Fair mormon view of the hebrews vs book

The best evidence that argues against view of the hebrews as the primary source for the book of mormon is a reading of the text itself, yet the ability to access that text had become more difficult over the years. There is a certain lack of perspective in the things the book relates as history that points quite clearly to an undeveloped mind as their origin. Ethan smith republished view of the hebrews, revised and enlarged, in 1835. Roberts authored a manuscript titled studies of the book of mormon, comparing the content of the book of mormon with view of the hebrews. First published in 1823, with a second edition in 1825, ethan smiths hugely popular book view of the hebrews reflects the prevailing notions of the origin of the american indians of the time. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of mormon. Early mormon apostle orson pratt made a statement concerning the book of mormon. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint. In the 20th century, mormon scholars noted the parallels between view of the hebrews and the book of.

Despite the churchs claims, the roots of mormonism, rather than being ancient and old world, are often instead nineteenth century and very american. The author ethan smith was the pastor of the religious congregation in which the oliver cowdrey family attended. 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. Civilizations of their magnitude and duration would be expected to leave. Criticisms related to view of the hebrews and the book of mormon. For this reason, the book of hebrews must have been written after pauls death, which took place sometime around a. The quote above comes from the mormon periodical times and seasons which joseph smith used to post a quote from a book called view of the hebrews, authored by the minister ethan smith no relation. Ethan smith, a pastor of a church in poultney, vermont, was by no means the first to advance the idea that the indigenous americans were descended from the hebrews. These dissimilarities, which far outnumber any alleged similarities, are too many to list here. On the other side, the latest likely date for the book would be around a. 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 begins with a chapter on the destruction of jerusalem by the romans. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of.

T he w rit er has h ad hi s ears open to objections. These are critical points for view of the hebrews, since amos 8. 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. Fairmormon likewise concedes similarities between the book of mormon and ethan smiths view of the hebrews. Roberts and fawn brodie, joseph smiths, biographer noted the considerable similarities in the content of view of the hebrews and the book of mormon, which was published seven years after ethan smiths book. Is the book of mormon plagiarized from view of the hebrews. What are the similarities and differences between view of the hebrews and the book of mormon.

Published 1823, first edition 1825, second edition 1830, first edition location vermont poultney, rutland county note. An unparallel, in welch, reexploring the book of mormon provo. If true, it is one of the most important messages ever sent from godif false, it is one of the most cunning, wicked, bold, deeplaid impositions ever palmed. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the. 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. Tanner, persuitterichard abanes, one nation under gods. Critics often ignore the many dissimilarities between the view of the hebrews and the book of mormon. View of the hebrews and the book of mormon book of. 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. View of the hebrews talks of indian traditions that state that their fathers were able to foretell the future and control nature.

Oliver cowdery, one of the book of mormon witnesses, lived in poultney when view of the hebrews was published. 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. We talk about ways in which to corroborate a fraudulent narrative of the book of mormon. Between 1817 and 1819 it was marketed for the use of. Items do not represent the official views of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints or of book of mormon central. The papyri used by joseph smith for translating the book of abraham is dated close to 2,000 years after abraham could have written it. In 1996, view of the hebrews was republished by the byu religious studies center, with charles d. Book of mormon and view of the hebrews parallels life after. As for the claim that most critics find the book of mormons parallels to books like view of the hebrews less than persuasive of borrowing, i think givens is not framing the issue very well here to be fair, id say the same of most others, on both sides of the debate. 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.

Book of mormonauthorship theoriesview of the hebrews. This was a relatively common view during the early nineteenth century, as most europeans and americans had a view of history as biblical. Joseph made it up or stole the ideas from someone else. It is claimed that a 19th century work by ethan smith, view of the hebrews. Joseph smith quoted view of the hebrews as supporting the book of mormon. A contemporary mormon view is that these civilizations rose and fell in mesoamerica. The view of the hebrews theory became more popular as the availability of the book itself diminished.

Similarities between the book of mormon and view of the. Would you respond to the theories that the book of mormon is based. Discussion regarding the historicity of the book of mormon often focuses on archaeological issues, some of which relate to the large size and the long time span of the civilizations mentioned in the book. While some have claimed it to be a source for the book of mormon, no direct connections between this book and the book of mormon have been. In october 20, the authors conducted a data analysis comparing the book of mormon to over 100,000 books from the pre1830s era. The book of mormon view of the hebrews the king james bible the book of mormon tells the story of inspired seers and prophets. View of the hebrews by ethan smith, photomechanical reprint of the 1825 edition. The book of abraham does not match the papyri used by joseph smith. Lyman with a laundry list of concerns he had with the book of mormon stating his conviction the prophet had borrowed from ethan smiths work, view of the hebrews. 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. Consider the following antiparallels noted by john welch in his article view of the hebrews.

Its not so much a question of borrowing as of the existence in the. 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. 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. Answers about mormons and mormon beliefs lds faq latter. Did view of the hebrews influence themes in joseph smith.

Hebrews chapter 11 appeared to inspire other parts of the book of mormon as well. The storyline outline for the book of mormon probably came from ethan smiths 1823 new york novel, view of the hebrews. View of the hebrews 1825 edition introduction mormons. For almost 200 years now, critics have been scrambling to prove that the book of mormon is nothing but a work of fiction. Did joseph smith plagiarize from view of the hebrews when. 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. It was first published in 1823 the book of mormon was published 6 years later in 1829. Population migrations in the book of mormon, however, always move from the south to the north. After doing a chapterbychapter analysis of the book of mormon, i found that, according to persuitte, less than 4. The theory the joseph smith plagiarized view of the hebrews was never advanced during his lifetime. 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 mormon and view of the hebrews parallels life.

Is view of the hebrews a source for the book of mormon. May 31, 2019 the storyline outline for the book of mormon probably came from ethan smiths 1823 new york novel, view of the hebrews. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. View of the hebrews is an 1823 book written by ethan smith, a united states congregationalist minister, who argued that native americans were descended from the ten lost tribes of israel. Lds revelations view of the hebrews book of mormon 1. View of the hebrews, 1823oliver knew ethan smith, bh roberts thought bom was plagiarized from it, native americas of hebrew origin and came to america, yellow leaves buried in a hill, breastplate, urim and thummim, man standing on a wall saying wo to this city and then attacked, gospel preached in americas, savior figure. Fairmormon faithful answers to criticisms of the lds church. Another look at book of mormon and view of the hebrews parallels. The book view of the hebrews was published in 1823, 7 years before the book of mormon. As one example, nothing in the view of the hebrews explains the rich semitic complexity of the book of mormon. Of course, it could also be that josephs plagiarism lifting content from multiple authors, each with their differing writing style fingerprint, would also show differing wordprints in byus analysis. 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.

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. But the differences between these books are very significant. View of the hebrews flooded the area in which joseph smith lived. Ces letter picks 34 parallels between view of the hebrews and the book of mormon. Debunking the view of the hebrewsbook of mormon connection. 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. The pawlet association certify, that they have heard the rev. The bible tells the story of inspired seers and prophets. 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. Tes timonial s in favour o f this work have not be en wanting. Alleging a connection between the first book of napoleon and the book of mormon requires valid evidence.

The view of the hebrews theory was examined in detail by b. 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. Fairmormon is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing welldocumented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Did view of the hebrews influence themes in joseph smiths. Four walls eight windows, 2003, 69 index of claims sources.

View of the hebrews reports that the indians are israelites because they use the word hallelujah. View of the hebrews was published in 1823 and a second edition was published in 1825. Several commentators on mormon history and the book of mormon, including lds church general authority b. Several changes to the book of hebrews in joseph smiths translation reflect smiths lack of understanding of the bible. Roberts conducted an exhaustive comparison and analysis of these two books and concluded there is merit to this criticism. Similarities between view of the hebrews and the book of mormon. Fair, defending the book of mormon as a literal history. Ethan smith, pastor of the congregational church in poultney, vermont, argued that the native americans were scattered israelites who would soon. There are 34 parallels between the book of mormon and the view of the hebrews, as acknowledged by former church historian b. 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. Book of mormon witness and scribe oliver cowdery, and his.

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. Ethan smith was a minister of a congregational church in poultney, vermont from 1821 to 1826 when he wrote view of the hebrews. One of the conspiracy theories that gained traction after the solomon. 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. The early church father clement quoted from the book of hebrews in 95 a. 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. In 1927 the well respected lds historian bh roberts wrote a letter to lds apostle richard r. 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. Ces letter misportrays the content of the two books. An unparallel in reexploring the book of mormon, deseret book, salt lake city, ut, 1992, pp. 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.

In the book the view of the hebrews, what counterarguments h. Josephs plagiarism in book of mormon and other revelations. 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. Roberts view of the hebrews parallels have validity under church supported hemispheric model. 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.

In the book the view of the hebrews, what counterarguments. 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. The prevailing theory of the day was the spalding theory, which quickly lost credibility upon the discovery of an actual spalding manuscript in 1884 which bore no resemblance to the book of mormon. Interestingly, oliver cowdery, scribe, and later witness of the book of mormon, lived in poultney for 22 years until 1825. 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.

This video goes over the many similarities between the two books. 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. A very short introduction to the book of mormon daves. 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. Was the view of the hebrews theory of book of mormon. View of the hebrews and the book of mormon book of mormon. An imagination, it could with reason be urged, which, given the suggestions that are to be found in the common knowledge of accepted american antiquities of the times, supplemented sic by such a work as ethan smiths, view of the hebrews, would make it possible for him to create a book such as the book of mormon is. A closer look at 21stcentury mormonism harvest house publishers.