Talk:Abner Cole

Copied from User talk:Good Olfactory

Hi - you wrote "in Smith's writings, he claims there were earlier critics of his claims; though they did not publish" -- but, why would we care about people who commented but didn't publish their comments? That's like saying my son commented to me on my book while I was writing it, so he's the first critic. It doesn't seem to me that it counts.

The point is, while Smith's book was at the publisher, before ever being published, Cole was able to sneak a read in, and he PUBLISHED his comments not only before other critics, but before the book was published.

Your thoughts? Thanks. Geĸrίtzl (talk) 21:40, 28 September 2011 (UTC)

Cole was probably the first published critic, but according to Smith and his followers Cole was definitely not the first critic of Smith's claims. Smith claims he was being heavily criticized (even "persecuted", in his words) as far back as 1820 by locals he told about his spiritual manifestations. So it's simply misleading to say that Cole was the first critic of Smith or of the Latter Day Saint movement. A critic does not have to be published to be a critic. Good Ol’factory ^(talk) 21:43, 28 September 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for your comments. It's not that important to me at all, but I might go back and reword, saying he was first to publish criticism, because I think it's important (and fascinating) that he did so before Smith's work was publicly produced, because he was able to read the manuscripts at the publisher's house. Geĸrίtzl (talk) 22:17, 28 September 2011 (UTC)

OK. It may be true to say that he was the earliest critic of the Book of Mormon. Most of the pre-Cole criticism was related to Smith's other claims and not related directly to the Book of Mormon. Good Ol’factory ^(talk) 22:19, 28 September 2011 (UTC)