Revisiting Joseph Smith’s Novel History

Revisiting Joseph Smith’s Novel History | Joseph F. Martin | Catholic World Report



The underestimation of the divide between Mormonism and mainstream Christianity

It
is safe to say that when the Mormons built a fantastic, six-spired, gleaming
Mormon Temple outside of Washington, DC in 1974, not too many East Coasters
were familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) story.
I recall gawking at the temple during a drive, as my brother’s Catholic friend
knowingly intoned that the gold figure topping the tallest spire represented
the angel Gabriel blowing his trumpet at the end of the world. To my
then-Methodist ears that sounded appealingly Evangelical. And of course it was
entirely wrong. But it was typical of how most people approached Mormonism,
interpreting their encounters with LDS believers with the assumption that they
shared a common Christian vocabulary and frame of reference with the group,
which, while maybe a bit separatist, had to be essentially like all the other
“denominations.”

In
the years since, thanks to Mormonism’s exponential growth and our accelerated
media culture, the LDS church has become far less of a mystery in many ways.
Stories of Joseph Smith’s vision and his digging up golden plates from which he
translated The Book of Mormon—essentially
an Incan reimagining of the New Testament—as well as Brigham Young’s trek
across the Rockies have become just another chapter in American lore. Mormons
tend to be outstanding people, salt of the earth—and with Western culture
rapidly secularizing, many Christians now are advocating that the LDS are
actually separated, albeit peculiarly so, brethren.

This
seems to be the take of Stephen Webb. In a fascinating piece for First Things (Feb. 2012), titled “Mormonism Obsessed with Christ,” he says
that for a large part of his teaching career, he did not try to
hide his condescension towards Mormonism. But, Webb writes, “I have come to
repent of this view, and not just because I came to my senses about how wrong
it is to be rude toward somebody else’s faith. I changed my mind because I came
to realize just how deeply Christ-centered Mormonism is.” Concerning The Book of Mormon, he says that while
it is “lackluster,”

it is dull precisely because it is all about Jesus. There are many
characters in this book, but they change as little as the plot. Nobody stands
out but him. “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ,
we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our
children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins”
(2 Nephi 25:26). … Every page of the book prepares the way for its stunning
climax, which is a literal appearance of Jesus to the ancient peoples of
America.

He
concludes: “The Book of Mormon raises
a question for Christians. Can you believe too much about Jesus? Can you go too
far in conceiving his glory? Let me answer that question by posing another.
Isn’t the whole point of affirming his divinity the idea that one can never say
enough about him? And if Smith’s stories are not true, aren’t they more like
exaggerations or embellishments than outright slander and deceit?”

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