Category: General Authorities
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Fooling the Prophet with the Kinderhook Plates
By Bill McKeever and Aaron Shafovaloff
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Should Joseph Smith Appear Today
By Bill McKeever Mormons have a tendency to rarely criticize their founding prophet. To hear many of them speak, Joseph Smith was a man of impeccable character who was a beacon of morality to his followers. Brigham Young went so far as to say:
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A Greater Prophet than Isaiah?
By Bill McKeever The June 27, 1998 edition of the LDS Church News, in commemoration of the 154th anniversary of Joseph Smith’s death, quoted from a 1933 book entitled Joseph Smith an American Prophet. This book, written by John Henry Evans, was an attempt to give a ‘scientific treatment of Joseph Smith … without smothering…
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History of Wayne County – How the Locals Viewed Joseph Smith and His Family
The History of Wayne County New York (1789-1877) gives both a “historical and descriptive” look at the area where Joseph Smith lived as a young man and where Mormonism began. As the title implies, it is a look at the history of the entire county and is not at all intended to elaborate on the…
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Movie Review: An American Prophet
By Bill McKeever “Millions of people around the world know of him. Yet this frontier prophet of the early 1800’s found little honor and eventual martyrdom at the hands of an angry mob in his own country. Who was this Joseph Smith and what was it about his remarkable life story, which inspired such impassioned…
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The "Rising Generation" and Christ’s Second Coming
By Bill McKeever In an April 1843 general conference speech, Joseph Smith predicted that Jesus Christ would not return before he would reach the age of 85. He said, “Were I going to prophesy, I would say the end [of the world] would not come in 1844, 5, or 6, or in forty years. There…
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Joseph Smith – "President of the Resurrection"
By Bill McKeever Since Jesus made it clear to Martha in John 11:25 that He was the “resurrection and the life,” there has been no question among Christians as to who is responsible for the resurrection of mankind. Apparently Brigham Young, Mormonism’s second president, would care to differ.
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Joseph Smith – The Second Muhammad?
By Bill McKeever In its early years of Mormon history the LDS Church met serious resistance when it attempted to expand into the state of Missouri in the 1830s.
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Final Moments at Carthage Jail and the Death of Joseph Smith
The events leading to the death of Mormon founder Joseph Smith are much like the events surrounding his life—full of contradiction. To hear Mormons tell the story, Smith did no wrong; for others, he did no right. Like most stories, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
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Does the Bible Contain Prophecies About Joseph Smith?
Could Joseph Smith be a biblical prophet? Mormons point to Genesis revisions and Elijah’s return in prophecy, but scholars argue these lack evidence, favoring John the Baptist as the true fulfillment.
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“Praise to the Man” – Elevating Joseph Smith
By Bill McKeever
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Amorous Advances by the Mormon Prophet
By Bill McKeever Mormon historian Richard Van Wagoner paints anything but a flattering picture of Joseph Smith in his book Sidney Rigdon, Portrait of Religious Excess. In his chapter titled “Between Friends and Family,” he notes that “perhaps the most scandalous manifestation of Smith’s lust for manly achievement was his inclination toward extra-martial romantic liaisons,…
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Examining Joseph Smith’s "Rocky Mountain Prophecy"
[Speaking in General Conference on Sunday, October 5, 2008, Mormon Apostle M. Russell Ballard stated that on August of 1842, Joseph Smith prophesied “that the Saints would continue to suffer much affliction and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains,” and that some would live to “build cities and see the Saints become a mighty…
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Smithsonian Institution Statement Regarding the Book of Mormon
Some Latter-day Saints, in their zeal to give tangible authenticity to the Book of Mormon, have told prospective converts that the Smithsonian Institution has used the Book of Mormon to verify sites in the New World. In response to numerous requests on this subject, the Smithsonian has issued the following paper detailing their position on…
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A Seer Stone and a Hat – "Translating" the Book of Mormon
Joseph Smith’s translation of the Book of Mormon via a seer stone is debated. Eyewitness accounts describe his use of a hat to block light during the process, raising questions about its credibility.
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Guess Who?
Members of the LDS Church are familiar with the charge that Mormonism isn’t a Christian faith. They hear it often enough, but they really don’t understand why people think that. "We are Christians," Mormon President Gordon B. Hinckley insisted. "We have the name of Jesus Christ right in the name of our Church, The Church…
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Adam-God: Another Botched Joke?
BYU professor Stephen E. Robinson made a comment on pages 19 and 20 that appeared in his book Are Mormons Christians? Robinson was trying to fend off criticism toward second President Brigham Young regarding his infamous “Adam-God” sermon. In a conference message on April 9, 1852, Young stated that the first man, Adam, was our…
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The Validity of the Mormon Church
Naturally I receive a lot of mail from well-meaning Latter-day Saints telling me how I will never be able to “disprove” the claims of Mormonism. Personally, I find such a comment a tad bit on the arrogant side since it exposes a sense of “omniscience” that no Mormon owns. A recent comment I received stated:…
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New and Improved King Follett Discourse
In 2004 the LDS Church brought its long-running City of Joseph pageant (Nauvoo, Illinois) to a close. In 2005 a new pageant premiered in the City of Joseph — Nauvoo Pageant: A Tribute to Joseph Smith. Along with the introduction of the new pageant, the LDS Church also offered tourists several historic vignettes which were…