The song everybody will be talking about is hasa diga eebowai, a wicked spin on. What is the story of a talking salamander in the church of jesus. Jul 23, 2018 sandra tanner is wellknown as being a critic of mormonism. Is it true that mormons believe their wisdom came from a. The salamander letter was a controversial document about the history of the latterday saint movement that later proved to be a forgery. While some have described salamander as mormon friendly i would not call it faith promoting. Grant palmer aptly writes, when a person experiences the spirit at a protestant revival meeting or when reading the book of mormon, it is not my belief that the powerful feelings prove the truthfulness of the doctrines heard, taught, or read. Jan 01, 1988 this book is a memory that was jostled by another conversation here on goodreads. The official youtube channel of the book of mormon musical. There is the case of the salamander letters, created by con man mark hoffman, which letters were allegedly written by joseph smith and purported to.
Because she and her husband jerald were the first people to question the authenticity of the salamander letter, a letter forged by mark hofmann that threatened the founding. Dated june 18, 1825, five years before the book of mormon was. The letter was one of hundreds of documents concerning the history of lds. Were some of joseph smiths visions revealed to him by a. Second, the book of mormon contains none of the key mormon doctrines. It also talks about moroni and how the book of mormon was translated from golden plates. You are referring to the alleged white salamander that was circulated by mark hoffman.
Jul 08, 2014 8 facts that the mormon church doesnt want you to know. The book of mormon itself portrays the golden plates as a historical record, engraved by two precolumbian prophethistorians from around the year ad 400. Book of mormontranslationurim and thummim fairmormon. Each of the halfhour episodes covers several chapters from the book of mormon. If you are aware of 40k, then this is the first indepth look at the former space marine legion of the salamanders, their internal lore and traditions.
Were not talking about black magic or dark occult powers, walker said. If it is a fact that joseph had the plates as he said, and translated them as we are told he did, the. Controversial white salamander letter is defended by mormon. Mar 16, 2009 i believe he did the same with one other document, so that by the time he produced the salamander letter, he had established his own efforts as the authoritative samples of martin harris handwriting. So many physical pieces of the puzzle have been found, but there are always going to be missing pieces, because we are talking about an ancient civilization that got wiped out. My church believed joe smith hung out with a talking. Bit ludicrous from the start, and it doesnt help that nonmormon researchers have already proven the letter to be a forgery. Youre making a vague reference to the salamander letters, which was a supposed letter from some random guy claiming joseph smith told him hed gotten the idea for the book of mormon from a talking salamander. Smith abandoned, but was crucial in the book of mormon translation process. When his schemes began to unravel, he constructed bombs to murder two people in salt lake city, utah.
Critics of the book of mormon often point to apparent problems with plants and animals as evidence of fraud from joseph smith. This is important because the latterday saints make such a point about it containing the fullness of. The man who faked his way to glory, using modernday techniques and inks, as well. Recent events involving church history and forged documents. The story of mark hofmann, murder and forged mormon documents tanner, jerald on. As davis bitton said in his i dont have a testimony of the history of the church talk, when. The book is well written and the story captivating. It approached the story from a journalistic point of view. It talked about a magical salamander spirit guarding the golden.
A compilation of published statements on the book of mormon translation method in both church and nonchurch publications. A statement by harris appears in the front of the book of mormon concerning stating that he. One 1976 book produced during this period, the story of the latterday saints, by james b. The official mormon story mentions no salamander, a mythical figure long familiar.
Mark william hofmann is an american counterfeiter, forger, and convicted murderer. In utah, book of mormon strikes a chord the tony awardwinning musical, the book of mormon, opened in salt lake city last week. One of the three witnesses of the book of mormon and witness of jesus in the form of a deer. From a talk given at brigham young university, 6 august 1987. There are several others book on the topic, but i havent read them. December 23, 1805 june 27, 1844 was an american religious leader and founder of mormonism and the latter day saint movement. Aug 17, 2010 there is the case of the salamander letters, created by con man mark hoffman, which letters were allegedly written by joseph smith and purported to identify that moroni had come in the form of a. It gave a radically different description of josephs smiths retrieval of the golden plates. Select data, created, headers, expire, serialized from cache. Apparently a successful rare documents collector and churchgoing family man. Did a type of lizard tell joseph smith the location of the.
What is the story of a talking salamander in the church. The book of mormon records the visit of jesus christ to people in the americas following his resurrection. But it seems to me that a great matter rests upon even this small point of history. Letter revealing mormon founders belief in spirits, occult released. While it primarily involved mormon historical documents, it also involved the poetry of emily dickenson and other historical american documents, especially the oath of a freeman. Farms rushed to defend the white salamander the mormon church. This letter is known as the salamander letter because martin harris was supposed to have written that joseph smith claimed when he went to get the gold plates for the book of mormon, a white salamander in the bottom of the hole transfigured himself into a spirit and struck me 3 times. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished forgers in history, hofmann is especially noted for his creation of documents related to the history of the latter day saint movement. A copy of this document was given to sandra tanner on june 16, 1978. Josephs view of revelation is nuanced in this regard. I remember this book leaving me with a lingering impression of the mormon church that was less than positive, and yet i simultaneously felt bad that they fell prey to a con man who fed into their religious beliefs.
Mark hofmann fooled the mormon prophets and apostles. Dave whittle, have been studying the book of mormon for over 45 years. What is the story of a talking salamander in the mormon church teaching about. Or do you have a place to go to get information on this. These groups were led by prophets who recorded their religious and secular histories on metal plates. What is the story of a talking salamander in the church of. The story of the mormon forgery murders with a new afterword. Sep 22, 2011 the enormous success on broadway of book of mormon brings to mind the longest and most difficult miniseries development in the thenwilliam morris agencys history. The salamander letter also influenced the content of the film the god makers ii, an alleged expose of mormonism.
Mark william hofmann born december 7, 1954 is an american counterfeiter, forger, and convicted murderer. The film suggests that joseph smith was required to dig up his brother alvins body and bring a part of it with him to the hill cumorah in order to obtain the golden plates from which the book of mormon was said to be translated. But his subsequent finds led to one of the most troubling. The enormous success on broadway of book of mormon brings to mind the longest and most difficult miniseries development in the thenwilliam morris agencys history. If, in fact, the book of mormon gold plates were delivered to joseph smith not by an angel but by a white salamander as mark hofmanns eventually exposed. T may not seem a matter of importance to some to learn just how the plates were translated. The salamander letter was supposedly written by martin harris to william wines phelps, an early convert in the latterday saint movement. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he had attracted tens of thousands of followers and founded a religion that continues to the present. Cricket from please like and share to help us scatter sunshine.
Common suspicion at the time was that he was working towards finding the lost 116 pages of the book of mormon. Apr 16, 20 enter the wacky world of lds humor as i interview the patriarch of mormon humor himself. Could you shed a little light on what it is and what it contains. The book of mormon is one of the most influential, as well as controversial, religious documents in american history, and is regarded as sacred scripture by followers around the world, including members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, the fourthlargest. Mormon and moroni, the book says, had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates. Jerald and sandra tanner refuted this suggestion, and determined that the only known source of such a requirement would have been the salamander letter. Sep 15, 2008 the salamander letter was a forged document created by mark hofmann in the early 1980s. Harris served for a short period of time as scribe for the translation of the golden plates, and assisted in the financing of the first printing of the book of mormon. The spiritual text that forms the basis of mormonism, in the last edition edited by its founder, joseph smith, jr. The socalled martin harris letter the salamander letter is no repudiation of.
I had a someone ask concerning the white salamander in mormon history and if there is any truth to it. The book of mormon is a religious record of three groups of people who migrated from the old world to the american continents. The mormon murders the miniseries the latter day saints. The most read book in mormon intellectual circles this year will undoubtedly be salamander.
It purported to be a letter from martin harris about joseph smiths magical practices. You can pray to baby jesus if you want, or bearded jesus, or ninja jesus, but i like to pray to martin harriss deer jesus. Nor does the spirit, which testifies of the book of mormon, confirm the historical reality of the book. If youre not already at least conversant in some of the details of the warhammer 40,000 universe, this book would be a difficult read. First, the salamander letter was another catalyst for mormon. Faculty members from the byu religious education department discuss the writings and teachings of the book of mormon prophets in this 63part series. Tracking the white salamander 3 a photograph of a document purporting to contain secret temple ritual. Enter the wacky world of lds humor as i interview the patriarch of mormon humor himself. Jan 27, 2018 it is still just a scientific model for what could have happened. Brent metcalfe early years, mark hofmann, the salamander letter, the bombings, the book of abraham, and life after mormonism mormon stories admin august 20, 2014 church history, general authorities, top 10 church history, top 10 exmormon, top 10 truth claims, top 100, top mormon faith crisis stories 79 comments.
The story of the mormon forgery murders 9781560852001. First, it utterly lacks historical or archaeological support, and there is overwhelming empirical evidence that refutes it. The letter was one of hundreds of documents concerning the history of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church. Its breadth of information, its farreaching conclusions, and its important lessons will be the topic of discussion in mormon orange juice, as opposed to cocktail, parties from san francisco to washington, d. Was every word of the book of mormon translation provided directly from god.
Leonard, noted in a straightforward manner josephs acquisition of his seer stone and its use in the translation of the book of mormon. As with the bible, there are some complex issues that require some exploration. Note that jerald tanner, a prominent anti mormon critic, immediately deemed the salamander letter a fraud, while presidency spent hours with hoffman and pursued purchasing multiple items so could hide them in vault just like they hid the 1832 first vision draft the only one written in joes own hand for 35 years. When mark hofmann brought a lost mormon document to church elders in 1980, he was embraced as a hero. Nov 28, 2017 the salamander letter was said to have been written by martin harris in 1830.
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