Talk:Early life of Joseph Smith

Reference

Building The Nation. Charles Carleton Coffin. ~1882. Chapter 32, "The Mormons", ten pages.

6 sub-article series for a life biography? No other famous American has this.

I was surprised to see that Joseph Smith's life is broken up into 6 time periods. This seems very unusual, why is this? Is each aspect of his life so notable as to justify this separate series?

I could not find any famous American, religious or otherwise, where this occurs. For example George Washington,William Penn, L. Ron Hubbard, Ellen G. White, Mark Twain, Neil Armstrong, Elvis Presley, John D. Rockefeller, Benedict Arnold, etc. Dig Deeper (talk) 21:41, 24 July 2016 (UTC)

Smith is the recognized founder of a religious movement embraced by millions. The nature of his life is notable because he founded that movement. This article is subdivided into different periods of time, and rightly so, because it is easier to focus on the mammoth accomplishments of each period rather than having one EXTREMELY large article to cover it all. You make a fair point: not many have this. This particular method for tracking the events of Smith's life was agreed upon by consensus. If you think you can make it happen, I might suggest requesting that the articles mentioned above be so subdivided, and you can obtain a consensus to make that happen. I don't follow many of the other articles you mentioned, but you do make a fair point. If this is the method for cataloging Smith's life, why not expand that to other significant world figures? That would be my suggestion. In the meantime, if you have sufficient grounds to do so, you are always free to make a motion to merge articles you feel are unfairly or unnecessarily split. So either course of action would help you address these issues. Thanks. --Jgstokes (talk) 03:04, 4 August 2016 (UTC)

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Did Joseph have golden plates?

@Rollidan: has recently added a non historic tall tale to this page, stating Smith had a stack of golden plates hidden under beans. This should not be included in this biography, as no independent sources believe Smith had golden plates under beans. Rollidan, can you provide a reliable source? 12.75.41.47 (talk) 17:14, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

I did not add this account to the article, it was already in the article when you removed it. I am simply restoring the referenced material that you removed. If you want an independent source that reiterates the particular circumstance of Joseph Smith hiding a bag of beans, go to the Richard Bushman source, Rough Stone Rolling, pg 77.

When we are adding these details to the article, we need to use language that adheres to a neutral point of view. This includes saying claim, allege, and similar sentiments that your latest edit contains. The previous version states that Joseph Smith said he had an angel appear to him, and reportedly was keeping the box safe from his neighbors that he said contained the plates.

I am okay with removing the big block quote that you removed, but the other parts that you removed are just not it, and I will add back the golden plates parts with multiple sources. Rollidan (talk) 01:13, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

When you readd content, you take ownership of it. You added a lot of fringe content to this article. The golden plates are mythical, and thus no part of a biography should discuss him possessing them. You can include that in articles about Mormon views on Joseph Smith, not his actual biography. 12.75.41.47 (talk) 03:29, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

You also added that he dictated a translation of the plates back to the article. That didn't happen. Again, keep the tall tales out of the biography, unless you have reliable independent sources saying he actually translated golden plates. No mainstream historian believes this though. 12.75.41.47 (talk) 03:31, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

Your new source is apologetics and won't cut it. We need an independent historian, not a Mormon apologist. Check out the reviews for your source, it is clearly not independent and won't meet WP:RS. I'm removing references to the plates existing and traveling with him until you have a RS. 12.75.41.47 (talk) 03:43, 20 August 2024 (UTC)