How educated was Joseph Smith? Ep. 117

In this episode, Dave reviews what history tells us about Joseph Smith’s formal education, non-formal education, and what Joseph’s contemporaries said about his level of education/intelligence.
Transcript and notes: bit.ly/3emrcFy
Brain Hales infographic: bit.ly/3whJoYL
“Joseph Smith’s Education,” via Evidence Central: bit.ly/3u9CcvX
“Naturalistic Explanations of the Origin of the Book of Mormon: A Longitudinal Study,” by Brian Hales (BYU Studies): bit.ly/3cxusP0 / bit.ly/3u2FJwa
“Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon?: The Critics and Their Theories,” by Louis C. Midgley: bit.ly/3rBAEJw
“A New Witness For Christ,” by Francis Kirkham (both Vol. 1 & 2). Great sources in these books.
“Curiously Unique: Joseph Smith as Author of the Book of Mormon,” by Brian Hales (Interpreter Journal): bit.ly/3fsP10m
“‘Proving to the World’: The Unique Declaration in Doctrine and Covenants Section 20,” by Brian Hales: bit.ly/3lZg8l2
“Theories and Assumptions: A Review of William L. Davis’s ‘Visions in a Seer Stone,’” by Brian Hales (Interpreter Journal): bit.ly/2PzxkkV
“Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins,” Noel B. Reynolds (editor).
Notes:
-Orasmus Turner (who said Joseph “possessed of less than ordinary intellect”) claimed that Joseph “was a very passable exhorter in evening [Methodist] meetings” (Orsamus Turner, History of the Pioneer Settlement, pg. 214). Joseph Smith biographer Richard Bushman said that Joseph “is not known to have preached a sermon before the Church is organized in 1830. He had no reputation as a preacher,” (Richard Bushman, “A Historian’s Perspective of Joseph Smith,” on “Joseph’s Smith’s Relationship With God,” CD2, track 8). bit.ly/3cAu69V
-Joseph’s family moved to Lebanon, NH, around 1812. “As our children had, in great measure, been debarred from the privilege of schools, we began to make every arrangement to attend to this important duty. We established our second son Hyrum in an academy at Hanover; and the rest, that were of sufficient age, we were sending to a common school that was quite convenient” (“History of Joseph Smith by His Mother,” Lucy Mack Smith, p. 51). Joseph would have been 7 years old at this time.
-For my thoughts on the “God of the gaps” argument, see the notes section of the previous episode, “How have Book of Mormon origin theories changed over time?”
-“...Joseph continued to receive instructions from the Lord, and we continued to get the children together every evening for the purpose of listening while he gave us a relation of the same. I presume our family presented an aspect as singular as any that ever lived upon the face of the earth -- all seated in a circle, father, mother, sons and daughters, and giving the most profound attention to a boy, eighteen years of age, who had never read the Bible through in his life: he seemed much less inclined to the perusal of books than any of the rest of our children, but far more given to meditation and deep study. … Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of traveling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship...with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life among them.” (“History of Joseph Smith by His Mother,” Lucy Mack Smith, p 82-83).
Some use the latter part of the above quote to argue that Joseph made up the Book of Mormon. Given the context of the quote, it seems to me that during these “amusing recitals,” Joseph was only relating what had been revealed to him by the Lord on the subject - not telling stories to entertain. It is also worth noting that the “amusing recitals” only occurred “occasionally,” and in the preliminary MS of her book, Lucy wrote that, “it will be recollected by the reader that all that I mentioned and much more took place within the compass of one short year” (bit.ly/2PeOUel). At worst, this quote falls quite short of explaining how the Book of Mormon came to be.
SUBSCRIBE:
saintsunscripted/subscribe
Follow Us:
Facebook: / saintsunscripted
Instagram: / saintsunscripted
Website: saintsunscript...
Follow the Host:
David: / davidesnell