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Non-Latter-day Saint Professor, Biographer Calls the Joseph Smith Papers a ‘Researcher’s Dream’

Multiple documents provide insight into Joseph’s personality, says John G. Turner at Joseph Smith Papers Conference

John-G.-Turner
John-G.-Turner
John G. Turner, George Mason University professor of religious studies and history, delivers the keynote address at the Joseph Smith Papers Conference in the Conference Center Little Theater in Salt Lake City on Friday, September 9, 2022. Photo by Jeffrey D. Allred, courtesy of Church News.Copyright 2022 Deseret News Publishing Company.

 
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By Trent Toone, Church News

Author and history professor John G. Turner said he likes to display his Joseph Smith Papers volumes on his desk because they make him look like a “really serious scholar.”

When a rabbi friend visited his office a few days ago and noticed the large, thick academic volumes, he picked one up, looked at the cover and said, “That’s your guy, right?”

Turner, a George Mason University professor of religious studies and history, is currently working on a biography of Joseph Smith, but is not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He said he wasn’t quite sure how to answer the question.

Then his rabbi friend asked if the Joseph Smith Papers were the “Mormon version of the Talmud,” a primary source of Jewish religious law and theology.

“Not exactly,” Turner said. “But they are amazing.”

Turner used the fun anecdote to introduce his Joseph Smith Papers Conference keynote address, “Hunting for Documents: The Joseph Smith Papers and Joseph Smith’s Biography,” to a small audience Friday, September 9, in the Conference Center Little Theater.

In his remarks, Turner described how the Joseph Smith Papers has been an invaluable resource for his biography.

“It’s a historian’s treasure trove and a researcher’s dream,” Turner said of the Joseph Smith Papers. In a previous review of the papers, Turner wrote: “The Joseph Smith Papers project matches the audacity of its subject. Presidents and poets, minsters and marchers can only hope for similar treatment.”

John-G.-Turner
John-G.-Turner
John G. Turner, George Mason University professor of religious studies and history, delivers the keynote address at the Joseph Smith Papers Conference in the Conference Center Little Theater in Salt Lake City on Friday, September 9, 2022. Photo by Jeffrey D. Allred, courtesy of Church News. Copyright 2022 Deseret News Publishing Company.

 
Hunting Legal and Plural Marriage Documents

Turner was invited to focus on Documents Vols. 12 and 13 as part of his keynote remarks.

“Those volumes have indeed helped me better understand Joseph Smith’s activities and personality in significant ways,” he said.

Turner cited examples from legal and plural marriage documents.

When studying the various documents that tell the story of multiple attempts by Missouri officials to arrest and extradite Joseph Smith, Turner praised the Joseph Smith Papers for collecting and connecting the substantial paper trail.

“Thanks to the JSP website, one doesn’t have to hunt after them,” he said.

Multiple documents provide insight into Joseph’s personality. Turner pointed to journal entries from Willard Richards and Wilford Woodruff who recorded the experience of two lawmen threatening to kill Joseph. The Prophet pulled open his shirt and said, “Shoot away.”

“That’s a pretty striking image,” Turner said. “Smith ripping his shirt open and daring his enemies to shoot him.”

There are fewer records related to plural marriage, but Turner credited the Joseph Smith Papers with making it possible to trace and analyze documents like blessings given to Sarah Ann Whitney and Joseph Kingsbury in 1843, which do provide historians some insight and perspective on the topic.

“What’s remarkable about the Joseph Smith Papers is that it’s now easy for researchers to look at all of these documents and understand how they’re intertwined,” he said.

John-G.-Turner
John-G.-Turner
John G. Turner, George Mason University professor of religious studies and history, delivers the keynote address at the Joseph Smith Papers Conference in the Conference Center Little Theater in Salt Lake City on Friday, September 9, 2022. Photo by Jeffrey D. Allred, courtesy of Church News.Copyright 2022 Deseret News Publishing Company.

 
Feedback on the Joseph Smith Papers

Following his keynote, Turner fielded questions from the audience on various topics. He was asked if he had any critiques or critical feedback for the Joseph Smith Papers, or if he might comment on his experience with access to the Church’s archives?

Turner, who previously wrote a biography on Brigham Young, expressed his understanding that the Church is a private entity and has no obligation to grant access to its records, but added he would love to see more access to Church records because they are rich with human experiences.

“Because the Latter-day Saints have been such fabulous record keepers, those marvelous records exist, and they are meaningful, not just for members of the Church, but for others,” Turner said. “I feel that all of us are enriched when we have the opportunity to get close to these individuals who lived through remarkable experiences 150, 180 years ago, so I guess in terms of access the more the merrier for everyone because these are historical records that have a lot of value and meaning for many of us in and out of the Church.”

Turner’s Biography on Joseph Smith

Turner also responded to a number of questions about his Joseph Smith biography.

How will it compare to past biographies?

Turner said its been 75 years since a non-Latter-day Saint published a biography of the American Prophet, and thanks to the Joseph Smith Papers, a lot of new information has come forward.

“I think it’s past time for a biography written by a non-Latter-day Saint that makes full use of the archival material and writes a fresh biography of Joseph Smith,” he said.

Can you provide any main themes or a sense of the overall work?

Turner admitted he still has a lot to figure out, but said he takes seriously Joseph Smith’s self-understanding as a prophet akin to the prophets of the Bible and mentioned comparisons to Moses, Abraham and Joseph as examples.

“I’m sort of trying to use those figures as a way of structuring different sections of the biography,” he said. “I am taking seriously Joseph Smith as someone who has been engaged with the Bible and as a serious religious thinker in terms of introducing ordinances, ritual and ecclesiastical order.”

Turner also wants to explore Joseph’s “robust personality.”

When will Turner’s biography be published?

“That’s a great question,” he said. “I don’t know. It will be a couple of years. These things take time.”
 

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