Meridian Magazine :: Answers to Critics: The Salamander Letter

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The Salamander Letter
From FAIR, the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research

Did the Church try to suppress the Salamander letter as critics claim?

Critics claim that the Church behaved itself improperly with regard to the Salamander letter. They argue that the Church acquired the letter with the intent of 'suppressing' it, or 'hiding history.'

To the contrary of the claims, the historical record is clear that the Church did nothing to hide the Hofmann "Salamander Letter," even though it appeared to pose problems for the Church's story of its origins.

3 January 1984

President Gordon B. Hinckley first saw the Salamander Letter. He wrote soon thereafter:

We have nothing to hide. Our enemies will try to make much of this letter, but any fair-minded individual who will read it in terms of the time it was written and the language of the day will not see it as detrimental to the history of those events connected with the restoration of the gospel.

April 1985

Steven F. Christiansen purchased the Salamander Letter from Hofmann, and donated it to the Church. President Hinckley accepted the donation.

28 April 1985

The Church News published the full text of the Salamander Letter. The First Presidency included a statement, quoting President Hinckley:

No one, of course, can be certain that Martin Harris wrote the document. However, at this point we accept the judgment of the examiner that there is no indication that it is a forgery. This does not preclude the possibility that it may have been forged at a time when the Church had many enemies. It is, however, an interesting document of the times.

23 June 1985

President Hinckley, at a Young Adult fireside broadcast from Temple Square , spoke about Martin Harris and others mentioned in the Salamander Letter:

As most of you know, recently there have been great stirrings over two old letters. One was purportedly written in 1825 by Joseph Smith to Josiah Stowell. If it is genuine, it is the oldest known product of Joseph Smith's handwriting. It concerns the employment of Joseph by Mr. Stowell, who was engaged in a mining operation looking for old coins and precious metals. The other carries the date of October 23, 1830, and was purportedly written by Martin Harris to W. W. Phelps.

I acquired for the Church both of these letters, the first by purchase. The second was given to the Church by its generous owner. I am, of course, familiar with both letters, having held them in my hands and having read them in their original form. It was I, also, who made the decision to make them public. Copies were issued to the media, and both have received wide publicity.

I knew there would be a great fuss. Scholars have pored over them, discussed them, written about them, differed in their opinions, and even argued about them.

I am glad we have them. They are interesting documents of whose authenticity we are not certain and may never be. However, assuming that they are authentic, they are valuable writings of the period out of which they have come. But they have no real relevancy to the question of the authenticity of the Church or of the divine origin of the Book of Mormon.

16 August 1985

Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke to the issues raised by the documents (as yet unknown as forgeries):

Some recent news stories about developments in Church history rest on scientific assumptions or assertions, such as the authenticity of a letter. Whether experts or amateurs, most of us have a tendency to be quite dogmatic about so-called scientific facts. Since news writers are not immune from this tendency, news stories based on scientific assumptions should be read or viewed with some skepticism.. . . The recent spectacular fraud involving the so-called Hitler diaries reminds us of this, and should convince us to be cautious. [4]

15 October 1985

Two Hofmann bombs murder Steven Christiansen and Kathy Sheets.

16 October 1985

Hofmann injures himself with one of his own bombs.

18 October 1995

After Hofmann's lies and murders were revealed, President Hinckley said:

I frankly admit that Hofmann tricked us. He also tricked experts from New York to Utah , however. We bought those documents only after the assurance that they were genuine. And when we released documents to the press, we stated that we had no way of knowing for sure if they were authentic. I am not ashamed to admit that we were victimized. It is not the first time the Church has found itself in such a position. Joseph Smith was victimized again and again. The Savior was victimized. I am sorry to say that sometimes it happens.

Conclusion

Some think it strange that a prophet could have been deceived. President Hinckley's public statements make it clear that he was not entirely convinced of the document's provenance, but provisionally accepted the judgment of the experts

It is also quite possible that President Hinckley knew by revelation that the documents were fraudulent at the time of the purchase. If the church refused to purchase them, they could have wound up belonging to enemies of the church who would have done all they could to prevent their fraudulent nature from being discovered and made public. In hindsight, the purchase of these documents helped lead to their exposure as fakes and the arrest of Mark Hofmann.

However, one should not be surprised if a prophet is deceived. The LDS do not believe their prophets to be infallible.

The Lord made it clear to Joseph Smith that a prophet is not granted to know all the designs of those who seek to destroy the Church:

But as you cannot always judge the righteous, or as you cannot always tell the wicked from the righteous, therefore I say unto you, hold your peace until I shall see fit to make all things known unto the world concerning the matter. D&C 10:37

The LDS doctrine of free agency requires that those who plot evil be allowed a certain latitude, though (as President Hinckley prophetically noted) permanent harm to the Lord's work will not be permitted.

It is clear, though, that the Church did not seek to hide the potentially damaging letter or its text.

Ironically, some modern critics continue to spread Hofmann's lies about his forgeries after he has confessed them. And, a retired CES teacher, Grant Palmer published a book whose explanation of the Book of Mormon's origin derived from material in Hofmann's forgery, twenty years after it was shown to be a fraud.

The full wiki article may be accessed by clicking here.

If you have any topic or question you would like to see addressed pleased contact Carolyn Wright at http://www.fairlds.org/contact.php Just check the box for the Meridian Article Editor.

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