LDS General Conference Opens the Door to the Long Forgotten Mark Hofmann Scandal

From RfM

James Faust gives an emotional talk on forgiveness in General Conference over this past weekend. His second example is Mac Christensen. Who's son Steve was killed by Mark Hoffman. Now, this event was not 177 years ago. It's only 22 years ago. Faust fails to mention that Hinckley and Oaks, ( who right on cue, was the next speaker) were indirectly responsible for Steve's death. It would have been more appropriate for Hinckley and Oaks to come to the podium together and ask for forgiveness for their involvement. No, they did not conspire with Hoffman. But their lust for power and control contributed to this horrible event. Is Faust so unaware of the truth? I guess the best defense is a good offense.


[For those of you faithful LDS who have never HEARD of Mark Hofmann until this last weekend when James Faust made reference to him in his talk, here is the story of how Steve Christensen was killed and what the church's involvement was in that event.]


Mark Hofmann was a dealer in historical documents. Although his name is now connected with the word "forgery," he was also able to locate many legitimate documents, and had earned an honest reputation as a man skilled in this field. He may have specialized in documents related to early Mormonism, but he dealt with other historical items as well.

Unfortunately, he seems to have been unable to control his spending habits. To earn more money and perhaps to stave off debt, he decided to forge some documents and sell them.

It is common knowledge among members of the Church that their leadership has all its sensitive documents relating to Church history hidden away in "the Church Archives" and "the First Presidency's vault," and these documents are strictly off limits to the world. Even the membership is denied access. Only select historians in the Church's employ are ever granted access, and even then on a limited basis. In light of this secrecy, Hofmann strongly suspected that the Church leadership was willing, if not downright anxious, to suppress any historical document which tended to reflect negatively on the Church.

Thereafter, he began "finding" such documents, which were in actuality his own forgeries. He had several meetings with Gordon B. Hinckley, now "Prophet, Seer, and Revelator" and President of the Church, in which deals were negotiated wherein the documents were purchased by the church in a roundabout way. They were bought by private collectors who had received money from the Church, and the collectors would then "donate" the documents to the Church, which would subsequently throw them into the bottomless pit of the archives, never to be heard from again.

Part of Hofmann's scheme was to leak news of his "discovery" of these documents. He had two reasons for doing this: One was to inflate their prices; the other was to force the Church to own up to its own history as opposed to whitewashing it. It has often been stated that Hofmann was trying to "rewrite" Mormon history, but this is not the case. He was merely trying to "help history along" by crafting the missing pieces of the puzzle which, according to his intensive study of LDS history, should have been there all along but had already been suppressed or lost.

One such document which happened to become public knowledge was the so-called "Salamander Letter," ostensibly written by Martin Harris to W. W. Phelps. In the letter, Harris described the manner of the finding of the Golden Plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. Rather than being led to the plates by an angel, however, Joseph Smith discovered the location of the plates through use of a seer stone (the same stone he used to locate buried treasure on various farmers' lands during his "money-digging" days, and which he later used to translate the golden plates), and upon reaching the place, there was a white salamander in the bottom of the box in which the plates lay. This salamander transformed itself into an 'old spirit,' struck Joseph three times, and made him unable to retrieve the plates at that time.

Mormon leaders bought this story hook, line, and sinker. This raises the question: If such a story was as outlandish as it sounds, why didn't they simply laugh Hofmann out of the office? The fact that they considered such a story genuine makes it obvious that the current leadership is under no real delusion regarding the actual genesis of the religion, unlike the rest of the membership. (On a related note, one faithful Latter-day Saint actually committed suicide as a result of the crisis of faith he had which was triggered by the contents of the Salamander Letter.)

[Observation: the tale of the white salamander is extremely similar to a tale written by E.T.A Hoffman titled: The Golden Pot, which was first published in 1814. Some scholars have concluded that this book was an influence on Joseph Smith and his tales of visions, heavenly visitors, and his calling as a translator of a lost manuscript]


In a classic example of the ludicrous lengths the leadership will go in the quest for damage control, Dallin H. Oaks, a Mormon apostle, even went so far as to claim that the Salamander Letter actually reaffirms Joseph Smith's prophetic claims(!) In the 1985 CES Doctrine and Covenants Symposium, he stated:

"One wonders why so many writers neglected to reveal to their readers that there is another meaning of 'salamander,' which may even have been the primary meaning. . . That meaning. . . is 'a mythical being thought to be able to live in fire'. . . A being that is able to live in fire is a good approximation of the description Joseph Smith gave of the Angel Moroni. . . the use of the words 'white salamander' and 'old spirit' seem understandable."

One wonders how Elder Oaks felt when he discovered that the entire letter was a mere fabrication.

To be taken in by a forgery is, of course, an understandable human error. We all make mistakes. So why is this somehow unforgivable when a person in Mormon leadership does it? The answer to this is that LDS leaders have long claimed that they are immune to such deception, due to the nature of their calling. See the following declaration by Bruce R. McConkie, formerly a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in his book Mormon Doctrine under the heading Discernment:

". . . the gift of the discerning of spirits is poured out upon presiding officials in God's kingdom; they have it given to them to discern all gifts and all spirits, lest any come among the saints and practice deception. . . Thereby even 'the thoughts and intents of the heart' are made known."

Lest anyone think that McConkie was merely giving his own opinion, the same thing was stated by God Himself (according to faithful Mormons) in the Doctrine and Covenants, section 46, verse 27:

"And unto the bishop of the church, and unto such as God shall appoint and ordain to watch over the church and to be elders unto the church, are to have it given unto them to discern all those gifts lest there shall be any among you professing and yet be not of God."

Mark Hofmann had long since lost faith in Mormonism and was conducting meetings with the leadership with the express purpose of defrauding the Church, so he almost certainly qualifies as being "professing and yet be not of God." Therefore, although the Bible is replete with examples of prophets being fooled, deceived, and duped, Mormons can no longer use that excuse to cover their current leadership, since God apparently deciced to "burn" that particular "bridge" when He supposedly revealed section 46.

Among Hofmann's other forgeries bought by the Mormon leadership:

Charles Anthon transcript (1828)


The first forgery Hofmann sold to the LDS church was the so-called Anthon Transcript. Hofmann claimed he found this document April 1980 pasted between the pages of a 1668 Bible with the apparent signatures of Joseph Smith's great and great-great grandfathers inside. The document seemed especially significant as the transcript that Smith's scribe Martin Harris presented to Charles Anthon, a Columbia classics professor, in 1828. According to the Joseph Smith-History, the transcript and its unusual “reformed Egyptian” characters were copied by Smith from the Golden Plates from which he translated the Book of Mormon. The Joseph Smith—History reports that Anthon thought the esoteric-looking characters were genuinely Egyptian, but that Anthon wanted access to the original plates. However, Anthon's recollection of the event was drastically different; he claimed to have been misquoted and misrepresented by Harris and Smith, and characterized the transcription of “reformed Egyptian” as a crude copy of characters from several different alphabets. Hoffman's forgery differed greatly from a purported copy of the Anthon transcript possessed by the Community of Christ: Hofmann intentionally constructed his version to fit Anthon's description. A Joseph Smith expert, Dean Jessee, opined that the document's handwriting and signature appeared genuine. Appraised by the LDS church for USD$25,000, it was purchased on 13 October in exchange for several artifacts the church owned in duplicate including a $5 gold Mormon coin, Deseret banknotes, and a first edition of the Book of Mormon.

Joseph Smith III blessing (17 January 1844)

On 4 September 1981, Hofmann gave Elder Gordon B. Hinckley another forgery. Supposedly written by Thomas Bullock, Hofmann claimed to have acquired the letter along with the Joseph III blessing, which presented Smith's young son, Joseph Smith III as the most legitimate leader for the LDS church, not Brigham Young, who was accepted as the leader by the majority of Smith's followers after Smith's murder. In the forged letter, dated 27 January 1865 and marked “private” and “not sent”, Bullock chastises Brigham Young for having all copies of the blessing destroyed. Bullock writes that although he believes Young to be the legitimate leader of the LDS church, he would keep his copy of the blessing. Such a letter would unflatteringly portray Young and by extension the LDS church. Hofmann gave it to Hinckley as a “faithful Mormon,” ostensibly doing the church a favor. According to Hofmann, Hinckley filed the letter away in a safe in the First Presidency's offices.

The sale of these and other forgeries emboldened Hofmann, and confirmed his earlier conclusions about the LDS church. He thought that when LDS officials “covered up” what might be seen as embarrassing or contradictory documents which they apparently thought were genuine, they were lending credence to the stories. Hofmann also concluded that since LDS officials were apparently fooled by his forgeries, they had no divine prophetic powers. Hofmann continued selling and trading fraudulent documents to the LDS church and to many other collectors and historians.

Lucy Mack Smith letter (23 January 1829)

One significant Hofmann forgery arrived at the church via Brent F. Ashworth, an attorney and rare documents collector. The forgery was a letter complete with an 1828 Palmyra, New York, postmark from Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Smith's mother. She describes her son's revelations and finding the Gold Plates, including the lost 116 pages of the Book of Lehi, a document that has been missing since 1828. Hofmann sold it to Ashworth, and it was announced to the world in a 23 August 1982 joint press conference. In the conference Dean Jessee again asserted that a Hofmann forgery looked authentic, not only for Lucy Smith's handwriting, but also for the period postmark and correct postage.

Martin Harris letter to Walter Conrad (12 January 1873)

On 5 October 1982, the LDS church and Ashworth announced another of Hofmann's documents: A supposed letter from Martin Harris to Walter Conrad, brother-in-law of Brigham Young. Ashworth felt that this letter, bought nine months earlier, bolstered the Church's move to subtitle the Book of Mormon “Another Testament of Jesus Christ”.

David Whitmer letter to Walter Conrad (2 April 1873)

Hofmann sold the church a similar letter supposedly from David Whitmer, another of the three witnesses, for $10,000 shortly thereafter.

Josiah Stowell letter (1825)

Other purported letters sold in excess of $10,000 include a holograph referring to Joseph Smith treasure-seeking for silver (which some would consider embarrassing to the church).

E. B. Grandin contract (17 August 1829)

This forgery was the supposed 1830 contract between Smith and printer Egbert Bratt Grandin for the printing of the first edition of the Book of Mormon.

Two pages of the original Book of Mormon manuscript

The two pages were claimed to be from the original Book of Mormon manuscript written by Oliver Cowdery as dictated by Joseph Smith Jr. The original manuscript of the Book of Mormon was placed in the cornerstone of the Nauvoo House in 1841 and was removed in 1882. Water had damaged the manuscript and destroyed everything beyond the book of Helaman. The two pages obtained from Hofmann covered a portion of the book of Helaman and it was noted by the Church that "No text farther along in the original manuscript is known to exist. This leaf is in a remarkable state of preservation, considering that it was positioned low in the water-damaged manuscript."[1]

Martin Harris letter (Salamander letter)

Hofmann's most famous Mormon history forgery emerged in 1984. An LDS Bishop, Steven F. Christensen, purchased the so-called Salamander Letter for $40,000 on 6 January after the LDS church and Brent Ashworth turned down more extravagant offers. News of the document was contagious and soon Peggy Fletcher of Sunstone Magazine, and then Richard N. Ostling, the religion editor of Time Magazine, were calling about the letter. Containing elements of early anti-Mormon rumors, the Salamander Letter depicts Joseph Smith as a practitioner of folk magic, and relates an account of Smith's receiving the Golden Plates that is entirely different from the orthodox version.

Forgeries not related to Mormon history

In addition to documents from Mormon history, Hofmann also forged a number of other items, including works by Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln. He announced his final completed forgery, a copy of the long-vanished 17th century printed broadside Oath of a Freeman, in 1985. The Oath, allegedly a printing from the press brought to America on the Mayflower, was a Pilgrim constitution, and would have been the oldest document printed in America. To be sold at over $1 million, the Oath was manufactured by Hofmann as an act of desperation. He even produced a second copy of the document of lesser technical quality. Authentication of these prints was underway as Hofmann committed his murders. They would contribute to his eventual discrediting.

Hofmann's murders

Despite the often considerable amounts of money he was making from document sales, Hofmann became embroiled in financial difficulties. In an effort to clear his debts, he attempted to put together a deal involving the sale of “the McLellin collection” — an extensive collection of documents purportedly written by William McLellin, an early Mormon apostle who later broke with the LDS church and actively worked against them. Hofmann was unable to forge the entire collection quickly enough to meet his promises to his intended buyers; in a desperate effort to buy time he began planting bombs in Salt Lake City.

On 15 October 1985, the first bomb killed document collector Steven Christensen, the son of prominent clothier Mac Christensen, founder of the Utah-area Mr. Mac clothing stores. Later that same day a second bomb killed Kathy Sheets, the wife of Christensen's former employer. Police initially suspected that the bombings were related to the impending collapse of a business which employed both Christensen and Gary Sheets (Kathy's husband). Hundreds of investors stood to lose sizable sums of money.

On 16 October 1985 Hofmann was severely wounded when one of his own bombs exploded in his car. Police suspicion quickly focused on Hofmann, though many of Hoffman's friends, family and his peers in the rare documents trade doubted that Hofmann was a killer. Some of Hofmann's business associates went into hiding, afraid they might be victims of more bombs.

The McLellin collection was discovered in Texas by a Salt Lake City reporter not long after Hoffman was injured. The documents were interesting, but not earth-shattering as Hoffman had often implied. More importantly, the owner of the collection had never heard of Hoffman — leading many to suspect that Hoffman had not been in negotiations to purchase the collection.

During the bombing investigation, police discovered incriminating evidence of the forgeries in the basement studio where Hofmann had created them. He was arrested for the murders and forgery in February, 1986. He eventually pleaded guilty to lesser charges(second-degree murder and theft-by-deception) to avoid the death penalty, and in January of 1988 was sentenced to life in prison. He has twice attempted suicide in prison. There has been speculation about the intended target of the third bomb that injured Hofmann, but he has never discussed the issue, other than to make (then retract) a claim that the bomb was a suicide attempt. One possible target is Brent Ashworth (a collector of rare documents).

Legacy in document collecting

During his career, Mark Hofmann fooled some very renowned people. Years after being found guilty of murder, his forgeries continued to cause headaches for collectors of historical documents. Among them was Daniel Lombardo, a curator for a library of material written by Emily Dickinson. In 1997, Lombardo purchased a “newly discovered” manuscript copy of an unpublished Dickinson poem from Sotheby's auction house for $24,000. The document was later determined to be one of Hofmann's many fakes still in circulation. Lombardo remarked, “Hofmann was one of the most skilled forgers in this century. The lengths he went to fool all the experts were extraordinary.”

Before Hofmann's criminal career was exposed, some of his “discoveries” were also presented to Kenneth Rendell, one of the top document experts in the United States and one of the men responsible for debunking the forged “Hitler Diaries”. Like others duped by Hofmann, Rendell, after initially dismissing the documents as forgeries, later pronounced them consistent with their claimed origin. Nearly all of Hofmann's documents have been determined to be forgeries, and there is now debate about whether any of them are legitimate, even those widely regarded as genuine. Ironically, Hofmann forgeries are now collector's items themselves.



***My Thoughts***


Why should the church apologize for the death of Steve Christensen? Because they did NOT come clean on this whole deal from the very beginning. They did NOT assist the authorities in obtaining information that would have sent Mark Hofmann to death row. They did not come forward with any of the evidence in their possession. They did not admit that they had been lied to and bilked out of tithe payer's money in order to suppress documents that they felt would damage the credibility of the church. They didn't CARE if the documents were real or not, they only cared if OTHERS would think they were real, and try to use them to undermine the church. They sought to purchase them in order to keep them from becoming known, to maintain the testimonies of the many thousands of members paying tithing faithfully every week, and to save their own positions in the church. They let this fraud continue without bringing in outside experts or questioning the motives of Mark Hofmann, they just bought up everything he offered with little criticism or questioning. The church became an easy target for Mark Hofmann, and he got greedy. And people died to help buy him more time in order to meet the demand for his forgeries. It was completely senseless and an utter waste of human life. But don't we all feel better knowing that the Christensen family has forgiven Mark Hofmann for falling into the trap of greed, and killing someone they loved? What about the church's role in creating that greed? What about the church's unwillingness to cooperate fully when it came to putting that man to justice? They kept the law at arm's length and refused to give details of the transactions or release documents that were forged, TO SAVE THEIR OWN CREDIBILITY. The prosecution had to settle for a plea agreement for Mark Hofmann instead of being able to prosecute him for all of his crimes because the church refused to help with the investigation.


THEY brought it up in General Conference, just so they could put it on the members that it is extremely important to forgive those that wrong us. I wonder if that means the members should forgive their own leaders when they deceive the tithe payers regarding what their money gets used for.