The Bias of The Witnesses of the Gold Plates

I could not feel more satisfied and at rest if the entire Whitmer family had testified Mark TwainRoughing It, Chapter 16 Witnesses of the Gold Plates and their relationship to Joseph Smith Signatures (all in the handwriting of Oliver Cowdery) Oliver Cowdery Co-founder, Cousin David Whitmer Close Friend Martin Harris Financial Backer Christian Whitmer Close … Read more

Shakers

Excerpt from the Shaker, ’A Holy, Sacred and Divine Roll and Book; From the Lord God of Heaven, to the Inhabitants of Earth’, Pub. 1843: 1 “We, the undersigned, hereby testify, that we saw the holy Angel standing upon the house-top, as mentioned in the foregoing declaration, holding the Roll and Book.” Betsey Boothe. Louisa … Read more

No other gift

Excerpt from ‘An Address To All Believers In Christ’, 1887, by David Whitmer: 1 “After the translation of the Book of Mormon was finished, early in the spring of 1830, before April 6th, Joseph gave the stone to Oliver Cowdery and told me as well as the rest that he was through with it, and … Read more

Discernment

From the Salt lake Tribune via AP:1 In this photo taken April 22, 1980, Mark W. Hofmann, left, and LDS Church leaders N. Eldon Tanner, Spencer W. Kimball, Marion G. Romney, Boyd K. Packer and Gordon B. Hinckley examine the Anthon transcript in Salt Lake City. Back in October 1985, when Hofmann killed two people … Read more

Simply Fiction

Excerpt from a 2000 BYU paper by Joseph Fielding McConkie (Professor of Ancient Scripture, BYU) and Craig J. Ostler (Assistant Professor of Church History and Doctrine, BYU) titled ‘The Process of Translating the Book of Mormon’: 1 “Spanning a period of twenty years (1869-1888), some seventy recorded testimonies about the coming forth of the Book … Read more

I Do Not Believe

Interview of Zenas H. Gurley Jr. of David Whitmer , Questions asked of David Whitmer at his home in Richmond Ray County Mo. Jan 14—1885, LDS Church History Library, Salt Lake City:  1 “I never heard that an Angel had ordained Joseph and Oliver to the Aaronic priesthood until the year 1834, 5, or 6 … Read more

Mark Twain

Illustrated portrait of Mark Twain with a quotation criticizing the Book of Mormon, calling it pretentious, slow, and “chloroform in print,” from Roughing It (1872).

Image: Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecture. In Mark Twain’s book titled Roughing It (1872), he gives a review of the Book of Mormon: All men have heard of the Mormon Bible, but few … Read more

Paint out the Hat

Image: Screen capture from a production note of The Days of Harmony LDS church videoScreen Caps of the editing of The Days of Harmony  In a 2015 LDS church production, titled The Days of Harmony, the editors were instructed to ‘paint out the hat’ from the scenes depicting the translation. The video, currently showing in … Read more

Sell the Copyright

In 1829 Joseph Smith received a revelation to sell the copyrights of the Book of Mormon in Canada.  Ultimately the effort was unsuccessful. Revelation given to Joseph Smith regarding the sell of the Book of Mormon copyright, Joseph Smith Papers – 1829:  “A Revelation given to Oliver [Cowdery] Hyram [Hiram Page] Josiah [Stowell] & Joseph … Read more