Prophet Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith, Jr., often referred
to as the Prophet Joseph Smith, was the founding prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
Joseph Smith: A Modern Witness of
Christ
In 1820, young Joseph Smith prayed to know
which church he should join. In answer to his prayer, God the Father and Jesus Christ
appeared to him. Through him they restored the truth about the plan of God. Joseph Smith
was a prophet and a powerful witness of Christ.
Visions
of Joseph Smith
The Prophet Joseph Smith had his first vision
at the age of fourteen while praying in a grove of trees in western New York (see First Vision). This was the first of a series of visions Joseph Smith received, many of which
were shared with other persons.
Teachings
of Joseph Smith The
revelations to Joseph Smith are clear, direct, and unequivocal, yet his teachings are
difficult to characterize or summarize, since they do not fit easily into traditional
theological categories, and they always presuppose that more can, and probably will, be
revealed by God.
Writings
of Joseph Smith
The Prophet Joseph Smith's writing career
began at age twenty-two when he commenced translation of the Book of Mormon. At his death seventeen years
later, in 1844, he had left a substantial archive for the study of his life and the church
he was instrumental in founding.
Joseph Smith Translation of the
Bible (JST)
Joseph Smith made a "new translation" of the Bible,
using the text of the King James Version (KJV). This work differs from the KJV in at least 3,410 verses and consists of additions,
deletions, rearrangements, and other alterations that cause it to vary not only from the
KJV but from other biblical texts.
Legal
Trials of Joseph Smith Joseph Smith believed that his enemies
perverted legal processes, using them as tools of religious persecution against him, as
they had been used against many of Christ's apostles and other past martyrs.
Do Mormons
worship Joseph Smith? Latter-day Saints worship God the Eternal Father in the name
of Jesus Christ. They consider Joseph Smith
to be a Prophet of God and Apostle of Jesus Christ similar to those men mentioned in the
Bible like Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, and John.
Carthage Jail The old jail in the town of Carthage, Illinois, seat of Hancock
County, was the site of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith on June 27, 1844, by a mob
of approximately 150 men. Today it is a historical site of the Church and serves as a
memorial to prophets of God who suffered martyrs'
deaths."
Martyrdom
of Hyrum and Joseph Smith
The violent deaths of the Prophet Joseph Smith (age of
thirty-eight) and his brother Hyrum Smith (age forty-four), dramatically ended the founding period of the LDS Church. On June
27, 1844, they were mobbed and shot while confined at Carthage
Jail in Hancock County, in western Illinois.
The Wentworth Letter
John Wentworth, editor of the Chicago
Democrat, wrote Joseph Smith in 1842 to request information about the Church for a friend
who was writing a history of New Hampshire. The "Wentworth Letter," written
by the Prophet Joseph Smith in response to this inquiry, contains a brief
History of the Church to 1842, including the key events in the restoration of the
gospel.
King
Follett Discourse The Prophet Joseph Smith delivered the following
discourse before about twenty thousand Saints at the April conference of the Church, 1844,
being the funeral sermon of Elder King Follett. He discusses
a number of gospel subjects, including the being and kind of being God is and the
immortality of the Intelligence of man.
Civil
War Prophecy
On December 25, 1832, Joseph Smith prophesied that a war
would begin in South Carolina; that the southern states would divide against the northern
states; that the South would seek support from other nations, including Great Britain; and
that the war would lead to the death and misery of many souls.
