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REVIEWS B. H. Roberts and the Book of Mormon

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REVIEWS B. H. Roberts and the Book of Mormon REVIEWS B. H. Roberts and the Book of Mormon Studies of the Book of Mormon by In addition to the three manuscripts B. H. Roberts, edited and with an introduc- Roberts wrote during the 1920s, Madsen tion by Brigham D. Madsen, with bio- included a series of documents selected to graphical essay by Sterling M. McMurrin put the essays into context. Roberts pre- (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illi- pared the first of the essays entitled "Book nois Press, 1985), 375 pp., $21.95. of Mormon Difficulties: A Study," during Reviewed by Thomas G. Alexander, November and December 1921 in answer professor of history and director of the to five questions raised by a Mr. Couch of Charles Redd Center for Western Studies Washington, D. C, on the relationship be- at Brigham Young University. He thanks tween the culture of the pre-Columbian Brigham Madsen, Sterling McMurrin, John Americans as described in the Book of Welch, and Truman Madsen for their Mormon and in scientific investigations. comments. These included: languages, animals, use of steel by pre-exilic Israelites, types of weap- THE THREE MANUSCRIPTS by B. H. Roberts ons, and presence of silk. which form the core of this book first came Roberts divided "Difficulties" into three to my attention in 1980 while I was at parts: (1) linguistics, (2) physical culture, work on Mormonism in Transition (Ur- and (3) racial origins. In each section, he bana: University of Illinois Press, 1986). reviewed the work of authorities known to At that time, George D. Smith, a San him, argued the case, concluded that the Francisco businessman, was kind enough to evidence from non-Mormon sources was supply me with copies of the manuscripts. against the Book of Mormon account, then Then, he indicated that he and Everett L. raised a number of questions about the Cooley, director of the Marriott Library's course of action to take (pp. 91-94, 114— Special Collections who had accessioned 15, 142-43). the B. H. Roberts papers, were interested Roberts presented "Difficulties" to the in having the manuscripts edited and Church leadership in January 1922. Though published. no one in the First Presidency or Twelve Cooley arranged for the editorial work could answer the questions he raised, a and an introductory essay on Roberts's life number reaffirmed their testimonies of the for the volume. Brigham D. Madsen, Book of Mormon; and Elder Richard R. emeritus professor of history at the Uni- Lyman suggested that they drop the mat- versity of Utah and best known for his ter. Instead, President Heber J. Grant ap- work on native American and Mountain- pointed a committee consisting of President west history, served as editor. Sterling M. Anthony W. Ivins and Elders James E. McMurrin, E. E. Erickson Distinguished Talmage, John A. Widtsoe, and Roberts to Professor of Philosophy, wrote a biographi- investigate questions relating to the Book cal essay on Roberts. Neither he nor of Mormon. Cooley, as has been alleged, edited the With that mandate, Roberts took two volume. courses of action. He met with the mem- REVIEWS 191 bers of the committee on several occasions for the Church News (15 Dec. 1985); he during the late winter and spring of 1922, published "B. H. Roberts: Seeker after and he undertook research on both the Truth," in the March 1986 Ensign; and he source of the Book of Mormon text and its and Truman G. Madsen, Richard L. Evans context. The result, "A Book of Mormon Professor of Christian Understanding at Study," was a report discussing problems Brigham Young University, published pre- Roberts saw on the basis of currently avail- liminary reports under the general title: able research into American antiquities. "Did B. H. Roberts Lose Faith in the Book The "Study" addressed essentially three of Mormon?" (Provo, Utah: Foundation questions. First, Roberts asked, was litera- for Ancient Research & Mormon Studies ture available in early nineteenth-century [FARMS], 1985); and Welch wrote: "Find- America which might have served as a ing Answers to B. H. Roberts Questions and "ground plan" which Joseph Smith could 'An Unparallel'" (Provo, Utah: FARMS, have used for the Book of Mormon? Sec- 1985). ond, he queried, did the Prophet have a "Finding Answers to B. H. Roberts sufficiently creative imagination to have ac- Questions and 'An Unparallel' " is a fairly complished such a work? Third, were cul- straightforward attempt to deal with Rob- tural traits revealed in the Book of Mor- erts's questions by citing recent scholarship mon also present in early nineteenth- which supports the traditional LDS posi- century America? tion and by reanalyzing the parallels be- His analysis and synthesis suggested tween the Book of Mormon and View of affirmative answers to all three questions. the Hebrews. Welch concluded that both There was, Roberts summarized, sufficient a different reading of the Ethan Smith " 'common knowledge' of accepted Ameri- book and recent evidence for the Book of can antiquities of the times, supplemented Mormon as an ancient text would have let by such a work as Ethan Smith's View of Roberts answer many of his questions dif- the Hebrews, . [to have made] it possible ferently. He pointed out particularly that for him [Joseph Smith] to create a book most of View of the Hebrews is quite un- such as the Book of Mormon." Further- like the Book of Mormon. more, "there can be no doubt as to the Much of the controversy surrounding possession of vividly strong, creative imagi- the book has been quite unfortunate. The nation by Joseph Smith the Prophet" (p. tone of the first part of "Did B. H. Roberts 250). It is possible that the section on Lose Faith in the Book of Mormon?", nineteenth-century religious culture was not though decidedly negative, nevertheless completed since, unlike the other sections, raised some valid questions about the edi- there is no concluding statement (p. 316). torial method, the assumed chronology of The final manuscript reproduced in Roberts's work, and the inclusion or exclu- the book — entitled "A Parallel" — accom- sion of data and editorial comments. Less panied a letter sent to Richard R. Lyman happily, parts 2 and 3 degenerated into an in October 1927 after Roberts had returned attack on McMurrin and Brigham Madsen. from his mission in New York. It consists The B. H. Roberts Society tried to get of the juxtaposition of statements and quo- the four principals to discuss their differ- tations drawn from the Book of Mormon ences. When that failed, Brigham Madsen and View of the Hebrews showing similar and McMurrin counterattacked at the information in both books. Algie Ballif Forum in Provo in March 1986 The publication of this book evoked (Brigham D. Madsen and Sterling M. Mc- a decided controversy in some circles within Murrin, "Reply to John W. Welch and the LDS scholarly community. John W. Truman G. Madsen," typescript, March Welch, professor of law at Brigham Young 1986). In it, they vigorously took on the University, reviewed the book negatively objections that the two BYU professors had 192 DIALOGUE: A JOURNAL OF MORMON THOUGHT raised. Following the Ballif Forum presen- "A Parallel," unless it too is taken as a tation, Welch wrote evenhanded letters to statement of possibilities, can be viewed as Madsen and McMurrin to clarify his views an example of the fallacy of composition and reduce the level of tension while spell- (reasoning from some features of the parts ing out his differences with them. to generalize about the whole). As Welch While Roberts's manuscripts are ex- has shown, there are sufficient differences tremely interesting since they provide in- in the context and evidence Ethan Smith sights into his thought and assessment of included in View of the Hebrews to lead the status of scholarship on the Book of reasonable persons to disagree with the Mormon during the early 1920s, from a proposition that it could have served as the historian's point of view they present some "ground plan" for the Book of Mormon. methodological problems. Since "Difficul- At least two other questions of interest ties" is a survey of the literature on the were raised in the controversy over the questions asked, its conclusions for Rob- book. The first has to do with whether erts's time could simply be no better than B. H. Roberts retained his testimony of the the available scholarship. Roberts seems to Book of Mormon after completing these have recognized this, but the Church studies. Brigham Madsen argued that "the leadership had no way to address the record is mixed" (p. 29). Pointing to some scholarly conclusions at the time. The Ivins questions raised in private conversations, he committee might have helped, but Roberts nevertheless indicated that in Roberts's was apparently dissatisfied with their initial "public statements he was still the defender efforts. of the faith." He then provided a number The major problem with the "Study" of quotations supporting this position (pp. is that, if one takes it as anything more 29-30). Sterling McMurrin also concluded than an analysis of possibilities, it must be that Roberts "continued to profess his faith viewed as an example of the genetic fallacy in the authenticity of the book" (p. xviii). (that something can be explained solely by Roberts's private statements raise some its cultural context). Roberts tried to ad- questions about his views. Brigham Mad- dress that difficulty by assuming "that it is sen cited a long quotation from the diary more than likely that the Smith family pos- of Wesley P. Lloyd, former dean of the sessed a copy" of View of the Hebrews and Graduate School at BYU, reporting a con- by pointing out that the idea that the In- versation with Roberts late in his life which dians were of Hebraic descent was popu- indicates that Roberts may have enter- larly current in Western New York and tained the possibility of a psychological in- New England during the early nineteenth terpretation of the Book of Mormon.
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