Category: Joseph Smith, Jr.
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Book Review: Nauvoo Polygamy
Nauvoo Polygamy: “…But We Called It Celestial Marriage” By George D. Smith Polygamy (or plural marriage as it is also called) was a major issue for the LDS Church in 2014, as three different Gospel Topic essays on this topic were published. For many Latter-day Saints, the information disseminated by the church—including the fact that Joseph Smith…
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Joseph Smith and His Many Wives
The Mormon Church recently admitted in a Gospel Topics essay that Joseph Smith had a total of 30-40 plural wives, meaning that Emma was not his “one and only.” In fact, the church even acknowledged that there was sexual intimacy in most of these relationships. Does this information agree with scholarship? And is it true…
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“The sweet dream of a pure minded boy”
In the spring of 1820 Joseph Smith went into the woods to pray. “Humbly kneeling, sweet appealing–‘Twas the boy’s first uttered prayer” says the Mormon hymn (“Joseph Smith’s First Prayer”). Joseph sought to know “Who of all these parties [Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists] are right; or are they all wrong together? If any one of…
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Mormonism’s President and the Role of the Angry Mob
In April 2014, at the Mormon Church’s General Conference, President Thomas S. Monson spoke of love being the essence of the gospel. Explaining that Jesus Christ is our great example of love, President Monson said, “The sick He healed; the downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved. At the end the angry mob took His…
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The Danger of Mormon Idolatry
In October (2014) Mormon blogger Jana Riess wrote about the “shadow side” of Mormonism: the “tendency to idolize – as in actually make idols of – the men who run our church. An idol is anything we use as a substitute for God,” Dr. Riess wrote, “and I feel that sometimes, we cross that line…
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Faithful Mormons Respond to News of Joseph Smith’s Polygamy
Shock waves continue to move across the globe as Mormons discover their Church’s recent admissions regarding Joseph Smith’s polygamy. There is much distress evident among Mormons who have always believed (been told) that the kinds of things now disclosed in the Mormon Church essays (i.e., Joseph Smith married up to 40 women, many were quite…
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Mormon Church Posts Essays on Joseph Smith’s Polygamy
It’s all over the news. The Mormon Church has finally “admitted” long-buried facts about Joseph Smith’s polygamy. The new Church essays were actually posted at lds.org sometime around October 22nd (2014), but for some reason the news only hit the big-time mainstream media this week. Once the New York Times picked up the story, many…
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Gospel Topics Essay: Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo
On October 22, 2014, the LDS Church published another “Gospel Topics” essay titled “Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo.” There were a number of admissions made. However, all the facts were not included to give a complete picture. The information contained within should be disconcerting for any faithful Latter-day Saint, as history doesn’t lie. A…
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Early Mormon Marriages: Tangled Webs to Sort Out in the Eternities
Many people are aware of Joseph Smith’s practice of polygamy. A subset of those people are also aware that some of Joseph’s plural wives were married to other men at the same time they were married to Joseph. Many of these folks think Joseph Smith was the only Mormon leader to engage in these strange…
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A Remarkable Prophecy About Joseph Smith?
In Joseph Smith’s official History (found canonized in the Mormon book of scripture Pearl of Great Price), the Prophet relates a prophecy delivered to him by the angel Moroni: “He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name…
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Joseph Smith Wasn’t Arrogant or Boastful?
In a Deseret News article titled “Defending the Faith: Joseph Smith wasn’t arrogant or boastful” (9/4/14), Mormon BYU Professor Daniel Peterson addressed a common criticism used against Joseph Smith: “Some critics like to use a quotation attributed to Joseph Smith as a weapon against him: “‘I have more to boast of,’ he’s reported to have…
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Responding to the King Follett Discourse: “It Is the Voice of a God, Not of a Man”
Early Mormon leader Joseph Fielding responded to the King Follett Discourse (April 7, 1844): “I never felt more delighted with his discourse than at this time. They said at his oration, it is the voice of a god not of a man.” (Journal of Joseph Fielding, quoted in “The King Follett Discourse: Joseph Smith’s Greatest…
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Book Review: Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling
A book on Joseph Smith written by a Latter-day Saint that we would recommend. Yes, the author does accept more than he should, but overall I think this is an important read for everyone interested in the topic of Mormonism. Find out why.
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10 Reasons Why Joseph Smith Should Not Be Considered a True Prophet of God
10 reasons why Joseph Smith should not be considered a true prophet of God1. He was not considered to be trustworthy by the people of his day.2. He taught in a version of God different from the Bible.3. He produced prophecies that didn’t come to pass.
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Citizen Smith
In the late afternoon of that sticky June day, Joseph Smith lay broken and bleeding beside the foundation of the Carthage Jail. Though few people knew he held the secret, self-imposed scepter of king, the fact that he had been in the race for the United States presidency was common knowledge. But Joseph Smith did…
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Book Review: American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church
Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam’s new 2014 book may be very helpful to many readers who may not know very much about Mormonism, let alone the facts surrounding the death of Mormonism’s founder Joseph Smith at the hands of an angry mob at the Carthage Jail in 1844. See the review of American Crucifixion here.
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Joseph Smith and Romans 4:5
Joseph Smith revised the Bible. Some say he “corrected” it. The resulting volume is known as the Joseph Smith Translation (JST) or the Inspired Version. My Mormon edition of the King James Version of the Bible (1989) includes seventeen pages of JST “excerpts too lengthy for inclusion in footnotes” at the back of the book.…
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Gospel Topics Essay: First Vision Accounts
A good Mormon will be able to explain Smith’s supposed vision of God the Father and Jesus. As part of the Gospel Topics Essay, Joseph Smith’s First Vision account is described and defended by the LDS Church. But what about the different accounts that provided contradictory details? Did Smith see angels or did he see God…
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The Salvific Role of Joseph Smith
The Salvific Role of Joseph Smith By Bill McKeever The following was originally printed in the Nov-Dec 2012 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here.
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Joseph Smith’s Aberrational Marriage Habits
The following was originally printed in the Nov-Dec 2010 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here. Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith introduced the doctrine of polygamy to his followers, and led the way by example, wedding over 30 females. According to LDS author and researcher Todd Compton, the ages of Smith’s wives…
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