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Came accross this during my research.

JH July 2, 1856. (Deseret News clip)


A sad day for the Saints as they learn that their prophets (Smith and Young) were wrong.

C'mon Mike - you're not serious here, are you?

All that the Dr demonstrated is that the quakermoonies were less than 60 ft tall, and didn't have large buildings on the surface and on this side of the moon.

An engineer, a physicist and a mathematician, in Scotland for the first time, were traveling on a train. They passed a flock of sheep, including one that was black (cursed?). The engineer called out: "Look, there are black sheep in Scotland!" The physicist, with a sneer, pointed out that: "You can only say that at least one sheep in Scotland is black." The mathematician merely commented that: "At least one side of one sheep in Scotland is black."

For all Dr Scoresby knew, perhaps the moon was populated by black sheep - on the dark side - or perhaps by sheep with one white and one black side (;=>

Edited for spelling eror ;)

References please.

bcspace wrote:References please.

Journal History of the Church, 2 July 1856 p. 3 (Deseret News clip)

No, I'm looking for references showing our prophets were wrong.

bcspace wrote:No, I'm looking for references showing our prophets were wrong.

What do you think of this one?:

I will tell you who the real fanatics are: they are they who adopt false principles and ideas as facts, and try to establish a superstructure upon a false foundation. They are the fanatics; and however ardent and zealous they may be, they may reason or argue on false premises till doomsday, and the result will be false. If our religion is of this character we want to know it; we would like to find a philosopher who can prove it to us. We are called ignorant; so we are: but what of it? Are not all ignorant? I rather think so. Who can tell us of the inhabitants of this little planet that shines of an evening, called the moon? When we view its face we may see what is termed "the man in the moon," and what some philosophers declare are the shadows of mountains. But these sayings are very vague, and amount to nothing; and when you inquire about the inhabitants of that sphere you find that the most learned are as ignorant in regard to them as the most ignorant of their fellows. So it is with regard to the inhabitants of the sun. Do you think it is inhabited? I rather think it is. Do you think there is any life there? No question of it; it was not made in vain. It was made to give light to those who dwell upon it, and to other planets; and so will this earth when it is celestialized. Every planet in its first rude, organic state receives not the glory of God upon it, but is opaque; but when celestialized, every planet that God brings into existence is a body of light, but not till then. Christ is the light of this planet. God gives light to our eyes. Did you ever think who gave you the power of seeing who organized these little globules in our heads, and formed the nerves running to the brain, and gave us the power of distinguishing a circle from a square, an upright from a level, large from small, white from black, brown from gray, and so on? Did you acquire this faculty by your own power? Did any of you impart this power to me or I to you? Not at all. Then where did we get it from? From a superior Being. When I think of these few little things with regard to the organization of the earth and the people of the earth, how curious and how singular it is! And yet how harmonious and beautiful are Nature's laws! And the work of God goes forward, and who can hinder it, or who can stay His hand now that He has commenced His kingdom?

Journal of Discourses

You might want to quote a little more, especially off the top to get the context.

A nondoctrinal work plus he's obviously giving his opinion ("I rather") that there is no question it's inhabited. His point is that no one knows very much about the universe including whether or not the moon is inhabited. So to reject ideas simply because they are new—such as Mormonism—is absurd. All true ideas were once new, and often treated skeptically.

Sounds like BY was right. So what is the problem?

Joseph Smith: "The inhabitants of the moon are more of a uniform size than the inhabitants of the earth, being about 6 feet in height. They dress very much like the quaker style and are quite general in style, or the fashion of dress." (Journal of Oliver B. Huntington, Vol. 2 p. 166.)

Hyrum Smith: "It was in cayatick form from all Eternity and will be to all Eternity, & again they held counsel together that they might ro[l]l this world into form as all others are made, Showing you by the building of a house as a sample or as figure in my Father's house are many mantions, or in my Father's world are meny worlds. I will goe & prepar a place for you, & then if there are meny worlds then there must be meny gods, for every Star that we see is a world and is inhabited the same as this world is peopled. The Sun & Moon is inhabited & the Stars & (Jesus Christ is the light of the Sun, etc.)." (George Laub's Nauvoo Journal Edited by Eugene England , BYU Studies, vol. 18 [1977-1978], Number 2 - Winter 1978, p.176)

Brigham Young: "I will tell you who the real fanatics are: they are they who adopt false principles and ideas as facts, and try to establish a superstructure upon a false foundation. They are the fanatics; and however ardent and zealous they may be, they may reason or argue on false premises till doomsday, and the result will be false. If our religion is of this character we want to know it; we would like to find a philosopher who can prove it to us. We are called ignorant; so we are: but what of it? Are not all ignorant? I rather think so. Who can tell us of the inhabitants of this little planet that shines of an evening, called the moon? When we view its face we may see what is termed 'the man in the moon,' and what some philosophers declare are the shadows of mountains. But these sayings are very vague, and amount to nothing; and when you inquire about the inhabitants of that sphere you find that the most learned are as ignorant in regard to them as the most ignorant of their fellows. So it is with regard to the inhabitants of the sun. Do you think it is inhabited? I rather think it is. Do you think there is any life there? No question of it; it was not made in vain." (JD 13:271)

bcspace wrote:You might want to quote a little more, especially off the top to get the context.

A nondoctrinal work plus he's obviously giving his opinion ("I rather") that there is no question it's inhabited. His point is that no one knows very much about the universe including whether or not the moon is inhabited. So to reject ideas simply because they are new—such as Mormonism—is absurd. All true ideas were once new, and often treated skeptically.

Sounds like BY was right. So what is the problem?

Um... you are jousting windmills, I am affraid. Whether or not Young was merely giving his opinion, his opinion was wrong none the less.