Question about Book of Mormon vs. Book of Abraham translation method...

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

Thanks, Fence Sitter. That was a fun read.

- Doc

[_moksha]

You have to remember he married something like 40 women in Nauvoo. I am sure that "Not tonight dear, I have to translate." didn't go over well with a lot of them.

Most likely it was the translation process that felt disappointed upon repeatedly hearing, "Can't write tonight, need to polygamate."

[_grindael]

Uh... Phelps was welcomed back by Joseph and was with him all through the Nauvoo period, (he was Smith's ghostwriter) and Frederick G. Williams lived in Quincy and died in 1842. He also was accepted back in 1840 by Joseph after the Missouri troubles.

[_Fence Sitter]

Uh... Phelps was welcomed back by Joseph and was with him all through the Nauvoo period, (he was Smith's ghostwriter) and Frederick G. Williams lived in Quincy and died in 1842. He also was accepted back in 1840 by Joseph after the Missouri troubles.

Thanks Grindael.

Forgive my fast and messy responses above. I just started typing without doing to much fact checking or editing in an attempt to provide what turned out to be a rather long answer to a short question. I did not intended to imply that none of the Kirtland era scribes ever returned to church. Cowdery, of course, rejoined the church toward the end of his life and Parrish became a Baptist Minister and never returned to Mormonism.


The distinction I was poorly making was that the scribes who worked with Joseph in produucing the controversial Kirtland Egyptian manuscripts, were not working with him in 1842 on the Nauvoo era Book of Abraham manuscripts and Facsimiles explanations. As far as I know, all the Nauvoo era documents created between Feb & Mar 1842 were in the handwriting of Willard Richards who was not involved with the Kirtland era Egyptian documents.

[_grindael]

I believe that Phelps worked with Joseph on virtually everything, (including the Book of Abraham) and was indispensable to him. If anyone had a major influence on Joseph Smith, it was William Phelps.

I think that Joseph was going to do more, he was planning to from 1840 on, but things kept getting in the way. I believe that catalyst for the Book of Abraham was justifying his Spiritual Wife System, (he tried with the Peace Maker, but that backfired, so he got a little more subtle with the Book of Abraham) and the Priesthood Ban. Cementing his doctrinal innovations in scripture. I also believe he had plans for the Kinderhook Plates, to bolster the Book of Mormon.

But these projects took a back seat because of troubles with Missouri, building the Temple and the Nauvoo House & Mansion, and (as you mentioned) his fascination with acquiring new Spiritual Wives.

Joseph was still interested in peepstones in Nauvoo, and I believe he never really gave them up. By then, he didn't need the prop of the hat and stone, but he had made it the tool of a "revelator" and so he kept it in his arsenal. I don't believe they ever caught on, because you could claim that it glowed and you saw letters (while it was in a hat), but not everyone was going to use a hat and the trick loses it's appeal when there is no possibility of a stone with glowing letters appearing on it.

And Joseph was never going to pay for the Steamboats, (even though he loved to "ride" the pretty Maids, as he said) he always tried to make others pay, (he even admitted this to Dan Jones as a "joke" when he mentioned riding Maids), but he underestimated the US Government as the Mormons continued to do time after time and they came after him and then his estate for the debts.