Joseph Smith

This page summarizes issues related to Joseph Smith, Jr. More detail may be found in the subarticles below.

Miracles

• Healings and miracles—Do we have any record of Joseph Smith performing healings or other miracles by the power of Christ's priesthood?
• Priesthood restore date

Prophet

• Prophecies—Critics claim that Joseph Smith was not a true prophet, and that he made "false prophecies."

Legal

• Legal trials—What can you tell me about Joseph Smith's problems with the law?
  • 1826 trial—Joseph Smith was brought to trial in 1826 for "glasslooking." Didn't Hugh Nibley claim that if this trial record existed that it would be "the most damning evidence in existence against Joseph Smith?"
• Kirtland Safety Society
• Nauvoo city charter
• Nauvoo Expositor
• The Council of Fifty

Character

• The Hurlbut affidavits
• Politics—Critics charge that Joseph Smith's decision to run for President of the United States in 1844 shows him to be either a megalomaniac bent on amassing ever more power, or a fanatic with delusions of grandeur.
• "Amusing recitals"/Tall Tales?—Joseph Smith's mother reported that he told "amusing recitals" about the ancient inhabitants of the American continent well before he translated the Book of Mormon. Does this indicate that Joseph was simply a teller of "tall tales?"
• Occultism and magic—Critics claim that Joseph Smith's spiritual experiences began as products of "magic," the "occult," or "treasure seeking," and that only later did Joseph describe his experiences in Christian, religious terms: speaking of God, angels, and prophethood.
  • Jupiter talisman—Critics claim that Joseph Smith had a Jupiter Talisman on his person when he was martyred and cite this as proof of his fascination with the occult.
  • l1=The magician Walters as a mentor to Joseph Smith—Did a "vagabond fortune-teller" named Walters who became popular in the Palmyra area pass his "mantle" to Joseph Smith?
• Masonic distress cry—Just before he died, did Joseph Smith begin to give the Masonic cry of distress?
• Treasure seeking—Was Joseph Smith's engagement in "money digging" or looking for buried treasure a blot on his character?
• Seer stones
• As Holy Ghost?
• Personality and temperament—Critics point to what they perceive as personal failings of Joseph Smith, such as his allegedly short temper, as evidence that he was not a true prophet of God.
• Boastful about the Church?
• Role in LDS belief
• Greek psalter—Did Joseph Smith misidentify an ancient text of Greek psalms (a "psalter") as containing Reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics.
• Martyrdom
  • Joseph fired a gun—Was Joseph Smith actually not a martyr because, while in jail, he had a gun and he had the temerity to defend himself? Did Joseph kill two men by firing at the mob?
  • Nauvoo Legion to rescue Joseph?—Did Joseph panic at Carthage Jail, and write an order to Jonathan Dunham (head of the Nauvoo legion), telling him to have the Legion attack the jail and "save him at all costs?"