Cal Grondahl's Standard Works cartoons -- a sample

For the holiday week, here's a sample of Cal Grondahl's Standard Works cartoons, done over a several-year period, roughly about 2009 to 2015. A website change ended the site (except for Wayback), but these were saved at Flickr and we occasionally use them on the Culture of Mormonism blog. Enjoy!

The first anti-Mormon book gets a reprint with commentary

More than 180 years after its publication, “Mormonism Unvailed,” generally considered the very first anti-Mormon book, remains of interest to historians and students of Mormonism and 19th century religious history. The book, published in 1834 by newspaper editor Eber D. Howe, promised an expose of the new religion founded by “Joe Smith.” Howe had a personal reason for his animus; persons very close to him in his family had converted to the new church. “Mormonism Unvailed” is considered the first book critical of Mormonism to address The Book of Mormon. Howe also included many affidavits from individuals who criticized Joseph Smith and Mormonism. 

Signature Books has published “Mormonism Unvailed” (here) with critical commentary from scholar Dan Vogel, author of a biography of Joseph Smith. I had the opportunity to ask Vogel some questions about the new edition of “Mormonism Unvailed.” Our discussion follows:

Why did you and Signature Books reprint Mormonism Unvailed?

Vogel: “We felt that it deserved a scholarly edition because it was the first book-length response to Joseph Smith and still has significance to historians largely because it contains the affidavits of Smith’s former neighbors and acquaintances in New York and Pennsylvania as well as his father-in-law and other relatives.”

What is with the misspelling in the title of Howe's book?

Vogel: “Unvailed” was the preferred spelling in that day.“

What did Howe do for a living?

Vogel: ”Howe was the editor of the “Painesville Telegraph,” located about ten miles east of Kirtland, Ohio.“

Who did Howe know who joined the Mormon Church?

Vogel: ”The conversion of hundreds in the area made Mormonism an unavoidable subject for newspaperman Howe, but it became quite personal when his wife and sister joined.“

What is the Spaulding theory talked about in ”Mormonism Unvailed?“

Vogel: ”Howe included affidavits that accused Joseph Smith of plagiarizing the Book of Mormon from a manuscript written by Solomon Spalding before his death in 1816. This theory is not regarded as credible by most scholars.“

E D Howe sounds angry in the books. Was this book personal?

Vogel: ”The tone of Howe’s prose was present before the conversion of his wife and sister. It was his general style with most other topics as well. He was also similarly opposed Andrew Jackson and Freemasons.“

Are Howe’s arguments about the Book of Mormon convincing?

Vogel: ”Howe’s critique of the Book of Mormon was influenced by Alexander Campbell’s 1831 review, which argued that Joseph Smith was the author and that it tried to resolve the leading political and religious issues of the day. This is the favored view of non-Mormon scholars today.“

Who is this Doctor Hurlburt, who is mentioned in the book?

Vogel: ”Doctor Philastus Hurlbut (Doctor was his given name), a former Mormon, was hired by interested parties in the Kirtland area to collect affidavits in Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania. He turned over the results of his researches to Howe to publish.“

How reliable are the affidavits?

Vogel: ”Much of what was reported by Smith’s New York neighbors and Pennsylvania relatives regarding his money digging, practice of folk magic, and use of seer stones is corroborated by others, including by some of his early followers.“

How much legitimacy today does "Mormonism Unvailed" have as a critique of Mormonism? Do its arguments carry weight? Or is it only of historical interest?

Vogel: ”We are still debating many of the subjects Howe brought up in his book — issues surrounding Joseph Smith’s character and the true origin of the Book of Mormon. What is the significance of Joseph Smith’s early money digging, particularly his use of folk magic and seer stones? Was the Book of Mormon plagiarized from Solomon Spaulding’s manuscript or merely a reflection of nineteenth-century theology and American politics? It began with Howe.“

What is the chief benefit of reading the book today, particularly for a church member? Does it provide additional insight on the church's history, or more knowledge of Joseph Smith's life, or more insight into LDS Church doctrine?

Vogel: ”Perhaps they might be curious to see how Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon were viewed by non-believers at an early date. Howe provides many insights into Joseph Smith’s character, both before and after he became the Mormon prophet, that helps fill out and balance the usual saintly prophet image held by believers — his excessive drinking and swearing in early life, his hot and sometimes violent temper, his sometimes demanding and dictatorial leadership style, among others. Howe’s affidavits make clear that Joseph Smith’s early involvement in treasure seeking was much more extensive than he wanted to admit in his official history. Howe helps fill that gap.“

-- Doug Gibson

-- Originally published at StandardNET

'American Crucifixion' a recap of murder of Joseph Smith

Alex Beam, Boston Globe columnist, has penned a new Mormon-themed history, “American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church,” 2014, PublicAffairs Books. This relatively slim volume, 334 pages, is not a scholarly book, and its exteriors -- including characterizations of major characters, including Smith and newspaper publisher Thomas Sharp -- lack depth. However, the events in Carthage, Illinois, where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed by a Warsaw, Ill. mob, goaded in part by Sharp and others, is covered well by the author. Also, the sham trial that exonerated “suspects” who were not among the chief murderers is also well-recapped by Beam.

Beam accurately describes how the enemies of the Mormon Church, once they had Hyrum and Joseph Smith in Carthage, deliberately and patiently lay in wait for the proper opportunity to strike. The courts were on their side; a faux charge was approved by a hostile judge to make sure the Smiths stayed in jail, avoiding a bond release. Thomas Ford, the weak, impotent, self-important governor of Illinois, accurately described by Beam as “pusillanimous,” was easily played by the mob. Ford, a truly ridiculous figure, was traveling to Nauvoo to make a pompous speech to the Latter-day Saints when the Smiths were murdered.

The Carthage Greys, a militia hostile to Mormons, were “guarding” the Carthage jail. One June 27, 1844, the Greys were uncharacteristically slow to defend an attack on the jail by two Warsaw militias. As Beam recounts, the Smith brothers were not in a secure cell, but in a guest room. While companions John Taylor and Willard Richards helped try to keep the mob out, Hyrum Smith was killed by shots through the door. Joseph Smith, who had a small firearm, wounded some of the attackers but was overwhelmed and shot by attackers in the jail and outside firing through a window. Smith, mortally wounded, fell from a second-floor window and was later riddled with bullets. Taylor was badly wounded but survived; Richards suffered only a scratch.

As Beam notes, the murders occurred in minutes, and Carthage was soon emptied of mob participants, now worried that thousands of Mormons would hunt them to avenge the Smiths’ deaths. However, church members were in shock after the violent deaths, and exhortations from Richards not to avenge the murders were overwhelmingly accepted. The Mormons instead focused on a long series of discussions and disputes over who would succeed Smith as church leader. After the murder trial which exonerated Sharp and other Mormon-haters, the anti-Mormon persecution resumed until the majority of Mormons left Nauvoo to go west with Brigham Young.

I have problems with Beam’s portrayal of Joseph Smith and the Mormons of Nauvoo. I’m not looking for a hagiography, and I’m as tired as anyone of the Mormon-themed films that portray Smith as if he has a halo. But Beam casts Joseph Smith as an extreme narcissist, a one-dimensional mixture of lechery, deceit and megalomania. I’m sure many see him that way but one should be allowed a better depiction of an historical figure as complex and gifted as the Mormon Church’s founder. To Beam, Smith appears no better than scoundrels such as Dr. John Bennett, or ill-fated “successor” James J. Strang. They are appropriately historical footnotes, Smith’s legacy includes a church of 14 million.

Smith had faults, and he merits a complex overview. The man who created a city of 10,000 and a church of 20,000, and whose death did not destroy his church, or heartfelt devotion among members to the controversial doctrine of polygamy, needs a deeper study than Beam allows. One tactic used by the author is the “freak show” depiction, in which visitors to Nauvoo who were repelled by Smith are provided as sources; one is a future mayor of Boston, one the son of a U.S. president. This tactic was used often against Utah Mormons in the 19th century, with condescending visitors to Salt Lake City later trashing Young, Parley P. Pratt, or others in articles or books.

Beam does a good explaining the destruction of an anti-Mormon newspaper, started by Mormon leader turned dissident William Law. Smith’s approval of this unwise act served as the prelude to the murders. Nevertheless, the term “rabid anti-Mormons” is not enough to wonder why the antipathy was so deadly. Much of the blame falls to the yellow journalist Sharp, but his character is never explored in sufficient detail. Beam, in an effort to set the scenario prior to the deaths, includes Nauvoo-strife anecdotes, but they are curiously lifeless, with the characters seeming to play roles rather than acting spontaneously.

Despite my concerns, I recommend “American Crucifixion” to readers. Like the Joseph Smith biography, “Rough Stone Rolling,” it does in part convey the isolation of Illinois, as well as the savage bloodlust that was allowed to flourish. The recap of the murders are terrifying. It captures the deliberate killings, as well as the temporary satiation of deadly impulses that the deaths accomplished.

Beam has included a couple of odd footnotes. On page 98, the author claims that Mormon apologists hid polygamy for decades after Nauvoo. But if the author had merely read easily accessible church publications, he would learn that the Mormons were advocating polygamy openly by 1852. Beam’s source for this claim is from “Elder” Ebenezer Robinson, long after Nauvoo. But he was no longer a Utah Mormon. In short, this source is in no position to support Beam’s claim of a long polygamy cover up.

Also, a key source of Beam’s, one Isaac Scott, is listed as a Mormon missionary in 1844 Nauvoo. Besides other quotes, Scott is used by the author to refute historical accounts that Joseph Smith thought he would not survive his jailing in Carthage. Smith is reputed by stronger sources than Scott as believing both he and Hyrum would be murdered. Also, Scott was a critic of Mormonism by early 1844 and subsequently emerged as an enemy as harsh of Smith as Law or Francis Higbee, former members turned apostates. Scott, who eventually became a follower of Strang, seems a poor choice to comment on Smith’s emotions as his death neared. He would not have had access to such information.

Nevertheless, as mentioned, the book’s account of the murders and the ensuing trial makes it worth a read.

-- Doug Gibson

-- Originally published at StandardNet

B.H. Roberts spent most of his life defending 'The Book of Mormon'

I ran across an interesting article in the Summer 1979 issue of Brigham Young University Studies. It’s “B.H. Roberts and The Book of Mormon,” and was written by Truman Madsen. Roberts was a remarkable man. Born in England, his birth father, and later a stepfather, both abandoned him and his family. He migrated to Utah early in his life and settled through a few rocky years struggling with the Word of Wisdom before straightening out, and eventually became a general authority at the age of 31.

He remained one for the rest of his life, dying in 1933 at 76. He served in World War I as a chaplain and was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1898, although that body refused to seat him because he was a polygamist. He married three wives and had 15 children.

Roberts was unique within the LDS hierarchy for his reasoning that evolution and Gospel doctrines did not conflict. He wrote a book, “The Truth, The Way, The Life,” that was not published due to the objections of creationist Apostle Joseph Fielding Smith. It eventually was published in 1994.

In the mid-1890s Roberts almost left the church over a disagreement on whether church authorities could be active in politics. He eventually apologized for the near apostasy.

Despite his maverick views, Roberts was respected by his colleagues in the church hierarchy. He was fascinated by “The Book of Mormon,” at one point calling it the “fifth Gospel.” He spent much of the second half of his life defending the book. According to Madsen’s piece, the unique doctrines of “The Book of Mormon” — so different from traditional christianity — and the biblical and historical knowledge within “The Book of Mormon” made it impossible for any man as unlearned as Joseph Smith to create it from scratch. “It imposes what Roberts called ‘a greater tax on human credulity’ to say Joseph Smith, or anyone in the nineteenth century, created it,” writes Madsen.

Roberts, explains Madsen, has a different viewpoint of what the book’s translation was like than perhaps the typical Latter-day Saint. Roberts did not regard it as “magical,” or in other words, just viewing the Urim and Thummim, seeing words, and writing them down. “On the contrary, ‘brain sweat’ was required, and preparation, and labor,” writes Madsen.

Besides, word-for-word translation is impossible, Roberts maintained. Smith had to use, in instances, what he had available to translate. That explains near copies of biblical chapters, biblical-like phrases, and even the inclusion of terms such as horses in “The Book of Mormon.”

Madsen lists 10 “attributes that define Roberts’ devotion to “The Book of Mormon.” One bit of information that surprised me was that Roberts enjoyed writing creative fiction based on “The Book of Mormon.” I hope it was better than most of the kitsch published today.

He wrote stories about Moroni, the Nephite nation and even a novel about Alma’s son, Corianton, which is described as “a tale of sneaking indulgence, and remorse and renewal.” I have read it and it’s a kitschy, fun read available for free on the Internet or via Kindle. Madsen adds that Roberts desperately wanted to see a major film based on “The Book of Mormon” produced. A movie was made of the Corianton novel, BYU has the only remaining copy and it was shown several years ago.

One category Madsen describes Roberts in regards to “The Book of Mormon” is the role of “devil’s advocate.” As mentioned earlier, Roberts intellect brought him much respect among general authorities. He spent many of the final years of his life providing church leaders with hypothetical attacks on the legitimacy of “The Book of Mormon.” These efforts, which Madsen compares to a skilled lawyer preparing to better understand a courtroom adversary, have led to claims that Roberts lost or questioned his testimony regarding “The Book of Mormon.”

Madsen doubts these assertions. Roberts told colleagues that these reports were never intended to be balanced. They were intended as tools to increase learning about “The Book of Mormon.”

Roberts’ greatest influence as a church leader is that his example reminds us that our beliefs need to be tested for them to grow. If they remain unchallenged, they stay weak and susceptible to failure in times of stress.

Yet Roberts remained in awe of the personal power “The Book of Mormon” gave him. Madsen writes, “Though renowned for his gifts as a speaker, B.H. Roberts agonized over the fact that he could never communicate the intensity, the power, the consuming white light that seemed to him to shine through the book.”

-- Doug Gibson

-- Originally published at StandardNET