AN OVERVIEW OF THE ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST AS A POSSIBLE SOURCE FOR THE .

THE COMPARATIVE METHOD REEXAMINED

MADISON U. SOWELL

N NOVEMBER 28, that a most effective way to attack always advocated a 1841, Mormonism was to attack the Book of human, rather than a divine or super- recorded in his jour- Mormon’s validity as an ancient re- natural, origin of the book. In 1834, for nal that the Book of cord. By chipping away at Mor- instance, E. D. Howe published Mor- Mormon is "the key- monism’s central stone, to continue monism Unvailed [sic] in which it was stone of our reli- the analogy, various factions and hos- proposed that the original authors of gion.’’1 Joseph’s analogy, thoughtile groups hoped to affect the the Book of Mormon were Solomon brief, aptly illustrates an important Prophet’s downfall and to encompass Spaulding, author of Manuscript. point to keep in mind as we discuss a the destruction of his religion. Story, and Sidney Rigdon, one of Wide-ranging theories surfaced, Joseph’s earliest and most notable reputed Book of Mormon source. We 3 may infer from the analogy that just as therefore, in attempts to uncover the converts. The Spaulding-Rigdon a keystone locks together the other "true" origin of the Book of Mormon. theory, while popular for several de- stones of an arch, so the Book of Needless to report, those opposed to cades, has long since been discre- Mormon supports and gives validity dited. As Thomas O’Dea concludes, to the doctrines of Mormonism. "Few, if any, scholars take it seriously Without a keystone no arch could today.’’4 Other theories ascribed the stand; without the Book of Mormon BOOK OF MORMON: Book of Mormon’s authorship either the religion Joseph Smith founded to or to an epileptic would lose its chief reason for being. ACCOUNT WRITTEN B’f TIlE HAND OF MOR- and, consequently, visionary Joseph MON, UPON PLATES TAKEN FROM Smith. s It is not our intent, however, Everying in Mormonism ultimatey Till:; PLATES OP NEPIH. : hinges on the authenticity of our un- to delve into these particular conjec- iquely Mormon scripture.2 Today, tures, which are largely out of vogue after one hundred and fifty years, the in today’s scholarly world. Our atten- Book of Mormon still remains the acid tion will focus instead on another test of Joseph Smith’s claims to theory, one which widely circulates in prophetic election. Mormon apostates current anti-Mormon literature but is and other anti- had already hardly known to the Mormon mem- understood this simple fact years be- bership at large. Like the topic of fore the Prophet made the keystone Mormonism and Masonry, the sub- comparison, and they had concluded ject of Joseph’s possible reliance on ’s View of the Hebrews for This paper was first presented at SUNSTONE’$ 1980 PALM\R.\ : parts of the Book of Mormon has sel- Mormon Theological Symposium 1<30. dom been discussed publicly in Mor- MADISON SOWELL teaches Italian at BYU. _ (Con tinued on page 50)

44 Sunstone TEXTUAL PROBLEMS WHICH MAY CHALLENGE THE BOOK’S ORIGIN AND AUTHORSHIP WERE EXAMINED BY B. H. ROBERTS.

BOOK OF MORMON DIFFICULTIES

GEORGE D. SMITH, JR.

N AUGUST 1921 a Mr. Couch to us from the outside World." 1 the integrity of the whole Mormon of Washington, D.C., wrote to Believing that "our faith is not only movement," wrote Roberts in another his friend in Logan, Utah, unshaken but unshakable,’’2 Roberts letter to President Grant about the asking several pointed ques- therefore felt it was possible to face same matter, "for it is inconceivable tions about certain details of these challenges directly. Joseph that the Book of Mormon should be the Book of Mormon. These Smith himself had declared the book untrue in its origin and character and questions were forwarded to Apostle "the keystone" of the restored gospel. the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- James B. Talmage, who in turn gave "Maintenance of the truth of the Book day Saints to be a true church."3 This them to B.H. Roberts of the First of Mormon is absolutely essential to proposition is no less true today and Quorum of the Seventy. In response, the continuing need to examine the Roberts wrote two manuscripts, book no less critical. Two arguments "Book of Mormon Difficulties" and often used against the Book of Mor- "A Book of Mormon Study," detailing mon, both addressed by Roberts potential problems which might be during his lifetime, are therefore wor- used to discredit the Book of Mormon. thy of careful attention. The first paper was presented to the The first "difficulty" was detailed Council of the Twelve. In a cover letter at length in Roberts’ second manus- to President Heber J. Grant which ac- cript, "A Book of Mormon Study." In companied the manuscript, Roberts 1823, seven years before the Book of explained his motives for cataloguing Mormon was published, Ethan Smith what some might feel best forgotten. had written View of the Hebrews,4 a "I am thoroughly convinced," he compilation of popular opinions wrote, "of the necessity of all the about the origins of the American In- brethren herein addressed becoming dians, who supposedly descended familiar with these Book of Mormon from the Hebrew tribes. Some have problems, and finding the answer for claimed that this book was a source for them, as it is a matter that will concern the Book of Mormon. The book was the faith of the Youth of the Church circulated in the area where Joseph now as also in the future, as well as lived. Ethan Smith was a Congrega- such casual inquirers that may come tional minister living in Poultney, This paper was first presented at SUNSTONE’S 1979 , Oliver Cowdery’s home Mormon Theological Symposium until 1825 when he moved west and GEORGE SMITH is a freelance historian living met Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith’s in San Francisco. own birthplace, Sharon, Vermont,

Mayqune 45 was only 40 miles from Poultney. But Ethan Smiith, like Joseph Smith, ment .... Something like this may View of the Hebrews, which was ex- believed that the American In- possibly have occurred to favour of panded in the 1825 edition, was also dians descended frorn the an- our Indians being of Israel" (pp. 217- read widely in New York, where the cient Hebrews. But Ethan Smith con- 218).~2 Similar ideas are found in Joseph Smith family moved. Several cluded "from various authors and Mormon’s description of bu~ying sac- endorsements of the book from travelers among the Indians., the fact red "records which had been handed people living in New York were in- that the American Indians are the ten clown by our father," buryiing them cluded in the second edition of the tribes of Israel" (p. 85). The Book of up "in the Hill Cumorah" (Mormon book, one from Eden, New York, a Mormon describes a people de- 6:6). town as far west as Buffalo. s scended from only three tribes-- Ethan Smith had collected reports Lehi’s descendants from the. tribes of about the Hebrew origin of the In- Ephraim and Manasseh, two of the dians from missionaries and traders lost tribes, and Mulek’s descendants who had lived among them. This idea from the tribe of Judah. ~o The opening ACRED RECORDS, was also held by such well-known chapters of both books deal with the American religious leaders as Roger destruction of Jerusalem and the scat- HAND ED D 0 WN Williams, William Penn, Cotton tering of Israel. Both books then de- FROM G ENERA TION Mather, and Jonathan Edwards, as scribe the gathering and restoration of well as authors James Adair, Charles Israel to its own land. Ethan Smith TO GENERATION, Crawford, Elias Boudinot, and Josiah quotes the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, WERE BURIED IN A Priest. Priest had published two which the Angel Moroni also recited HILL IN BOTH books supporting the thesis.6 In The to Joseph Smith on September 12, Wonders of Nature and Providence Dis- 1828 (History of the Church, Vol. I, p. ,4 C C O UNTS . played (editions printed in 1825 and 12). The migrations of Ethan Smith’s Both the View of the Hebrews and 1826) he concluded, after quoting "lost tribes" are not unlike those of the Book of Mormon identify the some forty writers, that most minis- the Book of Mormon Jaredites. Both American Indians as the "stick ters of and the Middle groups journeyed north into a of Joseph or Ephraim," the tribe of States believed the Indians were de- valley~the valley of the Euphrates for 7 Joseph, which will be reunited with scendants of the Hebrews. Between the "lost tribes" and the valley of the stick of Judah, the Jews, as 1833 and 1838 he published eight edi- Nimrod for the Jaredites. Both finally prophesied by Ezekiel (chapter 37). tions of the second book, American crossed the sea--the lost tribes in a Ten tribes of Israel (the stick of Joseph) Antiquities. year and a half, the Jaredites in 344 were carried into captivity by the As- Although there is no direct evi- days~to an uninhabited land "where syrians in 722 B.C.; the Jews in the dence that Joseph Smith ever read man never dwelt" (tribes) or "into Southern Kingdom (the stick of View of the Hebrews before the Book of that quarter where there never had Judah) were exiled by the Babylonians Mormon was translated, in an 1842 ar- man been (Jaredites, Ether 2:!5). in 587 B.C. Ezekiel[ 37 described the ticle in the ~ he did In both books savage tribes de- reunion of these two houses of Ab- use a quote from American Antiquities raham (Smith, pp. 52-54; D&C 2.7:5). ~3 and an allusion to Ethan Smith as stroyed their civilized brethren support for the validity of his own in a final great battle. ~ The sav- Both books inform Americans age group had been judged or cursed that they should convert the In- by God and become "idle hunters" in dians to their Hebraic ..scriptural the "wilderness.." Other parallels are heritage. The Book of Mormon quotes mentioned (see sidebar). Isaiah and prophesies that "God will raise up a mighty nation among the THE MIGRATIONS OF In both accounts, sacred re- Gentiles" (1 Nephi 22:7), which shall E THAN S MI TH’S cords, ha~tded down from gen- carry a message "unto the remnant of eration to generation, were our seed.., wherefore they shall be LOST TRIBES ARE NOT buried in a hill .and then found years gathered together to the lands of their UNLIKE THOSE OF later. Ethan Smith related an Indian inheritance" (2 Nephi 30:3, 5; 1 Nephi tradition "that the book which the ,’).2:12). View of the Hebrews states that it THE BOOK OF white people have was once theirs" is "probable that the Christian people MORMON (p. 115), that "having lost the know- of the United States of America are the ledge of reading it... they buried it subjects of that address" (Of Isaiah 18; JAREDITES. with an Indian Chief" (p. 223). He Smith p. 228). Ethan Smith work. Certainly then, these ideas tells of some Hebrew parchments exhorts: "Look at the origins of those about the origin of the Indians were "dug up... on Indian Hill .... proba- degraded natives of your conti- widely circulated during the time and bly from an Indian grave" (pp. 217- nent .... teach thern their ancient his- at the place Joseph was translating the 218) and speculates that some ancient tory; their former blessings; their Book of Mormon. ~ Hebrew writing, once possessed by being cast away; and the promises of There are at least five themes "a leading character in Israel," could their return .... Go thou nation found in View of the Hebrews (1.825 edi- have been buried with him when he highly distinguished in the last days; tion) which have parallels in the Book died. "Some people afterward re- save the remnant of my people" (pp. of Mormon. moving that earth, discover this frag- :).49-250).

46 Sunstone After detailing such parallels in his "A Book of Mormon Study," B.H. THE FINAL GREAT BATTLE Roberts posed the following rhetorical question: Did Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews fur- nish structural material for Joseph Smith’s BOOK OF MORMON VIEW OF THE HEBREWS Book of Mormon? It has been pointed out in "And I did teach my people to these pages that there are many things in the "But that the people who first mi- former book that might well have suggested build buildings, and to work in all grated to this western world did pos- many major things in the other. Not a few manner of wood, and of iron, and of sess some knowledge of the mechanic things merely, one or two, or a half dozen, copper, and of brass, and of steel, arts (as much, doubtless, as was pos- but many; and it is this fact of many things of and of gold, and of silver, and of sessed by Israel when they disappeared similarity and the cumulative forces of precious ores, which were in great in the east), appears from incontest- them, that makes them so serious a menace abundance." (2 Nephi 5:15) able facts.., such as the finding of to Joseph Smith’s story of the Book of Mor- brick, earthen ware, sculptures, some mon’s origin. implements of iron.., which furnish an A second group of questions is argument in favor of the Indians hav- often raised regarding the number of ing descended from the ten tribes." passages from the King James transla- (pp. 171-172) tion of the Bible that are found in the "And I bear record that the peo- "...it took place under a vindictive Book of Mormon. In 1903 Mr. H. ple of Nephi did seek diligently to Providence, as has been noted, to ac- Chamberlain, an investigator from restore the Lamanites unto the true complish divine judgmen ts denounced Spencer, Iowa, addressed a question faith of God. But our labors were against the idolatrous ten tribes of about the matter to President Joseph in vain;" (Enos 20) Israel." (p. 174) "Inasmuch as they will not F. Smith. His wife had joined the hearken unto thy words they shall Church, but he had not been able to be cut off from the presence of the reconcile apparent conflicts concern- Lord... And he had caused a curs- ing the Book of Mormon. "Christ is ing to come upon them..." (2 Nephi quoting to the people on this side of 5:20-21) the water," he observed, "the third "...they did become an idle "finding themselves in a vast and fourth chapters of Malachi, people.., and did seek in the wilder- wilderness filled with the best of quoted, according to the Book of ness for beasts of prey." (2 Nephi game .... most of them fell into a Mormon, in the identical text of the 5:24) wandering idle hunting life" (p. 172) King James’ version, not missing a "And now I finish my record con- "...but the more savage tribes pre- word.., not even omitting the words concerning the destruction of my peo- vailed; and in the process of time supplied by the translators." ple, the Nephites. And it came to their savage and jealous rage annihi- Recognizing that no two trans- pass that we did march forth before lated their more civilized brethren... lators are likely to produce identical the Lamanites." (Mormon 6:1) this accounts for their loss of the knowledge of letters, of the art of navigation, and the use of iron." (p. 172) "’swords, the hilts thereof "a smallsword.., the blade thereof THE B OOK OF were cankered with rust" (Mosiah was gone by rust." (p. 194) 8:11) MORMON HAS "a land which was covered with "a great quantity of bones.., the CHRIST QUOTING the bones of men" (Mosiah 8:8) remains of men slain in some great battle" (p. 195) THE WORDS OF "a people who were as numerous "a population as numerous as that PETER, BEFORE as the hosts of Israel" (Mosiah which once animated the borders of PETER SPOKE THEM. 8:8) the Nile..." (p. 199) "With the records was found a Thummim, the American Archimagus translations, even if working from the curious instrument, which the an- wears a breast plate made of a white same text, he expressed doubt that cients called Urim and Thummim conch shell with two holds.., and such similarities could occur in two which consisted of two transpar- fastens a buck horn white button to the translations unless one were copied entstones set in the rim of a outside of each, as if in imitation of the from the other. "And then it takes the bow fastened to a breast plate." precious stones of the Urim." (p. 150) utmost care," he added, "to get them (History of the Church, Vol. V, "On the breast lay a piece of copper; exactly alike, word for word, and let- p. 537) also a curious stone five inches in ter for letter as this one." He then length... The whole appeared to have asked this question: "How do you as been designed to wear upon the neck a church account for these as a kind of breastplate." (p. 195) things?... Did Joseph copy it from the Bible, or did the Lord adopt this identical language in revealing to Joseph?’’is

May~une 47 There are many examples of nearly identical constructions and meta- phors which appear in both tlhe Book PARALLEL VERSES of Mormon and the King James ver- sion of the Bible (see sidebar). Some BOOK OF MORMON NEW TESTAMENT quoted passages are particularly problematic because the Book of the ax is laid at the root of the the ax is laid unto the :root of the Mormon includes statements which tree, therefore every tree which trees: therefore every tree which would not yet have been written-- bringeth not forth good fruit shall bringeth not forth good fruit is New Testament passages, for exam- be hewn down and cast into the fire hewn down and cast into the fire ple, before the time of Christ. There (Alma 5:52, B.C. 83) (Matthew 3:10) are also time sequence conflicts in- the dog to his vomit, or like the the dog is turned to his own vomit volving the Old Testament. sow to her wallowing in the mire again; and the sow that was washed For example, Nephi, who wrote (3 Nephi 7:8, A.D. 29-30) to her wallowing in the mire approximately 550 years before (2 Peter 2:22) Christ, quotes Malachi, wh~o lived it shall be all .fulfilled, every jot one jot or one tittle shall in no nearly 1.50 years later. Malach!i: and tittle, and none shall have wise pass from the law, till all be For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as passed away (Alma 34:13, B.C. 74) fulfilled (Matthew 5:18) an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that shall be cast into outer darkness; shall be cast into outer darkness: do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that there shall be weeping, and wailing, there shall be weeping and gnashing cometh shall burn them up (Malachi 4:1). and gnashing to teeth (Alma 40:13, of teeth (Matthew 8:12) shall the Son of righteousness arise with he- B.C. 73) alings in his wings (Malachi 4:2) stand fast in ~hat liberty wherewith Stand fl~st therefore in the liberty! Similar passages from Nephi: God has made them free (Alma 58:40, wherewith Christ hath made us fi’ee For behold, saith the prophet .... the day B.C. 63) (Galatians 5:1) soon cometh that all the proud and they who the last shall be first, and the many that are first shall be last; do wickedly shall be as stubble; and the day com- first shall be last (I Nephi 13:42, and the last shall be first eth that they must be burned (1 Nephi 22:15). B.C. 690-592) (Matthew 19:30) Wherefore, all those who are proud, and that do wickedly, the day that colneth shall and there shall be one fold and one and there shall be one fold, and one burn them up .... for they shall be as stubble (2 shepherd (I Nephi 22:25, B.C. shepherd (John 10:16) Nephi 26:41). 588-570) He shall rise from the dead with healing in his wings ,’,2 Nephi 25:13). the Lamb of God, who should take the Lamb of God, which taketh away But the Son of righteousness shall appear unto away the sins of the world the sins of the world (John 1:29) them; and he shall heal them (2 Nephi 26:9). (I Nephi 10:10, B.C. 600-592) by the law no flesh is justified by the works of the law shall no Another problematic section in the (2 Nephi 2:4, B.C. 588-570’.) flesh be justified (Galatians 2:16’,1 Book of Mormon has Christ quoting God will giw~ liberally to him that If any of you lack wisdom, let ihim the words of Peter, before Peter spoke asketh (2 Nephi 4:35, B.C. 588-570) ask of God, thatgiveth to all men them. Actually, Christ is supposed to liberally (James 1:5) be quoting Moses, but instead of cit- And whoso knocketh, to him he will and to him that knocketh it shall be ing Deuteronomy 18:1_5-19, he quotes opened (Matthew 7:8’,t Peter’s paraphrase found in Acts open (2 Nephi 9:42, B.C. 559-545) 3:22-26. Then Christ, speakin:g about Whatsoever t,hing ye shall ask in whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, himself, uses the same words Peter faith, believing.., ye shall re- believing, ye shall receive used in this passage. Peter: ceive it (Enos 15, B.C. 544-421) (Matthew 21:22) Unto you first God having raised up his Son they who are righteous shall be he which is filthy, let him be Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away righteous still, and they who are filthy still: and he that is every one of you from his iniquiities (Acts filthy shall be filthy still righteous, let him be righteous 3:26). (2 Nephi 9:16, B.C. 559-54,5) still (Revelation 22:11) Christ describing his own mission: endured the crosses of the world endured the cross, despising the The Father having raised me up unto you and despised the shame (2 Nephi shame (Hebrews 12:2) first, and sent me to bless you in turning 9:18, B.C. 559-545) away every one of you from his iniquities (3 Nephi 20:26). where there is no law given there where no law is, there is no trans-. is no punishment (2 Nephi 9:25 gression (Romans 4:15) B.H. Roberts wrote a response to B.C. 559-54!5) the letter which Chamberl,ain had But woe unh~. the rich (2 Nephi 9:30) But woe unto you that are rich written regarding such quoting and (Luke 6:24) paraphrasing; the response, dated November 1903, was printe,d in the to be carnally-minded is death, and to be carnally minded is death, but Improvement Era. Again Roberts to be spiritually-minded is life to be spiritually minded is life acknowledged the real difficulty (2 Nephi 9:39, B.C. 559-545) (Romans 8:6) posed and noted that such parallels have "been recognized by believers in

48 Sunstone the Book of Mormon, but I do not pear under the characters, that Joseph The fact that Joseph could have know that I can say that the Church as would simply read off the English written the Book of Mormon doesn’t yet has settled upon any explana- translation to his scribe. 18 Thus the mean that he did nor does the exis- tion." He explained that Mormons question of translation methods be- tence of problems regarding the book generally believe that Joseph Smith comes an important part of dealing mean that its authenticity is automati- translated the words of Isaiah, with challenges such as these leveled cally discredited. Nonetheless, if the Malachi, and Christ which appear in against the Book of Mormon. Book of Mormon is to maintain its the Book of Mormon from manus- Given the complexity of the issues, cripts other than those used by the members of the Church must aban- translators of the King James don facile defenses of Joseph Smith Bible--in fact, Joseph’s manuscripts and his work if they intend to confront were written in different languages. questions regarding the authenticity So the question of why some passages of the Book of Mormon. The issue of ROBERTS appear to be identical to ones found in translation is only one example. B.H. SUGGESTED THAT the Bible "constitutes a real difficulty, Roberts also led the way in confront- and one, too, in which we have no ing other difficult issues. For example, ALTHOUGH JOSEPH word from the Prophet, Joseph Mormons have often claimed that OBTAINED THE S1Ttith.’’16 In this letter, Roberts then "conjec- Joseph’s limited education and FACTS AND IDEAS background precluded his writing the tured" about possible explanations Book of Mormon on his own. "Was FROM THE NEPHITE for these similarities: "When Joseph Joseph Smith possessed of a suffi- Smith saw that the Nephite record CHARACTERS, HE ciently vivid and creative imagination was quoting the prophecies of Isaiah, as to produce such a work as the Book EXPRESSED THEM IN of Malachi, or of the Savior, he too of Mormon from such common HIS OWN LANG UA G E. used the English Bible and compared knowledge as was extant in the com- those passages as far as they paral- munities where he lived in his boy- central position, there are many ques- leled each other; finding that in sub- hood and young manhood; from the tions yet to examine. As Roberts in- stance, in thought, they were alike, he Bible, and more especially from the sisted, not until we adopt "the view- adopted our English translation .... " View of the Hebrews by Ethan Smith?" point of an open mind, investigating He also suggested that although queried Roberts in his "A Book of the facts of the Book of Mormon origin Joseph Smith obtained the facts and and authorship.., can [we] look ideas from the Nephite characters, he Mormon Study." He then cited examples of Joseph’s facility with lan- without fear on all that can be said expressed them in his own language. against it.-22 If the passage closely resembled the guage. He first referred to the passage Bible, he used biblical language. from Lucy Mack Smith’s biography of Notes In 1906, in another article in the Im- her son, wherein Joseph, at the age of 1. On January 4, 5, and 26, 1922, B.H. Roberts pre- seventeen, reportedly recited stories sented his 141-page paper, "Book of Mormon Difficul- provement Era, Roberts discussed this of ancient American Indian civiliza- ties," to the General Authorities. This paper detailed translation process at some length linguistic problems in the Book of Mormon. For exam- and again concluded that Joseph tions, describing "their dress, mode ple, how could so many languages have evolved from of travelling, and the animals upon one language in only 1000 years? Also, Roberts was concerned about the lack of archeological evidence for which they rode; their cities, their the Nephite peoples’ use of domestic animals (in- buildings, with every particular; their duding the horse), iron and steel, wheat and barley, mode of warfare; and also their religi- and wheel vehicles. ous worship.., with as much ease, The second paper, "A Book of Mormon Study," dis- cussed parallels with the View of the Hebrews and cer- MAINTENANCE OF seemingly, as if he had spent his tain internal inconsistencies in the Book of Mormon. A whole life among them.’’19 He nextcover letter dated March 15, 1923, addressed to Presi- THE TRUTH OF THE dent Heber J. Grant has been saved with the manus- quoted Joseph Smith, somewhat cript. There is no evidence that Roberts ever presented BOOK OF MORMON older, writing to the Saints from Lib- it to President Grant. In a letter to Elder Richard R. erty Jail--first an eloquent prayer, Lyman, dated October 24, 1927, Roberts explained IS ABSOLUTELY that his investigations concerning the Book of Mor- then a characterization of Missouri mon had been interrupted in 1922 by a call to serve as ESSENTIAL TO THE Governor Boggs as "wimbling wil- Eastern States Mission President; Truman Madsen lows upon the shore to catch the quotes a 1932 letter from Roberts to Elizabeth Skolfield INTEGRITY OF THE which indicated that he had not yet presented the sec- floodwood."2o ond paper (BYU Studies 19:441). Roberts died in 1933. WHOLE MORMON He then concluded that there could In a December 26, 1967, letter, Grant Ivins, former BYU professor of comparative religion and son of MOVEMENT. be no doubt that Joseph Smith pos- apostle Anthony Ivins, wrote about a B.H. Roberts sessed a vivid and creative imagina- manuscript "pointing out the similarity between View Smith must have supplied the English tion, which, "given the suggestions of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon": "He wanted words after the Lord introduced the to publish this comparison, but the Church authorities that are to be found in the ’common would not sanction its publication" (Letter to Heber ideas. 17 Roberts reached these con- knowledge’ of accepted American an- Holt; copy preserved in Special Collections, Univer- clusions despite statements by Book tiquities of the times, supplemented sity of Utah). of Mormon witnesses David Whitmer by such a work as Ethan Smith’s View In December 1979, Adele W. Parkinson, widow of and Martin Harris that Joseph would B.H. Roberts’ grandson, presented copies of "Book of of the Hebrews, could make it possible Mormon Difficulties" and "A Book of Mormon look into a hat at the seer stones and for him to create a book such as the Study," along with related correspondence, to the that actual English words would ap- ’’2~ Special Collections Library at the University of Utah; Book of Mormon is. copies of this material went to BYU.

May~une 49 2. Letter to President Grant, March 15, 1’923. "View of the Hebrews," Juvenile Instructor (Oct. 1, persal of the Ten Tribes in 722 B.C. These two tribal remnants, plus Mulek (from the tribe of Judah) left 3. Ibid. 1902); William L. Riley, "A Comparison of Passages from Isaiah and Other Old Testament Prophets in Jerusalem before the Babylonian captivi~y in 587 B.C. 4. Ethan Smith, View of the Hebrews; or the Tribes of Is- Ethan Smith’s View Of the Hebrews and the Book of and became the three tribes described in the Book of rael in America, Smith & Shute: Poultney, Vermont, Mormon," Thesis, May Mormon--stick of Ephraim. The earlier Jaredite 1823, 2 ed. 1825. In 1977, Arno Press, New York, a sub- 1971. peoples had become extinct in Book of Mormon his- sidiary of the New York Times, reprinted the 1823 edi- tory. tion; Modern Microfilm, Salt Lake City, has photo- 10. Beginning with Joseph Smith, Church leaders mechanically reproduced the 1825 edition (1964). have identified American Indians as descendants of 14. "A Book of Mormon Study," Part ![, Chap. XIII, Book of Mormon peoples. (See DHC h12, CHC I:167, pp. 19-24 and Chap. XIV, p. 1. 5. Letter dated February 4, 1825, from Rev. Jabez B. JD 17:299-501, JD 14:10, and Doctrines of Salvation, 15. Letter from H. Chamberlain to President Joseph F. Hyde of Eden, Erie County, New York. published I:151.) More recently, the doctrine of Indian origin Smith, dated October 22, 1903, quoted in the Improve- under "Recommendations" in the 1825 edition, pp. seems to have been modified to include the widely ment Era 7 (1904):180-182. vi-vii, comments on the 1823 edition. recognized migrations across the Bering Strait, thousands of years before Book of Mormon chronol- 16. Letter from B.H. Roberts to H. Chamberlain, 6. View of the Hebrews, pp. 67-225 (Second Ed.). dated November 7, 1903, quoted in the Improvement Smith quotes extensively James Adair, The History of ogy. (See McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2 ed. pp. 32-33; Era 7:182-192. the American Indians, London, 1775; and Elias Arrington and Bitton, Mormon Experience, p. 14.) Boudinot, A Star in the West; or, a Humble Attempt to Dis- In attributing the origin of the American Indians to 17. For further discussion of Bible quotations in the cover the Long Lost Ten Tribes of Israel, Trenton, N.J., three tribes instead of the "," a well Book of Mormon see Sidney B. Spert3,, Our Book of 1816. Smith refers to forty-six "authors and au- understood classification, the Book of Mormon differs Mormon, Bookcraft, Salt Lake, 1950, Chap. 16; Answers thorities." from View of the Hebrews. Roberts considers this a varia- ~o Book of Mormon Question:;, Bookcraft, 1967; Paul R. tion of slight importance, "since the main idea ,Chessman, The Keystone of Mormonism, Salt Lake, De- 7. , The Wonders of Nature and Providence is... that the American Indians are descendants of the seret 1973, chap. 3; Hugh Nibley, An Approach to the Displayed, Albany, 1825, 1826. Israelites" ("A Book of Mormon Study," Part I, Chap. Book of Mormon, Salt Lake, Deseret 1964, p. 139; Saints" 8. Times and Seasons, June 1, 1842, Vol. III, pp. 813- II, pp. 11-12). Herald, 108; The Instructor (March 1956): 72. 814. 11. Roberts, observing that the Indians lived in a 18. Martin Harris describes the "chocolate-colored, 9. Hugh Nibley asserted that "to establish any con- Stone Age culture, queried whether Ethan Smith "was somewhat egg-shaped stone which the prophet found nection at all between the books of the two Smiths it is innocently followed into this error [of presuming the while digging a well .... " which he used. to receive di- absolutely imperative to find something perfectly un- use of iron and steel] by the author of the Book of vine messages (CHC, Vol. I, p. 129). This seer stone re- ique and peculiar in both of them." He was not able to Mormon" ("A Book of Mormon Study," Part I, Chap. sembles the dark-colored stone Joseph Smith looked find "any single thing in common between them that VIII, p. 6). .at in his hat to locate buried silver in 1825, when Josiah is not also found in the Bible" ("The Comparative Stowel hired him for his reputation as a seer. (DHC, 12. The Hebrew parchment was deposited with Dr. Vol. I, p. 17; CHC, Vol. I, pp. 81-82; Oliver Cowdery’s Method," Improvement Era 62 [Oct./Nov. 1.959]: 848). Isaiah Thomas, president of the (now American) An- Other LDS references on View of the Hebrews in- report in L.D.S Messenger and Advocate, 2[October dude: Bruce D. Blumell, "I Have a Question," The En- tiquarian Society of Worcester, Massachusetts, on the 1835]: 200-201; Lucy Smith’s Biographical Sketches of sign (September 1976): 84-87: Paul R. Cheesman, condition that the Society mention it in its bulletin. Joseph Smith and the Prophet, Liverpool, England, 1853, This was not done, and the parchment was returned in pp. 91-92; a discussion of Joseph Smith’s employment "View of the Hebrews," unpublished paper, 1963 1818 to the contributor, Sylvester Larned, who then (Cheesman notes differences between the two to locate hidden treasures is also found in Frazers presented it to Elias Boudinot, author of A Star in the .Magazine 3 [Feb. 1873]:229-230.) books: time of peoples’ arrival - 2800 B.C. and 650 B.C. West. The parchment is not found among Dr. vs. 722 B.C.; way of travel - boats v. "Bee~ring Straits"; Boudinot’s papers, which are deposited at the Histori- Description by David Whitmer, An Address to all Believ- reason for coming to America - blessing vs. curse); cal Society of Pennsylvania. (See the publications of ers in Christ, p. 12, quoted iin Improvement Era 9 (April Donna Hill, Joseph Smith, the First Mormon, Doubleday, the American Jewish Historical Society, #25, 1917, pp. 1906):427; Martin Harris, Millennial Star 24:86-87, Garden City, 1977, p. 104; Marvin S. Hill, "The His- 81-85; and September, 1948, p. 49.) quoted in same Improvemen~t Era article. torigraphy of Mormonism," Church History, Dec. 1959, 19. History of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Salt Lake pp. 418-426; Truman G. Madsen, "B.H. Roberts and 13. The Book of Mormon interprets "stick" as written the Book of Mormon," BYU Studies 19 (Summer 1959) record; View of the Hebrews applies "stick" as a family City: Deseret Book, 1901, p. 83. Hugh W. Nibley, "New Approaches to Book of Mor- branch. Ethan Smith includes the "Ten Lost Tribes" 20. Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Vol. III, pp. mon Study," Improvement Era (March, 1954): 148-150, under the stick of Ephraim; the Book of Mormon de- 280-305. 170; Spencer J. Palmer and William L. Knecht, "View scribes Lehi and Ishmael as two descendants of those 21."A Book of Mormon Study," Part I, Chap. XW, p. 13. of the Hebrews: Substitute for Inspiration?" BYU of the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim which re- Studies (Winter 1964): 105-113; George Reynolds, mained south and escaped Assyrian captivity and dis- 22. Letter to President Grant, March 15. 1923.

(Continued from page 44) Ethan share th,e same last name, ac- topic of great interest in early mondom. However, given the cent- tual family ties have never been de- nineteenth-century New England. rality of the Book of Mormon to Mor- monstrated. Ethan’s life span in- That topic was the Israelite origin of monism, the present topic undoub- cluded that of Joseph Smith: Ethan the American Indians. The first edi- tedly merits a careful review. was born in 1762, and he died in 1849, tion as soon exhausted, and an "im- proved and enlarged" edition ap- The allegation that Joseph Smith 8 wrote the Book of Mormon by bor- peared in 1825. Both the first and rowing ideas from Ethan Smith’s second editions precede the Book of works has circulated for many years. Mormon by seven and five years re- But it was not until the close of World PEOPLE HAVE spectively. The 1825 edition is divided War Ill that the question first received into the following four chapters: "The wide publicity and scholarly accep- WRONGLY Destruction of Jerusalem," "The Cer- tance. This came with the printing of CONCLUDED THAT tain Restoration of Judah and Israel," Fawn Brodie’s life of Joseph Smith, No "The Present State of the Jews, and of Man Knows My History. 6 Before we ROBERTS SERIOUSLY Israel," and "An Address of the turn to Brodie’s controversial book, DOUBTED THE BOOK Prophet Isaiah, Relative to -the Resto-. however, it may be helpful to estab- ration of His People." Chapter lish Ethan Smith’s identity and pin- OF MORMON’S gives "promiscuous testimonies" on page 1_14 to 225 as evidence that the point his geographic location. For A UTHENTICITY. Indians are of the House of Israel. Fur.- many years he was the pastor of a church in Poultney, Rutlancl County, five years after Joseph’s martyrdom. thermore, the book speaks of an an.- Vermont. This county adjoins In 1823 Ethan ]published the first edi- cient record hidden in th,e earth; it Windsor County, where Joseph tion of View of the Hebrews; or the Tribes quotes long passages from the ~ prophecies of Isaiah; it describes an Smith’s family resided at the time of of Israel in America. The work proved Joseph’s birth. Although Joseph and immediately popular, as it treated a Indian artifact resembling the Urirn

50 Sunstone and Thummim; and it theorizes about Brodie also speculates that Joseph on to the next objection to the Book of two distinct classes of Indians, one transformed a reference to the Urim Mormon. barbarous and one civilized, that and Thummim in Ethan Smith’s book In 1956, in response perhaps to originally populated America until "into the famous magic spectacles such naive treatments of the issue, the savage race destroyed the more with which he translated the golden Mervin Hogan, a Utah Mason, pub- civilized. plates." lished B.H. Roberts’ list of parallels Brodie makes much of all these Perhaps the most curious of between the Book of Mormon and facts. In "Red Sons of Israel," the Brodie’s statements concerning View of the Hebrews. The list is the one third chapter of her Joseph Smith parallelisms appears in a footnote to referred to by Brodie in the previously biography, she asserts that "Joseph’s the above page in which she observes quoted footnote. Hogan prefaces the familiarity with the theory of the He- the following: parallels with a bibliography designed braic origin of the Indians The scholarly Mormon historian B.H. to show "that a speculative relation- seems.., to have come chiefly Roberts once made a careful and impressive ship of the American Indian to a Heb- from... View of the Hebrews. ,,9 She list of parallels between View of the Hebrews raic origin is a most time worn thesis goes on to hypothesize, on the same and the Book of Mormon, but for obvious which must have sprung from the im- reasons it was never published. After his page, that death copies were made which circulated agination of some of the theologically It may, in fact, have been View of the He- among a limited circle in Utah. inclined soon after 1492.’’14 Hogan’s brews that gave Joseph Smith the idea of well-founded conclusion is that writing an Indian history in the first place. ’If This observation, as we shall see, has "Joseph Smith was no isolated figure the Indians are of the tribes of Israel,’ Ethan been at the heart of more controversy dealing with a unique, unusual, or Smith said pointedly, ’some decisive evi- than almost any other statement ’’is dence of the fact will ere long be exhibited.’ new subject. To argue otherwise is Brodie makes regarding the subject of to ignore much of the pre-1830 litera- Brodie believes, in other words, that our inquiry. For other writers have ture treating the origin of the Ameri- Joseph was guilty of fabricating evi- elaborated on Brodie’s remarks to can Indians. dence in order to help establish the conclude that B.H. Roberts lost his Of the eighteen parallels on Hebraic origin of the American In- faith in the Book of Mormon after Roberts’ list many of the most studying View of the Hebrews. Roberts’ noteworthy have already been men- family denies such accusations, and tioned, such as the proximity and existing evidence supports their de- sequence of publication of Ethan’s nial. 10 and Joseph’s books, the shared belief Mormon reaction to Brodie’s book in the Israelite origin of the American BY CHIPPING AWAY was immediate and damning. A De- Indians, the references to hidden or A T M ORMONISM ’S seret News reviewer accused her of "in- lost books and to the Urim and tense atheism" and "sensationalism" Thummim, the accounting for two CENTRAL STONE, and of being anything but a histo- classes of people in ancient America HOSTILE GROUPS rian. 11 Regarding the View of the Heb- and the fate of the more civilized, the HOPE TO AFFECT THE rews problem in particular, the re- prominence of Jerusalem at the be- viewer felt that Brodie completely in- ginning of each work, the Isaiah quo- PROPHET’S validated all her assertions when she tations, and the desire to convert the conceded that no one may ever prove DOWNFALL AND THE that Joseph saw Ethan’s book prior to DESTRUCTION OF HIS the 1830 publication of the Book of Mormon. In 1946 High Nibley, in No, RELIGION. Ma’am, That’s Not History, dismissed dians. The author significantly qual- Brodie’s speculations by following a MORMON AUTHORS ifies her assertions, however, by ad- line of reasoning similar to that in the mitting that "It may never be proved Deseret News review. 12 Nibley would that Joseph saw View of the Hebrews be- argue that as long as we lack irrefuta- fore writing the Book of Mormon" (p. ble proof that Joseph Smith knew 47). Even without positive proof she View of the Hebrews before 1830, the ]os p nevertheless feels that "striking question remains moot. Until Nibley COULD HAVE parallelisms" between the two works addressed the problem again and at "hardly leave a case for mere coinci- greater length in 1959, most sub- GLEANED NOTHING dence," and she summarizes those sequent Mormon respondents treated FROM parallels as follows: the question of parallelisms superfi- cially. J.N. Washburn, in his 1954 de- CONTEMPORARY Both books opened with frequent refer- ences to the destruction of Jerusalem; both fense of the Book of Mormon, brushes PUBLICATIONS ON told of inspired prophets among the ancient the issue aside with a typical one- Americans; both quoted copiously and al- sentence declaration: "With respect THE INDIANS. most exclusively from Isaiah; and both de- to The View of the Hebrews, it seems to lineated the ancient Americans as a highly Indians to Christianity. Other sig- civilized people. Both held that it was the me that all one need do to drop it from nificant parallels which Roberts out- mission of the American nation in the last serious consideration in connection lines treat references to Egyptian lan- days to gather these remnants of the house with the Book of Mormon is just to read guage among the Indians, descrip- of Israel and bring them to Christianity. it.’’13 That said, Mr. Washburn passes tions of an advanced civilization in

May/June early America, and the story of a Mes- moner?" After such quips, our your Council." He concludes by re- siah in the Western Hemisphere. Re- apologist affirms that although many porting that "the Parallel... is not garding the last parallel, iRoberts parallels are attributed to Joseph’s one fourth part of what can be pre- raises this query: "Did the character stealing from the View of the Hebrews, sented in this forrn, and the unpre- [Quetzacoatl] spoken of in the View of "he could more easily have found the sented part is quite as striking as this the Hebrews, published seven years be- same material in the Bible" (p. 746). that I submit." Finally, we have an fore the Book of Mormon, furnish the The Isaiah quotations, the destruction important point clarified: Roberts suggestion of the Christ on the west- of Jerusalem, and the Urim and drew up the parallels in 1927 for the ern continent?" The inclusion of such Thummim are cited as obvious illust- same reason he had compiled six queries has often led people ’wrongly rations of this point. Nibley concludes years earlier a volume, never pub- to conclude that Roberts seriously his article by taking final shots at some iished, on "Book of Mormon Difficul- doubted the Book of Mormon’s au- of the "false" parallels: The two ties." To quote Eh:ler Roberts’ 1921 thenticity. The queries actually had a Smiths are talking about different de- cover letter to "Pres. Heber J. Grant chiefly didactic function, which structions of Jerusalem; Et]~an sees and Counsellors, the Quorum of should become apparent once it is Quetzacoatl as a figure of Moses Twelve Apostles, and the First Coun- understood to whom they were ad- rather than of Christ; the Book of cil of the Seventy" regarding the dressed. Mormon does not teach that the In- t-reatise on "Book of Mormon Difficul- dians are descendants of the Lost Ten ties": Tribes but, more precisely, of the tribe I trust I am not manifesting an over anxi- of Joseph. The basic thesis behind all ety to presenting to you so extensive an in- these arguments is this: quiry as this paper proposes.., but I assure you that I am most tl~toroughly convinced of To establish any connection at all between the necessity of all the brethre~t herein ad- WE MUST the books of the two Smiths it is absolutely dressed becoming familiar with these Book REMEMBER THAT A imperative to find something perfectly un- of Mormon problems, and finding the ans- ique and peculiar to both of these. Yet there wer for them, as it is a matter that will con- SUCCESSFUL A TTACK is not one simple thing in common between cern the faith of the Youth of the Church View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon ~ now as also in the future, as well as such AGAINST POORLY that is not also found in the Bible. casual inquirers that may come to us from the outside world.~° INFORMED A UTHORS Granted that Nibley is a persua- DOES NOT sive, though at times flippant, iRoberts’ concern was ever tlhat of de- apologist for Joseph Smith, his fending, not destroying, the faith, as REPRESENT A BLOW analysis of the parallels is not totally ’Truman Madsen’s :recent BYU Studies AGAINST JOSEPH satisfying. The point of Roberts’ article and book also testify. parallels is not to prove that Joseph Nibley’s rarely noticed article has, SMITH. openly plagiarized Ethan Smith’s quite predictably, done nothing to Nibley responded to Brodie and work, but that he could have used it as deter anti-Mormons from continuing Hogan and, I suppose, to Roberts in a rich source book of ideas for some to cite View of the Hebrews as -the "most two issues of the 1959 Improvement structural and ~arrative aspects of the obvious source" of the Book of Mor- Era. His two-part article, entitled Book of Mormon. That position, I be- mon. Three notable anti-Mormon "The Comparative Method," consti- lieve, is still tenable. The motive Nib- tuted the final segment of a series on ley gives for Roberts’ failure to publish Book of Mormon criticism.16 The the parallels~tlhe list does not prove essay begins by correctly pointing out or disprove anything--is somewhat that different degrees of significance misleading. The true reason for exist in parallels. Then, referring to Roberts’ not publishing his findings is .IT IS A MA TTER THAT the list of parallels in question, Nibley that they were intended for a re- WILL CONCERN THE claims Roberts never published it be- stricted audience. In a cover letter to cause it must have been obvious to the parallels, dated October 24, 1927, FAITH OF THE YOUTH Roberts that the list was "quite and addressed to Elder Richard R. OF THE CHURCH worthless either to prove or disprove Lyman, then of the Quorum of the the Book of Mormon.’’~ Nibley ar- Twelve, Roberts expresses his desire NOW AS ALSO IN THE gues that precisely because "the ideas to share the parallels with the Twelve FUTURE. shared by Ethan and Joseph Smith Apostles so as to prepare the brethren were not original to either of them"-- against future problems that might books in this regarcl are Larry Jonas’s that is, they were "common knowl- arise. He notes that if someone raises Mormon Claims Examined (1961), Hal edge"~why would Joseph Smith the questions of Joseph Smith’s de- Hougey’s "A Parallel"-The Basis of the have to steal anything from Ethan pendence on Ethan Smith’s work, "it Book of Mormon (1963), and Wesley Jones’s A Critical Study of Mormon Smith? While Roberts points out that would be greatly to the advantage of ~ both works claim a Hebraic origin to our future Defenders of the Faith, if Sources (1964). Also, circa 1965, the Indians, Nibley responds, "But so they had in hand a thorough digest of Jerald Tanner published a photo-. did everybody else" (p. 745). To the the subject ma.tter.’’~9 Roberts, con- mechanical reproduction of the 1825 claim that "the idea of a lost or buried tinuing his remarks to Elder Lyman, edition of View of the Hebrews, wrote book is found in both documents," states that "if you are sufficiently in- his own introduction to it, and in-. Nibley asks, "what could be corn- terested you may submit it to others of cluded a copy of Roberts’ "Parallel."~

52 Sunstone A more recent study than all these is Problems of The Book of Mormon. 28 Smith’s book can be found a treatment of the Robert Hullinger’s article "the Lost Crowley discusses twelve points of doctrine of an opposition in all things and the meaning of the fall such as in 2 Nephi Tribes of Israel and the Book of Mor- similarity and difference between 2:11-25? How could Joseph Smith possibly mon" (1970), in which the author ar- View of the Hebrews and the Book of extract the ideas pertaining to Lehi’s dream gues that Joseph Smith had good in- Mormon and then vaguely concludes of the tree, the river, and the rod of iron (1 tentions but was nevertheless a that Ethan Smith’s volume "bears no Nephi 8) from View of the Hebrews? Or where fraud. 24 relation to the Book of Mormon.’’29 in this book could he possibly get the ideas found in Alma 32 pertaining to faith? Cer- Of the books cited above, Jonas’s Crowley’s summary of structural dif- tainly Joseph Smith could not have found study is perhaps the most convincing. ferences between the two works, ideas in View of the Hebrews to compose what In his examination of Mormon claims however, is enlightening: is said about the state of the soul between Jonas is especially adept in attacking death and the resurrection in Alma 40:11-14. 1. The View of the Hebrews is an argu- And is there anything comparable in Ethan ment, with citation of authority, except in Smith’s book to the dramatic three-day the parts where it is hortatory, whereas the ministry of Jesus in 3 Nephi 11-26?31 Book of Mormon is narrative and historical. 2. The View of the Hebrews relates to bibli- cal texts and secular and religious investiga- tions into evidences supporting a particular WE MUS T BE interpretation of those texts, whereas the SUSPICIOUS OF ANY Book of Mormon is scripture, complete in it- self. THE MOST CLAIMS THAT 3. The View of the Hebrews relates primar- ily to a people lost in about the year 725 B. C., IMPORTANT POINT JOSEPH PRODUCED whereas the Book of Mormon relates to people never lost, but who migrated from OF ALL IS THAT AN ISOLATED AND Jerusalem a century and a quarter after the UNPRECEDENTED "lost tribes" were expelled. NEITHER POSITION 4. The View of the Hebrews is intended as a CAN BE PROVEN TO ACCOUNT OF THE spur to induce Protestants to engage in pro- selyting Jews and Indians to Protestant EVERYONE’S ORIGIN AND EARLY Christianity by contributing to missionary organizations and welfare groups. The Book SATISFACTION. CIVILIZATION OF THE of Mormon has a purpose identical with the INDIANS. purpose of the Bible, i.e., attestation of the Thus we may conclude our over- divinity of Christ and the preservation of the view of the Ethan Smith con- what he calls "Mormon evidence records of affairs and teachings in a theocra- troversy.32 But what are we to make of books"--books by LDS writers who tic system. 3o the varied claims for and against View attempt to "prove" the Book of Mor- Sperry’s comments on the subect of the Hebrews as the source of Joseph mon by citing recent archeological refer to and sustain those of Crowley. Smith’s inspiration? First, we must discoveries. Unfortunately, some But Sperry also admonishes us to give openly concede that source materials Mormon authors have incorrectly as- attention to several differences be- did exist prior to 1830 which could serted that Joseph Smith could have have provided Joseph Smith or one of gleaned nothing from contemporary his scribes with ideas for a religious publications on the Indians because history of the American Indians. In such publcations were not available to addition we must be suspicious of any him in 1830. Jonas easily undermines IT IS CONCEIVABLE Mormon claims that would lead us to such claims by quoting Ethan Smith to believe that Joseph produced an iso- show that in the 1820s "South Ameri- THAT JOSEPH COULD lated and unprecedented account of can tribes were known for their cities, HAVE READ AND the origin and early civilization of the roads, pyramids, hieroglyphics, MADE USE OF VIEW Indians. Another point is that while founded metals, cut stone work, solar most of the material in View of the Heb- calendar, and advanced govern- OF THE HEBREWS, rews is not original even to Ethan ment.’’~-s One evidence book with BUT IT IS ALSO Smith, the book does constitute a syn- which Jonas deals rather harshly and, thesis, readily available to Joseph I fear, justifiably, is Hunter’s and Fer- POSSIBLE THAT HE Smith and his contemporaries, of guson" s Ancient America and The Book of COULD HAVE FOUND early nineteenth-century conjecture Mormon. 26 We must remember, how- about American Indian culture. At the ever, that a successful attack against AND TRANSLATED same time Mormons and anti- poorly informed LDS authors does THE GOLDEN Mormons alike must acknowledge not necessarily represent a coup de that no proof exists at present to show grace to Joseph Smith. PLATES. that Joseph Smith had a direct knowl- In the same years that Larry Jonas tween ideas in the Book of Mormon edge of Ethan Smith’s work. Fur- and Wesley Jones had their volumes andin View of the Hebrews. He does thermore, while obvious parallels be- printed, two Mormons published this in a series of thought-provoking tween the two works exist, none is so books with sections devoted to View of rhetorical questions: close as to justify the idea that Joseph the Hebrews. In 1961 Ariel Crowley Where in [Ethan] Smith’s book can be Smith was little more than a publishedAbout The Book of Mormon, 2~ found a discussion of the atonement as dis- plagiarist. In other words it is con- and in 1964 Sidney Sperry published tinctive as found in 2 Nephi 9:6-9? Where in ceivable that Joseph could have read

May/June 53 and made use of View of the Hebrews, Story (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Co., 1886). 22. Larry W. Jonas, Mormon Claims Examined (Grand but it is also possible that he could 4. Thomas O’Dea, The Mormons (Chicago: Univer- Rapids: Baker Book House, 1961). Hal Hougey, "A sity of Chicago Press, 1957), p. 24. Commenting on the Parallel"--The Basis of the ~ook of Mormon (Concord, have found and translated the golden theory, O’Dea also says it "is supported by a tenuous Calif.: Pacific Publishing Co., 1963). Wesley M. Jones, plates. The most important point of all arrangement of circumstantial evidence and an even A Critical Study of Book of Mormon Sources (De- is that neither position can be "pro- more questionable analysis of internal content." troit: Harlo Press, 1964). ven" to everyone’s satisfaction. ]For 5. O’Dea gives little credence to the idea that Joseph 23. Etha~ Smith, View of the Hebrews, Photomechani- Smith was an epileptic: "Such theories are, at best, cal Reprint of the 1825 Edition (Salt Lake City: Modem believers in the Book of Mormon, the learned conjectures, and, as one fashion succeeds Microfilm Co., [1965?11). The final sentence in the In- best test will always be a spiritual con- another in psychological theorizing, they take on a troduction states the following: "Although Ben E. firmation that the Book of Mormon is very dated appearance." Roberts claims that his father’s manuscript does not 6. Fawn M. Brodie, : The cast doubt upon the divine authenticity of the Book of Life of Joseph Smith the Mormon Prophet (New Mormon, a careful reading of it would seem to indicate York: Knopf, 1945). that B.H. Roberts had lost faith in the Book of Mor- inon." 7. Ethan Smith, View of the Hebrews; or the Tribes ofIs- rael in America (Poultney, Vt.: Smith & Shute, 1823). 24. Robert N. Hullinger, "The Lost Tribes of Israel and the Book of Mormon"’ in The Lutheran Quarterly 22 8. We know that the first edition was quickly sold be- (August 1970): 319-29. "Joseph Smith’s probable de- cause Smith states in the preface to the second that the pendence upon View of the Hebrews has all the MORMONISM’S "speedy sale" of the 1823 edition was a contributing strengths that others looked for in the Spaulding factor in the republication of the work after so short a manuscript theories but none of their weaknesses. In CAUSE IS NOT time. addition, it lets Smith be seen in his time as someone 9. Brodie, p. 46. Future page references to Brodie will sincerely i~’ying to produce additional proof for the bi- ADVANCED BY THE be included in parentheses in the lext. blical witness of revelation. Whatever element of fraud men might still find in the origin of this book, Smith REPETITION AND 10. See copy of letter by B.H. Roberts’ son, Ben E. simply utilized a different ~ethod in a time of ’new Roberts, denying rumors that his father had lost his measures~ to bring men to Christ. If he used question- PROLIFERATION OF faith over View of the Hebrews: Ariel L. Crowley, About able means to bring about a worthy end, his action dif- The Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: Deseret News fered from that of many more orthodox churchmen Press, 1961), p. 132. See also references in notes 19 and only in degree and not in kind" (p. 329). UNFOUNDED CLAIMS 20 below. 25. Jonas~ pp. 30, 34. REGARDING THE 11. See F.M. Brodie’s Reliability as a Witness to the Character and Accomplishments of Joseph Smith (Four Re- 26. See Milton R. Hunter and Thomas Stuart Fergu- BOOK OF MORMON. views of "No Man Knows My History~ ’), ed. Hugh Nibley son, Ancient America and The Book of Morraon (Oakland, (n.p., n.d.). A copy is located in the Harold B. Lee Lib- Calif.: Kolob Book Co., 1950), esp. pp. 1-17. "The rary, Brigham Young University. Works oflxtlilxochitl [published in 1848 in England] still a divinely inspired ancient record. No constitute the only documentary source, exclusive of person should base his or her tes- 12. Hugh Nibley, No, Ma’am, That’s Not History (Salt The Book of Mormon, detailed enough and complete timony on so-called "Mormon evi- Lake City: Bookcraft, 1946), pp. 13-14. enough to have been of sul:~tantial assistance to any- 13. J.N. Washburn, The Contents, StructureandAuthor- one who ~night have attempted to write the history of dence books" but rather on a prayer- ship of the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, the earliest cultured colonizers of the ancient New ful examination of the Book of Mor- 1954), p. XIII. Cf. also Francis W. Kirkham, A New Wit- World .... In fact, no reliable documentary sources ness for Christ in America: The Book of Mormon, Vol. 2 were available in New ’York in 1830" (p. 8). "When first mon itself. Likewise, every reflective (Salt Lake City: Utah Printing Co., 1959), pp. 391-400; published, both The Book of Mormon and the Works of LDS iperson will also seek to appldse for another example of superficial treatment of the Ixtlilxochitl were apparently far ahead of the times. him- or herself of the major issues sur- issue. They credited some of the ancients of certain parts of rounding the Book of Mormon and to 14. Mervin B. Hogan, " ’A Parallel’: A Matter of the New World with such things as sedentary agricul- Chance versus Coincidence," The Rocky Mountain ture, metallurgy, hieroglyphic writing, mathematics, avoid erroneous assertions regarding Mason 4 (January 1956): 17. The text of "A Parallel" is an astronomical calendar, and city-states under theo- the book’s uniqueness. Mormonism’s found on pp. 18-30. I have compared it with a photo- cratic governments. In 183~, to credit any of the pre- copy of the original on file in the Brigham Young Uni- European peoples of America with such a civilization cause is not advanced by the repeti- versity Archives and find it accurate on all important was unheard of in New York and England" (p. 11). tion and proliferation of unfounded points. 27. Crowley, pp. 111-33. claims regarding the Book of Mor- 15. Ibid., p. 18. Other pre-1830 works treating the his- 28. Sidney B. Sperry, Probi’ems of the Book of Mormon mon. On the other hand, tlhe com- tory of the Indians include James Adair, ’!’he History of (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1964), pp. 176-79. the American Indian (London: Edward and Charles 29. Crowley, pp. 130-31. parative method, as employed by Dilly, 1775); Elias Boudinot, A Star in the West (Tren- Roberts, is to be encouraged because ton: D. Fenton, 1816); and Josiah Priest, The Wonders of 30: Ibid., pp. 127-28. it forces us to ask questions and helps Nature and Providence, Displayed (Albany: Hosford, 31. Sperry, p. 178. us understand the historical context 1825). 32. The only work of possible significance to which we 16. The series on Book of Mormon criticism, entitled have not already alluded is a short, relatively un- preceding the Book of Mormon’s "Mixed Voices," began with an article in The Improve- known and unpublished Master’s thesis: William L. publication. ment Era (March 1959) and continued monthly until Riley, "A Comparison of Passages from Isaiah and November 1959, except for the September issue in Other Old Testament Prophets in Ethan Smith’s View Notes which no article appeared. of the Hebr,,~’ws and The Book of Mormon." M.A. Thesis, Brigham "Young University, May 1971, 61 pp. In his 1. Joseph Fielding Smith, comp., Teachings of the Pro- 17. Hugh Nibley, "The Comparative Method" in The summary statement Riley argues against Fawn phet Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., Improvement Era 62 (October 1959): 744. Future page Brodie’s claim that Joseph Smith had made a mistake 1972), p. 194. The metaphor of the keystone for the references to this article are included in parentheses in in following too minutely Elhan Smith’s "copious and Book of Mormon is well known to Mormons. See Paul the text. exclusive use of Isaiah"’: "Although Joseph Smith was R. Cheesman, The Keystone of Our Religion: Little Known 18. Ibid., 62 (November 1959): 848. almost exclusive in his. use of Isaiah from the books of Truths about the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: Deseret the Old Testament, the 6 percent the Isaiah verses con- Book Co., 1973). 19. B.H. Roberts, Letter to Elder Richard R. Lyman, October 24, 1927. A photocopy of this letter is held by tributed to the Book of Mormon was by no means a 2. Cf. Teaches ofPJS, p. 71: "Take away the Book of the Brigham Young University Archives, and it is copious contribution. Even though Ethan Smith was Mormon and the revelations, and where is our relig- through their courtesy that I quote a section of Elder certainly copious in his quoting and referring to Old ion? We have none." Roberts’ letter here. Testament prophets, he was by no means exclusive in his use of the prophet Isaiah. The study of the Isaiah 3. E.D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, 20. B.H. Roberts, Letter to Pres. Heber J. Grant, etc., Ohio, 1834). Although Howe published this attack on passages used in the Book of Mormon and View of the Mormonism, the actual author was Mormon apostate December 29, 1921. Courtesy of the Brigham Young Hebrews definitely showed that Joseph Smith did not Doctor Philastus Hulburt. For further details of the University Archives. use Ethan Smith as a reference for the Isaiah passages Spaulding-Rigdon theory from an LDS perspective, 21. See Truman G. Madsen, "B.H. Roberts and the found in the Book of Mormon" (p. 56). Riley also states see: George Reynolds, The Myth of the "Manuscript Book of Mormon" in Brigham Young University Studies the following: "With all the changes which were made Found," or the Absurdities of the "Spaulding Story" (Salt 17 (Summer 1979): 427-45; and Defender of the Faith- by both men from the Isaiah text, only in leaving out Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1883) and Sol- : The B.H. Roberts Story (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, the word ’their’ in Isaiah 3:18 were these changes omon Spaudling, The "Manuscript Found": Manuscript 1980). exactly the same" (p. 57).

54 Sunstone