A lot of people are learning Church history by reading Saints, volume 1. It’s a long book, and mostly great. But some of it is revisionist history, so I’m offering this as an overview to help readers understand what they’re going to read.
There is an important timeline that the book does not explain. In 1834, an anti-Mormon book titled Mormonism Unvailed was published near Kirtland, Ohio, that claimed Joseph Smith produced the Book of Mormon using a “peep stone” that he put in a hat. The book acknowledged an alternative explanation that Joseph used the Urim and Thummim that came with the plates. In response, Joseph and Oliver wrote a series of 8 letters about Church history. In Letter #1, they declared that Joseph translated the plates with the Urim and Thummim. Joseph made sure those letters republished several times so all Church members could read them. Plus, in the 1842 Wentworth letter, Joseph reiterated the U&T. In 1848, when Oliver rejoined the Church, he reiterated the U&T.
Nevertheless, Saints, Volume 1, adopts the Mormonism Unvailed approach by teaching that Joseph used the stone-in-the-hat, which I call SITH.
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| Shapeshifter |
As if SITH wasn’t bad enough, we have a shape-shifting resurrected being (Moroni as an old man visiting Mary Whitmer–he might as well be a salamander after all).
We have plates that were laboriously abridged and carefully preserved for 1400 years only to be kept under a cloth and never even opened, which surely was a surprise to Moroni who “sealed” a portion and warned Joseph not to read the sealed portion, apparently because he didn’t know Joseph could “translate” the whole thing without even looking at the plates because he found a stone in a well that worked a lot better than the clunky old Urim and Thummim Moroni provided.
And, of course, according to Saints no one ever mentioned Cumorah, let alone the fact that the Cumorah of Mormon 6:6 is the same hill in New York where Joseph found the plates.
Saints teaches us that Joseph, Oliver, and all their contemporaries and successors were wrong about Cumorah and the Urim and Thummim until a handful of LDS historians, 190 years after the fact, figured out what really happened!
Sadly, this isn’t even hyperbole.
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People can believe whatever they want, but many people don’t think this revisionist history is credible, whether or not they are members of the Church.
We hope people don’t let the revisionist history cause confusion or lead them to doubt their testimonies of the Restoration.
There are still Church members who believe what Joseph and Oliver taught. We think the historical record left by Joseph and Oliver is credible, not to mention consistent with the scriptures (Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price).We can still read their teachings in the Joseph Smith Papers, even if we can’t read them in Saints.
We accept what Joseph and Oliver taught because they were the only witnesses to many of the critical events in Church history, they were the President and Assistant President of the Church, respectively, and they were entrusted with the keys of the temple.
We also recognize that their contemporaries and successors in Church leadership have consistently and persistently reaffirmed what they taught.
Until the revisionist historians took over.
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Here’s what makes sense to us.
We think Joseph actually translated the plates using the Urim and Thummim that came with the plates.
We think Moroni sealed a portion of the plates because Joseph was translating the actual plates and could have translated the sealed portion if it had not been sealed.
We think Moroni was not a shape-shifter who appeared in the form of an old man to Mary Whitmer.
We think that messenger who showed the plates of Nephi was the same one who told David, Joseph and Oliver that he was taking the Harmony plates to Cumorah before he brought the plates of Nephi to Fayette.
We think there were two sets of plates: the abridged plates that Joseph translated in Harmony, and the plates of Nephi that Joseph translated in Fayette.
We think Joseph used a seer stone to provide a demonstration of the process, but not to translate the plates.
And we think the Hill Cumorah is in New York, not in Mexico.
Source: About Central America
One thought on “Readers Digest version of Saints, volume 1”
https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/content/errata-for-saints?lang=eng is the Errata Sheet for Saints Vol 1 and 2. Too bad they didn’t fix the MAJOR errors!
Most folks who care know about Cumorah being censored and Americas vice America or this land or this country or continent and pushing the false seer stone narrative vice the Urim and Thummim. The third discrepancy is on pages 70 and 71 where it says Moroni showed the plates to Mary Whitmer vice Nephi. Here are 3 other errors not so well known.
1. Pages 98 and 108 in Saints Vol 1, calls it Oliver’s mission to the West vice Mission to the Lamanites as described in D&C 28, 30, and 32. The gospel didn’t go to Guatemala until 1947!
2. Page 25 states that Joseph got the plates out of a stone box, vice a stone and cement box. I think the obvious implication is that Moroni did not know how to build with cement in New York, but the Mesoamerican people could build with cement. The Nephites preferred to build with wood and they even shipped wood to sites that needed it. They also built with cement.
In 1912, St Marys Cement began in St Marys, Ontario Canada about 100 miles west of Totonto. Why would such a company start in this remote location? The answer is Limestone. Cement is made of limestone and clay. Cement is added to sand and gravel and water to make concrete. The Onondaga Limestone formation cuts across New York (parallels the Eire Canal) and Southern Ontario through St Marys. Several years ago they claimed to be the largest cement company in North America with operations all around the Great Lakes in the US and Canada. The recently merged with a Brazilian cement company (Votorantim) and they are one of the 10 largest in the world.
Limestone is found in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa, Missouri. The largest limestone quarry in the world is in northern Michigan near Lake Huron.
Clay is found in abundance in Ontario and most states in the eastern US. Here is a 1922 report at https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0708/report.pdf
Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Escarpment, the Niagara Escarpment (dolomitic limestone) is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in the United States and Canada that runs predominantly east/west from New York, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The Escarpment is a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. It has the oldest forest ecosystem and trees in eastern North America.[1]
3. Page 98 states, “that God would establish the New Jerusalem on the American continent prior to the Second Coming of Christ.” Footnote 20 refers to multiple sources including Ether 13:3-10 which uses the words “this land” 3 times when referring to a New Jerusalem. The 10th article of faith in my 1971 Triple Combination uses the words “Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon this the American continent.” My 1981 Triple Combination has deleted the word “this.” The Times and Seasons, 1 March 1842 states, “That Zion will be built upon this continent.”
On 20 July 1831, Section 57 of the Doctrine and Covenants was given. The Lord declares this land (Independence, Jackson County, Missouri) is the land of promise, the location of the city of Zion, the New Jerusalem.
1 Hearken, O ye elders of my church, saith the Lord your God, who have assembled yourselves together, according to my commandments, in this land, which is the land of aMissouri, which is the bland which I have appointed and cconsecrated for the dgathering of the saints.
2 Wherefore, this is the aland of promise, and the bplace for the city of cZion.
3 And thus saith the Lord your God, if you will receive wisdom here is wisdom. Behold, the place which is now called Independence is the acenter place; and a spot for the btemple is lying westward, upon a lot which is not far from the courthouse.”
N. Eldon Tanner gives a talk about the United States of America in April 1976 at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1976/04/if-they-will-but-serve-the-god-of-the-land?lang=eng
“Today, however, I should like to confine my remarks to a discussion concerning the Western Hemisphere, and particularly to the United States of America, and to point out the destiny of America in the Lord’s eternal plan.”
See Elder Holland’s 1976 talk about America and the United states and a promised land at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1976/06/a-promised-land?lang=eng
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/l-tom-perry/church-american-bicentennial/ is a talk on the American Bicentennial by L. Tom Perry on 24 Feb 1976 at BYU. At the 10:30 mark, He starts to talk about 7 posters including Christ in America. At the 13:20 mark he talks about the first of 7 posters—Ancient America. He states that archeologist have now confirmed the existence of a great preAztec civilization on the American Continent. The Book of Mormon is a record of this civilization. The Aztec Empire flourished between 1345 and 1521 CE. The Adena and Hopewell were certainly long before the Aztecs. Apparently Elder Perry didn’t know about the Adena and Hopewell.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/1976/07/gods-hand-in-the-founding-of-america?lang=eng was adapted from his Feb 1976 talk. At the end of his talk there is a list of 7 posters made by an artist named Winborg. I’ve asked the Church History Library about getting a copy of the 7 posters.
In 2012, Elder Perry gave another talk at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2012/12/the-tradition-of-light-and-testimony?lang=eng In this talk, he states, “The United States is the promised land foretold in the Book of Mormon—a place where divine guidance directed inspired men to create the conditions necessary for the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
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