However, do not be fooled into thinking that this project had even the slightest connection to Joseph Smith or the purported translating of writings in the Egyptian language.
Instead, it is quite clear that this whole mess of the GAEL was the project of one man, acting alone, who spontaneously went off reservation and decided to come up with his own ideas about the grammar and the alphabet of the Egyptian language, quite apart from, and unrelated to, his employment as scribe for the Prophet who was purporting to translate Egyptian writings from Egyptian papyri that came from Egypt.
That man was William Wines Phelps.
Pictured: a notorious rapscallion and a mountebank
Phelps was excommunicated twice during his lifetime. Once was in 1838 for self-dealing in land purchases that were supposed to be made for the Church. See: http://www.gospeldoctrine.com/Doctrinea ... %20120.htm
The second time was in 1847, when Phelps entered plural marriages that had not been authorized by church leadership. See: http://www.mormonfundamentalism.com/NEW ... braham.htm
Wade Englund, Mormon apologist par excellence, is doing groundbreaking work to show that Phelps, the duplicitous roustabout, was on his own with the GAEL. See, e.g., http://www.mormondialogue.org/topic/563 ... ct-leader/
And I think he is on to something. In fact, let's continue to put Phelps under the magnifying glass to see if there are other spurious claims about Mormon history in which Phelps is embroiled.
In the edition of the Doctrine and Covenants published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we find the following headnote to Section 132---the revelation on plural marriage:
Although the revelation was recorded in 1843, it is evident from the historical records that the doctrines and principles involved in this revelation had been known by the Prophet since 1831.
And what might be the source of this information? You guessed it: that infamous scoundrel, W.W. Phelps.
Thirty years after the supposed fact, Phelps claimed in a letter to Brigham Young that Joseph Smith got a revelation authorizing plural marriage clear back in 1831.
And yet the Church has never canonized or published Phelps' conveniently remembering a revelation three decades ago that he just never bothered to mention before now. That's odd, considering that the LDS Church has the original of this letter in its possession. Phelps certainly had a motive to put words in Joseph Smith's mouth. For one, he had been excommunicated and re-baptized----for the second time----over the issue of plural marriage, and surely Phelps wanted to make it appear that he was sincerely trying to keep the commandments allegedly revealed to Joseph Smith. Second, Phelps suddenly deciding he needed to talk about a revelation that had not been mentioned to anyone for 30 years coincidentally happened at a time when the Brighamite faction of Mormonism was contending with other denominations of Mormonism over the practice of plural marriage. That would be a good time to get back in the good graces of the church president who had excommunicated you.
Phelps had a demonstrated history of rebellion and trying to justify himself holding on to Joseph Smith's coattails, as well as a pattern of duplicity. He engaged in self-dealing when he was supposed to be managing real estate purchases for the Church. As Wade Englund is showing the world, Phelps fabricated the GAEL totally on his own and without Joseph Smith involved in any way whatsoever. He entered unauthorized plural marriages. So why should we believe him when he suddenly remembered a heretofore unmentioned revelation to Joseph Smith thirty years ago allowing plural marriage?
The answer, of course, is that we should not. Mormon apologetics is all about consistent standards and intellectual honesty. Therefore, having found Brother Englund's research on Phelps to be persuasive and well-grounded, I see no reason to attribute yet another episode of Mormon history to Joseph Smith when it was clearly Phelps going off reservation and making things up on his own.