Falling in Love with Joseph Smith: My Search for the Real Prophet By Jane Barnes Hardcover 1585429252 9781585429257 Falling in Love with Joseph Smith: My Search for the Real Prophet When award winning documentary film writer Jane Barnes was working on the PBS Frontline/American Experience special series The Mormons , she was surprised to find herself passionately drawn to Joseph Smith. The product of an Episcopalian, “WASPy” family, she couldn’t remember ever having met a Mormon before her work on the series—much less having dallied with the idea of converting to a religion shrouded in controversy. But so it She was smitten with a man who claimed to have translated the word of God by peering into the dark of his hat. In this brilliantly written book, Barnes describes her experiences working on the PBS series as she moved from secular curiosity to the brink of conversion to Mormonism. It all began when she came across Joseph Smiths early writings. She was delighted to discover how funny and utterly unique he was—and how widely divergent his wild yet profound visions of God were from the Church of Latter day Saints as we know it today. Her fascination deepened when, much to her surprise, she learned that her eighth cousin Anna Barnes converted to Mormonism in 1833. Through Anna, Barnes follows her family’s close involvement with Smith and the crises caused by his controversial practice of polygamy. Barnes’ unlikely path helps her gain a newfound respect for the innovative American spirit that lies at the heart of Mormonism—and for a religion that is, in many ways, still coming into its own. An intimate portrait of the man behind one of America’s fastest growing religions, Falling in Love with Joseph Smith offers a surprising and provocative window into the Mormon experience.
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Not specifically THERE but she tracks down a different sect of Utah polygamy Just outside of Colorado City sits a community called Centennial Park where she finds a family open to discussing the practice and reality of polygamy I found the explanation and discussion of the real spirit of polygamy beautiful and tragically misunderstood by those who abuse it I found that I gained an appreciation for those who choose to practice it I just don t want them to call themselves Mormons because I m selfish like that They are largely underground and quietly practicing what they view as eternal marriage while the scandalous get the press time. Falling in Love with Joseph smithdebnamlaw I found the book and Barnes journey to be honest.
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When award winning documentary film writer Jane Barnes was working on the PBS Frontline American Experience special series The Mormons she was surprised to find herself passionately drawn to Joseph Smith The product of an Episcopalian WASPy family she couldn t remember ever having met a Mormon before her work on the series much less having dallied with the idea of converting to a religion shrouded in controversy But so it She was smitten with a man who claimed to have translated the word of God by peering into the dark of his hat In this brilliantly written book Barnes describes her experiences working on the PBS series as she moved from secular curiosity to the brink of conversion to Mormonism It all began when she came across Joseph Smith s early writings She was delighted to discover how funny and utterly unique he was and how widely divergent his wild yet profound visions of God were from the Church of Latter day Saints as we know it today Her fascination deepened when much to her surprise she learned that her eighth cousin Anna Barnes converted to Mormonism in 1833 Through Anna Barnes follows her family s close involvement with Smith and the crises caused by his controversial practice of polygamy Barnes unlikely path helps her gain a newfound respect for the innovative American spirit that lies at the heart of Mormonism and for a religion that is in many ways still coming into its own An intimate portrait of the man behind one of America s fastest growing religions Falling in Love with Joseph Smith offers a surprising and provocative window into the Mormon experience Falling in Love with Joseph Smith My Search for the Real Prophet site_link post a comment
I ve been looking for a painless way to learn about Joseph Smith founder of the Latter Day Saints Mormons in order to better understand Orson Scott Card s Tales of Alvin Maker series After reading the first book I was convinced that Card was using Joseph Smith as source material for many aspects of Alvin and being non Mormon I wanted details to confirm or refute my theory This memoir seemed to be a way to fulfill that desire in an enjoyable way. Falling in Love with Joseph Smith ebooks free Jane Barnes starts her exploration of the LDS Church as part of a TV documentary series that she is working on She discovers that the history of Joseph Smith appeals to her sense of humour and whimsy that she has a number of relatives fairly distant who have converted to Mormonism including Smith s body guard and one of Brigham Young s wives and that the community of the LDS church feels very comfortable to her Ironically although Barnes is perfectly okay with all the LDS details it is the Christianity part that gets in her way she just can t feel like she has any particular need for Christ Despite the fact that she is truly a religious seeker ultimately she stays on the outside of any church because she just can t swallow that particular aspect of religion Another interesting aspect was that she felt most at home with a polygamist LDS sect in Utah because they acknowledged and celebrated Joseph Smith than the mainstream LDS establishment. Kindle Falling in Love with Joseph smith's As a genealogist who has spent time in LDS family history centres and a person who has Mormon friends I knew a little bit about the LDS church I ve been to a service which I can confirm did feel very welcoming I was happy to learn accurate information about the baptizing of ancestors and I could empathize with Barnes wrestling with religious questions I did learn a fair bit about Joseph Smith although not in the detail that I was hoping for Back to Wikipedia for me Recommended for those who would like a gentle introduction to the LDS faith some historical background on the only all American mainstream religion or those who are enthused about memoirs 294 Idiosyncratic and unfocused Barnes s account is part prattling confessional part foggy revisionist historiography 294 Fascinating to see this documentarian and historian with no ties to Mormonism actually take the missionary lessons whilst studying Joseph Smith s life in detail 294 This is a rare find The book is part memoir and part historical yet they can not be separated The reason I found this book so wonderful is that the author has no agenda Far too often in secular publishing the goal of the book is to discount Joseph Smith and or Mormonism On the other side of the equation is the publishing company Deseret Book which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints What I was really wanted to read was an objective view of the LDS church As objective as an exploration could be at any rate Barnes provided this. Falling in Love with Joseph Smith kindle direct Jane Barnes is a baby boomer raised as an Episcopalian although with little religion She married a Catholic and had two daughters both of whom she took to the Catholic church Still being young when the 60 s were in their exploration stage Jane found herself questioning many societal norms and was drawn to the fringe entering a lesbian relationship thus ending her marriage This experience turned out to be a vital experiment in understanding how one feels to be practicing an unpopular practice one that is not discussed and make others uncomfortable Much like earlier Mormons. Falling in Love with Joseph smithdale ms Later in life Jane was introduced to Joseph Smith s life and teachings through a writing job she had with a cable network She was fascinated enad and obsessively jumped right in to explore the subject matter For the reader to understand her point of view it is important to understand the author and her experiences which led to Joseph Smith and ultimately her decision on where to place her knowledge in her life today. Falling in Love with Joseph smithdeal Being a life long member of the LDS faith I wanted to see from another s eyes how the church and Joseph Smith is perceived sans propaganda To google the subject is to take into the sites of hateful and anti Mormon thoughts based on angry feelings rather than thoughtful theology and scholarship Mormon bashing has become a popular sport as of late. Kindle Falling in Love with Joseph smith's On the other side of the coin is the fact that before the age of information and like many other members of different denominations I was provided a carefully edited version that did not always paint a complete picture of the times the people or events Barnes not being a member of the LDS faith provides objectivity without an agenda to slander to canonize Naturally I didn t agree with all of Barnes ideas or facts Some of her accepted facts are controversial At the same time I don t fault her findings or conclusions simply due to the fact that she took the time to explore concepts with the goal of understanding Her research also provided me with at least two books that I want to read on Joseph Smith. Falling in Love with Joseph Smith kindle cloud Barnes does not shy away from the cringe worthy subjects One subject that is particularly controversial is polygamy Did Joseph Smith institute it because he was inspired by God or because he was oversexed Although the mainstream LDS church does not and has not practiced polygamy since late 1850 s this was a great cause of friction within the early Church So much so members who did not forsake the practice were excommunicated Also those who refused to accept the doctrine prior to coming to Utah left the church Most did not refute that Joseph was a prophet of God and translated the Book of Mormon They refuted the practice of polygamy as doctrine. EBook Falling in Love with Joseph smithsonian The most fascinating discussion and exploration came at the nearly the end of the book Although comfortable enough looking at mainstream Mormon people I like most of America cringe at today s polygamous communities Thank you Rulon and Warren Jeffs But Barnes goes there Well positive and beautiful I appreciated her candidness regarding her own life and experiences as well as her openness to Joseph Smith and his contextual time period in American History I enjoyed her honest agenda of trying to understand Joseph Smith 294 Very bizarre I couldn t even finish this book Too bad it sounded quite interesting It was awful. EPub Falling in Love with Joseph smithsonian the author must have been taking too many meds when she wrote this down Oddimaginary scenes between Huck Finn and Joseph Smith throughout her repeated protestations that she believes in the Prophet but doesn t get Jesus Christ just leave you wondering what on earth this woman trying to say I m guessing homework from her therapist 294
Jane Barnes begins the novel about her effort to discover who Joseph Smith was by describing him as a playful prophet largely illiterate At various times in his life he has told and written many different versions of his meetings with G d Christ and the angel Moroni At some point he even admits to lying He began his visions in 1932 and there were 7 incantations but the 1938 version is the accepted Book of Mormon He supposedly translated it from what he read inside his hat Barnes believes that might have been a play on words talking into one s hat old hat new hat etc I began to think if that was a play on words by a mischievous child could it be that the name of the angel was also It was dangerously close to the word moron From there we get to Mormon which could also be a play on the words man Well those were just my thoughts from her presentation I mean no disrespect What happens to transform the author into of a believer is the subject of this book She describes a comical caricature of a man who as he matures descends into a frenzied disjointed maddening kind of overwhelming existence so I am not sure where she is going with her thoughts or why she suddenly wants to become a follower unless she thinks this is the kind of religion one can easily adapt themselves to which may or may not in the eye of some readers actually lend truth to the theory that Mormonism is really like a cult than a religion.
EPub Falling in Love with Joseph smithsonian On page 10 I began to wonder if I could continue to read the book She describes the blackness of headache pain which overcame her on her way to a Mormon church She describes this as her epiphany as the beginning of her thoughts about conversion Can I actually believe this She shares her own life s experiences as she grew up and also talks about little miraculous events in the weeks prior to her conversion with things disappearing and suddenly reappearing We have all experienced such moments of d j vu when we discovered something in a place we had previously looked and declared it still missing but we don t often consider them epiphanies or miracles but like coincidences instead She seemed to me to be taking that kind of thought a step too far and she too also appeared to have had a life filled with varying moments of dysfunction.
Falling in Love with Joseph Smith epub file I did agree with her about her first realization that this life is only part of it that later will come something else for all of us I think that is the hope at the heart of most religions there is the promise of an afterlife hopefully better than the one before Although she admits to being profoundly affected by her research her presentation seems to be a parody on the religion rather than an investigation of its origins and strengths Since she is working on a documentary for PBS a station with a rather liberal bent I toyed with the thought that she was a plant from the left trying to affect the coming election between Obama and Romney She makes the religion sound not only comical but a bit insane She describes a religion developed by a young boy who with his entire family sounds a bit unstable They see visions use peep stones believe in magic etc When the author herself admits she has had similar experiences I found it hard to keep a straight face as I continued By the time I reached about page 50 I simply had to skim the rest I don t often give up on a book but this seemed to be going in circles leading me nowhere and the narrative was completely unfathomable to me I am sorry but I did abandon it 294 If you can hold on tight while Barnes simultaneously wrestles with Smith s remarkable life and work and her own remarkable life and work you ll find a strange imperfect imaginative and ultimately fascinating tale of obsession and exploration You have been warned 294 For years I ve been friends with a handful of people who believe in practice Mormonism Whenever we ve gotten into talks of their religion I find myself fascinated with their belief system and the unique culture that develops around this particular line of faith I think my interest mainly came from a simple place of curiosity since for so long I knew virtually nothing about the history of Mormonism beyond some dude a long time ago in the woods being sly with some golden tablets something along those lines And of course who can escape all the polygamy documentaries out there these days Figuring there was a whole lot to the story when I came across this book in a bargain bin one day I figured what the heck let s see what we learn.
Falling in Love with Joseph Smith ebooks online Quite a bit as it turns out Joseph Smith Sr the father of the famous one according to this book was something of a drinker and a get rich quick schemer It seems Junior didn t fall too far from the tree at least in the early years He took a similar route to dad having by the age of 15 already picked up smoking drinking and dabbling in the occult At the age of 17 is when he claims to first start seeing angels in the woods who tell him of the whereabouts of sacred golden plates These angels tell Joseph Smith the one this book focuses on that every September he is to visit the spot where they claim the plates are buried but he won t FIND the plates until he is deemed worthy It seems said seraphim gave him the stamp of approval around the age of 21 From there Smith brings in friend Martin Harris to transcribe the messages on the plates Harris wife grows increasingly upset jealous over her mister s obsession with the project insisting he show her what he s been working so hard on And then a scandal is born On the day that Emma Joseph Smith s 1st wife is giving birth to their first son who sadly died the same day Smith gets news that the 116 pages of transcribed text he and Harris had compiled so far had gone missing Suspicion falls on Martin s wife The friendship between Martin and Joseph takes a hit Emma helps with some of the continuing transcription work until the new scribe Oliver Cowdery is brought in to take over.
Falling in Love with Joseph Smith ebookers It was funny to read of how Emma Smith sometimes had doubt over her husband s prophet gifts as she knew him to be pretty much illiterate She also sometimes questioned the actual existence of the plates since Smith was SUPER secretive over who he allowed to see them Whoever was doing the transcribing work for him would listen to his words through a curtained area and just write down whatever he said According to Barnes research eleven people signed testimony swearing that they HAD seen the plates for themselves but oddly these statement were retracted then followed by them denying ever making the retracted statements whaaa Just weird behavior all around.
EPub Falling in Love with Joseph smith The part of all this that made me really feel for Emma Smith was the description of Joseph first bringing up polygamy to her He stood before her and claimed that an angel had appeared to him multiple times between the years 1834 1842 holding a sword to Joseph threatening death upon him if Joseph did not take up polygamy The modern wife in me reading this immediately felt a BS induced eyeroll coming on but it was a different time for Emma Perhaps it was difficult for her to speak up But let it be said here Emma was not a fan And whatever Joseph did or did not see he definitely took advantage of the situation three marriages by 1841 eleven by 1842 SEVENTEEN by 1843 Emma s reluctance and later resistance to the practice caused definite tensions between her and her husband Emma would notice that Joseph would send men out on missions for the church okay business as usual but then in certain circumstances he would keep the men away so he could snatch up the wives and marry them to himself Come sermon time Joseph would preach to men to discuss the topic of polygamy with their first wives before engaging in any but he was never upfront with his own wife about his The first few of his wives he already had on the books before he ever made mention of it to Emma He d just try to explain them off as long term house guests until it just got too hard to dismiss what was really going on Still in this book we see Emma really trying to stay true and dedicated to her husband through it all even though her heart must have been breaking.
Falling in Love with Joseph smithdale ms One scene of defiance that had me cheering though Barnes describes a moment where Emma and Joseph are arguing again about her resistance to obey his polygamy wishes Joseph writes on a piece of paper that a decree has come straight from God that she IS to obey Emma picks up the piece of paper with a pair of fireplace tongs and swiftly drops the paper into the glowing fireplace Yes girl Maybe that s as close as she ever got to a middle finger response but at some point EVERY woman has her limits By no means did this book strike me as an objective look at the history of Mormonism Oh no there is most definitely a bias to the writing but for someone who doesn t practice this faith myself and had virtually no knowledge of the history going in at the very least it was an interesting and if I m being 100 here sometimes laughable depiction of the origins of Mormonism I m not here to knock anyone s belief system it s just that some of the stuff Joseph Smith seemed to get away with I can t help be feel like REAALLY NO ONE called this guy out AND he s still considered a prophet It s just hard for me to wrap my sense of logic around.
Falling in Love with Joseph smithday Through researching the history of this book author Jane Barnes comes to discover her own genetic ties to Anna Barnes the wife of Joseph Smith s bodyguard as well as Harriet Barney Brigham Young s 49th wife 49TH Y ALL 294 This is a review of the uncorrected manuscript for limited distribution.
PDF Falling in Love with Joseph smith I was very interested in reading this book Having grown up in Salt Lake City as a non Mormon I was curious about what would bring this woman to a place in her adult life where she decided to convert to Mormonism Sadly I was disappointed in the read from the very first pages The author is already fascinated by Joseph Smith and has been since she was a little girl At least I think that s what she said I was a bit confused by the way the story moved from the smoking ruins of Vietnam to her time with PBS when she worked on a special about the Mormons Where is her journey to this point It seemed a story about I ve loved Joseph Smith forever even before I became a Mormon rather than a conversion.
Falling in Love with Joseph smithfield The author also makes references to things that she assumed I knew Joseph Smith used peep stones For what He spoke into his hat That s how he read the golden plates by looking into his hat She referred to these things as if the reader has certainly read a biography of Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon I have not.
Falling in Love with Joseph Smith ebook3000 This isn t the longest book so I was determined to push on hoping things would become clear the writing smooth Alas it did not Suddenly she tells us the taxi may have been an even bigger factor Taxi What taxi Then they did go to church pre conversion to Mormonism they didn t go to church huh And then because the author is so sure that Mark Twain would also have loved Joseph Smith and that Tom and Huck are much like Joseph Smith she writes them into a scene together Ugh.
Falling in Love with Joseph Smith ebookee And so I bailed on this book I really really really wanted to read it understand it experience her journey But I couldn t do it It s very possible that this is a style difference and that other readers will love her style and story but it was not for me 294 A fascinating and funny tale of a woman searching for faith thinking she may have found it in the Mormon church after writing and researching Joseph Smith while working on the fascinating PBS series on the Mormons As she searches for deeper meaning in her life she takes us along I really identified with her difficulty in embracing faith that is a powerful belief that is unquestioning when all your life is about questioning and wanting proof and being totally unable to relinquish that Concurrently it is an exploration of Joseph Smith and the faith and doctrines of Mormonism A deeply personal story as well as a look at the past and present in the Mormon faith 294.