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Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Use of sources/Tall Tales
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Did Joseph Smith tell "tall tales" of ancient Americans before finding the Gold Plates?
| Reformed Egyptian | A FAIR Analysis of: One Nation Under Gods A work by author: Richard Abanes
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Prophetic Autobiography |
Author's Claims
One Nation under Gods, page 64 (hardback and paperback)
The book asserts that Joseph Smith was a teller of "tall-tales" about American Indians. The following quote from Lucy Mack Smith's history is used to back up this assertion:
Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals which could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of traveling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare, and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life with them.
The hardback edtion claims that these stories occurred "before any golden plates had been found." The paperback edition modifies this to read "before he obtained and translated any golden plates."
Author's Sources
Endnote 24, page 511 (hardback) page 509 (paperback)
Lucy Mack Smith, Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors for many Generations (Liverpool: S.W. Richards, 1853), 85, reprinted in Dan Vogel, ed., Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996), vol. 1, 296.
Answer
The quote from Lucy Mack Smith is used to show how Joseph Smith told "yarns" about Native Americans "long before any golden plates had been found." The chronology found in Lucy Mack Smith's history, however, tells just the opposite story, and puts this quotation in its proper context. Lucy says that the angel Moroni told her son (during his first appearance) about the existence of the plates and informed him where they were buried (see Lavina F. Anderson, ed., Lucy's Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith's Family Memoir [Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2001], 335-36). Lucy then states that Joseph (the evening after he had seen the Nephite record in their place of deposit) told his family all about "the plates" (ibid., 343).
Lucy then informs her audience that, "From this time forth Joseph continued to receive instructions from time to time and every evening we gathered our children together and gave our time up to the discussion of those things which he imparted" (ibid., 344). She then relates that, "In the course of our evening conversations Joseph would give us some of the most amusing recitals which could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, their manner of traveling, the animals which they rode, the cities that were built by them [and] the structure of their buildings (with every particular), of their mode of warfare, [and] their religious worship - as particularly as though he had spent his life with them" (ibid., 345). Clearly, Joseph Smith told his stories after he learned about, and saw, the golden plates. Indeed, it is known that Moroni showed Joseph visions and gave him information regarding the people whose stories were found on the Nephite record (see Times and Seasons, vol. 3, no. 9, 1 March 1842, 707-708), so the young man undoubtedly had quite a few stories to tell.