Retrato do autor
6+ Works 106 Membros 3 Críticas

Obras por Alex D. Smith

Associated Works

Foundational Texts of Mormonism (2018) — Contribuidor — 8 exemplares
Conversations with Mormon Historians (2015) — Contribuidor — 8 exemplares
Mormon Historical Studies - Vol. 9, No. 2 (Fall 2008) (2008) — Contribuidor — 3 exemplares
Journal of Mormon History - Vol. 38, No. 4, Fall 2012 (2012) — Contribuidor — 3 exemplares
BYU Studies Vol. 58 No. 2, 2019 (2019) — Contribuidor — 3 exemplares
Mormon Historical Studies - Vol. 11, No. 2 (Fall 2010) (2010) — Contribuidor — 1 exemplar
Mormon Historical Studies - Vol. 19, No. 2 (Fall 2018) (2018) — Contribuidor — 1 exemplar
Journal of Mormon History - Volume 44, No. 3 (July 2018) (2018) — Contribuidor — 1 exemplar

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Membros

Críticas

As we reach the last few years of Joseph Smith’s life, the Documents series volumes cover decreasing amounts of time while still requiring a significant number of pages. This volume covers five months in 595 pages. I’ve been told volume 15 will cover a mere five weeks.

Volume 9 takes place between December 1841 and April 1842. During this time, Joseph Smith opened a store, became vice mayor of rel="nofollow" target="_top">Nauvoo, took over as editor of the Times and Seasons, joined the Freemasons, and helped start the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, all while continuing to sell land to incoming Saints, lead the church, and command the Nauvoo Legion. An estimated 70 percent of the documents in this volume were not published prior to the Joseph Smith Papers Project. The documents consist of letters, revelations (many of them personal, so not canonized), discourses, legal and business documents, minutes from meetings, and selections from the Times and Seasons.

As with all volumes in the project, all of the documents were produced, received, or owned by Joseph Smith or his staff under his direction. This volume also contains an item in the appendix that has an uncertain status. It includes a saying commonly attributed to Joseph Smith: “Happiness is the object and design of our existence, and will be the end thereof if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping ALL the commandments of God” (page 416). This item is a letter that John C. Bennett claims Joseph Smith wrote to Nancy Rigdon in an attempt to court her as a plural wife. The letter was sent by Bennett to a newspaper after he was excommunicated as part of a campaign to discredit Joseph Smith. No known copies of the actual letter exist, and historians are not in agreement over its authenticity.

Wilford Woodruff took notes of some of Joseph Smith’s sermons during this time and there are a couple that I thought were particularly interesting. On December 19, 1841, Joseph spoke at his home in response to concerns “of some church members that he was a fallen prophet either because he delivered revelation less frequently than in times past or because he provided revelation containing direction that differed from earlier revealed instruction” (page 33). Woodruff wrote that “On Revelation He said ‘A man would command his son to dig potatoes, saddle his horse but before he had done either tell him to do something els, this is all consider[ed] right ‘But as soon as the Lord gives a commandment & revokes that decree & commands something els then the prophet is considered fallen &c’” (page 34).

On January 30, 1842, Wilford Woodruff wrote in his “Book of Revelations” notebook about a sermon Joseph Smith gave on deification that contains ideas that are typically associated with the later King Follett Discourse, although as the editors note, “Some ideas related to deification expressed here do not appear again in any later discourses” (page 128).
Jan 30[th] [1842] Joseph the Seer taught the following principles that the God & father of our Lord Jesus Christ was once the same as the Son or Holy Ghost bothaving [both having] redeemed a world became the eternal God of that world he had a son Jesus Christ who redeemed this earth the same as his father had a world which made them equal & the Holy Ghost would do the same in his turn & so would all the Saints [p. [3]] who inherited a Celestial glory so their would be Gods many & Lords many their were many mansions even 12 from the abode of Devils to the Celestial glory All Spirits that have bodies have power over those that have not hence men have power over Devils &c (page 129)

A footnote here also states that “JS made similar statements regarding Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost in 1843 and 1844 but did not repeat in extant documents this teaching about ‘all the Saints’” (page 129, footnote 358).
The March 1, 1842 edition of the Times and Seasons contained a document called “Church History,” which has since become known as the “Wentworth Letter.” It is not actually a letter, but is a history of the Church including Joseph Smith’s early visions, the organization and growth of the Church and the accompanying persecution, as well as a list of beliefs which we now know as “The Articles of Faith.” This is also where “The Standard of Truth” originated that many missionaries have memorized. This document is given in its entirety, along with historical information and many helpful explanatory footnotes.

On March 15, 1842, Abraham 2:19-5:21 was featured in the Times and Seasons, along with Facsimile 2. These are reproduced in this volume along with a discussion from the editors explaining when they believe different portions of the Book of Abraham were translated, based on journal entries, correspondence, and an unpublished editorial that is contained in this volume (there is disagreement among scholars about when the translation occurred - see, for example, John Gee, An Introduction to the Book of Abraham). The hypocephalus represented by Facsimile 2 is not among the papyri fragments still in existence today.

A letter from Joseph Smith to Emma and the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo on March 31, 1842 warned of men attempting to take advantage of some of the women sexually based on claims of teachings by Joseph Smith and others. “The letter to Emma Smith and the Relief Society appears to be an early response to the actions of [John C.] Bennett and others who were seducing women in Nauvoo by misrepresenting the not yet publicly announced doctrine of plural marriage…. The featured text is the earliest extant version of the letter and may have been either an early draft of the letter or the actual correspondence delivered to Emma Smith and the Relief Society” (page 307). The footnotes point out differences between this and the version that appears in the Relief Society minutes. Here are a couple interesting paragraphs:
We have been informed that some unprincipled men whose names we will not mention at present have been guilty of such crimes: we do not mention their names, not knowing but what there may be some among you who are not sufficiently skilled in Masonry as to keep a secret, therefore suffice it to say there are those & we therefore warn you & forewarn you in the name of the Lord to check and destroy any faith that any innocent person may have in any such character for we don’t want any body to believe any thing as coming from us contrary to the old established morals & virtues & scriptural laws regulating the habits customs & conduct of Society [p. [2]] unless it be by message del[iv]ered to you by our own mouth, by actual revelation & commandment. and all persons pretending to be authorized by us or having any permit or sanction from us are & will be liars & base imposters & you are authorized on the very first intimation of the kind to denounce them as such & fly from them as the fiery flying serpents, whether they are prophets, seers, or Revelators, patriarchs, Twelve apostles, Elders, Priests. or what not, Mayors, Generals, or what not, city council alderman, Marshall, Police, Lord Mayor or the Devil, are alike culpable. & shall be damned for such evil practices; & if you yourself yourselves hear adhere to any thing of the kind you, also shall be damned.
Now beloved Sisters do not believe for a moment that we wish to impose upon you, we actualy do know that such things have existed in the church & sorry that we are obliged to make mention of any such thing & we want a stop put to them, & we want you to do your part & we will do ours part for we wish to to keep the commandments of God in all things given to us from heaven, living by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord.— (pages 308-309)

There are also items that give us deeper insight into Joseph Smith’s personality. Here is an excerpt of a letter he wrote to Edward Hunter on January 5, 1842, about the opening of his new general store (today commonly referred to as the “red brick store”):
The Lord has blessed our exertions in a wonderful manner, and although some individuals have succeded in detain[in]g goods. to a considerable amount for the time being, yet we have been enabled to s[e]cure goods in the building Sufficient to fill all the shelves. & have some in reserve, both in loft. & cellar. Our assortment, is tolerably good— very good considering the different purchases made by different individuals,— at different times, and under circumstances which controuled their choice to some extent, but, I rejoice [p. [2]] that we have been enabled to do as well as we have, for the hearts of many of the poor brethren & sisters will be made glad, with those comforts which are now within their reach. The store has been filled to overflowing all day, & I have stood behind the counter dealing out goods as steady as any clerk you ever Saw to oblige those who were compelled to go without their christmas & New year, dinners. for the want of a little Sugar, Molasses, Rasions &c. &c,— & to please myself also for I love to wait upon the Saints, and be a servant to all hoping that I may be exalted in the due time of the Lord (pages 86-87).

And there are items that show what others thought of Joseph Smith. A mysterious letter dated December 28, 1841 received from a B.F. Withers offers to combine the Nauvoo Legion with an unnamed secret society which promised to “secure to all engaged honor & wealth, and whose united strength we believe cannot fail of success” (page 50). If a reply was written, it is not extant.

As with all the volumes of the Joseph Smith Papers Project, this book should be considered for anyone interested in the history of the Church or the life of Joseph Smith. The documents selected for inclusion give greater insight into life in Nauvoo during this time period and help provide a better understanding of what Joseph Smith was like and what he taught. The documents are available online at the Joseph Smith Papers website, but the thorough footnotes and historical information and explanations that are currently only available in the book make it well worth having.… (mais)
 
Assinalado
atari_guy | May 11, 2021 |
In 1992, the second volume of Dean C. Jesse’s “The Papers of Joseph Smith” was published, containing the journal entries of 1832-1842. Many of us waited for years for the third volume, which would cover the remainder of Joseph’s life, before finally finding out that Jesse’s work was being expanded into the Joseph Smith Papers Project. Finally, with the recent release of volume 3 of the Journals series, the journals have all been published.

The volume begins with a timeline of Joseph Smith’s life, maps, an introduction that outlines the events of the last year of a very busy life, and the usual explanation of the editorial method being used for the Joseph Smith Papers Project. It then contains the text of the journals followed by three appendixes which are relevant excerpts from journals kept by Willard Richards and William Clayton detailing Joseph Smith’s activities during this time period. There is also a section of reference materials containing things like a chronology, pedigree chart, glossary, and organizational charts of the church and Nauvoo. There is a full index of all three volumes in the Journals series. (Previous volumes didn’t contain an index due to this planned combined index, but individual indexes can be found online and were provided in print on request.) There are also photos scattered throughout of things like the actual journals, the Kinderhook plates, the first issue of the Nuavoo Neighbor, a list of marriages and sealings that was added at the end of one of the journals later, and the guns in the possession of Joseph and Hyrum Smith at Carthage Jail.

The introduction explains several things that the journals mention, such as Joseph Smith’s candidacy for the United States presidency, his last plural marriages, the Council of Fifty, the Anointed Quorum, the destruction of the press of the Nauvoo Expositor, and Joseph’s resulting arrest. It also points out that the journals during this period were all kept by Joseph’s private secretary, Willard Richards. This means it was based on observation, and that some of the information was written after the fact from memory, or using secondhand sources, which sometimes resulted in inaccuracies.

Most of the actual journal entries are very terse, and the majority of the detail is in the footnotes, which often take the majority of the page. For example, on page 202, the entry at the top of the page begins with “Monday- 11. March- 1844 At home 9. A M. in council. in Lodge room.” The footnote for that says:

This meeting continued the discussion from the night before, with those present agreeing “to look to some place” where they could go “and establish a Theocracy either in Texas or Oregon or somewhere in California &c.” They also spoke of creating a constitution “according to the mind of God” that would serve as a “‘standard’ to the people an ensign to the nations &c” and appointed John Taylor, Willard Richards, William W. Phelps, and Parley P. Pratt to draft it. Under JS’s direction, those present also organized themselves into a council – later known as the Council of Fifty or Kingdom of God – with JS as chairman, William Clayton as clerk, and Richards as recorder. Twenty others were present, all of whom became the founding members of the council. After a vote to keep their proceedings secret, JS “laid down the order of organization after the pattern of heaven”: all were expected to be in attendance, all decisions had to be made unanimously, and seating and voting would be by age. “The most perfect harmony prevailed during the whole of this council,” Clayton wrote, “and the brethren all feel as though the day of our deliverance is at hand.” (Council of Fifty, “Record,” title page, 11 Mar. 1844; see also Clayton, Journal 11 Mar. 1844; and Woodruff, Journal, 11 Mar. 1844.)

This concluding volume of the Journals series was worth the wait. With all of this information being made available, this is truly a great time to be studying the origins of the Church. While these volumes are primarily intended for scholars to use as primary sources, they should be of interest to anyone who wants to learn more about Joseph Smith and the Restoration.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
atari_guy | May 11, 2021 |
This is the fourth in a projected twelve volumes in the Documents series of the Joseph Smith Papers. The Documents series is the core of the JSP project, containing documents that Joseph Smith was personally involved in producing in chronological order. The documents in the book are also available online, but the annotations and introductions - which are very valuable in understanding the documents - are not put online until 18 months after each volume is published.

The main events covered in this volume are Zion’s Camp; the publication of the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants; financial difficulties (particularly those related to publishing and the building of the Kirtland Temple); the formation and operation of the Kirtland high council; the call of Joseph Smith, Sr., to patriarch, and the calling of 12 apostles; and the beginning of the writing of the early history of the church.

The main body of the book consists of documents directly involving Joseph Smith, and then there are a series of appendices with documents for which Joseph Smith’s involvement is questionable. Such documents include the first Lecture on Faith, “Letter to the Saints Scattered Abroad”, “Statement on Marriage”, “Declaration on Government and Law”, and patriarchal blessings given to Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith, Hyrum Smith, Samuel Smith, and William Smith.

The Lectures on Faith are thought to be primarily written by Sidney Rigdon, although Joseph may have been involved in presenting them. The Statement on Marriage was included because Joseph had put together the Doctrine and Covenants and they were included, although it was thought that it may have been done by Oliver Cowdery without his consent. (This is important because the statement forbids plural marriage and, as explained in a footnote, Joseph may have learned of the doctrine in 1831 and begun sharing it in 1832. He also married Fanny Alger about the time this was published.)

The patriarchal blessings to Joseph’s parents and brothers were given by him, but were expanded by Oliver Cowdery when they were recorded. It is not clear whether he had authorization to do so, and he even charged Hyrum, Samuel, and William for it (as recorder, he routinely charged based on word count), but he felt the expansions were “correct and according to the mind of the Lord.” (page 486)

One interesting item in the main part of the book is a patriarchal blessing given to Joseph and Emma. At this time, the blessings of a husband and wife were considered one blessing, which is why Emma’s is included. The blessings were given just after Joseph, Sr. was called to be the patriarch. He called his family together and gave each of them and their spouses blessings. The footnotes here provide details and context about things that are mentioned in the blessings, such as this about Emma: “A July 1830 revelation called Emma an ‘Elect Lady’ and explained to her that she would ‘be ordained under his [JS’s] hand to expound Scriptures & exhort the Church.’ Emma was eventually named president of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, an ecclesiastical organization of Latter-day Saint women formed in March 1842. During the organizational meeting of the Relief Society, JS stated that Emma had been ordained ‘at the time, the Revelation was given, to expound the scriptures to all.’ JS also commented on the meaning of ‘Elect Lady,’ explaining that ‘Elect meant to be Elected to a certain work &c, & that the revelation was then fulfilled by Sister Emma’s Election to the Presidency of the Society.’” (pages 207-208)

Another item that is included that some may find of interest is in a letter to Emma dated June 4, 1834. Joseph says regarding Zion’s Camp, “The whole of our journey, in the midst of so large a company of social honest men and sincere men, wandering over the plains of the Nephites, recounting [p. 57] occasionaly the history of the Book of Mormon, roving over the mounds of that once beloved people of the Lord, picking up their skulls & their bones, as a proof of its divine authenticity.” A footnote explains: “On 3 June, the Camp of Israel passed through the vicinity of what is now Valley City, Illinois, where several members of the camp climbed a large mound. At the top, they uncovered the skeletal remains of an individual JS reportedly identified as Zelph, a ‘white Lamanite.’ Archaeologists have since identified the mound as Naples-Russell Mound #8 and have classified it as a Hopewell burial mound of the Middle Woodland period of the North American pre-Columbian era (roughly 50 BC to AD 250). (Godfrey, ‘The Zelph Story,’ 31, 34; Farnsworth, ‘Lamanitish Arrows,’ 25-48.) (page 57)

At 668 pages, this volume is the largest in the Documents series to date. For anyone interested in the events of this time period in church history, this book is a must have.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
atari_guy | May 11, 2021 |

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Estatísticas

Obras
6
Also by
9
Membros
106
Popularidade
#181,887
Avaliação
½ 4.6
Críticas
3
ISBN
5

Tabelas & Gráficos