Smith As A Treasure Seeker
Vogel states that he believes that the significance of treasure seeking in Smith’s early life deserves greater emphasis than has been given in previous biographies, and presents Smith as “a leader among the treasure seers of Manchester, New York.” Regarding these activities, it is suggested that “Smith was both convinced of his ability and also deceptive” and that “Smith may have believed himself to be inspired and may have at times heard voices or experienced visions but still used some deception to convince others.” In order to support the thesis of Smith’s primary focus in life being treasure hunting, the author makes extensive use of the Hurlbut affidavits originally published in E. D. Howe’s exposé Mormonism Unvailed and other early anti-Mormon publications.
Read more about this topic: Joseph Smith: The Making Of A Prophet
Famous quotes containing the words smith, treasure and/or seeker:
“What a pity it is that we have no amusements in England but vice and religion!”
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845)
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 13:44.
“But lest I should mislead any when I have my own head and obey my whims, let me remind the reader that I am only an experimenter. Do not set the least value on what I do, or the least discredit on what I do not, as if I pretended to settle any thing as true or false. I unsettle all things. No facts are to me sacred; none are profane; I simply experiment, an endless seeker with no Past at my back.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)