Is it ever a wise choice to read or listen to false slander against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?
I know that Jesus Christ restored His Church, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” on the earth, through the prophet, Joseph Smith. Therefore, anti-Church of Jesus Christ slander, is anti-Christ slander, because it is the devil and his team trying to keep children of God away from the true Church that Jesus Christ Himself restored with the fulness of His gospel, including being led by Jesus Christ Himself, through modern day prophets and apostles. Of course, if our Church is the true Church of Jesus Christ on the earth as millions of us Bible believing Christians testify; then it only makes sense that the devil and his team would do all they can to get people to believe false slander against us.
I realize that most people who spread the false slander against our Church, are actually “Christians”, who even believe in the Bible, but they don’t yet believe that Jesus Christ restored His Church on the earth, and leads it through His true modern day prophets and apostles. They have been taught the 200 years of false slander against us, and they ignorantly believe it, – – – without ever checking out what the Book of Mormon and our 75,000 missionaries and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints actually teaches.
Suppose that you were a new young voter in the United States, and you were trying to learn about what principles etc. the Republican party/group stands for and believes in; would it be wiser to learn what they believe and stand for from their political opponents, the Democrats, or from the Republicans directly? If anyone who tries to tell you about our Church, refers to us as “Mormons”, instead of by the real name of our Church from the beginning, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints”, then you can know they are believing and spreading the false slander against us, that they were taught.
Clearly, all of the anti-Church of Jesus Christ literature, was purposely designed by those who are strongly against our Church, to confuse and cause intellectual doubts in the minds of the members of our Church and anyone else who might consider looking into what we actually believe and teach. If you read the rest of this article; you will start to recognize that those who spread slander against us, have no interest at all in fact checking or presenting the truth. The devil and his team will say and do anything to scare people away from checking out what our missionaries and Church actually teaches.
If you are a member of our Church, or someone who would like to know what we actually believe in; I strongly encourage you to never ever read the anti-Church of Jesus Christ literature and videos, etc. that have been purposely designed to confuse you and give you doubts about our Church, and it’s origin and leaders.
If you are a thankful, joyful, and committed Christian who is not a member of our Church; and someone tried to push Anti-Bible and anti-Christian and atheistic materials on you, that are purposely very carefully designed to confuse Christians and give them intellectual doubts about the Bible and the origins of Christianity, and the existence of God, etc., would you want to read it? If your faith in the Bible and in Jesus Christ as our Savior, brings you incredible love, joy, and inner-peace to your life, as our faith does for us; then of course, you want not want to read materials that are purposely designed to confuse you intellectually, and to give you doubts about the Bible, or about the reality of God, and about our Savior, Jesus Christ? So, please try to understand why we don’t want to read the anti-Church of Jesus Christ literature/slander, that those against us, want to push on us and everyone who might consider checking out what we truly believe in.
Also, if you think you are trying to “save” us members of our Church, by convincing us that we are wrong in our beliefs, and that you have been taught in your Christian Church, that our loving and fair Father in Heaven will send all 17 million members of our Church to suffer forever in Hell; you don’t need to worry about that illogical fallacy- – – because please remember also that almost all of modern day Christianity also teaches, that all you need to do to receive the maximum reward in Heaven, is to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior on your death bed or before – – just like the thief on the cross. Yes, I know that if you have been taught some of the false slander against our Church; then you were also wrongly taught that we accept a “different Jesus” as our Savior. However, since we definitely study and follow the same Bible that is used in most of English speaking Christianity, “The King James Bible”, then it obviously does not make any sense that we follow a different Jesus Christ as our Savior. We read the very same beautiful stories about Jesus Christ and His beautiful parables and teachings in the Bible that other Christians read.
Please pause to also ponder on the following:
- About 20,000 people join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints every month (about 250,000 per year), by choosing to enter into a baptismal covenant to focus on and more fully follow the joy-producing and love-producing teachings of Jesus Christ as taught in both the Bible and The Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ for the rest of their life. .
- Most of them are Bible believing Christians, who have already accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. After studying our Christ-Centered teachings with our missionaries and prayerfully studying the Book of Mormon, they have an even deeper love for and testimony of the Bible and of Jesus Christ as their Savior. There is no more powerful witness of the Bible and of Jesus Christ as our Savior than “The Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ”, as many millions of us Bible-believing Christians gladly testify. Yes, I know that is the opposite of what you were taught by other Christian churches about the Book of Mormon, but the wise choice is to read it prayerfully yourself, to find out what it actually teaches.
- By the time the new converts are baptized, their lives are even more filled with the gifts and fruits of the Spirit as promised to the followers of Jesus Christ in the Bible in Galatians 5:22, where it teaches that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith”. These gifts of the Spirit can only come from Heavenly sources, because the devil and his team have no real “love, joy, inner-peace, gentleness, goodness, etc., so how could they give these miraculous and priceless gifts worth more than all of the wealth in the world to Christians that they do not possess?
- Ask yourself in prayerful pondering: “Does it really make sense that every one of the thousands of committed born again Christians who join The Church of Jesus Christ of LDS each month, after careful study, pondering and prayer; suddenly start believing in a “different Jesus Christ” as their Savior on the very day they are baptized? – – – as the devil and his team of liars teach? I do recognize that most of those who spread false slander against our Church, including pastors, have no idea what we actually teach, and what the Book of Mormon actually teaches. They are just ignorantly spreading the lies that the devil and his team have been spreading for 200 years).
The devil and his team make up any lies they can to try to scare people away from checking out what our Church actually teaches. Jesus clearly taught us how we can know who are His true disciples, when He taught in John 13: 34 – 35: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye alove one another; as I have loved you, that ye also blove one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have alove one to another.”
Why did modern day Christianity change so much what Jesus taught about how we can know who are his true followers – – – and start teaching that you should not even be willing to meet with our over 70,000 missionaries or millions of other active members of our Church, to see if they truly “have love one to another” or not? Why do they want to scare you into just taking the devil’s word for it, that we are all evil and that the Book of Mormon, is so evil, that you shouldn’t even ever touch it, or read it to find out for yourself the beautiful principles it teaches, and how it will strengthen your faith in the Bible and in Jesus Christ as your Savior, as it has for millions of us Bible believing Christians?
For my dear wife and me, our testimonies of Jesus Christ, and His beautiful gospel teachings, along with the gifts of the Spirit that go with it; are worth far more to us than our home or car or any of our other possessions, or even more than all the wealth in the world. When your faith and relationship with our loving Father in Heaven brings you so very much love, joy, inner-peace etc. into your life, then of course, you want to protect it, and carefully nourish your testimony daily with prayer and scripture study in the Bible and The Book of Mormon, to keep your testimony of Jesus Christ and His Restored gospel and Church strong and joyful. So, certainly we would not want the devil and his team of liars to get into our minds and hearts with their confusing lies that they have been working on for about 200 years to confuse followers of Jesus Christ who are members of His Church or learning about and considering becoming members. Of course, it only makes sense, that this is the Church that the devil and his team try to slander against and persecute the most, because it is led by Jesus Christ through a living prophet and apostles. And because the Bible and the Book of Mormon are so crucial to help strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ, and our commitment to follow His teachings, is why the devil and his team have been willing throughout history to do anything to try to keep us from reading those two books. Many of those who believe the false slander, have become so prejudiced against us, that it would be very difficult for them to prayerfully study what the Book of Mormon and our Church actually teaches with an open mind.
Why I believe we should never read or listen to any anti-Church of Jesus Christ slander.
We talk often about the things we can do to strengthen our testimonies in Jesus Christ and His Restored gospel. I believe it is important that we also talk at times about some things that we can do to help keep us and our loved ones from getting confused, and losing or damaging our testimonies by the huge amount of Anti-Church of Jesus Christ of LDS slander being spread all over the world. My dear wife has expressed many times that her testimony of the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ, is her most cherished and valuable possession, and how she would truly rather lose every earthly possession we have, rather than to ever lose her testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, because nearly all of her greatest joys in this life and beyond spring from her testimony of this restored gospel and the joy and inner peace that comes into her life through following the teachings of Jesus Christ that the young missionaries from our Church brought to her in Venezuela when she was 14 years old. She already had faith in God, and in Jesus Christ and the Bible before they came to her door, but the beautiful teachings they shared with her, greatly increased her faith in God and in Jesus Christ as her Savior, and in the Bible.
A few years ago, I had two quite disheartening discussions with two faithful members of our Church. One told me about how his daughter was so distraught, because her husband who had been on a mission and had been very active in the church for many years since his mission, suddenly expressed that he now had a big problem with accepting Joseph Smith as a prophet, and that he was not going to be active in the church any more. Please pause to consider what disastrous negative effect that can have on the daughter and on the grandchildren and future generations – – – if they allow the anti-Church of Jesus Christ slander to damage or destroy their faith and precious testimonies, and their commitment to follow the joy-producing teachings of Jesus Christ. Now, pause to consider what could have most likely happened that caused this returned missionary husband and father to suddenly express that he has a problem accepting Joseph Smith as a prophet, and that he would no longer be active in the church. I personally believe that it is almost certain that his son-in-law was horribly influenced in the wrong painful direction by those against us, coming after our Church members with anti-Church of Jesus Christ materials. It is not at all likely that it was because he had a problem with the beautiful and uplifting teachings of Joseph Smith, such as the Plan of Happiness/Salvation that is so much more beautiful and true than the teaching of One Heaven and One Hell that is taught in most of modern day Christianity. And it was surely not because this young man was prayerfully studying daily from the Book of Mormon or the Doctrine and Covenants that we received through the prophet, Joseph Smith, because if he was prayerfully studying from those daily, then he would surely sense spiritually what I and many millions of our Church members sense as we prayerfully read them, which is that surely Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, and of the truth of the restoration of the gospel and Church of Jesus Christ in these latter days.
If the Book of Mormon is true and from God, as millions of us know that it is; then, that is clear 100% proof that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, which is why the devil and his team try to scare people away from reading it. We should not listen to the 200 years of false slander designed by the devil and his team to confuse us and take away our inner peace and real joy. A young man that we will call John, joined our Church earlier this year in Loja, Ecuador, where my dear wife and I are serving an 18 month Christian mission. He was so very joyful and happy when he was baptized with a deep love for the Bible and for the Book of Mormon and for Jesus Christ as our Savior. Then, he ended up talking with some people he knew in another local Christian Church, who told him that he had made a horrible mistake, and that we were a cult and a huge assortment of false slander, and that we should be avoided like the worst plague, etc. He also looked up some anti-Church of Jesus Christ of LDS information of false slander on the internet, which further confused him. He quickly felt very confused and horrible inside, and a huge loss of inner peace and joy, and he did not know what to do.
Fortunately, he had a good relationships with the two sister missionaries who taught him, and with Sister Hunt and me, from spending time with us at our Christ Centered Sports activities, so he was willing to at least meet with us and listen to us. We met with him multiple times, and sent him materials to read to help him get his faith and inner-peace and real joy back into his heart and soul that he had lost, because of the anti-Church of Jesus Christ false slander. After much prayer and study, he has expressed multiple times recently that he is so very thankful that he did not stay away from our Church, because of the false slander, and that he now has the love, joy, and inner-peace back in his life that was temporarily lost for a couple of weeks. He is joyfully staying active in the Church, and he is now committed to never listen to or read the false slander against our Church again.
I became aware of a couple of our other beloved Church members, who have grown children, who also expressed that they have a problem with accepting Joseph Smith as a prophet. Let’s pause to consider an absolutely amazing prophecy that was given to the prophet Joseph Smith by the Angel Moroni, when Joseph was just 17 years old.
Joseph Smith – History 1: 33 – 34: “He called me by aname, and said unto me that he was a bmessenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for cgood and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people. He said there was a abook deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the bfulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants.”
Please pause for a moment to consider just how amazing the fulfillment of that prophecy has been. Can any of you name even one other person the past 500 years, or even the past 2,000 years that that prophecy would fit even close to as well as the prophet, Joseph Smith —- even one other person who is talked extensively of (along with the Book of Mormon), and well known for both good and evil among all nations, kindred, and tongues? There are some very well known people like George Washington or Abraham Lincoln who are quite well known in the United States and even in quite a few other countries as good and honorable men who made a major positive difference in the world, or people like Adolf Hitler, who are well known throughout the world for evil, but where do you find a single person like the young 17 year old Joseph Smith who this prophecy would fit that would become so well known and widely publicized among all nations, kindred, and tongues throughout the world for both good and evil?
There are people like Michael Jordan, who for a period of a few years is spoken of in many parts of the world for how well he happens to play a game of basketball, etc., but not for both good and evil, and 100 years later no one talks of them any more. That prophecy is truly amazing when you stop to ponder upon it. I remember meeting a man on a train in Germany while I was on my mission. He was not a member of our church, but he said that anyone who studies the prophecies of Joseph Smith would know that he was a true prophet, because he made so very many prophecies that truly did come to pass. This was one of the many amazing prophecies that came through the prophet Joseph Smith, from the angel/prophet Moroni, that surely did come to pass.
Please pause to consider how absolutely amazing it is, that at this time, over 200 years later, there are over 70,000 clean-cut, sincere, honest, devoted and respectable young men and ladies who gladly sacrifice 18 to 24 months during the prime of their lives without any pay, to go throughout the world to every kindred, tongue and people to testify of Joseph Smith as the true prophet of the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth, and of Jesus Christ as our beloved Savior. During these same 200 years since Joseph Smith, there have always been at least as many people in all kindreds, tongues, and peoples who are eager to pass out anti-Church of Jesus Christ false slanderous literature with much of its primary focus on slander against the young prophet, Joseph Smith, who devoted his life to bringing as many people closer to Jesus Christ as possible. Joseph Smith was a powerful witness for Jesus Christ as our Savior and for the Bible throughout his life. The critics of Joseph Smith are almost as fervently against him and convinced that he was a dishonest man because of the false literature they have been fed, as our missionaries and we as a people, are convinced that Joseph Smith was a good man and a true prophet of God, who has helped us so much to come closer to Jesus Christ as our Savior, and whose teachings have brought real inner peace and joy into our lives.
However, the belief from the slander spreaders, that we and the Book of Mormon are evil, is based on loads of false slander, not on any true facts or knowledge of what our Church and the Book of Mormon actually teaches. The message of the restored gospel that Joseph Smith helped to restore is so beautiful and the Book of Mormon are so uplifting that it would be hard to attack the beautiful truths we teach, so the devil and his team attack the messenger, and make up lies about our leaders and members, and about what we teach.
I am not saying that everyone who passes out anti-Church of Jesus Christ literature or teaches that we are a “cult”, and that we are not Christians, etc. are bad people. I believe many of them have very good intentions, like Saul of Tarsus had before his conversion, who have simply been convinced by false slander that the Church of Jesus Christ is evil, so they actually believe that they are helping God and His cause, when they fight against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And very rarely do any of those who spread the false slander, ever take the time to study and prayerfully check out what the Book of Mormon and our Church actually teaches. I am convinced that many of those same good people would join our church if they knew what we actually believe and if they ever prayerfully read the Book of Mormon with an open mind, and asked God if it is true, instead of just believing the crazy false slander that the devil and his team have made up against us. There are many people who previously taught anti-Church of Jesus Christ garbage, and then later learned what we really believe and who we truly are, and they later joined our church.
The Bible teaches that we should know the followers of Jesus Christ by their fruits. Anyone who takes an open-minded look at the fruits of our church and our active members will clearly see good fruits, not evil or bad fruits. Anyone who prayerfully reads the Book of Mormon will personally witness its many good fruits —–such as the fact that it will increase your faith in the Bible and in Jesus Christ as your Savior, and it will strengthen your desires to do what is righteous and good, and to avoid all evil.
The Book of Mormon has truly brought millions of people increased inner peace and real joy and a better and more committed relationship with Jesus Christ as our Savior, which helps to make it extremely obvious that the fruits from Joseph Smith and our Church are good fruits, not bad or evil fruits. Anyone who prayerfully and with an open mind, studies the Book of Mormon and looks into the fruits of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, will soon come to know that Joseph Smith was indeed a true prophet of God. Joseph Smith, like prophets of old, did not try to bring honor and glory to himself. He always just tried to do the will of our Father in Heaven, and focused his life on bringing people closer to our Father in Heaven and to Jesus Christ as our Savior. Joseph Smith and his followers were severely persecuted throughout his life, until a large mob incited by the devil and his lies, murdered him in cold blood at the young age of 38.
Does the devil and the critics of our church that he is able to influence, try to get people to read the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants for themselves so they will see what a charlatan and fool that these people say Joseph Smith was, or do they do all that they can to try to keep people from actually reading and praying about the Book of Mormon for themselves?
How many of you members of our Church have ever had anyone try to give you anti-Church of Jesus Christ literature? —–just about everyone, right? A large amount of the false slander materials attack Joseph Smith, as the prophet of the restoration with every kind of fabricated story and lie that Satan and those that he can influence can possibly cook up. Why is it that Satan and those he can influence, want to cook up so many more fabricated evil and horrible stories about Joseph Smith than about any other good man who has lived these past few hundred years? —- surely because he is the prophet of the restoration of the fullness of the true gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth, and everything to do with the true restored church of Jesus Christ on the earth is a major threat to the devil, right? And, because all those who follow these gospel principles that Joseph Smith helped to restore to the earth, will continue to progress throughout this life and beyond, and thereby earn incredible inner peace and real joy during this life and beyond that the devil hates to see us enjoy. Pause to consider that Jesus Christ, and His true prophets and apostles were also severely persecuted in Bible times, by those who also did not bother to check out the beautiful true principles that they taught. Many of those who persecuted the Saints, as the members of Jesus Christ’s Church were called, were other Old Testament, Bible-believers, such as the Pharisees.
The devil and those he influences against us, may try to tell us or our children or other loved ones, that we need to listen to the anti-Church of Jesus Christ side of the debate in order to see it fairly. However, the gospel of Jesus Christ is not up for debate with the most skilled debater coming out the winner. Our missionaries are not trained in being skilled debaters. Rather, they are ordained of God to just share the beautiful message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and encourage people to prayerfully study the Book of Mormon and the Bible for themselves, and to ask God directly if it is true, and to test the principles of the gospel for themselves in their own lives so they can know for themselves without any doubt that following the principles of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ surely brings more inner peace and real joy than anything else possibly can. It is not a matter for the most skilled debater to snow someone over with their skilled debates full of lies, and to thereby pull good people off of the joyful and progressive gospel path.
If one of my children or any close loved one who had been very active in the Church, told me that he or she suddenly had a problem accepting Joseph Smith as a prophet, I would want to gently but directly ask them if they had come across some anti-Church of Jesus Christ literature that may have damaged their faith and testimony like it has for so many others, or just exactly what happened that recently brought about these doubts about the prophet Joseph Smith?
Considering the fact that some of the members of our church and those investigating our Church, are picked off and pulled away from the church by false slander; would it be a good idea for us to avoid anti-Church of Jesus Christ slander like it was the plague, just as we should all avoid pornography, because they can both do so very much spiritual damage, and do so much to damage a testimony and a person’s inner peace, and the quality of their relationship with themselves, with God, and with others..
If any of you readers truly feel that you really need or want to read some of the assortment of typical slander against our Church; then I encourage you to get a hold of the book “The Myth Makers” by LDS scholar Hugh Nibley. That book seems to be out of print, but you may be able to find used copies on Amazon.com. Hugh Nibley gives tons of direct quotes from the multitude of lies and false slander against our Church and leaders; but then, in order to help you not get confused and suffer with intellectual doubts of your faith; he gives the ridiculous source of their lies, and shows lots of examples where those against us contradict each other constantly in their efforts to make up any lies and distortions they can, to damage your joy-producing faith. Or, instead of ordering and reading the book, you can read my summary and some quotes from the book below, that I wrote and shared with some LDS friends after a couple of their adult children lost their faith and left the Church because of false slanderous materials.
The book, “The Myth Makers” by Hugh Nibley, is the only book filled with anti-Church of Jesus Christ literature that I believe can be helpful and faith-building, and even entertaining to study, because it gives many dozens of direct quotes from the anti-Church of Jesus Christ literature that might otherwise cause damage to your faith, but it is quite entertaining when Hugh Nibley gives the other true side of the debate, and documents the huge contradictions and fake sources of those crazy fabricated stories.
The devil and his followers try to sneak in and pick off our family members and other loved ones who are members of our church or those investigating our Church, one at a time with very one-sided debates by attacking them with anti-Church of Jesus Christ literature, which is materials that quote fabricated sources as if they were first hand witnesses regarding how bad Joseph Smith or other leaders of our Church were or are. Because just about all members of our Church and those investigating our Church, will at some time be subjected to the false slander; I would like to share some parts of “The Myth Makers” book, because so often when those who are against us, find out that someone is meeting with our missionaries, they will bombard them with false slander.
For example, one of my sisters told me about a family, who are dear friends of theirs who took the missionary lessons at her home, and the whole family was feeling very joyful and thankful, and were all going to be baptized together until the husband told his parents that he was going to be baptized, and his parents freaked out fearing that he was joining a cult, because the parents had been fed a bunch of fabricated slander. And his parents bombarded him with the false slander that many “Christian churches” keep a stockpile of, for any situations where people dare to even meet with our missionaries. Many Christian bookstores keep anti-Mormon materials available to sell or loan out to anyone who may have family members who are meeting with our missionaries or for their members to try to use to pull away our new or weaker members of the Church. It ended up that only the mother was baptized, and the father got scared away by the fabricated slander.
The teenage children kept attending early morning seminary at our Church, and going to church with the mother, but the father would not allow the children to be baptized, and clearly the false slander caused a lot of stress and problems in their marriage, and have slowed down that family’s progress in their joyful path of coming closer to Jesus Christ. Please pause to consider —- of all of the dozens of churches in the world, which one would Satan fight hardest against by using any means he could to cook up and spread garbage against that church? —- the one that truly is the restored Church of Jesus Christ on the earth led by a living prophet and apostles as His church was 2000 years ago, right? Do you see huge movements out there with millions of people spreading anti-Baptist material and messages all over the world, or anti-Lutheran, or anti-Catholic, or anti-Presbyterian material, etc. ? In order to help prepare new members or serious investigators of the church for the slanderous material that will surely be thrown at them, some of the following quotes from just pages 75 to 87 from “The Myth Makers” 287 page book, may help them understand how little interest the slander spreaders have in being truthful, as their slanderous materials completely contradict each other constantly. Pause to consider some of these supposed first hand accounts for example, from what they want you to believe are very reliable first hand witnesses who are often quoted in anti-Church of Jesus Christ literature.
First let’s look at page 11 in “The Myth Maker’s book to see the setting that Hugh Nibley is asking for us readers to picture in our minds, for these supposed first hand anti-Church of Jesus Christ, eye witnesses to present their direct quotes and trumped up evidence against the prophet Joseph Smith, and the restoration of the church of Jesus Christ through him.
Scene: The assembly hall of a public school in Palmyra, New York at the turn of the century (about 1900). There is a low platform at one end of the hall. At the center table sits the Chairman; at the table to his left the Clerk is taking notes amid a heap of documents. At the table on the right sits E.D. Howe (who is attorney for the witnesses against the prophet, Joseph Smith). The hall is full of people.
Chairman: Let us have a little order, please. This is the time and place fixed by stipulation for the deposition of a number of witnesses in the case of the World versus Joseph Smith, for the purpose of examining parties of record without being bound by the answers. We want it understood that this is not a formal trial. This is merely an inquiry into some phases of the evidence that has been brought against Joseph Smith, who will not be present.
E. D. Howe: (Who has made no effort to conceal his disgust) As counsel for these good people here I object to the whole procedure. The witnesses have already given their sworn affidavits…
Chairman: …and we will do no more than to ask them to repeat those affidavits. We have instructed the Clerk to put their original statements in quotation marks.
E. D. Howe: But why is the defendant not present? We can’t have a trial without him.
Chairman: No one should know that better than you, sir! It was you and all these people here who have insisted on trying and condemning Smith in absentia through the years. Actually, it is your claims rather than Smith’s that we are examining at this time. Now we want this to be a very informal investigation. Anyone who has anything relevant to say is invited to speak up at any time. All we really want to find out is what you people actually knew about Joseph Smith, since your testimony has convicted him of fraud in the eyes of the world. I should warn you that I may be a little rough on some of the witnesses, but I have been directed to get to the bottom of this thing. The issue is still a live one.
(Now, let’s jump to some quotes from some of those supposed first hand eye witnesses of Joseph Smith on pages 75 to 87.)
The Crime of being a prophet
Scene: The same. The hall is empty save for the presence of the Chairman and his Clerk, who is gathering papers together preparatory to departure.
Chairman: Before you go, Mr. Beckmesser (who is the clerk), there are some things I would like to talk over with you. Since this is not a trial but only an investigation, I would like to get your reaction to Mr. Tucker’s portrait of the youthful Smith. A sulky, taciturn, evil-minded brat gains a loyal and devoted following simply by telling wild and wonderful stories—how does it strike you?
Clerk: A bit odd, sir. But then didn’t a mischievous boy in East Side New York have a million people in a high state of religious excitement a few years back by announcing that the Virgin had appeared to him in a back lot?
Chairman: Yes, I recall the case. But how long did that kid’s glory last —-five days? A week, maybe? That only shows what a different sort of thing we are up against here. By the way, have you got that material for a portrait of Smith?
Clerk: You mean all those intimate descriptions of what he looked like? Yes sire, I collected them as you asked. Here they are.
Chairman: Do they present a uniform picture of the man? I mean, did Smith make a consistent impression on people?
Clerk: If you mean, do they all think he is a scoundrel, the answer is yes; otherwise their books would not be classified as anti-Mormon. His friends praise him, his enemies hate him, but aside from hating him they don’t seem to be able to agree on a thing. Here is one, for example, who writes: “I can see him now in my mind’s eye, with his torn, patched trousers held to his form by a pair of suspenders made out of sheeting, and with his calico shirt as dirty and black as the earth, and his uncombed hair sticking through the holes in his old battered hat…”1
Chairman: Very picturesque. The “mind’s eye,” indeed. Is this the child Joseph Smith?
Clerk: By no means, sir. This is supposed to describe the man “when he was about twenty-five years old,” –that would be after the publication of the Book of Mormon and the founding of the Church. 1
Chairman: But does anybody take this seriously?
Clerk: Mr. Linn accepts it as an accurate portrait. Here is a homey touch that gives it an air of simple honesty: “…Joe had a jovial, easy, don’t care way about him that made him a lot of warm friends. He was a good talker and would have made a fine stump-speaker.” 2
Chairman: A sloppy tramp with the gift of gab.
Clerk: So it seems, sir. But here is another eye-witness description from the same period: “He was always well dressed, generally in black with a white necktie. He looked like a Reverend…Joseph was no orator. He said what he wanted to say in a very blundering sort of way…” 3 So now he’s a well-dressed gent who can’t talk at all. And that is typical. Mr. Tucker said taciturnity was one of Smith’s most conspicuous characteristics, and here another witness says, “Joseph did not talk much in society, his talk was not very fluent, he was by no means interesting company..” 4 S.S. Harding says, “young Joe was hard to approach. He was very taciturn, and sat most of the time silent as the Spinx.” 5
Chairman: Silent Smith, eh?
Clerk: That is what some say, but others say the opposite: “…very voluble in speech, having great self-confidence….” 6 “endowed with great cunning and volubility…” 7
Chairman: But isn’t that the later Smith?
Clerk: No, sir, this is the boy of Palmyra, who used to attend “revival meetings praying and exhorting with great exuberance of words…” 6
“…used to help us solve some portentous questions….in our juvenile debating club, and subsequently….was a very passable exhorter in evening meetings….”8 Here is another: “At times he would be very active in a religious revival, and exhorting with unusual fervor, in that exuberance of words which he had wonderfully at his command.”9 It is rather puzzling—a blundering, stammering, taciturn Spinx with a wonderful exuberance of words. “His address is easy,” wrote Mr. Howe himself of this stammerer, “rather fascinating and winning, of a mild and sober deportment, though at imes inclined to jest and be exceedingly merry.”10 This is the boy whom Mr. Tucker says “was never known to laugh.” And while Mr. Tucker also assures us from the most intimate experience that everything Joe and his family did proclaimed their sordid atheism, the other neighbors report him as zealously active in religious circles.
Chairman: So somebody is lying.
Clerk: At least they can’t all be right. You remember Mr. Tucker said Joseph Smith was of a “plodding, evil brewing mental composition,” that “he seldom spoke to anyone,” and above all that “he was never known to laugh.” 11 And Mrs. Eaton, taking the cue, says “he rarely smiled or laughed. His looks were always downward bent” 12 Yet one high authority says that “a deep vein of humor ran through all he said and did, 13 and Charles Dickens declares that “the exact adjective for Joe’s religion is —jolly!” 14 The poet Whittier speaks of Smith’s “rude, bold, good-humored face,” 15 and even some of the most damning “witnesses” tell us “…Joe had a jovial, easy don’t care way about him,” and that “he used to laugh from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, it shook every bit of flesh in him” 16 Also, while Mr. Hendrix assures us that “he made a lot of warm friends,” other neighbors say “he was shunned by the boys of his own age,” and that he was “…an awkward and unpopular lad.” 17 Here is a nice impasse: Chase and Ingersoll Stafford, who knew him so well describe him as a brawler, who “frequently got drunk, and when intoxicated was very quarrelsome,” 18 while Tucker and Harding, who knew him just as well assure us that “Smith was noted as never having had a fight or quarrel with any other person…” 19 Whom are we to believe?
Chairman: It might be easier to check up on his physical appearance. What do they say to that?
Clerk: He is described by eye-witnesses in 1830 as being “tall and slender—thin favored…” 20 Dogberry calls him “spindle shanked”; 21 here is a remarkable description by Stephen S. Harding, one-time governor of Utah Territory, who claims to have known Smith personally in Palmyra and “describes him as having been a tall, long-legged and tow-headed youth, who seldom smiled, hardly ever worked and never fought, but was hard on truth and bird’s nests.” 22
Chairman: At least we know that Smith was tall and skinny.
Clerk: But do we? Thurlow Weed’s description of Smith from that time is of “a stout, round, smooth-faced young man….” 23 Tall he may have been, but how he could have been “thin-favored” and stout and round at the same time is not so obvious. And just two years later another eye-witness who claims to have known Smith very well says he is “a man of mean and insignificant appearance, between forty and fifty years of age.” 24 Later on we are told that “the gait of this person was heavy and slouching, his hands were large and thick, his eyes grey and unsteady in their gaze….” 25 A year after this was published another opus describes the prophet as “a tall, elegant-looking man, with dark piercing eyes, and features, which if not handsome, were imposing.” 26 Another call him “a man of commanding appearance, tall and well-proportioned….” “… a noble-looking fellow,” says another, “a Mahomet every inch of him.” 27 Josiah Quincy says “He was a hearty, athletic fellow with blue eyes standing prominently out upon his light complexion….A fine-looking man is what a passer-by would instinctively have murmured…” 28 Another visitor says Smith had dark hair and eyes and “a strong rugged outline of face” with features exactly like those of Oliver Cromwell. 29 Charles Francis Adams described him as “a middle-aged man with a shrewd but rather ordinary expression of countenance.” 30
Chairman: So far we have shifty grey eyes, prominent blue eyes, and dark piercing eyes.
Clerk: Yes, and while one illustrious visitor says he could not see Smith’s eyes since the man refused to look people in the face, 31 others speak of his “penetrating eagle eyes.” 32 Some think Smith’s huge, fat, enormous awkward hands worthy of special mention, 33 while other comment on the remarkable small size of his hands. 34 One says that he had “a Herculean frame and a commanding appearance,” 35 another that he was sloppy and slouching, “very lank and loose in his appearance and movements.” 36
Chairman: A portrait artist would have a wonderful time depicting him from these honest first-hand descriptions. How do you account for the discrepancies?
Clerk: You get the same sort of thing when you deal with Joseph Smith’s intelligence and knowledge. Here we read of “a natural genius, strong inventive powers of mind, a deep study, and an unusually correct estimate of human passions and feelings….” 39 “a retentive memory; a correct knowledge of human nature…”40 “a great shrewdness and worldly wisdom…boundless energy and intrepidity of character, of most fearless audacity….” 41 “great powers of reasoning were his natural gift…and a deep vein of humor ran through all he said and did…” 42 “a strong mind (says Quincy) utterly unenlightened by the teachings of history….”40 “Joseph was the calf that sucked three cows. He acquired knowledge very rapidly…He soon out-grew his teachers…” 43
Chairman: A sort of superman. And on the other hand..?
Clerk: On the other hand, the same Smith in 1830 is “that spindle shanked ignoramus, Joe Smith. This fellow appears to possess the quintessence of ignorance….having but little expression of countenance other than that of dullness; his mental powers appear extremely limited.” 47 One of the earliest says, “…I thought the fellow either crazed or a very shallow imposter….” 48 “….his knowledge was slight and his judgment weak…” 49 “he was lounging, idle; (not to say vicious), and possessed of less than ordinary intellect. The author’s own recollections of him are distinct ones” 50 “He was as self-indulgent as he was ignorant….” 51 “a dissolute unprincipled young rake, and notorious only for his general wickedness….” 52 “Jo from a boy appeared dull and utterly destitute of genius….” 53 “his untutored and feeble intellect had not yet (in 1830) grasped at anything beyond mere toying with mysterious things….” 54 “I mention these things ….to show the weak-mindedness and low character of the man” 54 “Joseph was unkempt and immoderately lazy. He could read, though not without difficulty, and wrote a very imperfect hand, and had a limited understanding of elementary arithmetic…” 57
Chairman: So it was the village idiot who wrote the Book of Mormon. This brings up a little question of motive. Surely there are easier ways of fooling people than by composing a large and complex book which, as the book itself foretells, simply invites persecution. How do these people explain the colossally exhausting and dangerous task of writing, publishing and spreading it abroad as the enterprise of the laziest man on earth?
Clerk: There are two schools of thought. One holds that Smith was sincerely religious, the other that he was not; the latter is the larger faction by about 100 to 1. We are to believe that he undertook the writing of the Book of Mormon out of sheer impudence, “his only talent.” According to Mrs. Brodie this silly, sneaky, shallow, prevaricating boy dictated the whole Book of Mormon as a sort of practical joke on his parents “to carry out the fun.” Joseph Smith’s “own character gives no shred of prestige for his pretentious claims. Yet most individual Mormons are sturdy, sincere, honorable, and fine citizens.” 72
The huge assortment of contradicting false witnesses by the slander spreaders against the prophet, Joseph Smith, is clear proof that they will bring out any false slander they can, regardless of how dishonest or ridiculous the sources are. If you want to know some beautiful truths about Joseph Smith, I encourage you to read the book, “They Knew the Prophet – Personal Accounts from over 100 people, who knew Joseph Smith” by Hyrum L. Andrus & Helen Mae Andrus, as the good and inspired prophet of God, that he was. And if you prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, and receive your answer that it was brought forth from God through the prophet, Joseph Smith, then you will know that he truly was a prophet of God. And if you prayerfully read the Doctrine and Covenants, which is full of beautiful and true revelations from God through the prophet, Joseph Smith, you will be blessed with another powerful witness that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God.
I often get into discussions with other Christian people about our church, and on many occasions, they have tried to give me anti-Church of Jesus Christ literature, and encouraged me to take an open-minded look at it, so that it will open my eyes about our Church.
I ask them “What does it take to be saved?” And they express that you need to accept Jesus Christ as Savior before you die. And then I sincerely express my testimony of Jesus Christ as my Savior, and of the Bible. I tell about the inner peace and guidance toward all that is good that I feel every time I read in the Bible, and I testify of the gifts of the spirit such as the peace, joy, and increased love described in Galatians 5:22. I testify that I and other members of our church do believe in and love the Bible and I and our members accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, and the indescribable inner peace and blessings that bless my relationship with my wife and all of our relationships as we together make efforts to come unto Jesus Christ as He invited us to, and to make our best efforts to follow all of the teachings of Jesus Christ. I tell them that one of the reasons that my dear wife is such a joy to live with, is because she loves Jesus Christ as her Savior, even more than she loves me, and as she tries to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ each day, she is very kind, and loving, and serving as Jesus taught us all to be. Clearly, the teachings of Jesus Christ work very well in bringing families closer together, and in blessing each of us with better quality relationships with ourselves, with family members, and with others, and most importantly with Jesus Christ and with our Father in Heaven.
Considering that I am a quite typical active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who loves the Bible and loves Jesus Christ as our Savior, then, the good news is that at least we will be “Saved” , considering that all it takes according to most Christians to be saved is to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior before the day we die, isn’t that right? Even though, by their own logic, we should be “saved” for accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, most Christian pastors try to convince people that we are not real “Christians” because they falsely teach what they were taught in Bible school, that we believe in a different Jesus Christ, and that therefore, we will all be punished and tortured forever in Hell – – – along with the majority of the children of God throughout history who never had an opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ or read a Bible before they died – – – which of course, does not sound logical or fair either.
Also, if someone is “Saved” by the typical Christian definition, and then they later are imperfect and make a mistake or a sin, then they are still saved, right? So, for example, Zera Pulsipher was the first member of my family to join our church, and he had already been “Saved” as a strong bible believing Baptist minister, and then he and most of his congregation made what the false slanderers would call a mistake by joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but since they were already saved, they would not lose their salvation, right? Also considering that likely at least half of the 250,000 or so people who join our Church each year, are already born again Bible believing Christians, who already very much accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, and who love the Bible and Jesus Christ, both before and even more so after joining our church, then they also would not lose their salvation just for making what some would call a mistake of believing that the Book of Mormon is the also inspired of God like the Bible that they also love, right?
I am thankful to know without any doubt by serious prayerful study of the Book of Mormon, and by countless spiritual witnesses over the years, that Joseph Smith was the true prophet of the restoration of the true Church of Jesus Christ in these latter days, and I am so very thankful for the incredible daily blessings of real inner peace and real joys that this gospel of Jesus Christ brings into my life.
I sincerely share this testimony with you the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Charles Hunt