) , pp. 130–31; Remini (2002) , pp. 114), the Saints' friendliness with the Indians (Brodie (1971) , p. 130); Remini (2002) , pp. 114–15), the Saints' perceived religious blasphemy Remini (2002) , p. 114, and especially the belief that the Saints were abolitionists (Brodie (1971) , pp. 131–33; Remini (2002) , pp. 113–14).

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Mob attacks began in July 1833,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

but Smith advised the Mormons to patiently bear them

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

until a fourth attack, which would permit vengeance to be taken.

Author's sources:
    • Quinn (1994) , pp. 82–83 (Smith's August 1833 revelation said that after the fourth attack, "the Saints were "justified" by God in violence against any attack by any enemy "until they had avenged themselves on all their enemies, to the third and fourth generation.," citing Smith (Cowdery) , p. 218).

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Nevertheless, once they began to defend themselves,

Author's sources:
    • Quinn (1994) , pp. 83–84 (after the fourth attack on 2 November 1833, Saints began fighting back, leading to the Battle of Blue River on 4 November 1833).

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

the Mormons were brutally expelled from the county.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Under authority of revelations directing Smith to lead the church like a modern Moses to redeem Zion by power

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

and avenge God's enemies,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

he led to Missouri a paramilitary expedition, later called Zion's Camp.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

When the camp found itself outnumbered, Smith retreated and produced a revelation explaining that the church was unworthy to redeem Zion in part because of the failure of the recently disbanded

Author's sources:
    • Brodie (1971) , p. 141.

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

United Order.

Author's sources:
    • Roberts (1904) , p. 108 (quoting text of revelation); Hill (1989) , pp. 44–45 (noting that in addition to failure to unite under the celestial order, God was displeased the church had failed to make Zion's army sufficiently strong).

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Redemption of Zion would have to wait until after the elders of the church could receive another endowment of heavenly power,

Author's sources:
    • Brodie (1971) , pp. 156–57; Roberts (1904) , p. 109 (text of revelation).

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

this time in the Kirtland Temple

Author's sources:
    • Smith (Cowdery) , p. 233 (Kirtland Temple "design[ed] to endow those whom [God] ha[s] chosen with power on high"); Prince (1995) , p. 32 & n.104 (quoting revelation dated 12 June 1834 (Kirtland Revelation Book pp. 97–100) stating that the redemption of Zion "cannot be brought to pass until mine elders are endowed with power from on high; for, behold, I have prepared a greater endowment and blessing to be poured out upon them [than the 1831 endowment]").

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

then under construction.

Author's sources:
    • Construction began in June 1833 Remini (2002) , p. 115, not long before the first attack on the Missouri Saints.

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Zion's Camp was a major failure

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  • Bushman states,

Was Zion's Camp a catastrophe? Perhaps, but it was not the unmitigated disaster that it appears to be. Most camp members felt more loyal to Joseph than ever, bonded by their hardships. The future leadership of the Church came from this group. Nine of the Church's original Twelve Apostles, all seven presidents of the Seventy, and sixty-three other members of the seventy marched in Zion's Camp. (Bushman, p. 247)

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

that stunned Smith for months

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Violates Wikipedia: Citing sources off-site— There is either no citation to support the statement or the citation given is incorrect.

    The cited source (Bushman, p. 322) does not contain the phrase "stunned for months, scarcely knowing what to do." This sounds more like Brodie.

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

and resulted in a crisis in Kirtland.

Author's sources:
    • Brodie (1971) , p. 160; Quinn (1994) , p. 87 (noting that in October 1834, Smith only gathered two votes in his failed election as Kirtland's coroner).

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

But Zion's Camp also led to a transformation in Mormon leadership and culture.

Author's sources:
    • Quinn (1994) , p. 85.

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Just before Zion's Camp left Kirtland, Smith disbanded the United Order

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

and changed the name of the church to "Church of Latter Day Saints."

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

After the Camp returned, Smith drew heavily from its participants to establish five governing bodies in the church, all of equal authority to check one another.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

He also produced fewer revelations, relying more heavily on the authority of his own teaching,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

and he altered and expanded many of the previous revelations to reflect recent changes in theology and practice, publishing them as the Doctrine and Covenants.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Smith also claimed to translate, from Egyptian papyri he had purchased from a traveling exhibitor, a text he later published as the Book of Abraham.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

The Saints built the Kirtland Temple at great cost,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

and at the temple's dedication in March 1836, they participated in the prophesied endowment, a scene of visions, angelic visitations, prophesying, speaking and singing in tongues, and other spiritual experiences.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

The period from 1834–1837 was one of relative peace for Joseph Smith.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Nevertheless, after the dedication of the Kirtland temple in late 1837, "Smith's life descended into a tangle of intrigue and conflict"

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

and a series of internal disputes led to the collapse of the Kirtland Mormon community.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Although the church had publicly repudiated polygamy,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

behind the scenes there was a rift between Smith and Oliver Cowdery over the issue.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Smith had by some accounts been teaching a polygamy doctrine as early as 1831.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Sometime between 1833 and 1836, Smith engaged in a furtive relationship with his adolescent serving girl Fanny Alger.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Although Cowdery claimed the relationship was a "filthy affair,"

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Smith insisted the relationship was not adulterous, presumably because he had taken Alger as a plural wife.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources
  • Bushman notes,

On his part, Joseph never denied a relationship with Alger, but insisted it was not adulterous. He wanted it on record that he had never confessed to such a sin. Presumably, he felt innocent because he had married Alger."

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Cowdery, who was in the process of leaving the church,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

was eventually charged with slander and expelled from the church.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources
  • Bushman cites Far West Record, 163 (Apr. 12, 1838)

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Emma Smith "suspected a relationship and threw Fanny out of the house."

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  • The Ostlings state,

The comely sixteen-year-old Fanny Alger, a hired girl living with the Smiths in Kirtland, became the prophet's plural wife in 1833 when he was twenty-seven. In a pattern that was to be repeated several times, Emma suspected a relationship and threw Fanny out of her house.

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Building the temple left the church deeply in debt, and Smith was hounded by creditors.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  • According to the cited source, the remaining debt on the temple was $13,000, and "Joseph opened a merchandise store, but the venture called for still more capital. The month after he returned from Salem, he borrowed $11,000 for land purchases and store inventory. John Corrill heard the store inventory eventually cost between $80,000 and $90,000. The borrowing went on through 1837 until Joseph had run up debts of over $100,000." (Bushman, p. 329)

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

After Smith heard about treasure supposedly hidden in Salem, Massachusetts, he traveled there and received a revelation that God had "much treasure in this city."

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

After a month, he returned empty-handed.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Smith then turned to wildcat banking, establishing the Kirtland Safety Society in January 1837, which issued bank notes capitalized in part by real estate.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  • Bushman p. 328: It should be noted that Bushman states that in addition to the capital, that "[t]he rest of the issue was secured by land. In actuality, the Safety Society was a partial 'land bank,' a device New Englanders had once resorted to in their cash-poor, land-rich society."
  • For a detailed response, see: Kirtland Safety Society

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Smith invested heavily in the notes

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

and encouraged the Saints to buy them as a religious duty.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

The bank failed within a month.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

As a result, the Kirtland Saints suffered intense pressure from debt collectors and severe price volatility.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

Smith was held responsible for the failure, and there were widespread defections from the church,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

including many of Smith's closest advisers.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  References not included in the Wikipedia article
    Bushman states the following on page 626, note 42: "Milton Backman notes that none of the bank's largest shareholders and only eight percent of all shareholders left the Church. (Backman, "Kirtland Temple," 221.)
  • From Bushman, "David Patten, a leading apostle, raised so many insulting questions Joseph 'slap[p]ed him in the face & kicked him out of the yard.'"

}}

The author(s) of Check link or content make(s) the following claim:

After a warrant was issued for Smith's arrest on a charge of banking fraud, Smith and Rigdon fled Kirtland for Missouri on the night of January 12, 1838.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  • Bushman states, "Joseph and Rigdon left Kirtland in the night on January 12, 1838. The lawsuits were building up, and apostates were feared to be plotting more desperate measures. Joseph claimed that armed men—whether Mormons or irate creditors, he did not say—pursued them for two hundred miles from Kirtland." (Bushman, p. 340)
  • For an analysis of Fawn Brodie's critical work, see A FAIR Analysis of No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith.

}}

References

Wikipedia references for "Joseph Smith, Jr."
  • Abanes, Richard, (2003), One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church Thunder's Mouth Press
  • Allen, James B., The Significance of Joseph Smith's "First Vision" in Mormon Thought off-site .
  • (1992), The Mormon Experience University of Illinois Press .
  • (1980), The Lion and the Lady: Brigham Young and Emma Smith off-site .
  • Bergera, Gary James (editor) (1989), Line Upon Line: Essays on Mormon Doctrine Signature Books .
  • Bloom, Harold, (1992), The American Religion: The Emergence of the Post-Christian Nation Simon & Schuster .
  • Booth, Ezra, Mormonism—Nos. VIII–IX (Letters to the editor) off-site .
  • Brodie, Fawn M., (1971), No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith Knopf .
  • Brooke, , (1994), The Refiner's Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644–1844 Cambridge University Press .
  • Bushman, Richard Lyman, (2005), Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling , New York: Knopf .
  • Clark, John A., (1842), Gleanings by the Way , Philadelphia: W.J. & J.K Simmon off-site .
  • Compton, Todd, (1997), In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith Signature Books .
  • Foster, Lawrence, (1981), Religion and Sexuality: The Shakers, the Mormons, and the Oneida Community , New York: Oxford University Press .
  • Harris, Martin, (1859), Mormonism—No. II off-site .
  • Hill, Donna, (1977), Joseph Smith: The first Mormon , Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Co. .
  • Hill, Marvin S., (1976), Joseph Smith and the 1826 Trial: New Evidence and New Difficulties off-site .
  • Hill, Marvin S., (1989), Quest for Refuge: The Mormon Flight from American Pluralism Signature Books off-site .
  • Howe, Eber Dudley, (1834), Mormonism Unvailed: Or, A Faithful Account of that Singular Imposition and Delusion, from its Rise to the Present Time , Painesville, Ohio: Telegraph Press off-site .
  • Hullinger, Robert N., (1992), Joseph Smith's Response to Skepticism Signature Books off-site .
  • Jessee, Dean, (1976), Joseph Knight's Recollection of Early Mormon History off-site .
  • Lapham, [La]Fayette, (1870), Interview with the Father of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, Forty Years Ago. His Account of the Finding of the Sacred Plates off-site .
  • Larson, Stan, (1978), The King Follett Discourse: A Newly Amalgamated Text off-site .
  • Mormon History off-site .
  • Mack, Solomon, (1811), A Narraitve [sic] of the Life of Solomon Mack Windsor: Solomon Mack off-site .
  • (1994), Inventing Mormonism Signature Books .
  • Marquardt, H. Michael, (1999), The Joseph Smith Revelations: Text and Commentary Signature Books .
  • Marquardt, H. Michael, (2005), The Rise of Mormonism: 1816–1844 Xulon Press .
  • Matzko, John, (2007), The Encounter of the Young Joseph Smith with Presbyterianism off-site .
  • Morgan, Dale, Walker, John Phillip (editor) (1986), Dale Morgan on Early Mormonism: Correspondence and a New History Signature Books off-site .
  • (2008), Joseph Smith Jr.: reappraisals after two centuries Oxford University Press .
  • Newell, Linda King, (1994), Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith University of Illinois Press .
  • (1999), Mormon America: The Power and the Promise HarperSanFrancisco .
  • Persuitte, David, (2000), Joseph Smith and the origins of the Book of Mormon McFarland & Co. .
  • Phelps, W.W. (editor) (1833), A Book of Commandments, for the Government of the Church of Christ , Zion: William Wines Phelps & Co. off-site .
  • Prince, Gregory A, (1995), Power From On High: The Development of Mormon Priesthood Signature Books .
  • Quinn, D. Michael, (1994), The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power Signature Books .
  • Quinn, D. Michael, (1998), Early Mormonism and the Magic World View Signature Books .
  • Remini, , (2002), Joseph Smith: A Penguin Life Penguin Group .
  • Roberts, B. H. (editor) (1902), History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , Salt Lake City: Deseret News off-site .
  • Roberts, B. H. (editor) (1904), History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , Salt Lake City: Deseret News off-site .
  • Roberts, B. H. (editor) (1905), History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , Salt Lake City: Deseret News off-site .
  • Roberts, B. H. (editor) (1909), History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , Salt Lake City: Deseret News off-site .
  • Shipps, Jan, (1985), Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition University of Illinois Press .
  • Smith, George D., (1994), Nauvoo Roots of Mormon Polygamy, 1841–46: A Preliminary Demographic Report off-site .
  • Smith, George D, (2008), Nauvoo Polygamy: "...but we called it celestial marriage" Signature Books .
  • Smith, Joseph, Jr., (1830), The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, Upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi , Palmyra, New York: E. B. Grandin off-site . See Book of Mormon.
  • Smith, Joseph, Jr., Jessee, Dean C (editor) (1832), Personal Writings of Joseph Smith , Salt Lake City: Deseret Book .
  • Jessee, Dean C (editor) (1839–1843), Personal Writings of Joseph Smith Deseret Book .
  • (1835), Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God , Kirtland, Ohio: F. G. Williams & Co off-site . See Doctrine and Covenants.
  • Smith, Joseph, Jr., Church History [Wentworth Letter] off-site . See Wentworth letter.
  • Smith, Lucy Mack, (1853), Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations , Liverpool: S.W. Richards off-site . See The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother
  • Tucker, Pomeroy, (1867), Origin, Rise and Progress of Mormonism , New York: D. Appleton off-site .
  • Turner, Orsamus, (1852), History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase, and Morris' Reserve , Rochester, New York: William Alling off-site .
  • Joseph Smith: The Gift of Seeing off-site .
  • Van Wagoner, Richard S., (1992), Mormon Polygamy: A History Signature Books .
  • Vogel, Dan, (1994), The Locations of Joseph Smith's Early Treasure Quests off-site .
  • Vogel, Dan, (2004), Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet Signature Books .
  • Widmer, Kurt, (2000), Mormonism and the Nature of God: A Theological Evolution, 1830–1915 McFarland .


Further reading

Mormonism and Wikipedia



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FairMormon's approach to Wikipedia articles

FairMormon regularly receives queries about specific LDS-themed Wikipedia articles with requests that we somehow "fix" them. Although some individual members of FAIR may choose to edit Wikipedia articles, FairMormon as an organization does not. Controversial Wikipedia articles require constant maintenance and a significant amount of time. We prefer instead to respond to claims in the FAIR Wiki rather than fight the ongoing battle that LDS Wikipedia articles sometimes invite. From FAIR’s perspective, assertions made in LDS-themed Wikipedia articles are therefore treated just like any other critical (or, if one prefers, "anti-Mormon") work. As those articles are revised and updated, we will periodically update our reviews to match.

Who can edit Wikipedia articles?

Editors who wish to participate in editing LDS-themed Wikipedia articles can access the project page here: Wikipedia:WikiProject Latter Day Saint movement. You are not required to be LDS in order to participate—there are a number of good non-LDS editors who have made valuable contributions to these articles.

Recommendations when editing Wikipedia articles

FAIR does not advocate removing any references from Wikipedia articles. The best approach to editing Wikipedia is to locate solid references to back up your position and add them rather than attempting to remove information. Individuals who intend to edit should be aware that posting information related to the real-world identities of Wikipedia editors will result in their being banned from editing Wikipedia. Attacking editors and attempting to "out" them on Wikipedia is considered very bad form. The best approach is to treat all Wikipedia editors, whether or not you agree or disagree with their approach, with respect and civility. An argumentative approach is not constructive to achieving a positive result, and will simply result in what is called an "edit war." Unfortunately, not all Wikipedia editors exhibit good faith toward other editors (see, for example, the comment above from "Duke53" or comments within these reviews made by John Foxe's sockpuppet "Hi540," both of whom repeatedly mocked LDS beliefs and LDS editors prior to their being banned.)

Do LDS editors control Wikipedia?

Although there exist editors on Wikipedia who openly declare their affiliation with the Church, they do not control Wikipedia. Ironically, some critics of the Church periodically falsely accuse Wikipedia editors of being LDS simply because they do not accept the critics' desired spin on a particular article.

Do "anti-Mormons" control Wikipedia?

Again, the answer is no. The truth is that Wikipedia is generally self-policing. Highly contentious articles do tend to draw the most passionate supporters and critics.

Why do certain LDS articles seem to be so negative?

Although some LDS-related Wikipedia articles may appear to have a negative tone, they are in reality quite a bit more balanced than certain critical works such as One Nation Under Gods. Although many critical editors often accuse LDS-related Wikipedia articles of being "faith promoting" or claim that they are just an extension of the Sunday School manual, this is rarely the case. Few, if any, Latter-day Saints would find Wikipedia articles to be "faith promoting." Generally, the believers think that the articles are too negative and the critics believe that the articles are too positive. LDS Wikipedia articles should be informative without being overtly faith promoting. However, most of the primary sources, including the words of Joseph Smith himself, are "faith promoting." This presents a dilemma for Wikipedia editors who want to remain neutral. The unfortunate consequence is that Joseph's words are rewritten and intermixed with contradictory sources, resulting in boring and confusing prose.

FairMormon's analysis of LDS-related Wikipedia articles

We examine selected Wikipedia articles and examine them on a "claim-by-claim" basis, with links to responses in the FairMormon Answers Wiki. Wikipedia articles are constantly evolving. As a result, the analysis of each article will be updated periodically in order to bring it more into line with the current version of the article. The latest revision date may be viewed at the top of each individual section. The process by which Wikipedia articles are reviewed is the following:

  1. Update each Wikipedia passage and its associated footnotes.
  2. Examine the use of sources and determine whether or not the passage accurately represents the source used.
  3. Provide links to response articles within the FairMormon Answers Wiki.
  4. If violation of Wikipedia rules is discovered, identify which Wikipedia editor (by pseudonym) made the edit, provide a description of the rule violated and a link to the Wikipedia "diff" showing the actual edit.
  5. If a violated rule is later corrected in a subsequent revision, the violation is removed and a notation is added that the passage is correct per cited sources. This doesn't mean that FAIR necessarily agrees with the passage—only that it is correct based upon the source used.

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, "Mormonism and Wikipedia: The Church History That “Anyone Can Edit”"

Roger Nicholson,  Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, (2012)

The ability to quickly and easily access literature critical of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been made significantly easier through the advent of the Internet. One of the primary sites that dominates search engine results is Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that “anyone can edit.” Wikipedia contains a large number of articles related to Mormonism that are edited by believers, critics, and neutral parties. The reliability of information regarding the Church and its history is subject to the biases of the editors who choose to modify those articles. Even if a wiki article is thoroughly sourced, editors sometimes employ source material in a manner that supports their bias. This essay explores the dynamics behind the creation of Wikipedia articles about the Church, the role that believers and critics play in that process, and the reliability of the information produced in the resulting wiki articles.

Click here to view the complete article

Wikipedia and anti-Mormon literature
Key sources
  • Roger Nicholson, "Mormonism and Wikipedia: The Church History That 'Anyone Can Edit'," Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 1/8 (14 September 2012). [151–190] link
Wiki links
Online
Navigators

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