Don't Praise The Man
Joseph Smith, the first prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is a man who needs no introduction for the majority of the world and most people either view him as a holy prophet or a heretical conman. One of the few prophecies that Joseph Smith got spot on, more or less, was the prophecy that his name would be known for good or evil throughout the entire world. The reason I say it is more or less true is because Joseph Smith is either famous and viewed in an almost god like status or infamous and demonized across most parts of the world, but there are parts of the world that has, without a doubt, never heard of The Book of Mormon, the Church that will always known as Mormons whether or not they want to be known by that term, or the man who wrote the book and founded the church.
There are some people who firmly believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God who restored the true gospel and is now ruling in heaven and will never believe he did anything wrong, much less that he was not a prophet, regardless of how much evidence they see or how compelling it is. Those who love brother Joseph will consider any evidence against him, regardless of how credible, to be nothing more than attack against him by the devil. There are also people who think Joseph Smith was basically the incarnate of Satan and never did a noble or good thing in his life and are convinced that any report of his doing good was fabricated. Obviously, at least to me, both groups are demonstrably wrong.
My opinions on Joseph Smith have changed over the years and though I once believed him to be a prophet, I now know he was just a man who took advantage of an opportunity to improve his status and that of his family, and that he did some good things and some bad things, much like everyone else. No one is all good, and very few are all bad.
If you were to ask any faithful member of the LDS Church about Joseph Smith they would build him up as a great man and a prophet while downplaying how much reverence is directed toward him, but officially and culturally within the Church Joseph Smith is held in such high regards as put him on almost godlike status. As the song in the official LDS Church Hymnal indicates, there a lot of praise directed to the founder of the Church, Joseph Smith, and he is often put on a level with Jesus Christ himself, and in the Doctrine and Covenants (an official canonized scripture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) it says that Joseph Smith has done more for the salvation of man on earth than any other man who ever lived on it.
Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!
When Joseph went to Carthage to deliver himself up to the pretended requirements of the law, two or three days previous to his assassination, he said: “I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer’s morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me—he was murdered in cold blood.”
-D&C 135:3-4
The talk Jayson Kunzler, Business Management Faculty Member BYUI, gave at BYU Idaho titled “Millions Shall Know Brother Joseph Again” is a perfect representation of how much reverence the Church gives to Joseph Smith, and I encourage you to listen to the entire talk which can be found on the BYU Idaho archives. Among the many things said in the talk are the claims that we cannot go to heaven without Joseph Smith and that we are not to question him, his actions or his character, regardless of what evidence we are confronted with.
It was and is no secret that Joseph Smith was not a humble man as was overly proud of himself and sought every chance to build himself up in the eyes of his people, but once he died he was built up to even a greater degree by those who sucseeded him in leadership than he built himself up to. The reason those who came after Joseph Smith in leadership built him up to such a status and protected his reputation at all costs is because if Joseph Smith was not a prophet of epic proportions than their claim to power was about as valid as a middle school child’s claim on the playground that he or she is the ruler of the world. If Joseph Smith falls than the entire Church falls with him into disgrace and infamy, but if all of his faults can be hidden or explained away and the members of the Church can be convinced he was the second greatest man to ever live, second only to the Lord himself, than they can ride on his coat tails and claim to be prophets as well.
In the song “Praise to the Man” (Hymn 27) there is a lot of praise for Joseph Smith and no praise for God, there are, however, references to the un-Biblical doctrines of plurality of gods and Joseph Smith having his own kingdom and being worshiped.
PRAISE TO THE MAN (HYMN #27)
Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!
Jesus anointed that Prophet and Seer.
Blessed to open the last dispensation,
Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.
Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven!
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain.
Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren;
Death cannot conquer the hero again.
Praise to his mem'ry, he died as a martyr;
Honored and blest be his ever great name!
Long shall his blood, which was shed by assassins,
Plead unto heav'n while the earth lauds his fame.
Great is his glory and endless his priesthood.
Ever and ever the keys he will hold.
Faithful and true, he will enter his kingdom,
Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.
Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven;
Earth must atone for the blood of that man.
Wake up the world for the conflict of justice.
Millions shall know "Brother Joseph" again.
Text: William W. Phelps, 1792-1872
Music: Scottish folk song
I one respected and revered Joseph Smith as the prophet of the restoration and God’s messenger, but now that my eyes have been opened to what type of man he truly was, I am ashamed that I ever held him in such high esteem. Even when I was the most zealous about the Church I did not view Joseph Smith as a deity nor did I consider him to be the greatest prophet to ever live, but it is clear that the Church policy teaches that as doctrine, though it is not often talked about.
Every member of the Church today knows the story of where Joseph Smith went into the woods and prayed, was attacked by Satan, and then saw Jesus and the Father, two separate and distinct persons, who told him that all churches were corrupt and that he was forbidden to join any of them as he was to be given the restored gospel at a later time, but the first people to join the Church had never heard that story. There is not one shred of actual evidence that Joseph Smith ever claimed to be visited by God before 1842, some 22 years after the incident supposedly took place. It seams that something that important would have been written about and talked about, had it actually happened.
Joseph Smith’s mother, Lucy Mack Smith, who stayed in Nauvoo after the death of her son wrote the history of her family and there was no mention of Joseph Smith having had any vision at the age of fourteen, not any other visions that predates the founding of the Church, but she did talk about young Joseph telling many amusing stories about the ancient inhabitants of the Americas, which lends credibility that Joseph simply made up The Book of Mormon and had all of the details worked out in his head many long years before he ever started dictating it to his scribes.
Joseph’s mother wrote, “During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of travelings, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life among them,” (1).
If you read the current version of the The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, the above passage about Joseph telling “amusing recitals” about the ancient inhabitants of the Americas is absent and Joseph’s visions were added, but this is a drastic change from the way the manuscript was written by Lucy Mack Smith and was changed on the order of Brigham Young. In the 1902 introduction to the current printing it states that Apostle Orson Pratt acquired a copy of the manuscript and published it in England but when Brigham Young heard about it he was much displeased and ordered all copies to be destroyed and said it was because there were errors. At any rate, the original written by Mother Smith herself did not contain the visions of Joseph Smith and it talked about his “amusing recitals” as a child.
it was not uncommon for Joseph Smith to not practice what he preached and would justify it by saying that he was trying the faith of the saints. Abraham H. Cannon said Joseph Smith preached a rousing sermon on the word of wisdom and then afterwards rode through the streets of Nauvoo smoking a cigar:
“Joseph Smith tried the faith of the saints many times by his peculiarities. At one time he had preached a powerful sermon on the Word of Wisdom and immediately thereafter, he rode through the streets of Nauvoo smoking a cigar. Some of the brethren were tried as was Abraham of old,” (2).
In addition to smoking, Joseph Smith also violated the word of wisdom by drinking alcohol and tea after the revelation was given. Joseph Smith’s own son recounts a time when his father set up a bar in Nauvoo with Porter Rockwell:
About 1842, a new and larger house was built for us ... and a sign was put out giving it the dignified name of "The Nauvoo Mansion" ...Mother was to be installed as landlady, and soon made a trip to Saint Louis....
When she returned Mother found installed in the keeping-room of the hotel—that is to say, the main room where the guests assembled and where they were received upon arrival—a bar, with counter, shelves, bottles, glasses and other paraphernalia customary for a fully-equipped tavern bar, and Porter Rockwell in charge as tender.
She was very much surprised and disturbed over this arrangement,... "Joseph," she asked, "What is the meaning of that bar in this house? ... How does it look," she asked, "for the spiritual head of a religious body to be keeping a hotel in which is a room fitted out as a liquor-selling establishment?"
He reminded her that all taverns had their bars at which liquor was sold or dispensed....
Mother's reply came emphatically clear, though uttered quietly: "Well, Joseph,... I will take my children and go across to the old house and stay there, for I will not have them raised up under such conditions as this arrangement imposes upon us, nor have them mingle with the kind of men who frequent such a place. You are at liberty to make your choice; either that bar goes out of the house, or we will!"
It did not take Father long to make the choice, for he replied immediately, "Very well, Emma; I will have it removed at once"—and he did (3).
When Joseph Smith was in prison and awaiting trial for his part in destroying the Nauvoo Expositor he drank wine, and despite apologist claiming it was used as sacrament, those who survived the encounter say otherwise:
Sometime after dinner we sent for some wine. It has been reported by some that this was taken as a sacrament. It was no such thing; our spirits were generally dull and heavy, and it was sent for to revive us. I think it was Captain Jones who went after it, but they would not suffer him to return. I believe we all drank of the wine, and gave some to one or two of the prison guards. We all of us felt unusually dull and languid, with a remarkable depression of spirits. In consonance with those feelings I sang a song, that had lately been introduced into Nauvoo, entitled, 'A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief' (4).
Speaking of being in prison, I acknowledge that being arrested for a crime does not necessarily mean that a person is guilty of the crime charged with, but Joseph Smith spent a lot of time either in prison or running from the law. The Church, by the way, does not deny that Joseph Smith destroyed the Nauvoo Expositor.
It is often claimed by the faithful that Joseph Smith was never convicted of anything, which is not entirely true and is also misleading. There are conflicting accounts on whether or not Joseph Smith was convicted of fraud and being a disorderly person, and he stood trial a lot of times on small charges and was released for lack proper evidence or on technicalities, but on the larger crimes Joseph refused to stand trial and did all he could to ensure he never had to stand trial for those crimes.
Through a series of bribery and escaping prison, Joseph Smith was able to avoid having a proper trial in Missouri for his war crimes during the Missouri Mormon War and then refused to return to Missouri because he knew he would be justly arrested on legal arrest warrants. The last charge Missouri made against Joseph and tried to have him extradited for was the attempted murder of former governor Lilburn Boggs. While I personally believe Joseph Smith did conspire to have Governor Boggs murdered, I have not seen enough compelling evidence for me to have convicted him of the crime had I been a juror, but that does not mean that he did not do it, it just means that there is a reasonable doubt. On his other charges, however, I have seen more than enough evidence to convict, mostly from Church official sources.
Joseph Smith was a fugitive from justice for most of his adult life and would undoubtedly have been convicted for the myriad of crimes he had committed in Missouri during the Missouri Mormon War had he ever stood trial.
A lot of members and apologist say that Joseph Smith was justified in running from the law since he was innocent, but running makes him appear guilty and the law does not give anyone the permission to refuse to stand trial if they claim innocence because if it did no one would ever go to trial or be held to answer for any crime.
The Bible is clear on the matter and says that we should subject ourselves to the law, even if it is unjust,and that if we are commanded by the law to do something that is against our morals we are to commit civil disobedience but then to accept the punishment of the law. The apostles subjected themselves to the law and even though Paul had many opportunities to escape he remained subject to the law:
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
-Romans 13:1-5
Refusing to stand trial because you are convinced you will be convicted in no way exonerates a person from their crimes and does not signify innocence, and if anything, makes him or her look all the more guilty. I think it is of note that the apostles in the Bible did not run from the law and was willing to subject themselves to the demands of the law. In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were arrested for preaching in Philippi. At midnight, the Bible tells us, there was a great earthquake that made it possible for the Paul and Silas to escape, but they did not. Even though they could escape, Paul and Silas stayed to evangelize the jail guard and his family, who were all baptized. In the morning, the authorities set the men free, but Paul made no attempt to leave before he was legally allowed to. Compare that to the actions of Joseph Smith.
When Joseph was charged with the destruction of the printing press in Nauvoo he went on the run with his brother and did not turn himself in until the saints accused him of cowardice, which can be read in Church history and in the lesson manuals. Reynold Cahoon said, “You always said if the church would stick to you, you would stick to the church, now trouble comes [and] you are the first to run” (5).
Joseph Smith actively denied to having plural wives even though he had upwards of 40 wives, some as young as fourteen, so not only was he breaking the law, he was lying about it to the law and to his followers. I won’t go into the proof of this claim because I did so in detain a few episodes back in my blog titled “Prophets and Polygamy.”
Speaking of plural marriage, Joseph Smith took on multiple wives and hid his relationships from his wife Emma, and when she found out about them and became angry he came up with the doctrine that he could have more than one wife and that she was sinning by questioning him and that if she did not allow him to have more wives than she would be destroyed, and he said it was a revelation from the Almighty God. Joseph also said the revelation given him from God said that Emma was not allowed to be with anyone but Joseph but that he could have as many wives as he wanted, so long as they were virgins and not vowed to any other man. Of course, a lot of Joseph’s wives were not virgins and some were even married to other men at the time Joseph married them. Somehow a man claiming to receive a revelation for his wife that she had to obey him or be destroyed has always rubbed me the wrong way.
Joseph Smith grew up looking for treasure using a seer stone and having people pay him for the service, but he never found any treasure. Later, Joseph claimed to have been visited by a host of heavenly visitors and started a religion that was founded on his claim that he translated an ancient manuscript, using the same seer stone that he had previously used to not find buried treasure. Up until the publication of The Joseph Smith Papers whenever anyone would say that Joseph Smith translated The Book of Mormon using a rock in a hat instead of the interpreters that were supposedly buried with the golden plates it was quickly written off as an anti-Mormon lie, but now the Church admits that Joseph Smith putting a seer stone in a hat and sticking his face in the hat was how the book was translated and they have even published pictures of the seer stone.
Emma’s parents never liked Joseph Smith and Church history tells us (6) that when Joseph asked Isaac Hale for his daughters hand he gave a “thundering refusal” (7) but Joseph convinced her to elope and get married to him anyway, despite her parent’s objection. The Hales had the same opinion of Joseph that most of his contemporaries did, that he was a no good crook and a dishonest person.
The Church freely admits that its entire reputation rests or falls on the reputation of Joseph Smith and that if he was not a prophet than the entire Church is based on a lie, and that is why they try so hard to protect his image, even when they know all of his myriad of faults, which they conveniently sweep under the rug and “forget” to talk about.
I once believed that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was God’s kingdom on earth and that Joseph Smith was the great prophet of the restoration, but I now know so much about the Church’s history and about Joseph Smith that there is no way it is or could be the work of God. I think the advent of Mormonism is, perhaps, the biggest and most vile con ever perpetuated upon mankind. Don’t praise the man, praise Jesus and follow the Bible and only the Bible.
Sources Cited
Dan Vogel (editor), Early Mormon Documents (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1996–2003), 5 vols, 1:296. citing Lucy Mack Smith, Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations (Liverpool, S.W. Richards, 1853), 36-173.
(Tanner 1987:6 c: Joseph Smith as an Administrator, Gary Dean Guthrie, M.A. thesis, Brigham Young University, May 1969:161, in turn c: the diary of Apostle Abraham H. Cannon. V.19. 1 Oct 1895. Special Collections Dept. BYU Library).
(The Saints' Herald, January 22, 1935, p. 110).'"
From: The Changing World of Mormonism, Jerald and Sandra Tanner, pp. 472-473History of the Church, Volume 7, p.101