Joseph Smith
From Conservapedia
For other Joseph Smiths, see Joseph F. Smith or Joseph Fielding Smith.
Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805 - 1844) was the founder and 1st President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith was the first prophet, seer and revelator of the church. Joseph was born on December 23, 1805 in Sharon, Vermont.
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Visions
After reading James 1:5 (KJV), Joseph decided to ask God which church he should join. In the Spring of 1820, Joseph said he saw God and Jesus in a vision.[1] Joseph claimed to have been visited by an angel named Moroni from 1823 to 1827. According to Smith's account, Moroni showed Joseph where to find buried gold plates, and the plates contained the full gospel of Jesus Christ in "reformed Egyptian" (a language which few, if any non-Mormon, believes ever existed). Smith claimed to have translated these gold plates by the inspiration of God, and he published them in 1830 as the Book of Mormon.[2] It was later claimed that, on May 15, 1829, the resurrected John the Baptist appeared to Joseph and Oliver Cowdery and gave them the authority to baptize.[3] In 1829 the apostles Peter, James, and John gave them the authority to restore Christ's Church.[4]
Joseph Smith also worked on a revision of the King James Bible, known as the Inspired Version of the Bible. It was not published until after his death.
Imprisonment and Death
Smith had been imprisoned in Carthage, Illinois for destroying the printing press of the Nauvoo Expositor. The Expositor had denounced (in its only printed edition) "false doctrines" (for instance the "doctrines of many gods") and Smith had had the printing press burned in the street. In retaliation, an angry mob broke into the prison on June 27, 1844. In an attempt to defend himself (with a pistol which had been smuggled in to him), Smith shot and wounded three men. He was preparing to jump from the unbarred second floor window where he had been incarcerated, but was shot, causing him to fall injured to the ground below. Four men shot him to death on the ground. None was convicted. His brother Hyrum (who was also armed with a pistol) was shot in the face and killed during the same gun-battle. [5]
References
- ↑ The First Vision Mormon.org
- ↑ Translation of the Book of Mormon Mormon.org
- ↑ Authority to baptize Mormon.org
- ↑ Authority of Apostles Mormon.org
- ↑ Martyr for God JosephSmith.net
External Links
- JosephSmith.net - The official web site on Joseph Smith by the LDS Church.
- "Who was Joseph Smith?" - At Mormon.org
