Henry C. Sheldon appeals to the Greek Psalter incident to criticize Joseph Smith.

Date
1914
Type
Book
Source
Henry C. Sheldon
Critic
Non-LDS
Hearsay
Direct
Reference

Henry C. Sheldon, A Fourfold Test of Mormonism (New York: The Abingdon Press, 1914), 25–26

Scribe/Publisher
Abingdon Press
People
Henry Caswall, Henry C. Sheldon, Joseph Smith, Jr.
Audience
Reading Public
Transcription

Another instance of fraudulent pretense, historically less important but quite as glaring as that just mentioned , is reported by the Rev. Henry Caswall. In 1842 he visited Nauvoo, Illinois, then the headquarters of Mormonism . To test the latter-day "prophet” he took with him a Greek manuscript of the Psalter, judged to be about six hundred years old and quite antique in appearance. The result of his interview he reports in these words: “I handed the book to the prophet and begged him to explain its con tents. He asked me if I had any idea of its meaning. I replied that I believed it to be a Greek Psalter; but that I should like to hear his opinion. "No," he said, "it ain't Greek at all, except perhaps a few words. What ain't Greek is Egyptian; and what ain't Egyptian is Greek. This book is very valuable. It is a dictionary of Egyptian hieroglyphics." Pointing to the capital letters at the commencement of each verse, he said: "Them figures is Egyptian hieroglyphics; and them which follow is the interpretation of the hieroglyphics written in Reformed Egyptian. Them characters is like the letters which was engraved on the golden plates.'"

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