Joseph Smith and the Greek Psalter

Latter-day Saints believe Joseph Smith was called by God to be a prophet, seer, revelator, and translator of ancient scripture. Certain episodes in the life of Joseph Smith, however, cause some to doubt his calling and professed ability as a translator. One of these episodes involves an English clergyman named Henry Caswall and an old Greek manuscript (a copy of the Psalms.) The "Greek Psalter" episode is a short footnote in Church history but has been used to undermine the prophetic role of Joseph Smith.

What is the "Greek Psalter incident"?

In April 1842, an Englishman named Henry Caswall[BIO] visited Joseph Smith[BIO] in Nauvoo.[1] During their meeting, he presented Joseph with a medieval Greek copy of the Psalms (known as a "Greek Psalter"), which Caswall claimed that Joseph misidentified as a "dictionary of Egyptian Hieroglyphics."[2]

Where does this story come from?

Henry Caswall is the only source of this story, and he retold it many times between 1842 and 1852.[3]

What was Caswall's relationship with the Church?

Caswall was an Episcopalian and later Anglican clergyman who visited Nauvoo in 1842.[4] In 1839 and before his visit to Nauvoo, he wrote that the Latter-day Saint movement was "one of the grossest impostures ever palmed on the credulity of man" and described the Saints as "fanatical" and suffering from a "delusion."[5]

Is there any corroborative evidence that Caswall was in Nauvoo with a psalter at the time?

Yes. There is evidence from several sources confirming that Caswall was in Nauvoo at the time,[6] including an account from John Taylor[BIO] where he described Caswall as a "gentleman" but also a "wicked man" who came to Nauvoo for the "purpose of looking for evil."[7]

There is also an anonymous report from 50 years later that was published in the Buffalo Evening News that claims to have seen the psalter that Caswall had in Nauvoo at the time.[8]

Did anyone else corroborate Caswall's account about Joseph being fooled by the Psalter specifically?

No, and two accounts from John Taylor seem to contradict it.[9]

Woodcut of Joseph Smith examining the Greek Psalter from Henry Caswall's 1843 book *The Prophet of the Nineteenth Century*.

Is Caswall's account credible?

Yes and no. Caswall's claim that he was in Nauvoo with a Greek psalter is corroborated by other sources.[10] However, his depiction of Joseph Smith speaking with exaggerated unsophistication (e.g., "it ain't Greek" and "them figures is Egyptian") and cartoonish physical characteristics (e.g., "[Joseph was] a curious mixture of the knave and the clown . . . his hands are large and fat. . .") do not align with contemporary accounts of how Joseph looked and spoke, which undermines the credibility of Caswall's story.[11]

Did Joseph claim he identified the Greek Psalter by revelation?

No. Neither Caswall nor any other source claims Joseph had a revelation about the contents of the manuscript.[12][13]

Was Joseph familiar with Greek at the time of the incident?

Possibly. There is some historical evidence that Joseph had studied some Greek before his encounter with Caswall.[14]

However, examples of medieval Greek Psalters show they were written in a script not typically seen in printed Greek Bibles from Joseph Smith's era (see the side-by-side comparison below), and Caswall himself said his manuscript was written in a form of Greek script that "few people are able to read."[15] It's possible that Joseph, with his limited study of Greek, would not have recognized the medieval style of Greek.

A side-by-side comparison of a medieval Greek Psalter (left, circa late 1100s, Metropolitan Museum of Art) and a printed Greek New Testament (right, 1839, *Novum Testamentum*).

Did something similar like this happen with the Kinderhook plates? Does this establish a pattern of Joseph misidentifying things that were brought to him?

Joseph's prophetic authority was challenged by both Henry Caswall with the Greek Psalter and by Wilburn Fugate[BIO] with the Kinderhook Plates.[16] Joseph had an interest and curiosity in ancient texts, languages, and other antiquities which made him susceptible to bad actors attempting to deceive him.[17]

However, there is no record of Joseph claiming to have received revelation or making prophetic declarations in response to these items (the Kinderhook Plates and the Greek Psalter).

Did Joseph attempt to translate the Kinderhook plates?

But didn’t Joseph make more than a preliminary guess about the plates? Didn’t he actually try to translate them?

Read More Difficult Questions

34 Primary Sources

Footnotes

BIOHenry Caswall
Henry Caswall (1810-1870) was an Anglican clergyman and native of England. In 1842, he traveled to Nauvoo, Illinois, later writing the book The City of the Mormons; or, Three Days at Nauvoo, in 1842 (London: J. G. F. & J. Rivington, 1842).
BIOJoseph Smith, Jr.
Joseph Smith (1805–1844) organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Born in Sharon, Vermont, he began to experience visions of deity and angels at a young age. One vision featured the Angel Moroni, who revealed the location of gold plates with an account of ancient Americans. He translated this record and published it as The Book of Mormon. He continued to receive revelations throughout his life which serve as the foundation for the Church's doctrine today. He led the Latter-day Saints across the country from New York to Illinois. In 1844, he was martyred while awaiting trial in Carthage, Illinois.
BIOJohn Taylor
John Taylor (1808–1887) was born in Westmorland, England. He was the third president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He moved to Canada in 1832 and joined the Church four years later. Taylor was soon appointed to the apostleship and became a prominent advocate for Latter-day Saint doctrine during his mission to the United Kingdom. Taylor accompanied Joseph Smith to Carthage Jail in 1844, where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred. Taylor received a bullet wound to the thigh. He served in the apostleship and First Presidency until his appointment to the Presidency in 1880. Taylor oversaw the Church administration as the Church faced sustained prosecution from federal authorities for the practice of polygamy. He died while in hiding from federal authorities in Kaysville at the age of 79.
BIOWilburn W. Fugate
Wilburn Fugate (1800–ca. 1884) was born in Virginia. He was an Illinois farmer and one of the co-conspirators in the fabrication of the Kinderhook plates alongside Robert Wiley and Bridge Whitton. Fugate confessed to the fabrication of the plates in two letters written to James T. Cobb in 1878 and 1879.
BIOJohn A. Widtsoe
John Andreas Widtsoe (January 31, 1872–November 29, 1952) was an early Latter-day Saint leader. He was born on Frøya, a Norwegian island. He lost his father when he was six. His family was introduced to the Church a few years later. Widtsoe moved to Utah with his family in 1883 and was baptized in 1884. Widtsoe graduated from Harvard with a degree in chemistry in 1894 and married Leah Eudora Dunford in 1898. Widtsoe was called on a mission to get his Ph.D. at the University of Göttingen, Germany. He graduated in 1899. Widtsoe was president of Utah State Agricultural College from 1907–1916. He was then president of the University of Utah until 1921. Widtsoe was called as an apostle in 1921 and served until his death in 1952.
[1]↩︎
This incident was first told by Caswall in his book The City of the Mormons published in late-June 1842.
- Henry Caswall's earliest published account of the Greek Psalter incident.
[2]↩︎
Caswall believed his manuscript was "probably about six hundred years old," which would have made it a medieval—possibly Byzantine—copy. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art:
Psalters were popular throughout the medieval Christian world, in both the East and West, for prayers during the liturgy in churches and monasteries, as weapons against demons, and as the primary texts for learning to read.
- Henry Caswall's earliest published account of the Greek Psalter incident.
- Met Museum example of a medieval Greek Psalter with description.
[3]↩︎
The earliest account of this episode to appear in print came from an Episcopalian newspaper, The Churchman, which published a secondhand account on May 21, 1842, from details Caswall relayed. According to this source:
As an instance of in their infatuation, [Caswall] told us that he showed Smith a Greek Psalter, who pronounced it a valuable Egyptian manuscript: but though the matter was explained to many of the Mormons, it was found impossible to shake their confidence in the inspiration of the prophet.
Caswell published at least four separate accounts between 1842 and 1852 in England.
Joseph does not mention meeting Caswall in his journal entry for April 19, 1842, which is the day Caswall said he encountered Joseph and showed him his manuscript.
[4]↩︎
Caswall is identified as a "Rector of Christ Church" (Episcopalian) on the title page of his book America, and the American Church.
The Times and Seasons reported in 1843 that after he returned to England from Nauvoo, Caswall was given a "curacy" (ecclesiastical office) in the Church of England.
In 1865 Anglican missionary William Parrott identified Caswall as the "vicar of Figheldean."
[5]↩︎
In 1839, Caswall published the book America, and the American Church which was an overview of various religions in America, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Throughout his published accounts of visiting Nauvoo, Caswall speaks disparagingly of the Saints and their religion. Upon hearing about Joseph Smith's death, Caswall wrote that Joseph was a "daring imposter" and sympathized with the mob who murdered him.
Richard F. Burton, a British explorer, author, and contemporary of Caswall, described Caswall as a "violent anti-Mormon" for his repeated attacks on the Saints.
[6]↩︎
Multiple Latter-day Saints sources, including John Taylor and Reuben Hedlock, verified that Caswall was in Nauvoo and visited Joseph Smith.
- Times and Seasons article mentions Caswall's visit with Joseph.
- Reuben Hedlock mentions Henry Caswall's visit to Nauvoo.
[7]↩︎
John Taylor described his encounter with Caswall:
I saw Mr. Caswell in the printing office at Nauvoo; he had with him an old manuscript, and professed to be anxious to know what it was. I looked at it, and told him that I believed it was a Greek manuscript. In his book he states that it was a Greek Psalter; but that none of the Mormons told him what it was. Herein is a falsehood, for I told him.
- John Taylor publishes account of meeting Henry Caswall.
[8]↩︎
The article was attributed to "W. J. M." in the September 23, 1895 edition of Buffalo Evening News:
I have seen an ancient illuminated Greek psalter, in manuscript, which was submitted to Smith's inspection by the late Rev. Mr. Caswalls of the Episcopal Church of the United States, that Smith might tell what it was.
- "W. J. M." says he had seen Henry Caswall's Greek manuscript.
[9]↩︎
John Taylor, in two published accounts, disputed Caswall's telling of his experience in Nauvoo. According to Taylor in 1843:
It will be recollected by some, that a Mr. Caswell, professing to be an Episcopal minister, came to this city some twelve or eighteen months ago. He had with him an old manuscript, professing to be ignorant of its contents, and came to Joseph Smith, as he said, for the purpose of having it translated. Mr. Smith had a little conversation with him and treated him with civility, but as the gentleman seemed very much afraid of his document, he declined having any thing to do with it.
Later in 1850, after Caswall's claims had been circulating in print for many years, Taylor gave another account of his meeting with Caswall:
Concerning Mr. Caswell, I was at Nauvoo during the time of his visit. He came for the purpose of looking for evil. He was a wicked man, and associated with reprobates, mobocrats, and murderers. It is, I suppose, true that he was a reverend gentleman; but it has been no uncommon thing with us to witness associations of this kind, nor for reverend gentlemen, so called, to be found leading on mobs to deeds of plunder and death. I saw Mr. Caswell in the printing office at Nauvoo; he had with him an old manuscript, and professed to be anxious to know what it was. I looked at it, and told him that I believed it was a Greek manuscript. In his book he states that it was a Greek Psalter; but that none of the Mormons told him what it was. Herein is a falsehood, for I told him. Yet these are the men and books that we are to have our evidence from.
- Times and Seasons article mentions Caswall's visit with Joseph.
- John Taylor publishes account of meeting Henry Caswall.
[10]↩︎
An account published in the Times and Seasons, the Church's newspaper, confirms Caswall was in the city with his manuscript.
- Times and Seasons article mentions Caswall's visit with Joseph.
[11]↩︎
Caswall exaggerated Joseph Smith's unpolished speech and appearance in order to make him look uneducated and hickish. According to Caswall, Joseph was "a coarse, plebeian person in aspect, and his countenance exhibits a curious mixture of the knave and the clown. His hands are large and fat, and on one of his fingers he wears a massive gold ring, upon which I saw an inscription. His dress was of coarse country manufacture."
Caswall similarly represented Joseph's speech with exaggerated unsophistication, attributing to him phrases such as "it ain't Greek" and "them figures."
This account does not align with the many pieces of known writing and dictation from Joseph Smith at this time.
[12]↩︎
Caswall seemed to believe this incident exposed Joseph as a fraud and a false prophet. At the end of his 1852 account, for instance, Caswall wrote:
Now this certainly goes a great way to prove that Joseph Smith could not have been a prophet of God, nor even a good man. If he really possessed the power which he claimed, of reading books in ancient tongues, he would have been likely to know the true Bible, even though written in Greek; and, since he said that the letters of the book were like those written on the golden plates, it would have been all the easier for him to understand them, because, by his own account, he had translated the writing on those plates by the help of God. But most surely, if he had been a good man, he would have honestly confessed that he did not know the meaning of the book which I showed him; and would not have positively said to me and to the Mormons who were standing by, that the Psalms of David were an Egyptian dictionary. How foolish, then, it is, for any person who knows this fact, to believe his story about the Angel and the Golden Book!
Caswall repeated something similar to this line of thinking in each of his published accounts of the incident.
[13]↩︎
According to Caswall, a Latter-day Saint present at the meeting said, in response to Joseph misidentifying the contents of the manuscript, "Sometimes Mr. Smith speaks as a prophet, and sometimes as a mere man. If he gave a wrong opinion respecting the book, he spoke as a mere man."
To this, Caswall said he replied, "I think it likely that most of you are credulous and ignorant, but well-meaning persons, and that the time at least has been when you desired to do the will of God. A knot of designing persons, of whom Smith is the centre, have imposed upon your credulity and ignorance, and you have been most thoroughly hoaxed by their artful devices."
- Henry Caswall's earliest published account of the Greek Psalter incident.
[14]↩︎
Entries in Joseph's journal in late 1835 show he had some limited exposure to Greek at that time.
A later recollection by Latter-day Saint John W. Hess also says Joseph studied Greek in 1838:
At that time Joseph was studying Greek and Latin, and when he got tired studying he would go and play with the children in their games about the house, to give himself exercise.
[15]↩︎
As Caswall described, "I had in my possession (and have still) a curious and ancient book written with pen and ink on leaves of parchment. This book contains the Psalms of David, and a few other portions of the Bible. The whole of it is in the Greek language, and in letters which (comparatively) few people are able to read. I took this book with me, and set out on my expedition to the town of Nauvoo."
In another description, Caswall said his manuscript had "capital letters at the commencement of each verse." The unusual script and capital letters is characteristic of a medieval Greek manuscript.
- Henry Caswall's third account of the Greek Psalter incident published in 1852.
- Henry Caswall's earliest published account of the Greek Psalter incident.
[16]↩︎
For more information, see "The Kinderhook Plates."
[17]↩︎
Joseph had a far-reaching interest in a variety of ancient languages and cultures. As one book published in 2015 explained, "Joseph Smith’s fascination with the ancient Americas, his interaction with the Bible, his study of Hebrew and Greek, his reading of Jewish and Christian apocryphal writings, and his work with the Book of Abraham in the context of nineteenth-century Egyptology . . . played an important role in his prophetic development as he sought to recover ancient scripture, restore the ancient Church, and bring the Latter-day Saints into fellowship with the sacred past."
For examples and more information, see "Zelph the Lamanite" and "Book of Abraham Translation."
- Religious Studies Center 2015 publication on JS interest in ancient languages, artifacts.
[18]↩︎
Critics such as William Parrott, Henry Clay Sheldon, and Fawn Brodie have used the Greek Psalter to cast doubt on Joseph Smith's inspiration.
Hugh Nibley published an extensive discussion of the Greek Psalter in 1961. He concluded Caswall's accounts were suspect for the following reasons:
. . . the fact that it is nowhere mentioned save in Caswall's own writings, though Nauvoo was an open city and the interview was supposed to have caused a great sensation; . . . the intrinsic absurdities with which Mr. Caswall's account of it abound; . . . Caswall's willingness to change his story to suit any later convenience; it is absolutely certain that he composed and altered various episodes in retrospect.
Two Latter-day Saint scholars, Craig Foster and John W. Welch, have both critically examined the Greek Psalter incident in BYU publications.
[19]↩︎
In his 1951 book, Widtsoe briefly touched on and dismissed Caswall's account of meeting Joseph:
Reverend Henry Caswall, M.A., an Englishman, a Professor of Divinity in Kemper College, St. Louis, Missouri, spent three days, in 1842, in civilian dress, in Nauvoo, after seeing in St. Louis three hundred English converts on their way to Nauvoo. He told about the sport he had in fooling Joseph Smith and the people whom he met into believing that a Greek psalter he had with him was a new find, perhaps a lost scripture for the Prophet to decipher. He attributed to the Prophet the appearance of a knave and a clown, using exceedingly coarse language. In reporting his talk with Joesph Smith, he forgot that the Prophet and many other Church members had studied, Greek, Hebrew, and other languages, sufficiently to recognize Greek script. Such mistakes are often made by those who fail to tell the truth. Caswall's bitter opposition to Mormonism was revealed in the book he wrote a year later.
- John A. Widtsoe briefly reviews the Greek Psalter incident.