“The essays held nothing back, said Richard L. Bushman.”
Except for the few details that were held back:
• That Joseph sent men on missions and married their wives while they were gone • That several of the women Joseph married were his foster daughters • That some of the marriages included promises by Joseph of eternal life to the girls and their families • That some of Joseph’s proposals of marriage included threats of loss of salvation if the girls or women did not consent • That Joseph was already a polygamist when the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants was published, which unequivocally bans polygamy • In 1842, Joseph got 31 witnesses to sign an affidavit that Joseph did not practice polygamy. Several of those who signed were already practicing polygamy, including one of Joseph’s wives. • That when women refused his advances, Joseph impugned their reputation with lies and slander • That Joseph disregarded much of his own revelation on polygamy: • According to D&C 132, polygamy is only permitted “to multiply and replenish the earth” and “bear the souls of men.” The Book of Mormon also states that God sometimes commands it to “raise up seed.” Yet the essay states that several of the polygamous marriages did not include sexual relations. • D&C 132 states that the woman must be a virgin. The essay admits that several of the women were already married to other men. One of them was already pregnant from her first marriage when she married Joseph. • Consent from the first wife must be obtained (though if she doesn’t consent, she will be destroyed). Joseph kept many of his marriages secret from Emma, which means she didn’t even have the opportunity to consent • The woman must be completely monogamous after marriage or she shall be destroyed (even though several of Joseph’s already married wives continued to live with their first husband after marrying Joseph)
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/2014 11:42AM by texexmo.
It would be difficult not to include this in the essay, but I'm sure the editors took it out.
"...and based on this information, and the information we researched for the other essays, it should be painfully obvious to anyone with two brain cells to rub together that Joseph Smith was a fraud."
I was given a copy of Bushman's "Rough Stone Rolling." I looked through the index to three topics where I was familiar with the documentary record: The First Vision, The Kinderhook Plates, and The Book of Abraham. I turned to see his treatment on these three topics.
In each case he ignored the clear and overwhelming thrust of the documentary record and chose to parrot the apologetic party line. Evidently, Bushman, a TBM, was willing to point out that JS was not a perfect person but was unwilling to show that JS was a false prophet. Bushman held a lot back in his supposed "warts and all" bio of JS. So I'll ignore his claims that the essays hold nothing back.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/2014 12:26PM by baura.