Mormonism
Founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr.
ability
for spinning tales. He was a good liar, probably encouraged by his
parents. Both he and his father were “considered entirely destitute
of moral character and addicted to vicious habits,” insofar as at
least sixty of their neighbors in Palmyra, New York were
concerned. They went so far as to sign affidavits for this, still
available for public viewing.
However, a large part of the blame for young Joseph’s apostasy falls directly on the church of that time, Methodists in particular. The records of the Presbyterian Church in Palmyra indicate there was a “revival” in 1824. These “revivals” were carnival shows, much like today’s T.V. evangelists produce. Now, assuming Joseph is fabricating stories based on some truth, “being in a fervor himself” about “the subject of religion,” he also “saw the light” and began to have lucrative visions. He dates the “First Vision” in 1820, which is a little too early, but it is handy for his use as a storyteller.
His accounts of these visions are very similar to accounts given by those involved in today’s charismatic movement. None of this is new. The history of the church is loaded with odd assortments of very special people, angels, visions, dreams - you name it. Angels and light accompany Joseph’s visions as well. With varying detail that is sometimes contradictory, he spins the story of Moroni and the lost plates. Of course, “The First Vision” shows him that all the churches are corrupt, abominations, Babylon and on, and on and on.
So Joseph Smith, at the ripe old age of nineteen or twenty (according to him fifteen) receives the incredible revelation that not only should he not join any churches, but also should make one himself! And so, he feels quite encouraged to start his own cult. But Joseph is not to be believed for he tried to join the Methodist church in 1828, almost 8 years after he claims to have had a vision warning him that all Christendom was false! Go figure.
In 1825, sometime during Joseph’s religious experiences, he was employed as an occultist seer, his specialty being a “glass-looker.” If he was not directly practicing the occult rituals, he was at least doing what we call today “conning” people. In fact, he was a good “con-man,” getting into the pocketbooks of the vain looking for easy riches. He presented himself as a treasure hunter gifted with a mystic ability to locate buried objects and the like. The Mormon Church denies all of this. They actually have these records, but they are unwilling to share them with us for some reason. So far, they have not been able to disprove the con-man history of Joseph Smith.
Court records prove that Joseph was a con artist. If he was good at duping unwary wealth seekers, he was also good at getting in trouble with the law for it. He had a “rap sheet as long as your arm” we would say today. About four dozen easily verified lawsuits have been recorded, not counting his criminal offenses. At least five arrests resulted in convictions. Joseph had this to say about his dealings with the laws: “It is all of the devil – all corruption. Come on! Ye prosecutors! Ye false swearers! All hell, boil over! Ye burning mountains, roll down your lava! For I will come out on top at last.” He was showman until the end.
The end was thirty days after he made the above remarks. Joseph also said in this particular ranting, “I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam…Neither Paul, John, Peter nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I.” This he said in May 1844, at the age of 38, 13 years after he stared his cult. He never saw his 39th birthday, but died at the hands of vigilantes in June. He was a fighting man until the end: he died in a gunfight with a pistol in his hand.
He is remembered by the Mormon Church as a beloved prophet, a seer. His method for finding the truth is much the same as his techniques for locating treasure: He gets a divine revelation, he locates the buried treasure, he digs it up, finds some obscure writing on gold plates, uses a special set of stones to translate what’s written on the plates. This story accounts for the Book of Mormon as told by the prophet Smith. The language of the angel Moroni needed to be translated into Old English by someone, so naturally the seer couldn’t say no to the heavenly vision. His cranium buried in a hat with a peeping stone, he dictated verbatim what was written on the plates. This dictation story is an attempt to lend veracity to Joseph’s accounts. The Mormon Church uses it to show how miraculous the instantaneous translation really was. Witnesses affirm that a second party just wrote down what came out of the hat. However, there is no reason to believe these witnesses who were Joseph’s disciples. A short study on his first followers will show them to be unreliable witnesses incapable of “getting their stories straight.”
Joseph Smith claims to have directly translated some hieroglyphics into English and claimed that the resulting book was more accurate than the Bible, which he thought falsified in many areas. Joseph meticulously recorded in mechanical fashion, word for word, without paraphrase or commentary, each divine word. The Book of Mormon is supposedly “the most correct book on earth. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most edited books on earth and has undergone over 3,000 changes since it was meticulously translated. The modern version keeps the tone of the King James Bible’s English, but it seems that editing Joseph’s bad Old English has been necessary (except where he borrows whole cloth from the King James Bible!).
For instance, in the 1830 version of the Book of Mormon we read, “…that the Lamb of God is the Eternal Father and the Saviour of the world…” This is changed in later editions to, “…that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father…” 1 Nephi 13:40. Slight English change there. This doctrine of Jesus as being both the Father and the Son is repeated elsewhere (Ether 3:14, Mosiah 15:1-5). This example is not to argue the doctrine of the godhead, but to show how that Joseph just can’t seem to decide what is meant by the hieroglyphics.
There is some evidence that Joseph Smith stole almost all of his Book of Mormon from an unpublished novel written by Solomon Spalding sometime before 1816. Solomon was a retired minister and evidently a pretty good taleteller. One Sidney Rigdon, a close associate of Joseph Smith’s, probably had a hand in getting Spalding’s work into Joseph’s Smith’s hands. Although Rigdon denied he knew anything about this novel, it can be shown he is not to be trusted. He also stated he knew nothing about Mormonism before 1830, but the evidence shows that he knew Smith long before that, before the date that the manuscript was stolen. You see, Rigdon was in Pittsburgh at the same time Spaulding tried to get his novel published there, and a friend of Rigdon’s just happened to work at the print shop from which Spaulding’s manuscript was stolen.
It is not hard to explain the manufacture of the Book of Mormon if we look at the facts. Solomon Spaulding uses his religious background and imagination to construct a manuscript that is the sequel to a book called Manuscript Story. He calls it Manuscript Found and reads it to various friends and family. He decides to have it published. In the meantime, Joseph and his friends are looking for some money and they have found a lucrative market in religion themselves, albeit they have not been as successful as the ministers and evangelists of that day. Someone leeks out that there is a fantastic story just begging for a paying audience. Sidney Rigdon steals it. He knows Joseph and shows him the goods. Joseph sees the potential. He cares nothing for the souls of those whom he prepares to dupe, for he has been doing this his entire life. To his credit, he is a very religious person and has tried everything from Methodism to occultism in his pursuit of God, the ultimate moneyman. Joseph seizes the opportunity and manufactures yet one more astounding story about angels and revelation and out pops the Book of Mormon.
He gains a following, gets lots of money, gets power over men and gets their women. Life couldn’t be better! He continues to write more stuff. He has found that gold vein at last! Only problem is, he has horrified the good folk around him with his militant cultic perversion of the faith they have so diligently pursued. He threatens to tear down the government itself. He is arrested for the last time. The jail is stormed and Joseph is cut off from the land of the living, his writing career having been cut short by the bullet of bad reviews.
Mormons today follow this man and his religion. They are to be pitied. They have financial wealth, most of them are well educated, and they try real hard to be good Americans. But, they are dupes of a con artist who leads them to the paths of death. If they would examine their faith and its background, they would reject it as doggerel and dangerous. But, they make the same claims against true Christianity, so they are incapable of real evaluation. Only God in his mercy can free them, just as he must every man who has been duped by the devil.
- Chris Simonson
We encourage you to email the author to prove or disprove, from the Scriptures, the intent, meaning, purpose or doctrine of this piece. email Chris
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