Mormonism and Wikipedia/Joseph Smith, Jr./1827 to 1830

An analysis of Wikipedia article "Joseph Smith"



Early years
A FairMormon Analysis of Wikipedia: "Joseph Smith"
 A work by a collaboration of authors (Link to Wikipedia article here) 		Life in Ohio (1831-1838)
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The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Joseph Smith, Jr. was born on December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont to Lucy Mack Smith and her husband Joseph, a merchant and farmer.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

After a crippling bone infection at age eight, the younger Smith hobbled on crutches as a child.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

An analysis of Wikipedia article "Joseph Smith"



Early years
A FairMormon Analysis of Wikipedia: "Joseph Smith"
 A work by a collaboration of authors (Link to Wikipedia article here) 		1831 to 1838
The name Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. Wikipedia content is copied and made available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Every witness to Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Mormon said that he looked at a stone in his hat. Arguing that Smith never said how he translated is arguing from silence. There is no evidence for anything else but the hat and just Mormon embarrassment at how silly this method must seem to most prospective converts today.....The burden of proof is on you. There are no accounts of Smith translating that indicate he used any other method but the hat. You can't argue from silence. Where are the references to any other method? Even the father of lies himself didn't spell one out.....Baloney. No other eyewitness said there was any other method. No scholarship argues for any other method. You're just pushing this POV because there's no reason to preserve golden plates for generations if Smith made no use of them. But according to all eyewitnesses that's exactly what happened. Embarrassing, isn't it?
—Editor "John Foxe," posting using his banned sockpuppet "Hi540," insisting that the stone-in-hat was the only Book of Mormon translation method ever documented, 23 October 2009 off-site
∗       ∗       ∗

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

Founding a church (1827–30)  Updated 9/3/2011

Main article: Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

In October 1827, Smith and his pregnant

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

wife moved from Palmyra to Harmony (now Oakland), Pennsylvania,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

aided by money from a comparatively prosperous neighbor Martin Harris.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Violates Wikipedia: Neutral Point-of-View off-site— All Wikipedia articles and other encyclopedic content must be written from a neutral point of view, representing fairly, and as far as possible without bias, all significant views that have been published by reliable sources.

    The footnote implies that Joseph would have attempted to evade his creditors had Martin Harris not become involved.
  • From the cited source Remini, p. 55:

Because of mounting pressure in Manchester to see and examine the plates, Joseph realized he could never translate them in peace and safety if he stayed in town. He would have to leave Palmyra to do it; but that created a problem. He was debt-ridden, and any sudden departure would bring his creditors chasing after him with subpoenas for his arrest. Fortunately the angel had revealed to Joseph that Martin Harris, a prosperous farmer, had been chosen to help in the translation of the plates.


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Living near his disapproving in-laws,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Smith transcribed some of the characters (what he called "reformed Egyptian") engraved on the plates and then dictated a translation to his wife.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

For at least some of the earliest translation, Smith said he used "Urim and Thummim",

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Violates Wikipedia: Neutral Point-of-View off-site— All Wikipedia articles and other encyclopedic content must be written from a neutral point of view, representing fairly, and as far as possible without bias, all significant views that have been published by reliable sources.

    The summary of Persuitte is worded in such a way that it makes it appear that Joseph lied about the instrument used to translate. However, both the Nephite interpreters and the seer stone were eventually referred to as "Urim and Thummin."
  • Note this statement from Joseph Knight, which equates the Urim and Thummin with Joseph's seer stone,

Now the way he translated was he put the urim and thummim into his hat and Darkned his Eyes than he would take a sentance and it would apper in Brite Roman Letters. (MANUSCRIPT OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF JOSEPH SMITH, 22 Sept. 1827)

  • Bushman states,

For two months, form about April 12 to June 14, 1828, Joseph and Harris were hard at work. Joseph translated using the interpreters (also called the Urim and Thummim, crystals mounted on a breast plate), and Harris wrote down the text as it was dictated. A curtain divided the men to prevent Harris from seeing the plates.

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

a pair of seer stones he said were buried with the golden plates.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Later, however, he used the single chocolate-colored stone he had found in 1822 and used for treasure hunting.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  • As noted in the official Church magazine for children, the Friend,

"To help him with the translation, Joseph found with the gold plates “a curious instrument which the ancients called Urim and Thummim, which consisted of two transparent stones set in a rim of a bow fastened to a breastplate.” Joseph also used an egg-shaped, brown rock for translating called a seer stone."
—“A Peaceful Heart,” Friend, Sep 1974, 7 off-site (emphasis added)

  • Use of the Nephite interpreters (the "spectacles") would have occurred during the early part of the translation process, before the loss of the 116 pages, after which Joseph may have switched to using his seer stone. This is also the period of time during which it appears that a blanket was hung to shield Joseph and the plates from view.
  • For a detailed response, see: Book of Mormon/Translation
  • For an analysis of D. Michael Quinn's critical work, see A FAIR Analysis of Early Mormonism and the Magic World View.

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

As when divining the location of treasure,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Smith said he saw the words of the translation while he gazed at the stone or stones in the bottom of his hat, excluding all light.

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.

    Joseph Smith himself never said anything about how the translation was performed, other than that it was accomplished through the "gift and power of God." It was David Whitmer who claimed that Joseph saw actual words on the stone.
  • Bushman notes:

[A]s work on the Book of Mormon proceeded, a seerstone took the place of the Urim and Thummim as an aid in the work, blending magic with inspired translation." (Bushman, p. 131) "There is evidence that the translation stone was given him after he lost the Urim and Thummim when the 116 pages disappeared. (Bushman, p. 590, note 24 citing Van Wagoner and Walker, "'The Gift of Seeing,'" 54)


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

The plates themselves were not directly consulted.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Smith did this in full view of witnesses, but sometimes concealed the process by raising a curtain or dictating from another room.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources
    From the cited source Howe, p. 14:

[Martin Harris] says he wrote a considerable part of the book, as Smith dictated, and at one time the presence of the Lord was so great, that a screen was hung up between him and the Prophet; at other times the Prophet would sit in a different room, or up stairs, while the Lord was communicating to him the contents of the plates.

  • Note that the use of the curtain appears to have occurred during the early period of translation when the Nephite interpreters were being employed. The use of the curtain many have served to screen both the plates and Nephite interpreters from view. After the loss of the 116 pages, removal of the Nephite interpreters by Moroni, and Joseph's subsequent use of the seer stone, the translation appears to have taken place in plain view and the curtain is not present.
  • For a detailed response, see: Book of Mormon/Translation and Book of Mormon/Translation/Method


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Smith may have considered giving up the translation because of opposition from his in-laws,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  • Given that Joseph was commanded by God to perform the translation, this is highly unlikely. There are some additional secondary hostile sources which are used to support the assertion put forth in the wiki article:
    • Booth (1831) (Smith "had given [the translation] up, on account of the opposition of his wife and others".)
  • Howe (1834) , p. 266 (Smith confided to Emma's uncle, a Methodist deacon, that despite the commandment from God, "he was afraid of the people"); *Phelps (1833) , p. 7 (July 1828 revelation rebuking Smith because he had often "gone on in the persuasions of men...behold, you should not have feared man more than God").
  • With regard to a statement made by Nathaniel Lewis, t should be noted that the there are many inconsistencies that do not correlate with things that Joseph is known to have said regarding the plates, the witnesses and the translation.
  1. Joseph never stated to anyone that he asked advice from a Methodist preacher as to whether or not he should translate the plates.
  2. Joseph never stated that he considered not translating the plates because he was "afraid of the people."
  3. Joseph never said that he was told to "exhibit the plates to the world."
  4. Joseph never said that Nathaniel Lewis would be one of the witnesses.
  • From Howe, p. 266:

From my standing in the Methodist Episcopal Church, I suppose he was careful how he conducted or expressed himself before me. At one time, however, he came to my house, and asked my advice, whether he should proceed to translate the Book of Plates (referred to by Mr. Hale) or not. He said that God had commanded him to translate it, but he was afraid of the people: he remarked, that he was to exhibit the plates to the world, at a certain time, which was then about eighteen months distant. I told him I was not qualified to give advice in such cases. Smith frequently said to me that I should see the plates at the time appointed.

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

but in February 1828, Martin Harris arrived to spur him on

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.

    Ezra Booth, a hostile source, is the only one of the three sources used to claim that Harris arrived in order to convince Joseph to continue translating. The other two sources simply confirm that "Martin Harris arrived" in order assist Joseph. According to Booth:

Joseph Smith, Jun., Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery, and Martin Harris, may be considered as the principals in this work; and let Martin Harris tell the story, and he is the most conspicuous of the four.—He informed me, that he went to the place where Joseph resided, and Joseph had given it up, on account of the opposition of his wife and others: but he told Joseph. "I have not come down here for nothing, and we will go on with it." Martin Harris is what may be called a great talker, and an extravagant boaster; so much so, that he renders himself disagreeable to many of his own society.

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

by taking the characters and their translations to a few prominent scholars.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Harris claimed that one of the scholars he visited, Charles Anthon, initially authenticated the characters and their translation, then recanted upon hearing that Smith had received the plates from an angel.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Anthon denied this claim

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources
  • Anthon's two letters actually contradicted one another. According to the cited source (Bushman, p. 65),

In the first letter Anthon said he refused to give Harris a written opinion; according to the second, the opinion was written "without any hesitation," in an attempt to expose the fraud.

  • Bushman, p. 577 note 16 states that the 1834 Anthon letter first appeared in MoU, 269-72, and the 1841 letter in Clark, Gleanings by the Way, 233-38. Both are reprinted in Early Mormon Documents, 4:377-86.
  • For a detailed response, see: Book of Mormon/Translation/Anthon transcript


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

and Harris returned to Harmony in April 1828 motivated to act as Smith's scribe.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Translation continued until mid-June 1828, until Harris began having doubts about the existence of the golden plates.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Harris importuned Smith to let him take the existing 116 pages of manuscript to Palmyra to show a few family members.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Harris then lost the manuscript—of which there was no copy—at about the same time as Smith's wife Emma gave birth to a stillborn son.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Smith said the angel had taken away the plates and he had lost his ability to translate

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

until September 22, 1828, when they were restored.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Smith did not earnestly resume the translation again until April 1829, when he met Oliver Cowdery, a teacher and dowser,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  • Oliver himself may have used a divining rod, although there is no evidence that it was used for treasure-seeking. According to the cited source, "Most likely, Cowdery used a rod to discover water and minerals." (Bushman, p. 73).
  • It should be noted that in the original draft of the revelation mentioning the "rod of nature," that the instrument was referred to as the "sprout" and the "thing of Nature." The change in text of these items to "rod of nature" was made by Sidney Rigdon.

...remember this is thy gift now this is not all for thou hast another gift which is the gift of working with the sprout Behold it hath told you things Behold there is no other power save God that can cause this thing of Nature to work in your hands. (Revelation, April 1829–B [D&C 8], in Robin Scott Jensen, Robert J. Woodford, and Stephen C. Harper, eds., Manuscript Revelation Books, vol. 1 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, ed. Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2009), 17. )

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

who now became Smith's scribe.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

They worked full time on the translation between April and early June 1829,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

and then moved to Fayette, New York where they continued to work at the home of Cowdery's friend Peter Whitmer. When the translation spoke of an institutional church and a requirement for baptism, Smith and Cowdery baptized each other,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

with written documents five years later stating that John the Baptist had appeared and ordained them to a priesthood.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Translation was completed around July 1, 1829.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Knowing that potential converts to the planned church might find Smith's story of the plates incredible,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Smith asked a group of eleven witnesses, including Martin Harris and male members of the Whitmer and Smith families, to sign a statement testifying that they had seen the golden plates, and in the case of the latter eight witnesses, had actually hefted the plates.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

According to Smith, the angel Moroni took back the plates after Smith was finished using them.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

The translation, known as the Book of Mormon, was published in Palmyra on March 26, 1830, by printer E. B. Grandin.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Martin Harris financed the publication by mortgaging his farm.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Soon thereafter on April 6, 1830, Smith and his followers formally organized the Church of Christ,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  References not included in the Wikipedia article
    Several Fayette references are missing.
  • The recently revealed Book of Commandments and Revelations, which had been kept in the First Presidency's vault until its publication in the Joseph Smith Papers series, supports the Fayette location. According to R. Scott Lloyd,:

"The manuscript may have the effect, [Steven C. Harper] said, of resolving a controversy that has arisen over whether the Church was organized at Fayette, N.Y., as has traditionally been understood, or at Manchester, N.Y. It does so by affirming that a revelation given on April 6, 1830, was given at Fayette, not at Manchester. 'The 1833 Book of Commandments, heretofore the earliest source available, located this revelation in Manchester,' he explained. Some authors thus argued that the traditional story of the Church's founding in Fayette lacked foundation in the historical record, 'but we can now see that in this case, tradition and the historical record match up,' he said."
(R. Scott Lloyd, "'Major Discovery' Discussed at Mormon History Association Conference," Church News, 22 May 2009.)

  • Orson Pratt: "I well recollect when I was but a boy of nineteen visiting the place where this Church was organized, and visiting the Prophet Joseph, who resided at that time in Fayette, Seneca County, New York, at the house where the Church was organized." (Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses 13:356.)
  • French’s New York Gazetteer, published by R. Pearsall Smith, at Syracuse, New York, [since] 1800, also contained some data concerning Mormonism, and states that the first Mormon society was formed in the town of Fayette, Seneca County, in 1830” (Letter, Diedrich Villers, Jr. to Ellen E. Dickinson; published in Ellen E. Dickinson, New Light on Mormonism)
  • For a detailed response, see: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints/Location of the organization

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

and small branches were established in Palmyra, Fayette, and Colesville, New York.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

The Book of Mormon brought Smith regional notoriety,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

but also strong opposition by those who remembered Smith's money-digging and his 1826 trial near Colesville.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Soon after Smith reportedly performed an exorcism in Colesville,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  • According to Brodie (p. 86):

"Almost immediately [Newel Knight] spoke to me," Joseph wrote in his autobiography, "and with great earnestness requested me to cast the devil out of him, saying the he knew he was in him, and that he also knew that I could cast him out." "If you know that I can, it shall be done," Joseph replied, and in the conventional exorcist's fashion commanded the devil in the name of Christ to release the man's soul. Immediately Knight cried out that he saw the devil leave him and vanish from sight. His convulsions ceased and he fell upon the bed unconscious, awakening later to testify that he had glimpsed eternity.

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

he was again tried as a disorderly person but was acquitted.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources
  • From the cited source,

When village toughs failed to stop the baptisms, the law stepped in. Before the newly baptized members could be confirmed, a constable from South Bainbridge delivered a warrant for Joseph's arrest. Doctor A. W. Benton of Chenago County, whom Joseph Knight called a "catspaw" of a group of vagabonds, brought charges against Joseph as a disorderly person. (Bushman, p. 116).

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Even so, Smith and Cowdery had to flee Colesville to escape a gathering mob. Probably referring to this period of flight, Smith told years later of hearing the voices of Peter, James, and John who he said gave Smith and Cowdery an apostolic authority.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

When Oliver Cowdery and other church members attempted to exercise independent authority

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

—as when Book of Mormon witness Hiram Page used his seer stone to locate the American New Jerusalem prophesied by the Book of Mormon

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

}}

Question: Why did Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer accept Hiram Page's seer stone revelations as authoritative?

The Lord used this incident as a way to teach Oliver the proper order of revelation in the Church

This event is discussed in the Doctrine and Covenants and Church History Seminary Teacher Manual (2013):

In 1830, the Prophet Joseph Smith encountered a challenge because Church members did not understand the order of revelation in the Church. Hiram Page claimed to receive revelations for the Church through the medium of a special stone, and some Church members, including Oliver Cowdery, believed him. Shortly before a Church conference that was held on September 26, 1830, the Lord revealed truths that helped Oliver Cowdery and others understand the order of revelation in the Church.[2]

Oliver was actually directed by the Lord to correct Hiram Page in this matter. It was a "teaching moment" for Oliver:

11 And again, thou shalt take thy brother, Hiram Page, between him and thee alone, and tell him that those things which he hath written from that stone are not of me and that Satan deceiveth him;

12 For, behold, these things have not been appointed unto him, neither shall anything be appointed unto any of this church contrary to the church covenants.

13 For all things must be done in order, and by common consent in the church, by the prayer of faith.

14 And thou shalt assist to settle all these things, according to the covenants of the church, before thou shalt take thy journey among the Lamanites. (D&C 28꞉11-14).


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

—Smith responded by establishing himself as the sole prophet.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources
    , although it would be more correct to state the Joseph established himself as sole prophet for the entire Church.

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Smith disputed Page's location for the New Jerusalem,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

but dispatched Cowdery to lead a mission to Missouri to find its true location

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

{{IndexClaimItemShort |title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] |claim= and to proselytize the Native Americans. |authorsources=

  1. Phelps (1833) , pp. 67–68 (Cowdery "shall go unto the Lamanites and preach my gospel unto them".).

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Smith also dictated a lost "Book of Enoch," telling how the biblical Enoch had established a city of Zion of such civic goodness that God had taken it to heaven.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  • Brodie states that Joseph "dictated to Cowdery a fragment said to have come from a parchment buried by St. John," that he "revealed a conversation between God and Moses," and that he "wrote one of the longest and most remarkable revelations of his career" about Enoch.

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

On their way to Missouri, Cowdery's party passed through the Kirtland, Ohio area and converted Sidney Rigdon and over a hundred members of his Disciples of Christ congregation,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

more than doubling the size of the church.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Rigdon visited New York and quickly became second in command of the church,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources
    This is, of course, Brodie's opinion.

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

to the discomfort of Smith's earlier followers.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

In the face of acute and growing opposition in New York, Smith announced that Kirtland was the "eastern boundary" of the New Jerusalem,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

and that the Saints must gather there.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

In 1816–17, the family moved to the western New York village of Palmyra

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

and eventually took a mortgage on a 100 acre farm in nearby Manchester town.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

During the Second Great Awakening, the region was a hotbed of religious enthusiasm.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Although the Smith family was caught up in this excitement,

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.
    Violated by COgden —Diff: off-site
    The citation used to support this assertion doesn't support the claim that the Smith family was caught up in "this excitement" of "religious enthusiasm," instead implying that the Smith family was associated with "divining and counterfeiting." The citation is mismatched to the assertion in the main body text.


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

they disagreed about religion.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Joseph Smith may not have joined a church in his youth,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  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.

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

but he participated in church classes

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

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

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

a common practice at the time.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  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.


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Like many people of that era,

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources
  • 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.

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

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

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

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

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

and that all the current churches were false.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response


The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

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

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  • 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.

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

likewise relatively common in contemporary New England

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

though the practice was frequently condemned by clergymen and rationalists and was often illegal.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

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

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

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.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

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

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  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 itself says nothing about a "sexual struggle."
  • For an analysis of D. Michael Quinn's critical work, see A FAIR Analysis of Early Mormonism and the Magic World View.

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

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 near his home.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources
  • It should be noted that the hill near Joseph Smith's home was not named "Cumorah" at this point in time. The name was only applied later after the publication of the Book of Mormon.

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Smith said he attempted to remove the plates the next morning but was unsuccessful because the angel prevented him.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

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

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources
  • From the cited source Bushman:

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.

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Meanwhile, Smith continued traveling western New York and Pennsylvania as a treasure seeker and also as a farmhand.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

In 1826, he was tried in Chenango County, New York, for "glass-looking," the crime of pretending to find lost treasure.

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.

    Joseph never claimed to have found lost treasure. He was tried for attempting to find lost treasure using a stone.
  • For a detailed response, see: Joseph Smith/Legal trials/1826 glasslooking trial

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

While boarding at the Hale house in Harmony, he met Emma Hale and, on January 18, 1827, eloped with her because her parents disapproved of his treasure hunting.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources
  • Joseph and Emma eloped because her father would not allow them to be married due to his disapproval of Joseph's treasure seeking activities.

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

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

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.

    Joseph never claimed that his stone "told" him anything. He used to stone to obtain information.
  • Bushman, p. 54:

Emma, it was said, was designated as a key.

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

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.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

  •  Correct, per cited sources

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

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.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Joseph later promised Emma's parents that his treasure-seeking days were behind him.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

Although Smith had left his treasure hunting company, his former associates believed he had double-crossed them by taking for himself what they considered joint property.

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

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

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:

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

Author's sources:

FAIR's Response

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
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Notes

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.39 1.40 1.41 1.42 1.43 1.44 1.45 1.46 1.47 1.48 1.49 1.50 1.51 1.52 1.53 1.54 1.55 1.56 1.57 1.58 1.59 1.60 1.61 1.62 1.63 1.64 1.65 1.66 1.67 1.68 1.69 1.70 1.71 1.72 1.73 1.74 1.75 1.76 1.77 1.78 1.79 1.80 1.81 1.82 1.83 1.84 1.85 1.86 1.87 Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.
  2. ↑ "Lesson 34: Doctrine and Covenants 28," Doctrine and Covenants and Church History Seminary Teacher Manual, 2013.
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