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| − | ==Question: Were Joseph Smith's spiritual experiences originally products of magic and the occult?==
| + | #REDIRECT[[Joseph Smith and folk magic or the occult]] |
| − | ===Joseph's family believed in folk magic, and that Joseph himself used several different seer stones in order to locate lost objects===
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| − | {{BMCentral|title=Did a “Magic World View” Influence the Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon?|url=https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/knowhy/did-a-magic-world-view-influence-the-coming-forth-of-the-book-of-mormon|number=538}}
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| − | It is a known fact that Joseph's family believed in folk magic, and that Joseph himself used several different seer stones in order to locate lost objects.<ref>Criticisms of Joseph's use of "folk magic" appear in the following publications: {{CriticalWork:Atheneum:July 1841:Book of Mormon and the Mormonites|pages=370–74}}; {{CriticalWork:Caswall:Prophet of the Nineteenth Century|pages=28}}; {{CriticalWork:Clark:Gleanings by the Way VII|pages=??}}; {{CriticalWork:Hunt:Mormonism|pages=n.p.}}; {{CriticalWork:MormonThink|url=http://mormonthink.com/transbomweb.htm|date=28 April 2012}}; {{CriticalWork:Sunderland:Mormonism|pages=34, citing Howe}}</ref> Brant Gardner notes,
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| − | Young Joseph Smith was a member of a specialized sub-community with ties to these very old and very respected practices, though by the early 1800s they were respected only by a marginalized segment of society.
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| − | </blockquote>
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| − | Joseph's family shared folk magic beliefs that were common to the day. Joseph's mother, Lucy, felt it important to note in her history that the family did not let these magical endeavors prevent the family from doing the necessary work to survive:
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| − | But let not my reader suppose that, because I shall pursue another topic for a season, that we stopped our labor and went at trying to win the faculty of Abrac, drawing Magic circles or sooth saying to the neglect of all kinds of business. We never during our lives suffered one important interest to swallow up every other obligation. But, whilst we worked with our hands, we endeavored to remember the service of, and the welfare of our souls.<ref>Luck Mack Smith, 1845 manuscript history transcribed without punctuation, in {{EMD|vol=2|pages=285}}</ref>
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| − | </blockquote>
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| − | ===Joseph's involvement with Josiah Stowell's attempt to locate a lost Spanish treasure is well documented in Church history===
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| − | Stowell requested Joseph's assistance in a mining operation looking for old coins and precious metals. This effort, in fact, resulted in charges being brought against Joseph by Stowell's relatives for being a "glasslooker" in 1826. Joseph was ultimately charged with being a "disorderly person" and released. (For more detailed information, see: [[Joseph Smith/Legal trials/1826 glasslooking trial|Joseph Smith's 1826 glasslooking trial]])
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| − | Some, however, believe that all of Joseph's early spiritual experiences, particularly the First Vision and the visit of Moroni, were originally magical or occult experiences that were only ''later'' couched in spiritual terms. For example, the [[Specific works/The Hurlbut affidavits|Hurlbut affidavits]] relate stories of Moroni's visit that cast the angel in the role of spiritual treasure guardian, with one (Willard Chase) even claiming that the angel appeared in the form of a toad.
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| − | D. Michael Quinn has been the most prolific author on the subject of "magic" influences on the origins of Mormonism. According to William Hamblin:
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| − | <blockquote>
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| − | Quinn's overall thesis is that Joseph Smith and other early Latter-day Saint leaders were fundamentally influenced by occult and magical thought, books, and practices in the founding of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is unmitigated nonsense. Yet the fact that ''Quinn could not discover a single primary source written by Latter-day Saints'' that makes any positive statement about magic is hardly dissuasive to a historian of Quinn's inventive capacity.<ref>{{FR-12-2-16}}</ref>
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| − | </blockquote>
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| − | ===Joseph Smith and his followers undoubtedly believed in supernatural power===
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| − | Joseph Smith and his followers undoubtedly believed in supernatural power. And, they may have had some ideas about how to access that power that now strike us as inaccurate and even strange. This is not surprising, given the two centuries and massive scientific advances which separate our culture from theirs. However, there is no evidence that Joseph and others considered these things to be "magic," or the "occult," nor did they consider "magic" or the "occult" to be positive things.
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| − | </onlyinclude>
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| − | {{endnotes sources}}
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| − | [[Category:Becoming Gods]]
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| − | [[Category:One Nation Under Gods]]
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| − | [[es:Pregunta: ¿Fueron originalmente las experiencias espirituales de José Smith los productos de la magia y el ocultismo?]]
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| − | [[pt:Pergunta: Foram experiências espirituais de Joseph Smith originalmente produtos da magia e ocultismo?]]
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