Deseret News | New Joseph Smith Papers book is released

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New Joseph Smith Papers book is released

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Anonymous | 1:17 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Put it on line as free content.

ditto | 1:41 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

put it online as searchable free content.

Anonymous | 2:00 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Free? lol

Comments continue below

J.O. | 2:15 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Why, when you write about Joseph Smith, the founder of the L.D.S. Church, do you call him a prophet. If it was any other modern era church who had a prophet, you would write "the self-proclaimed prophet"? Not all of us out there are L.D.S. We take the newspaper for information. If we were looking for an affirmation for your editors' religion, we would read your L.D.S. Church supplement.

Dan | 2:16 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

It was announced that eventually the volumes will be online.

Joe | 2:35 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

RE: J.O.
Get another paper.
We like this one.

A Scholar's Wish | 2:36 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

I am wondering if the editors of this wonderful project will include all the docs on Joseph Smith, warts and all. It would be less than credible if they expunged the references to Joseph's plural wives, left out passages where he drank alcohol after he received the W of W, botched his financial dealings, ordained blacks to the priesthood, and on and on. I am an active member of the church and I want to see my church, who has a long history of presenting its history in a selective fashion, produce a scholarly treatment that lets us see the man foibles and all. Just as the scholars of the George Washington and Thomas Jefferson Papers didn't pull any punches while publishing their scholaly tomes, I hope the Church will follow a similar course.

Poqui | 2:52 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

J.O.: Good question.

But I did a search and DN also uses the title for the prophet Mohammad. So I guess they are being fair in that sense. Calling a person a prophet, who is widely known by that title, is not showing favoritism. It is simply acknowledging that title.

Liberty | 2:53 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Too expensive. I don't think we'll see this thing online for some time. The project has to recoup the costs of production.

RE: A Scholar's Wish | 2:54 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

A full and complete tome is exactly what the intention of the project has been. Warts and all.

Agreed | 3:12 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Re: Scholar's Wish

I agree with you 100%.

Cats | 3:18 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

To: A Scholars Wish...The project is producing every document that Joseph Smith either wrote or had anything to do with. That includes everything--his revelations, talks, legal papers, financial papers, real estate transactions, etc., etc.

The Church has never tried to hide anything about Joseph Smith's life that is actually true. Of course, we have to be sure that these "facts" you describe are actually "facts." There are many things about Joseph Smith that are believed by many that aren't necessarily so.

Virtually all documents owned by the Church have been available for examination by scholars and members of the public for a long time. The only exceptions being some documents that are extremely sacred and fragile. This project makes it a lot easier to study these documents by everyone without having to come to Church headquarters.

Joseph Smith, like all human beings, had his flaws and shortcomings. He never claimed otherwise and neither has the Church. Nevertheless, he was a TRUE PROPHET OF GOD and a great man. That's all any of us really need to know.

Emjay | 3:20 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

to J.O.: The Newspaper deal in facts. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. That is a fact and is so stated.

Re: A Scholar's Wish | 3:23 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

You are not a scholar - just an intellectual.

Jenny | 3:34 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

And we are to believe all is true? NOT

Anonymous | 3:46 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Is this book include the "Book of Abraham" writing?

Easy with the term prophet | 3:46 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

You people toss that title around too loosely.
Everybody's a prophet.
Micah in Murray

OC | 3:53 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Marlin Jensen personally told me that Joseph Smith did engage in Polyandry. He claimed the Church did not understand it completely. You would think with all these documents from Joseph Smith that at least one of them would explain the doctrine behind it.

Re:Jenny | 3:54 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Believe what you want. Your salvation is your own to work out.

To Cats | 4:00 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

To Cats, unfortunately you don't know what you're talking about. As an LDS Historian, and as one who attends LDS conferences, reads LDS scholarly materials, and engages in LDS scholarship, the church has not had a steller record making its archives available to scholars--and I am not talking about "sacred" material," as you put it. Virtually every faith-believing LDS scholar with whom I have spoke has pressed the church to be more forthcoming in telling its story and in opening up its archives to scholars. Furthermore, the church has not had a good record in producing an accurate and honest version of its documents. For example, in the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith book, edited years ago by Joseph Fielding Smith, there are numerous passages in there that have been expunged so as to alter the meaning of the text. You can refer to my earlier post [scholar's wish] for more specific examples. As Latter Day Saints, we have a moral obligation to present our history without deception, and I have high hopes that this new series on Joseph Smith will meet the highest scholarly standards of publication.

JUST CURIOUS | 4:06 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Can anyone outthere please list some of J.S.prophesies besides the one on the cival war? which at that time(1832)even south carolina had announced possible secession from the union.If D/N posts this i'll probably die from shock on the spot!!

Fiction | 4:23 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

All of it is fantasy and fiction.
I know. I left 25 years ago and have never been healthier, happier, or more at peace.
I couldn't believe the lies I was forced to tell on my mission.
I felt bad that I was conning those poor people.
Joshua D.

Anonymous | 4:25 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Goody! Another addition to my Fiction library

Darla | 4:30 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

To all of you: anything (Mormon or Otherwise)should be perused with an open mind. When you factor in the beliefs of each particulare era, the motivations behind each publishing, the values of that given society then over time some things become untrue because they were made to "fit" our current society, our current motivations and our current values. All printings have been contaminated with suitability, acceptance and political correctness. Sift the truth out and discard the distortions. This applies to all printings, re-releases, editions, re-writes, etc. Man is not to be trusted because he is too subjective in his thinking.

Joe Moe | 4:34 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

@Just Curious 4:06

Probably nothing you would find compelling and make you believe he was a prophet, if you already don't. Prophets haven't typically prophesied things to get people to believe in them. While there are instances of fulfilled predictions by Joseph Smith, there are two caveats to be mindful of:

1) the most grand ones haven't happened yet (Second Coming, New Jerusalem, conference of prophets at Adam-ondi-Ahman, etc.)

2) Joseph did far more to reveal the will and word of God than to predict future events. That is actually what prophets do, generally.

Joseph did prophesy the weather a few times (strange, but documented, and not too convincing to a skeptic); he prophesied the Saints would go to the Rockies; he prophesied the Church would spread across the Earth (this is exceptional, considering that how small it was at the time, and marginalized); he prophesied construction of the temples (again, not convincing to a critic, but audacious considering the state and destitution of the Saints at the time); he prophesied his own martyrdom; he prophesied the rapid spread of the gospel especially in Latin America....off the top of my head.

STEVE-O | 4:44 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

R.I.P Just curious 4:06.

Agreed | 4:45 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Darla you hit the nail right on the head. Thank you for a sensible comment!

@Fiction 4:23 | 4:46 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Either you believed it at the time of your mission, and changed your mind later (reasonable, but not what you seem to be saying), or...

You were a liar, content to tell lies, presumably just to get along. No one "forced" you to do anything.

May your future be better than your past.

truth | 4:46 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Dear Elder Joshua D.
You were forced to tell lies on your mission? I think you are telling a fib when you declare yourself this way. If you would have done what The Prophet Joseph Smith did, and what he admonished everyone to do... that is to ponder and pray about these things, you would know for yourself and wouldn't be left to wonder. I am so comfortable with my feelings about JS, because I have asked and recieved my answer. Nobody told me what to tell others while on my mission. I knew, as Joseph new, for myself, and I could not deny it.

Why so long? | 4:53 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Why has it taken so long to publish this material when it has been availible for centuries?

re: truth | 5:08 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

It's interesting how I can pray about J.S. and get a warm fuzzy feeling and I can pray about the Pope and get the same feeling. Actually I can pray about two contradicting things and get the same feeling. So tell me what is the right one. The truth is the "Holy Spirit" is self generated feeling. You can activate this feeling right before you get up to bear your testimony in church. It is emotion; some scared, some anxious, stage freight, a pounding in your chest or it could be described diferently. I have spent many days and nights on my knees praying for an answer to what church is true and I can get the same feeling with any church, so I guess they are all equally true(?). I suggest those who are skeptical pick up a Koran, read it and pray and ask God if it is true. Then do the same thing with the Book of Mormon, document your feelings and results.

Why Oh Why | 5:13 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Why do you guys do this? Post something about the book instead of the constant the church is right/wrong stuff. Why use this forum to "confess" your lies as a missionary? And for those that want "the total truth"? The reason you know these stories about Joseph is because they actually HAVE been published somewhere. But if you want to thrash prophets, please start with Abe, Issac, Jacob, Moses and Elisha...all who did what would now be despicable and abhorring things.

fulfilled | 5:45 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

This very dialog and thread continues to fulfill that Joseph's name would be had for good and evil throughout the world. Pretty amazing considering the state of affairs when the prophecy was made. Here we are, 175 years after he was martyred and his works still stand.
Brother Joseph is a prophet.

Suggestion! | 6:40 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

For all of you who think this book is worthless, I have a suggestion: don't buy it! For myself, I can't wait to study it. From a scholarly standpoint, we have none of original manuscripts of anything any of the Biblical Prophets and Apostles ever wrote! Only the original manuscripts of Joseph Smith exist where we can actually go back,read and compare(including many of the handwritten ,manuscripts of the Book of Mormon)! Exciting, powerful, unique, educational and very inspiring! What a marvelous treasure!

$99.99??? | 6:41 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Only weathy LDS members will get to read this. I can't believe it is even being marketed in this manner. It should be free for all members.

Young | 6:56 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Pretty expensive propaganda.

@ CATS | 7:05 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

You are indeed correct with where you are coming from in regards to Joseph Smith having his faults and bad side. We've all done things in which we're not proud of sometime or another in our lives. BUT because it's 'Joseph Smith' who this article is about then it seems as if the church is just hiding something by not publishing 'everything' in regards to him and who he really was. I believe that his entire purpose on this earth from the day he was born up until the day he was murdered was for him to translate ancient writings from ancient prophets long before Christ was actually born. Those very same ancient writings are known around the world today as the Book of Mormon. From where the LDS Church first began to where it is at today is one hell of a feat that no other religion will ever be able to lay claim to.

re:re: truth | 8:37 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Sure? I think you should try again. God is not a God of confusion, but a God of order and truth. If you ask him with a sincere heart and with real intent, he will let you know. No doubts included.

Too Expensive? | 8:46 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

I don't follow the “JS papers” much, and even I knew that the church plans to make the writings available online. I’m pretty sure that this is not much of a profit center for the LDS church. Last I checked printing a book FULL of photo quality scans of original documents cost money. And I wouldn't expect the book stores that sell it to do that for free either (for some reason the people who work there like to get a pay check). So, if $100 dollars is too much for you, do what I am going to do, wait for it to come out on line! It really is that easy, no belly-aching necessary.

shawilli | 8:52 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

The price is a bit steep, but if the book contains truth then $100.00 is a small price to pay. I will buy it and read it and hopefully learn and be blessed with new understanding and insight into the Prophet Joseph Smith, I will add it to my book shelf and treasure it and read it every now and again and will hopefully learn new things each time I read it. i will have to save a few bucks to afford it, but it will be worth it.

Montana Mormon | 9:31 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Yes, $100 is a lot of money for a book. But as I understand it, the quality of the paper and binding is of archival quality--a much higher standard than the typical book. Also, if you want to talk about expensive books, I teach at a community college and my poor students are getting pilfered by the college book publishers--$150 is the bottom end for many of the flimsy softcover books being sold to students. It's not at all uncommon for a textbook to cost in excess of $200. So, I think Deseret Book is being extremely reasonable in the price they are charging. The undertaking itself has been costly. It's not at all unfair for the producers to try to recuperate some of the expenses.

@ to cats | 9:39 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

I indeed have gone through the LDS Church's archives looking for many answers to questions I have had. The church is very open. Even if the church did close off it would be a defense and for good reason.

When people are full of bias and hate towards a religion then any amount of factual information will only prove their theories correct even when their are false. People are blind to what they hate having good qualities. (Plenty of people feel that carbon dating proves the B.O.M. wrong when Carbon Dating is a very questionable method. Say this to them and they freak out and can't admit it)

If I say that I commune with God then what purpose do you have to disagree with me? You may ask for proof and you may find faults in me because I am indeed flawed. You will even find faults in the LDS church documents which are held. I am the first to agree with this. They do nothing to prove the church wrong. Yet so many fight the church still.

I see nothing wrong in being defensive about OUR material which is often used against us improperly

DLC | 10:00 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

I was there today as a member of the media for a different publication. A volume of this quality and size would normally cost around $150. The only reason it's $100 is because Larry Miller and his wife contributed substantially to the project. The paper, binding and everything about it is of the very highest quality. Sherrie Dew said that she doesn't know of a higher quality paper that exists. Every page of the original documents is reproduced almost full size at the highest quality color image. The historians at the Church History department have been working on it for several years (this volume alone), and Deseret Book has worked on it for a year after that. It's a total of 752 pages, at 9"x12". That kind of quality and size doesn't come cheap.

As for the church being forthcoming, I see this whole project as a move towards more openness. The new Church History Library itself is another effort in the same direction. Just don't expect the church to ever do enough to make all the critics happy. That would be impossible.

too expensive? | 10:03 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

What else costs more than $100 - oh, X-Box, iPods and your last cell phone.

@too expensive | 10:47 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

No, an Xbox360 is $199-$299. 2-3 times the cost, infinitely times the worth.

Another Point | 11:03 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

For those that are "concerned" with the completeness of these volumes, you need to go to the project's website. There are both members and non-members on the board of editors. The project also subscribes to the highest of editing and composition standards as established by the Library of Congress. There has also been unparalleled access to the archives of the LDS Church, the Community of Christ (aka RLDS,) as well as a great number of private collections. The Church has gone to great lengths to assure that each of these volumes are of the highest quality in content.

Another note, this project was begun several years ago at BYU and the Church Archives. With the help of Larry H. Miller, sufficient funds were secured to gather all of the project materials and personnel to one location and proceed at a much more accelerated pace. The project also received the full support of the First Presidency. The project editors were told to make this a SCHOLARLY work, not just a normal publication.

All together, I think the LDS Church has gone to the highest possible standards in this undertaking. Any student of Joseph Smith will enjoy this project.

To Scholar | 11:20 p.m. Sept. 22, 2009

Every response you make only reveals your bias against the church, as if you know something else about church history that no one else knows.
You speak of extensive study, being an active member(in your own mind) and attending conferences(of what religious groups I wonder).
You cry for the church to be forthcoming, well here it is.
So are you going to rush out, buy the book to strengthen your faith and increase your knowledge of the gospel?
Or are you the intellectual who studies and reads, never really looking for an answer from the Holy Ghost.
Mostly looking for more reasons to criticize and condemn.
But you'll rely on the arm of flesh with every half truth you hear from other intellectuals.

Seth | 12:28 a.m. Sept. 23, 2009

If it is the word of the Lord should it not be free? At a very minimum does my tithing not cover the cost? Come on now, I am tired of getting nickled and dimed.

Anonymous | 12:58 a.m. Sept. 23, 2009

I would be more interested in the Jesus Christ Papers. If one recalls it is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, not The Church of Joseph Smith of Latter Day Saints.

Anonymous | 1:30 a.m. Sept. 23, 2009

$100! I'm sure it's a terrific book. But I doubt I'll ever own a copy. That's a very, very high price.

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11 photos

Keith Johnson, Deseret News

Elder Marlin K. Jensen, Church Historian for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (left), presents a copy of the Joseph Smith Papers to Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during a press conference Tuesday introducing the latest volume to be published in the Joseph Smith Papers Project.

Gallery (11 photos)