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Was Joseph really a retarded farm boy who could not write?

Much of the apologetic defense for the Mormon Church hinges on this point.

He was reputed as being a gifted story teller and Bible scholar by the people that knew him. The legibility of his writing may have been suspect.

Moksha wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2025 8:24 am

Was Joseph really a retarded farm boy who could not write?

Much of the apologetic defense for the Mormon Church hinges on this point.

Smith preferred dictating and giving sermons rather than commit his thoughts to writing. Recall how his mother said he was able to give amusing recitals about the ancient inhabitants of the American continent? Smith's ability to write via oral dictation was as good as it gets. He was a master storyteller.

The very first First Vision account is the most important statement ever written by Joseph Smith's own hand in which he claimed to see God, the Lord in whom at that time Smith believed the Father and Son were one as expressed in the New Testament, "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father." It wasn't until Smith got the papyrus that he learned (reasoned) the idea that the Father and Son were separate Persons and therefore broke away from traditional doctrine. The idea of the Father having a body with a man's penis came much later as he developed his new theology.

Joseph Smith, 1832 wrote:I was filled with the spirit of god and the ​Lord​ opened the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord and he spake unto me saying Joseph my son thy sins are forgiven thee go thy ​way​ walk in my statutes and keep my commandments behold I am the Lord of glory I was crucifyed for the world...

When Smith penned the 1832 account, he did so thinking the Father and Son were one and the only body in the Godhead was expressed through Christ's resurrection. Smith originally believed the Son was a "personage of tabernacle" and the Father was a "personage of spirit, glory, and power." That was the doctrine of the Church!

I Have Questions wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2025 11:47 am

He was reputed as being a gifted story teller and Bible scholar by the people that knew him. The legibility of his writing may have been suspect.

The 1832 account of the First Vision makes it pretty clear that Smith spent years studying the scriptures and by the time he was ready to produce the Book of Mormon he was quite proficient.

• goodly Parents who spared no pains to instruct​ing​ me in the​ christian religion

• At about the age of twelve years my mind become seriously imprest with regard to the all importent concerns of for the wellfare of my immortal Soul which led me to searching the scriptures believeing as I was taught, that they contained the word of God thus applying myself to them

• my Soul thus from the age of twelve years to fifteen I pondered many things in my heart

• I become convicted of my sins and by searching the scriptures

• there was no society or denomination that built upon the gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded in the new testament

• for I learned in the scriptures that God was the same yesterday to day and forever

By the time Smith began to dictate the Book of Mormon he was very proficient with the Bible in which he spent years studying.

The more of an uneducated backwater rube he is, the more miraculous the story can be portrayed.

But apologists often flip flop on this, because they don’t want to worship a complete idiot. It’s a fine balance, and easily done with their shell game they always play.