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. I dont think its outside the definition of translation to think joseph could consult existing bible commentaries of his day to help him translate the book of mormon text. 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. 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 author ethan smith was the pastor of the religious congregation in which the oliver cowdrey family attended. View of the hebrews and the book of mormon book of. Ces letter picks 34 parallels between view of the hebrews and the book of mormon. Book of mormon and view of the hebrews parallels life after. 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. In an article published in the times and seasons on june 1, 1842, joseph quoted view of the hebrews in support of the book of mormon. We believe that the church discovered what was inspired through prayer and the leading of the holy spirit. 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.
Apr 16, 2014 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. Book of mormon and view of the hebrews parallels life. 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. Joseph smith quoted view of the hebrews as supporting the book of mormon. 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 is brilliant in its simple, powerful, and inspiring exegesis of sometimes vague, short, or hard to understand bible passages.
View of the hebrews talks of indian traditions that state that their fathers were able to foretell the future and control nature. It was distributed free of charge around the world, especially in israel and new york city. Without any supportive historical data, the author of the ces letter assumes that joseph was aware of the first book of napoleon and constructed the book of mormon by using structural elements from it. Roberts authored a manuscript titled studies of the book of mormon, comparing the content of the book of mormon with view of the hebrews. 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. In 1996, view of the hebrews was republished by the byu religious studies center, with charles d. Adam clarke bible commentary in the book of mormon. Ethan smith was a minister of a congregational church in poultney, vermont from 1821 to 1826 when he wrote view of the hebrews. The view of the hebrews is a book written in 1823 by ethan smith no relation to joseph. Mormons are pretty much wedded to the kjv even though they claim to believe the bible is the word of god as far as it is translated correctly, and the kjv is wellknown to have incorrect or suboptimal translation.
Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of. But the differences between these books are very significant. The book of mormon teaches that little children are not capable of sin because they do not have a sinful nature moroni 8. Aug 16, 2016 a look at the major differences between the view of the hebrews claims that the native americans are the lost ten tribes of israel, and the book of mormon claiming that the nephites are. The only reason why this book continues to be in print is because its been cited as a possible source of influence on the writers of the book of mormon. Despite the churchs claims, the roots of mormonism, rather than being ancient and old world, are often instead nineteenth century and very american.
The bible tells the story of inspired seers and prophets. Interestingly, oliver cowdery, scribe, and later witness of the book of mormon, lived in poultney for 22 years until 1825. Mitchill was pleased that a historian had used the scriptural style. Similarities between the book of mormon and view of the. Do mormons read the book of mormon or the holy bible, or. Exaggerated similarities between the book of mormon and view. 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. Numerous commentators on mormon history, from lds church general authority b. 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.
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. Population migrations in the book of mormon, however, always move from the south to the north. Photo reprint of the 1825 edition that is believed to have influenced joseph smith during his creation of the book of mormon. Therefore, during the past thirty years some non mormon scholars, realizing the weakness of the spaulding manuscript theory, have postulated that joseph smith might have gained some of the ideas for the book of mormon from a book by ethan smith entitled view of the hebrews, first published in vermont in 1823, with a revised, enlarged edition. The book view of the hebrews was published in 1823, 7 years before the book of mormon. Would you respond to the theories that the book of mormon. 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. Roberts on the view of the hebrews parallels with the book of mormon emphasis mine. The excommunication of the hebrews deeply affecting 154 2. Ethan smith republished view of the hebrews, revised and enlarged, in 1835. Did view of the hebrews influence themes in joseph smith. In the book the view of the hebrews, what counterarguments h. What is the difference between what we call illumination and what mormons call revelation, especially concerning the canonization of scripture. These are critical points for view of the hebrews, since amos 8.
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. 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. 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 book of mormon is one book of several in this genre. There was, however, a reference to view of the hebrews within joseph smiths lifetime, but it came from the prophet himself. Lds revelations view of the hebrews book of mormon 1.
Interestingly, an academic in new york named samuel mitchill wrote a letter of endorsement for hunts work, published in the preface of the late war. 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. An unparallel, in welch, reexploring the book of mormon provo. 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.
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. View of the hebrews and the book of mormon book of mormon. The book of mormon view of the hebrews the king james bible the book of mormon tells the story of inspired seers and prophets. Alleging a connection between the first book of napoleon and the book of mormon requires valid evidence. Did ethan smiths view of the hebrews furnish structural material. 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. Also contains the parallels between view of the hebrews and the book of mormon by mormon historian b. Scripture use in view of the hebrews and the book of mormon. 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. It was first published in 1823 the book of mormon was published 6 years later in 1829. 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. Ces letter misportrays the content of the two books. 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.
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. Book of mormonauthorship theoriesview of the hebrews. 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. View of the hebrews reports that the indians are israelites because they use the word hallelujah. In the book the view of the hebrews, what counterarguments. The book of mormon mentions the word hebrew in only one verse, and even that passage, mormon 9. The view of the hebrews theory of book of mormon origin originated after the rediscovery of the spalding manuscript, which led to the original demise of the spalding theory. This video goes over the many similarities between the two books.
Some critics believe joseph smith plagiarized the view of the hebrews when he wrote the book of mormon. Did joseph smith plagiarize from view of the hebrews when. 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. View of the hebrews 1825 edition introduction mormons. It is altogether probable that these two bookspriests wonders of nature and providence, 1824. 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. These include endowments, celestial marriage, and specific tithing. Episodes of mormon miscellaneous, a talk show on mormon history, scripture, doctrine and many controversial topics, by lds host, van hale, now in its 38th year.
Did view of the hebrews influence themes in joseph smiths. View of the hebrews was published in 1823 and a second edition was published in 1825. Items do not represent the official views of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints or of book of mormon central. 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. 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. Posted in bom, book of mormon, tagged bh roberts, book of mormon, ethan smith, joseph smith, parallels between book of mormon and view of the hebrews on 04102019 comments. 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 storyline outline for the book of mormon probably came from ethan smiths 1823 new york novel, view of the hebrews. This book, written by a minister, ethan smith, demonstrates that the book of mormon was not unique in its assertion that the native americans were descended from the house of israel within a religious history framework.
Book of mormon and view of the hebrews parallels 04242014 by lifeafterministry if such may have been the fact, that a part of the ten tribes came over to america, in the way we have supposed, leaving the cold regions of assareth behind them in quest of a milder climate, it would be natural to look for tokens of the presence of jews of some. Roberts conducted an exhaustive comparison and analysis of these two books and concluded there is merit to this criticism. 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. When the late war was published, joseph would have been 12 years old. Exaggerated similarities between the book of mormon and.
May 31, 2019 the storyline outline for the book of mormon probably came from ethan smiths 1823 new york novel, view of the hebrews. Debunking the view of the hebrewsbook of mormon connection. Dec 14, 2009 the view of the hebrews is a book written in 1823 by ethan smith no relation to joseph. Is view of the hebrews a source for the book of mormon. The book of mormon in hebrew was published by the latter day saints in 1981. Criticisms related to view of the hebrews and the book of mormon. Another look at book of mormon and view of the hebrews parallels. Contradictions between the book of mormon and the bible. Did ethan smiths view of the hebrews furnish structural material for joseph smiths book of mormon.
The book of mormon testifies of jesuss ministry in the americas following his resurrection. A few years later it was withdrew from public distribution and the. The book of mormon is a compilation of several books written by ancient prophets. View of the hebrews, or, the tribes of isreal in america 9781930679610. View of the hebrews by ethan smith, photomechanical reprint of the 1825 edition.
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