New book on Joseph Smith commissioned by the Church

[Duncan]

 

it looks like the Church has commissioned a new bio on Joseph Smith to be written by Richard E. Turley Jr. and others. It'll take a few years to complete but I am sure it will be worth the wait

https://www.thechurchnews.com/history/2023/9/15/23871359/first-presidency-commissions-new-biography-joseph-the-prophet-joseph-smith-papers-conference

[JLHPROF]

I wonder what possible new information it could contain at this point. 

I mean I enjoy learning about the prophet's life but what else is there to say?

"“This book will focus on Joseph Smith’s role as a Prophet, which will distinguish it from other recent biographies that focus on other aspects of his life.”

What does that mean?

And if it's Church published will it even bother to touch the challenging things or downplay them?  But hopefully it's good.

Edited September 15, 2023 by JLHPROF

[blackstrap]

If it focuses on his role as a prophet , it must address polygamy. 

[Tacenda]

I'll be disappointed if they hide Joseph's polygamous wives, like the church website did a few years ago under the topic "significant events" on LDS.org. I tried finding it again and it's been taken down where it shows all the presidents of the church and the first few presidents it doesn't mention the marriages until it shows the non polygamist presidents. It's like the women didn't ever exist, all their sacrifices to live polygamy. 

If they do hide them, I will be ticked.

 

[Calm]

5 hours ago, Tacenda said:

I'll be disappointed if they hide Joseph's polygamous wives, like the church website did a few years ago under the topic "significant events" on LDS.org. I tried finding it again and it's been taken down where it shows all the presidents of the church and the first few presidents it doesn't mention the marriages until it shows the non polygamist presidents. It's like the women didn't ever exist, all their sacrifices to live polygamy. 

If they do hide them, I will be ticked.

 

If Turley is involved, I see that as extremely unlikely given his treatment of MMM.

Edited September 16, 2023 by Calm

[Tacenda]

4 hours ago, Calm said:

If Turley is involved, I see that as extremely unlikely given his treatment of MMM.

I do think that would take volumes to include each wife come to think of it. 

[Calm]

21 minutes ago, Tacenda said:

I do think that would take volumes to include each wife come to think of it. 

Not really as not much is known about many of them and it was just a few years, except for Emma. 

[Tacenda]

7 minutes ago, Calm said:

Not really as not much is known about many of them and it was just a few years, except for Emma. 

Yes, more like chapters. 

[mfbukowski]

23 hours ago, JLHPROF said:

And if it's Church published will it even bother to touch the challenging things or downplay them?  But hopefully it's good.

They're only challenging to those who find them so.

That will not be the points of view of these authors 

[Nevo]

The Church has a great opportunity here to produce something of lasting value. I'm really glad to hear that Richard Turley is involved.

This statement made me smile: "This book will focus on Joseph Smith’s role as a Prophet, which will distinguish it from other recent biographies that focus on other aspects of his life." All of the recent biographies of Joseph Smith have focused on his role as prophet. But I think what Brother Turley is getting at is that this biography will be "safe" for Latter-day Saints.

Obviously, any biography commissioned by the Church is going to be faith-promoting. It is going to advance the Church's mission. So, in that respect, I'm not expecting it to dig very deeply (or at all) into the controversial aspects of Joseph's life. I'm expecting, basically, an update of George Q. Cannon's Life of Joseph Smith the Prophet, but with more footnotes—a hagiography along the lines of Turley's recent biography of President Oaks. 

That said, it will be good to have a faith-positive biography of Joseph Smith based on recent scholarly research. I just hope it isn't dumbed down too much. I'm all for the Church making materials available for a global audience, but it would be nice to have something aimed at adults now and then.

I'm also really looking forward to John G. Turner's upcoming biography of Joseph Smith. He will be critical but fair, I think. It will be interesting to read the two biographies side-by-side. 

 

Edited September 16, 2023 by Nevo

[JLHPROF]

2 hours ago, mfbukowski said:

They're only challenging to those who find them so.

That will not be the points of view of these authors 

I agree that they aren't challenging to everyone.

I doubt these authors will do more than mention them in passing.  Which oddly enough is why they're so challenging to many.

22 minutes ago, Nevo said:

But I think what Brother Turley is getting at is that this biography will be "safe" for Latter-day Saints.

Obviously, any biography commissioned by the Church is going to be faith-promoting. It is going to advance the Church's mission. So, in that respect, I'm not expecting it to dig very deeply (or at all) into the controversial aspects of Joseph's life. 

Which is why they continue to be controversial.

The Church has an opportunity to address them here in faith promoting ways.  The question is if they will.  The more we try to downplay controversial topics the longer they'll remain that way.  There's nothing safe about ignoring aspects of history.  The Church proved that already.

Edited September 16, 2023 by JLHPROF

[mfbukowski]

3 hours ago, JLHPROF said:

The Church has an opportunity to address them here in faith promoting ways. 

Nope.  They have tried that.

The critics will only see their "faith promoting" answers as more interpretation twisting.

[JLHPROF]

50 minutes ago, mfbukowski said:

Nope.  They have tried that.

The critics will only see their "faith promoting" answers as more interpretation twisting.

I agree.  I'm not speaking of the critics.  I'm speaking of faithful members who get blindsided by things the Church doesn't mention.

Just ask Tacenda who was blindsided when the Church published the essay on Joseph and polygamy.

I don't care what the critics think.  I care what we continue to not adequately address for the faithful.  All the controversial things in Joseph's life get twisted by the critics.  This is our opportunity to honestly address them from a more faithful perspective.

[mfbukowski]

1 hour ago, JLHPROF said:

Just ask Tacenda who was blindsided when the Church published the essay on Joseph and polygamy.

Well I guess we should ask @Tacenda how it would have been better if her knowledge came from church sources, and how it actually was resolved.

I tend not to follow polygamy threads; ancient times=different worlds for me.   

It's the vestigial remains of them hippie days I guess!  😱

[Smiley McGee]

20 hours ago, Tacenda said:

I'll be disappointed if they hide Joseph's polygamous wives

You’re going to be disappointed. The project is titled “Joseph the Prophet”, most likely will be a hagiography, which is the only reasonable thing one could expect from a work commissioned by the church. The Church has zero incentive to commission anything but a heroic portrayal. There are plenty of other treatments of Joseph’s life that provide a different perspective; there’s no need to rely on the church. Mormon Enigma is probably my favorite. Though billed as a biography of Emma, much of the work focuses on Joseph.

[JLHPROF]

10 hours ago, Calm said:

Not really as not much is known about many of them and it was just a few years, except for Emma. 

I think Todd Compton showed there was lots to know.

[JLHPROF]

32 minutes ago, Smiley McGee said:

You’re going to be disappointed. The project is titled “Joseph the Prophet”, most likely will be a hagiography, which is the only reasonable thing one could expect from a work commissioned by the church. The Church has zero incentive to commission anything but a heroic portrayal. There are plenty of other treatments of Joseph’s life that provide a different perspective; there’s no need to rely on the church. Mormon Enigma is probably my favorite. Though billed as a biography of Emma, much of the work focuses on Joseph.

I like Rough Stone Rolling as written by a believer without being sanitized.

I just wish the Church would stop "marketing" a version of Joseph that isn't accurate.  And I'm a big believer and supporter of Joseph.

 

[Smiley McGee]

1 minute ago, JLHPROF said:

I like Rough Stone Rolling as written by a believer without being sanitized.

Mormon Enigma was was written by active members, though they were censured and silenced by the powers that be. Different time, different leadership.  It’s not any more scandalous than Rough Stone. It’s reads impressively well for a history book. 

[Tacenda]

18 minutes ago, JLHPROF said:

I like Rough Stone Rolling as written by a believer without being sanitized.

I just wish the Church would stop "marketing" a version of Joseph that isn't accurate.  And I'm a big believer and supporter of Joseph.

 

And maybe even use the real photo of Joseph. Unless they don't think it is.

[Tacenda]

1 hour ago, mfbukowski said:

Well I guess we should ask @Tacenda how it would have been better if her knowledge came from church sources, and how it actually was resolved.

I tend not to follow polygamy threads; ancient times=different worlds for me.   

It's the vestigial remains of them hippie days I guess!  😱

Well, it wasn't the essay on Joseph's polygamy, it was way before that when something popped up online w/o my searching it, don't know how it happened, but it was a website that was probably not church sanctioned with a sketch of each of Joseph's wives, and then later I saw the genealogy of the ages and other men's wives etc. 

 

[Smiley McGee]

8 hours ago, Nevo said:

It will be interesting to read the two biographies side-by-side. 

Great approach!

[Calm]

39 minutes ago, Tacenda said:

was a website that was probably not church sanctioned with a sketch of each of Joseph's wive

It most definitely wasn’t. I remember which one it was because I took a deep dive into their coverage of Helen Mar Kimball and found out they combined quotes from different times in order to make her ‘say’ things she hadn’t as well as leaving out relevant material to make it look worse. 
 

Mormon Enigma was problematic for me because I recognize one person who was presented as a bosom buddy of Helen who was barely an acquaintance. I found it highly unlikely that Helen or other women connected to Joseph’s polygamy would be open in front of a relative stranger and a nonmember.  Yet there was no caution about the quote which was used to show Helen thought herself betrayed. 
 

Not that is was all sunny and roses with Helen, don’t mean to imply that. 

Edited September 17, 2023 by Calm

[Dario_M]

Another testament? ? How's this new book called? 📙

[The Nehor]

On 9/15/2023 at 11:17 AM, JLHPROF said:

"“This book will focus on Joseph Smith’s role as a Prophet, which will distinguish it from other recent biographies that focus on other aspects of his life.”

What were the other books focusing on? His economic life? His family life?

[JLHPROF]

49 minutes ago, The Nehor said:

What were the other books focusing on? His economic life? His family life?

Exactly.

49 minutes ago, The Nehor said:

focus on Joseph Smith’s role as a Prophet

Code for no talk of folk magic, family drama, polygamy, etc.  Possibly no seer stones, uncanonized revelations, unique doctrinal teachings.

Safe.

Edited September 17, 2023 by JLHPROF