Mormonism and Wikipedia/Joseph Smith, Jr./Early years


A FairMormon Analysis of Wikipedia: Mormonism and Wikipedia/Joseph Smith, Jr.
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An analysis of Wikipedia article "Joseph Smith, Jr."

The article has remarkable balance right now. Any attempts to deliberately add Mormon POV will both spark an edit war and in the end degrade the literary quality of the current article because of the difficulty of clearing the corpses from the battlefield when it concludes. Improvements in this article are more likely to come from deletions than additions.
—John Foxe, 13 January 2009 off-site
∗       ∗       ∗
I think Smith is handled with kid gloves in this article. There needs to be more emphasis on the fraudulent means that he used to start his religion and also the emphasis on sex at the end of his life.
—Hi540, 13 January 2009 off-site
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Reviews of previous revisions of this section

19 May 2009

Life

Early years (1805–1827)  Updated 1/12/2010

Main article: Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.
- Wikipedia Main Article: years Joseph Smith, Jr.–Early years Wikipedia Footnotes: Joseph Smith, Jr.–Notes A FAIR Opinion

Joseph Smith, Jr. was born on December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont to Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith, a migrant farming couple.

  • Bushman (2005) , pp. 9, 30; Smith (1832) , p. 1.
  •  Correct, per cited sources

Stricken with a crippling bone infection at age eight, he hobbled on crutches as a child.

  • Smith (1853) , pp. 62-65; Bushman (2005) , pp. 20–22, 29.
  •  Correct, per cited sources

In 1816-17, the Smith family moved west to the village of Palmyra in western New York,

  • Bushman (2005) , p. 30.
  •  Correct, per cited sources

and by July 1820 had obtained a mortgage for a 100-acre farm in the nearby town of Manchester,

  • Bushman (2005) , pp. 32-33. From about 1818 until after the July 1820 purchase, the Smiths squatted in a log home adjacent to the property. Id.

an area that had fueled repeated religious revivals during this time known as the Second Great Awakening.

  • Shipps (1987) , p. 7.

Although he may never have joined a church in his youth,

  • Smith said that he decided in 1820, based on his First Vision, not to join any churches Smith (1838) , p. 4. However, Lapham (1870) said that Smith's father told him his son had once become a Baptist).
  •  Correct, per cited sources
  • From Lapham's 1870 account (47 years after the events described) we seem some interesting oddities. Lapham is paraphrasing an interview with Joseph Smith, Sr. Note that this account is being given almost 30 years after Joseph Smith, Jr. published the story of the First Vision and visit by Moroni.

After this, Joseph spent about two years looking into this stone, telling fortunes, where to find lost things, and where to dig for money and other hidden treasure. About this time he became concerned as to his future state of existence, and was baptized, becoming thus a member of the Baptist Church. Soon after joining the Church, he had a very singular dream; but he did not tell his father of his dream, until about a year afterwards. He then told his father that, in his dream, a very large and tall man appeared to him, dressed in an ancient suit of clothes, and the clothes were bloody.

he participated in church classes

  • Smith is known to have attended Sunday school at the Western Presbyterian Church in Palmyra Matzko (2007) . Smith also attended and spoke at a Methodist probationary class in the early 1820s, but never officially joined (Turner (1852) , p. 214; Tucker (1876) , p. 18).

and read the Bible. With his family, he took part in religious folk magic,

  • Quinn (1998) , p. 30("Joseph Smith's family was typical of many early Americans who practiced various forms of Christian folk magic."); Bushman (2005) , p. 50 (referring to the Smiths' use of rod and stone divining, astrology, and magical parchments).

a common practice but one that many Christian clergymen condemned.

  • Quinn (1998) , p. 31
  •  Correct, per cited sources
  • From the cited source,

At this time the revivals of western New York's so-called "Burned-over District" were bringing thousands out of private folk religion and into organized churches, whose clergy opposed folk magic.

His family were also Christian mystics: like many people of that era,

  • Quinn (1988) , pp. 14-16, 137.
  •  Violates Wikipedia: Citing sources off-site— There is either no citation to support the statement or the citation given is incorrect.

    The cited source does not mention "Christian mystics." Quinn pp 14-16 discusses the theophanies experienced by others in the region where Joseph lived. Page 137 discusses Joseph's own theophany.
  • The closest thing we can find in the cited source to the statement made by the wiki editor is when Quinn quotes Bushman on page 137:

Standing on the margins of instituted churches, they [the Smiths] were as susceptible to the neighbors' belief in magic as they were to the teachings of orthodox ministers.

both his parents and his maternal grandfather had visions or dreams that they believed communicated messages from God.

  • Mack (1811) , p. 25; Smith (1853) , pp. 54–59, 70–74; Bushman (2005) , p. 26, 36.

Smith said that he had his own first vision in 1820, in which God told him his sins were forgiven

  • Smith (1832) ; Bushman (2005) , p. 39.

and, according to later accounts, that all churches were false.

  • Smith (1838) , p. 3.

Though generally unknown to early Latter Day Saints,

  • Bushman , p. 39 (story was unknown to most early converts); Allen (1966) , p. 30 (the first vision received only limited circulation in the 1830s).

the vision story gained increasing theological importance within the Latter Day Saint movement beginning roughly a half century later.

  • Shipps (1985) , pp. 30–32; Allen (1966) , p. 43–69.

The Smith family supplemented its meager farm income by treasure-digging,

  • Quinn (1998) , p. 136.
  • From the cited source,

Some neighbors also said that in "1819 or '20, they [the Smith family] commenced digging for money for a subsistence." Other neighbors specified that during "the spring of 1820" Joseph Jr. was extremely active in the treasure-quest.

likewise relatively common in contemporary New England.

  • Quinn (1998) , pp. 25–26.
  •  Correct, per cited sources

Joseph claimed an ability to use seer stones for locating lost items and buried treasure.

  • Quinn (1987) , p. 173; Bushman (2005) , pp. 49–51; Persuitte (2000) , pp. 33–53.

To do so, Smith would put a stone in a white stovepipe hat and would then see the required information in reflections given off by the stone.

  • Brooke (1994) , p. 152–53; Quinn (1998) , pp. 43–44; Bushman (2005) , pp. 45–52. See also the following primary sources: Harris (1833) , pp. 253-54; Hale (1834) , p. 265; Clark (1842) , p. 225; Turner (1851) , p. 216; Harris (1859) , p. 164; Tucker (1867) , pp. 20–21; Lapham (1870) , p. 305; Lewis (Lewis) , p. 1; Mather (1880) , p. 199.

In 1823, while praying for forgiveness from his "gratification of many appetites",

  • Smith (1838) , p. 5 (writing that he "displayed the weakness of youth and the corruption foibles of human nature, which I am sorry to say, led me into divers temptations to the gratification of many appetites offensive in the sight of God", deletions and interlineations in original); Quinn (1998) , p. 136-38 (arguing that Smith was praying for forgiveness for a sexual sin to maintain his power as a seer); Smith (1994) , pp. 17–18 (arguing that his prayer related to a sexual sin). But see Bushman (2005) , p. 43 (noting that Smith did not specify which "appetites" he had gratified, and suggesting that one of them was that he "drank too much").
  •  Correct, per cited sources
  • Note that D. Michael Quinn postulates that Joseph "once made an extraordinarily candid reference to his sexual struggle from 1820 to 1823" based upon the "gratification of many appetites" quote in Joseph's 1838 account, but the account says nothing about a "sexual struggle."

Smith said he was visited at night by an angel named Moroni, who revealed the location of a buried book of golden plates as well as other artifacts, including a breastplate and a set of silver spectacles with lenses composed of seer stones, which had been hidden in a hill named Cumorah near his home.

  • Smith (1838) , p. 4.
  • The hill near Joseph Smith's home was not named "Cumorah" at this point in time.

Smith said he attempted to remove the plates the next morning but was unsuccessful because the angel struck him down with supernatural force.

  • Mormon historian Richard Bushman argues that "the visit of the angel and the discovery of the gold plates would have confirmed the belief in supernatural powers. For people in a magical frame of mind, Moroni sounded like one of the the spirits who stood guard over treasure in the tales of treasure-seeking." Bushman (2005) , p. 50.
  •  Correct, per cited sources

During the next four years, Smith made annual visits to Cumorah, only to return without the plates because he claimed that he had not brought with him the "right person" required by the angel.

  • Knight (1833) , p. 2; Lapham (1870) , p. 307; Salisbury (1895) , p. 14–15; Bushman (2005) , p. 54 (the "right person" was originally Smith's brother Alvin, then when he died, someone else, and finally his wife Emma).
  •  Violates Wikipedia: Citing sources off-site— There is either no citation to support the statement or the citation given is incorrect.

    Bushman's comments are not accurately represented in the footnote, which makes him sound more definitive on the subject than he actually was:

Stories circulated of a requirement to bring Alvin to the hill to get the plates; and when he died, someone else. Emma, it was said, was designated as a key. The stories have a magical flavor, but other stories have the angel warning Joseph about greed and the evildoings of the money-diggers, as if the messenger was moving him away from his treasure-hunting ways.

Meanwhile, Smith continued to travel western New York and Pennsylvania as a treasure hunter,

  • Bushman (2005) , p. 51–53.

for which occupation he was tried in 1826 as a "disorderly person".

  • Hill (1976) , p. 1–2; Bushman (2005) , p. 51–52.

At one of his jobs, he met Emma Hale and eloped with her on January 18, 1827, because her parents disapproved of the match.

  • Bushman (2005) , p. 53.

Claiming his stone told him that Emma was the key to obtaining the plates,

  • Salisbury (1895) , p. 14–15; Bushman (2005) , p. 54.

Smith went with her to the hill on September 22, 1827. This time, he said he retrieved the plates and placed them in a locked chest.

  • Bushman (2005) , pp. 60.

He said the angel commanded him not to show the plates to anyone else but to publish their translation, reputed to be the religious record of indigenous Americans.

  • Smith (1838) , p. 5–6.

Although Smith had left his treasure hunting company by then,

  • Bushman (2005) , pp. 54.

his former associates believed Smith had double-crossed them by taking for himself what they considered joint property.

  • Harris (1859) , p. 167.

They ransacked places where a competing treasure-seer said the plates were hidden,

  • Bushman (2005) , pp. 54

and Smith soon realized that he could not accomplish the translation in Palmyra.

  • Bushman (2005) , pp. 60–61.

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 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
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