Many thanks to a sharp-eyed ex-Mormon on RfM for finding the photographic evidence proving that Holland (or whoever gave him the old copy of the BoM used on Sunday in his Gen. Conf. talk) was trying to pull a fast one on Latter-day Saints:
Seriously, has any tbm addressed this? Has the church put out an official response about this? Has any news outlet run with the story yet? I am about to cry fowl outloud but want to make sure my claim is valid.
Richard E. Turley Jr., assistant Church Historian. In a
response e-mail, he said this:
Quote
One book descends from Mercy Fielding Smith and is the one Hyrum took
from the shelf and marked before leaving for Carthage. It has a
provenance statement in it written by Hyrum’s son Joseph F. Smith on
December 25, 1898. It is housed in the Church History Library and is
the volume held up by Elder Holland.
Another recently donated copy is quite similar and descends from
Bathsheba Smith. The same page is marked, but in our reasoned opinion,
the person who marked that page was merely indicating the spot Hyrum
marked. We don’t believe this is the volume Hyrum removed that day.
Glad that's cleared up.
ETA: ...and amazingly enough, both books are still considered pure fiction by 99.99% of the population.
Richard E. Turley Jr., assistant Church Historian. In a
response e-mail, he said this:
Quote
One book descends from Mercy Fielding Smith and is the one Hyrum took
from the shelf and marked before leaving for Carthage. It has a
provenance statement in it written by Hyrum’s son Joseph F. Smith on
December 25, 1898. It is housed in the Church History Library and is
the volume held up by Elder Holland.
Another recently donated copy is quite similar and descends from
Bathsheba Smith. The same page is marked, but in our reasoned opinion,
the person who marked that page was merely indicating the spot Hyrum
marked. We don’t believe this is the volume Hyrum removed that day.
Glad that's cleared up.
ETA: ...and amazingly enough, both books are still considered pure fiction by 99.99% of the population.
If that's true, Mr. Turley, why did the church publish this in the Church News:
"Bathsheba's copy of the Book of Mormon was the one that Hyrum Smith read
shortly before the martyrdom, with the corner of the page still turned
down, as mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants 135:4." See link above.
Mr. Turley, did the Church News ever issue a retraction? Were you lying then or are you lying now?
Richard E. Turley Jr., assistant Church Historian. In a
response e-mail, he said this:
Quote
One book descends from Mercy Fielding Smith and is the one Hyrum took
from the shelf and marked before leaving for Carthage. It has a
provenance statement in it written by Hyrum’s son Joseph F. Smith on
December 25, 1898. It is housed in the Church History Library and is
the volume held up by Elder Holland.
Another recently donated copy is quite similar and descends from
Bathsheba Smith. The same page is marked, but in our reasoned opinion,
the person who marked that page was merely indicating the spot Hyrum
marked. We don’t believe this is the volume Hyrum removed that day.
Glad that's cleared up.
ETA: ...and amazingly enough, both books are still considered pure fiction by 99.99% of the population.
If that's true, Mr. Turley, why did the church publish this in the Church News:
"Bathsheba's copy of the Book of Mormon was the one that Hyrum Smith read
shortly before the martyrdom, with the corner of the page still turned
down, as mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants 135:4." See link above.
Mr. Turley, did the Church News ever issue a retraction? Were you lying then or are you lying now?
Oh, that. Those Mormons can't keep their liesfolklore records straight.
A partial re-post from another thread:
A MAaDite tells us the family are aware of the problem and they explain it by saying Hyrum left a testimony with more than one branch of the family. The book Holland waved about belonged to Hyrum's son, so it has been the designated THE book. But who knows, and it isn't really important other than to make Holland look a little silly as Church News published an account of the other book only two years ago. I just think it is an illustration of LDS myth-making at work. The whole dog-ear incident may be a myth, but on hearing it members of Hyrum's family rushed out and dog-eared their books.
But Holland brought it, and made such a "big deal" out of it being "the book."
It was his propaganda, his "really big show," and his claim..."it was this book" (when several books are floating out there.) What a crock.
Wow, talk about emotional manipulation, I was totally thinking what a manipulator as he ranted. I'm sure, as already noted, the believers will spin this to their advantage. Those who pointed it out will be vilified.
Who dog-ears their books every time they read them? Especially scriptures - you are going to want to read it again and again, and you only read a couple of pages each time. Get a bookmark!
-- we gave this guy a Ph.D.?
