Stone in a hat translation; glass-looking for hire.
·
The "studious" depiction from the LDS
Church to its members and the public for more than a century
·
The depiction has not been in accord with the
written accounts.
“Joseph Smith would put the seer
stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around
his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would
shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that
appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was
the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to
Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and
repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear,
and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of
Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of
man.”
Russell M. Nelson, A Treasured
Testament. Ensign, July 1993
https://www.lds.org/ensign/1993/07/a-treasured-testament?lang=eng, quoting
David Whitmer’s Address to All Believers In Christ, 1887, p.11
This is a depiction in line with the scribes accounts:
Yet, the Doctrine and Covenants
insists it was the Urim and Thummim, not seer stones. Verses 10:1-3, 17:1. So too does Joseph Smith—History
1:34-35. And Joseph Smith claimed such
in his letter to John Wentworth too, which is the source statement of the
Articles of Faith.
Even though so mentioned in 1993 by
Russell M. Nelson (then apostle), the church persisted to use artistic
depictions of a studious method persisted, and many Mormons were blind-sided in
2003 by episode 12 of season 7 of South
Park and its depiction of the face in the hat method.
On August 4, 2015, the Church unveiled
pictures of one of Joseph Smith's seer stones, which had been stowed away in a
church vault more than 150 years (apart from use at the dedication of the Manti
temple).
·
Joseph Smith's acquisition of the seer stone
“Joseph Smith discovered in the ground
years before he retrieved the gold plates,…a small oval stone, or “seer stone.”
As a young man during the 1820s, Joseph Smith, like others in his day, used a
seer stone to look for lost objects and buried treasure.”
Book of Mormon Translation,
https://www.lds.org/topics/book-of-mormon-translation?lang=eng
Apparently, the church says, Joseph
Smith found a seer stone "while digging for a well around 1822." Footnote 18,
https://www.lds.org/topics/book-of-mormon-translation?lang=eng
Were Joseph Smith's spiritual
experiences originally products of his family’s practice of magic and the
occult?
Emma Hale Smith
described Joseph Smith “sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone
in it, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us.” According
to Emma, the plates “often lay on the table without any attempt at concealment,
wrapped in a small linen table cloth.”
“By 1825, [19
yrs old – 5 years after the First Vision] young Joseph had a reputation in
Manchester and Palmyra for his activities as a treasure seer, or someone who
used a seer stone to locate gold or other valuable objects buried in the
earth.”
Elder Steven E. Snow, Church Historian,
Ensign, September 2015 https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/09/joseph-smith-in-harmony?lang=eng
The entry by staunch, believing Mormon
Hosea Stout dated Feb 25, 1856 in his journal was that Joseph Smith found the
gold plates using the seer stone. The
Journal of Hosea Stout (2 vols.; Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press,
1964), II, 593. see the entry of 25 February 1856.
"My statement
was and now is that in translating he put the stone in his hat and putting his
face in his hat so as to excluded the light and that then the light and
characters appeared in the hat together with the interpretation which he
uttered and was written by the scribe and which was tested at the time as
stated."
David Whitmer to the
editor, Kansas
City Daily Journal, June 19, 1881; cited in Cook, David Whitmer
Interviews, 71-72
A piece of something
resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and
under it was the interpretation in English.
Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his
principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph
to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with
the interpretation would appear.
David Whitmer, An
Address to All Believers in Christ, Richmond, Mo.: n.p., 1887, p. 12
·
Urim and Thummim/the
"interpreters" v. the Seer Stone/peep stone used in money digging
("glass looking for hire")
By
contrast to the seer stone discussed and shown above, Joseph Smith said that,
in addition to the gold plates, he found with them
“Also,
that there were two stones
in silver bows—and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted
what is called the Urim and Thummim—deposited with the plates; and the
possession and use of these stones were what constituted ‘seers’ in ancient or
former times; and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the
book.” Joseph Smith—History, 1:34-35 https://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/js-h/1.34-35?lang=eng#33
Martin
Harris, Emma Smith and Oliver Cowdery were the three scribes for the Book of
Mormon. Each described the stone in the
hat, with Joseph Smith's face in the hat, as the method of 'translating' the
gold plates (sometimes present under a cloth; sometimes not present) into the
Book of Mormon.
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/48#full-transcript
Oliver
Cowdery is the only one who claimed that Joseph Smith also used the Urim and
Thummin/"Nephite interpreters".
In his Sept 7, 1834 letter to William W. Phelps, Cowdery wrote
(https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/48#full-transcript):
"Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to [p. 47] write
from his mouth, as he translated with the Urim and Thummim, or, as the
Nephites should have said, [“]Interpreters,”32 the history, or reccord, called
“the book of Mormon.[”]"
·
Glass looking for hire. From the time of Joseph Smith, some have
attested to his having been involved in claiming special powers to find lost
treasure, and charging land owners to find it.
o From 1813, it had been illegal in the state of New York to "pretend[] to tell fortunes, or to discover where
lost goods may be found" and would result in a person doing so being found a "disorderly person". Revised Laws of New York (1813), 1:114, sec I; italics added. https://byustudies.byu.edu/content/joseph-smiths-1826-trial-legal-setting
o Emma Smith's father, Isaac Hale, who disliked his son-in-law, Joseph Smith, signed an affidavit dated March 20, 1834 (published in Susquehanna Register, and Northern Pennsylvanian 9 (1 May 1834):1, Montrose, Pennsylvania)
o Emma Smith's father, Isaac Hale, who disliked his son-in-law, Joseph Smith, signed an affidavit dated March 20, 1834 (published in Susquehanna Register, and Northern Pennsylvanian 9 (1 May 1834):1, Montrose, Pennsylvania)
"I first became acquainted with
Joseph Smith, Jr. in November, 1825. He was at that time in the employ of a set
of men who were called "money-diggers;"
and his occupation was that of seeing, or pretending to see by means of a stone placed in his hat, and
his hat closed over his face. In this way he pretended to discover
minerals and hidden
treasure. His appearance at this time, was that of a careless young man
- not very well educated, and very saucy and insolent to his father.
"Smith, and his father, with
several other 'money-diggers' boarded at my house while they were employed in digging for a
mine that they supposed had been opened and worked by the Spaniards, many years
since. Young Smith gave the 'money-diggers' great encouragement, at first, but
when they had arrived in digging, to near the place where he had stated an
immense treasure would be found - he said the enchantment was so powerful that
he could not see. They
then became discour[a]ged, and soon after dispersed. This took place about the
17th of November, 1825; and one of the company gave me his note for
$12[.]68 for his board, which is still unpaid.
* * *
"[Later, after Joseph Smith had
married Emma Hale on Jan 17, 1827,] Smith stated to me, that he had given up what he called "glass-looking," and that
he expected to work hard for a living, and was willing to do so."
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/elders-journal-july-1838/11
o
Martin Harris (one of the Three Witnesses to
the Gold Plates and the Angel Moroni) confirmed that Joseph Smith, Jr. and
Joseph Smith, Sr. were part of a company of treasure seekers. Tiffany's
Monthly, V (May 1859), 164.
o
In Elders' Journal, Joseph Smith jr. Editor,
Far West, Mo. July 1838, numerous questions previously posed were
answered. To Question 10 on page 43 of
Elders' Journal, it was admitted that Joseph Smith had been a money digger,
"but it was never a very profitable job to him, as he only got fourteen
dollars a month for it."
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/elders-journal-july-1838/11 as
cited in footnote 19 of the Church's essay, Book
of Mormon Translation
https://www.lds.org/topics/book-of-mormon-translation?lang=eng
o
Dr. W. D. Purple later wrote an article that
was published in the Chenango Union,
Vol. 30, No. 33 (May 2, 1877
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-reminiscence-of-william-d-purple-28-april-1877-people-v-js/1
and http://olivercowdery.com/smithhome/1877Purp.htm) (all emphases added):
There had lived a few years previous to this date, in the vicinity
of Great Bend, a poor man named Joseph Smith, who, with his family, had removed
to the western part of the State, and lived in squallid poverty near Palmyra,
in Ontario County. Mr.
Stowell, while at Lanesboro, heard of the fame of one of his sons, named
Joseph, who, by the aid of
a magic stone had become a famous seer of lost or hidden treasures.
These stories were fully received into his credulous mind, and kindled into a
blaze his cherished hallucination. Visions of untold wealth appeared through
this instrumentality, to his longing eyes. He harnessed his team, and filled
his wagon with provisions for "man and beast," and started for the
residence of the Smith family. In due time he arrived at the humble log-cabin,
midway between Canandaigua and Palmyra, and found the sought for treasure in
the person of Joseph Smith, Jr., a lad of some eighteen years of age. He, with the magic stone,
was at once transferred from his humble abode to the more pretentious mansion
of Deacon Stowell. Here, in the estimation of the Deacon, he confirmed his conceded powers as a seer, by means of
the stone which he placed in his hat, and by excluding the light from all other
terrestrial things, could see whatever he wished, even in the depths of the earth.
This omniscient attribute he firmly claimed. Deacon Stowell and others as
firmly believed it. Mr. Stowell, with his ward and two hired men, who were, or
professed to be, believers, spent much time in mining near the State line on
the Susquehanna and many other places. I myself have seen the evidences of
their nocturnal depredations on the face of Mother Earth, on the Deacon's farm,
with what success "this deponent saith not."
In February, 1826, the sons of Mr. Stowell, who lived with their father, were greatly
incensed against Smith, as they plainly saw their father squandering his
property in the fruitless search for hidden treasures, and saw that the
youthful seer had unlimited control over the illusions of their sire.
They made up their minds that "patience had ceased to be a virtue,"
and resolved to rid themselves and their family from this incubus, who, as they
believed, was eating up their substance, and depriving them of their
anticipated patrimony. They
caused the arrest of Smith as a vagrant, without visible means of
livelihood. The trial came
on in the above mentioned month, before Albert Neeley, Esq., the father
of Bishop Neeley of the State of Maine. I was an intimate friend of the Justice, and was invited to take notes of the
trial, which I did. There was a large collection of persons in attendance, and the
proceedings attracted much attention.
The affidavits of the sons
were read, and Mr. Smith was fully examined by the Court. It elicited little but a history of his life from early boyhood,
but this is so unique in character, and so much of a key-note to his subsequent
career in the world, I am tempted to give it somewhat in extenso. He said when
he was a lad, he heard of
a neighboring girl some three miles from him, who could look into a glass and see
anything however hidden from others; that he was seized with a strong desire to
see her and her glass; that after much effort he induced his
parents to let him visit her. He did so, and was permitted to look in the glass, which was placed in
a hat to exclude the light. He was greatly surprised to see but one thing,
which was a small stone, a great way off. It soon became luminous, and dazzeled his eyes,
and after a short time it became as intense as the midday sun. He said that the
stone was under the roots of a tree or shrub as large as his arm, situated
about a mile up a small stream that puts in on the South side of Lake Erie, not
far from the New York and Pennsylvania line. He often had an opportunity to look in the glass, and
with the same result. The luminous stone alone attracted his attention. This
singular circumstance occupied his mind for some years, when he
left his father's house, and with his youthful zeal traveled west in search of
this luminous stone.
He took a few shillings in money and some provisions with him. He
stopped on the road with a farmer, and worked three days, and replenished his
means of support. After travelling some one hundred and fifty miles he found
himself at the mouth of the creek. He did not have the glass with him, but he
knew its exact location. He borrowed an old ax and a hoe, and repaired to the
tree. With some labor and exertion he found the stone, carried it to the creek,
washed and wiped it dry,
sat down on the bank, placed it in his hat, and discovered that time, place and distance
were annihilated; that all the intervening obstacles were removed, and that he
possessed one of the attributes of Deity, an All-Seeing-Eye. He
arose with a thankful heart, carried his tools to their owner, turned his feet
towards the rising sun, and sought with weary limbs his long deserted home.
On the request of the
Court, he exhibited the stone. It was about the size of a small hen's egg, in
the shape of a high-instepped shoe. It was composed of layers of different
colors passing diagonally through it. [See above the photo of
the seer stone that the Church released in 2015.] It was very hard and smooth,
perhaps by being carried in the pocket.
Joseph Smith, Sr., was present, and sworn as a witness. He confessed at great
length all that his son had said in his examination. He delineated his
characteristics in his youthful days-his visions of the luminous stones in the
glass--his visit to visit to Lake Erie in search of the stone--and his
wonderful triumphs as a seer. He described very many instances of his finding hidden and stolen goods.
He swore that both he and his
son were mortified that this wonderful power which God had so miraculously
given him should be used only in search of filthy lucre, or its equivalent in
earthly treasures and with along-faced, "sanctimonious seeming," he
said his constant prayer to his Heavenly Father was to manifest His will
concerning this marvelous power. He trusted that the Son of Righteousness would
some day illumine the heart of the boy, and enable him to see His will
concerning Him. These words have ever had a strong impression on my
mind. They seemed to contain a prophetic vision of the future history of that
mighty delusion of the present century, Mormonism. The "old man
eloquent" with his lank and haggard visage--his form very poorly
clad--indicating a wandering vagabond rather than an oracle of future events,
has, in view of those events, excited my wonder, if not my admiration.
The next witness called was Deacon Isaiah Stowell. He confirmed all that is said
above in relation to himself, and delineated many other circumstances not
necessary to record. He swore that the prisoner
possessed all the power he claimed, and declared he could see things fifty feet
below the surface of the earth, as plain as the witness could see what was on
the Justice's table, and described very many circumstances to confirm his words.
Justice Neeley soberly looked at the witness and in a solemn, dignified voice,
said, "Deacon Stowell, do I understand you as swearing before God, under
the solemn oath you have taken, that you believe the prisoner can see by the
aid of the stone fifty feet below the surface of the earth, as plainly as you
can see what is on my table?" "Do I believe it?" says Deacon Stowell, "do I
believe it? No, it is not a matter of belief. I positively know it to be
true."
Mr. Thompson, an
employee of Mr. Stowell, was the next witness. He and another man were
employed in digging for treasure, and always attended the Deacon and Smith in
their nocturnal labors. He could not assert that
anything of value was ever obtained by them. The following scene was
described by this witness, and carefully noted: Smith had told the Deacon that very many years before a
band of robbers had buried on his flat a box of treasure, and as it was very
valuable they had by a sacrifice placed a charm over it to protect it, so that
it could not be obtained except by faith, accompanied by certain talismanic
influences. So, after arming themselves with fasting and prayer, they
sallied forth to the spot designated by Smith. Digging was commenced with fear
and trembling, in the presence of this imaginary charm. In a few feet from the
surface the box of treasure was struck by the shovel, on which they redoubled
their energies, but it gradually receded from their grasp. One of the men
placed his hand upon the box, but it gradually sunk from his reach. After some
five feet in depth had been attained without success, a council of war against
this spirit of darkness was called, and they resolved that the lack of faith,
or some untoward mental emotion, was the cause of their failure.
In this emergency the fruitful mind of Smith was called on to
devise a way to obtain the prize. Mr. Stowell went to his flock and selected a fine vigorous lamb, and
resolved to sacrifice it to the demon spirit who guarded the coveted treasure.
Shortly after the venerable Deacon might be seen on his knees at prayer near
the pit, while Smith, with a lantern in one hand to dispel the midnight
darkness might be seen making a circuit around the spot, sprinkling the flowing
blood from the lamb upon the ground, as a propitiation to the spirit that
thwarted them. They then descended the excavation, but the treasure still
receded from their grasp, and it was never obtained.
What a picture for the pencil of a Hogarth! How difficult to believe it
could have been enacted in the nineteenth century of the Christian era!
It could have been done only by the halucination of deseased minds, that drew
all their philosophy from the Arabian nights and other kindred literature of
that period! But as it was declared under oath, in a Court of Justice, by one
of the actors in the scene, and not disputed by his colaborers it is worthy of
recital as evincing the spirit of delusion that characterized those who
originated that prince of humbugs, Mormonism.
These scenes occurred some
four years before Smith, by the aid of his luminous stone, found the Golden
Bible, or the Book of Mormon.
The reference to glass looking was
made by Dr. Purple in 1877—96 years before Judge Neely's bill was found and
referred to Joseph Smith "The Glass looker". All three documents (Isaac Hale's 1834
affidavit, Dr. Purple's 1877 account and the 1971-found Judge Neely's bill)
corroborate one another with the use of glass looking terminology.
Both Isaac Hale and then Dr. Purple
used the terminology of glass looking, and as such, each lends some
corroboration to the other (thought, Dr. Purple may have at some point read the
earlier affidavit of Isaac Hale.
o
In 1961, Hugh Nibley, perhaps the most seminal
defender of the church against its critics, rather boldly stated that "…if
this court record is authentic it is the most damning evidence in existence
against Joseph Smith" and would be "the most devastating blow to
Smith ever delivered." Nibley, The
Myth Makers, page 142 (1961). See Joseph Smith and the 1826 Trial: New
Evidence and New Difficulties, Marvin S. Hill, BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol.
12, Issue 2, Article 7
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1504&context=byusq
o
Ten years later, in 1971, Judge Neely's bill
to Chenango County for presiding over cases in Bainbridge, New York in March
1826 was found in the basement of a courthouse.
It refers to Joseph Smith as "The Glass looker" in one entry.
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/trial-bill-circa-9-november-1826-people-v-js/2 and https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1504&context=byusq
Note, Samuel May (right above the
entry about Joseph Smith The Glass looker, charged with assault and battery)
was not listed by Judge Neely as "Samuel May, the Assaulter" nor
"Samuel May, the Batterer".
So, describing the person by their crime was not Judge Neely's
practice—but Judge Neely did refer to Joseph Smith as "Joseph Smith The
Glass looker" which suggests that Joseph Smith was in the courthouse if
not the locale too known as "The Glass looker". The New York statute violated did not use the
term glass looking, but described more generally activities of taking money for
claiming to have special powers to find something.
Josiah ("Isaiah") Stowell
had asked and paid Joseph Smith to find, on Stowell's land, where there might
be a cache of old coins and precious metals, Spanish treasure, buried. Smith's
claims of the spot led to Stowell's men digging and digging, but finding
nothing. Concerned that Joseph Smith
might be taking financial advantage of their father, Josiah's two sons filed
charged against Joseph Smith for being a "glasslooker.” That had been specifically made illegal by
the New York Assembly in the preceding decade.
Also found among the court records
which included Judge Neely's bill was constable Philip DeZeng's bill for
services to Chenango County:
Serving warrant on Joseph Smith of
[Chenango Co.?]
Subpoening 12 witnesses [and] travel
attendance with Prisoner two days [and] 1 night
Notifying two justices
10 miles travel with mittimus to take him
Subpoening 12 witnesses [and] travel
attendance with Prisoner two days [and] 1 night
Notifying two justices
10 miles travel with mittimus to take him
The 1971 found billings were
acknowledged and discussed in
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1504&context=byusq
These invoices of Judge Neely and
Constable DeZeng, and especially in light of the use of the term "The
Glass looker" in Judge Neely's bill, corroborate Isaac Hale's 1834
affidavit and Dr Purple's 1877 statement.
They are by Nibley's pronouncement ten years before found, a
"devastating blow", the "most damning evidence in existence
against Joseph Smith."
The use of magical stones by Mormons did not end with Joseph Smith. See page 255 of D Michael Quinn's "Early Mormonism and the Magic World View (Salt Lake City UT, Signature Books, 1998) which refers to a November 19, 1986 written statement by James Wirthlin McConkie II that reads:
"When I was twelve years old [in 1958], my grandfather, who had been a mission president in the 1940s, gave me a small stone. He was a Latter-day Saint who frequently had visions and dreams. Grandfather said that he found this stone while he was pondering the significance of the Prophet Joseph's seer stone. Grandfather held this stone in his right hand as he spoke in Church meetings, and rubbed the stone between his right thumb and index finger. He said that when he rubbed this stone it gave him the spirit of inspiration to speak. Grandfather said he carried it in his pocket all the time, and used it whenever he spoke in Church. He told me to carry it with me, and that it would give me inspiration as I spoke."
Questions:
7a-Why
would the stones Joseph Smith used for glass-looking for hire be used to
translate the gold plates into the Book of Mormon, rather than the Urim and
Thummim?
7b-Why
would God choose a treasure seeker rather than someone without such a flagrant
blemish when it comes to reliability and honesty to be the vehicle of the
Restoration?
7b-Why
has there needed to be any corrections to the Book of Mormon in subsequent
editions since the sentence above the stone would not disappear and be replaced
with the next sentence until the scribe read the English back to Joseph
correctly?
7d-Why
has the church kept the stone hidden all these years, and pushed the
"studious" method depictions?
