Joseph Smith - Saint or Sinner?

Joseph Smith was the founder of the Mormon religions. In 1827 at about age 22, he started to make claims of receiving revelations from god, and claims of new revelations persisted until shortly before his death in 1844. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the largest of those religions. Like the others, its validity rests entirely on the credibility of Joseph Smith. According to Joseph Fielding Smith, tenth president of the LDS church, Mormonism "must stand or fall on the story of Joseph Smith. He was either a prophet of God, divinely called, properly appointed and commissioned, or he was one of the biggest frauds this world has ever seen." [Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954), vol. 1, 188]

Who was Joseph Smith? What sort of person was he?

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From Hamilton Child's Gazetteer and Business Directory of Chenango County, NY for 1869-70.
Printed at the Journal Office, 23 and 24 E. Washington St., Syracuse, NY, 1869.

Gazetteer of Towns: Afton

Joe Smith, the founder of Mormonism, operated quite extensively in this town and vicinity during the early years of his career as a prophet. Smith was born in Sharon, Windsor Co., Vermont, December 23d, 1805. When about ten years of age, he removed with his parents to Palmyra, Wayne County, N. Y. The reputation of the family was very bad and Joe was considered the worst of the whole. Somewhere about 1828 or 1829, Smith made his appearance in Afton and attended school in District No. 9. Here his supernatural powers manifested themselves by telling fortunes or "foretelling futurity." This was done by placing a stone in his hat and then looking into it drawn over his face so as to exclude the light. He first organized a society at the house of Joe Knight, on the south side of the river, near the Lobdell House, in Broome County. Excavations were made in various places for treasures, and rocks containing iron pyrites were drilled for gold. Previous to digging in any place a sheep was killed and the blood sprinkled upon the spot. Lot 62 was the seat of one of these mining operations. To convince the unbelievers that he did possess supernatural powers he announced that he would walk upon the water. The performance was to take place in the evening, and to the astonishment of unbelievers, he did walk upon the water where it was known to be several feet deep, only sinking a few inches below the surface. This proving a success, a second trial was announced which bid fair to be as successful as the first, but when he had proceeded some distance into the river he suddenly went down, greatly to the disgust of himself and proselytes, but to the great amusement of the unbelievers. It appeared on examination that plank were laid in the river a few inches below the surface, and some wicked boys had removed a plank which caused the prophet to go down like any other mortal. After pretending to heal the sick, cast out devils, and so forth, he gained quite a number of followers, but at length came to grief by being prosecuted as an impostor. He was tried before Joseph P. Chamberlain, a Justice of the Peace. Two pettifoggers by the name of John S. Reed and James Davison volunteered to defend him. Three witnesses were examined on the occasion, all of whom testified that they had seen him cast out devils. They saw "a devil as large as a woodchuck leave the man and run across the floor." One of them saw a devil leave the man and "run off like a yellow dog." These witnesses were Mr. Knight and son, and Mr. Stowell, all of whom subsequently went west with Smith. Preston T. Wilkins, of Ashtabula County, Ohio, lived in Broome County, near the line of Afton, at the time of the Mormon excitement, and while on a visit to a Mormon family learned that there was a chest of Mormon Bibles in the barn, that it was guarded by an angel, and that it would be utterly impossible for any one to steal one of them. Mr. W. prepared a key that would unlock the chest, and taking one of their Bibles carried it home in the evening and placed it over the front door, so that it would fall into the house on opening the door. The result was what he anticipated and the Mormons declared that an angel had brought the book and of course Mr. W. and his wife would become converts at once. The Mormons had been laboring for some time to convert Mrs. W. and had caused her much anxiety and her husband considerable trouble, which he wished to end. They would never acknowledge that one of their books was missing. Some time afterwards Mr. W. explained the miracle of the Bible and informed the Mormons that they must keep away from his house as he would no longer listen to their impositions. About 1831 most of them went west where the saints had been commanded to assemble.

Overview from the Encyclopedia Britannica

Joseph Smith
born Dec. 23, 1805, Sharon, Vt., U.S.
died June 27, 1844, Carthage, Ill.

originally Joseph Smith, Jr. American prophet whose writings, along with the Bible, provide the theological foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Mormon denominations.

Smith grew up in western New York at a time of intense religious revivalism. He was a literate but unschooled lad from a large family, and his neighbours at Palmyra, N.Y., remembered him as a diviner who dug for buried treasure. One day in the woods, at the age of 14, Joseph Smith experienced what he conceived to be an intense spiritual revelation of God and Jesus Christ. [But this alleged experience was never mentioned by him until many years later.] In 1827 he claimed that an angel had directed him to buried golden plates whose engraved surfaces contained a history of the American Indians describing them as descendants of Hebrews who centuries earlier had sailed to North America by way of the Pacific. This Book of Mormon he translated from “reformed Egyptian” with the aid of special stones. Published in 1830, the book was offered by him as scientific evidence of his divine calling. Most non-Mormon scholars, however, regard the book as a collection of local legends of Indian origin, fragments of autobiography, and current religious and political controversies (especially that connected with the Anti-Masonic movement), all transformed with remarkable ingenuity into a religious document.

Smith claimed that the church that he organized on April 6, 1830, at Fayette, N.Y., restored the ancient, primitive Christian religion. The converts whom it attracted during the next decade followed him from New York to Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. But they were forced to press continually westward in search of economic opportunity and freedom from persecution. Their successive neighbours were suspicious of the Mormons' unorthodox cooperative society ruled by an ecclesiastical oligarchy.

Non-Mormons were also hostile toward the sect's rumoured practice of polygamy. Although Smith's revelation on this subject was not made public until 1852, nor is it supported in the Book of Mormon, there is evidence that he may have married as many as 50 wives. Publicly, however, he acknowledged only his first, Emma Hale Smith, who bore him nine children.

The young prophet governed his people by announcing periodic revelations on widely divergent matters. He combined elements of Jewish and Christian mysticism with the goal of perpetual prosperity and sought to establish Mormonism as a complete way of life.

In 1839 Smith finally led his flock to Commerce, Ill., which he renamed Nauvoo. Mormon faithful quickly followed, and the population soon reached 20,000, making it the largest city in Illinois. With rival Democrats and Whigs both hoping to win the Mormon vote, the city was granted a liberal charter by the state. Smith served as its mayor and commanded the Nauvoo Legion, a part of the state militia, gaining a reputation as one of the West's most illustrious citizens.

In February 1844, when he announced his candidacy for the U.S. presidency, however, suspicion and rivalry began to close in upon him. A handful of Mormon dissenters attacked him in their opposition newspaper on grounds of polygamy and political ambition. Smith thereupon ordered their press destroyed. Threats of mob violence followed. After Smith called out the Nauvoo militia to protect the town, he was charged with treason and imprisoned, along with his brother Hyrum, in the Carthage city jail. Despite promises of protection from the governor of Illinois, Thomas Ford, a mob of armed men with blackened faces stormed the jail on June 27 and murdered the brothers.

Smith was thus elevated to martyrdom. His church was divided, the majority, led by Brigham Young, migrating to Great Salt Lake in Utah. A smaller group, which settled in Independence, Mo., was led by the eldest of Smith's four surviving sons. In addition to the Book of Mormon, the Latter-day Saints also use as scriptural sources Smith's Doctrine and Covenants (1835) and The Pearl of Great Price (1842).

"Smith, Joseph." Encyclopćdia Britannica from Encyclopćdia Britannica Premium Service. [Accessed October 31, 2005].

Money Digging

Joseph's use of magic stones to find buried treasure, and his charging for that service, is well-documented. In addition to many eye-witnesses, there are court records concerning his scams.

"People of State of New York vs. Joseph Smith. Warrant issued upon oath of Peter G. Bridgman, who informed that one Joseph Smith of Bainbridge was a disorderly person and an impostor. Prisoner brought into court March 20 (1826). Prisoner examined. Says that he came from town of Palmyra, and had been at the house of Josiah Stowell in Bainbridge most of time since; had small part of time been employed in looking for mines, but the major part had been employed by said Stowell on his farm, and going to school; that he had a certain stone, which he had occasionally looked at to determine where hidden treasures in the bowels of the earth were; that he professed to tell in this manner where gold-mines were a distance under ground, and had looked for Mr. Stowell several times, and informed him where he could find those treasures, and Mr. Stowell had been engaged in digging for them; that at Palmyra he pretended to tell, by looking at this stone, where coined money was buried in Pennsylvania, and while at Palmyra he had frequently ascertained in that way where lost property was, of various kinds; that he has occasionally been in the habit of looking through this stone to find lost property for three years, but of late had pretty much given it up on account its injuring his health, especially his eyes - made them sore; that he did not solicit business of this kind, and had always rather declined having anything to do with this business… And thereupon the Court finds the defendant guilty."

Smith combined magic and religion in ways that were accepted in his era but would be dismissed without further thought in our day. David Whitmer, one of the three witnesses to The Book of Mormon, described how Joseph Smith placed the 'seer stone' into a hat to translate The Book of Mormon:

'I will now give you a description of the manner in which The Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing.' (An Address to All Believers in Christ, by David Whitmer, 1887, p. 12)

The Book of Abraham - Joseph's Blunder

Many, even most, religious assertions can neither be proved nor disproved, and that explains their durability. Not so with some of Smith's claims concerning his revelations. There is a vast literature on efforts to find some support for the tales contained in the Book of Mormon. None has ever been found.

Even more difficult for supporters of Smith to explain away is the "Book of Abraham" saga. At one time, Joseph had in his possession some fragments of Egyptian papyri which he said he had translated, and he claimed they were writings of the Biblical patriarch Abraham. The so-called Book of Abraham was incorporated into Mormon scripture as another revelation from god. Unfortunately for Smith's credibility, those same papyri were examined many years later by Egyptologists and were found to have nothing at all to do with Abraham or his religion. Rather, it was a pagan text filled with the names of Egyptian gods and goddesses.

The Sexual Predations of Joseph Smith

If anyone is offended by my choice of words, he/she is welcome to write to me and suggest another way to characterize his behavior with women. While he publicly denied polygamy, he privately "confided" to many that god commanded him to take women as wives in addition to his only legal wife, Emma Hale Smith. Thirty-three extra wives are documented, and another 8 - 17 are probable. Eleven of his "plural" wives were teenagers. One is known to have been as young as 14.

In Todd Compton's exhaustively researched book (see references at the end of this article), details are given that put Joseph Smith firmly in the "sinner" category and make one wonder how he can continue to be regarded as "saint." Smith went after the wives of his friends, and their daughters. There were at least eleven polyandrous unions in which the wife was already married to another man. There were four sister pairs, and one mother-daughter pair. A number of his plural wives were dependent orphans or young women employed and living in his home.

A number of the "brides" were unwilling and were secured through coercion, including both promises and threats. The youngest girl, 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball, much later wrote a memoir for her children. Smith gave her a twenty-four hour deadline to capitulate. He told her, "If you will take this step, it will ensure your eternal salvation and exaltation and that of your father's household and all of your kindred." Another teenager, Lucy Walker, just 16, was told by Smith that it was a "command of God" and damnation would be her reward if she refused. She gave in.

Joseph Smith's ersatz marriages netted him more than just sexual access to many women. In the spring of 1843 Smith married another pair of fatherless daughters who were living in his house. Sarah Lawrence, seventeen, and her nineteen-year-old sister Maria were legal wards of Smith, and the prophet had also been named guardian trustee of their sizable estate. There is evidence that Smith "borrowed" from estate funds.

Strange Behavior in Navoo

One can only speculate about how far Smith's grandiosity would have proceeded had he not been killed at the age of 38. He developed doctrines and rituals that define much of Mormon theology and ceremony, such as baptism for the dead, the existence of many gods instead of just one, the idea that the Mormon god had once been a man, and faithful Mormon men could themselves become gods. Much of this was spelled out in what has come to be called the King Follett Discourse, a sermon preached by Smith April 7, 1844. The believer's reward will be "to inherit the same power, the same glory, and the same exaltation until you arrive at the station of a God and ascend the throne of eternal power..."

Eternal power. Could anything be more seductive to mortal man? Not just immortality, which many religions allege to offer, but everlasting power as well.

Earlier that year (1844), Smith declared himself a candidate for the U. S. presidency. He petitioned Congress for an army of 100,000 and was rebuffed. On April 11, he had himself ordained as "King, Priest, and Ruler over Israel on Earth." He was at odds with his own closest associates over polygamy and other matters. Several of his inner circle broke away in disillusionment and went public with a number of carefully guarded secrets. Nonmormon communities, already concerned, became overtly frightened, feeling a need to defend themselves.

The shootout at the Carthage jail, where Smith and several of his associates were being held, took the lives of Smith and his brother Hyrum, and wounded three whom Joseph shot before being shot himself. Although Smith was armed, it was an unequal fight.

Frontier justice was never justice, as we know it today. What happened to Smith can be understood as something resulting in part from his own actions, but it can't be excused, lest we play the game of "blame the victim."

References

The Crucible of Ferment: New York's "Psychic Highway," Emerson Klees, Rochester: Cameo Press, 2001

Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1992

Gazetteer and Business Directory of Chenango County, NY for 1869-70, Hamilton Child Printed at the Journal Office, 23 and 24 E. Washington St., Syracuse, NY, 1869.

In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith, Todd Compton, Signature Books, 1997, 788 pages

Joseph Smith, Robert V. Remini, New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 2002

Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, Richard L. Bushman, University of Illinois Press, 1984

Mormon America: The Power and the Promise, Richard N. and Joan K. Ostling, San Francisco: Harper, 1999, 454 pages

Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, 2nd ed., Linda King Newell & Valeen Tippets Avery, University of Illinois Press, 1994, 394 pages

No Man Knows My History: the Life of Joseph Smith, Fawn M. Brodie, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1945, renewed 1973

One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church, Richard Abanes, New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2002, 651 pages

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