FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Difference between revisions of "Joseph Smith and folk magic or the occult"
SpencerMarsh (talk | contribs) |
DavidSmith (talk | contribs) (consolidating content) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{FairMormon}} | {{FairMormon}} | ||
| − | + | {{Navigation Joseph Smith}} | |
| − | {{ | + | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | {{Header}} | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | {{:Question: What is the distinction between belief in "folk magic" and a religious belief in the supernatural?}} | |
| − | + | {{:Question: Were Joseph Smith's spiritual experiences originally products of magic and the occult?}} | |
| − | + | {{:Question: What were the attitudes of Joseph Smith and his contemporaries toward "magic"?}} | |
| − | + | {{:Question: Did Joseph Smith and his contemporaries believe in supernatural entities with real power?}} | |
| − | + | {{:Question: How did Joseph use his seer stones as a youth?}} | |
| − | + | {{:Source:Revelations in Context on history.lds.org:Oliver Cowdery's Gift:Cowdery was among those who believed in and used a divining rod}} | |
| − | + | {{:Question: Was a "vagabond fortune-teller" named Walters Joseph Smith's "mentor"?}} | |
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | }} | ||
| − | |||
{{:Question: Does Lucy Mack Smith's mention of the "faculty of Abrac" and "magic circles" evidence that "magick" played a strong role in the Smith family's early life?}} | {{:Question: Does Lucy Mack Smith's mention of the "faculty of Abrac" and "magic circles" evidence that "magick" played a strong role in the Smith family's early life?}} | ||
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith, Sr. practice "divination"?}} | {{:Question: Did Joseph Smith, Sr. practice "divination"?}} | ||
| Line 35: | Line 27: | ||
{{:Question: Was a "magic dagger" once owned by Hyrum Smith?}} | {{:Question: Was a "magic dagger" once owned by Hyrum Smith?}} | ||
{{:Question: Does the Book of Mormon’s reference to “slippery treasures” stem from Joseph Smith’s involvement in money digging and the occult?}} | {{:Question: Does the Book of Mormon’s reference to “slippery treasures” stem from Joseph Smith’s involvement in money digging and the occult?}} | ||
| − | + | ||
{{endnotes sources}} | {{endnotes sources}} | ||
<!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE --> | <!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE --> | ||
[[de:Joseph Smith/Okkultismus und Magie/Volksmagie]] | [[de:Joseph Smith/Okkultismus und Magie/Volksmagie]] | ||
[[es:José Smith/Ocultismo y magia/Magia popular]] | [[es:José Smith/Ocultismo y magia/Magia popular]] | ||
Revision as of 18:43, 26 March 2023
FAIR Answers—back to home page
Life and Character |
|
Revelations and the Church |
|
Prophetic Statements |
|
Society |
|
Plural marriage (polygamy) |
|
Death |
Joseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
FAIR Answers—back to home page
<onlyinclude>
- REDIRECTJoseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
FAIR Answers—back to home page <onlyinclude>
- REDIRECTJoseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
FAIR Answers—back to home page <onlyinclude>
- REDIRECTJoseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
Question: Did Joseph Smith and his contemporaries believe in supernatural entities with real power? FAIR Answers—back to home page <onlyinclude>
- REDIRECTJoseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
Revelations in Context on history.lds.org: "Cowdery was among those who believed in and used a divining rod"
Revelations in Context on history.lds.org:
Oliver Cowdery lived in a culture steeped in biblical ideas, language and practices. The revelation’s reference to Moses likely resonated with him. The Old Testament account of Moses and his brother Aaron recounted several instances of using rods to manifest God’s will (see Ex. 7:9-12; Num. 17:8). Many Christians in Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery's day similarly believed in divining rods as an instrument for revelation. Cowdery was among those who believed in and used a divining rod.[1]
FAIR Answers—back to home page <onlyinclude>
- REDIRECTJoseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
FAIR Answers—back to home page <onlyinclude>
- REDIRECTJoseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
FAIR Answers—back to home page <onlyinclude>
- REDIRECTJoseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
FAIR Answers—back to home page <onlyinclude>
- REDIRECTJoseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
FAIR Answers—back to home page <onlyinclude>
- REDIRECTJoseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
FAIR Answers—back to home page <onlyinclude>
- REDIRECTJoseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
FAIR Answers—back to home page <onlyinclude>
- REDIRECTJoseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
FAIR Answers—back to home page <onlyinclude>
- REDIRECTJoseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
FAIR Answers—back to home page <onlyinclude>
- REDIRECTJoseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
Stephen Robinson: "In the case of the Jupiter coin, this same extrapolation error is compounded with a very uncritical acceptance of the artifact in the first place"
Of the matter of the Jupiter talisman that is alleged to have been among Joseph Smith's possessions at the time of his death, Stephen Robinson wrote:
In the case of the Jupiter coin, this same extrapolation error is compounded with a very uncritical acceptance of the artifact in the first place. If the coin were Joseph's, that fact alone would tell us nothing about what it meant to him. But in fact there is insufficient evidence to prove that the artifact ever belonged to the Prophet. The coin was completely unknown until 1930 when an aging Charles Bidamon sold it to Wilford Wood. The only evidence that it was Joseph's is an affidavit of Bidamon, who stood to gain financially by so representing it. Quinn [and any other critic who embraces this theory] uncritically accepts Bidamon's affidavit as solid proof that the coin was Joseph's. Yet the coin was not mentioned in the 1844 list of Joseph's possessions returned to Emma. Quinn negotiates this difficulty by suggesting the coin must have been worn around Joseph's neck under his shirt. But in so doing Quinn impeaches his only witness for the coin's authenticity, for Bidamon's affidavit, the only evidence linking the coin to Joseph, specifically and solemnly swears that the coin was in Joseph's pocket at Carthage. The real empirical evidence here is just too weak to prove that the coin was really Joseph's, let alone to extrapolate a conclusion from mere possession of the artifact that Joseph must have believed in and practiced magic. The recent Hofmann affair should have taught us that an affidavit from the seller, especially a 1930 affidavit to third hand information contradicted by the 1844 evidence, just isn't enough 'proof' to hang your hat on.[2]
Joseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
Jump to Subtopic:
- Question: What is the distinction between belief in "folk magic" and a religious belief in the supernatural?
- Question: Were Joseph Smith's spiritual experiences originally products of magic and the occult?
- Question: What were the attitudes of Joseph Smith and his contemporaries toward "magic"?
- Question: How did Joseph Smith use his seer stones as a youth?
- Question: Was a "vagabond fortune-teller" named Walters Joseph Smith's "mentor"?
- Question: Does Lucy Mack Smith's mention of the "faculty of Abrac" and "magic circles" evidence that "magick" played a strong role in the Smith family's early life?
- Question: Did Joseph Smith, Sr. practice "divination"?
- Question: Did early members of the "Mormon" Church believe in witchcraft?
- Question: Was the fact that the recovery of the Book of Mormon plates occurred on the autumnal equinox somehow significant?
- Question: Did Joseph Smith derive his religious ideas in part from a mysticism called Kabbalah?
- Question: Did Joseph Smith have a Jupiter talisman on his person at the time of his death?
- Question: What is the source of the story about Joseph Smith possessing a Jupiter talisman?
- Stephen Robinson: "In the case of the Jupiter coin, this same extrapolation error is compounded with a very uncritical acceptance of the artifact in the first place"
- Question: Could the list of items on Joseph's person at the time of his death have been incomplete?
- Question: What is the probability that Joseph Smith possessed items related to "magic"?
- Question: Was a "magic dagger" once owned by Hyrum Smith?
- Question: Does the Book of Mormon’s reference to “slippery treasures” stem from Joseph Smith’s involvement in money digging and the occult?
- Question: Did Joseph Smith's family own "magic parchments" which suggest their involvement in the "occult"?
FAIR Answers—back to home page <onlyinclude>
- REDIRECTJoseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
Question: Did Joseph Smith's family own "magic parchments" which suggest their involvement in the "occult"?
There is no evidence that Joseph knew of, possessed, or used magical parchments
It is claimed that the Smith family owned "magic parchments," suggesting their involvement in the "occult." However, there is no evidence that Joseph knew of, possessed, or used magical parchments. All we know is that some parchments were eventually "heirlooms" of the Hyrum Smith family, but their provenance is not clear.
FAIR Answers—back to home page <onlyinclude>
- REDIRECTJoseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
FAIR Answers—back to home page <onlyinclude>
- REDIRECTJoseph Smith and folk magic or the occult
Notes
- ↑ Jeffrey G. Cannon, "Oliver Cowdery's Gift," Revelations in Context on history.lds.org
- ↑ Stephen E. Robinson, "Review of Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, by D. Michael Quinn," Brigham Young University Studies 27 no. 4 (1987), 94–95.