Shortly after its publication, I read and marked up Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith’s Gold Plates: A Cultural History (New York City: Oxford University Press, 2023). Among the numerous passages in the book that I highlighted was this early autobiographical comment:
“A logical path for a Latter-day Saint growing up in the modern world, especially one who became a historian, would be to grow out of my childhood beliefs. The plates would be spiritualized and their meaning made allegorical. But my life did not follow that course. The plates have continued to have a hold on me, and the same is true for other Mormons. Polls show that more than three-quarters of American Mormons believe that “the Book of Mormon is a literal, historical account,” a likely indicator of belief in the plates. This makes a big difference in one’s outlook on the world. With the plates comes an angel and divine intervention in ordinary human lives. The plates imply a world where God is an active agent in human affairs in opposition to the skepticism that has eroded religion for the past two hundred years.” (ix)
It reminds me of a comment that Professor Bushman once made to me. I think it was when we were interviewing him, or had just concluded our interview with him, in an apartment in New York City for our 2022 documentary, Undaunted Witnesses of the Book of Mormon. He said, partly by way of explaining his willingness to sit for an interview with us, that he wanted people to know that, whatever they might have imagined about him, he came down in the end “on the side of angels and plates.” Which is to say that he believes in real angels and literal golden plates and their involvement in the early history of Joseph Smith and the Restoration.
I like his observation that “The plates imply a world where God is an active agent in human affairs in opposition to the skepticism that has eroded religion for the past two hundred years.” In a sense, the plates are analogous to the incarnation of Jesus himself, which, if it really happened, renders God no mere abstraction and refutes attempts to reduce his role to only what Deism has been willing to allow.
I’m quite confident that Hyrum Smith, one of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, was making the parallel when, after his release from more than four months in Missouri’s ironically named Liberty Jail under threats of imminent execution, he wrote that
I felt a determination to die, rather than deny the things which my eyes had seen, which my hands had handled, and which I had borne testimony to, wherever my lot had been cast.
Speaking of the plates, he was manifestly echoing the language of 1 John 1:1,3, which is about Jesus:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life . . . that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you.
Presidents D. Todd Christofferson, Henry B. Eyring, and Dallin H. Oaks — the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — have issued a brief video message for the Easter season. I encourage you to watch it: “Feel God’s Love This Easter Season: A Palm Sunday and General Conference Invitation: The First Presidency shares a special message with the world”
Today, being the Sabbath, would be a perfect day on which to watch one, some, most, or all of the posted episodes of the Interpreter Foundation’s ongoing series Becoming Brigham. And, happily, all of the installments of the series that are currently available are easily accessible here, in one location. Episode 8 will go up tomorrow, Monday. Happily, though, a half-minute trailer for it is freely accessible right now: “Becoming Brigham TRAILER—Young Brigham Young, Part Three”
Here’s an imaginary dialogue that will help to answer some questions about my current junket southwards:
Hostile Interrogator (HI): “You’re traveling again.”
Devious Peterson (DP): “Yes. That’s true. My wife and I are down in Arizona, visiting family and friends. Your tone suggests disapproval. Is traveling to visit friends and family somehow unethical in your view?”
HI (ignoring the question): “How did you get there?”
DP: “We flew.”
HI: “On a luxurious private jet?”
DP: “No. On a commercial airliner.”
HI: “Who paid your airfare?”
DP: “We did.”
HI: “Who is we?”
DP: “My wife and I.”
HI: “Who is covering the cost of your lodging?”
DP: “We are.”
HI: “Who is paying for your food?”
DP: “We are.”
HI: “What proportion of your expenses for this trip is covered by the Interpreter Foundation?”
DP: “Zero.”
HI: “As always, you’re being evasive. Just answer the question! What portion of your expenses for this trip is borne by Redbrick Filmworks?”
DP: “None. Zero. Not a cent.”
HI: “More obfuscation. Why don’t you just admit that you profit enormously from your involvement with the Interpreter Foundation? Why are you afraid to concede that it funds your lavish lifestyle? Just come clean! After all, your followers are too duped and benighted even to care.”
DP: “Because I won’t lie. And, by the way, they’re not.”
HI: “You’re lying.”
You may have imagined that you were going to escape this blog entry without being exposed to something horrible from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™. Well, think again! Not wanting you to slip into a state of complacency and carnal security, I offer this: “Donation to Soaring Hearts Program Lifts Indigenous Families.”
Posted from Scottsdale, Arizona
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