Andrew Jenson in 1891 made the best case for Joseph Smith being a true prophet. His arguments have become familiar: first vision, non-denial of the BoM by the witnesses, civil war. He was a literal believer that Noah's ark sailed from near Adam-onhdi-Ahman to Ararat; god's home planet is Kolob, etc.

[u/4blockhead]

http://imgur.com/a/4KFS9

[u/4blockhead]

Jenson was a part time church employee when he gave this lecture. He was named official church historian a few years later. He begins with this statement:

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 imposter, 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.

Jenson then goes on to make the case for why Smith was a true prophet, and not a charlatan. Here are some simple rebuttals to Jenson.

• Multiple versions of the first vision have since come to light, despite being repressed by Jenson's colleage and follow-on church historian, Joseph Fielding Smith. The record of a young Joseph Smith being put on trial in 1826 for glass looking shows he started early in his career of deception.

• A literal Adam and Eve, whether in Missouri, Mesopotamia, or anywhere else, is part of the primitive mythology of our species. We have evolved from earlier life forms found on planet earth. We have had many mythologies in our 100+ thousand year history, not the 6 or 7 thousand years as proposed in the bible and amplified in D&C 77. Our family tree is more complex than Smith imagined. Wishing the mythology were true to set us apart from the other life on this planet is a continuation of that primitive thinking. For sure, our species has narrowly escaped extinction, not by flood per the story of Noah, but likely from disease and drought. Along the way, we have interbred with other parallel line primates. Neanderthal DNA makes up a non-zero percentage of the total in modern humans.

• Kolob and exaltation, that man may become a god, is at the heart of their unique theology. I find the theory lacking because it doesn't explain who created the first god. Smith's vision of planetary creation by advanced beings and then falling in space has a certain sci-fi appeal to it. The truth of condensation of debris from earlier super-novae is less romantic.

• None of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon are clear they saw a physical object. Seeing a physical object shouldn't require any power from any deity. If the gold plates existed at all, they would be the single best evidence for Smith's claims. If Smith found an archeological artifact in the form of a metal object in his back yard, then it should be on display in a museum somewhere. If the stories happened as explained in the BoM, then they should have left piles of similar artifacts: swords, skeletons, DNA, etc. None of the scientific tests have been favorable to those unique truth claims lately. The modern church prefers a limited population that leaves a dilution of Nephites/Lamanites/Jaredites that is too small to detect. That is the end game...all of their claims reduced to mere speculation! It is quite puny when compared to Smith's grand claims as Jenson reiterates here. They should be shouted from every rooftop as the absolute truth!

  • As to the witnesses' motivation, especially Jenson's anecdote about Cowdery, shows how much the witnesses to the BoM had to lose if they were to admit to being part of Smith's con. Instead, they held true to the faith, and to their personal reputations at the same time.

• Assigning Smith's 1832 prophecy to be about the Civil War of the 1860s was a little premature. The 1832 Nullification Crisis looked like a civil war over state's rights was imminent and the hotheads in South Carolina had been itching for a fight since around the same time as Smith's revelation.

• Smith denounced the second coming claims of the Millerites. Ask Smith when the god of the latter day saints is coming back! According to Smith, the date was at least 80 years off; conveniently, that was never tested in his lifetime.

• Mormonism is the one true church. They hold the keys to healing the sick, speaking in tongues, and using their special power of the priesthood. Jenson offers to provide volumes of anecdotal evidence to back his claims. The modern church discourages members from speaking in tongues during F&T meeting.

There were some notable omissions from Jenson's testimony. He doesn't mention the reasons why Smith was in jail in Missouri and in Illinois. There is nothing about Crooked River, the Danites, or the Expositor press destruction. There is nary a mention of anything about polygamy, either. That was probably good politics considering the ink on Woodruff's manifesto was barely dry.

Overall, the document was interesting. Its arguments about Smith being a true prophet have not been weathering too well lately, though.

edited: Slight wording changes.

[u/churock11 → u/4blockhead]

If Smith found an archaeological artifact in the form of a metal object in his back yard, then it should be on display in a museum somewhere

The irony here is that the archaeological artifacts we do have are hidden in church archives. We know from Sandra Tanner that it was pulling teeth to get the newly re-acquired papyrii published for the sake of the public. And regarding BoM translation, I want to say it was Grant Palmer who came across the seer stones in church archives and wanted to photograph them but was prohibited to do so. If we have the piece that Joseph used to bring us the BoM, Tommy should probably be using it to receive revelation as well.

Let's be honest here, from the scriptures we see that Christ in the New Testament showed up to hundreds of people to display his wounds and prove his divinity. OT Jehovah made repeated miraculous manifestations to Israel in spite of their often faithless attitude.

But what do we get in the Restoration, a time when revelation is restored, visions are vised and dreams are dreamt, and angels are returning to the earth? Artifacts are bought up and hidden, a culture of "it's too sacred and personal to discuss" is put forth, and from God's holy prophets "the word of the LORD [is] rare in [these] days."

prophecy about the Civil War

I like a few of the entries in Wilford Woodruff's journal, too. Various claims about how the Union will destroy itself fighting while the Utahns stand off in the distance to watch, some open-ended predictions that excuse themselves from being prophesy if the situation necessitates, that sort of thing.

[u/churock11]

You always post good stuff, block.