Joseph Smith

Rough Stone Rolling

De: Richard Lyman Bushman

Narrado por: James Anderson Foster

Founder of the largest indigenous Christian church in American history, Joseph Smith published the 584-page Book of Mormon when he was 23 and went on to organize a church, found cities, and attract thousands of followers before his violent death at age 38. Richard Bushman, an esteemed cultural historian and a practicing Mormon, moves beyond the popular stereotype of Smith as a colorful fraud to explore his personality, his relationships with others, and how he received revelations.

An arresting narrative of the birth of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling also brilliantly evaluates the prophet's bold contributions to Christian theology and his cultural place in the modern world.

©2005 Richard Lyman Bushman (P)2018 Tantor

Remarkable in Every Way

The fairest and most complete account of Joseph Smith’s life I’ve encountered, and by far the best researched. It is an astonishing story of an astonishing man and an astonishing era. Well done.

For a member, a very good job of just presenting fact

I found bushman account very detailed and a very “matter of fact” approach. Facts that could shake one’s testimony of our religion but should strengthen it knowing Joseph smith was just a man . He was an ordinary man who was a prophet by all definitions. The way bushman presents it is very down the middle when you add in all factors and I didn’t feel he held any punches. I actually learned a lot and sometimes found myself looking through the lens of those who became disenchanted with Bro Jospeh and feeling empathic for their cause. Overall a beautiful collage of detail and collective narrative surely to edify even the non believer.

great book.

This feels like a fair overview of the controversial life of Joseph Smith. without skirting the thorny issues, Bushman presents an honest assessment of a most remarkable American historical figure

Imperative reading for all Mormons

This is a must read for any member of the Mormon church or those wanting a factual history of the church. I was referred to this book to gain a fuller picture of church history and to learn about many facts not told in the polished narrative of the church’s missionary discussions or Sunday school lessons. It is for the reader willing to think critically of their faith and that which they believe to be true. Richard Lyman Bushman is a scholar, has worked extensively on the JS Paper’s project, and this book can be purchased directly through Deseret Book. If you are someone who truly wants to know the truth, I highly recommend this book.

Narrator's pronunciation is terrible

The improper pronunciation of names and places. prevented me from hearing the author's voice and appreciating the excellent scholarship of the work. Dr. Bushman presents a fascinating, highly academic and honest well-rounded view of Joseph Smith's origins, influences, and accomplishments it is also a history of the founding and establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints up to his martyrdom in 1844. He explores areas that many would prefer not to explore, but handles them delicately and doesn't shy away from addressing some "sticky" issues that often show up in anti-Mormon literature. When described against the backdrop of the time, location, and culture, they generally fall into their proper perspective for the setting. In the final analysis this book supported my ever-growing love for the prophet and faith that he truly was a prophet. It is reassuring to me that the Lord uses imperfect people to accomplish His work. The book is more an academic treatise than a story. There is a ton of information in it but for a fiction reader like myself I had to work hard to get through it. I found the index to be frustratingly incomplete.

Informative and engaging but a bit lacking of detail at times

The narration was well-crafted, my only issue lies in wanting more detail through the experiences of Joseph and the saints. I feel the author at points leaves out interesting faith-promoting experiences under the guise of wanting to appeal to a larger non-LDS audience. The work as a whole however, is well done and definitely worth the read.

Have enough respect to learn how to pronounce...

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It showed a critical yet faithful telling of Joseph Smiths history that doesn't shy away from things like polygamy or his temper.

My main issue is with the narrator. He mispronounced many things, including names. How do you get "Parlay" out of Parley. The name Adam Ondi Ahman is understandably unique. But the first word is NOT Ah-dom. Take 5 minutes to ask someone involved in the work and find out. Butchering Book of Mormon names is kind of offensive, I wouldn't just grab someone's unique scripture and not double check myself with a practitioner of the faith.

Great book, lazy workmanship.

Maybe consult a Mormon for pronunciation

Book it excellent, well researched and well written despite taking detours maybe slightly to far at time into an exploration of Mormon doctrine. There are a few matters, very small all of them, which it seemed to me the author shyed away from on the excuse that they were not directly about Joseph. For example the Rockwell family is only mentioned once in the first half of the book, and Porter Rockwell is not mentioned directly by name until towards the end, and then only briefly. Porter Rockwell can be a controversial figure for Brighamite Mormons because of statements by later Brighamite prophets declaring he was exalted in the highest degrees of heaven dispite being a famed heavy drinker until his death. Other seeming contradictions of Brighamite Mormon doctrine in the life of Joseph, such as the fact that he continued to drink until literally the hour of his death are mentioned quickly and then moved past.

It's hard to blame the author for these complaints however, as he states his bias upfront, being a faithful Brighamite Mormon himself. One can forgive these small infractions especially in light of his otherwise extremely high level of historical fidelity.

However, the narrator, while getting the pronunciation of many commonly mispronounced Mormon terms and names correct, still gets a few wrong. Parly Pratt is pronounced by him as 'Par-lay', it's correct pronunciation being 'Par-lee'. More egregious is his pronunciation of Adam-Ondi-Ahmen. I'm not sure I could recreate how the narrator says it, but it is pronounced 'Adam (as in the name Adam) On-die Ah-man'. his pronunciation drove me absolutely nuts.

Thoughtful insights

This book made the prophet into a man for me, in a way that looked at every side imaginable.

Very thorough

He does an excellent job of explaining everything even the parts that may be hard to hear. Joseph Smith was an imperfect man but all prophets except Jesus Christ were.