This is an index of claims made in this work with links to corresponding responses within the FAIRwiki. An effort has been made to provide the author's original sources where possible.
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| Claim
| Response
| Use of sources
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16
| Joseph was notorious for telling tall tales, necromantic arts and treasure digging. |
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- "Mormonism", New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, New York, 1883, Vol. II, p. 1576.
- Obadiah Dogberry (pseudonym for Abner Cole), Palmyra Reflector, Jan. 6 - March 19, 1831.
- Abner Cole, "The Book of Pukei," Palmyra Reflector June - July 1830.
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16
| Joseph was charged with being "a disorderly person and an impostor" at his 1826 trial. |
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- "Mormonism", New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, New York, 1883, Vol. II, p. 1576.
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17
| The Hurlbut affidavits corroborated and supplemented the court record. |
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- Author's opinion
- Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, OH, 1834), . (Affidavits examined)
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18
| Fifty-one of Joseph's neighbors signed affidavits accusing him of being "destitute of moral character" and "addicted to vicious habits." |
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18
| Joseph dreamed of an "illustrious and affluent" future.
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18
| Joseph "detested the plow" and despaired about the family's debts. |
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19
| A "vagabond fortune-teller" named Walters became popular in the area. When Walters left the area, "his mantle fell upon" Joseph Smith. |
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20
| William Stafford told a story about Joseph claimed that he could find money using a bleeding black sheep. |
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20
| Joseph could see "ghosts, infernal spirits" and "mountains of gold" in his seer stone. |
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23
| Palmyra newspapers took no notice of Joseph's vision at the time it was supposed to have occurred. |
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- Obediah Dogberry (Abner Cole), Palmyra Reflector, Feb. 1, 1831.
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24
| The story of Joseph first vision evolved greatly between his 1832 and 1838 accounts. |
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- Times and Seasons, March 15, 1842
- Dean D. Jessee's (Dean C. Jessee) "Early Accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision," Brigham Young University Studies, Vol. IX, 1969, pp. 275-294.
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24
| Oliver Cowdery described Joseph's first vision as having occurred in 1823 |
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- Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate, Letter IV, Feb. 1835, p. 78.
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24
| Some of Joseph's close relatives confused the first vision with Moroni's visit. |
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- Lucy Smith to Solomon Mack, January 6, 1831 in Ben E. Rich: Scrapbook of Mormon Literature, Vol. I, p. 543.
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25
| Joseph's own family did not know of his first vision at the time that it happened. |
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25
| Joseph's vision may have been an invention to cancel out stories of his fortune telling and money digging |
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26
| Joseph liked preaching because it gave him an audience, and this was as "essential to Joseph as food." |
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27
| Joseph stared into his crystal and saw gold in every odd-shaped hill |
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30
| In March 1826 Joseph got into serious trouble because of his "magic arts" |
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- "Mormonism", New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, New York, 1883, Vol. II, p. 1576.
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30
| The court pronounced Joseph "guilty" at the 1826 trial |
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- "Mormonism", New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, New York, 1883, Vol. II, p. 1576.
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31
| Joseph's mentor was "the conjurer Walters." |
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| Claim
| Response
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35
| Joseph's mother reported that he was "spinning theories" about the moundbuilders before he was twenty years old |
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- Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches, p. 85.
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35
| Between 1820 and 1827 Joseph decided to write a history of the moundbuilders |
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37
| Peter Ingersoll claimed that Joseph told him that no one could see the golden Bible and live. |
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39
| The "magic" Urim and Thummim was found with the plates |
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40
| The four year period during which Joseph waited to get the plates corresponded with his most intensive money-digging activities |
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- No source provided to support the author's allegation of "intensive" money-digging activity.
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40
| Lucy Smith described the Urim and Thummim as "two smooth three-cornered diamonds set in glass and the glasses set in silver bows." |
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- Lucy Smith to Solomon Mack, 1831
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40
| Martin Harris described the Urim and Thummim as "white, like polished marble, with a few grey streaks." |
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- Tiffany's Monthly, 1859, p. 166.
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40
| David Whitmer described the Urim and Thummim as "two small stones of a chocolate color, nearly egg shape, and perfectly smooth, but not transparent." |
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- Kansas City Journal, June 5, 1881.
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41
| Joseph warned his family that it meant instant death to look at the plates. |
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43
| Joseph was able to translate the plates without unwrapping them by using his stone |
- The author attributes this to Emma Smith, but does not specify the source.
- Likely source is the interview of Emma Smith by her son Joseph Smith III.
- Book of Mormon translation method
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43
| Emma said that Joseph used the Urim and Thummim for the first 116 pages and then the seer stone for the remainder of the translation |
- The author attributes this to Emma Smith, but does not specify the source.
- Likely source is the interview of Emma Smith by her son Joseph Smith III.
- Joseph Smith and seer stones
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43
| God cursed the Lamanites and all their descendents with a "red skin." |
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43
| A neighbor, Lemuel Durfee. Signed an affidavit in 1833 charging Joseph with vicious habits and an immoral character. |
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44
| After each battle in the Book of Mormon, the dead were "heaped upon the face of the earth, and they were covered with a shallow covering" - a reference to the Indian mounds |
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- Book of Mormon (1830), pp. 358, 363, 267.
- O. Turner, Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase, p. 38.
- Palmyra Register, January 28, 1818.
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46
| Joseph's familiarity with the idea that the Indians descended from the Hebrews seems to have come primarily from Ethan Smith's View of the Hebrews |
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- Ethan Smith, View of the Hebrews (1825), p. 184.
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49
| Joseph Smith took the whole Western Hemisphere as the setting for the Book of Mormon |
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- Author's opinion. No source provided.
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| Claim
| Response
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53
| Joseph warned Martin Harris that God's wrath would strike him down if he examined the plates or looked at him while he was translating.
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53
| Harris once tried to trick Joseph by substituting an ordinary stone for the seer stone.
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- Summary of Martin Harris' sermon in Salt Lake City, September 4, 1870, Historical Record, Vol. VI, p. 216.
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54
| Lucy Harris stole the manuscript and "neither pleas nor blows could make her divulge its hiding place."
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- Lucy states in the Hurlbut affidavits that her husband "has whipped, kicked, and turned me out of the house." Despite the fact that Lucy Harris makes no mention of the lost 116 pages of manuscript from the Book of Mormon, Fawn Brodie actually concludes that Harris beat his wife in order to get her to divulge what she had done with the lost 116 pages of manuscript.
- The Hurlbut affidavits—Lucy Harris
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54
| Joseph realized that he could not duplicate the 116 pages exactly.
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58
| The Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon were "chiefly those chapters from Isaiah mentioned in Ethan Smith's View of the Hebrews."
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- The claim is false
- No source provided.
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58
| Joseph was careful to modify primarily the italicized interpolation in the King James text.
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58
| Joseph incorporated one of his father's dreams into the Book of Mormon
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- Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches, pp. 58-9.
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59
| Early in the writing Joseph vigorously attacked the Catholic Church as the "great and abominable church" and the "whore of all the earth"
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62
| Joseph Smith's lack of education is "a favorite thesis designed to prove the authenticity" of the Book of Mormon.
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62-63
| Joseph Smith borrowed many stories from the Bible.
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63
| Joseph's sentence structure in the Book of Mormon was "loose-jointed, like an earthworm hacked into segments that crawl away alive and whole."
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65
| The story of the Gadianton band reflects the anti-Masonic feelings in New York at the time that the Book of Mormon was produced.
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- No source given.
- Author's conjecture.
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| Claim
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69
| The Church has "exaggerated the ignorance" of Joseph Smith in order to bolster the divinity of the Book of Mormon.
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- Author's opinion. No source provided.
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70
| The Book of Mormon claims that Jesus was born in Jerusalem (quoting Alexander Campbell)
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- Millennial Harbinger, Vol. II, Feb. 1831, p. 85.
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70-71
| Joseph added the story of the Jaredites in order to explain how animals had come to America.
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72
| Joseph had the Jaredites bring horses, swine, sheep, cattle, and asses, yet these animals were not found in the Americas at the time of Columbus.
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- The author adds in a footnote that Mormons "point to discoveries of small prehistoric horses in the New World as evidence of the truth of the Book of Mormon, and ignore the fact that these animals became extinct long before the supposed Jaredite migration."
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73
| Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery were caught in Joseph's "spell."
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74
| Joseph had a talent for making men see visions.
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77
| The Three Witnesses all told different versions of their experience.
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- Palmyra Reflector, March 19, 1831.
- History of the Church, Vol. I, pp. 54-5.
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77
| The Three Witnesses were hypnotized by Joseph Smith.
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- Author's opinion.
- According to the author, Joseph didn't realize that he had this ability either (it was supposedly a "unconscious but positive talent.")
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78
| Martin Harris stated that he viewed the plates through "the eye of faith."
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- Gleanings by the Way, pp. 256-7.
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78
| Years after the event, David Whitmer embellished his story of seeing the gold plates.
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- Palmyra Reflector, March 19, 1831.
- David Whitmer's interview with Orson Pratt, Millennial Star, Vol. XL, pp. 771-2.
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78
| The Three Witnesses never denied their vision even after they all left the Church because Joseph had "conjured up a vision they would never forget."
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79
| The first edition of the Book of Mormon said that Joseph was "Author and proprietor," which in later editions was changed to "Translator."
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79-80
| Joseph convinced the Eight Witnesses by showing them an empty box and claiming that they did not have sufficient faith to see them.
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- Thomas Ford, History of Illinois, Chicago, 1854, p. 257.
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80
| Joseph may have built some kind of "makeshift deception" to account for those witnesses who described the size, weight and metallic texture of the plates.
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- William Smith, Saints' Herald, Vol. XXXI, p. 644.
- Complete speculation
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81
| Hyrum suggested to Joseph that they attempt to sell the copyright of the Book of Mormon in order to obtain enough money to get it published. Joseph "looked into the Urim and Thummim and received a revelation" directing them to go to Toronto.
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- Oliver Cowdery, Defense in a Rehearsal of My Grounds for Separating Myself from the Latter-Day Saints.
- David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ, p. 31.
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82
| Martin Harris sold his farm to pay for the publication of the Book of Mormon only after Joseph frightened him with the revelation found in the Book of Commandments Chapter xvi, pp. 40-41.
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- Book of Commandments Chapter xvi, pp. 40-41
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| Claim
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83
| The Book of Mormon was conceived as a money-making history of the Indians.
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84
| A story circulated that Joseph Smith boasted he would walk upon the water, and secretly built a plank bridge underneath the surface of the pond.
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84-85
| Joseph began to sincerely believe what he was teaching.
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86
| Joseph Smith performed "miracles," but was unaware that they were common occurrences.
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89
| Joseph detested tedious and solitary field labor.
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92
| Oliver Cowdery demanded that Joseph amend some of his own revelations.
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92
| Oliver Cowdery secretly encouraged Hiram Page to receive revelations through his seer stone.
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96
| Joseph experimented with the idea of "revealing" lost books of the Bible.
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101-102
| Joseph promised Lyman E. Johnson that he would see the Savior come and stand upon the Earth. William Smith and Orson Hyde were told that they would stand on earth until Christ comes.
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- Millennial Star, Vol. XV, pp. 206-7.
- History of the Church, Vol. II, pp. 189-91.
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102
| Joseph suggested that the Second Coming would occur within fifty-six years.
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- History of the Church, Vol. II, p. 182.
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103
| Joseph began "translating" the New Testament at Sidney Rigdon's suggestion.
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108
| The United Order was Sidney Rigdon's idea.
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111
| Ezra Booth claimed that Joseph promised that "not three days should pass away before some should see the Saviour face to face."
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111
| Joseph said that the lost ten tribes were living in a land near the North Pole.
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- History of the Church, Vol. I, p. 176n.
- John Whitmer, History of the Church, Chapter vii.
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112
| Joseph attempted to perform miracles and failed during a conference in Kirtland, Ohio.
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- John Whitmer, History of the Church, Chapter viii
- Newel Knight's journal, published in Scraps of Biography, p. 70.
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113
| Stories claimed that miracles could not be performed in Ohio because it was not "consecrated ground."
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116
| Joseph inserted into Genesis a prophecy of his own coming.
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- George B. Arbaugh, Revelation in Mormonism, 1932, pp. 75-85.
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117
| Joseph elaborated on Isaiah's prophecy regarding the learned man and the sealed book to match details of Martin Harris' visit to Charles Anthon.
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- George B. Arbaugh, Revelation in Mormonism, 1932, pp. 75-85.
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117
| Joseph modified Isaiah's prophecy to include references to the Book of Mormon witnesses and return of the gold plates to the Lord.
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- George B. Arbaugh, Revelation in Mormonism, 1932, pp. 75-85.
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118
| Joseph's description of the three degrees of glory contrasted Book of Mormon descriptions of a "lake of fire and brimstone."
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120
| The Missouri Mormons never forgave Joseph for returning to Ohio.
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- No sources provided. Author's conjecture.
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124
| The "Civil War" prophecy was abandoned and excluded from early collections of Joseph's revelations because they thought it had failed.
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127
| Joseph couldn't initially called the Kirtland Temple a "temple," since there was already land dedicated for a temple in Missouri.
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143
| Under Hurlbut's "excited prodding," neighbors of Solomon Spalding recalled that the Spalding manuscript that matched "an astonishing number of details" from the Book of Mormon twenty years after they had heard the manuscript read aloud.
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144
| The Spalding manuscript bore no resemblance to the Book of Mormon.
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- Spalding manuscript published by the Reorganized Church in 1885 under the title The Manuscript Found, or the Manuscript Story of the late Rev. Solomon Spaulding.
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144
| Martin Harris was brought to trial before the High Council because he claimed the Joseph Smith had "drunk too much liquor" while translating the Book of Mormon.
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- The cited Times and Seasons" entry "HISTORY OF JOSEPH SMITH" states:
"The council proceeded to investigate certain charges presented by Elder Rigdon against Martin Harris, one was, that he told A. C. Russell, Esq. that Joseph drank too much liquor when he was translating the Book of Mormon, and that he wrestled with many men and threw them, &c.; and that he (Harris) exalted himself above Joseph, in that he said, "Brother Joseph knew not the contents of the Book of Mormon, until it was translated, but that he, himself knew all about it before it was translated. Brother Harris said he did not tell Esq. Russell that Brother Joseph drank too much liquor while translating the Book of Mormon, but this thing occurred previous to the translating of the book; he confessed that his mind was darkened, and that he had said many things inadvertantly [inadvertently], calculated to wound the feelings of his brethren, and promised to do better. The council forgave him, with much good advice."
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- Times and Seasons, Vol. VI, p. 992.
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145
| Hurlbut's affidavits were published by E.D. Howe in Mormonism Unvailed.
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145
| Brigham Young stated, before he even met Joseph Smith, that he would follow Joseph even if he were to get "drunk every day of his life, sleep with his neighbor's wife every night," and run horses and gamble.
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147-148
| It was Sidney Rigdon's suggestion to change the name of the Church from the Church of Christ to the Church of Latter-day Saints in order to avoid the names "Mormon" and "Mormonite".
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149
| Joseph found a skeleton of a Lamanite warrior named "Zelf"
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- History of the Church 2:79-80
- "Elder Kimball's Journal," Times and Seasons, Vol. VI, p. 788.
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159
| Zion's Camp was a "major failure" for Joseph Smith.
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159
| Men and women had died in Missouri Joseph Smith's name.
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159
| Joseph decided that he could no longer give out "incidental" revelations after the Missouri trials.
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162
| The Kirtland High Council complained that the Apostles had too much power.
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- History of the Church 2:240
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162
| Henry Green was cut off from the church simply because of a remark made that Joseph was "extorting" the cost of a book.
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- History of the Church 2:275
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164
| Apostle William Smith called his brother Joseph a "tyrant" and attempted to beat him.
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- Court of Common Pleas, County of Geauga, Ohio, June 16, 1835.
- Painesville Telegraph, June 26, 1835.
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165
| Joseph was "vain" regarding his "wrestling prowess."
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166
| The Word of Wisdom was not given by "commandment or constraint" because Joseph was "too fond of earthly pleasures."
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167
| Joseph did not take the Word of Wisdom seriously.
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167
| Joseph replaced wine with water in the Sacrament because Sidney Rigdon forced a vote for total abstinence through the Church.
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- Wilford Woodruff's journal, quoted by Matthias F. Cowley in Wilford Woodruff (Salt Lake, 1909), p. 65.
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170
| Joseph did not originally intend to translate the papyri "by inspiration as in the past," and instead attempted to formulate an Egyptian alphabet and grammar.
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171
| Joseph picked up the idea that there were plural gods when he learned in Hebrew class that Elohim was plural.
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- Author's opinion.
- Thomas Dick, Philosophy of a Future State.
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171
| Joseph developed the concept in the Book of Abraham that the earth was organized out of existing matter from Thomas Dick's Philosophy of a Future State.
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- Author's opinion.
- Thomas Dick, Philosophy of a Future State.
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171
| Joseph developed the idea that matter was "eternal and indestructible" from Thomas Dick's work.
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- Author's opinion.
- Thomas Dick, Philosophy of a Future State.
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172
| Joseph's concept of Kolob being "near the throne of God" and its control of the reckoning of time came from Thomas Dick.
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- Author's opinion.
- Thomas Dick, Philosophy of a Future State.
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173
| Joseph wrote the Book of Abraham in order to justify denying the priesthood to Blacks.
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173
| Joseph criticized the abolitionist movement.
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174
| Joseph taught that "one third of the spirits had been neutral" in Heaven.
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- Orson Hyde, "Speech before the High Priests," Nauvoo, April 27, 1845 printed as a pamphlet by the Millennial Star office, July 1845, p. 27.
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174
| Joseph taught that his family was directly descended from Ephraim.
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- History of the Church, Vol. III, p. 380.
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175
| The Book of Abraham facsimiles are ordinary funeral documents.
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179
| It was reported that some of the men were drunk during the dedication of the Kirtland Temple.
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181
| Joseph Smith was rumored to have "seduced" Fannie Alger.
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181
| It was rumored that Fannie Alger was driven out of the house by Emma.
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181
| Joseph and Fannie were "found together."
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182
| Joseph accused Oliver Cowdery of "perpetuating the scandal."
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182
| Oliver was excommunicated for "insinuating that the prophet had been guilty of adultery."
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182
| Fannie Alger did not admit to being the Prophet's plural wife.
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183
| Martin Harris was brought to trial for adultery "as early as 1832."
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182
| Joseph told Ezra Booth to "take a wife from among the Lamanites."
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183
| Joseph performed marriages even though it was against Ohio law. The marriage of Newel Knight and Lydia Goldthwait Baily was performed by Joseph against the law.
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- The Knight-Bailey wedding was not illegal, since Newel Knight obtained a marriage license from the secular authorities. The state of Ohio did not contest Joseph's performance of the marriage, since it then issued a marriage certificate for the Knights' marriage. Joseph later performed other marriages in Ohio, and these couples likewise received marriage certificates after Joseph submitted the necessary paperwork.
- Illegal marriages in Ohio
- Joseph Smith and polygamy
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185
| Oliver Cowdery wrote a formal statement that the Church denied polygamy in August 1835.
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187
| Joseph realized "that for a prophet it is easier to change marriage laws than to contravene them."
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187
| The Mormons believe that when they become "sufficiently purified" that the treasures in the earth would be "poured into their lap."
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189
| Isaac McWithy was brought to trial before the High Council because he would not sell his farm to Joseph Smith.
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192
| Joseph's trip to Salem in August 1836 with Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon and Hyrum was to look for buried gold beneath a house.
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195
| The Kirtland Safety Society was said to have been established by "a revelation from God," and that it would "grow and flourish, and spread from the rivers to the ends of the earth, and survive when all others should be laid in ruins."
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- Warren Parrish, letter dated March 6, 1838, published in Zion's Watchman March 24, 1838.
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197
| The assets backing the Kirtland Safety Society's notes were actually boxes filled with "sand, lead, old iron, stone and combustibles."
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- Wilhelm Wyl, Mormon Portraits Volume First: Joseph Smith the Prophet, His Family and Friends (Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing Co., 1886), 36
- Oliver Olney, Absurdities of Mormonism Portrayed, p. 4.
- Cyrus Smalling letter in E. G. Lee, The Mormons, or Knavery Exposed, p. 14.
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197
| Warren Parrish claimed that the Kirtland "bank" assets were less than Joseph claimed.
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- Warren Parrish, letter to Zion's Watchman, published March 24, 1838.
- Cyrus Smalling letter in E. G. Lee, The Mormons, or Knavery Exposed, p. 14.
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198
| The Kirtland Safety Society "bank" was operating illegally.
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- Trial record in Chardon, Ohio courthouse, Vol. U, p. 362.
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198
| Warren Parrish could not have taken $25,000 because the bank didn't have that much.
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- Elder's Journal, August 1838, p. 56.
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199
| Joseph "prophesied" that the bank notes would be "as good as gold."
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- Wilhelm Wyl, Mormon Portraits Volume First: Joseph Smith the Prophet, His Family and Friends (Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing Co., 1886), 35
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199
| Brigham Young exchanged his Kirtland bank notes for gold years later in Salt Lake City. | |
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205
| The Three Witnesses Whitmer, Harris and Cowdery pledged loyalty to a young girl who claimed to be able to see the future in a black stone.
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- Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches, pp. 211-213.
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208
| Oliver Cowdery accused Joseph of trying to "set up a kind of petty government, controlled and dictated by ecclesiastical influence…"
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- History of the Church 3:18n
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211
| Joseph proclaimed that an altar found in Missouri was where Adam offered sacrifices.
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211
| Joseph said that Adam shall come to visit his people at Adam-ondi-Ahman.
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211
| The Saints believed that Jackson County was the site of the Garden of Eden.
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211
| Far West was the spot where Cain killed Abel.
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- History of the Church 3:35
- D&C 117:8
- John Corrill: Brief History of the Church, p. 28.
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212
| Joseph justified slavery.
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213
| Sidney Rigdon supported Sampson Avard's formation of a "secret" band.
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214
| Joseph and Sidney "were careful not to be associated" with the Danites.
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214
| The Danites were a secret society with oaths, passwords and secret signs.
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- Correspondence, Orders, etc. in relation to the disturbances with the Mormons;…
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215
| Joseph "made a confused and damaging admission of his own relationship to the Danite organization" before his death.
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- Minutes of a Nauvoo City Council Meeting, Jan. 3, 1844, History of the Church 6:165.
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215
| Joseph formally sanctioned Sampson Avard and the Danites.
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- Correspondence, Orders, etc. in relation to the disturbances with the Mormons;…
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217
| Sidney Rigdon wanted to have Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer cut off from the church in order to banish his rivals.
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218
| Sidney Rigdon's Salt Sermon threatened the dissenters in the Church.
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219
| The dissenters were ordered to leave Far West.
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223
| Sidney Rigdon's 4th of July sermon alluded to a "war of extermination" with the mob.
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230-231
| Joseph Smith claimed to be "a second Mohammed" and that it would eventually be "Joseph Smith or the Sword!"
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- History of the Church 3;167; 3:162
- Correspondence, Orders, etc. pp. 57-9, 97-129
- Reed Peck manuscript, p. 80.
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230
| Joseph hinted that stealing the gentiles' supplies was acceptable.
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- History of the Church 3;167; 3:162
- Correspondence, Orders, etc. pp. 57-9, 97-129
- Reed Peck manuscript, p. 80.
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231
| David Patten's men looted and set fire to a store and some cabins in Gallatin.
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- History of the Church 3;167; 3:162
- Correspondence, Orders, etc. pp. 57-9, 97-129
- Reed Peck manuscript, p. 80.
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232n
| Joseph "virtually admitted" that the Mormons were responsible for the looting and burning.
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- History of the Church 3:316, 378; John Whitmer, "History of the Church"
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232
| Sidney Rigdon threatened anyone who was planning to leave Far West.
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- Correspondence, Orders, etc. pp. 120-5, 134-6, 143.
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234
| Orson Hyde and Thomas B. Marsh admitted that the Mormons were "burning and pillaging."
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- Correspondence, Orders, etc. pp. 57-62, 76
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275
| When recounting his history, Joseph's "[d]ream images came easily to him and with such intense color and luxuriant detail that the matter of accuracy or chronology was of no importance."
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275
| Everything in Joseph's past was reinterpreted to "enhance the glory of the present."
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276
| The Book of Mormon was a "secret source of worry" to Joseph, and in response he published extracts from View of the Hebrews, Wonders of Nature, and other books that supported the Book of Mormon's story.
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276
| Joseph said regarding the Book of Mormon manuscript that he had "had trouble enough with this thing."
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- The Return 2:315 (Aug. 1890)
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276
| Joseph Smith claimed that the word "Mormon" meant "more good."
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- Times and Seasons 4:194 (May 15, 1843)
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279
| Much of the endowment ritual was borrowed from the Freemasons.
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280
| Joseph rose to the "sublime degree" of Masonry within one day.
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298
| The doctrine of polygamy was secretly taught but publicly denied.
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299
| Joseph is claimed to have published a pamphlet called "The Peace Maker" supporting plural marriage in 1842, but then later denounced it.
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- Udney Hay Jacob, "An Israelite, and a shepherd of Israel," An Extract from a Manuscript entitled The Peacemaker, or the Doctrines of the Millennium, being a treatise on religion and jurisprudence, or a new system of religion and politicks (Nauvoo, Illinois, 1842)
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299
| Paul taught that there were be no marriage in heaven, but Joseph taught that this would not apply to the Saints.
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300
| Joseph taught that more wives in heaven meant more blessings in heaven.
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302
| Joseph was sealed to women who were already married.
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306
| Martha Brotherton claimed that Brigham Young wanted her as a plural wife.
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- St. Louis Bulletin, July 15, 1842, p. 2
- Affidavits and Certificates Disproving the Statements and Affidavits Contained in John C. Bennett's Letters, August 31, 1842.
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334
| The number of women sealed to Joseph Smith may have exceeded fifty. |
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336
| At least twelve of the women sealed to Joseph were already married with living husbands. |
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338
| "Most" of Joseph wives were married to him for time and eternity. |
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340
| Emma selected the Partridge sisters and the Lawrence sisters are plural wives for Joseph. |
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342
| Emma burned the revelation on plural marriage.
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| 343 | Joseph said that he would have Emma as his wife in the hereafter even if he had to "go to hell" for her. | |
- B. Young, Journal of Discourses 17:159
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345
| There is "some evidence that Fannie Alger bore Joseph a child in Kirtland." |
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345
| Prescindia Huntington Buell's son Oliver may have been Joseph's son. |
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345
| "Legend" says that John Reed Hancock may have been Joseph's son. |
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345
| The son of Mary Rollins Lightner "may as easily have been the prophet's son as that of Adam Lightner." |
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345
| Mrs. Orson Hyde's sons Orson and Frank "could have been Joseph's sons." |
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345
| Mrs. Parley P. Pratt's son Moroni "might also be added to this list." |
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345-346
| "According to tradition," Emma beat Eliza Snow with a broomstick and caused her to fall down the stairs, resulting in a miscarriage. |
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346
| "It is astonishing that evidence of other children than these has never come to light." |
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346
| Jedediah Grant "excused" Joseph's marriages to married women by stating that it was a way to "try the people of God to see what was in them." | |
- Journal of Discourses 2:14
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346
| Perhaps Joseph "learned some primitive method of birth control" or took advantage of items such as "Portuguese Female Pills" to produce miscarriage. |
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353
| Hyrum Smith claimed to receive a revelation that the Democratic candidate was to receive the Mormon vote.
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354
| Joseph said that God was his "right hand man."
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- History of the Church 6:71-78
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355-356
| Joseph "had become a law unto himself" and totally disregarded Illinois state law.
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356
| A council of fifty "princes" was formed to be the "highest court on earth."
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356
| The Council of Fifty ordained and crowned Joseph as "King of the Kingdom of God."
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- William Marks, Zion's Harbinger and Baneemy's Organ, Vol. 3 (July 1853) p. 52.
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364
| Joseph's presidential candidacy included a proposal to free the slaves, "in a complete reversal of his earlier stand."
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365
| The Book of Abraham contained "anti-Negro sentiments."
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365
| The Negro is denied a place in the Mormon priesthood (as of 1971 printing).
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368
| Joseph threatened to excommunicate wealthy converts who came to Nauvoo and purchased land without his consent.
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- History of the Church 5:272-273
- History of the Church 6:164-165
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368
| William Law thought that Joseph was diverting funds donated for the Nauvoo House to purchasing land to re-sell to converts.
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370
| Joseph said that Hell was "an agreeable place."
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- Nauvoo Expositor, June 7, 1844
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370
| Joseph threatened to "blow up the steamboats that did not pay" wharfage fees.
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- History of the Church 6:234, 238
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373
| All references to plural marriage in Joseph's journals were disguised.
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- History of the Church 6:409
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374
| Joseph boasted that he was the only one who had kept a while church together since the days of Adam and that "no man ever did such a work as I."
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- History of the Church 6:408-412
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376
| Joseph admitted to William Marks that he had been "deceived" by the "spiritual wife-system," and that he would "rid the church" of the practice.
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- William Marks, Zion's Harbinger and Baneemy's Organ Vol. 3 (July 1853), pp. 52-53.
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377
| Joseph claimed that the revelation on polygamy concerned "former days, and had no reference to the present time."
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- Nauvoo Neighbor, June 19, 1844, Nauvoo City Council minutes; History of the Church 6:441
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377
| The destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor was a violation of the Constitution.
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381
| Joseph blessed his son Joseph III to be his successor as president of the Church.
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- Zion's Ensign, Vol. 12, No. 29, p. 5
- Temple Lot Case, pp. 28, 180.
- Lyman Wight, letter to the Northern Islander, Reprinted in Saints Advocate, vol 7 (September 1884).
- John D. Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, p. 155.
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392
| Joseph sent for some wine while in Carthage Jail and "all except Hyrum sipped a little."
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- History of the Church 7:101
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394
| Joseph may have given the Masonic signal of distress as he leaped to the window.
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- Zina Huntington Jacobs, Latter-Day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 698.
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405
| Joseph was lazy. [ATTENTION!]
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CHECK SOURCE(S)
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