The Four Gospels According to Joseph Smith

The Four Gospels According to Joseph Smith
By H. Michael Marquardt

Joseph Smith, the prophet of Mormonism, had a keen interest in
studying the four Gospels in his youth. Soon after the Book of Mormon
was published, Smith commenced his next major project--revising the
Bible. His English revision was based upon the standard text of the
day, the King James Version. Smith considered that he could recover
wording that had been lost in translation. He made a new version that
could be used by the church he organized. The Four Gospels According
to Joseph Smith details the words he added and revised. The text is
made available for those who have an interest in how Joseph Smith
produced his own version of the four gospels.

H. MICHAEL MARQUARDT is an independent historian and a longtime
research consultant of the Latter-day Saints (Mormons). He has been
publishing on Mormonism for more than thirty years. He is the author
of The Rise of Mormonism: 1816-1844 and The Joseph Smith Revelations:
Text and Commentary.

Contents:

Preface
Introduction: Portraits of Jesus
Common Abbreviations
Chronology: Joseph Smith's Bible Revision, 1830-1835

1 Joseph Smith's Bible Revision
2 The Testimony of St. Matthew
3 The Gospel According to St. Mark
4 Luke
5 The Testimony of John
Conclusion
. . .

Appendices:

A. Revelations of Joseph Smith on Gospel texts
B. Joseph Smith on Matthew 13
C. Commentary by Joseph Smith on verses in Gospels
D. Words modernized for revision
E. Selected Index to Joseph Smith's additions to the Gospels

Select Bibliography

Index to the Four Gospels (KJV)

Utahns' Google Searches

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695217813,00.html

Utah ranks No. 1 in the nation — and sometimes the world — for using
Google to search the Web for such terms as "Jesus," "family history,"
"Harry Potter," "Mormon," "Lord of the Rings," "NBA," "snowboarding,"
"home storage" and "Mitt Romney."

But other terms where Utah also ranks No. 1 show a seedier side to
local culture.

Utah and/or Salt Lake City also rank tops in the nation in searches
for "pornography," "naked girls," "striptease," "topless," "nude,"
"strip poker," "lingerie," "blonde" and "brunette."

While that may be an eye-opener for residents, it does not surprise
theologians, psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, or even sex
addicts and their counselors. They all see it as part of the age-old
struggle between light and dark that goes on everywhere — but which
Google searches suggest may reach extremes in Utah.

"When you have extreme light, or people trying to do good things, you
often also find the opposite in extreme," says Steve Pumphrey, a
clinical director of LifeSTAR, a company founded in Utah that works
with sex addicts.

....

Sunday Talk Show: Mormon Fundamentalism, author interview

Mormon Miscellaneous
World-Wide Talk Show

Date: Sunday, 14 October 2007

Subject: Brian C. Hales, author of Modern Polygamy and Mormon
Fundamentalism [Van Hale's guest] to discuss this timely, diverse and
little known topic. The question is often asked, Who are Mormon
fundamentalists and what do they believe. The answer is far more
complex than most would think. Hales has brought together a
significant body of material to address this question. Many
personalities and events have lead to the great diversity which exists
among the many factions included in the broad term, Fundamentalism.
Such topics as, of course, polygamy, also priesthood claims, doctrinal
positions, the one mighty and strong, blacks and the priesthood, the
Adam God theory and many others are points of interest and importance
in understanding the history and beliefs of this category within the
Mormon tradition.

Those who would like to send me an advance question for discussion are
welcome. Email your questions to van.hale@k-talk.com.

eStore of Digital Articles: My article on Joseph Smith's Controversial
King Follett Discourse in now in my eStore with 7 other papers and
articles which I have prepared for, or used in, other episodes of my
Mormon Miscellaneous Talk Show.
http://mormonmisc.podbean.com/estore-catalog/

Time: 5:00 - 7:00 pm MST
Host: Van Hale
Radio Station: KTKK 630 AM, Salt Lake City

Live Internet Streaming Audio can be accessed at:
www.k-talk.com or mms://stream.netro.ca/ktkk

Salt Lake Call-in Number: 254-5855.
Outside of Salt Lake Number: 801-254-5855.

Forthcoming: Nauvoo Polygamy

Forthcoming March 2008

Nauvoo Polygamy
"... but we called it celestial marriage"
GEORGE D. SMITH
Hardback. 672 pages. / 1-56085-201-1 / $39.95

When Joseph and Emma Smith arrived in Ohio in 1831, several families offered them lodging, as did the Whitneys, whose five year-old daughter, Sarah Ann, and her eleven-year-old neighbor, Mary Elizabeth Rollins, would later play a role in Mormon polygamy. The Smiths soon moved in with the Johnsons, where Joseph met fifteen-year-old Marinda Nancy. In 1836, seven-year-old Helen Mar Kimball attended school near the Smith home. Each of these girls, whom Joseph met during the 1830s, would later marry him in the 1840s gathering place of Nauvoo, Illinois, on the east bank of the Mississippi River. In this thoroughly researched and documented work, the author shows how the prophet introduced single and married women to this new form of "celestial marrige"—a "favor" granted to the elect men of Nauvoo. Through their journals, letters, and affidavits, the participants tell their stories in intimate detail—before polygamy was forcibly abandoned and nearly forgotten.

Reid addresses BYU regarding principles of the democratic party

Harry Reid ventured into one of strongest republican strongholds in the country - BYU in Utah County - and explains that he is a democrat because he is a Mormon, and calls the war the  'worst foreign policy blunder' in U.S. history.

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695217196,00.html

A man of much courage and superb equipment

Check out Brigham Young's birth place marker (thanks Dan).

http://patriot.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/RelEd&CISOPTR=3237&CISOBOX=1&REC=3

The text on the marker says:

Brigham Young Born on this spot 1801. A man of much courage and superb equipment

Mormon Scholars in the Humanities, "Interpretation: LDS Perspectives"

"Interpretation: LDS Perspectives"
Sponsored by Mormon Scholars in the Humanities and Mormon Scholars Foundation
May 16-17, 2008
Southern Virginia University

As a continuation of the Faith and Knowledge series inaugurated by the
Religious Studies workshop for LDS graduate students at Yale
University in February 2007 and a follow-up to the inaugural Mormon
Scholars in the Humanities conference in March, 2007, Mormon Scholars
in the Humanities and Mormon Scholars Foundation are collaborating on
a conference to take place on May 16-17 of 2008 on the campus of
Southern Virginia University. The conference theme is "Interpretation:
LDS Perspectives."

The conference welcomes papers from all disciplines in the humanities,
including literature, religion, philosophy, history, and the arts,
that reflect on interpretation within the Mormon tradition or within
other traditions. We seek to address such questions as: What are the
grounds for Mormon interpretation? Are there reasons to argue against
a "Mormon" interpretation? Is it possible to extract interpretive
guidelines for understanding the world from our theology, our history,
or our way of life? Or is it best to borrow and adapt the perspectives
of secular culture and not strive for anything distinctive? What are
the particular dimensions and implications of interpretation laid out
in the restored scriptures? How is interpretation of history and of
literature distinct from the interpretation of sacred books? How do
they influence one another? What is the relationship between
interpretation and religious, academic, or political authority? What
difference does a restoration theology make to our acts of
interpretation? What lessons can be learned from the various
traditions we study in the humanities and how might the Mormon
tradition benefit from those traditions? What is the relevance, for
example, of literary theory? How is interpretation of music and art
and of foreign languages relevant to the restoration of all things? In
acts of interpretation, what are the distinct roles played by
inspiration, historical context, personality, and the text in
question? What is the religious, ethical, or secular value of a
self-conscious understanding of this process?

The conference will also hold a special workshop on "Making Graduate
School Spiritually, Academically, and Professionally Successful." The
aim of this workshop will be to facilitate conversation between senior
and junior level scholars about their graduate school experiences.

Please submit an abstract of no more than 200 words and an abbreviated
CV to George Handley at George_Handley@byu.edu by December 15, 2007.

Important:
Southern Virginia University will provide subsidized housing and food.
For those without sufficient travel funds of their own, modest
stipends will also be provided. All participants must be members of
MSH at the time of the symposium. Membership information is available
at http://www.mormonscholars.org/.

Lessons from Mountain Meadows

Lessons gleaned from the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Robert A. Rees
Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com//ci_7105057?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.
Accurate scholarship can
Unearth the whole offence.
- W.H. Auden, "September 1, 1939"

The recent commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the massacre
at Mountain Meadows was perhaps the most significant marking of this
tragic event since its occurrence. What made it so was that for the
first time there was open and official acknowledgment that the
massacre was planned, coordinated and executed by leaders and members
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, facts that have
been denied or repressed for a century and a half.
An article in the September Ensign magazine by church historian
Richard Turley Jr. acknowledges the responsibility of Latter-day
Saints for the murder of 120 men, women and children, calling the
massacre a "horrific crime."
At a ceremony marking the event at Mountain Meadows, LDS Apostle
Henry B. Eyring expressed "profound regret for the massacre ... and
for the undue and untold suffering experienced by the victims then and
by their relatives to the present time." He also expressed regret "to
the Paiute people who have unjustly borne for too long the principal
blame for what occurred during the massacre."
There are many lessons that can be learned from what happened at
Mountain Meadows. One of these is that, under the right circumstances,
most if not all of us are capable of committing what in our more sober
reflections we would consider barbaric acts.
The Milgram Experiment at Yale and the Stanford Prison Experiment
both demonstrate that ordinary people are willing to inflict enormous
pain on others, either because they are directed to do so by someone
in authority or because they have the power to do so.
A second lesson is that blind obedience to authority often leads
to tragic consequences. In an article on his experiments, Milgram
comments on "the extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any
lengths on the command of an authority . . . ." While such blind
obedience seldom leads to the extreme behavior seen at Mountain
Meadows, we need to remind ourselves that it has that potential.
A third lesson is that attempts to deny history and suppress the
truth invariably fail and that the consequences of such denial and
suppression are always greater than the consequences of the truth
itself, no matter how painful it may be at the time. Had church and
civil authorities (which in frontier Utah tended to be the same) fully
investigated the murders and brought the perpetrators to justice, or
had the church itself in later decades acknowledged what leaders
certainly must have known about the event from its archives, the
suffering of those who committed the crime, the survivors, the
descendants of both, and generations of Latter-day Saints who have
felt a communal guilt over the affair would have diminished long ago.
A fourth lesson, one that may be particularly relevant today, is
that stereotyping and scapegoating have dangerous consequences. The
polarizing, demonizing, categorical rhetoric that swirls around us is
akin to that which swept up and down the Wasatch Front during those
first years in the Great Basin and which surely contributed to the
deaths of those innocent Arkansas pioneers and to the persistent
racism of our culture connected to the Mormons' laying the blame on
the heads of Native Americans for all these years.
A fifth lesson is that religious extremism often leads to the
worst kind of offenses against humanity. The zeal that inspired the
massacre is related to the fundamentalist religious terrorism that
rages across much of the world today. Killing other people in the name
of God always uncivilizes us.
The most important lesson from Mountain Meadows is that if we deny
history we cannot learn from it, and if we cannot learn from history,
we are likely to repeat it.

One Story: The Consequence of CES Divorce Policy

Faiths and divorce: Mormon - 'The way we came to see the world was
completely different'
By Peggy Fletcher Stack
The Salt Lake Tribune

Phillip Barlow was 27 when he met his future wife in a Weber State
University LDS student ward. He had served a church mission to the San
Francisco Bay Area, graduated from college and was heading to Harvard
to study religion.
But Phil was inexperienced in love. He was apprehensive about
leaving the womb of Utah for what he feared would be Babylon. He
didn't know what to expect and was nervous about being alone.
So he proposed to the girl he had been dating only a few months.
After seven years, two kids and endless trips to counselors and
Mormon leaders, Phil and his wife divorced. As a devoted member of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was emotionally,
religiously and financially devastated.
"From my perspective, she is a perfectly nice person, but we had
no business being married," he says now. "The way we came to see the
world was completely different. I have my own weaknesses and they
punched her buttons."
Growing up in a small Utah town, the woman felt oppressed by her
father, the church and men in general. Though her mild-mannered
husband was the antithesis of her authoritarian father, she
transferred all those feelings to Phil.
"She felt suffocated by men," he says. "The way she chose to break
out was by eating."
Phil began to notice crazy things. When he came back from work,
the heart of a newly purchased watermelon would be gone. After the
week's groceries disappeared in a single day, he had to hide food for
himself and their two children. He had no idea what was happening. "It
was as severe a form of addiction as alcoholism or cocaine," he says.
Today, they would have realized the woman was bulimic, but this
was 1980 and her disease was not yet widely recognized. They sought
counseling, but no one had any answers.
While dealing with a marriage spiraling out of control, Phil was
teaching at the LDS Institute of Religion for Mormon students in the
Boston area and completing graduate work on religion.
Phil's wife became involved with a New Age religion called
Eckankar, which believes in souls traveling outside their bodies. He
tried to be understanding, even attended a few Eckankar meetings, but
that just added religion to their list of growing differences.
After several years of struggle and counseling, their professional
marriage counselor asked them, "What would it be like to imagine
yourself apart?"
As a Mormon, divorce was unthinkable, but the suggestion gave the
couple a sense of profound relief.
The two agreed to share child-raising, alternating a year-long
stay with each parent. Phil had them first.
The divorce cost Phil his livelihood. No divorced person can teach
at the LDS Institute, no matter what caused it.
"They fired me with comments of great compassion," he recalls. "It
didn't sound like they were judging me. They were trying to be soft
and gentle, saying things like, 'Can you imagine how awkward it would
be if you were assigned to teach a class on marriage and family?' They
implied they were doing this for my own good."
In a flash, he was thrust into the gravest economic, occupational,
marital, faith and religious crisis of his life. He felt abandoned by
some church members.
"I didn't even know if I could finish my doctoral program," he
says. "I had to pull out of my exams, come back to Utah and live in
the basement of my parents' house. I was sick day and night for
months."
It took years of soul-searching, mental anguish and hard work for
Phil to regain his equilibrium. Eventually, he was able to finish his
degree and trust love again. He finally met a divorced Mormon woman
with three children, and, he says, "things got happy."
Today he has been joyously married for 18 years, is the proud
father of six and chairs Mormon studies at Utah State University.
"Divorce should not be a casual thing," he says. "I appreciate the
church's support of marriage and family in its various dimensions.
However, we may err when we confuse ironclad rules with guiding
principles. There are situations where divorce is the most
constructive, compassionate and wise thing to do."
pstack@sltrib.com

First Online News Conference

In an effort to help shape it's image, the church participated in it's first ever online news conference.  Mitt Romney's candidacy has brought heightened focus on the church and the church wants to be part of the voice of how the media defines the church.

Elder Ballard responded to the following questions.  Video of his responses are in the following links:

1. Are you Christian? What is the role of Jesus Christ in your faith?
2. Do you worship Jesus Christ in your Sunday services?
3. Why do some people say you are a cult?
4. In what ways are you similar to other Christians?
5. In what ways do you differ from other Christians?
6. Was Joseph Smith a prophet? Are prophets necessary today?
7. Is there scientific proof authenticating the Book of Mormon?
8. Does the Church support political candidates?

church leaders to meet with newspaper editorial boards

Officials to Meet with Major Newspaper Editorial Boards

(KCPW News) High-ranking leaders of the LDS Church will soon begin meeting with the editorial boards of major newspapers in the country, hoping to clear up misperceptions about Mormons. Church spokesman Michael Otterson says it's a response to heightened interest in Mormons as Mitt Romney runs for President:

"There is a national conversation going on about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we're very anxious to have this kind of engagement with people who write about the major issues of society today," says Otterson. "And we think that sitting down with editorial boards where the conversation can be informal and free-flowing but on-the-record is a good way to do that."

The rest of the article can be read here:  http://www.kcpw.org/article/4537

Pew Research: Views of Mormons and Mormonism

From section 2 of "Public Expresses Mixed Views of Islam, Mormonism
Benedict XVI Viewed Favorably But Faulted on Religious Outreach"

http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=358

Released: September 25, 2007

Views of Mormons and Mormonism

Overall, a slim majority of the public (53%) expresses a favorable view of Mormons, while 27% view Mormons unfavorably. Among religious groups, solid majorities of white mainline Protestants (62%) and white non-Hispanic Catholics (59%) express favorable opinions of Mormons. But among white evangelical Protestants, just 46% have a positive impression of Mormons, while 39% have an unfavorable opinion.

There also are substantial educational differences in opinions about Mormons: 64% of college graduates express favorable opinions of Mormons, as do 56% of those with some college experience. But fewer than half of those with a high school education or less (45%) have a positive impression of Mormons.

About three-in-ten (31%) of those who express favorable opinions of Mormons cite personal experience as the biggest influence on their opinions, but a fairly large proportion of those with negative opinions of Mormons (23%) also point to their personal experiences as being most influential.

A slim majority of the public (52%) says that Mormonism is a Christian religion, while nearly one-in-three (31%) say that Mormonism is not a Christian religion. White evangelicals stand out for their view that the Mormon religion is not Christian: a 45% plurality says that Mormonism is not Christian, while 40% say it is. Among white evangelicals who attend services at least weekly, 52% believe that the Mormon religion is not Christian.

By contrast, large majorities of white mainline Protestants (62%) and white non-Hispanic Catholics (59%) say that Mormons are Christians. In addition, those with no formal religious affiliation also say that the Mormon religion is Christian by a wide margin (59%-25%).

Even though a slim majority of the public views Mormonism as a Christian religion, most Americans say it is very different from their own religion. Among non-Mormons who express a religious preference (most of whom are Christians themselves), more than six-in-ten (62%) say that Mormonism and their own religion are very different; just a quarter says that Mormonism and their own religion have a lot in common. The vast majority of white evangelical Protestants (67%) reject the idea that Mormonism and their own religion have a lot in common, as do smaller majorities of white mainline Protestants (56%) and white non-Hispanic Catholics (61%).

Mormonism in a Word

When asked to describe their impression of the Mormon religion in a single word, somewhat more offer a negative word than a positive one (27% vs. 23%); 19% give a neutral descriptor. The most common negative word expressed is "polygamy," including "bigamy" or some other reference to plural marriage (75 total responses), followed by "cult" (57 total mentions).

But while many people associate polygamy with Mormonism, nearly as many think of "family" or "family values" (74 total mentions). Other positive words commonly used to describe Mormonism include "dedicated" (34 mentions), "devout" or "devoted" (32 mentions), "good" (31 mentions), and "faith" or "faithful" (25 total mentions).

Familiarity with Mormonism and Mormons

Overall, the public's level of self-reported familiarity with Mormonism and Mormons is not much greater than its level of familiarity with Islam and Muslims. Roughly half (49%) say they know a great deal or some about the Mormon religion and its practices, while about as many people (48%) say that they know someone who is Mormon. (By comparison, 41% have at least some knowledge of Islam and 45% say they know a Muslim.)

As might be expected, people in the Western part of the United States have more contact and greater familiarity with Mormons than do people in other parts of the country. Fully 74% of those in the West say they know a Mormon, compared with fewer than half in other regions. In addition, 66% of Westerners say they know a great deal or some about the Mormon religion, also a much higher proportion than among residents of other regions. Among religious groups, white evangelical Protestants show somewhat greater familiarity with Mormons and Mormonism, compared with white mainline Protestants, white non-Hispanic Catholics, and the religiously unaffiliated.

Just as knowing a Muslim is associated with positive views of Muslims and Islam, having an acquaintance who is Mormon is linked with more positive opinions of Mormons and Mormonism. The large majority of those who know a Mormon (60%) express a favorable view of Mormons, compared with fewer than half (44%) of those who do not personally know a Mormon. And those who are acquainted with a Mormon are 11 points more likely than others to say that Mormonism and their own religion have a lot in common.

But compared with knowing someone who is Mormon, one's view of whether or not Mormonism is a Christian religion has a much greater impact on overall opinions of Mormons. Among non-Mormons who see Mormons as Christian, more than two-thirds (68%) express a favorable view of Mormons, twice as many as among those who say Mormonism is not a Christian religion (34%). Equally striking, fully 42% of those who believe the Mormon religion is not Christian say they would be less likely to vote for a Mormon for president; among those who believe Mormonism is a Christian religion, just 16% express reluctance about supporting a Mormon.

Diaries of L. John Nuttall

Diaries are LDS history cache     
Dennis Lythgoe
Deseret Morning News  
The entire article is available here

THE DIARIES OF L. JOHN NUTTALL, 1879-1892, edited by Jedediah Rogers, Signature Books, 512 pages, $125 (limited edition of 500 copies)

L. John Nuttal acted as a temple recorder to LDS Church President Brigham Young, then as private secretary to Presidents John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff.

In that unique role he traveled often with LDS Church presidents, attended hundreds of meetings, answered private correspondence and overheard many conversations, which he recorded in his diaries.

It's not surprising that the editor and the publisher consider Nuttal's diaries to be one of the most significant in 19th-century Mormon history. Hence, "The Diaries of L. John Nuttal."

Nuttal ... became heavily involved in financial decisions concerning church property, including Brigham Young's estate. ...

As a polygamist, Nuttal lived underground for at least six years, beginning in the 1880s. He was bothered by long absences from his family, including his 18 children... When President Woodruff suffered abdominal problems, Nuttal waited on him, shaved him, kept his journal and attended to some of his office duties.
...

Most of Nuttal's diaries and papers reside in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections of Brigham Young University, while his work regarding the First Presidency can be found in the LDS Church archives.

Nuttal was most often likely to write in his diaries about business dealings, political maneuvering and church-leadership decisions. The editor calls the 28 diaries "a rich cache," especially with regard to the activities and business of the church's First Presidency.

This is important because the papers of the First Presidency are still unavailable to researchers — and Nuttal was the only secretary to the presidency who kept a diary.

Nuttal portrays John Taylor as "strong-willed and demanding," but who also had a "warm and personable side" and displayed "kindheartedness, generosity and compassion."

Nuttal's diary is very important for understanding the atmosphere and discussions that led to the Manifesto issued by Woodruff, which banished the practice of polygamy in 1890.
...

    These diaries are fascinating to anyone with any familiarity to LDS history and a desire to know more.

    Jedediah Rogers and Signature Press both deserve kudos for shepherding such a dynamic work to publication.

FLDS prophet found guilty

By John Dougherty and Kirk Johnson         

ST. GEORGE, Utah, Sept. 25 — The polygamist Warren S. Jeffs, hailed by his followers as a prophet but denounced by critics as a tyrannical cult leader, was convicted here on Tuesday of being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old church member.  

Mr. Jeffs, 51, faces up to life in prison.

The verdict, by an eight-member state jury here in Washington County, was a vindication of the prosecution's argument — which some experts had thought might be hard to accept — that orchestrating a marriage of a young girl under duress made Mr. Jeffs culpable even though he was not present when the rape occurred.

The girl at the center of the case, who is now 21, testified that she was pressed by Mr. Jeffs in early 2001 into a "celestial marriage" she did not want, to a cousin she did not like. The girl's cousin has not been charged.

Prosecutors said Mr. Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon sect with an estimated 10,000 members, knew that the marriage would lead to nonconsensual sex.
...

In the deeply isolated polygamist communities of Hildale, Utah, and adjacent Colorado City, Ariz., about an hour southeast of St. George, residents said the verdict would probably just harden the lines of resistance.


"They believe that polygamy is God's word, and they will still do under-age marriages," said Mr. Bistline, who has written a history of the sect.

Mr. Jeffs, whose sentencing was scheduled for Nov. 20, still faces state charges in Arizona related to performing under-age or incestuous marriages, and a federal indictment for flight to avoid prosecution. He was arrested in August 2006 near Las Vegas after four months on the F.B.I.'s Most Wanted List.

Mr. Jeffs's trial was not about polygamy or religion — at least on the surface. But the decades of bitter relations between the state of Utah, dominated by mainstream Mormons from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Mr. Jeffs's renegade sect was never far away.

The mainstream church renounced plural marriage in 1890. In response, some fundamentalist Mormons formed a sect, declaring that the teachings of Mormonism's founder, Joseph Smith, had been forsaken. Mr. Jeffs's lawyer told the jury the trial was really about that old conflict, and about the freedom of religion — a deeply resonant theme here.

[ the article continues at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/us/26jeffs.html?ref=us ]

Early Patriarchal Blessings

http://www.signaturebooks.com/blessings.htm

To be released November 2007

Early Patriarchal Blessings of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
H. MICHAEL MARQUARDT, COMPILER
hardback. 500 Pages. / 1-56085-202-X / $70.00

Vilate Kimball wrote to her husband, Heber C. Kimball, then on a Church mission in England: "Father Smith has died since I last wrote. he ordai[ned] his son Hiram to be a Patriarch, and pronounced great blessing upon all his children before he died."

In the LDS Church, patriarchal blessings offer comfort to individuals and foretell possible future accomplishments. The blessings are pronounced in the form of a prayer by an ordained patriarch (an office in the church's lay priesthood). The Bible describes the Old Testament patriarch Jacob (Israel) blessing his twelve sons regarding their futures (see Gen. 49). In LDS procedure, drawing on Old Testament precedent, the patriarch rests his hands upon the individual's head, eyes shut while speaking without forethougth regarding what to say. In most cases, the blessing identifies the recipient's spiritual heritage and lineage as a member of one of the twelve tribes of Israel and thus heir to the blessings Israel bestowed upon his sons. The promises and counsel contained in one's patriarchal blessing—prophetic insight into the individual's life and future—are said to be contingent upon the person's worthiness. A patriarchal blessing is given only once in a person's lifetime.

Contained in this volume are 755 blessings from 1833 through 1845 delivered by the church's first oracles, Joseph Smith Sr., Joseph Smith Jr., Hyrum Smith, and William Smith. Prominent in these blessings is the promise that the reciepeints will live to witness the Second Coming, together with other period-specific expectations and doctrinally based beliefs. The compilation is an indispensible source of early Mormon intellectual history, as well as a valuable resource for historians, biographers, and genealogists.

H.Michael Maruardt is the author of Inventing Mormonism: Traditions and the Historical Record, The Joseph Smith Revelations: Text and Commentary, and The Rise of Mormonism: 1816-1844. His studies of Mormon history include monographs on Joseph Smith's diaries, the Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, and the marriages of Sarah Ann Whitney. A retired civil servant, he is now the webmaster for the Mormon Origins site. He and his wife, Dorothy, live in Sandy, Utah, and have five children.

Mormon Misc: John D. Lee Lead Scroll

Sunday, 23 September 2007

Subject:

I will be discussing further investigation of a lead scroll found by a National Parks Department employee in January of 2002. It was found in the fort, built in 1874, at Lee's Ferry on the Colorado river. The scroll purports to be a declaration by John D. Lee that Brigham Young ordered the Mountain Meadows Massacre. There are many reasons, physical, historical, provenance, contextual and graphics, to suspect the scroll is a forgery.

Steve Mayfield will be joining me to discuss our recent expedition to Page, Arizona with forensic document expert, George Throckmorton to examine the scroll, the fort and Signature rock. We spent the day with the National Parks Ranger who found the scroll, now housed in the National Parks vault/archives at Page. We travelled with him to a number of sites and he discussed with us in great detail the history of the area, John D. Lee's involvement in the area, the history of the fort and the ferry and many other topics including the circumstances of his finding of the scroll and its history to the present.

Time:

5:00 - 7:00 pm MST

Host:

Van Hale

Radio Station:

KTKK 630 AM, Salt Lake City

Live Internet Streaming Audio

can be accessed at:

www.k-talk.com

or mms://stream.netro.ca/ktkk

Plan to increase positive LDS search results

Here is an article from a BYU site that was apparently removed after it was posted to a discussion group:

———–Start article

Create a Business Plan to Help LDS Church

"Our foundation needs help to create a business plan or fundraising. The project is to use the Internet to 1) drive down the enemies of the Church off prominent search pages, and 2) use the Internet as a missionary tool. The business plan will be placed in front of major potential donors. Here is an overview of the project and request. Thanks for your help."

Larry Barkdull, president
Latter-day Foundation for the Arts, Education and Humanity
(801)427-2193
lwb224 AT msn.com

The Latter-day Foundation for the Arts, Education and Humanity was formed in 1990 to help promote LDS arts and artists. Later, its purpose was expanded to assist with educational and humanitarian efforts. Recently, the foundation has become actively involved with Internet missionary initiatives to (1) drive down Church enemies from prominent search engine positions and (2) teach the gospel of Jesus Christ via the Internet. Our initiative is called "Flooding the Internet with Truth."

Introduction

A recent "conservative" advice columnist on MSN.com recommended premarital sex to a young virgin: "If you are sure you are in a long-term relationship, why not?"
A missionary in England reported his "golden" contact excitedly consulting the Internet about Mormons after the first discussion. The investigator found a mountain of anti-Mormon material and immediately cancelled all future appointments with the missionaries.

Need

At present, the Internet has few conservative, moral voices that are willing to combat immorality and anti-Mormon sentiments. The LDS Church tracks about 6,500 anti-LDS Web sites in the English language , whose content dominates search results. Thousands more dominate search engine positions in other languages. Potential converts are abandoning the missionaries once they consult the Internet for more information. (Emphasis added.) Only vast quantities of positive material, correctly optimized, can resolve this problem. We cannot drive the enemies of the Church off the Internet, but we can displace their prominent positions. Moreover, millions of people are not Christians, but need Christ introduced to them. Much of the present information about Christ on the Internet is either embarrassing or inaccurate. Finally, as the world grows increasingly more dangerous, middle- and upper-class people are retreating to gated communities, places that are difficult for missionaries to enter. How can we reach these people? Through their computers.

We need a network of conservative information that:
• Points readers to moral, Christian principles
• Offers clear-cut information on LDS members and their doctrines
• Scientifically presents material in a way that displaces immoral and anti-LDS material on search engines.

Solution

During the last three years, we have worked with Church departments and potential content providers to identify the problem and construct a solution strategy. We work closely with the More Good Foundation to gather information about in-danger keyword searches, which tells us where content needs to be placed, and how it should be optimized and published. We have created two initial Web sites, and we are in the process of creating a network of gospel-oriented sites.

Projected results

We took random samples of mainstay Christian and LDS terms and researched their monthly searches. The resulting audience was enormous—over 4 million. We can apply the same tools and science that professional e-commerce sites incorporate to make money and use them to defend the Church and teach the gospel. We believe we can reach millions of people. Our call to action is (1) ask for a free copy of the Book of Mormon, (2) order free Church materials (DVDs, pamphlets, etc.), and (3) request the missionaries.

We interviewed former mission presidents about convert-to-missionary contact ratios. The results were these: basically 30,000 companionships will each contact about 100 people per month or 3 million people. Of that number, 25,000 people are baptized each month—less than 1% of the number contacted. Our goal is to publish vast amounts of positive content and place it strategically where millions of monthly searches—"contacts"—can occur. An interesting mathematical exercise (using industry standards for Internet readership "captures" as compared to convert-to-missionary contact ratios) suggests that the Internet can greatly increase positive awareness of the Church and become an incredible missionary tool.

——End article

Plates of Laban

A modern rendition of the story of the plates of Laban:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgUNLGK8Vq8

Online: Freeman Nickerson's Death of the Prophets Joseph...

http://signaturebookslibrary.org/carthage/reader.htm

Historic Reprint, Now Online

Death of the Prophets Joseph And Hyram Smith,
Who Were Murdered While In Prison At Carthage, Ill.,

On The 27th Day Of June, A.D. 1844.
Compiled And Printed For Our Venerable Brother In Christ,

FREEMAN NICKERSON.

Contents

Account of the Death of the Mormon Prophet and
Patriarch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Two official reports from Governor Ford.
A Report from J. W. Woods Attorney at Law.
A few sketches from the Faith and Doctrine of the Latter Day Saints.

MORMON PREACHING

Every Sunday, Seats Free, At The Following Places

Boston--Suffolk Hall, opposite Boylston Market, Washington Street.
Lowell--No. 20 Merrimack Street.
Salem--Concert Hall.
New Bradford--South Water Street.

BOSTON: PRINTED BY JOHN GOOCH,
Minot's Building Spring Lane, corner Devonshire Street.

1844

Table of Contents:

To the Reader
Awful Assassination
Govenor Ford to the People of the State of Illinois.
To the People of Warsaw, In Hancock County.
Statement of Facts
Faith and Doctrine of the Latter Day Saints.

An Evening with Joseph and Emma

AN EVENING WITH JOSEPH AND EMMA
- When
- October 5, 2007
- Doors open at 6:30 pm
- Show starts at 7:30 pm
- Where
- Show Barn, Thanksgiving Point, Lehi UT
- Admission
- General Admission seating, $12.50 per person
- Summary -
- You are invited to share a special evening with Joseph and Emma Smith, who have come to share the story of their lives with you. Experience the sweetness and power of their relationship as they draw you into a magical journey of love, trials, perseverance, and faith. Laugh with them. Cry with them. Discovery the depth of each character as the evening unfolds to reveal their ultimate purpose together.
- Susan Easton Black says this ninety-minute Broadways-style show "...transported me to a different era, an era in which youthful Joseph first met Emma Hale and fell in love. I believe...it's well worth your evening.
- For tickets, call 801.325.SEAT, www.ticketmaster.com, or visit the Thanksgiving Point Box Office.