Scholar Sheds Light on Joseph Smith Revelations
Grant Underwood, a notable Mormon history scholar, spoke to professors, students and community members about new revelatory documents that have been discovered. The “Book of Commandments and Revelations” (BCR) was found in the “musty archives” of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and contains many of the earliest recorded revelations given through Joseph Smith, Underwood said.
This find is important, especially for Mormon historians, he said.
“Have we known about the Book of Commandments and Revelations before? Not exactly,” he said.
Philip Barlow, the Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at USU, said the cache of documents is significant in that it allows historians to study the earliest copies of Joseph Smith’s revelations.
“We don’t have the dictation manuscripts,” Underwood said of the original documents. “We hedge our bets and look at the earliest revelations.”
In addition to older transcriptions, “The Joseph Smith Papers: Revelations and Translations, Volume 1” does contain several heretofore unknown revelatory documents that were not included in the Doctrine and Covenants, Underwood said. Examples include buying paper for the printing of the Book of Commandments or securing a copyright of the Book of Mormon in Canada.
Coming this summer, the LDS Church will release “The Joseph Smith Papers: Revelations and Translations, Volume 1,” which will contain photographs and transcriptions of the documents, as part of a thirty-volume series, according to the Joseph Smith Papers’ official Web site. Underwood said he has worked to analyze and prepare the book for publication.
Underwood was introduced by Barlow who said, “I think he is one of the most knowledgeable scholars of Mormon History that is alive today.”
Underwood said of his work, “It has been a most fascinating opportunity to look at the earliest surviving copies of several of the revelations.”
“It gives us a closer look at the process by which Joseph Smith refined and recorded his revelations,” Underwood said.
According to church historian Marlin K. Jensen, “Book of Commandments and Revelations” and the “Kirtland Revelation Book,” which will also be included in the forthcoming book, became a basis for the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants in 1835.
Underwood said, “One of the fascinating parts of the BCR is that you can see right where they made revisions.”
Scholars have been able to track revisions in the revelations over time, Underwood said. In the original manuscripts grammar and clarification accounted for the bulk of revisions, but by the time the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants was published, updates accounted for 35% of changes, bringing the revelations up to date with other received revelations, he said.
New information in the manuscripts includes specific dates, rather than the month-only dating previously known. This enables historians to more accurately chronologically look at events, according to the Joseph Smith Papers’ official Web site.
“This may be helpful in solving a longstanding Mormon riddle,” Underwood said.
He said there has been a lot of debate among Mormon historians on whether the LDS Church was organized in Manchester in the home of the Smiths or in Fayette in the Whitmer home.
The recently-discovered documents indicate Fayette as the location of the historic meeting, Underwood said.
Underwood said, “I wouldn’t call it a slam dunk, but we’re getting closer.”
At one point Underwood made the comment, “The history of the church is considered ‘iron-clad’; I suggest we approach the history of the Church a bit more gingerly.”
Amid answering questions during the Q-and-A session, Underwood urged those present to research their questions and maybe even present a paper on it.
After hosting the religious studies-sponsored event, Barlow said, “The study of Mormonism is not just for Mormons. The study of religion is important for everyone, whether you’re a Buddhist or an Atheist.”
He said students should learn about different people’s beliefs in order to understand the people around them.
-r.perkins@aggiemail.usu.edu
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