Joseph Smith and the Greek Psalter

ORIGINAL FOUND ON MORMONTHINK.com

The Greek Psalter Incident

Professor Henry Caswall, a professor, reverand and skeptic of Joseph Smith, visited Nauvoo on April 18 & 19, 1842. Caswell claims to have given Joseph Smith a very old Greek Psalter to examine and asked him what it was. (A Psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms and which often contains other devotional material. In the early Middle Ages Psalters were amongst the most popular types of manuscripts, rivaled only by the Gospel Books.) Caswell knew that Joseph was involved with translating other ancient documents, such as the Book of Mormon from Reformed Egyptian and the Book of Abraham from Egyptian papyri, therefore Caswall most likely wanted to see if he could trick Joseph with his ancient Greek manuscript. Professor Caswell reported that Joseph examined the ancient document and replied that it was a Dictionary of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics. Caswall knew Joseph was wrong as this was a known Greek Psalter and definitely not Egyptian. Caswall says that he told this incident to Mormon apostle Dr. William Richards who said "Sometimes Mr. Smith speaks as mere man. If he gave a wrong opinion respecting the book, he spoke as a mere man." 

Overview of LDS position

From the Encyclopedia of Mormonism:

"Called the "Anti-Mormon Extraordinaire," the Reverend Henry Caswall published The City of the Mormons, or Three Days at Nauvoo. He claimed that he gave Joseph Smith a copy of a Greek manuscript of the Psalms and that Smith identified it as a dictionary of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Caswall invented dialogue between himself and Smith to portray Joseph Smith as ignorant, uncouth, and deceptive."

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992), p.47. Cited in BYU Studies' LDS FAQ under "Anti-Mormon Publications," http://ldsfaq.byu.edu/viewEM.aspx?number=206

John A. Widtsoe, while a member of the Quorum of the 12, wrote the following about Henry Caswall: 

He told about the sport he had in fooling Joseph Smith and the people whom he met into believing that a Greek psalter he had with him was a new find, perhaps a lost scripture for the Prophet to decipher. He attributed to the Prophet the appearance of a knave and a clown, using exceedingly coarse language.

In reporting his talk with Joseph Smith, he forgot that the Prophet and many other Church members had studied, Greek, Hebrew, and other languages, sufficiently to recognize Greek script. Such mistakes are often made by those who fail to tell the truth. Caswall's bitter opposition to Mormonism was revealed in the book he wrote a year later.

John A. Widtsoe, Joseph Smith--Seeker after Truth, Prophet of God , p.97

Overview of Critics' position

What is at issue is Joseph Smith's ability as a translator, one of his roles or duties as claimed in D&C 124:125 "I give unto you my servant Joseph to be a presiding elder over all my church, to be a translator, a revelator, a seer, and prophet." It is asserted today that Joseph could translate with the use of a Urim and Thummim, a peepstone (or seerstone) and through direct revelatory means; he could do so unaided by physical media (such as plates or papyri). If Joseph was indeed a "translator," as God says he was, one would think he would also be an "identifier" as well—in other words, if he could translate ancient records, he should at the very least be able to identify the language of ancient records presented to him. There is an acknowledged problem regarding the translation of the Book of Abraham and associated papyri, and in his attempt regarding the Kinderhook Plates. The Greek Psalter incident may be another.