Category: Joseph Smith Jr.
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State of New York vs. Joseph Smith
By Jerald and Sandra Tanner In 1945 Fawn M. Brodie first published her book No Man Knows My History. In Appendix A of that work she included what she claimed was a “Record of the trial of Joseph Smith for disorderly conduct, Bainbridge, New York, March 20, 1826” (1971 edition, page 491). This document, which…
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Polygamy and Truth
From Its Inception to a United States Senate Investigation By Jerald and Sandra Tanner In his book, Joseph Smith—Seeker After Truth, 1951, page 324, Mormon Apostle John A. Widtsoe contended that “The record of Joseph’s life is one of honesty, He taught honesty in all affairs; he insisted that his people be honest; . . .” In…
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Magic in Mormonism
A wealth of research shows that Joseph Smith was involved in magic practices, not just as a dabbling fancy, but to the point of incorporating them into his prophetic pursuits.
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Falsifying History
By Jerald and Sandra Tanner We are very happy to report to our readers that all of Joseph Smith’s diaries are now available. A number of years ago we set out to publish Smith’s diaries. With the help of H. Michael Marquardt, who made the transcriptions from microfilms and photocopies, we were successful in printing…
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Joseph as a Prophet
An Important New Document Comes to Light By Jerald and Sandra Tanner The evidence we presented in another article in this issue of the Messenger shows that Joseph Smith failed as a translator. In this article we will show that the Mormon Church now faces a similar problem with regard to his role as a…
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The Changing World of Mormonism: Chapter 13
Changes in Joseph Smith’s History In 1838 Joseph Smith started writing the account of his life which is now published by the church. Smith began publishing this history in the Times and Seasons in 1842. It was published in installments, and therefore only part of the history appeared in print before Joseph Smith’s death. The church continued…
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The Changing World of Mormonism: Chapter 4
Joseph Smith and Money-Digging In the Salt Lake City Messenger for August, 1971, we announced one of the most important discoveries since Joseph Smith founded the Mormon church in 1830. This is the discovery by Wesley P. Walters of an original document which is more than 140 years old. This document, found in Norwich, New York, proves…
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The Changing World of Mormonism: Chapter 17
Joseph Smith The importance of Joseph Smith in Mormon theology cannot be overemphasized. Brigham Young, the church’s second president, boasted: Well, now, examine the character of the Savior, and examine the characters of those who have written the Old and New Testament; and then compare them with the character of Joseph Smith, the founder of this work…
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The Changing World of Mormonism: Chapter 14
False Prophecy Mormon writers state that Joseph Smith’s claim to be a prophet is established by the fulfillment of his prophecies. Actually, a careful examination of the evidence seems to prove just the opposite. The Canadian Revelation David Whitmer, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, tells of a false revelation that Joseph…
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Wesley P. Walters: “Money Digging in New York & Joseph Smith’s 1826 Trial”
Audio archive of a 1976 lecture by Rev. Wesley Walters, the man who first located the documents relating to Joseph Smith’s 1826 arrest for being a ‘glass looker.’ He also pioneered the research on Smith’s claim of a revival in Palmyra in 1820.