In his 2004 FairMormon Conference Presentation entitled Historical of Hysterical: Anti-Mormons and Documentary Sources, the late Matthew B. Brown wrote the following about the angel Nephi/Mormon "problem":
The next topic that we will take a look at is the Nephi vs. Moroni controversy. The primary document of concern in this case is Joseph Smiths 1838 manuscript history. In this handwritten record the angel that revealed the golden plates of the Book of Mormon is identified as Nephi instead of Moroni.73 When the history of the Church was first published in the Times and Seasons newspaper in 1842 this designation was retained74 and then there were several subsequent LDS sources that copied, and therefore repeated, the Times and Seasons designation.
The explanation for this anomaly is really quite simple. Joseph Smith did not write the section of his 1838 history where the angel is called Nephi. This section is in the handwriting of George W. Robinson who served as one of the Prophets scribes. As Apostle Orson Pratt explained, the Nephi designation represents either carelessness or ignorance on the part of the transcriber.75 This explanation is supported by the information presented on this slide. It is clear from the entries seen here that Joseph Smith consistently identified the angel as Moroni in 1823, 1830, 1834, 1835, 1838, 1839 and 1842. The dates that are pointed out by the purple line show that only months after the angel was incorrectly identified in the manuscript history as Nephi by George Robinson he was correctly identified as Moroni by James Mulholland another scribe who was working on the Church history project.
Anti-Mormons think that since Joseph Smith was acting as the editor of the Times and Seasons newspaper when the Nephi designation was published he would have changed it if he had thought it was not correct. But a quick check of the History of the Church reveals that the Prophet probably didnt have sufficient time to scrutinize this portion of his history before it went to press. On the day before publication he was occupied with the legalities of a bankruptcy proceeding. On the day of publication he was busily engaged in the same type of activity plus he had to write a lengthy article on Baptism for the Dead for the very same edition of the paper that was about to incorrectly identify the angel as Nephi.76
Critics of the Prophet believe that if he really thought the Nephi designation was incorrect then he would have published a retraction. But since none was ever forthcoming they think he changed his mind about the angels identity. A popular English dictionary from 1828 defines the word retraction as The act of withdrawing something advanced, or changing something done.77 Based upon this definition I contend that Joseph Smith did indeed publish a retraction. The Nephi designation went out in the 15 April 1842 edition of the Times and Seasons and then in the 1 October 1842 edition of the same paper the Prophet (still acting as the editor) published a letter, written by himself, wherein he identified the angel as Moroni. This is most definitely a change from what had previously been done and thus qualifies, in the strict dictionary sense, as a retraction.
Notes for the Above
73 Jessee, ed., The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, 199.
75 See Orson Pratt to John Christensen, 11 March 1876, Orson Pratt Papers, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.
77 Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (New York: S. Converse, 1828), s.v. retraction, emphasis added.
