65 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
65 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
Mormons Own up to Joseph Smith's Occultism
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Mark Hofmann, the Salt Lake City documents dealer on trial for
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murder, recently admitted in court that he planted the two bombs that
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killed Steven Christensen and Katherine Sheets and that he forged at
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least two documents purported to be key pieces in the puzzle of early
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Mormon church history.
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This affair has dealt a great blow to the reputation of the Mormon
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church. The church has had to admit that it was buying documents from
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hofmann to prevent their publication. The documents dealt with Mormon
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prophet Joseph Smith's money-digging and involvement in occult
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practices. The church, in its zeal to keep the purchases secret,
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played right into Hofmann's hands by not having the documents examined
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for authenticity. Sure enough, the documents later were found to be
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forgeries.
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Despite this, the documents forced Mormon scholars to own up to
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Smith's background in occult practices and acknowledge that, the
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documents aside, there was enough evidence to prove Smith's occult
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involvement.
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Therefore, Mormon scholars have begun trying to justify Smith's
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practices, saying that he wasn't any worse than anybody else living at
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that time because belief in and practice of magic was pervasive in
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18th and early 19th century America.
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The scholars go on to say that it was the coming of the
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enlightenment and rationalism that changed people's outlook on occult
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practices. These scholars say that since we don't live in that
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culture any longer, it's hard for us to put ourselves in those
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people's shoes.
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However, research shows that as early as 1788 in New York, and
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equally as early as Vermont, there were laws against occult practices
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such as palmistry and witchcraft and that the press was generally
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unfavorable to such claims.
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Undaunted by that, Mormon scholars are now trying to find rationale
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for Smith's occult practices. MORMON SCHOLAR DR. RICHARD ANDERSON
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CONCEDED IN HIS LATEST BYU STUDIES ARTICLE THAT SMITH DID INDEED
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PRACTICE MAGIC, (emphasis mine) but only up to 1826. When he dug up
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the gold plates, Anderson says, he realized that he had a serious
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mission and put his teenage follies behind him.
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While this scenario is at best questionable, it does have one of
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the staunch defenders of Mormon faith admitting that during the time
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Smith supposedly was being prepared for the life of a prophet, he was
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immersed in the occult and digging for money.
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From the April-June PFO by WPW
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For more information see below:
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This file has been brought to you by the ministry of the;
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Southern Maryland Christian Information Service BBS, (SMCIS)
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(301) 862-3160 HST
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P.O. Box 463
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California, MD 20619
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Sysop: Buggs Bugnon
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