Credibility spectrum, part 3

Today we'll look at the credibility spectrum as it applies to what Joseph Smith claimed.

We explained the spectrum yesterday, here:

https://www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2022/09/credibility-spectrum-part-2.html

(click to enlarge)

People are free to believe whatever they want. The spectrum depicts a range of beliefs along a slope. This slope shows that when people reject what Joseph and Oliver taught about a few things, they find it increasingly easy to disbelieve all of what they taught. 

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This table is a chronology of some of the key events regarding the truth claims of the Restoration, as experienced and recorded by Oliver Cowdery.  

A box filled in green indicates acceptance of the truth claim. Red means rejection.

Any individual may identify with any position on the spectrum, but for illustration purposes, this table shows three general categories:

A – Traditionalists (including neo-traditionalists)

B – M2Cers and SITH sayers (Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs advocates and those who promote the stone-in-the-hat narrative of Book of Mormon translation)

C – Nonbelievers

Comments on each number are found after the table.

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Joseph Smith Chronology

	A	B	C
				Date	Event
1				1823 Sep.	Moroni tells Joseph Smith “the record is on a side hill on the Hill of Cumorah 3 miles from this place.”
2				1827 Mar.	Joseph told his parents, “it was the angel of the Lord— as I passed by the hill of Cumorah, where the plates are, the angel of the Lord met me and said, that I had not been engaged enough in the work of the Lord.”
3				1827 Dec-1828 Feb	Joseph: “I copied a considerable number of them [characters], and by means of the Urim and Thummim I translated some of them.” (Joseph Smith—History 1:62)
4				1829 May	Receives Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood from John the Baptist and Peter, James and John, respectively
5				1829 Jun	JS tells David Whitmer that the messenger who took the abridged plates from Harmony to Cumorah “was one of the Nephites & that he had the plates.”
6				1829 Jun	JS shows the plates to the Eight Witnesses.
7				1830 June	JS: “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 of Lehi, which was an account abridged from the plates of Lehi, by the hand of Mormon.” (Preface to 1830 edition)
8				1830 Oct.	JS sends missionaries to the Lamanites (Indians in NY, Ohio, Missouri)
9				1838	Elders’ Journal: “Question 4th. How, and where did you obtain the Book of Mormon? Answer. I obtained them [the plates] and the Urim and Thummim with them, by the means of which I translated the plates and thus came the Book of Mormon.”
10				1842 Mar.	Wentworth letter: “With the records was found a curious instrument which the ancients called “Urim and Thummim,” which consisted of two transparent stones set in the rim of a bow fastened to a breastplate. Through the medium of the Urim and Thummim I translated the record by the gift, and power of God.”
11				1842 Mar.	Wentworth letter: “The principal nation of the second race fell in battle towards the close of the fourth century. The remnant are the Indians that now inhabit this country.”

 

1. Report from Lucy Mack Smith, here:

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1844-1845/41

M2Cers reject Lucy’s statement because they think the real Cumorah is in Mexico and the New York Cumorah is a false tradition. Nonbelievers reject the reality of Cumorah and any supernatural origin of the Book of Mormon.

2. Report by Lucy Mack Smith.

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1845/111

M2Cers reject Lucy’s statement because they think the real Cumorah is in Mexico and the New York Cumorah is a false tradition. Nonbelievers reject the reality of Cumorah and any supernatural origin of the Book of Mormon.

3. SITH-sayers claim Joseph never translated anything, but instead read words that appeared on the stone in the hat (SITH). Nonbelievers reject both translation with the Urim and Thummim and SITH.

4. Joseph and Oliver claimed divine messengers restored the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods by the laying on of hands. Nonbelievers reject that claim.

5. M2Cers reject Joseph’s statement because (i) they don’t believe Cumorah is in New York, (ii) they think the messenger was Moroni, and (iii) they believe the messenger took the plates directly to Fayette. Nonbelievers reject the entire narrative about the messenger.

6. Joseph showed the plates to the Eight Witnesses (although none of them said any of the plates were sealed). Nonbelievers reject the reality of the plates.

7. SITH-sayers don’t think Joseph “took” anything from the plates. Nonbelievers reject any divine origin of the Book of Mormon.

8. D&C 28, 30 and 32 called Oliver Cowdery and three others to embark on a mission to the Lamanites. They visited Indian tribes in New York, Ohio, and Missouri/Kansas. Some believers reject that identification, as do nonbelievers.

9. SITH-sayers don’t believe Joseph translated the plates with the Urim and Thummim that came with the plates. Nonbelievers don’t believe the plates or Urim and Thummim ever existed.

10. SITH-sayers don’t believe Joseph translated the plates with the Urim and Thummim that came with the plates. Nonbelievers don’t believe the plates or Urim and Thummim ever existed.

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/times-and-seasons-1-march-1842/5

11. M2Cers claim the Lamanites live in Central America instead of being “the Indians that now inhabit this country.” Nonbelievers don’t believe there ever were any Lamanites.