Several people have been asking me about Brought to Light. I'll discuss it more in two weeks, but for now, here's the opening section of Chapter 1:
Church history is a
delightful topic on its own, but it also gives us insights into our own
roles in the Restoration. The early members of the Church were courageous,
confident, and compassionate, but also complex. Like us, they were not perfect.
They had strong testimonies of the truth, but struggled to live up to their
aspirations. Despite their weaknesses, and in the face of strong opposition,
they achieved miraculous success in building the foundation for today’s Church.
I wrote this book to share what I think are faith-affirming
historical facts about one of the least-understood figures of Mormon
history—Benjamin Winchester. Like me a year ago, I suspect you have never heard
of Benjamin Winchester (unless you read my previous book, The Lost City of Zarahemla). He has become a footnote character in
Church history, known—if at all—as a troublemaker. A month before he was
murdered in Carthage, Joseph Smith said that Benjamin Winchester “had a rotten
heart” and “would injure the Church as much as he could.” As you’ll see, Winchester
was a far more influential figure than has been previously recognized, just as
Joseph warned.
If you’ve read Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, studied the Church lesson manual Teachings of the Presidents of the Church:
Joseph Smith, or viewed Book of Mormon artwork on the walls of Church
buildings, you’ve seen the work of Benjamin Winchester. This book presents evidence
that articles we have long attributed to Joseph Smith were actually written by
Winchester. He was one of the “ghosts in the print shop,” meaning he was one of
the authors of unattributed material in the Times
and Seasons. Some of it was published anonymously, some under pseudonyms,
and some signed simply “Ed.” for editor.
As I showed in The
Lost City of Zarahemla, Winchester started out as an enthusiastic young
missionary and Church leader, a close friend of Wilford Woodruff, William
Smith, Parley P. Pratt, Erastus Snow, and Joseph Smith himself. His enthusiasm
grew into zealotry and self-righteousness that brought him into direct conflict
with Church leaders and, eventually, apostasy. Hence Joseph’s description.
One way that Winchester injured the Church was providing
what would become the basis for the Mesoamerican theory of Book of Mormon
geography. That was the topic of Lost
City. The book you’re reading now expands beyond that specific point to
look at other ways in which Benjamin Winchester left his mark on the Church.
Basically, I propose that
Joseph Smith did not write the unattributed editorials in the 1842 Times and Seasons. (The Times and Seasons was the early Church
newspaper equivalent of today’s Ensign
and Liahona.) These editorials have
long been incorrectly attributed to Joseph, conferring a quasi-scriptural
importance on them that persists to the present day.
I hope the evidence brought to light in this book will
affirm the faith of those who accept the latter-day restoration of the Gospel.
But it may require some changes in thinking as well.