Has anybody read his testimony of the Book of Mormon? He was a pretty devout Protestant, but sold everything he had in order to spread the Book of Mormon and its message. I've always wondered what drove him to sacrifice so much if the book is merely a fraud.

For our LDS history buffs here, what are your thoughts on Pratt and his shaping of the church? He may not be a household name, but few Mormons are more responsible for the work he did within the church.

Studies have shown that he has contributed to the writing of the BofM.

This!

He wasn't fooled by the fraud because he was in on it.

Wasn't PPP the one who was killed by a husband whose wife/children he took for 'The Principle'? BTW, it sort of precipitated the MMM...

yup, That's Mormonism fer ya!

I'm not sure Pratt was in on it. It is my understanding that he was sent away on a fool's errand (mission) by Joseph Smith to Canada, the Eastern US, and England. While he was away the prophet took Pratt's wife. When Pratt returned to his wife she was pregnant so there was a rift between Joseph Smith and Pratt. The law of celestial marriage was extended to Pratt and he took several other wives and forgave Joseph Smith and asked for his forgiveness.

I'm sure there is much more to the story but that's what I have heard. Anyone else know what happened, agree, or disagree?

although much about Mormonism on wiki is written to support TSCC, I believe that what I read there about PPP was truthful, at least in a general (if not specific) sense.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2015 12:54AM by GNPE.

Like many of Smith's cronies (or just people he knew), Platt was most likely threatened by a sword or some other horror that one of the gods would bestow on him if he didn't go along with the party line. If it worked on Emma, why not Parley.

"While he was away the prophet took Pratt's wife. When Pratt returned to his wife she was pregnant so there was a rift between Joseph Smith and Pratt. The law of celestial marriage was extended to Pratt and he took several other wives and forgave Joseph" -

this sure seems like either JS threatened Parley or Parley was a MORON. My guess is he was threatened. JS was good at making threats and pretending they were from the gods.

Pratt has an interesting life. He ran away from home at 17 and went west ran out of food nearly starved in winter and lived as a hobo trying to get away from his family. He ended up in Ohio and got a copy of the BOM, read it through the night, all the next day, and received a testimony of it's truthfulness. He became one of the most talkative missionaries ever produced by mormondom. Was quickly told to go to canada in search of burried treasure and instead converted John Taylor's relatives, and the Fieldings (mormon royalty).

He married a woman who was many years older and had consumption, so I guess they didn't have sex? So JS promised that she would be healed, she died instead. Of course the blame was placed on Parly for not believing enough, (typical of the church at the time).

He and Brigham didn't get along well. There was some scuffle while traveling west because the Pratt brothers didn't want to organised the first presidency but wanted the 12 to run the show. The bretheren were uneasy about brigham becoming the king and taking over. Brigham called him a lot names for it and acted rather childish in front of everyone. Pratt begged forgiveness and was later sent on a mission (to get rid of him) to Argentina where he the gift of tongues was not manifest and he came back home.

Another interesting comparison would be Orson Prat verses Brigham young:

Orson: Godhead is: father, son, and holy ghost
Brigham: Godhead is: Adam, Jesus, holy ghost

Orson: God is all knowing, never changing, perfect
Brigham: God is learning and progressing as he goes along

Orson: Angel Moroni visited JS
Brigham: Angel Nephi visited JS

Orson: 1st vision father and son came to young JS
Brigham: 1st vision an Angel came to young JS

YOU said:
"I've always wondered what drove him to sacrifice so much if the book is merely a fraud."

Come on. Can you think of any other examples of people dedicating their lives to hoaxes? Does Tom Cruise come to mind? How about Muhammed's followers? Or JW missionaries? The list is endless. There is a sucker born every minute. Please consider the possibility that Pratt was just a plain ole, sucker. A fool. Nothing of interest or noteworthy there.

Craig Criddle has done some solid scientific analysis on the authorship of the BOM, and PPP's "fingerprints" have shown up unexpectedly. Craig has promised a revision of the information he presented a few years ago at an Exmo Conference...

It looks really solid to me.

Here's a series of videos of that one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utDU45lm210

I've been "plugging" this series (just click on the link on the right to see the next segment) for several weeks now; it's helping me "sort out" my views. On one hand, it doesn't matter because "a fraud is a fraud is a fraud," but on the other hand, "nailing down the minutiae" does help people to let go, and it is interesting.

Pratt was certainly an enigma, beloved by the Saints, and yet capable of cold-blooded murder in Illinois... Definitely a crackpot and fanatic, but what sort?

Per Will Bagley (personal communication): Brigham Young was certainly capable of "expoiting" Pratt's death; his scribe recorded the statement, "Parley's gone a-whoring" summarizing his final fatal mission with Eleanor Mclean. And Bagley further notes there's no doubt Young used Pratt's death as a warning to young proselytes about the "dangers of disoberying counsel."

From your answer I see it may be less cut and dry than I surmise. My answer was sort of a general consternation with the statement I hear so much : X can't be a hoax because Y has invested so much time and money into it.

He did leave behind an autobiography.

I am sure it was heavily edited.

Before reading this thread, I hadn't heard the allegation/suggestion that Joe was with P's wife while he was away, that she was preggers when P returned.

Like Mormonism, some things here are just made up.

Sarah Pratt was Orson Pratt's wife, not Parley's and here lies the confusion. Other details may apply.