“The mystery of Mormonism cannot be solved until we solve the mystery of Joseph Smith,” Jan Shipps wrote. Four decades later, the prophet continues to puzzle. Was he true prophet, sincere visionary, pious fraud, or con man? In a friendly debate, four historians will each advocate a different hypothesis. Opening statements and rebuttals will be …
Person: Dan Vogel
Four Views Of Joseph Smith Historians Debate The Prophet Puzzle
“The mystery of Mormonism cannot be solved until we solve the mystery of Joseph Smith,” Jan Shipps wrote. Four decades later, the prophet continues to puzzle. Was he true prophet, sincere visionary, pious fraud, or con man? In a friendly debate, four historians will each advocate a different hypothesis. Opening statements and rebuttals will be …
SLC 2013 Symposium/ Session 255: Evolution of Early Mormon Priesthood Narratives
John Hatch, Dan Vogel, Greg Prince, D. Michael Quinn and Ryan Bingham present their panel on August 2, 2013. [powerpress]
DIAGNOSING THE SEER: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE FIRST VISION
Mormons consider Joseph Smith’s first vision one of the most significant events in religious history; it is by far the most controversial of his visions. Many Mormons maintain that the accounts of the vision are historically accurate, while critics assert that different accounts are inconsistent and historically inaccurate. This session will summarize the various accounts …
Does the Historicity of the First Vision Matter?
Does it matter if Joseph Smith’s 1838 account of the First Vision (canonized by the LDS in 1880) is not historically reliable, as some Mormon historians have argued in recent decades? In reaction to apologists who insist on the First Vision’s historicity as a litmus test for the faith, some Latter Day Saints of a …
The Second Coming of John the Baptist: The Book of Mormon as Contemporary Evidence of Priesthood
The Second Coming of John the Baptist: The Book of Mormon as Contemporary Evidence of Priesthood Although Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery allegedly received authority from John the Baptist on 15 May 1829 while laboring on the Book of Mormon, neither disclosed this fact until 1834. Why? Was the experience a fabrication, as argued by …
Fawn McKay Brodie And Joseph Smith: A 60th Anniversary Retrospective
Fawn McKay Brodie And Joseph Smith: A 60th Anniversary Retrospective This session, consisting of two presentations, provides a retrospective on the life and work of the controversial writer-biographer Fawn McKay Brodie. This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the publication of Brodie’s highly influential biography of Joseph Smith, No Man Knows My History. It also …
AUTHOR MEETS CRITICS. JOSEPH SMITH: THE MAKING OF A PROPHET BY DAN VOGEL
Vogel’s provocative work approaches the life and times of Mormonism’s founder from a naturalistic perspective. He attempts to bring into focus several familiar, if murky issues, folk magic, treasure-digging, anti-masonry, and pious fraud, painting a detailed portrait of Joseph Smith as a sincere evangelical who used dubious means to promote faith. Of particular interest is …
PURSUING THE ‘PROPHET PUZZLE’–RECENT EFFORTS TO EXAMINE JOSEPH SMITH
Over the course of the past year or so, several important scholarly works have been published carefully examining the life and career of Joseph Smith, namely Grant Palmer’s An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins, Dan Vogel’s Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet, and Clyde Forsberg’s Joseph Smith, Masonry, and the Advent of Mormonism. My …
Unrealistic Expectations of Book of Mormon Historicity
SL03091, This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the March on Washington, at which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, and the thirty-fifth anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination. It also marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the revelation reversing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ policy of …