Credibility spectrum, part 2

Yesterday we looked at the graphic that explains it all, which I call the "credibility spectrum."

This graphic shows the range of belief in the truth claims of the Restoration as articulated by Joseph Smith, Jr., and Oliver Cowdery. They were the only witnesses to key events, and the main witnesses to other events. Oliver was not only the scribe for Joseph's translation of the Book of Mormon, but the designated chronicler of the important events, many of which he recorded while serving as Assistant President of the Church.

Credibility Spectrum (click to enlarge)

The left side (all green) depicts accepting everything Joseph and Oliver taught. The right side (all red) depicts rejecting everything Joseph and Oliver taught. 

The range in between represents the variety of possible beliefs. Some people find most of what Joseph and Oliver taught to be credible, others find less of what they taught to be credible.

There is no right answer. Everyone can believe whatever they want. The graphic simply reflects the spectrum of belief.

Furthermore, people can move along the spectrum in either direction. Some believers lose faith; some nonbelievers acquire faith. 

Often a "faith-crisis" originates with one element of disbelief and then accumulates additional elements. For many people, a distrust of what Joseph and Oliver taught on one topic leads to distrust of their other claims. 

These truth claims are fundamental to accepting and embracing the Restoration. There are few Latter-day Saints who lose their faith while maintaining a believe in the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon. 

The broad categories on the graphic are:

Joseph and Oliver told the truth and clarified. This category believes that Joseph and Oliver told the truth about their experiences and were consistent. Often they clarified previous statements, such as when they emphasized that the Urim and Thummim Joseph used came with the plates, and when they added the term Urim and Thummim to D&C 10 because, when the revelation was originally given, everyone involved knew what was meant, but people who came along later would not have known without the clarification. 

Joseph and Oliver speculated and misled (M2C, SITH, D&C, etc.). This category accepts some of what Joseph and Oliver taught, but concludes that in some cases they merely speculated and in other cases may have intentionally misled people. For example, some who believe that the Book of Mormon is divinely inspired don't believe Joseph actually translated it with the Urim and Thummim, as he claimed. Instead, they think Joseph dictated words that appeared supernaturally on the stone-in-the-hat (SITH). Another example: some who believe in the historicity of the Book of Mormon don't believe the Hill Cumorah is in New York; instead, the hill in New York was misconstrued while the "real" Cumorah of Mormon 6:6 is in southern Mexico (the Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs theory, or M2C).

Joseph and Oliver lied and deceived. This category rejects what Joseph and Oliver said regarding supernatural events, including the translation of the Book of Mormon, the restoration of the Priesthood, and the historicity of the Book of Mormon. 

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Today we'll break it down a bit in the table below.

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

C – Nonbelievers

Comments on each number are found after the table.

 

	A	B	C
				Date	Event
1				1829 Apr.	Transcribes as Joseph translates with the Urim and Thummim (U&T) that came with the plates
2				1829 May	Receives Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist, baptizes Joseph and is baptized by him
3				1829 May	Receives Melchizedek Priesthood from Peter, James and John
4				1829 June	Sees the plates and angel as one of the Three Witnesses
5				1829 June	Completes Book of Mormon and makes a printer’s copy
6				1830 April	Becomes Second Elder and apostle, ordains JS as First Elder
7				1830 June	Transcribes Book of Moses 1:1 through 5:43
8				1830 Oct.	Mission to the Lamanites (Indians in NY, Ohio, Missouri)
9				1831 Nov.	Takes revelations from Ohio to Missouri for publication
10				1833 Nov.	Sets up printing press in Kirtland, reprints Evening and Morning Star, edits new editions
11				1834 Feb.	Founding member of Kirtland Council
12				1834 May	Leader in Kirtland after Zions Camp left
13				1834 Oct.	Edits LDS Messenger and Advocate and Northern Times
14				1834 Oct.	Publishes Letter I about Church history (Note in JS-H regarding translation with the Urim and Thummim)
15				1834 Nov.	Publishes Letter II about Church history
16				1834 Dec.	Publishes Letter III about Church history
17				1834 Dec.	Ordained by Joseph Smith as “Assistant President of the Church”
18				1835 Feb.	Publishes Letter IV about Church history (Moroni explains the record was “written and deposited” nearby)
19				1835 Feb.	With David Whitmer and Martin Harris, selects first members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, gives apostolic charge
20				1835 Mar.	Publishes Letter V about Church history
21				1835 Apr.	Publishes Letter VI about Church history
22				1835 July	Publishes Letter VII about Church history (NY Cumorah)
23				1835 Aug.	Edits D&C for printing (inserts U&T)
24				1835 Oct.	Publishes Letter VIII about Church history (Cumorah)
25				1836 Apr.	Visited in Kirtland temple by Moses, Elias, Elijah, and Christ, receives the keys of the gathering of Israel and dispensation of gospel of Abraham
26				1836 July	Accompanies Joseph to Salem, MA
27				1837 Feb.	Turns over printing company to Joseph and Sidney
28				1838 July	“Excluded from fellowship”
29				1848 Nov.	Rejoins the LDS, reiterates restoration of Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods and translation by the U&T, refutes Spalding
30				1850 Mar.	Dies in Richmond at home of David Whitmer

1. Joseph and Oliver emphasized that Joseph translated the record by means of the Urim and Thummim that came with the plates. SITH sayers reject that for various reasons, believing instead that Joseph dictated words that appeared on a seer stone he put in a hat. Nonbelievers reject any supernatural origin of the Book of Mormon.

2-3. Joseph and Oliver claimed divine messengers restored the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods by the laying on of hands. Nonbelievers reject that claim.

4. Oliver claimed to be one of the Three Witnesses. Nonbeliever reject his claim.

5-7.  Non-supernatural events that everyone accepts.

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.

9-13. Non-supernatural events that everyone accepts.

14. Oliver's "Letter I" describes the translation with the Urim and Thummim, which SITH-sayers and nonbelievers reject.

15. Oliver's "Letter II" describes Joseph Smith as a prophet, which nonbelievers reject. 

16. Oliver's "Letter III" describes Joseph Smith as a prophet, which nonbelievers reject. 

17. Non-supernatural event that everyone accepts.

18. Oliver's "Letter IV" describes Moroni's visit, including the claim that the record "gave a history of the aborigenes of this country," and was "written and deposited not far from" Joseph's home near Palmyra, which M2Cers reject. SITH-sayers reject Moroni's statement to Joseph that he would "obtain and translate the same by the means of the Urim and Thummim, which were deposited for that purpose with the record." Nonbelievers reject everything about Moroni's visit.

19. Non-supernatural event that everyone accepts.

20-21. Oliver's "Letters V and VI" describe more of Moroni's visit and the fulfillment of prophecy, which nonbelievers reject. 

22. Oliver's "Letter VII" declares it is a fact that the Hill Cumorah in western New York is the scene of the final battles of the Jaredites and Nephites, a claim that M2Cers reject. Nonbelievers reject the historicity of the Book of Mormon overall.

23. D&C 10 as published in 1835 features the insertion of the term Urim and Thummim, which did not appear in the earliest known version of the revelation. SITH-sayers reject this as referring to the interpreters that came with the plates; some say Joseph and Oliver intentionally misled everyone with these references to the Urim and Thummim. Nonbelievers reject any supernatural events.

24. Oliver's "Letter VIII" discusses the Hill Cumorah in western New York, which M2Cers reject. Nonbelievers reject the historicity of the Book of Mormon overall. 

25. Nonbelievers reject the reality of any supernatural manifestations in the Kirtland temple.

26-28. Non-supernatural event that everyone accepts.

29. SITH-sayers reject Oliver's reaffirmation of the translation with the Urim and Thummim, while non-believers reject all supernatural events.

30. Non-supernatural event that everyone accepts.

The graph that explains it all

In the next few days, we'll be discussing aspects of this graph that explains everything.

(click to expand)

Yet another video I forgot to mention - Urim and Thummim

This summer I did an interview with the Restored Gospel Podcast titled "Peepstone or Urim and Thummim? How the Book of Mormon was translated with Jonathan Neville." 

The hosts are awesome, well prepared and interesting. During the interview I had to move around a few times, but the continuity is good anyway.

You can watch it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxA2gG3lvIw

BTW, there's a lot of uncertainty about the Urim and Thummim, as you can see from non-LDS explanations of the Urim and Thummim such as the one here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gidt25jsqBE

And a longer one here, with some interesting viewer comments:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rweKAYIsYx4

That video shows a slide of Leviticus 8:7–9

7 And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith.

8 And he put the breastplate upon him: also he put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim.

9 And he put the mitre upon his head; also upon the mitre, even upon his forefront, did he put the golden plate, the holy crown; as the Lord commanded Moses.

At 18:40, the speaker says this:

The theory here is that when you asked God a question that involved more than a yes or no answer that the stones, and i can't help it I'm chuckling here, we used to call this the blinking light theory in bible college. The stones would light up and then the priests would write down the consonants on that stone and again whatever stones lit up those are the ones you'd write down and then you have to figure out what the message is. Okay do you like that? If you like that better than the other two, congratulations.

Again, nobody really knows precisely what the Urim and the Thummim were and how this worked the only real indication you get is First Samuel 14 when they are cast okay so there must have been some sort of casting thing casting act going on there you have it. 

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Questions about the Urim and Thummim have persisted for centuries. Several commentators have applied the term metaphorically, such as here:

when that of the Apostle shall be obeyed, Let him that speaketh, speak as the Oracles of God , as one that hath Urim and Thummim in his Breast, when they shall not dare to speak but what they are inwardly moved to speak by the Holy Ghost.

(18c: 1730s; 1734, N03276 / 3. AN ESSAY Concerning.9,20¶)

In 1743, Gilbert Tennent used the term this way:

4. The high Priest’s bearing the Names of the twelve Tribes on his Breast-Plate, when he appeared before God, seems to represent the affectionate Remembrance our Lord hath of his whole Church, when he intercedes for them with his Father. The Urim and Thummim on the Breast-Plate, signifying Light and Integrity, was doubtless a Figure of the Sufficiency of Christ’s Prophetical Office, to answer all the Difficulties of his People.

(18c: 1740s; 1743, N04291 / 1.7,31¶)

It was discussed during a debate about doctrinal issues at Harvard:

It is this Application of—the historical Parts of Scripture when we are reading, that must render them profitable to us; and appeals to the Experiences of the Christian, that if he hath so consulted the Word of God, he has been as plainly directed how to act, as tho’ he had consulted the Urim and the Thummim.

(18c: 1740s; 1744, N04376 / 1. THE TESTIMONY, &c.,5¶)

On another occasion, in 1748, Tennent lamented that we have no Urim and Thummim "in this dispensation."

In this Dispensation we have no temporal High-priest, with the Urim and Thummim upon his Breastplate, from whom we may expect immediate and oracular Answers about Things to come; and therefore it is not possible for us, in this State of Things, wholly to follow David’s Example.

Nor have we any Necessity for, or Promise of immediate objective Revelation, in place of the Jewish Urim, in the ordinary Times of the Gospel, from Christ our High-priest, in any Matters whatsoever, whether temporal or spiritual, by Visions, Voices, &c. seeing the Prophecy is sealed, the Canon of Scriptures is compleated, and able to make the Man of God perfect, and thoroughly furnished to every good Work.

It is enough, that we have in place of the Urim a greater Measure of the Influences of the holy Spirit than the pious Jews ordinarily enjoyed, enlightening our Minds in the Use of appointed Means, to the right understanding of the Meaning of the holy Scriptures, and enabling us to believe their divine Authority;

(18c: 1740s; 1748, N04985 / 3. Defensive War Defended,,57¶–59¶)