Let’s Keep the Facts and Discard Opinions –Part II

Continued from the previous post in answering the many questions or comment submitted by a reader of this blog.

• Where also Adam's alter is located.

Adam’s altar was located in an area Joseph described as: “I went up the river about half a mile to Wight's Ferry, accompanied by President Rigdon, and my clerk, George W. Robinson, for the purpose of selecting and laying claim to a city plat near said ferry in Daviess County, township 60, ranges 27 and 28, and sections 25, 36, 31, and 30, which the brethren called "Spring Hill," but by the mouth of the Lord it was named Adam-ondi-Ahman, because, said He, it is the place where Adam shall come to visit his people, or the Ancient of Days shall sit, as spoken of by Daniel the Prophet” (History of the Church 3:34-35).

Left: Heber C. Kimball, one of the original twelve apostles, and first counselor to Brigham Young in the First Presidency; Right: Abraham O. Smoot, Second Mayor of Salt Lake City, opened up the Provo area for the Church where he was Mayor for 13 years

 

Of this area, according to Heber C. Kimball, “The Prophet Joseph called upon Brother Brigham, myself and others, saying, "Brethren, come, go along with me, and I will show you something," He led us a short distance to a place where there were ruins of three altars built of stone, one above the other, and one standing a little back of the other, like unto the pulpits in the Kirtland Temple, representing the order of three grades of Priesthood; "There," said Joseph, "is the place where Adam offered up sacrifice after he was cast out of the garden." The altar stood at the highest point of the bluff. I went and examined the place several times while I remained there” (Life of Heber C. Kimball, pp. 209-210).

Also, according to Abraham O. Smoot: “Joseph Smith was not present when "Adam's Altar" was discovered: President Smoot said that he and Alanson Ripley, while surveying at the town [i.e., Adam-ondi-Ahman], which was about 22 miles from Jackson County, Missouri, came across a stone wall in the midst of a dense forest of underbrush. The wall was 30 feet long, 3 feet thick, and 4 feet high. It was laid in mortar or cement. When Joseph visited the place and examined the wall he said it was the remains of an altar built by Father Adam and upon which he offered sacrifices after he was driven from the Garden of Eden” (BYU Studies, Vol.13,no.4,p565). All of this, including your comment on Adam’s altar, has nothing to do with the Book of Mormon or the location of the Nephites.

• Missouri, where Joseph Smith testified, by commandment from God, that the western tribes of Indians were the descendants of the Book of Mormon,

As we have pointed out for years, Lehi’s descendants, the Lamanites, during Joseph Smith’s time, were scattered all over the Western Hemisphere, in South, Central/Mesoamerica, and North America, even in southern Canada. However it is incorrect that Joseph Smith testified by commandment about this in his letter on January 4, 1833, and addressed to N.E. Seaton (Noah C. Saxton), who was at the time the editor of the “American Revivalist and Rochester Observer. He testified about “what he considered to be the will of God for the world, including repentance and baptism.”

In fact, as has been written of this letter: “Having been appointed by the Lord to initiate the work of establishing a new dispensation of the gospel and direct the proclamation of its saving message, Joseph Smith stepped forth in his prophetic calling to explain the nature of that work and to forewarn the people and the nation of impending judgments. In so doing, he marked out the way by which true peace could be established among men and by which the judgments he foresaw could be averted.” (We wrote this and much more in great detail which can be found on this blog (Thursday, May 31, 2018, “Answering a Heartland Theorist’s Erroneous Claims-Part II”).

 Joseph Smith preaching to the Sauk (Asakiwaki) and Fox (Meskwaki) Indian tribes who met in Nauvoo with Joseph 

 

• whom Joseph personally visited, on numerous occasions to testify to the: Fox, Sac, Ojibwa, Iroquois, that the Book of Mormon is a record of their ancestors

He did all that, which has nothing to do with the location of the Land of Promise, only that Lehi’s descendants were scattered throughout the Americas by Joseph Smith’s time.

• and where the Lord personally commanded Joseph to send missionaries unto the Lamanites:

Joseph Smith was also commanded to send missionaries to the world, which he immediately sent missionaries abroad to Canada and England—which was only part of the world initially. It is erroneously suggested by comparison that there was no other part of the world that fit the commandment, rather than understanding that Joseph began that fulfillment by sending missionaries to those areas where he had immediate access. The Indians in and around the Church was the ideal place to start, Canada could easily be reached, and England had regularly scheduled ships sailing between countries across the Atlantic.

• Western New York and Ohio Valley region, as recorded in the Doctrine & Covenants.

According to numerous presidents of the Church and Quorum of the Twelve, the Lamanites were scattered throughout the Americas, and the work that went forward included all of them, some sooner than others because of easier access and safer conditions (South America was in a turmoil of wars for independent throughout Joseph Smith’s life). Joseph Smith stated about this: "The Book of Mormon is a record of the forefathers of our western tribes of Indians...by it we learn that our western tribes of Indians are descendants from that Joseph that was sold into Egypt, and that the land of America is a promised land unto them" (Signed, Joseph Smith Jr. 1833 to The Rochester Observer to be printed in full by way of commandment from God). In 1833, Ohio was the furthest western state in the United States in: 1833.

• So, I don't believe in any theories

We do not have a theory. We follow the scriptural record and what it describes and tells us. Joseph himself stated it was the most correct book ever written. Mormon, and other writers, wrote under inspiration of God, and outlined the Land of Promise better than any other person could know. Our statements all follow the scriptural record and we cite the scripture and the references involved. We do not state opinions in our work as others continually do.

• I believe in what the Lord and his prophets have testified of.

George Q. Cannon, an early member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the First Presidency under four successive presidents: Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow

 

The Lord has testified over and over again as to the truthfulness of what is in the Book of Mormon. It should be used for a basis of facts rather than the opinions of man.

Joseph Smith has not testified of the location of the Book of Mormon. What he has said in passing about a location, since it has not been said for the Church, nor authorized or ratified by the Church, should be considered his opinions as he himself has stated. In fact, even Joseph claimed his comments were merely his opinions, and said, “A prophet is not a prophet unless acting as such” (History of the Church, vol.5,p265).

Others have said, “Now, was not Joseph Smith a mortal man? Yes. A fallible man? Yes. Had he not weaknesses? Yes, he acknowledged them himself, and did not fail to put the revelations on record in this book” (George Q. Cannon, Journal Entry, August 12, 1883). “His weaknesses were not concealed from the people. He was willing that people should know that he was mortal, and had failings. And so with Brigham Young. (He) had weaknesses. He was not a God. He was not an immortal being. He was not infallible. No, he was fallible. And yet when he spoke by the power of God, it was the word of God to this people” (Journal of Discourses vol.24, p274).

“The First Presidency cannot claim, individually or collectively, infallibility. The infallibility is not given to men. They are fallible” (George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truth: Discourses and Writings of President George Q. Cannon.vol.1, Deseret Book Co., 1883, p206).