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Joseph Smith's trustworthiness

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• Question: Was the young Joseph Smith a teller of "tall tales"
• Question: Was Joseph Smith, Jr. known as a "disreputable person"
• Question: Do Joseph Smith's personality and temperament indicate that he was not a true prophet of God
• Question: Did Joseph Smith engage in "land speculation" in Nauvoo
• Question: Did Joseph Smith really tell Orrin Porter Rockwell 'it was right to steal'
• Question: Did B.H. Roberts state that it was possible for Joseph Smith to have come up with the Book of Mormon on his own
• Stephen H. Webb: "Evidence That Demands Our Amazement... Joseph Smith was a remarkable person"
• Brigham Young (1855): "he was an honorable man and dealt justly, we know his true character. But let his enemies give his character, and they will make him out one of the basest men that ever lived."
• B.H. Roberts: "Joseph Smith was a man of like passions with other men; struggling with the same weaknesses; subjected to the same temptations"
• Joseph Smith: "I frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature"
• Joseph Smith (1834): "during this time, as is common to most, or all youths, I fell into many vices and follies"
• Walker: In 1819 "Under New York law, being just thirteen, Joseph's testimony about the work he had performed was admissible only after the court found him competent"

Question: Was the young Joseph Smith a teller of "tall tales"?

Jump to details:

• Question: Was the young Joseph Smith a teller of "tall tales"?
• The Prophet's mother's account of her son telling "amusing recitals" about the ancient inhabitants of the American continent occurred during the years that Joseph was being prepared to receive the plates
• Lucy Mack Smith: "From this time forth Joseph continued to receive instructions from time to time and every evening we gathered our children"

Question: Was Joseph Smith, Jr. known as a "disreputable person"?

Jump to details:

• Question: Was Joseph Smith, Jr. known as a "disreputable person?"
• Joseph was only seen as lacking character in the opinion of those that misunderstood him and opposed his efforts in restoring the Church

Question: Do Joseph Smith's personality and temperament indicate that he was not a true prophet of God?

Jump to details:

• Question: Do Joseph Smith's personality and temperament indicate that he was not a true prophet of God?
• Although we cannot fully detach the man from the message, we should remember that Joseph Smith was a man as well as a prophet

Question: Did Joseph Smith engage in "land speculation" in Nauvoo?

Jump to details:

• Question: Did Joseph Smith engage in "land speculation" in Nauvoo?
• Those that made this accusation against Joseph Smith had their profits harmed by Joseph's policy of giving land to the poor

Question: Did Joseph Smith really tell Orrin Porter Rockwell 'it was right to steal'?

Jump to details:

• Question: Did Joseph Smith really tell Orrin Porter Rockwell 'it was right to steal'?
• The only evidence for this statement is a fourth-hand claim made by a convicted fifteen-year-old thief attempting to justify himself
• Quinn's use of the source is incorrect, and his lumping of a later journal entry with it creates a false impression
• Background: identifying the participants
• Evaluating the claim
• Next remark: wishing the boy well?

Question: Did B.H. Roberts state that it was possible for Joseph Smith to have come up with the Book of Mormon on his own?

Jump to details:

• Question: Did B.H. Roberts state that it was possible for Joseph Smith to have come up with the Book of Mormon on his own?
• B.H. Roberts was a believer in the divine origin of the Book of Mormon, and talked of young Joseph Smith as he sat up late detailing to the family the wonderful conversations he had with the angel

Stephen H. Webb: "Evidence That Demands Our Amazement... Joseph Smith was a remarkable person"

Non-LDS Christian Stephen H. Webb wrote:^[1]

By any measurement, Joseph Smith was a remarkable person. His combination of organizational acumen with spiritual originality and personal decorum and modesty is rare in the history of religion. He was so steadfast in his ability to inspire men and women through times of great hardship that none of those who knew him could claim to fully understand him. He knew more about theology and philosophy than it was reasonable for anyone in his position to know, as if he were dipping into the deep, collective unconsciousness of Christianity with a very long pen. He read the Bible in ways so novel that he can be considered a theological innocent—he expanded and revised the biblical narrative without questioning its authority—yet he brusquely overturned ancient and impregnable metaphysical assumptions with the aplomb of an assistant professor. For someone so charismatic, he was exceptionally humble, even ordinary, and he delegated authority with the wisdom of a man looking far into the future for the well-being of his followers. It would be tempting to compare him to Mohammed—who also combined pragmatic political skill and a genius for religious innovation—if he were not so deeply Christian. [Title is Webb's.]^[2]:95

Brigham Young (1855): "he was an honorable man and dealt justly, we know his true character. But let his enemies give his character, and they will make him out one of the basest men that ever lived."

Brigham Young:

The history of Joseph and Mary is given to us by their best friends, and precisely as we will give the history of the Prophet Joseph. We know him to have been a good man, we know that he performed his mission, we know that he was an honorable man and dealt justly, we know his true character. But let his enemies give his character, and they will make him out one of the basest men that ever lived. Let the enemies of Joseph and Mary give their characters to us, and you would be strongly tempted to believe as the Jews believe. Let the enemies of Jesus give his character to us, and, in the absence of the testimony of his friends, I do not know but that the present Christian world would all be Jews, so far as their belief that Jesus Christ was an impostor and one of the most degraded men that ever lived.^[3]

B.H. Roberts: "Joseph Smith was a man of like passions with other men; struggling with the same weaknesses; subjected to the same temptations"

B.H. Roberts:

[Joseph Smith] claimed for himself no special sanctity, no faultless life, no perfection of character, no inerrancy for every word spoken by him. And as he did not claim these things for himself, so can they not be claimed for him by others; for to claim perfection for him, or even unusual sanctity, would be to repudiate the revelations themselves which supply the evidence of his imperfections, whereof, in them, he is frequently reproved.

Joseph Smith was a man of like passions with other men; struggling with the same weaknesses; subjected to the same temptations; under the same moral law, and humiliated at times, like others, by occasionally, in word and conduct, falling below the high ideals presented in the perfect life and faultless character of the Man of Nazareth.

But though a man of like passions with other men, yet to Joseph Smith was given access to the mind of Deity, through the revelations of God to him; and likewise to him was given a divine authority to declare that mind of God to the world.^[4]

Joseph Smith: "I frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature"

Joseph was open and direct about his weaknesses, saying to his accusers:

Being of very tender years, and persecuted by those who ought to have been my friends... I was left to all kinds of temptations; and mingling with all kinds of society, I frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature; which, I am sorry to say, led me into divers temptations, offensive in the sight of God. In making this confession, no one need suppose me guilty of any great or malignant sins. A disposition to commit such was never in my nature. But I was guilty of levity, and sometimes associated with jovial company, etc., not consistent with that character which ought to be maintained by one who was called of God as I had been. But this will not seem very strange to any one who recollects my youth, and is acquainted with my native cheery temperament.^[5]

Joseph Smith (1834): "during this time, as is common to most, or all youths, I fell into many vices and follies"

Joseph Smith:

...during this time, as is common to most, or all youths, I fell into many vices and follies; but as my accusers are, and have been forward to accuse me of being guilty of gross and outrageous violations of the peace and good order of the community, I take the occasion to remark that, though as I have said above, 'as is common to most, or all youths, I fell into many vices and follies,' I have not, neither can it be sustained, in truth, been guilty of wronging or injuring any man or society of men; and those imperfections to which I allude, and for which I have often had occasion to lament, were a light, and too often, vain mind, exhibiting a foolish and trifling conversation. This being all, and the worst, that my accusers can substantiate against my moral character, I wish to add that it is not without a deep feeling of regret that I am thus called upon in answer to my own conscience, to fulfil a duty I owe to myself, as well as to the cause of truth, in making this public confession of my former uncircumspect walk, and trifling conversation and more particularly, as I often acted in violation of those holy precepts which I knew came from God. But as the 'Articles and Covenants,' of this Church are plain upon this particular point, I do not deem it important to proceed further. I only add, that I do not, nor never have, pretended to be any other than a man 'subject to passion,' and liable, without the assisting grace of the Savior, to deviate from that perfect path in which all men are commanded to walk.^[6]

Walker: In 1819 "Under New York law, being just thirteen, Joseph's testimony about the work he had performed was admissible only after the court found him competent"

In 1819, a year prior to the First Vision, Joseph Smith was thirteen years old. His family sued a neighboring farmer over a dispute regarding some horses they had purchased. One author explained that Joseph's use as a witness indicates that the trial judge and jury found him both trustworthy and competent to give evidence:

Under New York law, being just thirteen, Joseph's testimony about the work he had performed was admissible only after the court found him competent. His testimony proved credible and the court record indicates that every item that he testified about was included in the damages awarded to the Smiths. Although Hurlbut [the farmer they were suing] appealed the case, no records have survived noting the final disposition of that case; perhaps it was settled out of court. The significance of this case is not limited to the fact that a New York judge found the young Joseph, just a year prior to his First Vision, to be competent and credible as a witness....

The trial was held on February 6, 1819. Twelve jurors were impaneled, all men and property owners. The Smiths called five witnesses, Hurlbut seven. Both Joseph Jr. and Hyrum were called to testify. This appears to be young Joseph's first direct interaction with the judicial process. He had turned thirteen years old a month and a half previously. New York law and local practice permitted the use of child testimony, subject to the court's discretion to determine the witness' competency. The test for competency required a determination that the witness was of 'sound mind and memory.' A New York 1803 summary of the law for justices of the peace notes that 'all persons of sound mind and memory, and who have arrived at years of discretion, except such as are legally interested, or have been rendered infamous, may be improved as witnesses.' This determination of competency rested within the discretion of the judge....

From the record it appears that Judge Spear found Joseph Jr. competent, and he indeed did testify during the trial. This is evident in a review of the List of Services that was part of the court file. Joseph Jr.'s testimony would have been required to admit those services he personally performed. His testimony was certainly combined with Hyrum's. Hyrum was born February 11, 1800, and was therefore nineteen years old at the time this case was tried.^[7]