**Version 3 – 28 Aug 2019**
Aim
This post recounts three views from one chapter of Paul C. Gutjahr’s book regarding how the Book of Mormon originated. His book is entitled, The Book of Mormon: A Biography (Princeton University Press, 2012). Altogether, I read the following: Prologue; Chapters 1 to 4; Epilogue; and a few end notes. [See Reference b. to learn more about the author.]
Additionally, I refer to two reviews in order to support the book as an objective and balanced piece of work.
What is Mormonism and the Book of Mormon?
In context, the Book of Mormon is deemed a key religious text by the Mormons (also called Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS). Arguably, it is “a religion derived from Christianity that traces its origins to Joseph Smith.” He asserted in the 19th century that the Protestant Christian church needed to be restored to its original state as envisioned by Jesus. [References c. and d.]
Chapter 2 – the veracity / truthfulness of the Book of Mormon
Revelatory or Supernaturalist school – Smith truly received physical documents from the supreme Deity (who Catholics and Protestants call God or LORD) and properly translated the message.
Plagiarist school – This includes works like Eber D. Howe’s <Mormonism Unvailed>. This highlighted historical imprecisions (mismatches) between the timing of horses and steel appearing in the Americas (on which the Book of Mormon was supported). Further, Stanford University academics headed by Matthew L. Jockers ran linguistic computer modeling on the Book of Mormon. They deduced that the Book of Mormon was created by “multiple, nineteenth century authors” with “…Rigdon as a unifying force.” [Sidney Rigdon was a Baptist minister who converted to Mormonism; Protestant Christianity considers Baptists a subset denomination.] Gutjahr wrote that Joseph Smith’s writing was excluded since they assessed there were no authenticated samples. [From Chapter 1, p.30-32, Gutjahr wrote that John Gilbert acted as the main punctuator for the Book of Mormon. He was given the freedom to do so because Smith chose not to be involved with the printing. Gilbert was a New York based printer. See Reference e.]
Naturalist – The Book of Mormon originated from Smith’s creative invention. He then led others to believe it. One proponent of this was a former Mormon (ex-Latter Day Saints follower, Fawn Brodie, who is family to the Mormon leadership).
Two book reviews
1. Justin Moyer rates the book as objective since ‘nonpartisan’ takes ‘fair’ and ‘just’ as synonyms. [See definition – ‘not biased or partisan, especially towards any particular political group’ from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/non-partisan, accessed 21 May 2019]
Unlike Mormon exposés such as Jon Krakauer’s “Under the Banner of Heaven,” Gutjahr’s slim volume doesn’t delve much into polygamy or baptism of the dead, controversial practices not found in Smith’s original text. While some of Gutjahr’s claims stretch credulity — does the musical comedy “Book of Mormon” by the creators of “South Park” really prove that the book has “finally escaped the confines of strictly religious discourse”? — it’s refreshing to read a nonpartisan book about Mormonism.
“The Book of Mormon: A Biography” by Paul C. Gutjahr. Justin Moyer. June 1, 2012. The Washington Post, US.
2. Wade Clark Roof noted that:
Three schools of thought have developed about the book’s origin: 1) Joseph Smith Jr. translated the text from plates of gold; 2) Joseph (as he was called by his followers) plagiarized the book from other sources; and 3) Joseph was simply a gifted storyteller with an amazing imagination and a strong sense of mission. Proclaiming himself to be God’s prophet, sent to Earth to restore a purer form of Christianity, Joseph added teachings not found in the text that favored polygamy, baptism of the dead, and the plurality of Gods. These newer revelations set Mormons further apart from other Christians and divided Mormons themselves, splitting the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from those who chose to follow Brigham Young westward.
Almost from the beginning, disputes arose over corrections and revisions to the text; the Reorganized Latter Day Saints now produce and control their own official version…
[cited as professor of religion and society at the University of California, Santa Barbara] Wade Clark Roof. (updated 14 Jun 2017). The Book of Mormon: a Biography. https://psmag.com/social-justice/the-book-of-mormon-a-biography-42057. Pacific Standard. The Social Justice Foundation 801 Garden Street, Suite 101, Santa Barbara, California, 93101, US. [See Reference f.]
References / Related
a. Before this, I finished The Bishop’s Wife, a 2014 mystery novel by Mette Ivie Harrison. [Harrison believes in the Book of Mormon]. It proved a good read, regardless of your belief towards Mormonism. See the review – Mystery in a Mormon Community. Janet Maslin. Dec. 22, 2014. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/23/arts/the-bishops-wife-a-mormon-mystery-by-mette-ivie-harrison.html. The New York Times, US.
b. [My training is in American Studies, so I favor approaches which are highly interdisciplinary in nature. My specialized field of research is the history of publishing and literacy in the United States. More commonly, I work in the area which has come to be called history of the book studies, and I work primarily in the North American context. I am interested in how different forms of writing influence a vast array of cultural practices from religious preaching to proper etiquette at meals. I have written extensively on the production of the English Bible in America. I have also edited a collection of essays on typography and textual interpretation and an anthology on nineteenth century American popular literature.] Paul Gutjahr. Ruth Halls Professor, English. Associate Dean for Arts & Humanities and Undergraduate Education. https://english.indiana.edu/about/faculty/gutjahr-paul.html. Department of English, Indiana University. Bloomington, US.
c. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (accessed 28 Aug 2019). https://www.patheos.com/library/mormonism.
d. [Book of Mormon, work accepted as holy scripture, in addition to the Bible, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Mormon churches. It was first published in 1830 in Palmyra, New York, and was thereafter widely reprinted and translated. Mormons hold that it is a divinely inspired work revealed to and translated by the founder of their religion, Joseph Smith.] The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (updated Sep 11, 2015). Book of Mormon. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Book-of-Mormon. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.
e.
…Our results indicate that likely nineteenth century contributors were Solomon Spalding, a writer of historical fantasies; Sidney Rigdon, an eloquent but perhaps unstable preacher; and Oliver Cowdery, a schoolteacher with editing experience. Our findings support the hypothesis that Rigdon was the main architect of the Book of Mormon and are consistent with historical evidence suggesting that he fabricated the book by adding theology to the unpublished writings of Spalding (then deceased).
Matthew L. Jockers, Daniela M. Witten, Craig S. Criddle, Reassessing authorship of the Book of Mormon using delta and nearest shrunken centroid classification, Literary and Linguistic Computing, Volume 23, Issue 4, December 2008, Pages 465–491, https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqn040. (accessed 22 May 2019). Oxford University Press.
f.
Mormons believe that Joseph Smith had a vision in 1820 in which he saw God and Jesus (“first vision” depicted in a sculpture above). According to this story, they told him that all religions existing at the time were abominations. However, Smith told as many as 10 versions of the story and many had serious contradictions. Earlier versions featured only Jesus or angels appearing to Smith. That progressed into a host of angels, then it evolved to God appearing to Smith in a pillar of fire. The last known version, the one in which he saw both God and Jesus, is the version contained in the Mormon book of scriptures known as the Pearl of Great Price and is the version taught both to the Latter-day Saint faithful and those considering converting to the faith. The other versions are never mentioned, though they are available on a Church-run website.
Joseph Nelson. (8 Apr 2015). 10 Dark Secrets Of Mormon History. https://listverse.com/2015/04/08/10-dark-secrets-of-mormon-history/.
g. Mormonism parallels Chinese Taoism (religion, not the philosophy), where humans can become deities after accumulating merit or completing adequate tasks.
Mormons claim that God the Father was once a man and that he then progressed to godhood (that is, he is a now-exalted, immortal man with a flesh-and-bone body).
Difference between Mormonism and Biblical Christianity. August 31, 2010 | Justin Taylor. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/an-faq-on-the-difference-between-mormonism-and-biblical-christianity/. The Gospel Coalition (US edition).
h.
The following article is four pages (129-132) out of the official Mormon Church manual Achieving a Celestial Marriage Student Manual. These four pages give an excellent explanation of the world view of Mormonism and the central theme of the importance of Mormon temples within Mormon theology. We quote this information to show the clearly non-Christian nature of Mormonism. This article is copied without commentary and is allowable under the “Fair Use” clause of the copy write code. We invite the reader to examine the original document for context and accuracy…
“God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit and who upholds all worlds and all things by his power was to make himself visible,—I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in the very fashion, image and likeness of God and received instruction from, and walked, talked and conversed with him, as one man talks and communes with another.” (Smith, Teachings, p. 345.)…
How Does Mormonism Differ From Christianity? Keith. Aug 10, 2011. http://www.evidenceministries.org/2011/08/what-is-the-significance-of-mormon-temples-within-mormon-theology/. Evidence Ministries
P.O. Box 690371, San Antonio, Texas 78269, US.
i. [Linked to Evidence Ministries above] Interview with Becky Walker – 1. http://blog.mrm.org/2011/11/interview-with-becky-walker-1/. November 7, 2011. Bill McKeever.
j. [Video/Audio with transcript] Are Mormons Christians? https://illbehonest.com/Are-Mormons-Christians-Tim-Conway. Tim Conway. Grace Community Church. July 27, 2012.
k. Protestant Christian biblical verses identifying the non-human, and unique nature of God, English Standard Version (ESV).
Isaiah 44 : 6 – Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.
Isaiah 46 : 9 – remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,
1 Corinthians 8 : 6 – yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
l. [The Salamander Society is a volunteer effort, run by former members of the LDS (“Mormon”) Church. The site is owned and published by Cricket.] Frequently Asked Questions. (no date / accessed 22 May 2019). http://www.salamandersociety.com/FAQ/.
m. [Interview] Fawn Brodie – author of “No Man Knows My History”. (no date / accessed 22 May 2019). http://www.salamandersociety.com/interviews/fawnbrodie/.
n. The Mormon Excommunication of Fawn Brodie: Why Banishing the Famous Biographer Reverberates 65 Years. July 30, 2012. James Reston Jr. http://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/index.php/features/the-mormon-excommunication-of-fawn-brodie-why-banishing-the-famous-biograph. Washington Independent Review of Books.
o. Mormons at a glance. (Last updated 2009-10-02). http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/ataglance/glance.shtml#more. UK.
p. [Until a few decades ago, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints taught that they “shall be a white and a delightsome people,” a phrase taken from the Book of Mormon. Until the 1970s, the LDS Church also restricted black members’ participation in important rituals and prohibited black men from becoming priests, despite evidence that they had participated more fully in the earliest years of the Church.] Emma Green. (18 Sep 2017). When Mormons Aspired to Be a ‘White and Delightsome’ People. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/09/mormons-race-max-perry-mueller/539994/.
q. [12 results] Special Broadcasting Service Corporation. (accessed 28 Aug 2019). Mormonism. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/subject/mormonism. Sydney/Melbourne, Australia.
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