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Mormonism and Wikipedia/Joseph Smith, Jr./Legacy
An analysis of Wikipedia article "Joseph Smith"
| Distinctive views and teachings | A FairMormon Analysis of Wikipedia: "Joseph Smith" A work by a collaboration of authors (Link to Wikipedia article here)
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Reviews of previous revisions of this section
19 May 2009
Summary: A review of this section as it appeared in Wikipedia on 19 May 2009.Section review Updated 9/3/2011
Impact
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Smith played a role in provoking an 1838 outbreak of violence in Missouri that resulted in the expulsion of the Saints from that state.Author's sources:
- Bushman (2005) , pp. 345, 357, 365–367; Brodie (1971) , pp. 225–27; Remini (2002) , pp. 133–34; Quinn (1994) , pp. 96–97.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
He was twice imprisoned for alleged treason,Author's sources:
- Bushman (2005) , pp. 369, 547; Brodie (1971) , pp. 223, 248, 388.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
the second time falling victim to angry militiamen who stormed the jail.Author's sources:
- Bushman (2005) , p. 550.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Smith continues to be criticized by evangelical Christians who argue that he was either a liar or lunatic.Author's sources:
- Richard J. Mouw, The Possibility of Joseph Smith: Some Evangelical Probings in Neilson (Givens) at 189.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Despite the controversy Smith aroused, he attracted thousands of devoted followers before his death in 1844Author's sources:
- Brodie (1971) , p. 380.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
and millions within a century.Author's sources:
- Brodie (1971) , p. 15.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
He is widely seen as one of the most charismatic and religiously most inventive figures of American history.Author's sources:
- Bloom (1992) , pp. 96–99 (Smith "surpassed all Americans, before or since, in the possession and expression of what could be called the religion-making imagination," and had charisma "to a degree unsurpassed in American history".); Abanes (2003) , p. 7 (noting that even Smith's harshest critics acknowledge his inventive genius); Persuitte (2000) , p. 1 (calling Smith "one of the most controversial and enigmatic figures ever to appear in American history").
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
These followers regard Smith as a prophet and apostle of at least the stature of Moses, Elijah, Peter and Paul.Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
- Correct, per cited sources
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Indeed, because of his perceived role in restoring the true faith prior to the Millennium, and because he was the "choice seer" who would bring the lost Israelites to their salvation,Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
- Correct, per cited sources
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
modern Mormons regard Smith as second in importance only to Jesus.Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
- For a detailed response, see: Joseph Smith/Status in LDS belief
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
During his lifetime, Smith's role in the Latter Day Saint religion was comparable to that of Muhammad in early Islam.Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
- For a detailed response, see: Joseph Smith/Status in LDS belief
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
After his death, the Saints believed he had died to seal the testimony of his faith and considered him a martyr.Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
- For a detailed response, see: Joseph Smith/Martyrdom
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
His theological importance within the Latter Day Saint movement then only increased.Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
- For a detailed response, see: Joseph Smith/Status in LDS belief
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Mormon leaders began teaching that Smith was already among the gods,Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
- For a detailed response, see: Joseph Smith/Status in LDS belief
- For an analysis of Richard Abanes's critical work, see A FAIR Analysis of One Nation Under Gods.
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
and some considered Smith to be an incarnation of the Holy Spirit,Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
- For a detailed response, see: Joseph Smith/Office of the Holy Ghost
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
a doctrine now taught by Mormon fundamentalists.Author's sources:
- Widmer 2000 98
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Of all Smith's visions, Saints gradually came to regard his First Vision as the most importantAuthor's sources:
- Smith (Mulholland) , p. 3. This vision was generally unknown to early Latter Day Saints. See Bushman (2005) , p. 39 (story was unknown to most early converts); Allen (1966) , p. 30 (the first vision received only limited circulation in the 1830s). However, the vision story gained increasing theological importance within the Latter Day Saint movement beginning roughly a half century later. See Shipps (1985) , pp. 30–32; Allen (1966) , pp. 43–69; Quinn (1998) , p. 176 ("Smith's first vision became a missionary tool for his followers only after Americans grew to regard modern visions of God as unusual.").
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
because it inaugurated his prophetic calling and character.Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
- For a detailed response, see: Joseph Smith's First Vision
Religious denominations
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Smith's death resulted in further schism.Author's sources:
- Quinn (1994) , p. 143; Brodie (1971) , p. 398.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Smith had proposed several ways to choose his successor,Author's sources:
- Quinn (1994) , p. 143 ("He proposed more than one way for a member of the First Presidency to succeed him, left the relative priority of the founding quorums in an ambiguous balance, performed secret ordinations, and suggested more than one method by which a brother or son might succeed him."); Shipps (1985) , pp. 83–84 (discussing several of the succession options).
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
but while a prisoner in Carthage, it was too late to clarify his preference.Author's sources:
- Quinn (1994) , p. 143.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Smith's brother Hyrum, had he survived, would have had the strongest claim,Author's sources:
- Quinn (1994) , p. 213 (after Smith was crowned king, Hyrum referred to himself as "President of the Church"), and Brigham Young agreed Hyrum would have been the natural successor.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
followed by Joseph's brother Samuel, who died mysteriously a month after his brothers.Author's sources:
- Quinn (1994) , pp. 152–54, 213; Bushman (2005) , p. 555.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Another brother, William, was unable to attract a sufficient following.Author's sources:
- Quinn (1994) , pp. 213–26; Bushman (2005) , p. 555 (William Smith "made a bid for the Church presidency, but his unstable character kept him from being a serious contender".).
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Smith's sons Joseph III and David also had claims, but Joseph III was too young and David was yet unborn.Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
- Regarding the possibility of Joseph's sons succeeding him, Brigham said,
What of Joseph Smith's family? What of his boys? I have prayed from the beginning for sister Emma and for the whole family. There is not a man in this Church that has entertained better feelings towards them. Joseph said to me, "God will take care of my children when I am taken." They are in the hands of God, and when they make their appearance before this people, full of his power, there are none but what will say—"Amen! we are ready to receive you."
The brethren testify that brother Brigham is brother Joseph's legal successor. You never heard me say so. I say that I am a good hand to keep the dogs and wolves out of the flock. I do not care a groat who rises up. I do not think anything about being Joseph's successor.Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 8:69.
- Brigham's comment "we are ready to receive you" applied to all of Joseph's children, not just Joseph Smith III.
- Ostlings, Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (p. 42) state: "There is historical evidence that Joseph Smith blessed his son, Joseph III, with the intention that the boy would become his successor, but the boy was only eleven when his father was murdered." The endnotes, however, do not provide any supporting references for this claim.
- Brigham was quite adamant that Joseph Smith III would not lead the church:
Joseph Smith that now is living in the state of Illinois, the son of Joseph the Prophet, will never lead the Latter-day Saints: he may lead apostates.
Brigham Young Addresses, Given in SLC Bowery, 7 October 1863, HDC, Ms d 1234, Box 49 fd 11
- For a detailed response, see: Primary sources/Brigham Young/7 October 1863 and Succession in the Presidency of the Church
- For an analysis of Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling's critical work, see A FAIR Analysis of Mormon America: The Power and the Promise.
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
The Council of Fifty had a theoretical claim to succession, but it was a secret organization.Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
- For a detailed response, see: The Council of Fifty
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Some of Smith's ordained successors, such as Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, had left the church.Author's sources:
- Quinn (1994) , pp. 187–91.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
The two strongest succession candidates were Sidney Rigdon, the senior member of the First Presidency, and Brigham Young, senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve. Most of the Saints voted for Young,Author's sources:
- Bushman (2005) , pp. 556–57.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
who led his faction to the Utah Territory and incorporated The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose membership surpassed 13 million members in 2007.Author's sources:
- Desert News "Addressing the New Mission Presidents Seminar on June 24, President Hinckley announced that Church membership had reached 13 million." See also: Watson, F. Michael, (2008), Statistical Report, 2007 http://www.lds.org off-site Total Membership: 13,193,999
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Rigdon's followers are known as Rigdonites.Author's sources:
- Bushman (2005) , pp. 557. The largest existing Rigdonitechurch is the Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite).
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Most of Smith's family and several Book of Mormon witnesses temporarily followed James J. Strang,Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
- For a detailed response, see: James Strang
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
who based his claim on a forged letter of appointment,Author's sources:
- Quinn (1994) , p. 210; Bushman (2005) , p. 555.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
but Strang's following largely dissipated after his assassination in 1856.Author's sources:
- Quinn (1994) , p. 211; Bushman (2005) , p. 556 (Strang followed Smith's example of producing revelations with a seer stone, saying an angel had ordained him, translating scripture from buried plates, having himself crowned as theocratic king, and practicing polygamy).
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Other Saints followed Lyman WightAuthor's sources:
- Quinn (1994) , pp. 198–203.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
and Alpheus Cutler.Author's sources:
- Quinn (1994) , pp. 203–09.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Many members of these smaller groups, including most of Smith's family, eventually coalesced in 1860 under the leadership of Joseph Smith III and formed what was known for more than a century as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now Community of Christ), which now has about 250,000 members. Template:As of, adherents of the denominations originating from Joseph Smith's teachings number approximately 14 million.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
In addition to churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, Smith is also accepted as a prophet by adherents of the Raëlian Church.Author's sources:
- Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 89.
FAIR's Response
Family and descendants
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Smith wed Emma Hale Smith in January 1827. She gave birth to seven children, the first three of whom (a boy Alvin in 1828 and twins Thaddeus and Louisa on 30 April 1831) died shortly after birth. When the twins died, the Smiths adopted twins, Julia and Joseph,Author's sources:
- Brodie (1971) , pp. 110–11.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
whose mother had recently died in childbirth. (Joseph died of measles in 1832.)Author's sources:
- The adopted twins were born of Julia Clapp Murdock and John Murdock
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Joseph and Emma Smith had four sons who lived to maturity: Joseph Smith III (November 6, 1832), Frederick Granger Williams Smith (June 29, 1836), Alexander Hale Smith (June 2, 1838), and David Hyrum Smith (November 17, 1844, born after Joseph's death). As of 2011, DNA testing had provided no evidence that Smith had fathered any children by women other than Emma.Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
- For a detailed response, see: Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Children of polygamous marriages
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Throughout her life and on her deathbed, Emma Smith frequently denied that her husband had ever taken additional wives.Author's sources:
- Church History, 3: 355–356.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Emma claimed that the very first time she ever became aware of a polygamy revelation being attributed to Joseph by Mormons was when she read about it in Orson Pratt's booklet The Seer in 1853.Author's sources:
- Saints' Herald 65:1044–1045
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Emma campaigned publicly against polygamy and also authorized and was the main signatory of a petition in Summer 1842, with a thousand female signatures, denying that Joseph was connected with polygamy,Author's sources:
- Times and Seasons 3 [August 1, 1842]: 869
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
and as president of the Ladies' Relief Society, Emma authorized publishing a certificate in October 1842 denouncing polygamy and denying her husband as its creator or participant.Author's sources:
- Times and Seasons 3 [October 1, 1842]: 940. In March 1844, Emma said, "we raise our voices and hands against John C. Bennett's 'spiritual wife system', as a scheme of profligates to seduce women; and they that harp upon it, wish to make it popular for the convenience of their own cupidity; wherefore, while the marriage bed, undefiled is honorable, let polygamy, bigamy, fornication, adultery, and prostitution, be frowned out of the hearts of honest men to drop in the gulf of fallen nature". The document The Voice of Innocence from Nauvoo. signed by Emma Smith as President of the Ladies' Relief Society, was published within the article Virtue Will Triumph, Nauvoo Neighbor, March 20, 1844 (LDS History of the Church 6:236, 241) including on her deathbed where she stated "No such thing as polygamy, or spiritual wifery, was taught, publicly or privately, before my husband's death, that I have now, or ever had any knowledge of...He had no other wife but me; nor did he to my knowledge ever have". Church History3: 355–356
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Even when her sons Joseph III and Alexander presented her with specific written questions about polygamy, she continued to deny that their father had been a polygamist.Author's sources:
- Van Wagoner (1992) , pp. 113–115 As Fawn Brodie has written, this denial was "her revenge and solace for all her heartache and humiliation." (Brodie, 399) "This was her slap at all the sly young girls in the Mansion House who had looked first so worshipfully and then so knowingly at Joseph. She had given them the lie. Whatever formal ceremony he might have gone through, Joseph had never acknowledged one of them before the world." Newell and Avery wrote of "the paradox of Emma's position," quoting her friend and lawyer Judge George Edmunds who stated "that's just the hell of it! I can't account for it or reconcile her statements." Newell (Avery) , p. 308
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
After Smith's death, Emma Smith quickly became alienated from Brigham Young and the church leadership.Author's sources:
- Bushman (2005) , p. 554 ("Emma's alienation from the main body of the Church began almost immediately."); Brodie (1971) , p. 399 (Emma Smith "came to fear and despise" Young); Avery (Newell) , p. 82 (noting that Young later stated that "to my certain knowledge Emma Smith is one of the damndest liars I know of on this earth.").
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
Young, whom Emma feared and despised, was suspicious of her desire to preserve the family's assets from inclusion with those of the church,Author's sources:
- Bushman (2005) , p. 554.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
and thought she would be even more troublesome because she openly opposed plural marriage.Author's sources:
- Bushman (2005) , p. 554 ("Her known opposition to plural marriage made her doubly troublesome.").
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
When most Latter Day Saints moved west, she stayed in Nauvoo, married a non-Mormon, Major Lewis C. Bidamon,Author's sources:
- Bushman (2005) , pp. 554–55. Emma Smith married Major Lewis Bidamon, an "enterprising man who made good use of Emma's property." Although Bidamon sired an illegitimate child when he was 62 (whom Emma reared), "the couple showed genuine affection for each" Bushman (2005) , pp. 554–55.
FAIR's Response
The author(s) of the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith[1] make(s) the following claim:
and withdrew from religion until 1860, when she affiliated with what became the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now the Community of Christ), first headed by her son, Joseph Smith III. Emma never denied Joseph Smith's prophetic gift or repudiated her belief in the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
FAIR's Response
Notes
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.39 1.40 1.41 1.42 1.43 1.44 1.45 1.46 1.47 1.48 1.49 Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.