Tag Archives: Joseph Smith

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Church Historians Attempt Normalizing Strange Seer Stone In Hat Translation Method

Mason Allred and Mark Ashurst-McGee discuss the various historical accounts of the Book of Mormon translation process, including accounts of Joseph Smith using a Seer Stone to translate the ancient record and accounts of Joseph Smith using the Urim and Thummim in a video posted on the “Church History/Latter-day Saint History” YouTube account, the official …

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"When Joseph Smith wrote about this in 1838, he talked about the Urim and Thummim spectacles that he found with the golden plates and he didn't write about the seer stone. That history became canonized as part of the Pearl of Great Price, and that is what Latter-day Saints are familiar with. We have much less familiarity with other sources that talk about a seer stone. I think that's part of it. It may be that we want things that are miraculous to be ancient, like the Urim and Thummim in the Bible, it may be that a seer stone is too much like an ordinary rock, it's something mundane, but the idea of Joseph Smith using a seer stone to translate: this is an idea that we can get used to." Mark Ashurst-McGee, a Senior Historian in the Church History Department | wasmormon.org
"When Joseph Smith wrote about this in 1838, he talked about the Urim and Thummim spectacles that he found with the golden plates and he didn't write about the seer stone. That history became canonized as part of the Pearl of Great Price, and that is what Latter-day Saints are familiar with. We have much less familiarity with other sources that talk about a seer stone. I think that's part of it. It may be that we want things that are miraculous to be ancient, like the Urim and Thummim in the Bible, it may be that a seer stone is too much like an ordinary rock, it's something mundane, but the idea of Joseph Smith using a seer stone to translate: this is an idea that we can get used to." Mark Ashurst-McGee, a Senior Historian in the Church History Department
"Yeah, that's an image [Joseph Smith looking at a stone in a hat] that we are unfamiliar with, but actually, it's not that strange. He's just trying to block out light – that's the point. So it's like, on a really sunny day, if you get a text message and you pull out your cell phone and you can't see it because of the sun, you make shade. You block out light so you can see what it says. That's the same kind of idea." Mark Ashurst-McGee, a Senior Historian in the Church History Department | wasmormon.org
"Yeah, that's an image [Joseph Smith looking at a stone in a hat] that we are unfamiliar with, but actually, it's not that strange. He's just trying to block out light – that's the point. So it's like, on a really sunny day, if you get a text message and you pull out your cell phone and you can't see it because of the sun, you make shade. You block out light so you can see what it says. That's the same kind of idea." Mark Ashurst-McGee, a Senior Historian in the Church History Department
"[The Urim and Thummim are] described as two clear stones in a rim like glasses, and the Book of Mormon says that these stones are what constitutes seers. Having and using these stones are what constitutes Seers. So, the Urim and Thummim actually is this special pair of seer stones and we have these descriptions of the Urim and Thummim connected to the breastplate, and that they're large, and that they don't fit on Joseph Smith's face. We even have accounts that he takes the lenses out of the rim and puts them in a hat, which is the way he used his seer stone. So, if he uses his own seer stone rather than the Urim and Thummim, he can put the Urim and Thummim and the breastplate away somewhere safe, and just use his seer stone–and that's more convenient." Mark Ashurst-McGee, a Senior Historian in the Church History Department | wasmormon.org
"[The Urim and Thummim are] described as two clear stones in a rim like glasses, and the Book of Mormon says that these stones are what constitutes seers. Having and using these stones are what constitutes Seers. So, the Urim and Thummim actually is this special pair of seer stones and we have these descriptions of the Urim and Thummim connected to the breastplate, and that they're large, and that they don't fit on Joseph Smith's face. We even have accounts that he takes the lenses out of the rim and puts them in a hat, which is the way he used his seer stone. So, if he uses his own seer stone rather than the Urim and Thummim, he can put the Urim and Thummim and the breastplate away somewhere safe, and just use his seer stone–and that's more convenient." Mark Ashurst-McGee, a Senior Historian in the Church History Department

Joseph Fielding Smith Taught The Seer Stone Was Not Used for Book of Mormon Translation

The New Narrative We have many statements and posts from current church leaders trying to normalize Joseph’s seer stone translation. We have Elder Uchtdorf and Brother Brad Wilcox discussing the rock in a hat and independently comparing it to a mobile phone of all things. We even have President Nelson demonstrating the rock-in-hat procedure Joseph …

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Fanny Alger, Joseph Smith’s “dirty, nasty, filthy affair” Teen Bride

What Happened between Fanny Alger and Joseph Smith? As a young woman, Fanny Alger was a servant in Joseph Smith’s house. She lived with the family for a time while also serving as a maid. Joseph Smith and Fanny got very close. Multiple accounts exist of Emma Smith, Joseph’s wife catching Joseph celestializing (sexually involved) …

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We Want Nothing Secret Nor Underhanded – Not The Mormon Church Today

John Taylor, the third President of the church, would not recognize the church today. He invites discussion and investigation on even trivial matters. He’s not afraid of research or whack-a-mole. When there was speculation and disagreement about a certain plot of land which Brigham Young was reimbursed for after having personally purchased for the church …

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Martrydom of Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith. A lingering member of the Warsaw militia, his face blackened with mud and gunpowder, is about to decapitate Joseph Smith's corpse. A Mormon witness claimed a pillar of light thrust down from heaven and the made ruffian's arm powerless. In the background, the dead body of Hyrum Smith is carried from the jail.
Martrydom of Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith. A lingering member of the Warsaw militia, his face blackened with mud and gunpowder, is about to decapitate Joseph Smith's corpse. A Mormon witness claimed a pillar of light thrust down from heaven and the made ruffian's arm powerless. In the background, the dead body of Hyrum Smith is carried from the jail.