Mormon-owned press releasing Joseph Smith journals
SALT LAKE CITY – It's written by a man many consider a confident and charismatic religious prophet, but Joseph Smith's journal immediately betrays an inkling of self-doubt: His first sentence is scratched out.
"He's making this very deliberate effort to keep a record. At the same time, he has this self-consciousness," said Richard Turley Jr., assistant historian for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "So he writes it out, scratches it out, takes a deep breath, writes it again."
By the next line, Smith is on his knees in prayer as he asks for God's help....