“O’Donnell has got the causation reversed,” says Richard Lyman Bushman, an emeritus professor of history at Columbia University who wrote a recent biography of Smith called Rough Stone Rolling.
Here is what is known to have happened: Smith was first married in 1827, and over the next three years he set about dictating the Book of Mormon, which was published in 1830, when the church was officially founded. Years later there was a scandal concerning a maid who had worked in his home.
The maid in question was a woman named Fanny Alger, whose family had converted to Mormonism in 1830, after the religion was established. She did not know Smith when he lived in New York, but met him after he relocated to Kirtland, Ohio in February of 1831. At some point later—the dates are hard to locate in the historical record—two other things happened. Smith, perhaps as early as 1831, had a revelation that told him God permitted a return to the plural marriages of Abraham. And he began a relationship with Alger. There is no first hand record of this relationship, but second and third hand sources suggest it was either an extramarital affair or a secret marriage. (A fine summary of the historic evidence by Todd Compton can be found here.) Either way, Smith’s revelation is likely to have preceded his relationship with Alger, says Bushman. “There is a scholarly consensus that the revelation came earlier,” he says.
Either way, the relationship did not last. By November of 1836, Alger had moved on. She married another man, Levi Eastridge, before a judge in Wayne County, Ind., and went on to live her life outside the church Smith founded.
The funny thing is, TBMs who think O'Donnell pulled the "affair with a maid" story out of thin air will read this apology and find out there really was a sex scandal involving Joseph Smith in the early years of the church. The article says "it was either an extramarital affair or a secret marriage." Does it matter? Also, "the relationship did not last. By November of 1836, Alger had moved on. She married another man." Is there any evidence of a divorce? If there was a marriage there would need to be a divorce before she could simply move on and marry another man.
"We have taken up arms in defense of our liberty, our property, our wives, and our children; we are determined to preserve them, or die." - Captain Moroni - 'Address to the Inhabitants of Canada' 1775
The moral of the story is, be careful what you wish for. They got their apology (deserved, in my opinion), but now the full, true story on Fanny is out there for the public to read.
Parley P. Pratt wrote:We must lie to support brother Joseph, it is our duty to do so.
I am sorry that I said that Joseph Smith used the story of the Gold Plates to justify his desire for multiple wives.
It's clear that he translated the Gold Plates first. The Gold Plates clearly condemn polygamy. Later Joseph Smith found a way to either ignore or circumvent that condemnation and practiced polygamy anyway.
I'm glad I was able to get this straight. The real explanation is WAY better than my original incorrect one.
Either way, Smith’s revelation is likely to have preceded his relationship with Alger, says Bushman. “There is a scholarly consensus that the revelation came earlier,” he says.
Either way, Smith’s revelation is likely to have preceded his relationship with Alger, says Bushman. “There is a scholarly consensus that the revelation came earlier,” he says.
Is this true?
By scholarly consensus I believe he means LDS scholars. Do any other scholars even care?
"We have taken up arms in defense of our liberty, our property, our wives, and our children; we are determined to preserve them, or die." - Captain Moroni - 'Address to the Inhabitants of Canada' 1775
The scholarly consensus is that the Book of Abraham is a load of baloney. Who's going to apologise for that hey? Hey?
“We look to not only the spiritual but also the temporal, and we believe that a person who is impoverished temporally cannot blossom spiritually.” Keith McMullin - Counsellor in Presiding Bishopric
"One, two, three...let's go shopping!" Thomas S Monson - Prophet, Seer, Revelator
Either way, Smith’s revelation is likely to have preceded his relationship with Alger, says Bushman. “There is a scholarly consensus that the revelation came earlier,” he says.
Is this true?
Yes. Had Genesis 50 not been abbreviated by the hand of Man, both Fanny and young Nancy Miranda would have been forecast as part of this revelation. Can't argue with a name like the Pentateuch, not if you wish to remain lightning bolt free - Mr. O'Donnell.
