Comments on: Robert C. Webb

By: By Common Consent » Kolob as Sirius

By Common Consent » Kolob as Sirius — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 22:57:59 +0000

[...] (3) I believe the first person to pose this as a possibility was the non-LDS scholar R.C. Webb [J.E. Homans], in his 1913 article in the Improvement Era, “A Critical Examination of the Fac-similes in the Book of Abraham,” where he wrote: ” The explanation given in connection with this figure is that it indicates ‘Kolob, signifying the first creation, nearest to the Celestial.’ The form of this word would seem to suggest a Semitic etymology, akin, perhaps, to the Hebrew word KALAB, a dog; whence, possibly, Sirius, the Dog-star, so called.” This article may be found at this link; the paragraph in question is four-fifths of the way down. On Webb, see here. [...]

By: By Common Consent » BCC Papers 1/2: Barney, Deseret

By Common Consent » BCC Papers 1/2: Barney, Deseret — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 10:34:15 +0000

[...] 2. R.C. Webb [J.E. Homans], Joseph Smith as a Translator (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1936), 42-45. On R. C. Webb, see Kevin L. Barney, “Robert C. Webb,” By Common Consent (October 18, 2006). http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/10/robert-c-webb/. [...]

By: Kevin Barney

Kevin Barney — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 22:22:47 +0000

Some does, but it is so dated that it’s pretty much a mixed bag at this point.

By: Blake

Blake — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 22:02:40 +0000

Justin: why do you think Homans was paid? Do you have anything more than just your bias or intuition? Agree that calling the guy Dr. was a poor idea.

Kevin: I really haven’t seen anyone following Homans in any of his assertions about the BofA. Doea any of his stuff hold water?

By: Kevin Barney

Kevin Barney — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 17:20:39 +0000

Justin, absolutely the "Dr." thing was a really bad idea. I wonder if whether originated with Homans or someone at the IE.

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 16:05:46 +0000

I haven’t seen any evidence that Homans was hired by the church to write about the BoA or Mormonism, but I am inclined to believe that he was, in fact, commissioned or otherwise compensated (I don’t put too much stock in the disclaimer published in the Deseret News). I don’t think any private desire to tweak others would have provided sufficient motivation in this case.

I believe that the decision to represent Webb’s work as material written by someone holding a PhD was a poor idea.

By: Kevin Barney

Kevin Barney — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 15:25:24 +0000

Interesting, Ed, I was not aware of that.

I’ve read his JS as a Translator. A friend of mine has a copy, but I don’t actually own one.

By: Ed Snow

Ed Snow — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 04:48:47 +0000

Kevin, I’ve got a copy of JS as Translator–interesting stuff.

It’s worth noting that “Webb” was apparently the one to make the first “dshrt” (honeybee) argument, as I recall, and Nibley later followed his lead.

By: Ardis

Ardis — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 01:20:17 +0000

Kevin, thanks for this. I’ve never heard of him either and would like to read Matt Roper’s research — any recommendations for how to encourage him to polish it off for publication? There were two or three other non-Mormons at about this time who wrote and made speaking tours on various aspects of Mormonism (no others on Abraham, so far as I’m aware), and it might be useful to look at them as a group sometime. Chas. Meakin is the only name I can recall at the moment, but I’ve run into others. C’mon, Matt!

By: J. Stapley

J. Stapley — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 21:53:42 +0000

Completely fascinating. I had no idea about this.