In Video Three in the FairMormon series: “The CES Letter, A Closer Look” Brian Hales examines claims posted by Jeremy Runnells in his “Letter to a CES Director”. Installments in the series run every Monday and can also be found on the FairMormon youtube channel.
Pages 43 and 44 of The CES Letter contain a discussion of the Kinderhook plates, which were an 1843 attempt to deceive Joseph Smith. Charges that he translated the bogus plates as he had translated the Book of Mormon have circulated for decades. However, in 2012, Don Bradley, with the help of Mark Ashurst-McGee, uncovered plain evidence showing that the “translation” of the Kinderhook plates occurred by comparing one symbol on the plates with one symbol in Joseph’s Egyptian Alphabet lexicon. As evidence of Joseph Smith being a fraud, this accusation should be dismissed by even the most hardened unbelievers. Nevertheless, it continues to occupy two pages in The CES Letter.
Brian C. Hales is the author of The CES Letter: A Closer Look, as well as seven books dealing with Mormon polygamy—most notably the three-volume, Joseph Smith’s Polygamy: History and Theology (Greg Kofford Books, 2013). His Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism: The Generations after the Manifesto received the “Best Book of 2007 Award” from the John Whitmer Historical Association. He has presented at numerous meetings and symposia and published articles in the Journal of Mormon History, Mormon Historical Studies, Dialogue, as well as contributing chapters to The Persistence of Polygamy series. Much of his research materials are available at www.MormonPolygamyDocuments.org.Theology (Greg Kofford Books, 2013). His Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism: The Generations after the Manifesto received the “Best Book of 2007 Award” from the John Whitmer Historical Association. He has presented at numerous meetings and symposia and published articles in the Journal of Mormon History, Mormon Historical Studies, Dialogue, as well as contributing chapters to The Persistence of Polygamy series. Much of his research materials are available at www.MormonPolygamyDocuments.org.
