ANSWERS: 8
  • Actually, it was Jesus Himself that told Joseph Smith that His true Church was not then on Earth. This happened when Joseph went into a nearby wood to pray for guidance as to which church he should join. The angel that visited Joseph in his bedroom was Moroni. He told Joseph where to find the plates containing the Book of Mormon and that he, Joseph, would translate the record.
  • Listen, like Alatea said, the story is completly messed up! I believe you need to read Rev 22:18, that will answer all of your questions.
  • I'm not sure whether or not Lucy Mack Smith ever made such a statement or was ever cited as having made such a statement, but the standard, more accurate, account does not suggest that such a thing happened. It would appear that the event you are suggesting is actually the amalgamation of two actual, but separate, events.
  • Joe Smith's mother moved in the lowest walks of life, but she had a kind of mental power, which her son shared. With them both, the imagination was the commanding faculty. It was ' 'vain" but vivid. To it was subsidized reason, conscience, truth. Both mother and son were noted for a habit of extravagant assertion. They would look a listener full in the eye, and without confusion or blanching, would fluently improvise startling statements and exciting stories, the warp and woof of which were alike sheer falsehood. Was an inconsistency alluded to, nothing daunted, a subterfuge was always at hand. As one old man, who knew them well, said to me, "You could'nt [sic] face them down. They'd lie and stick to it." Many of the noblest specimens of humanity have arisen from a condition of honest poverty; but few of these from one of dishonest poverty. Agur apprehended the danger when he said, "lest I be poor and steal." Mrs. Smith used to go to the houses of the village, and do family washings. But if the articles were left to dry upon the lines and not secured by their owners before midnight, the washer was often the winner—and in these nocturnal depredations she was assisted by her boys, who favored in like manner poultry yards and grain bins. Her son Joe never worked save at chopping bees and raisings, and then whisky was the impetus and the reward. The mother of the high-priest of Mormonism was superstitious to the last degree. The very air she breathed was inhabited by "familiar spirits that peeped and wizards that muttered." She turned many a penny by tracing in the lines of the open palm the fortunes" of the inquirer. All ominous signs were heeded. No work was commenced on Friday. The moon over the left shoulder portended calamity; the breaking of a mirror, death. Even in the old Green Mountain State, before the family immigrated to the Genesee country, the then West, Mrs. Smith's mind was made up that one of her sons should be a prophet. The weak father agreed with her that Joseph was the "genus" of their nine children. So it was established that Joseph should be the prophet. To such an extent did the mother impress this idea upon the boy, that all the instincts of childhood were restrained. He rarely smiled or laughed. "His looks and thoughts were always downward bent." He never indulged in demonstrations of fun, since they would not be in keeping with the profound dignity of his allotted vocation. His mother inspired and aided him in every scheme of duplicity and cunning. All acquainted with the facts agree in saying that the evil spirit of Mormonism dwelt first in Joe Smith's mother.
  • 1) Mormon view about this: "Criticism: The Prophet's mother—Lucy Mack Smith—wrote a letter in 1831 which indicates that her son's First Vision consisted of seeing an "angel" instead of Deity. This documentary evidence demonstrates that the Prophet's story evolved over time; his claim to have seen God was a relatively late addition to his story. Source(s) of the criticism: Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st Century Mormonism (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2004), 32, 34. Response: Anyone who reads the full text of this letter will soon discover that its stated purpose is to introduce the Book of Mormon to Lucy's siblings, to prepare them to receive a copy of it when it was presented to them, to explain that the book represented the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, and to summarize how it came forth in their day. The letter says absolutely nothing about Joseph Smith's encounter with the Book of Mormon "angel" being his FIRST spiritual manifestation. Critics fail to mention that Lucy's 1831 letter not only contains a very distinct First Vision storyline theme ("the churches have all become corrupted...the Lord hath spoken it") but it also closely paraphrases a section of the Articles and Covenants of the Church that is recognized by LDS scholars as the earliest published reference to the First Vision experience. This material was recorded by April 1830 and is reproduced below: D&C 20:5-8 (April 1830) (verse 5) "After it was truly manifested unto this first elder [i.e., Joseph Smith] that he had received a remission of his sins, he was entangled again in the vanities of the world; (verse 6) But after repenting, and humbling himself sincerely, through faith, God ministered unto him by an holy angel, whose countenance was as lightning, and whose garments were pure and white above all other whiteness; (verse 7) And gave unto him commandments which inspired him; (verse 8) And gave him power from on high, by the means which were before prepared, to translate the Book of Mormon."(D&C 20:5-8 Compare this with Mother Smith's letter: LUCY'S LETTER (January 1831) "Joseph, after repenting of his sins and humbling himself before God, was visited by an holy angel whose countenance was as lightning and whose garments were white above all whiteness, who gave unto him commandments which inspired him from on high; and who gave unto him, by the means of which was before prepared, that he should translate this book." Compare both of the above sources with the Prophet's 1832 First Vision narrative: FIRST VISION ACCOUNT (September-November 1832) "I felt to mourn for my own sins....[The Lord said during the First Vision,] 'thy sins are forgiven thee'....after many days I fell into transgression and sinned in many things....I called again upon the Lord and he shewed unto me a heavenly vision for behold an angel of the Lord came and stood before me....the Lord had prepared spectacles for to read the Book therefore I commenced translating the characters." Critics also fail to point out that almost exactly two months before Lucy Mack Smith wrote her letter, four LDS missionaries (Oliver Cowdery, Orson Pratt, Peter Whitmer Jr. and Ziba Peterson) were publicly teaching that Joseph Smith had seen God "personally" and had received a commission from Him to preach true religion. It is specifically stated in the newspaper article that records this information that the missionaries made their comments about 1 November 1830 - shortly after the Church was formally organized. Conclusion: Lucy Mack Smith's 1831 letter does NOT say that her son's first heavenly visitation was from an angel. Her letter not only contains an easily recognizable First Vision storyline fragment, but also cites a text that refers directly to the First Vision experience. Lucy's intent was NOT to focus attention on the First Vision, but rather on the heavenly manifestation associated with the Book of Mormon." Source and further information: http://en.fairmormon.org/Prophet's_mother_said_First_Vision_was_of_an_%22angel%22 2) "Richard Abanes and the Tanners note that ten differing accounts of the First Vision have been recorded, which they claim contain contradictory information about what beings were present and what they said. Grant H. Palmer points out evidence that Joseph Smith did not speak about the First Vision until a decade after it was said to have occurred. Furthermore, the first published account came 22 years after it was said to have occurred, in 1842, shortly before Smith's death. Some of the accounts only mention a visitation by an angel, while others detail a visit by God the Father and Jesus Christ as separate beings, as in Smith's 1838 account, which Palmer notes is coincidental with a crisis which then developed around the Book of Mormon. The 1838 version is the account which is officially accepted by the LDS church. The earliest known account written by Joseph Smith himself indicates a visitation by Jesus Christ, but does not mention God the Father. Other details of this account differ from the official version." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Mormonism Further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Abanes#The_LDS_Church http://www.irr.org/mit/First-Vision-Scans/first-vision-1835A.html 3) here the longest quote that I found from that letter: "The letter to Solomon Mack under date of January 6, 1831, was written from Waterloo, and addressed to her brother and wife: Dear Brother and Sister: . . . By searching the prophecies contained in the Old Testament we find it there prophesied that God will set his hand the second time to recover his people the house of Israel. He has now commenced this work; He hath sent forth a revelation in these last days, and this revelation is called the Book of Mormon. . . . Perhaps you will inquire how this revelation came forth. It has been hid up in the earth fourteen hundred years, and was placed there by Moroni, one of the Nephites; it was engraven upon plates which had the appearance of gold . . . . Joseph after repenting of his sins and humbling himself before God, was visited by an holy angel whose countenance was as lightning and whose garments were white above all whiteness who gave unto him commandments which inspired him from on high; and who gave unto him, by the means of which was before prepared, that he should translate this book." Source and further information: http://www.centerplace.org/history/misc/soc/soc7.htm 4) "Lucy Smith alone, by incorporating into her Biographical Sketches through direct quotation her own son's account of the First Vision, provides any evidence that the tale of the First Vision was ever countenanced within Joseph's own family; and even she, writing to her brother in January 1831 to urge upon him the divinity of her son's claims, thought only to tell him that "Joseph, after repenting of his sins and humbling himself before God, was visited by an holy angel" who gave him commandments inspired from on high [p.250] and the means to translate the Book of Mormon." Source and further information: http://www.signaturebookslibrary.org/dalemorgan/dalechapter3.htm
  • To answer a question with a question, if all churches are wrong, then why did he start another one? Seems like rather a contradiction and waste of time to put all that energy and effort into something so wrong... And another thing, how did his mom know this happened? If it did, why didn't Joe write it himself?
  • Yes and no. Here's what she said along with supporting citations from Joseph Smith's documents: "Lucy Mack Smith notes that after the family's third wheat harvest in Palmyra/Manchester (1823), "we were sitting till quite late conversing upon the subject of the diversity of churches that had risen up in the world and the many thousands opinions in existence as to the truths contained in scripture. Joseph never said many words upon any subject but always seemed to reflect more deeply than common persons of his age upon everything of a religious nature. After we ceased conversation he went to bed and was pondering in his mind which of the churches were the true one but he had not laid there long till he saw a bright light enter the room where he lay he looked up and saw an angel of the Lord standing by him." (Lucy Smith, "Preliminary Manuscript" LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah in "Early Mormon Documents", 1: 289.) According to Smith, he indirectly mentioned the vision to his mother shortly after it occurred: "... And as I leaned up to the fireplace, mother inquired what the matter was. I replied, “Never mind, all is well—I am well enough off.” I then said to my mother, “I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true.” ... (JSH 1:20) In her several recollections of the events that led to the founding of the LDS Church, there is no extant record that Lucy Mack Smith ever mentioned Joseph having had a vision before his bedroom visitation from Moroni in 1823. Lucy also said that Joseph's vision of Moroni followed a family discussion about the "diversity of churches." (Lucy Smith, "Preliminary Manuscript" LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah in "Early Mormon Documents", 1: 289.) In the 1832 account Smith said that by "Searching the Scriptures" he had concluded that "there was no society or denomination that built upon the Gospel of Christ": "...from the age of twelve years to fifteen I pondered many things in my heart concerning the situation of the world of mankind the contentions and divisions the wickedness and abominations and the darkness which pervaded the minds of mankind my mind become exceedingly distressed for I become convicted of my Sins and by Searching the Scriptures I found that mankind did not come unto the Lord but that they had apostatized from the true and living faith and there was no society or denomination that built upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded in the new testament..." (Joseph Smith in "Early Mormon Documents" 1: 28)
  • Admins - please delete. Posted by accident.

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