JOSEPH SMITH'S JOURNALS MADE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC
By Carrie A. Moore
Deseret News
December 1, 2008

Original Link

They survived amid mobbings, beatings, burnings, a horse-drawn wagon journey across the Great Plains and even the ravages of mice roaming inside their wooden crate.

Now the contents of journals kept by LDS Church founder Joseph Smith have been made available to the public for the first time, word for word, as he wrote and dictated them to various clerks and scribes.

The inaugural volume of the long-anticipated Joseph Smith Papers series is now in LDS bookstores, offering scholars and ordinary Latter-day Saints alike a look at the "unvarnished words" of a man who said he was called of God to restore Christ's original church to the earth.

Richard Turley, assistant historian for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, held two of Smith's personal journals in a gloved hand on Monday as he read excerpts for reporters from a few of the water-stained pages that Smith inscribed in his own hand.

One entry described how, as a 17-year-old boy, Smith saw "another vision of angels" and became "very conscious that I had not kept the commandments" as he knew he should. The entire contents, as well as that of many others written from 1832 to 1839, appear in the new volume.

The impetus for what has become known as the Joseph Smith Papers Project began in 2000, Turley said, when LDS scholars decided to expand on a project that former Brigham Young University religion professor Dean Jessee had started. They enlisted the help of non-LDS scholars and collectors to provide insight and access to materials the LDS Church does not own -- some of which were unknown at the time the project was initiated, he said.

Funding came in the form of an endowment from local philanthropists Larry and Gail Miller, and top LDS leaders gave their permission to reproduce the materials owned by the church and heretofore only available on a limited basis to researchers. Turley said it was initially like putting together pieces of a puzzle "with some significant gaps," only to find that many of those were filled when new materials came to light.

Some came from "private collections that are fairly obscure," while other missing pieces came from "tiny repositories in the eastern United States," he said, noting that original Smith documents are virtually priceless, and those who hold them avoid publicity.

The journals provide a look into the Smith's life that is "up close and personal" without the "filter of a biographer," Turley said.

"He had the tremendous, specific responsibility and challenge of founding and overseeing a growing church. He faced daily challenges in church administration and as a husband and father, the threat of physical violence, opposition from engaging elements and legal challenges and tried to provide for his family in difficult economic times."

Turley said the criticism that has dogged Smith from his earliest years will not necessarily be quieted by the publication of his papers, but the volumes -- an anticipated 30 of which will be produced into the foreseeable future -- will allow critics to "see the source materials themselves."

"Questions about his spiritual claims will always rest on a foundation of faith. We can only hope that as people read his journals, they will see the sincerity of his religious experience." Turley said no legitimate scholar will be able to write a definitive biography of Smith from this point forward without using materials contained within the Joseph Smith Papers.

Jan Shipps, professor emeritus of religious studies at Indiana University-Purdue University, said the papers are "welcome indeed" and the new volume "truly inaugurates (a) new era in Mormon Studies."

Stephen Marini of Wellesley College said while Smith has been "one of the least accessible major figures in the history of American religion," the project is "a splendid debut for what is certain to become one of the great landmarks in LDS publishing and scholarship."

Kenneth Minkema of the Jonathon Edwards Center at Yale University said the project, when complete, "will rank among the most significant projects in the history of American religion."

Interest in the project seems to be high not only among scholars, but also among everyday Latter-day Saints. Though highly annotated and footnoted, the first volume had an initial print run of about 10,000, and Turley said he anticipates that, if sales continue as strong as they have in the past couple of weeks, the supply will be exhausted by Christmas.

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The Joseph Smith Papers

The Joseph Smith Papers On Wikipedia

Wikipedia On Joseph Smith

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NHNE On Joseph Smith & The Mormons