Tag Archives: Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith was killed 166 years ago today

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On June 27th, 1844, a mob killed Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum in Carthage Jail. Their murder was inexcusable, but not totally unexpected.

Joseph Smith made a lot of enemies the last year of his life. People were afraid that he had too much political power. Smith was already the mayor of Nauvoo and the commander of a formidable militia. Then in 1844, he also ran for president and was even coronated “King of Israel.”

Dissent was swelling within Smith’s own ranks as well. William Law, formerly a counselor to Smith in the First Presidency, and other disaffected Mormons joined together and created the Nauvoo Expositor. Its first (and final) issue, published June 7th, 1844, exposed Smith’s practice of polygamy and accused him of theocratic ambitions. Smith and the Nauvoo city council declared the paper a “public nuisance” and ordered its printing press destroyed. They reasoned it was necessary for the public safety of Nauvoo’s citizens. But the Illinois government saw it as an un-American affront to the freedom of press, so Smith, his brother, and fifteen other city council members were imprisoned at Carthage on charges of treason and inciting riot.

Only two days later, a mob intent on killing the Mormon prophet stormed the jail. Smith defended himself with a smuggled-in pistol, but was hopelessly outnumbered. He was shot three times while trying to escape out the second-story window. As Smith fell out the window, he reportedly cried “Oh Lord, my God!” These words begin the masonic distress call, and some suppose that Smith—a Mason himself—attempted this call to ask mercy of the Masons in the mob. If his last words were indeed a cry for mercy, it went unheeded. Smith was fatally shot once he landed from his fall.

Smith became revered as a martyr by his followers, and his death further catalyzed the Latter Day Saint movement. Outside of Mormonism, he is counted among the most inventive and influential religious figures.

I don’t mean to demonize or eulogize Joseph Smith with this post. I just wanted to acknowledge an important day in Mormon and American history.

The First Vision(s): A discussion of the various accounts

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In 1820, at the age of 14, Joseph Smith was wracked with religious confusion. Spurred by a religious revival in his area, he wanted to know which church he should join. Smith took up the counsel of James 1:5: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God…” and went off into a nearby grove to pray for an answer.

While in prayer, Smith was overtaken by a dark demonic power—so much so that he was rendered paralyzed and mute. He was delivered from this power by “two personages” (God the Father & the Son), who descended above him in a bright beam of light.

God told him that the “professors” of the different denominations were “corrupt” and that “all their creeds were an abomination in [my] sight;” he was commanded to join none of them. This story subjected Smith to “bitter persecution” from all religious sects in the area.

Above is the official version of the First Vision that was written in 1838, nearly twenty years after the event supposedly happened, and which today appears in LDS scriptures. The story is fundamental to the founding of Mormonism and most members accept this account uncritically. But its veracity has been the matter of much debate.

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Joseph Smith and Nikola Tesla

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I smile every time I see this relief on the face of the Joseph Smith Building at BYU. To me (and probably only to me), it looks like Smith is electrifying nearby people with the rays emanating from his hands. I made this juvenile observation back in high school, but it has stayed with me.

Regarding this relief, something dawned on me today (and this will totally betray my nerdiness): Here, Joseph Smith resembles the 19th century inventor Nikola Tesla! So I created a side-by-side comparison and added it to my LDS leader look-a-likes post.


 Okay, granted. They don’t really bear a physical resemblance. But their presentation in these pictures is very similar—their gesture, their stance, their clothes. And most strikingly, they both hold in their hands an incredible source of power. For Smith, it’s the “word of God”; for Tesla, orbs of electricity.

I know it’s not the funniest comparison, but I’ll be damned if it’s not unique!  :)

Joseph Smith and Stephen Colbert

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I stumbled upon the above picture on a Mormon discussion forum earlier today. Maybe the picture is only good for a laugh. It’s at least good for that much. But because the picture invites a comparison between Joseph Smith and Stephen Colbert, let’s explore it (if for no other reason than it would be fun to do so).  :)

So what are some similarities between these two men? Any thoughts?

I’ve been thinking about, and—despite all their obvious differences—I think Smith and Colbert would have really hit it off. They are both boisterous, dramatic, and creative personalities. Imagine Smith as a guest on the Colbert Report, for example. The prophet of Truth vs. the pundit of “truthiness.” Now that’s must-see TV! And with Smith’s quick-wit and sense of humor, I actually suspect he’d hold up quite well against Colbert.

Why I Don’t Believe: The Kinderhook Plates

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This is the fifth installment of my “Why I Don’t Believe” series. If you haven’t been following these posts, please read my reasons for doing the series. At first, I debated whether to include a discussion of the Kinderhook Plates, but I think it complements the previous post on the Book of Abraham. So while this post will be subject to revision, I hope you find it interesting.

On April 23, 1843, six bell-shaped brass plates were unearthed from an Indian mound near Kinderhook, Illinois. These plates bore strange engravings and appeared to be of ancient origins. Among those who found the plates were two Mormon Elders. They were excited by the discovery and suggested that the plates be taken to their prophet to be translated. And within a week, the Kinderhook Plates (as they became known) made their way to Joseph Smith.

Unbeknownst to Smith, the plates were a hoax meant to expose him as a charlatan. W. P. Harris, a witness to the Kinderhook Plate’s discovery, wrote the following in an 1856 letter:

“…I was present with a number at or near Kinderhook and helped to dig at the time the plates were found…Bridge Whitten said to me that he cut and prepared the plates and he…and R. Wiley engraved them themselves…Wilbourn [Fugate] appeared to be the chief, with R. Wiley and B. Whitten.”

Fugate himself confessed to being the architect of the hoax, albeit (oddly) decades later:

“I received your letter in regard to those plates, and I will say in answer that they are a humbug, gotten up by Robert Wiley, Bridge Whitten and myself….We read in Pratt’s prophecy that ‘Truth is yet to spring out of the earth.’ We concluded to prove the prophecy by way of a joke. We soon made our plans and executed them. Bridge Whitton cut them out…Wiley and I made the hieroglyphics by making impressions on beeswax and filling them with acid and putting it on the plates.”

Well, their ruse worked. William Clayton, Smith’s scribe and confidant, recorded in his journal that “Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth.”

This is problematic for the church, because, to quote critical author Charles A. Shook, “Only a bogus prophet translates bogus plates.”

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Why I Don’t Believe: The Book of Abraham

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* This is the fourth installment in my “Why I Don’t Believe” series.

If there is only one thing upon which my Mormon friends and I will agree, it’s that sacrament meetings are sometimes insufferably dull. Kids have their baggies of Cheerios, but the rest of us are left to find other means of avoiding the tedium of church. My distraction of choice was the Book of Abraham. I was especially intrigued by the facsimiles that accompanied it. I mean, what other sacred text can also function as a coloring book?

As I matured, so too did my interest in the Book of Abraham. The illustrations aside, it’s a fascinating and important work of scripture. I began to more faithfully study it and its teachings. The Book of Abraham discusses some of Mormonism’s most peculiar doctrines—the plurality of gods, the pre-existence, and polygamy. It also introduced the scriptural basis for the black priesthood ban.

Despite its importance, many Mormons are unaware of the history behind the Book of Abraham and the immense (if not insurmountable) difficulty it poses to their religion. For those who don’t find this post persuasive, I hope it will at least be informative.
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