A
Critical Examination of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints (a.k.a. "The Mormons") cont.
Back to: Introduction
Brief History:
I. Founder
Joseph
Smith, Jr. was born December 23, 1805 in Sharon, Vermont. In 1815
his family moved to Palmyra, New York and then over to Manchester four
years later. His father was locally notorious as a treasure hunter
who was avid to find the loot of the legendary pirate Captain Kidd.
He was also known to have created and passed counterfeit money. His
mother, Lucy, was very religious and had what some described as "extreme
views." She was also known to be very superstitious. When he was
old enough, Joseph, Jr. joined his father on his treasure hunting expeditions
and was in the habit of using "peep stones" (i.e., or "peek
stones--rocks or crystals from which he could allegedly see visions and
hidden things--much like a crystal ball). All this is written for the
reader to understand some of this cult leader's background and
how eventually it came to influence how he founded this false religion.
Mormonism got its fledging start in 1820. During a spiritual revival in the community that year, Joseph was moved by all the excitement but was confused about which church he should be affiliated with, so he went out in woods to pray. As he was praying he claimed that two "personages" (God the Father and God the Son) appeared to him and told him not to join any because all were false. When he shared the news of this vision with others he experienced rejection and even persecution. Walter Martin notes that shortly thereafter Smith returned to treasure hunting with his father and other dubious activities (Kingdom of the Cults, p. 170) which Smith seems to confirm in his own testimony. It wasn't until a few years later that Smith continued in his "prophetic calling."
On
September 21, 1823, a spirit calling itself Moroni, appeared to Smith
three times while in bed to tell him of God's commission to restore the "true" Gospel
to the earth and also of some golden plates upon which was inscribed
the history of people who had lived in the Americas previously. Smith
was told where to find them but also that he could not obtain them yet.
He must wait until of time of fulfillment, which was September 22, 1827.
Shortly thereafter, Smith began translating the plates using the "Urim and Thummin" which he described as "two stones in silver bows" or oversized spectacles through which he allegedly looked at the plates and could see the proper translation. The language on the plates was "reformed Egyptian" hieroglyphics. He finished in 1829 and the result was the Book of Mormon which was published and copyrighted in 1830. On April 6 that same year in Fayette, New York, Smith and a handful of men established a new religious organization. It was first known as the Church of Christ but, of course, the name later evolved to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Much of this information can be found in Joseph Smith's Testimony found in the Pearl of Great Price (it is also published by the Latter-day Saints as a stand alone pamphlet).
** PROBLEM: As one might expect, these visions, especially the first one, are key to the credibility and authority of Joseph Smith in the organization of that which eventually became the LDS church. In them we see that God has supposedly rejected all other churches as false and is now restoring the "true" church through Smith. The official version we now have was written in 1838 and first published in 1842. However, what most Mormons do not know is that there are at least five earlier drafts relating the first vision experience. They have been repressed by Mormon leadership because they disagree with what has become this preferred official position. Ankerberg and Weldon cite ex-Mormons Jerald and Sandra Tanner who say that of all the drafts, this official one is least credible (Cult Watch, pp. 35-36.) Some of the discrepancies between the documents include important details like Smith's age, the presence of an evil power, Smith's reason for being out in the woods praying, and how many "personages" appeared to him. For example, Smith says the revival which caused him to start seeking after the truth happened in 1820 but other records indicate it actually happened in 1824-25. In one of the other drafts (written in 1835-36) God the Father and Son are not mentioned, only many spirits and angels. Still another says only one personage appeared while the official version says it was two. One begins to wonder if there was a vision at all or if Joseph Smith is looking back to try to justify his authority for what he has done in establishing the Mormon church.