ANSWERS: 2
  • Who really knows, LDS have tried to change their history, hide it, decieve people, change their doctrine to make it fit. They would do anything to keep the religion going.
  • Yes they do and here's some supporting evidence: FAWN BRODIE'S TESTIMONY: Fawn Brodie (author of a watershed biography of Joseph Smith published in 1945) stated in an interview: "Q: Were you allowed ample access to records and manuscripts when you were writing the book? A: Almost all of the material in the book came from three great libraries. At the University of Chicago, where I was working after I married Bernard, there was really a great collection of western New York State history so by going through the material I was able to find out something about the sources of Joseph Smith's ideas, particularly the ideas which went into the writing of the Book of Mormon. I finally ended up going to Albany, NY, where all the newspapers were kept which were published in Joseph Smith's own hometown in Palmyra, NY. So I was able to read the newspapers he had read as a young man. This turned out to be an absolute gold mine! A lot of the theories about the American Indians being descendants of the Lost Ten Tribes and the descriptions of what were being found in the Indian mounds were in the newspapers. The speculation was there. That was extremely important as was the anti-Masonic material. The anti-Masonic excitement was very strong at that time. Then I went to the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library. The New York Public Library has the best Mormon collection in the country outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. I did go to the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Independence, MO, and I did go to the library of Salt Lake City for some periodicals, early Mormon periodicals that I couldn't get anywhere else. I was permitted to see those, but I was not permitted to see any manuscript material. Q: Are those church archives open now? I read a comment indicating that it was believed that your book would open archival material. A: It had the reverse effect. The archives were largely closed to scholars after my book came out. But in recent years they have become open again. The new man who is head of the church historian's office, Leonard Arrington, a fine historian, is much more liberal in his attitude than the older historians. The younger scholars are now being given access to the archives in a way they were not before. I think this was long overdue but a very good trend. Q: Was there a fear that someone else would do the same thing you did? A: That's right. I think I should be very exact in my statement. It is not quite true to say the manuscript sources were denied to me. I had been told that there was a "diary of Joseph Smith" in his own handwriting, written when he was in his early twenties. I knew one man at the Brigham Young University, who is now dead, who had seen it and read it. But when I asked to see it, I was told I could not see it. Then I had a very long, and very difficult interview with my uncle, David O. McKay. Afterward, he told me I could see the manuscript but by this time the family situation had become so delicate that I felt that I would rather not take advantage of my uncle's name to use this material. I wrote to him saying I would not ask for any more material and I never went back to the church library. So, technically, I was given access, but I didn't use it. It was made very clear to me that it was an extremely difficult family situation, so that is the way I handled it." http://www.concernedchristians.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=42&func=view&id=79120&catid=10#79120 CASE STUDY: LEONARD J. ARRRINGTON, LDS CHURCH HISTORIAN And here's what happened to Leonard J. Arrington - the man who dared to open up those archives: "In 1972, Arrington was appointed official Church Historian of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and was simultaneously appointed as "Lemuel H. Redd Professor of Western History" and Founding Director of the "Charles Redd Center for Western Studies" at Brigham Young University (BYU). The "Church Historian's Office" was transformed into the church's "Historical Department", and Arrington was made director of its research-oriented "History Division". During his time in the office, Arrington embarked on an ambitious program of sponsoring the writing of LDS Church histories in the academic style. Among the best known works from this "New Mormon History" were two general Church histories, one aimed at LDS Church members, The Story of the Latter-day Saints, and one for interested outsiders, The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints. Arrington also granted liberal access to Church archival material to both Mormon and non-Mormon scholars. This era is sometimes referred to as “Camelot” due to its open and idealistic ethos. The Church transferred his History Division to BYU in 1982, bringing the era of open Church Archives to a close. Working in a new Brigham Young University division, the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History, brought Arrington into a more static situation, as he no longer divided his time between Church Headquarters and BYU. In February 1982, he was privately released as Church Historian and director of the History Division. These positions were assumed by the Historical Department's Managing Director G. Homer Durham, who was also a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. At the April 1982 General Conference, the change was not formally announced and Arrington did not receive the traditional vote of thanks for his service. Arrington continued on as director of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History until his retirement in 1987. In 2005, the Institute was closed and the department's historians were returned to Church Headquarters." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_J._Arrington#LDS_Church_Historian CASE STUDY: MARK HOFMANN, FORGER Finally, the mid 1980's Mark Hofmann case CLEARLY demonstrated that the LDS Church suppresses "non-faith promoting" manuscripts and antiquities: "It is common knowledge among members of the Church that their leadership has all its sensitive documents relating to Church history hidden away in "the Church Archives" and "the First Presidency's vault," and these documents are strictly off limits to the world. Even the membership is denied access. Only select historians in the Church's employ are ever granted access, and even then on a limited basis. In light of this secrecy, Hofmann strongly suspected that the Church leadership was willing, if not downright anxious, to suppress any historical document which tended to reflect negatively on the Church. Thereafter, he began "finding" such documents, which were in actuality his own forgeries. He had several meetings with Gordon B. Hinckley, now "Prophet, Seer, and Revelator" and President of the Church, in which deals were negotiated wherein the documents were purchased by the church in a roundabout way. They were bought by private collectors who had received money from the Church, and the collectors would then "donate" the documents to the Church, which would subsequently throw them into the bottomless pit of the archives, never to be heard from again. Part of Hofmann's scheme was to leak news of his "discovery" of these documents. He had two reasons for doing this: One was to inflate their prices; the other was to force the Church to own up to its own history as opposed to whitewashing it. It has often been stated that Hofmann was trying to "rewrite" Mormon history, but this is not the case. He was merely trying to "help history along" by crafting the missing pieces of the puzzle which, according to his intensive study of LDS history, should have been there all along but had already been suppressed or lost." http://www.mormoninformation.com/hofmann.htm Attached Images: 1) Leonard J. Arrington 2) Mark Hofmann's Mug Shot 3) The White Salamander Letter Page 1 (HOFMANN FORGERY) 4) The Anthon "Chinese Character" Transcript (HOFMANN FORGERY) 5) Fawn Brodie

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