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S A I N T S: “JOSEPH IS SO AMAZING”

“Emma also took turns as scribe and was amazed how after interruptions and breaks, Joseph always picked up where he left off without any prompting.”

Saints – Volume 1: The Standard of Truth 1815-1846 (Salt Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, January 2018), 50.

As with all of “Saints,” Emma’s words are paraphrased. However, these seem fairly close to the mark. Here is the longer version:

“[T]hough I was an active participant in the scenes that transpired, and was present during the translation of the plates, and had cognizance of things as they transpired, it is marvelous to me, ‘a marvel and a wonder,’ as much so as to any one else… [Joseph] would dictate to me hour after hour; and when returning after meals, or after interruptions, he would at once begin where he had left off, without either seeing the manuscript or having any portion of it read to him.”

Joseph Smith III interview, The Saints’ Herald., “Last Testimony of Sister Emma” (Plano, IL: The Saints’ Herald., 1 October 1879).

It’s disconcerting to think that anything LESS than this would be expected of a prophet exercising the gift and power of God. Yes, the process should be amazing, but not the fact that he could get right back into it after a break. What kind of “prompting” is being suggested?

She continues her sanctimony by saying that such actions would be “improbable” for an educated man, but “impossible” for Joseph.

But why? If God was at the helm, then why such lauding for simply picking up where he left off?

Those outside of the church rightly accuse the religion of worshipping Joseph Smith. This is a perfect example of how the actions of a prophet should be handled with humility rather than “Praise to the Man.”

RE-rewrite: “Emma also took turns as scribe. Joseph would occasionally have interruptions or breaks, but upon his return the stone would illuminate at the exact place it left off.”