Interestingly, oliver cowdery, scribe, and later witness of the book of mormon, lived in poultney for 22 years until 1825. Items do not represent the official views of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints or of book of mormon central. If joseph plagiarized ethans view of the hebrews he missed many opportunities to support the book of mormon with the information of his day. Despite the churchs claims, the roots of mormonism, rather than being ancient and old world, are often instead nineteenth century and very american.
The book of mormon teaches that little children are not capable of sin because they do not have a. In fact, much of the information included in the book of mormon was contrary to what was known in 1830 about the ancient old and new worlds. The fact that two theories or books present parallelism, no matter how striking, may imply a common source, but it. In the few cases where view of the hebrews has something in common with the book of mormon regarding matters not treated in those other sources, the similarities are superficial only. It is claimed that a 19th century work by ethan smith, view of the hebrews, provided source material for joseph smiths construction of the book of mormon. But the differences between these books are very significant. Did ethan smiths view of the hebrews furnish structural material for joseph smiths book of mormon. View of the hebrews by ethan smith, photomechanical. Ethan smith was a minister of a congregational church in poultney, vermont from 1821 to 1826 when he wrote view of the hebrews. Did joseph smith plagiarize from view of the hebrews when. Palmer threetime director of lds institutes of religion in california and utah, former instructor at the church college of new zealand, an lds seminary teacher at two utahbased locations, and mormon high priest group instructor, is an informed, informative, and original study of the roots of. Joseph smiths probable source of the book of mormon.
A potent representation of how the book of mormon follows popular but ultimately falsified early 19th century beliefs about the native americans and a possible direct source of influence for some specific book of mormon content in 1922 lds leader bh roberts stated the following. Did view of the hebrews influence themes in joseph smiths. Is view of the hebrews a source for the book of mormon. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi. View of the hebrews flooded the area in which joseph smith lived. View of the hebrews 1825 edition introduction mormons. Would you respond to the theories that the book of mormon is based. Similarities between the book of mormon and the view of the hebrews the view of the hebrews is a 1823 book written by ethan smith, a united states congregationalist minister.
The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which, according to adherents, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. View of the hebrews and the book of mormon book of. Is the book of mormon plagiarized from view of the hebrews. It was ethan smiths book that would provide the young seer with the concepts that would get his active imagination to work on transforming the expectations of the treasure hunters. For example, they misquote the book of mormon s account of samuel the lamanite to make it sound like the view of the hebrews account of jesus ben ananias. For example, the story of samuel, the lamanite prophet, given in heleman 16 of the book of mormon, is similar to the story of jesus, son of ananus, found on page 20 of the view of hebrews, who climbed upon the city wall to preach wo, wo to this city while stones were thrown at him.
Mormon challenges could the book of mormon story have come. For example, they misquote the book of mormons account of samuel the lamanite to make it sound like the view of the hebrews account of jesus ben ananias many of the parallels are unique to the second. Ces letter misportrays the content of the two books. These include endowments, celestial marriage, and specific tithing. View of the hebrews, or, the tribes of isreal in america. The book of mormon mentions the word hebrew in only one verse, and even that passage, mormon 9. The book of mormon does not claim that the native americans are descendants of the lost tribes of israel, whereas view of the hebrews states explicitly that the native americans are the ten lost tribes of israel who were preserved by the lord in an outcast and a savage state. Ethan smith republished view of the hebrews, revised and enlarged, in 1835. An insiders view of mormon origins signature books. Roberts privately researched the link between the book of mormon, the view of the hebrews, josephs father having the same dream in 1811 as lehis dream, etc. Is the book of mormon like any other nineteenth century book. Is the book of mormon inspired by god bible study guide. Woodworth for almost a century critics of the authenticity of the book of mormon have claimed that view of the hebrews, first published by ethan smith in 1823 2d ed. Book of mormonauthorship theoriesview of the hebrews.
Both books quote extensively from the old testament. For almost ten years, i felt it was the best book i could read and most of the time i spent reading books was in the book of mormon. View of the hebrews1823 book of mormon1829 very very. Some of the ancient and most foundational concepts of our faith can be difficult to understand. Criticisms related to view of the hebrews and the book of mormon.
The book of mormon might have remained no more than an intangible promise to a group of money diggers if joseph had not come across a copy of view of the hebrews. The author ethan smith was the pastor of the religious congregation in which. Roberts concluded, assuming a hemispheric geography theory for the book of mormon, sufficient parallels existed that future critics could claim that view of the hebrews had provided a. Roberts asked for help with the similarities between the two books.
Would you respond to the theories that the book of mormon is based on the spaulding manuscript or on ethan smiths view of the hebrews. Exaggerated similarities between the book of mormon and. Some of the similarities between the book of mormon and view of the hebrews are so notable and striking that b. Population migrations in the book of mormon, however, always move from the south to the north. The contradictions between the book of mormon and the bible constitute a most serious obstacle to accepting the book of mormon as latterday scripture supplemental to the bible. Roberts, the mormon chruch historian, came across a book called view of the hebrews which contained similar information and patterns found in the book of mormon, including references to a urim and thummim, and isaiah quoted for 24 chapters. Ethan smiths view of the hebrews, published seven years before the book of mormon is thought to be source material for joseph smiths book of mormon. Aside from what ive mentioned, the book of mormon has never met with widespread acceptance in christendom as have the books of genesis, psalms, ephesians, colossians, hebrews, etc. The book of mormon, also has references to the same subject in. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. The view of the hebrews, has numerous references to the gathering and scattering of israel in the last days.
Contradictions between the book of mormon and the bible. The solomon spalding manuscript 1812 by solomon spalding this unpublished manuscript was a work of fiction created by a retired minister, solomon spalding who died in 1816 before being able to publish his work. View of the hebrews and the book of mormon book of mormon. The book of mormon is divided into smaller books, titled after the individuals named as primary authors and, in most versions, divided into chapters and verses. Ces letter picks 34 parallels between view of the hebrews and the book of mormon. Ethan smith, pastor of the congregational church in poultney, vermont, argued that the native americans were scattered israelites who would soon be restored into the gospel fold. The view of the hebrews theory was examined in detail by b.
The author ethan smith was the pastor of the religious congregation in which the oliver cowdrey family attended. Building on john welchs and donald parrys work on literary forms in scripture, the book begins with a short introduction to a wide array of hebrew writing forms, including material on the difficulty of translating any ancient text in general and of. The book of mormon makes reference to this event in history, in the first and second books of nephi. Pinnock of the seventy has produced a conveniently organized handbook of literary devices used in the book of mormon.
Lds revelations view of the hebrews book of mormon 1. The foundations of christianitythe jewish sacrificial systemthe power of jesusjesus as high. As i read it, i felt inspired and empowered to recognize wrong, resist temptation and become a better saint. Welch listed some 84 differences between the two books. Lets face it, they say, joseph smith was an uneducated young man living in poverty with almost no access to books, and he dictated the entire text of the book of mormon in 63 days. Mormon challenges could the book of mormon story have. Jul 06, 2011 the contradictions between the book of mormon and the bible constitute a most serious obstacle to accepting the book of mormon as latterday scripture supplemental to the bible. The bible is not a book but a collection of 66 books, written over a span of 1600 years across 3 continents, by over 40 writers inspired by god in 3 languages yet it has one primary theme the glory of god and salvat.
Aug 08, 2012 the latterday saint canon consists of four books. These are critical points for view of the hebrews, since amos 8. Book of mormon and view of the hebrews parallels life after. It was distributed free of charge around the world, especially in israel and new york city. View of the hebrews reports that the indians are israelites because they use the word hallelujah.
Hebrew book of mormon general discussions mormon dialogue. Some also postulate a link between ethan smith and oliver cowdery, since both men lived in poultney, vermont while smith served as the pastor of the church that oliver. The book of mormon in hebrew was published by the latter day saints in 1981. Some have suggested that the source for much of the history and theology in the book of mormon was an early nineteenthcentury book entitled view of the hebrews, by ethan smith. May 31, 2019 the storyline outline for the book of mormon probably came from ethan smiths 1823 new york novel, view of the hebrews. Josiah priest was a friend to oliver cowdery and published a book in 1827 called a view of the expected christian millennium. But to achieve exaltation or godhood it is available only to mormons who obey the teachings specific to the book of mormon. The book of mormon claims to be a history of ancient peoples inhabiting central america until 421 a. Roberts authored a manuscript titled studies of the book of mormon, comparing the content of the book of mormon with view of the hebrews. Since the book of mormon was first published in 1830, its critics have endeavored to find explanations for it other than the one given by joseph smith. View of the hebrews was published in 1823 and a second edition was published in 1825. The book of mormon claims that jesuss atonement provided for the immortality for all people.
Finding biblical hebrew and other ancient literary forms. Numerous commentators on mormon history, from lds church general authority b. View of the hebrews by ethan smith, photomechanical reprint. Between 1817 and 1819 it was marketed for the use of schools throughout the. View of the hebrews by ethan smith, photomechanical reprint of the 1825 edition. Consider the following antiparallels noted by john welch in his article view of the hebrews. If the view of the hebrews served as the basis for the book of mormon, one would think that the bible scriptures used by ethan smith would be mined by joseph smith for the book of mormon. View of the hebrews begins with a chapter on the destruction of jerusalem by the romans. An unparallel in reexploring the book of mormon, deseret book, salt lake city, ut, 1992, pp. Did view of the hebrews influence themes in joseph smith. If ethan smith suspected or even wished to charge that the book of mormon plagiarized or purloined from his work, it is strange that he proceeded as if there was no relationship between the two books.
Roberts conducted an exhaustive comparison and analysis of these two books and concluded there is merit to this criticism. Alleged relationships of view of the hebrews to the book of mormon. Roberts was asked by church leaders to compare view of the hebrews and the book of mormon, he produced a confidential report, later published as studies of the book of mormon, that noted eighteen points of similarity. Pre1830 works that possibly influenced the book of mormon a list of books available in joseph smiths time written about topics present in the book of mormon. Roberts took the position of examining the book of mormon from a critical perspective in order to alert the general authorities to possible future avenues of attack by critics. Scripture use in view of the hebrews and the book of mormon. A few years later it was withdrew from public distribution and the remaining copies were kept by the lds archives. In october 20, the authors conducted a data analysis comparing the book of mormon to over 100,000 books from the pre1830s era. What is the difference between the bible and the book of. View of the hebrews is an 1823 book written by ethan smith, a congregationalist minister in vermont, who argued that native americans were descended from the ten lost tribes of israel, a relatively common view during the early nineteenth century. Roberts concluded that this book, originally published in poultney, vermont in 1823 7 years prior to the book of mormon was available to joseph smith and contained enough parallel material to the book of mormon so as to furnish a virtual groundplan for it.
It has been pointed out in these pages that there are many things in the former book that might well have suggested many major things in the other. It is one of several books reflecting the popular fascination at the time of. Similarities between the book of mormon and view of the. Did ethan smiths view of the hebrews furnish structural material. Alleged relationships of view of the hebrews to the book of mormon have attracted interest periodically through the years. Each reads very much like the bible in type and breadth of thematic concerns and literary forms history, law, psalm. Roberts, mormon apostle and historian, was deeply enough impressed with them that he made a study of them. Ethan smiths book was published in the adjoining county west of windsor county, where joseph smith was born and lived from 1805 to 1811. Roberts privately researched the link between the book of mormon and the view of the hebrews, josephs father having the same dream in 1811 as lehis dream, and other sources that were available to joseph smith, oliver cowdery, martin harris and others before the publication of the book of mormon. For almost a century critics of the authenticity of the book of mormon have claimed that view of the hebrews, first published by ethan smith in 1823 2d ed. One of the conspiracy theories that gained traction after the solomon spalding theory fell short see our episode on this was the idea that joseph. The book of hebrews, youll discover the power of being inseparably linked with the historic, living savior, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Book of mormon and view of the hebrews parallels life.
More significantly, joseph smith and subsequent leaders such as brigham young never submitted to any church authority, whether from the past the church fathers. Nevertheless, there is no evidence that joseph smith ever knew anything about this book. May 11, 2018 for example, the story of samuel, the lamanite prophet, given in heleman 16 of the book of mormon, is similar to the story of jesus, son of ananus, found on page 20 of the view of hebrews, who climbed upon the city wall to preach wo, wo to this city while stones were thrown at him. While not claiming any divine command, this smith, like his prophetic namesake, also argued that native americans were descended from the ten lost tribes of israel. This video goes over the many similarities between the two books. Out of the top matches, we discovered a book called the late war between the united states and great britain, a scriptural style account of the war of 1812 published in new york in 1816. There are a significant number of differences between the two books, which are easily discovered upon reading ethan smiths work. Joseph smith quoted view of the hebrews as supporting the book of mormon. As a teenager, reading the book of mormon for the first time was the foundation to my growing testimony.