A rare, firstedition copy of the book of mormon stolen from a suburban phoenix bookstore was recovered on tuesday in the washington, d. Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship. David persuitte, a technical writer from virginia, wrote the first edition of this book in 1985. In the summer of 1828, joseph smith let martin harris borrow the first 116 pages of the book of mormons english translation. In 2006, several editions of the book were stolen from the daughters of utah pioneers museum. Police have tracked down the book of mormon that was purchased from d. The lost 116 pages were the original manuscript pages of what joseph smith, founder of the. Book of mormon proved a fraud globedemocrat september 29. The lost 116 pages of the book of mormon lds member beliefs. Sperry reprinted in the journal of book of mormon studies, vol. The book of alma is one part of the book of mormon. According to mormons, the sacred book was written on gold plates and lost. Joseph smith and the origins of the book of mormon 2nd edition and also in kindle.
Preface to book of mormon, circa august 1829, page iii. Arizona woman says firstedition copy of book of mormon stolen. Idea shamelessly stolen from a post i saw in another. The thieves stole 11 book of mormon copies and one copy of the doctrine and covenants, sanders said, as well as a tibetan printing block. Stolen mormon memorabilia spotlight lds devotion to church artifacts. Book of mormon proved a fraud globedemocrat september 29, 1902. As with any good legend, there is more than one version of the story. Officers recover stolen books of mormon religion news blog. But it is doubtful that joseph smith and his scribes would have even thought yet in those terms.
Jan 26, 2008 in 2006, several editions of the book were stolen from the daughters of utah pioneers museum. The coming forth of the book of mormon, foretold by ancient prophets, began with an angelic visitation in 1823 to 17yearold joseph smith. But was it stolen for the money or to protect it from. People stolen innocence is the gripping new york times bestselling memoir of elissa wall, the courageous former member of utahs infamous flds polygamist sect whose powerful courtroom testimony helped convict controversial sect leader warren jeffs in september 2007. Strangely enough we find inserted in the middle of the book of mormon, pages 141143 bom p. Troubling questions in stolen book of mormon case booktryst. In june 1828, joseph smith reluctantly allowed his scribe martin harris to borrow 116 pages of the original book of mormon manuscript. A man who allegedly stole a rare first edition of the book of mormon was arrested for theft tuesday at his friends condominium in herndon.
Centerville police are trying to recover an 1888 edition of the book of mormon that was stolen from a deseret industries store here. Firstedition book of mormon stolen in mesa, an original book of mormon dating to 1830 was stolen from a mesa bookstore sometime during the memorial day weekend and the owner is hoping the thief returns it soon. Smith completed the book of mormon without retranslating the book of lehi, replacing it with what he. Schlie, 88, owned an lds bookstore for 20 years and later opened an old and rare bookstore in august 2010 where she kept the 1830 copy of the book of mormon. Archaeology in the old world continues to uncover physical evidence of biblical history.
Now, a decade and a half later, persuitte has added many more facts in this, the 325page second edition. Written almost 400 years after the birth of jesus christ, this book contains a short explanation of what the small plates of nephi are and why mormon felt they needed to be included with the other sacred writings. These foolscapsize pages were handwritten in harmony, pennsylvania, between april and june 14, 1828. An account written by the hand of mormon, upon plates taken from the plates of nephi. 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. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates. A closer look, zenos publications, ogden, utah, 1983. A first edition of the book of mormon the real book of mormon was stolen from a rare bookstore in mesa, arizona sometime before memorial day weekend. The first 116 pages of the original manuscript of joseph smiths translation of the book of mormon from the plates of mormon are commonly known as the 116 pages or the lost manuscript. A few though, will be refined by this fire and double down on their beliefs, that is the bad news.
Rare first edition of the book of mormon, and the man who allegedly. Apr 18, 2006 two rare copies of the book of mormon stolen from the university of utah have been recovered. The book of mormon is a scripture that church founder joseph smith claimed to have translated from. Two rare copies of the book of mormon stolen from the university of utah have been recovered.
Helen schlie says she has owned the book for 45 years. Dec 07, 2018 joseph smith used peepstones to translate the book of mormon 7. Thus, despite supposedly receiving visitations from angels and revelations from god, joseph. Joseph smith used peepstones to translate the book of mormon 7. If the book of mormon is true, then joseph smith was a prophet. Schlie, 88, owned an lds bookstore for 20 years and later opened an old and rare bookstore in august 2010. The book of mormon seems specifically designed to answer the sorts of questions which red jacket raised about the relationship between the new world indians and old world christianity. Should the cache, if lost, ever be found, the person finding it could retire a very wealthy individual. The word withdrawn has been stamped on the inside cover. It is by the supposed author or compiler of the entire work, the prophet mormon.
Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship wikipedia. Even though 116 manuscript pages of the book of mormon had been stolen, joseph smith was once again translating from the gold plates. Book of mormontranslationthe lost 116 pages fairmormon. When the story of the theft of a first edition of the book of mormon broke this past may 29th many members of the antiquarian booksellers association of america, the premier trade organization for professional rare booksellers in the u. They were taken last october from the institute of religion. A recent attempt to revive the spaulding theory is the 45page work of vernal holley, book of mormon authorship. To order this book directly from amazon, click here. Some researchers believe that the book of mormon was partly based on an earlier book view of the hebrews or the tribes of israel in america by ethan smith no. The lost 116 pages of the book of mormon manuscript jump to subtopic. Mormonism is a religion less than two centuries old, but in this short time it has managed to accrue a long list of embarrassments which the church leaders would prefer were kept. Therefore, contemporary students of the book of mormon understand the lost manuscript book of lehi as comprising a significant portion of mormon s abridgment of what we now know as the large plates of nephi rather than a translation of the large plates of nephi themselves. Mahaffey, of grantesville, to be in his possession. These missionaries will come home, and never want to see a book of mormon again. It develops the history of two separate groups of jews who migrated from jerusalem to the americas, and presents the record of a much earlier race, which came to.
The fact that they are mormon explains why they were so trusting of another mormon running off with their 12 year old daughter. Was joseph smith afraid to reproduce the text of the lost 116 pages of book of mormon manuscript because he could not do so. Would alterations in a different handwriting to the stolen 116 pages of book of mormon manuscript have been readily apparent. Through negligence and disobedience, harris subsequently lost the manuscript, and its contents have never been recovered. Chris detrick the salt lake tribune the book of mormon first edition on display at the lds church history library on wednesday sept. Seven years later, in 1830, this scriptural canon of the latterday saints was published for the world. They simply could not at first i disliked this book very much, partly because it is not well written and partly because the parents made such foolish, foolish decisions where their daughter was concerned. The words of mormon serves as a bridge between the small plates of nephi and mormons abridgement of the large plates of nephi. Firstedition book of mormon stolen in mesa police later recovered the rest of the rare firstedition book, valued in the tens of thousands of dollars, when the u. Firstedition book of mormon stolen in mesa, an original book of mormon dating to 1830 was stolen from a mesa bookstore sometime during the memorial day. Mormon is allegedly a prophethistorian who was the native american believed by mormons to have written the book of mormon the main religious text of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints mormonism.
If the book can be shown to be a product of the 19th century, the church is then not what it claims to be. The lost 116 pages of the book of mormon noncompliant. As for the story of the stolen book of mormon, it sounds like your reason for rejecting it is that you dont like the book of mormon, rather than any prima facie reason for treating the story as a fabrication. The lost 116 pages is the missing portion of the manuscript of the book of mormon. The lost 116 pages and the book of mormon mormons in.
It might be the funniest thing in the world to me when someone tells me with absolute certainty that the book of mormon isnt true after having admitted never actually reading the book themselves. The theory is that a spalding manuscript was stolen by sidney rigdon, who used it in collusion with joseph smith and oliver cowdery to produce the book of mormon. The book of mormon the keystone of the church is unquestionably the book of mormon. Book of mormon, 1830, page iii the joseph smith papers. The book of mormon is the most correct of any book on earth, joseph smith stated, and the keystone of our religion. This would seem to indicate that someone, perhaps joseph smith, copied parts of adairs book verbatim into the book of mormon. While acting as joseph smiths scribe, martin harris requested to take home the portion of the manuscript that had been translated in order to persuade his wife of the authenticity of the book of mormon. Aug 03, 2005 as for the story of the stolen book of mormon, it sounds like your reason for rejecting it is that you dont like the book of mormon, rather than any prima facie reason for treating the story as a fabrication. Although rigdon claimed that he was converted to the latter day saint movement through reading the book of mormon, howe argued that this story was a later invention to cover the book. Stolen mormon memorabilia spotlight latterday saint devotion. Top 10 facts the mormon church doesnt want its members to. Although rigdon claimed that he was converted to the latter day saint movement through reading the book of mormon, howe argued that this story was a later invention to cover the books true origins. Federal authorities have arrested a man in washington d.
To the reader as many false reports have been circulated respecting the following work, and also many unlawful measures taken by the evil designing persons to destroy me, and also the work, i would inform you that i translated, by the gift and power of god, and caused to be written, one hundred and sixteen pages, the which i took from the book. First edition stolen this transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate. Jun 01, 2012 a first edition of the book of mormon the real book of mormon was stolen from a rare bookstore in mesa, arizona sometime before memorial day weekend. This is not the case with new world archaeology and the book of. The dealer said that while latterday saint history is of great. The stolen book of mormon is hardbound and in pristine condition. The book, one of just 5000 copies printed in 1830, is. When the story of the theft of a first edition of the book of mormon broke this past may 29th many members of the antiquarian booksellers. From chapter 35 of the book history of joseph smith by his mother lucy. Stolen mormon memorabilia spotlights lds devotion to church. Nearly from infancy, those who grow up in the church of jesus christ of latterday saints are taught that papers, photographs, knickknacks and gewgaws from the faiths nearly 200year history are sacralized items, worthy of preservation and ownership by church members, as well as the parent body. Palmyra, known as swifts landing and tolland before being renamed palmyra, 1796. Since the original story of the stolen book of mormon appeared in 1996, and was reprinted in the july 2005 new era, it was probably factchecked more rigorously than it would have been in the 1980s or prior. The good news is, this is pushing people further away from the church.
Stolen mormon memorabilia spotlight latterday saint devotion to. Manuscript, lost 116 pages the encyclopedia of mormonism. But if any of you are familiar with the details of this story and can provide insights into its accuracy or inaccuracy, let me know. Stolen innocence is the gripping new york times bestselling memoir of elissa wall, the courageous former member of utahs infamous flds polygamist sect whose powerful courtroom testimony helped convict controversial sect leader warren jeffs in september 2007. One stolen copy was an 1852 edition printed in italian and presented to lds president john taylor from lorenzo snow, who later became an lds leader. The lost 116 pages were the original manuscript pages of what joseph smith, founder of the latter day saint movement, said was the translation of the book of lehi, the first portion of the golden plates revealed to him by an angel in 1827. Top 10 embarrassments of the mormon religion listverse.
In 1828, martin harris, acting as scribe for joseph smith. This is one of the greatest lost gold stories in utah ever told. In his preface to the original edition 1830 of the book of mormon, joseph referred to the lost manuscript which he said some person or persons have stolen and kept from me, notwithstanding my utmost exertions to recover it again emphasis added. There is just a whole lot of bad in this story, was a comment left on facebook by one.