Joseph Smith was born December 23, 1805. As a youth, he moved from Vermont to western New York, near the town of Palmyra. (Melton 29) His family was proselyted into the Presbyterian denomination. Either his fourteenth or fifteenth year (not made clear from the many different testimonies) he claimed that although he was partial to the Methodist sect he still did not know which group to join. His problem was solved by a vision he had in 1820. Writer LeGrand Richards described this vision as, “One of the most important and momentous events in this world’s history. God, the Eternal Father, and his Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith and gave instructions concerning the establi

Joseph Smith was a man with an imagination. He was known to have great physical strength, and even resorted to violence, considering some of his followers’ testimonies.. (Tanner 451) He had a great military interest; one might be able to notice that by reading the Book of Mormon. Dr. Hugh Nibley claims that there are “170 pages of wars and alarms” in the Book of Mormon. Four years after he published the Book of Mormon, he organized an army and marched to Missouri to “redeem Zion.” They ended up surrendering to the militia.

In 1835 Joseph Smith translated Egyptian papyrus into the Book of Abraham, which was also accepted by the Mormon Church as Scripture and is now published as part of the Pearl of Great Price. Mormons claim that Abraham wrote this papyrus. After having been lost for many years, this collection of papyri was found on November 27, 1967. (Tanner 330) Egyptologists have proven that the papyrus has nothing to do with Abraham or his religion. Although the RLDS branch has accepted the truth about the Book of Abraham, Mormons refuse to face the facts - - even with evidence shown to them!

“State of New York vs. Joseph Smith” was the trial on March 20, 1826, claiming that he was disorderly, and an imposter who looked for hidden treasures using a certain stone. Smith’s fascination for the occult led him to a ritual of calling a lamb or a dog to be slain, with blood sprinkled over the ground where the treasure he was looking for was supposed to be. At one point he even called for a human sacrifice to appease the occult spirit. (Hansen 22) This was Joseph’s character during the time frame of his second vision where he was introduced to the concept of translating the plates to the Book of Mormon.

On April 6th, 1830 the Church of Christ (soon changed to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) was established, with Smith and Cowdery being the ordained elders. By the next year, the church had begun increasing by number, and moved headquarters to Kirkland, Ohio where they built a Temple. In the spring of 1831, Joseph revised the King James Bible, calling it the “Inspired Translation of the Bible.” This was never published in his lifetime (considering the contradictions it had with the Book of Mormon). It has been a great source of embarrassment for Mormon Church leaders. (Tanner 383) During his establishing the church throughout the United States, he had been writing the Doctrine and Covenants, another one of the “inspired” books containing all of his revelations. In 1835 he purchased some Egyptian papyri, believing that he had the gift to translate. With that papyrus he translated a fragment to The Book of Abraham. His fragment was called “Pearl of Great Price,” which Egyptologists have shown to be falsely translated. (Hansen 27)

Some topics in this essay:
Joseph Smith, Book Mormon, Doctrine Covenants, Jesus Smith, Joseph Smith”, Mormons RLDS, Joseph Smith’s, Wesley Walters, Jupiter Quinn, Priesthood Smith’s, book mormon, joseph smith, doctrine covenants, joseph smith’s, history church, book abraham, mormon church, smith claimed, vision story, oliver cowdery, life joseph smith, followers claim joseph, 1830 book mormon, book mormon published, book mormon according,