[225] Sometimes, Smith concealed the process by raising a curtain or dictating from another room, while at other times he dictated in full view of witnesses while the plates lay covered on the table. [220], Smith never said how he produced the Book of Mormon, saying only that he translated by the power of God and implying that he had transcribed the words. Establishment of settlements and persecution, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Smith-American-religious-leader-1805-1844, Spartacus Educational - Biography of Joseph Smith, American National Biography - Biography of Joseph Smith, Joseph Smith - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He decided to list in the Book of the Law of the Lord the names of those “faithful few” followers who had stood by him since the beginnings of his ministry—“pure and holy friends, who are faithful, just, and true, and whose hearts fail not” (History of the Church, 5:107; hereafter HC). His mother, Lucy Mack, came from a Connecticut family that had disengaged from conventional Congregationalism and leaned toward Seekerism, a movement that looked for a new revelation to restore true Christianity. [82] Tension increased until July 1833, when non-Mormons forcibly evicted the Mormons and destroyed their property. Joseph Smith, originally Joseph Smith, Jr., (born December 23, 1805, Sharon, Vermont, U.S.—died June 27, 1844, Carthage, Illinois), American prophet and founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "[29] Smith said he recounted the experience to a preacher, who dismissed the story with contempt. According to the Bible, Joseph … [239] The LDS Church has proposed that Smith might have been inspired by the papyri rather than have been translating them literally,[240] but prominent Egyptologists note that Smith copied characters from the scrolls and was specific about their meaning. Accomplishments of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Smith fled Kirtland for Far West, Missouri, in 1838, but opposition arose once more. In 1835 Smith published the first 65 revelations in a volume titled the Book of Commandments, later called the Doctrine and Covenants. Among these five groups was a quorum of twelve apostles. Smith said the translation was a religious record of Middle-Eastern indigenous Americans,[44] and were engraved in an unknown language, called reformed Egyptian. 1882. [178], Mormons and non-Mormons have produced a large amount of scholarly work about Smith, and to a large extent the result has been two discordant pictures of very different people: a man of God on the one hand, and on the other, a fraud preying on the ignorance of his followers. Explore More On Joseph Smith the Prophet Preston Nibley narrates accomplishments of Joseph’s life and proves that he was a man of sincerity who never wearied of the task of spreading the gospel. [287] According to Smith, only one person on Earth at a time—in this case, Smith—could possess this power of sealing. [306] In foreign affairs, Smith was an expansionist, though he viewed "expansionism as brotherhood". [216], Christian themes permeate the work; for instance, Nephite prophets in the Book of Mormon teach of Christ's coming, and talk of the star that will appear at his birth. The collapse of the church-sponsored Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company and violent skirmishes with non-Mormon Missourians caused Smith and his followers to establish a new settlement at Nauvoo, Illinois, where he became a spiritual and political leader. [265] These teachings implied a vast hierarchy of gods, with God himself having a father. [91] Smith was blamed for having promoted a church-sponsored bank that failed. Two law officers arrested Smith, but were intercepted by a party of Mormons before they could reach Missouri. [195] Many members of these smaller groups, including most of Smith's family, eventually coalesced in 1860 under the leadership of Joseph Smith III and formed what was known for more than a century as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now the Community of Christ), which now has about 250,000 members. Dan Vogel, another historian, says that the work is autobiographical in nature. The book resembled the Bible in its length and complexity and in its division into books named for individual prophets. [159], Fearing the newspaper would bring the countryside down on the Mormons, the Nauvoo city council declared the Expositor a public nuisance and ordered the Nauvoo Legion to destroy the press. The two were taken to Carthage, the county seat, for a hearing, and, while imprisoned, they were shot by a mob on June 27, 1844. [227], Although the Book of Mormon drew many converts to the church, Fawn Brodie argued that the "book lives today because of the prophet, not he because of the book. Verified Purchase. [257], Smith taught that all existence was material, including a world of "spirit matter" so fine that it was invisible to all but the purest mortal eyes. The book closes when Mormon's son, Moroni, finishes engraving and buries the records written on the golden plates. Some historians have speculated—based on journal entries and family stories—that Smith may have fathered children with his plural wives. [128], Smith also attracted a few wealthy and influential converts, including John C. Bennett, the Illinois quartermaster general. It was the originality of his views, an outsider commented, that made his discourse fascinating. [112], On August 6, 1838, non-Mormons in Gallatin tried to prevent Mormons from voting,[113] and the election-day scuffles initiated the 1838 Mormon War. [34] Smith reported that during the next four years, he made annual visits to the hill, but, until the fourth and final visit, each time he returned without the plates. In 1831, Smith and his followers moved west, planning to build a communalistic American Zion. "The keys of the kingdom," he wrote, "have not been taken away from us". The book ends with Moroni's exhortation to "come unto Christ". Smith published many revelations and other texts that his followers regard as scripture. [106] Around June 1838, recent convert Sampson Avard formed a covert organization called the Danites to intimidate Mormon dissenters and oppose anti-Mormon militia units. Although a local minister to whom he related the vision dismissed it as a delusion, Smith continued to believe in its authenticity. The eldest, Alvin (born in 1828), died within hours of birth, as did twins Thaddeus and Louisa (born in 1831). [270] He taught that the Church of Christ restored through him was a latter-day restoration of the early Christian faith, which had been lost in the Great Apostasy. Joseph Smith often known as Consul Smith,, the British consul at Venice, 1744–1760, was a patron of artists, most notably Canaletto, and a collector and connoisseur, banker to the British community at Venice and a major draw on the British Grand Tour. Some were temporal, while others were spiritual or doctrinal. In a church-wide conference on August 8, most of the Latter Day Saints elected Young, who led them to the Salt Lake Valley as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). [260], Though Smith initially viewed God the Father as a spirit,[261] he eventually began teaching that God was an advanced and glorified man,[262] embodied within time and space. After the birth of Joseph Smith, Jr., a series of crop failures forced the family to move to Palmyra, New York. [33] Smith said he attempted to remove the plates the next morning, but was unsuccessful because the angel returned and prevented him. Nor did people of higher social standing intimidate him; he appeared to think of himself as the equal of anyone, as demonstrated when he ran for president of the United States in 1844. [281] For example, this power would enable proxy baptisms for the dead and priesthood marriages that would be effective into the afterlife. 2. [93] Building the temple had left the church deeply in debt, and Smith was hounded by creditors. CHL. In their new home, they built a civilization, fought wars, heard the word of prophets, and received a visit from Christ after his resurrection. [49], In February 1828, Martin Harris arrived to assist Smith by transcribing his dictation. [212] It is organized as a compilation of smaller books, each named after its main named narrator or a prominent leader. [21][22] Smith's parents disagreed about religion, but the family was caught up in this excitement. Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2011. [286] When fully sealed into the Covenant, Smith said that no sin nor blasphemy (other than the eternal sin) could keep them from their exaltation in the afterlife. Read up on Joseph Smith's biography, career, awards and more on ESPN. [48] Living near his in-laws, Smith transcribed some characters that he said were engraved on the plates and then dictated a translation to Emma. In 1823 he received another revelation: while praying for forgiveness, he later reported, an angel calling himself Moroni appeared in his bedroom and told him about a set of golden plates containing a record of the ancient inhabitants of America. [308], On the issue of slavery, Smith took different positions. [231] Smith said that the Bible had been corrupted through the ages, and that his revision worked to restore the original intent; it added long passages rewritten "according to his inspiration". Attracting converts from Europe as well as the United States, Nauvoo grew to rival Chicago as the largest city in the state. He had no other wife but me; nor did he to my knowledge ever have". [12] Fearing an invasion of Nauvoo, Smith rode to Carthage, Illinois, to stand trial, but was killed when a mob stormed the jailhouse. Church of Christ was the official name on April 6, 1830: Modern DNA testing of Smith's relatives suggests that his family were of Irish descent. It also recommended that Latter Day Saints avoid "strong" alcoholic drinks, tobacco, and "hot drinks" (later interpreted to mean tea and coffee). The text for this speech is unavailable. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he had attracted tens of thousands of followers and founded a religion that continues to the present with millions of global adherents. [203], After Smith's death, Emma Smith quickly became alienated from Brigham Young and the church leadership. [89] In March 1836, at the temple's dedication, many participants in the endowment reported seeing visions of angels, speaking in tongues, and prophesying. [142] In the summer of 1842, Smith revealed a plan to establish the millennial Kingdom of God, which would eventually establish theocratic rule over the whole Earth. They first gathered in Kirtland, Ohio, and established an outpost in Independence, Missouri, which was intended to be Zion's "center place". After the faithful left Nauvoo in 1846, they migrated to Utah, where they constructed Salt Lake City on a pattern laid down by Joseph Smith for the cities of Zion. Smith, Joseph, Jr. [238] The papyri from which Smith dictated the Book of Abraham were thought to have been lost in the Great Chicago Fire. [80] Smith's trip was also hastened by a mob of Ohio residents who were incensed over the United Order and Smith's political power; the mob beat Smith and Rigdon unconscious, tarred and feathered them, and left them for dead. [217] After the crucifixion and resurrection in Jerusalem, Jesus appears in the Americas, repeats the Sermon on the Mount, blesses children, and appoints twelve disciples. [99] After a warrant was issued for Smith's arrest on a charge of banking fraud, Smith and Rigdon fled Kirtland for Missouri in January 1838.[100]. [75], Converts poured into Kirtland. [109], In a speech given at the town's Fourth of July celebration, Rigdon declared that Mormons would no longer tolerate persecution by the Missourians and spoke of a "war of extermination" if Mormons were attacked. However, several fragments were rediscovered in the 1960s, were translated by Egyptologists, and were determined to be part of the Book of Breathing with no connection to Abraham. [16][17][18][19][20] Between 1817 and 1825, there were several camp meetings and revivals in the Palmyra area. [189] The Council of Fifty had a theoretical claim to succession, but it was a secret organization. [192] Membership in Young's denomination surpassed 14 million members in 2010. [230], Smith said that in June 1830, he received a "revelation of Moses" in which Moses saw "the world and the ends thereof" and asked God questions about the purpose of creation and man's relationship to God. [51], However, by June 1828, Harris began having doubts about the project, fueled in part by his wife's skepticism. W Dan Vogel was a masterful editor of the five-volume Early Mormon Documents , and perhaps his encyclopedic knowledge of the primary sources is part of the problem with this biography. During this time, a church council expelled many of the oldest and most prominent leaders of the church, including John Whitmer, David Whitmer, W. W. Phelps, and Oliver Cowdery. [224] Joseph Knight said that Smith saw the words of the translation while he gazed at the stone or stones in the bottom of his hat, excluding all light, a process similar to divining the location of treasure. [190] Some of Smith's chosen successors, such as Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, had left the church. Smith was not a polished preacher. [170] He was shot multiple times before falling out the window, crying, "Oh Lord my God!" [205] When most Latter Day Saints moved west, she stayed in Nauvoo, married a non-Mormon, Major Lewis C. Bidamon,[206] and withdrew from religion until 1860, when she affiliated with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, first headed by her son, Joseph Smith III. (the exact number of wives is uncertain.). The Book of Mormon told the 1,000-year history of the Israelites, who were led from Jerusalem to a promised land in the Western Hemisphere. [156], On June 7, the dissidents published the first (and only) issue of the Nauvoo Expositor, calling for reform within the church and appealing to the political views of the county's other faiths as well as those of former Mormons. [42], Smith made his last visit to the hill on September 22, 1827, taking Emma with him. [193] Smaller groups followed Sidney Rigdon and James J. Strang, who had based his claim on an allegedly forged letter of appointment. [130] The charter granted the city virtual autonomy, authorized a university, and granted Nauvoo habeas corpus power—which allowed Smith to fend off extradition to Missouri. [177] In a 2015 compilation of the 100 Most Significant Americans of All Time, Smithsonian magazine ranked Smith first in the category of religious figures. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. [215] There, they are divided into two factions: Nephites and Lamanites. Smith advised them to bear the violence patiently until after they were attacked multiple times, after which they could fight back. He supported capital punishment but opposed hanging, preferring execution by firing squad or beheading. [173], After his death, non-Mormon newspapers were almost unanimous in portraying Smith as a religious fanatic. Later, about 400 ce, the record keepers, known as Nephites, were wiped out by their enemies, the Lamanites, presumably the ancestors of the American Indians. In retaliation, Bennett left Smith's following and wrote "lurid exposés of life in Nauvoo". Joseph Smith’s thirty-eight and one-half years were marked by the highest of spiritual peaks and the depths of tribulation, sorrow, and betrayal such as few mortals have experienced. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership. Smith said that this angel revealed the location of a buried book made of golden plates, as well as other artifacts, including a breastplate and a set of interpreters composed of two seer stones set in a frame, which had been hidden in a hill near his home. For other persons, see. "[211], The Book of Mormon has been called the longest and most complex of Smith's revelations. [157] The paper decried Smith's new "doctrines of many Gods", alluded to Smith's theocratic aspirations, and called for a repeal of the Nauvoo city charter. Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. By this time, Smith's experiences with mob violence led him to believe that his faith's survival required greater militancy against anti-Mormons. [35], Meanwhile, the Smith family faced financial hardship, due in part to the death of Smith's oldest brother Alvin, who had assumed a leadership role in the family. (Courtesy Community of Christ Library-Archives, Independence, MO.) [117] Smith was immediately brought before a military court, accused of treason, and sentenced to be executed the next morning; Alexander Doniphan, who was Smith's former attorney and a brigadier general in the Missouri militia, refused to carry out the order. The Nephites become a righteous people who build a temple and live the law of Moses, though their prophets teach a Christian gospel. The purpose of the temple rituals was to give people the knowledge they needed to enter God’s presence and to become like God. When Smith proposed marriage, Emma's father, Isaac Hale objected, primarily because he believed Smith had no means to support Emma. Harris also took a sample of the characters to a few prominent scholars, including Charles Anthon. [204] Young, whom Emma feared and despised, was suspicious of her desire to preserve the family's assets from inclusion with those of the church, and thought she would be even more troublesome because she openly opposed plural marriage. The same year he organized the Church of Christ, calling it a restoration of the early Christian church. As of 2013[update], members of the denominations originating from Smith's teachings number approximately 16.3 million. [251] In 1835, Smith gave the "great revelation" that organized the priesthood into quorums and councils, and functioned as a complex blueprint for church structure. “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it” (D&C 135:3). The first revelations Joseph Smith Joseph Smith ©. [143], By mid-1842, popular opinion had turned against the Mormons. [247] Another 1832 revelation "on Priesthood" was the first to explain priesthood doctrine. "Lieutenant General" Smith and "Major General" Bennett became its commanders, thereby controlling by far the largest body of armed men in Illinois. Smith fired three shots from a pepper-box pistol that his friend, Cyrus Wheelock, had lent him, wounding three men,[168][169] before he sprang for the window. [263] By the end of his life, Smith was teaching that both God the Father and Jesus were distinct beings with physical bodies, but the Holy Spirit was a "personage of Spirit". [74] Smith had promised church elders that in Kirtland they would receive an endowment of heavenly power, and at the June 1831 general conference, he introduced the greater authority of a High ("Melchizedek") Priesthood to the church hierarchy. Later that year, when Smith promised to abandon treasure seeking, Hale offered to let the couple live on his property in Harmony and help Smith get started in business. Sometimes the revelations gave practical instructions; others explained the nature of heaven or the responsibilities of the priesthood. They unleashed a flood of anti-Mormon rhetoric in newspapers and in stump speeches given during the 1838 election campaign. [252] Smith's last revelation, on the "New and Everlasting Covenant", was recorded in 1843, and dealt with the theology of family, the doctrine of sealing, and plural marriage. [53] As punishment for losing the manuscript, Smith said that the angel returned and took away the plates, and revoked his ability to translate. [71] With growing opposition in New York, Smith gave a revelation stating that Kirtland was the eastern boundary of the New Jerusalem, and that his followers must gather there. He married Emma Hale in 1827, when he was 21 years old and she was 22. [105], Political and religious differences between old Missourians and newly arriving Mormon settlers provoked tensions between the two groups, much as they had years earlier in Jackson County. In 1842, Emma gave birth to a stillborn son. Emma never denied Smith's prophetic gift or repudiated her belief in the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. [148] Smith then wrote to the leading presidential candidates and asked them what they would do to protect the Mormons. [84], Smith ended the communitarian experiment and changed the name of the church to the "Church of Latter Day Saints," before leading a small paramilitary expedition called Zion's Camp, to aid the Missouri Mormons. By the summer of 1835, there were fifteen hundred to two thousand Mormons in the vicinity, many expecting Smith to lead them shortly to the Millennial kingdom. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. [145] (Rockwell was later tried and acquitted.) [272] Though Smith did not claim exclusive prophethood, an early revelation designated him as the only prophet allowed to issue commandments "as Moses". Omissions? [171] Five men were later tried for Smith's murder, but were all acquitted. In November 1838 Smith was imprisoned on charges of robbery, arson, and treason, and he probably would have been executed had he not escaped and fled to Illinois. [87], After the Camp returned, Smith drew heavily from its participants to establish five governing bodies in the church, all originally of equal authority to check one another. This is the AUTHORIZED and OFFICIAL website for the PUBLISHING of the true biography of Joseph Smith, Jr. . Meanwhile, non-Mormon hostility in the surrounding county had been growing for the usual reasons, and, when the press was closed, irate local citizens brought charges of promoting riot against Smith and his brother Hyrum. At the age of seven Smith suffered a crippling bone infection and, after receiving surgery, used crutches for three years. When he was not busy burying his nose in a book, he helped out on his family farm. 5.0 out of 5 stars AN EXECELLENT, DETAILED BIOGRAPHY OF JOSEPH SMITH'S EARLY CAREER. In 1838, facing expulsion for a third time, Smith tried to defend the church with arms. Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. "; Ostlings, 17; Bushman, 546. [199], Throughout her life, Emma Smith frequently denied that her husband had ever taken additional wives. Apart from those who committed the eternal sin, Smith taught that even the wicked and disbelieving would achieve a degree of glory in the afterlife. The work and glory of God, then, was to create worlds across the cosmos where inferior intelligences could be embodied. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. [269], Smith's teachings were rooted in dispensational restorationism. The couple adopted twins and had nine biological children, five of whom died in infancy. W hen Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon church, received a revelation in about 1831 in which he was commanded by God to break the law and … Meanwhile Brigham Young, the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, rose to prominence when he organized the move of about 14,000 Mormon refugees to Illinois and eastern Iowa. According to the book itself, one of the prophets, a general named Mormon, abridged and assembled the records of his people, engraving the history on gold plates. According to Smith, an angel named Moroni directed him to a buried book of golden plates hidden at the Hill Cumorah and as per the instruction of the angel he translated the book and published it as the ‘Book of Mormon’. Devoted members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints honor its founder, Joseph Smith, with saint-like reverence.LDS scripture instructs that “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in … As in the Bible, men took the leading roles in church affairs, but by the end of his life Smith taught that men and women were redeemed together through eternal marriage. [107] Though it is unclear how much Smith knew of the Danites' activities, he clearly approved of those of which he did know. [94] Having heard of a large sum of money supposedly hidden in Salem, Massachusetts, Smith traveled there and received a revelation that God had "much treasure in this city". He said the angel commanded him not to show the plates to anyone else, but to translate them and publish their translation. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded by Joseph Smith in New York State in the USA in 1830. As a teenager, he may have been sympathetic to Methodism. [197] In 1841, Don Carlos, who had been born a year earlier, died of malaria. [129] Bennett used his connections in the Illinois legislature to obtain an unusually liberal charter for the new city, which Smith renamed "Nauvoo" (Hebrew נָאווּ, meaning "to be beautiful"). [268] Smith said that children who died in their innocence would be guaranteed to rise at the resurrection and receive exaltation.

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