https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=Wfn&feedformat=atom MormonWiki - User contributions [en] 2024-03-28T22:02:22Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.29.1 https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Translation_of_the_Book_of_Mormon&diff=4595 Translation of the Book of Mormon 2006-05-05T18:15:01Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>The exact process by which the [[Book of Mormon]] was translated is known only to [[Joseph Smith]]. He described it only as through the &quot;gift and power of God.&quot; He once said that &quot;it was not intended to tell the world all the particulars of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon&quot; (HC 1:220) and those particulars are unknown. However, from the accounts of others, including his wife, [[Emma Hale Smith]], [[Oliver Cowdery]], and [[Martin Harris]], all whom acted as scribe during the translation, it is possible to piece together some idea of the process.<br /> <br /> Joseph Smith first learned about the existence of [[The Golden Plates]] from the [[angel Moroni]] in 1823. For the next four years he was not allowed to obtain the plates although he visited the spot where they were buried yearly and met the angel. In 1827 he was sufficiently prepared to be entrusted with the golden plates. Buried with the plates were other artifacts, including the [[Urim and Thummim]], the device by which he began the translation. Joseph also possessed a [[Seer Stones|seer stone]] and both these instruments were used to translate.<br /> <br /> There are differing accounts of the method by which the translation took place, each of which may be correct, having used different methods at different times. One account describes Joseph attaching the breastplate of the Urim and Thummim and looking directly at the plates through the two stones set in a silver bow. The other widely recorded method tells of Joseph placing his seer stone in a hat and placing his face in the hat to block out all light. The plates were left covered when using this method. What Joseph saw through the interpreters or his seer stone is the speculation of his scribes and other acquaintances based on their conversations with him. Each scribe reported Joseph dictating one sentence at a time, spelling out words or names he did not know the pronunciation, then having them read back the sentence to confirm. This has led to the belief that Joseph actually saw English words, but whether they physically appeared or were visible only in his mind's eye is not known.<br /> <br /> Subsequent study of the Book of Mormon since its publishing and worldwide distribution has further piqued the curiosity of those who want to know those particulars of translation that Joseph Smith was not willing to divulge. The language of the Book of Mormon is one of the main points. It is written in the language of the King James Version of the [[Bible]]; the one Joseph read and was familiar with. This introduces the issue of how involved Joseph was in formulating the language. Were there only impressions that Joseph had to interpret, or did he merely repeat the specific words revealed to him, already in English? [[Mormon Church]] leaders and scholars have often stated that the Book of Mormon translation was not a mechanical process; it involved great mental and spiritual concentration on the part of Joseph Smith.<br /> <br /> At the completion of the translation, the golden plates were returned to the angel Moroni, in whose care they remain to this day. The resulting translation was published as the [[Book of Mormon]] in 1830. Since then it has been translated by linguists into 72 other languages and over 120 million copies have been distributed worldwide.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith - Home]<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 JS-H 1]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith - Lightplanet]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith: Biography and Much More From Answers.com]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith - bellsouth]<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human; Interview with Richard Lyman]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Teachings_of_Joseph_Smith&diff=4588 Teachings of Joseph Smith 2006-05-05T16:49:24Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>These are a few of the teachings and doctrines established by [[Joseph Smith]].<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;[[Atonement of Jesus Christ|Atonement of Christ]]&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning [[Jesus Christ]], that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are but appendages to it.&quot; (TPJS p.121)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;[[Godhead]]&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;[[Book of Mormon]]&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.&quot; (History of the Church, 4:461)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;[[Pre-Mortal Life|Premortal life]]&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.&quot; (Abraham 3:22-23)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;Eternal progression&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 130:18-19)<br /> <br /> &quot;And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.&quot; (Abraham 3:26)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;[[Mormon temple|Temple Worship]]&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 109:8)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;[[Celestial marriage|Eternal Marriage]]&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; And if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 131:1-4)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;[[Baptism for the Dead]]&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;All those who have not had an opportunity of hearing the Gospel, and being administered unto by an inspired man in the flesh, must have it hereafter, before they can be finally judged.&quot; (TPJS p.121)<br /> <br /> &quot;Thus came the voice of the Lord unto me, saying: All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 137:7)<br /> <br /> &quot;The earth will be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding link of some kind or other between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other--and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 128:18)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;[[Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial Kingdoms|Three Kingdoms of Glory]]&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 130:2)<br /> <br /> &quot;And thus we saw, in the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestial, which surpasses all understanding; And no man knows it except him to whom God has revealed it. And thus we saw the glory of the terrestrial which excels in all things the glory of the telestial, even in glory, and in power, and in might, and in dominion. And thus we saw the glory of the celestial, which excels in all things—where God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne forever and ever; Before whose throne all things bow in humble reverence, and give him glory forever and ever. They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace; And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 76:89-95)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;Age of Accountability&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents. For this shall be a law unto the inhabitants of Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized. And their children shall be baptized for the remission of their sins when eight years old, and receive the laying on of the hands.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 68:25-27)<br /> <br /> &quot;And I also beheld that all children who die before they arrive at the years of accountability are saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 137:10)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;[[Word of Wisdom]]&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 89:18-21)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;[[Zion]]&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.&quot; (Articles of Faith 1:10)<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith - Home]<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 JS-H 1]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith - Lightplanet]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith: Biography and Much More From Answers.com]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith - bellsouth]<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human; Interview with Richard Lyman]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Teachings_of_Joseph_Smith&diff=4587 Teachings of Joseph Smith 2006-05-05T16:34:20Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>These are a few of the teachings and doctrines established by Joseph Smith.<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;Atonement of Christ&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are but appendages to it.&quot; (TPJS p.121)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;Nature of God&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;Book of Mormon&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.&quot; (History of the Church, 4:461)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;Premortal life&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.&quot; (Abraham 3:22-23)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;Eternal progression&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 130:18-19)<br /> <br /> &quot;And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.&quot; (Abraham 3:26)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;Temple Worship&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 109:8)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;Eternal marriage&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; And if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 131:1-4)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;Salvation for the dead&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;All those who have not had an opportunity of hearing the Gospel, and being administered unto by an inspired man in the flesh, must have it hereafter, before they can be finally judged.&quot; (TPJS p.121)<br /> <br /> &quot;Thus came the voice of the Lord unto me, saying: All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 137:7)<br /> <br /> &quot;The earth will be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding link of some kind or other between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other--and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 128:18)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;Three Kingdoms of Glory&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 130:2)<br /> <br /> &quot;And thus we saw, in the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestial, which surpasses all understanding; And no man knows it except him to whom God has revealed it. And thus we saw the glory of the terrestrial which excels in all things the glory of the telestial, even in glory, and in power, and in might, and in dominion. And thus we saw the glory of the celestial, which excels in all things—where God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne forever and ever; Before whose throne all things bow in humble reverence, and give him glory forever and ever. They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace; And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 76:89-95)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;Age of Accountability&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents. For this shall be a law unto the inhabitants of Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized. And their children shall be baptized for the remission of their sins when eight years old, and receive the laying on of the hands.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 68:25-27)<br /> <br /> &quot;And I also beheld that all children who die before they arrive at the years of accountability are saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 137:10)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;Word of Wisdom&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them.&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 89:18-21)<br /> <br /> &lt;b&gt;Zion&lt;/b&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.&quot; (Articles of Faith 1:10)<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith - Home]<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 JS-H 1]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith - Lightplanet]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith: Biography and Much More From Answers.com]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith - bellsouth]<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human; Interview with Richard Lyman]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Urim_and_Thummim&diff=4586 Urim and Thummim 2006-05-04T22:01:12Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>The Urim and Thummim, in [[Mormonism]], refers to instruments used in receiving [[revelation]] and translating unknown tongues. [[Joseph Smith]] used a Urim and Thummim to translate [[The Golden Plates]] and receive revelations from the Lord. The term Urim and Thummim does not always refer to one specific instrument, and is many times the name given to different objects, but each accomplish the same purpose. The names in Hebrew mean &quot;lights and perfections.&quot; The plural nature of both words had led some Biblical scholars to believe that Urim and Thummim refer to the process of divination rather than an object, but the use of the word in Mormonism is singular and indicates a device through which revelation is received.<br /> <br /> Biblical references to the Urim and Thummim describe them as part of the ceremonial temple clothing attached to a breastplate. It was handed down through the generations starting with Aaron, but the [[Bible]] does not tell of their use in as much detail as [[Mormon Scripture]]. In the Book of Ether, two stones are given by the Lord for the purpose of translating the record made in an unknown language. This is the earliest mention of the Urim and Thummim chronologically, being at the time of the tower of Babel. The [[Book of Abraham]] tells of Abraham receiving a vision by means of the Urim and Thummim, although it would be a different device than the one [[Joseph Smith]] used. It is unknown whether the one used by Abraham was passed down to Aaron, but the Urim and Thummim of the [[Book of Mormon]] is the same one buried with [[The Golden Plates]], which Joseph Smith used for translation. The Urim and Thummim of the Book of Mormon is again mentioned in the days of Mosiah, when he used them to translate the plates of Ether. It is here that the Urim and Thummim is defined as being 'interpreters.' The Book of Mormon also tells that only one who is a seer is able to use the Urim and Thummim (Mosiah 8:13). Hiram Page is an example in Mormon History of someone attempting to use [[Seer Stones]] without the permission of the Lord (Doctrine and Covenants 28:11-12).<br /> <br /> When [[Joseph Smith]] was led to the place of [[The Golden Plates]] by the [[Angel Moroni]], the Urim and Thummim was buried with them. Joseph described it as two stones set in a silver bow and fastened to a breastplate. In [[Mormonism]] when the Urim and Thummim is referred to, it usually means this specific object. However, there are several references in [[Mormon Scripture]] to other objects which are called a Urim and Thummim. Joseph Smith had a seer stone in addition to the device buried with the plates and used it for much of the translation of the [[Book of Mormon]]. This seer stone has also been called a Urim and Thummim in [[Mormon History]]. One of the revelations of Joseph Smith describes the dwelling place of God as a Urim and Thummim. That same revelation describes the earth as becoming a Urim and Thummim to all those who live upon it when it is sanctified after the [[Last Judgment]], and a white stone (Revelation 2:17) will be given to the faithful which will function as a Urim and Thummim to each individual that receives it.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith - Home]<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 JS-H 1]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith - Lightplanet]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith: Biography and Much More From Answers.com]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith - bellsouth]<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human; Interview with Richard Lyman]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=The_Golden_Plates&diff=4585 The Golden Plates 2006-05-03T21:33:38Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>The Golden Plates are the name of the record that [[Joseph Smith]] was given by an angel and translated into the [[Book of Mormon]]. The [[First Vision]] that Joseph Smith experienced was in 1820 where he saw God the Father and [[Jesus Christ]]. A few years later he received a vision of an angel that told him of the ancient record. Joseph was shown the location of the golden plates in this vision. After four annual visits from the [[Angel Moroni]], Joseph Smith was entrusted with the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim]] for the purpose of translation. <br /> <br /> The golden plates were described by [[Joseph Smith]] as sheets of metal six inches wide and eight inches tall, bound by three rings making a book six inches thick. Joseph did not show the golden plates to anyone until the translation was completed, although many people, including friends and family, handled the plates through the cloth in which he kept them concealed. Soon after he got the plates, rumors of their existence spread throughout the area. Attempts were made to steal the golden plates but Joseph kept them well hidden. <br /> <br /> The Golden Plates were taken from [[Joseph Smith]] for a time when [[Martin Harris]], who was working as scribe, lost the first [[116 pages]] of the translation while keeping them at his home to show his wife. The angel took the plates and the [[Urim and Thummim]] until Joseph repented for his carelessness. When Joseph got them back Martin Harris was no longer allowed to serve as scribe. The translation was completed with [[Oliver Cowdery]] as scribe, at which time the golden plates were delivered back to the angel. Since that time many people have spoke concerning the location of the golden plates. The explanation most accepted is that they are in the possession of God. <br /> <br /> After the translation was completed, there were several witnesses appointed to testify of the truthfulness of the [[Book of Mormon]]. Three witnesses were shown the plates by the angel. Eight more witnesses were shown the plates by [[Joseph Smith]], and allowed to touch and examine them. Each of the witnesses swore to the authenticity of the [[Book of Mormon]] and never recanted their testimony as long as they lived. Their testimony is printed in every copy of the [[Book of Mormon]].<br /> <br /> The plates from which Joseph translated the [[Book of Mormon]] are called the gold plates and the golden plates interchangeably because it is unknown exactly what they were composed of. (The term '[[Golden Bible]]' is also used with a negative connotation.) Criticism is aimed at Joseph Smith's claims because of what appear to be historical contradictions if the plates were indeed made out of pure gold. Joseph Smith's written account mentions &quot;gold plates,&quot; but others only said they &quot;had the appearance of gold.&quot; Either way, the golden plates remain a curiosity of the [[Mormon religion]] and a symbol of the miraculous workings of the Lord.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith - Home]<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 JS-H 1]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith - Lightplanet]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith: Biography and Much More From Answers.com]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith - bellsouth]<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human; Interview with Richard Lyman]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Liberty_Jail&diff=4582 Liberty Jail 2006-05-03T20:09:56Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>In October of 1838, anti-Mormon mobs and militia laid siege to the Mormon settlement of [[Far West]], Missouri. After three days, the leaders of the Church were told that the leader of the militia would like to discuss a peace agreement, but instead he arrested the leaders. <br /> <br /> The leaders were held in Richmond for two weeks while a trial was held. The trial was unfair: witnesses against the Church leaders lied and exaggerated and the judge had decided before the trial even began that the men would be sent to jail. After the trial, however, some of the men were released. <br /> <br /> On November 30, 1838, [[Joseph Smith]], Hyrum Smith, [[Sidney Rigdon]], Lyman Wight, Alexander McRae, and Caleb Baldwin were taken to Liberty Jail to await another trial. They had been charged with treason against the state of Missouri, an exaggerated and unjust charge. <br /> <br /> Liberty jail was more like a dungeon. It was twenty-two feet square and had two levels, both of which were below ground. A hole in the floor of the top level was the only way to get to the lower level. The only way out of the jail was through a trap door in the ceiling. The ceilings on both levels were so low that two of the men who were confined there were never able to stand up straight. There were “inner and outer walls which, combined, were four feet thick. Loose rocks were placed between the walls to thwart any attempt at burrowing through” (Neal A. Maxwell, “A Choice Seer,” Ensign, Aug. 1986, 6). The men were forced to stay in Liberty Jail for four months during a bitterly cold winter. There were narrow openings that provided the only light in the prison. Unfortunately these openings also let in the cold. Conditions were horrible. They were often fed rotten or poisoned food that would make them sick. Along with all these awful conditions, Joseph was also discouraged and worried about the Saints because they were being forced from their homes and treated unjustly (see [[Mormon History]]: [[Missouri Period]]. <br /> <br /> The time in Liberty Jail, however, was not completely bad. The jail has been nicknamed the “Temple Jail,” because Joseph Smith received so many important revelations and had time to reflect on gospel principles while incarcerated in Liberty Jail. Joseph Smith received the revelations found in D&amp;C 121, 122, and 123 while imprisoned at Liberty. At one point, Joseph pled with the Lord:<br /> :O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place? How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries? ... Remember thy suffering saints, O our God; and thy servants will rejoice in thy name forever ([http://scriptures.lds.org/dc/121/1-6 D&amp;C 121:1-2, 6]).<br /> To this cry, the Lord responded:<br /> :My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.... Cursed are all those that shall lift up the heel against mine anointed, saith the Lord, and cry they have sinned when they have not sinned before me, saith the Lord, but have done that which was meet in mine eyes, and which I commanded them ([http://scriptures.lds.org/dc/121/7-8,16 D&amp;C 121:7-8, 16]).<br /> <br /> In February, Sidney Rigdon was let free because he became very ill. But the others remained in Liberty Jail. Finally, in April of 1839, the prisoners were taken out of Liberty Jail to be taken to Gallatin, Missouri for a hearing. After the hearing the men were then told that they would be taken to a jail in Boone County. The men guarding the prisoners knew that they were neither criminals nor bad men and allowed them to escape. <br /> <br /> Liberty Jail has been restored by the Mormon Church and is open to the public for tours. There is also artwork and exhibits to see while visiting Liberty Jail. For more information: [http://www.lds.org/placestovisit/location/0,10634,1811-1-1-2,00.html www.lds.org]<br /> <br /> '''Other Links:'''<br /> * [http://www.ldspro.com/ldsgetaway/docs/ft/030407liberty.asp LDSGetaways]<br /> * [http://www.wacotrib.com/travel/content/shared/tx/driving35/stories/1121_s1.html Spiritual Liberty: Missouri jail site of Mormon leader's incarceration]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith - Home]<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 JS-H 1]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith - Lightplanet]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith: Biography and Much More From Answers.com]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith - bellsouth]<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human; Interview with Richard Lyman]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Sacred_Grove&diff=4581 Sacred Grove 2006-05-03T20:03:13Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>The family of [[Joseph Smith]], Jr., the [[Mormon prophet|Prophet]], who founded the [[Mormon Church]], moved to Palmyra, New York with his family in 1818. They built a log home two miles south of the village so that they could be close to a 100-acre tract of land that they were in the process of purchasing. The owner of the property allowed them to begin clearing the land before they had signed the contract. By 1825 they had cleared sixty acres of the land. This sixty acres became fields, meadows, a garden, an orchard, a place for a home, and other building lots. <br /> <br /> During the time, it was suggested that about 1/3 of a families property be left with timber on it. About 25 acres were left on the eastern part of the property. Many of the trees were red and white oak. Another 15 acres on the west side of the farm was left as a forest. Most of the trees in this forest were maple trees that the family used to make sugar. Each year they were able to make an average of 1,000 pounds of sugar. <br /> <br /> The family used the timber for heat and cooking, they also gather fruits and nuts from the trees on the land. This was not the only service the forests on the Smith’s land provided a place for spiritual development. There was one specific spot in the woods where the family often went to hold prayer or where individuals went to pray in secret. <br /> <br /> As a young boy Joseph was concerned about religion, but all of his studying and attending meetings did not satisfy him. So he decided to pray about it. On a Sunday morning in 1820 he went to a quiet place in the forest. While there he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, who answered his questions about religion. The exact place where he went is not known. Joseph Smith did not give exact locations of holy experiences out of respect. According to those in the area who had been associated with the Smith family, the [[First Vision]] occurred in the woods on the western part of the farm. <br /> <br /> In 1860, Seth T. Chapman, purchased the Smith farm and said that he would never cut down the trees on the west end of the farm because Joseph had said this was the area where the first vision had occurred. <br /> <br /> The Mormon Church now owns ten acres of this wooded land. Many of the trees in the area are over 250 years old. The Church has been cleaning and trying to preserve the area. It was once nearly gone because of disease and pollution. It is now healthy and very well cared for. The Church wants to maintain it as a quiet place for contemplation. It is near to the historical home of the Smith family and not far from the hill where the plates were buried, which is now the site of the annual [[Hill Cumorah Pageant]].<br /> <br /> For information about visiting the Sacred Grove see the [http://www.lds.org/placestovisit/location/0,10634,1828-1-1-2,00.html official Church Website].<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith - Home]<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 JS-H 1]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith - Lightplanet]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith: Biography and Much More From Answers.com]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith - bellsouth]<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human; Interview with Richard Lyman]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Cumorah&diff=4566 Cumorah 2006-05-02T19:33:19Z <p>Wfn: /* External Links */</p> <hr /> <div>[[Image:Cumorah.jpg|frame|The Hill Cumorah in Palmyra, New York]]Cumorah, more commonly known among Mormons as the [http://www.hillcumorah.org/cumorah.asp ''Hill Cumorah''], is the name given to a hill four miles south of Palmyra, New York. It was in this hill, in roughly the year A.D. 421, that the prophet/historian [[Angel Moroni|Moroni]] deposited a record, engraved upon golden plates, he and his father Mormon had made. Fourteen hundred years later in 1827, that same Moroni directed young [[Joseph Smith]] to retrieve the record from the Hill Cumorah. Joseph did as directed and translated the plates into the [[Book of Mormon]].<br /> <br /> In addition to being a storehouse to the sacred record, the Hill Cumorah was somewhat of a school for young Joseph. During the years between Moroni's first visit to the prophet in 1823 and the time Joseph was allowed to take the plates in 1827, Joseph visited Cumorah. Each year, Moroni would meet Joseph and give him further knowledge and instruction.<br /> <br /> == Cumorah in the Book of Mormon ==<br /> In the [[Book of Mormon]], Cumorah was the name of a land and hill where the final battles of that book were fought. In A.D. 384 General [[Who is Mormon|Mormon]] (after whom the Book of Mormon was named) gathered all his people (known as the Nephites) to the land Cumorah. There, his armies and the armies of the enemy (known as [[Lamanites]]) clashed in war. At that tremendous battle, tens of thousands of Mormon's people were slain. After the battle, Mormon records that the enemy &quot;had gone through and hewn down all my people save it were twenty and four of us, (among whom was my son Moroni)&quot; (Mormon 6:11). From atop Cumorah, Mormon looked out over his fallen people and mourned their loss.<br /> <br /> Mormon, who was a prophet and historian as well as a general, was also the keeper of sacred records. Knowing that the battle at Cumorah would be the Nephites last stand, he hid up most of the sacred records in the hill Cumorah so that their enemies would not find and destroy them. The remainder of the records he entrusted to his son Moroni.<br /> <br /> Whether the ancient hill Cumorah and the modern Hill Cumorah are one and the same is of little consequence. Moroni may well have named the hill in modern-day New York Cumorah because of his connections with the other hill.<br /> <br /> == The Hill Cumorah Today ==<br /> <br /> In 1928 [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], or Mormon Church, purchased the Hill Cumorah and in 1935 erected a monument commemorating the visit of the [http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/basic/gospel/restoration/Moroni_Visitation_EOM.htm Angel Moroni]. The Church later built a [http://www.hillcumorah.org/VisitorCtr.asp visitors' center] at Cumorah's base. The visitors' center offers information not only about the Hill Cumorah, but about numerous other Mormon Church history sites in the area.<br /> <br /> Nearly every summer since 1935 the Mormon Church has sponsored a [[Hill Cumorah Pageant|free pageant]] at Cumorah entitled [http://www.hillcumorah.org/Pageant/Default.htm ''America's Witness for Christ'']. The pageant, which runs in July and has a cast of 650, is commonly referred to as the [http://www.hillcumorah.net Hill Cumorah Pageant] and draws around 100,000 visitors a year. The current pageant was written by renowned Mormon author Orson Scott Card based upon the Bible and the [[Book of Mormon]]. The pageant consists of 10 short stories:<br /> * The Prophet Lehi<br /> * The Visions of Christ<br /> * The Building of a Ship<br /> * The Voyage to Ancient America<br /> * The Burning of Abinadi<br /> * The Ministry of Alma<br /> * The Prophecy: A Day, a Night and a Day<br /> * The Resurrected Christ Appears to Ancient Americans<br /> * The Written Word: A Golden Message<br /> * The Restoration of Christ's Kingdom<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_first_vision.shtml Joseph Smith's First Vision Accounts]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith - Home]<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 JS-H 1]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith - Lightplanet]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith: Biography and Much More From Answers.com]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith - bellsouth]<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human; Interview with Richard Lyman]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Moroni&diff=4565 Moroni 2006-05-02T19:32:13Z <p>Wfn: /* External Links */</p> <hr /> <div>If you have ever seen a [[Mormon temple]], chances are you have seen the [http://www.lds.org/newsroom/showpackage/0,15367,3899-1---1-130,00.html golden statue] that adorns most of the steeples of these beautiful buildings. The statue is known as the [http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/basic/bom/people/moroni_2_angel_eom.htm angel Moroni]. The male figure is dressed in a robe and blows a long golden trumpet which he holds in one hand.[[Image:Moroni Bern.JPG|frame|The Angel Moroni statue from the Bern, Switzerland Temple]]<br /> <br /> == Moroni: Warrior, Prophet, Historian ==<br /> Moroni, as a mortal man, was the [http://lightplanet.com/mormons/basic/bom/authorship_eom.htm last author] of the [[Mormon books| Book of Mormon]], burying the plates it was recorded on in the year A.D. 421. He followed in the footsteps of his father, [[Who is Mormon|Mormon ]](after whom the Book of Mormon is named) as keeper of an ancient record detailing the history and eventual destruction of their people by their enemies, the [[Lamanites]]. Moroni served as a general during the final military campaign of his people. Only he and a handful of others survived. Moroni was left alone and described his situation: &quot;My father hath been slain in battle, and all my kinsfolk, and I have not friends nor whither to go&quot; ([http://scriptures.lds.org/morm/8 Mormon 8:5]).<br /> <br /> Despite being alone, Moroni lived for at least 36 years after the destruction of his people. During this time he finished the record of his father by describing the final battle and including a few letters his father had written to him. Since Moroni bids the reader farewell a number of different times, it is presumed he did not expect the Lord to preserve his life for so long. Moroni additionally abridged the record of the Jaredites (a nation that came to the Americas at the time of the Tower of Babel and destroyed itself before Moroni's people arrived) into what is known as the Book of Ether.<br /> <br /> Lastly, Moroni wrote the segment known as the Book of Moroni. In this he details particulars about the organization of Christ's church. He also includes two more epistles from his father, Mormon, containing sermons on faith, hope, and charity. In the last chapter of the book, Moroni leaves the reader with an exhortation and a promise:<br /> <br /> &quot;Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.&quot; ([http://scriptures.lds.org/moro/10 Moroni 10:3-5])<br /> <br /> == Moroni: Angelic Messenger ==<br /> [http://scriptures.lds.org/rev/14/6#6 Revelation 14:6] reads &quot;And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.&quot;<br /> <br /> During the night of September 21, 1823 Moroni, who was then a glorified personage, [http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/basic/gospel/restoration/Moroni_Visitation_EOM.htm visited] young [[Joseph Smith]] as a heavenly messenger sent from God. Moroni told Joseph of the very plates he himself had buried 1400 years earlier. The angel Moroni also recited a number of scriptures to Joseph. Joseph describes the heavenly visit in the [http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 Joseph Smith-History] portion of the [[Pearl of Great Price]]:<br /> <br /> :Not only was his [Moroni's] robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning... When I first looked upon him, I was afraid; but the fear soon left me. He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people. (JS-H 1:32-33)<br /> <br /> Moroni visited Joseph repeatedly that night and the next morning, always with the same message. For the next four years, Joseph annually visited the [[Cumorah| Hill Cumorah]] (the location where Moroni had deposited the golden plates) and received further knowlege and teaching from Moroni. After four years, in 1827, Moroni entrusted the golden plates to Joseph with this warning:<br /> <br /> :That I [Joseph] should be responsible for them; that if I should let them go carelessly, or through any neglect of mine, I should be cut off; but that if I would use all my endeavors to preserve them, until he, the messenger, should call for them, they should be protected. (JS-H 1:59)<br /> <br /> In 1830, Joseph Smith published his translation of the golden plates as the [[Book of Mormon]]. When translation was complete, Joseph returned the plates to Moroni's custody.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith - Home]<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 JS-H 1]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith - Lightplanet]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith: Biography and Much More From Answers.com]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith - bellsouth]<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human; Interview with Richard Lyman]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Joseph_Smith_Translation_of_the_Bible&diff=4564 Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible 2006-05-02T19:31:32Z <p>Wfn: /* External Links */</p> <hr /> <div>Number eight of the Church's [[Articles of Faith]] states that &quot;We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly.&quot;<br /> <br /> In June 1830, [[Joseph Smith]] began translating the King James Version of the Bible. However, this translation was not a literal translation from one language to another. It was actually [http://josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith/menuitem.da0e1d4eb6d2d87f9c0a33b5f1e543a0/?vgnextoid=a78f2a2b8fbe3010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD revelation] that Joseph Smith received concerning truths that had been lost or changed in the Bible. Joseph Smith had learned from 1 Nephi 13:20-39 and Moses 1:40-41 that important pieces of the Bible manuscript had been removed long before it was available to anyone to translate. Moses 1:40-41 states,<br /> :And now, Moses, my son, I will speak unto thee concerning this earth upon which thou standest; and thou shalt write the things which I shall speak. And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write, behold, I will raise up another like unto thee; and they shall be had again among the children of men—among as many as shall believe.<br /> <br /> The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible (or JST) restores many truths about the [[Creation]], the [[Fall]] of Adam, Cain and many other truths. Significant additions that the JST makes to the Bible is the age of accountability being eight years old, an extensive history of the prophet Melchizedek and the Melchizedek [[Priesthood]], and information about the prophet Enoch.<br /> <br /> The translation took Joseph Smith three years to complete and he continued preparing it for printing until his death in 1844. His translation included 477 pages of manuscript and a King James Bible with notations in it. The manuscript was mostly written by scribes including Oliver Cowdery, John Whitmer, and [[Sidney Rigdon]]. Sidney Rigdon appears to have been the principal scribe. <br /> <br /> The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible is not the official Bible of the Church, but insights that it adds to the Bible are included in the footnotes of the King James Version of the Bible that the LDS people use.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith - Home]<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 JS-H 1]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith - Lightplanet]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith: Biography and Much More From Answers.com]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith - bellsouth]<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human; Interview with Richard Lyman]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Golden_Bible&diff=4563 Golden Bible 2006-05-02T19:30:51Z <p>Wfn: /* External Links */</p> <hr /> <div>[[Image:plates.jpg]]<br /> <br /> <br /> The [[Book of Mormon]] is occasionally referred to as the &quot;Golden Bible.&quot; This name is derived from the origin of the Book of Mormon text. [[Mormons]] assert that, just as many ancient records were kept on sheets of various metals, the Book of Mormon was recorded on sheets of gold. [http://farms.byu.edu/other_questions_evidences.php?id=14&amp;table=evidences Ancient writers] fashioned such metal sheets, or plates, by hand and compiled books that would preserve a record of their history. The Book of Mormon transcends mere historical value, however, for it was written by divinely called prophets. Living on the American continent in antiquity, these prophets recorded not only some of the long history of their peoples but also the spiritual matters of their ministry, focusing primarily on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Their record was passed through the generations and then buried in a hill around 400 A.D., resting there for over one thousand years. On September 21, 1823, an angel revealed the gold plates to a youth named [[Joseph Smith]]. Subsequently Joseph translated the record through the power of God and it was published as the Book of Mormon, later subtitled Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It stands in powerful support of the Holy Bible as a witness of Jesus' divinity, and Mormons invite all people everywhere to study the Book of Mormon so that their knowledge of and faith in the Savior will be increased.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bm/contents Book of Mormon online]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_first_vision.shtml Joseph Smith's First Vision Accounts]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith - Home]<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 JS-H 1]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith - Lightplanet]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith: Biography and Much More From Answers.com]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith - bellsouth]<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human; Interview with Richard Lyman]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=First_Vision&diff=4562 First Vision 2006-05-02T19:29:48Z <p>Wfn: /* External Links */</p> <hr /> <div>The ''First Vision'' is the name given to the seminal event in the Restoration--the visitation of God, the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, to Joseph Smith in the Spring of 1820. The event is recognized and revered by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) around the world.<br /> <br /> There are several reasons that the First Vision is so important in [[Mormonism]], but one of the most important is that it impressed upon the Prophet Joseph Smith a new understanding of the nature of God and Jesus Christ. Whatever concept of God Joseph Smith might have had before, there was no doubt in his mind after the First Vision about what kind of beings God and Jesus were. He obtained that understanding because he saw them and conversed with them.<br /> <br /> In John 17:3 we read that &quot;this is life eternal, that (we) might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.&quot; To properly know God is more than seeing Him and even talking to Him, but to know His true nature is a necessary step to be able to develop the faith in Him that is necessary to gain life eternal life and salvation. Thanks to the First Vision, the knowledge of the true nature of God was once again restored on the earth.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision ==<br /> A short time after his family moved to Manchester, New York, the young Joseph Smith witnessed an unusual religious excitement in the area. This excitement brought divisions in the community and even in his family. Joseph Smith recounts that he was unsure which of the various religious sects he should join. <br /> <br /> His father's family had converted to the Presbyterian faith, and four had joined the local church. For a time he considered joining the Methodist church, but Joseph was concerned because he realized that not everybody could be right. He asked himself, &quot;If any one of them be right which is it? And how can I know which one is right?&quot;<br /> <br /> While searching the scriptures in the Spring of 1820, when he was only fourteen years old, Joseph came across the following verse in the first chapter of the Epistle of James:<br /> <br /> :If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5) <br /> <br /> [[Image:SacredGrove.jpg|frame|The grove of trees (now known as the &quot;[[Sacred Grove]]&quot;) where Joseph knelt to pray is a popular destination for visitors]]<br /> Smith felt deeply impressed by this scripture. He later recalled, &quot;never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine.&quot; (Joseph Smith—History 1:12) He decided to act upon his impression and one morning went to a secluded grove of trees near the family's farm, knelt down, and began his first vocal prayer.<br /> <br /> Almost immediately after starting his prayer, Joseph found himself engaged in a struggle with a demonic influence, which for a time completely inhibited his speech. A thick darkness gathered around him, and Joseph believed that he would soon be totally destroyed. However, he continued his prayer silently, asking for God's help. At the very moment when he was ready to sink into despair, he records:<br /> <br /> :I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—''This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!'' (Joseph Smith—History 1:16-17)<br /> <br /> When Joseph recovered and was able again to speak, he asked the two personages which religious sect he should join. He was told not to join any of them, because all were teaching incorrect doctrines and had a form of godliness but &quot;denied the power thereof.&quot; <br /> <br /> The official account of Joseph Smith's First Vision can be found [http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1/1-20#1 in the scriptures of the Church]. It should be noted that Joseph gave eight separate accounts of this vision over the years. As one would expect, these accounts are not exact duplicates of one another, and some accounts leave out important details, but each provides a slightly different perspective on this remarkable event. The official account was chosen for that purpose both because it is the most complete of all the accounts and because it is the one Joseph wanted to publish to the world.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_first_vision.shtml Joseph Smith's First Vision Accounts] examines the differing accounts of Joseph Smith's vision.<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith - Home]<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 JS-H 1]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith - Lightplanet]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith: Biography and Much More From Answers.com]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith - bellsouth]<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human; Interview with Richard Lyman]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Joseph_Smith&diff=4561 Joseph Smith 2006-05-02T19:29:18Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Image:250px-Joseph Smith, Jr. (1843 photograph).jpg|thumb|Joseph Smith|190px|right]] <br /> [http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site Joseph Smith, Jr.][http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=1&amp;topic=facts] (1805-1844) was the founding prophet of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]. Mormons call him a prophet because, according to the tradition of Old and New Testament, he relied on revelation from God for teaching the people, and not on his own wisdom or learning.<br /> <br /> The Prophet [[Joseph Smith, Jr.|Joseph Smith]] is one of the most charismatic and influential religious figures in American history. Joseph Smith acquired many followers throughout his life, but also many opponents because his teachings were not welcomed by most people in the existing Christian community. For many of them, the doctrines he taught were nothing more than blasphemy and contrary to their interpretation of the Bible. <br /> <br /> Joseph Smith's ancestors were ordinary New England farm people who emigrated from England to America in the seventeenth century and settled in Massachusetts. Joseph Smith was born on December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont, the son of Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith. In his youth Joseph was largely deprived of a formal education, but he was instructed in reading, writing, and the basic rules of arithmetic; his mother reported that he was often given to meditation and deep study. <br /> <br /> The Smiths moved several times in less than twenty years, but almost all of Joseph's later childhood was spent near [[Palmyra]], New York, in an area that was called the &quot;burned-over district&quot; for its frequent and fervent religious excitement.<br /> <br /> In 1820, at the age of fourteen, Joseph was deeply perplexed about which church he should join, and the conflicting preaching of many religious ministers increased his uncertainty. However, he was determined to know which of the many religions was right. After reading a passage in the Bible, instructing any who lacked wisdom to &quot;ask of God&quot; (James 1:5), Joseph decided to turn directly to God for guidance. <br /> <br /> Early one morning in the spring of 1820, Joseph went to secluded woods to ask God which church he should follow. As he was praying, as he recounted later, God the Father and the Son appeared to him. This experience is called the [[First Vision]] in [[Mormonism]] and considered a fundamental happening in the history of humankind, second only to the death and resurrection of [[Jesus Christ]].<br /> <br /> Later, in 1823, Joseph Smith said he was also visited by an angel named [[Mormon history#Angelic Visitations|Moroni,]] who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent. However, he was also told that he should wait another four years before being able to obtain the plates and that, until then, He should return each year to the same place to receive further instructions. In 1827, Joseph was finally able to retrieve this record that was inscribed on golden plates. Shortly after obtaining the gold plates, Joseph Smith began [[Mormon history#Translating the Book of Mormon|translating]] its words by the &quot;gift of God.&quot;<br /> <br /> The result of his translating efforts became the [[Book of Mormon|Book of Mormon—Another Testament of Jesus Christ]] that was published in March of 1830. Following the publication of the Book of Mormon, on April 6, 1830, the [[Mormon prophet]] finally organized the Church and became its first president.<br /> <br /> While working in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in 1825, Joseph Smith met [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Hale]]. On January 18, 1827, Joseph and Emma were married. Together they had eleven children (including two who were adopted), only five of whom, however, lived past infancy. Joseph deeply loved his family, and his personal writings are filled with concerns and prayers for the welfare of his family.<br /> <br /> During his short life, the Prophet Joseph established cities, produced volumes of scriptures, and sent missionaries throughout the world. He was involved in the construction of temples, served as mayor of Nauvoo, and was even a candidate for the presidency of the United States. <br /> <br /> He was definitively a controversial figure in American history who attracted persecution because he challenged established creeds. On June 27, 1844, while in a jail in [[Carthage Jail|Carthage]], Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed by a mob with blackened faces.<br /> <br /> Joseph Smith was succeeded as [[Mormon prophet|President]] of the Church by [[Brigham Young]].<br /> <br /> '''External Links'''<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith - Home]<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 JS-H 1]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith - Lightplanet]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith: Biography and Much More From Answers.com]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith - bellsouth]<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human; Interview with Richard Lyman]<br /> * [http://www.josephtoldthetruth.com Joseph Told the Truth]: Responses to accusations about Joseph Smith<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_first_vision.shtml Joseph Smith's First Vision Accounts]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Mormon_prophet&diff=4560 Mormon prophet 2006-05-02T19:23:21Z <p>Wfn: /* External Links */</p> <hr /> <div>Mormons believe in prophets, both ancient and modern. This belief is intertwined with the belief that God has an interest in talking to man, and does so through the prophets that He chooses. The Bible contains a record of God's dealings with prophets in those days, and modern scripture contains a record of God’s dealings with prophets in modern days. Mormons believe that the heavens were not closed after the biblical record, and that He still talks to His children today, just as in days of old.<br /> <br /> Most Christians have at least a passing familiarity with the prophets of the Bible. Stories of Moses, Joshua, Isaiah, Samuel, Elijah, and dozens of other major and minor prophets are included in the Bible. These prophets talked with the Lord and related the Lord’s will to the people. The teachings and warnings of the biblical prophets were heeded or ignored; the choice rested with the people to whom the prophets spoke. The consequences for exercising that choice—good or bad—also rested upon the people as a whole.<br /> <br /> ==Becoming a Prophet==<br /> A prophet is not someone born to that position, it is not a job that someone can apply for, nor is it something that someone can take upon themselves. Based on the biblical record, prophets always seem to go through a specific process in order to become a prophet. This process includes a call, a commission or charge, and a message to be delivered.<br /> <br /> ===Calling a Prophet===<br /> All prophets share a calling, initiated by God, in which the individual is summoned to serve as God’s messenger. The event attendant to the calling, and the circumstances in which the event occurs, are powerful and realistic enough to convince the individual that the communication is from God, and not some mental aberration or hallucination.<br /> <br /> The Bible records the calling of prophets such as Moses, Samuel, Elisha, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and others. There are a few prophets (such as Elijah, Nathan, and Ahijah) for whom the record is incomplete and the calling is not recorded. A prophet’s call often occurs through visionary experiences, but not all the details are exactly the same from prophet to prophet. It is not uncommon for the visions to be accompanied by an unusual or miraculous event, such as Moses and the burning bush. <br /> <br /> ===The Prophet's Charge===<br /> God's calling of a prophet is always accompanied by that individual being charged with a specific task. In other words, the prophet is called and then asked by the Lord to do something. The charge is seldom easy and often related to others. For instance, a prophet may be charged with preaching repentance to a city or people. Others may be asked to condemn individuals or a group of people.<br /> <br /> Prophets are not always eager to accept the charge given them by God. Perhaps the most famous example is Jonah, who tried to run from his prophetic charge, only to be miraculously delivered by God to the location where he finally accepted it. There are other instances, as well, of reluctance among prophets—Jeremiah protesting that he was too young (Jeremiah 1:6) or Moses coming up with reasons why people wouldn’t listen to him (Exodus 3-4).<br /> <br /> For other prophets the biblical record indicates no reservations; they went straightway and did what the Lord asked. Prophets such as Isaiah and Ezekiel are characteristic of this type of personality.<br /> <br /> ===A Prophet's Message===<br /> The charge given to a prophet invariably includes some sort of message that the Lord wants delivered. The message may be one of warning or consolation; it may be one of promise or consequence. The message often contains some prediction of the future, conditioned on the reception or rejection of the message. The message is seldom the same, and the details are oriented to the needs of the people and the expectations of the Lord.<br /> <br /> God communicated His will to prophets in various ways. Some prophets experienced visions, heard voices, or had dreams. At least one prophet, Moses, spoke with God mouth to mouth (Exodus 33) or face to face (Deuteronomy 34). Most prophets only sensed the presence of the Lord, whereas Moses actually saw His form and person (Numbers 12, Exodus 33-34).<br /> <br /> ==The Character of Prophets==<br /> Prophets are not all cut out of the same character mold; they are people with different characteristics, different capabilities, and different skills. The Bible records that some prophets were dynamic, commanding speakers, while others are self-conscious or poor speakers. Some were pleasing to look at, while others were not much to look at. Prophets have no physical marks that would identify them as such, and they carry no credentials that would lead to unquestioned recognition of their position. Prophets are individuals, the same as everyone else, and easily mistaken for any other regular person.<br /> <br /> This &quot;plainness&quot; of a prophet led many people to reject biblical prophets—the man called of God did not fit the image of a prophet that was expected by the people. Rejection may have been because the prophet was someone known to the people before his call, or it may have been because they expected messages from God to be delivered in some other manner and through some other messenger.<br /> <br /> The individuality of a prophet also means that their messages weren’t always delivered in the same way. One prophet might speak directly to a king or other leader, while a different prophet might preach in the streets. One might use threatening language, while another used pleadings and promises. The Lord did not transform the prophets into carbon copies of each other; He gave them a message to deliver and then usually left it to the individual prophet to figure out how to best deliver the message.<br /> <br /> ==Miracles and Prophets==<br /> When people think of prophets, they often think of miracles performed by those prophets. Mention Moses, and people often think of the miraculous plagues pronounced upon the Egyptians, the parting of the Red Sea, or striking a rock and having water come forth. Moses is not the only prophet to perform miracles; there are many including Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, and Isaiah.<br /> <br /> Miracles do not seem to be a common characteristic of all prophets, however. Some prophets have no recorded miracles, yet the Lord affirms that they are prophets nonetheless. Miracles seem to be associated with the needs of the prophet and the people and always consistent with the will of the Lord.<br /> <br /> ==Testing Prophets==<br /> The book of Deuteronomy offers rules of procedure to determine if a prophet is a true prophet. The first rule is located in Deuteronomy 13:1-5, and specifies what shall happen if a prophet attempts to lead people to follow “different gods” than the true God:<br /> <br /> :1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,<br /> :2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;<br /> :3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.<br /> :4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.<br /> :5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn [you] away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.<br /> <br /> The second rule is recorded in Deuteronomy 18:20-22 and specifies a test for prophets relative to the predictions they make:<br /> <br /> :20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.<br /> :21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?<br /> :22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that [is] the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, [but] the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.<br /> <br /> The problem is that the rules outlined in Deuteronomy will not work in many situations. For instance, what the predictions carried in a prophetic message have no specific timetable attached? When should a person determine that the prediction did not come true? If the person judges too soon, then the person will be wrong. If the person judges too late, then the person will end up following a false prophet.<br /> <br /> In historical terms, many of the biblical prophets gave predictions without timetable which could not be judged within the lifetime of the hearer. For instance, Isaiah and many Old Testament prophets prophesied about the coming of the [[Messiah]]. It was impossible for a hearer to listen to such predictions and wait for their eventual fulfillment and make a decision that would affect how the hearer lived his or her life.<br /> <br /> In most cases, the decision of whether a prophet is a true prophet or not must rely upon factors not addressed in the Deuteronomic tests. Perhaps the primary factor, besides whether the prophet speaks in the name of the true and living God, is the affect that the prophet has upon the person asked to judge the truth of the prophet’s message. Each person must make the determination of the truthfulness of the prophet’s message based upon whether that message resonates with what the individual knows to be real and true.<br /> <br /> ==Book of Mormon Prophets==<br /> Mormons accept as holy scripture the [[Book of Mormon]]. This inspired record recounts God’s dealings with His covenant people in the Western hemisphere for about a thousand years, from approximately 600 B.C. to 400 A.D. The record indicates the call, charge, and message of many prophets, all following the biblical model for messengers from God.<br /> <br /> The concept of prophetic records being in a book other than the Bible is undoubtedly foreign to many Christians. Mormons believe that such a concept is consistent with Christianity, however, because God loves all His children, and it makes logical sense that He would select messengers (prophets) to minister to those children, as well. It is important that such selection would exhibit the same characteristics as the selection of prophets in the Bible—and Mormons feel that such consistency is evident in the Book of Mormon.<br /> <br /> ==Latter-day Prophets==<br /> Besides the prophets of the Bible and the Book of Mormon, Mormons recognize modern prophets. These prophets, like those in ancient times, are viewed as messengers of God; as His servants chosen to convey messages from the Lord to His people and to the world as a whole.<br /> <br /> The first prophet in modern times is [[Joseph Smith]][http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=1&amp;topic=facts], and his call, charge, and message is consistent with the pattern established for prophets in the Bible. Since the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, an unbroken series of prophets have led the Mormon Church:<br /> <br /> * [[Brigham Young]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=2&amp;topic=facts (1844-1877)] <br /> * [[John Taylor]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=3&amp;topic=facts (1877-1887)]<br /> * [[Wilford Woodruff]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=4&amp;topic=facts (1887-1898)] <br /> * [[Lorenzo Snow]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=5&amp;topic=facts (1898-1901)] <br /> * [[Joseph F. Smith]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=6&amp;topic=facts (1901-1918)] <br /> * [[Heber J. Grant]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=7&amp;topic=facts (1918-1945)] <br /> * [[George Albert Smith]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=8&amp;topic=facts (1945-1951)] <br /> * [[David O. McKay]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=9&amp;topic=facts (1951-1970)] <br /> * [[Joseph Fielding Smith]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=10&amp;topic=facts (1970-1972)] <br /> * [[Harold B. Lee]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=11&amp;topic=facts (1972-1973)] <br /> * [[Spencer W. Kimball]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=12&amp;topic=facts (1973-1985)] <br /> * [[Ezra Taft Benson]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=13&amp;topic=facts (1985-1994)] <br /> * [[Howard W. Hunter]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=14&amp;topic=facts (1994-1995)] <br /> * [[Gordon B. Hinckley]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=15&amp;topic=facts (1995-present)] <br /> <br /> These prophets have dedicated themselves to their appointed mission of helping the people of the world prepare for eternal life and for the second coming of Jesus Christ, delivering the message that the Lord would have delivered. The living prophet continues to receive revelations, selects leaders by the spirit of prophecy, and serves as the principal teacher of the Church.<br /> <br /> ''See also [[Quotes from the Prophets]] and [[Choosing a Prophet]]''<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith - Home]<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 JS-H 1]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith - Lightplanet]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith: Biography and Much More From Answers.com]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith - bellsouth]<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human; Interview with Richard Lyman]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Carthage_Jail&diff=4559 Carthage Jail 2006-05-02T19:22:13Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>The [[Nauvoo and the Martyrdom|Nauvoo]] city council authorized the destruction of a printing press that had been printing lies about the Mormon Church. This made non-Mormon neighbors very angry, and a riot followed. [[Joseph Smith]], Hyrum Smith and others were arrested for starting the riot. The governor promised the men that if they submitted to the arrest and went to [http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/daily/history/people/joseph_smith/Carthage_EOM.htm jail in Carthage], he would protect them. They agreed to go to jail, and undergo the trial. While in Carthage, Joseph was threatened numerous times. <br /> <br /> On the morning of June 27, 1844 while at [http://www.delange.org/Carthage/Carthage.htm Carthage Jail], Joseph wrote a letter to his wife, [[Emma Hale Smith| Emma]],<br /> <br /> :I am very much resigned to my lot, knowing I am justified, and hove done the best that could be done. Give my love to the children and all my friends ... May God bless you all.<br /> <br /> During the afternoon the four men in the jail, Joseph, Hyrum, [[John Taylor]] and Willard Richards were feeling depressed. They asked John Taylor to sing a hymn called “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief.” One part of the hymn was especially fitting to their condition:[[Image:Carthage_Jail.jpg|frame|Memorial to Joseph and Hyrum Smith outside of Carthage Jail in Carthage, Illinois]] <br /> :In pris’n I saw him next—condemned<br /> :To meet a traitor’s doom at morn; <br /> :The tide of lying tongues I stemmed, <br /> :And honored him ‘mid shame and scorn.<br /> <br /> :My friendship’s utmost zeal to try, <br /> :He asked, if I for him would die; <br /> :The flesh was weak, my blood ran chill, <br /> :But my free spirit cried, ‘I will!’ <br /> <br /> :Then in a moment to my view <br /> :The stranger started from disguise. <br /> :The tokens in his hands I knew; <br /> :The Savior stood before my eyes. <br /> <br /> :He spake, and my poor name he named, <br /> :‘Of me thou hast not been ashamed. <br /> :These deeds shall thy memorial be; <br /> :Fear not, thou didst them unto me.<br /> ::(&quot;A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief,&quot; LDS Hymns, no. 29)<br /> <br /> A little after 5:00 a mob of 100 men who had blackened their faces for disguise, headed for the jail. They stormed the jail and began firing through the door. Hyrum was shot in the face. Joseph leaned over his brother and said “Oh dear, brother Hyrum!” with a look of sorrow. Joseph fired three shots through the door at the mob. John Taylor attempted to leave through the window, but was hit. Another shot hit his pocket watch, another his wrist another in his left knee, and again in his left hip. Joseph Smith went to the window knowing that there was no safety in staying in the room. He was shot from outside the window, and [[Martyrdom of Joseph Smith|killed]]. His body fell through the window. Willard Richards luckily only had his ear slightly grazed. <br /> <br /> The mob ran outside to make sure Joseph was dead, while they were gone Willard Richards hid John Taylor who was still alive, because he was expecting the mob to return, but they did not. Joseph Smith’s brother Samuel had heard about the threats on Joseph’s life and was on his way to Carthage. He arrived that same evening and was the one who wrote the letter back to Nauvoo telling the Saints that their prophet and his brother Hyrum were dead. <br /> <br /> Carthage Jail was used as a jail for 25 years. Then converted into a home. The Church bought the building and property in 1903 for $4,000. Joseph F. Smith (son of Hyrum Smith) was President at the time it was bought. The Church did not start to restore it until 1938. It is now open for tours.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith - Home]<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 JS-H 1]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith - Lightplanet]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith: Biography and Much More From Answers.com]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith - bellsouth]<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human; Interview with Richard Lyman]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Martyrdom_of_Joseph_Smith&diff=4558 Martyrdom of Joseph Smith 2006-05-02T19:21:23Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) consider [[Joseph Smith]], Jr. (1805–1844), the Church's founder, to be a true prophet, in the true biblical sense. The Prophet Joseph, who was ultimately killed by his religious and political foes, is also remembered as a martyr for the cause.<br /> <br /> On June 25, 1844, Governor Thomas Ford of Illinois told the state militia that Joseph and his brother Hyrum were &quot;dangerous men&quot; (''History of the Church,'' 5:563) and guilty of treason. To answer the demands of the governor, the two brothers went to Carthage, Illinois, to deliver themselves up to the &quot;pretended requirements of the law&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 135:1). Joseph Smith said of the event, &quot;I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer’s morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall be said of me—He was murdered in cold blood&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 135:4).<br /> <br /> Joseph and Hyrum were confined in [[Carthage Jail]], along with [[John Taylor]] and Willard Richards, members of the Church administrative body known as the Quorum of the Twelve. The four men remained in the jail for two days, during which time they were treated well by the jailers and were visited by friends from [[Nauvoo]]. On June 27 a mob, made up of members of the town militia who were in charge of protecting Joseph, overran the jail. The mob, later described by John Taylor as men who were &quot;armed&quot; and &quot;painted black&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 135:1) entered the room in which the men were being held. The room was located at the top of the stairs, on the second floor of the jail. The mob forced the room's door open and poked their gun barrels into the room. They began shooting into the room, despite efforts by Willard Richards to deflect the gun barrels with his walking stick. Hyrum Smith was shot multiple times and fell dead to the floor. John Taylor was also shot in several places. He was not killed, but sought refuge by rolling under the bed. Joseph Smith ran toward the window where he was shot in the back from inside the jail and shot in the chest from outside the jail. He either fell or leaped out of the window, landing on the ground near the well outside the jail, where he was again shot by members of the mob. (See ''History of the Church,'' 6:602-618, also ''Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual,'' 348).<br /> <br /> John Taylor and Willard Richards were both present at the martyrdom and survived. John Taylor, who later became the third President and Prophet of the Church, wrote: &quot;Hyrum was shot first and fell calmly, exclaiming: I am a dead man! Joseph leaped from the window, and was shot dead in the attempt, exclaiming: O Lord my God! They were both shot after they were dead, in a brutal manner, and both received four balls&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 135:1). Of the Prophet Joseph, John Taylor also wrote:<br /> <br /> :&quot;Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fullness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 135:3). <br /> <br /> Mormons believe that Joseph Smith is a &quot;testator,&quot; meaning he &quot;provided to mankind a witness of God’s covenants.&quot; When Joseph Smith died, his death &quot;place[d] a seal of truth on the testament&quot; (''Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual,'' 350).<br /> <br /> Joseph Smith, Jr. gave his life to the cause of building The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which restoration members believe brought the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ back to the earth. After having restored precious truths that had long been lost, through the power of the Lord, the Prophet Joseph sacrificed his life. Mormons today &quot;look to the Prophet with reverence because of what he did for their understanding of Jesus Christ and His mission&quot; (''Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual,'' 349). In this way Mormons are ever grateful to Joseph Smith's righteousness and obedience to the divine mission he had in life.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith - Home]<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 JS-H 1]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith - Lightplanet]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith: Biography and Much More From Answers.com]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith - bellsouth]<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human; Interview with Richard Lyman]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Mormon_prophet&diff=4354 Mormon prophet 2006-04-25T21:25:53Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>Mormons believe in prophets, both ancient and modern. This belief is intertwined with the belief that God has an interest in talking to man, and does so through the prophets that He chooses. The Bible contains a record of God's dealings with prophets in those days, and modern scripture contains a record of God’s dealings with prophets in modern days. Mormons believe that the heavens were not closed after the biblical record, and that He still talks to His children today, just as in days of old.<br /> <br /> Most Christians have at least a passing familiarity with the prophets of the Bible. Stories of Moses, Joshua, Isaiah, Samuel, Elijah, and dozens of other major and minor prophets are included in the Bible. These prophets talked with the Lord and related the Lord’s will to the people. The teachings and warnings of the biblical prophets were heeded or ignored; the choice rested with the people to whom the prophets spoke. The consequences for exercising that choice—good or bad—also rested upon the people as a whole.<br /> <br /> ==Becoming a Prophet==<br /> A prophet is not someone born to that position, it is not a job that someone can apply for, nor is it something that someone can take upon themselves. Based on the biblical record, prophets always seem to go through a specific process in order to become a prophet. This process includes a call, a commission or charge, and a message to be delivered.<br /> <br /> ===Calling a Prophet===<br /> All prophets share a calling, initiated by God, in which the individual is summoned to serve as God’s messenger. The event attendant to the calling, and the circumstances in which the event occurs, are powerful and realistic enough to convince the individual that the communication is from God, and not some mental aberration or hallucination.<br /> <br /> The Bible records the calling of prophets such as Moses, Samuel, Elisha, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and others. There are a few prophets (such as Elijah, Nathan, and Ahijah) for whom the record is incomplete and the calling is not recorded. A prophet’s call often occurs through visionary experiences, but not all the details are exactly the same from prophet to prophet. It is not uncommon for the visions to be accompanied by an unusual or miraculous event, such as Moses and the burning bush. <br /> <br /> ===The Prophet's Charge===<br /> God's calling of a prophet is always accompanied by that individual being charged with a specific task. In other words, the prophet is called and then asked by the Lord to do something. The charge is seldom easy and often related to others. For instance, a prophet may be charged with preaching repentance to a city or people. Others may be asked to condemn individuals or a group of people.<br /> <br /> Prophets are not always eager to accept the charge given them by God. Perhaps the most famous example is Jonah, who tried to run from his prophetic charge, only to be miraculously delivered by God to the location where he finally accepted it. There are other instances, as well, of reluctance among prophets—Jeremiah protesting that he was too young (Jeremiah 1:6) or Moses coming up with reasons why people wouldn’t listen to him (Exodus 3-4).<br /> <br /> For other prophets the biblical record indicates no reservations; they went straightway and did what the Lord asked. Prophets such as Isaiah and Ezekiel are characteristic of this type of personality.<br /> <br /> ===A Prophet's Message===<br /> The charge given to a prophet invariably includes some sort of message that the Lord wants delivered. The message may be one of warning or consolation; it may be one of promise or consequence. The message often contains some prediction of the future, conditioned on the reception or rejection of the message. The message is seldom the same, and the details are oriented to the needs of the people and the expectations of the Lord.<br /> <br /> God communicated His will to prophets in various ways. Some prophets experienced visions, heard voices, or had dreams. At least one prophet, Moses, spoke with God mouth to mouth (Exodus 33) or face to face (Deuteronomy 34). Most prophets only sensed the presence of the Lord, whereas Moses actually saw His form and person (Numbers 12, Exodus 33-34).<br /> <br /> ==The Character of Prophets==<br /> Prophets are not all cut out of the same character mold; they are people with different characteristics, different capabilities, and different skills. The Bible records that some prophets were dynamic, commanding speakers, while others are self-conscious or poor speakers. Some were pleasing to look at, while others were not much to look at. Prophets have no physical marks that would identify them as such, and they carry no credentials that would lead to unquestioned recognition of their position. Prophets are individuals, the same as everyone else, and easily mistaken for any other regular person.<br /> <br /> This &quot;plainness&quot; of a prophet led many people to reject biblical prophets—the man called of God did not fit the image of a prophet that was expected by the people. Rejection may have been because the prophet was someone known to the people before his call, or it may have been because they expected messages from God to be delivered in some other manner and through some other messenger.<br /> <br /> The individuality of a prophet also means that their messages weren’t always delivered in the same way. One prophet might speak directly to a king or other leader, while a different prophet might preach in the streets. One might use threatening language, while another used pleadings and promises. The Lord did not transform the prophets into carbon copies of each other; He gave them a message to deliver and then usually left it to the individual prophet to figure out how to best deliver the message.<br /> <br /> ==Miracles and Prophets==<br /> When people think of prophets, they often think of miracles performed by those prophets. Mention Moses, and people often think of the miraculous plagues pronounced upon the Egyptians, the parting of the Red Sea, or striking a rock and having water come forth. Moses is not the only prophet to perform miracles; there are many including Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, and Isaiah.<br /> <br /> Miracles do not seem to be a common characteristic of all prophets, however. Some prophets have no recorded miracles, yet the Lord affirms that they are prophets nonetheless. Miracles seem to be associated with the needs of the prophet and the people and always consistent with the will of the Lord.<br /> <br /> ==Testing Prophets==<br /> The book of Deuteronomy offers rules of procedure to determine if a prophet is a true prophet. The first rule is located in Deuteronomy 13:1-5, and specifies what shall happen if a prophet attempts to lead people to follow “different gods” than the true God:<br /> <br /> :1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,<br /> :2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;<br /> :3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.<br /> :4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.<br /> :5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn [you] away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.<br /> <br /> The second rule is recorded in Deuteronomy 18:20-22 and specifies a test for prophets relative to the predictions they make:<br /> <br /> :20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.<br /> :21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?<br /> :22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that [is] the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, [but] the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.<br /> <br /> The problem is that the rules outlined in Deuteronomy will not work in many situations. For instance, what the predictions carried in a prophetic message have no specific timetable attached? When should a person determine that the prediction did not come true? If the person judges too soon, then the person will be wrong. If the person judges too late, then the person will end up following a false prophet.<br /> <br /> In historical terms, many of the biblical prophets gave predictions without timetable which could not be judged within the lifetime of the hearer. For instance, Isaiah and many Old Testament prophets prophesied about the coming of the [[Messiah]]. It was impossible for a hearer to listen to such predictions and wait for their eventual fulfillment and make a decision that would affect how the hearer lived his or her life.<br /> <br /> In most cases, the decision of whether a prophet is a true prophet or not must rely upon factors not addressed in the Deuteronomic tests. Perhaps the primary factor, besides whether the prophet speaks in the name of the true and living God, is the affect that the prophet has upon the person asked to judge the truth of the prophet’s message. Each person must make the determination of the truthfulness of the prophet’s message based upon whether that message resonates with what the individual knows to be real and true.<br /> <br /> ==Book of Mormon Prophets==<br /> Mormons accept as holy scripture the [[Book of Mormon]]. This inspired record recounts God’s dealings with His covenant people in the Western hemisphere for about a thousand years, from approximately 600 B.C. to 400 A.D. The record indicates the call, charge, and message of many prophets, all following the biblical model for messengers from God.<br /> <br /> The concept of prophetic records being in a book other than the Bible is undoubtedly foreign to many Christians. Mormons believe that such a concept is consistent with Christianity, however, because God loves all His children, and it makes logical sense that He would select messengers (prophets) to minister to those children, as well. It is important that such selection would exhibit the same characteristics as the selection of prophets in the Bible—and Mormons feel that such consistency is evident in the Book of Mormon.<br /> <br /> ==Latter-day Prophets==<br /> Besides the prophets of the Bible and the Book of Mormon, Mormons recognize modern prophets. These prophets, like those in ancient times, are viewed as messengers of God; as His servants chosen to convey messages from the Lord to His people and to the world as a whole.<br /> <br /> The first prophet in modern times is [[Joseph Smith]][http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=1&amp;topic=facts], and his call, charge, and message is consistent with the pattern established for prophets in the Bible. Since the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, an unbroken series of prophets have led the Mormon Church:<br /> <br /> * [[Brigham Young]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=2&amp;topic=facts (1844-1877)] <br /> * [[John Taylor]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=3&amp;topic=facts (1877-1887)]<br /> * [[Wilford Woodruff]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=4&amp;topic=facts (1887-1898)] <br /> * [[Lorenzo Snow]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=5&amp;topic=facts (1898-1901)] <br /> * [[Joseph F. Smith]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=6&amp;topic=facts (1901-1918)] <br /> * [[Heber J. Grant]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=7&amp;topic=facts (1918-1945)] <br /> * [[George Albert Smith]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=8&amp;topic=facts (1945-1951)] <br /> * [[David O. McKay]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=9&amp;topic=facts (1951-1970)] <br /> * [[Joseph Fielding Smith]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=10&amp;topic=facts (1970-1972)] <br /> * [[Harold B. Lee]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=11&amp;topic=facts (1972-1973)] <br /> * [[Spencer W. Kimball]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=12&amp;topic=facts (1973-1985)] <br /> * [[Ezra Taft Benson]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=13&amp;topic=facts (1985-1994)] <br /> * [[Howard W. Hunter]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=14&amp;topic=facts (1994-1995)] <br /> * [[Gordon B. Hinckley]] [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=15&amp;topic=facts (1995-present)] <br /> <br /> These prophets have dedicated themselves to their appointed mission of helping the people of the world prepare for eternal life and for the second coming of Jesus Christ, delivering the message that the Lord would have delivered. The living prophet continues to receive revelations, selects leaders by the spirit of prophecy, and serves as the principal teacher of the Church.<br /> <br /> ''See also [[Quotes from the Prophets]] and [[Choosing a Prophet]]''<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith Biography and much more] from answers.com.<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human] an interview with historian Richard Lyman.<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=What_do_Mormons_believe&diff=4353 What do Mormons believe 2006-04-25T21:19:32Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>Mormons &quot;believe in [[Heavenly Father|God]] the Eternal Father, and in His son, [[Jesus Christ]], and in the [[Holy Ghost]].&quot; This is the first of thirteen basic beliefs that [http://www.josephsmith.com Joseph Smith], the founder<br /> of the Mormon Church, once wrote to a reporter who asked what Mormons believe. We believe in an all-knowing, all-powerful God who loves us (His children) and wants us to succeed. He created us and has a plan for us to one day return to live with Him.<br /> <br /> The Mormon religion teaches that our sins make returning to God impossible, so it was necessary for a [[Savior]] to be provided. This Savior is our Lord and Redeemer, [http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai052.html Jesus Christ]. &quot;For God so loved the world that He sent his only begotten son,<br /> that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.&quot; (John 3:16, KJV). Jesus Christ conquered death and sin, so that a path could once more be opened for us to return to live with God. It is only through faith in Jesus Christ that we can be saved.<br /> <br /> In order to declare the gospel of Christ, God has called inspired men, called [[Mormon prophet|prophets]], to teach the world. These men receive a personal witness of the [[Savior]] and are given authority to teach his gospel. This authority is called the &lt;i&gt;[[Priesthood]].&lt;/i&gt; Holy [[scriptures]], such as the Bible, contain the words of prophets who taught about the Savior. As the prophets teach and testify, the Holy Ghost touches the hearts of people and brings feelings of peace. This is why we feel the spirit (the Holy Ghost) when we study the Bible today. This spiritual confirmation of truth is how God confirms that the message of the prophets is true.<br /> <br /> Throughout history God has followed this pattern of revelation to inspired men, who then teach the world, with confirmation of their words through the Holy Ghost. Sadly, people do not always accept the message of the prophets. When people reject the prophets, this is called &lt;i&gt;apostasy,&lt;/i&gt; derived from a Greek word that signifies &lt;i&gt;rebellion&lt;/i&gt; or &lt;i&gt;falling away.&lt;/i&gt; When we read the scriptures, we can see a history of God calling a prophet who teaches the people to repent and turn to the Lord. The people eventually turn away from the Lord and reject the prophet, and thus a period of apostasy follows.<br /> <br /> Fortunately, God is not only loving, but is also merciful and patient. Each time that the people reject the Lord and his prophets, He waits and prepares His people. When the time is right, He once again sends His messengers to declare His words and restore His gospel.<br /> <br /> When Jesus Christ lived on the earth, He taught the people the gospel, and called [[Quorum of the Twelve Apostles|Apostles]] to continue to teach them when He left. Ultimately, those apostles were violently rejected, and within a century much of the church Christ had established was crippled by [[Great Apostasy|apostasy]] from within and persecution from without. A careful reading of the New Testament shows the struggles and the frustrations of the apostles as they were surrounded by unrighteousness from both the believers and non-believers. The apostles were rejected and killed, and the priesthood authority that the Lord had given to them was gone from the earth. While there were still some righteous members who lived, the people as a whole had become wicked and the fullness of the gospel with the priesthood authority, was forced from the face of the earth. This was prophesied of in the Old Testament by the prophet Amos:<br /> <br /> :&quot;Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.&quot; (Amos 8:11-12, KJV)<br /> <br /> And again in Isaiah:<br /> <br /> :&quot;Which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away. Why, when I came, was there no man? When I called, was there none to answer?&quot; (Isa. 50:1-2, 21st Century KJV)<br /> <br /> After the early church fell into apostasy, the Lord patiently waited for seventeen hundred years for the people to return to him. He prepared them and waited for a time in which He could once again restore the fullness of His gospel to the earth. Finally, the time came. In 1820 a young boy went into the woods to ask God which church was true. He described his experience, in his own words:<br /> <br /> :&quot;I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me... When the light rested upon me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—&lt;i&gt;This is my Beloved Son. Hear him!&lt;/i&gt;&quot; (JS-H 1:16-17, emphasis in original)<br /> <br /> Through this marvelous visitation, [[First Vision| Joseph Smith]] received a personal witness that God the Father and Jesus Christ live. From this and subsequent visits and revelations he was taught the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how Christ's church should function. As in days of old, a prophet of God had once again been called. Angels visited the earth, including John the Baptist and Peter, James and John, Jesus' ancient apostles, who gave to [http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm Joseph Smith] the same [[Mormon Priesthood|priesthood authority]] they possessed.<br /> <br /> As further confirmation of the divinity of the work [[Joseph Smith]] was called to do, the Lord revealed a volume of ancient scripture which had been recorded on the American Continent. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Joseph Smith] was given power to translate this record, which came to be known as the [http://www.bookofmormon.net Book of Mormon]. It contains the writings of prophets who lived and taught in the Americas at the time the Bible was being written in Jerusalem. The [[Book of Mormon]] contains many beautiful truths about our Savior Jesus Christ, and stands with the Bible as a second witness that Jesus was more than just a man: He was the very [[Messiah]] prophesied of in times of old, our Savior and our Redeemer.<br /> <br /> Because it was translated by the power of God, the [[Book of Mormon]] also serves as a witness that [http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html Joseph Smith] has been called by God, for if the [http://www.bookofmormon.net Book of Mormon] is a true record inspired by God, than [http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Joseph Smith] must also be a prophet. By knowing that Joseph Smith was a prophet, we can also know that the church he was led to organize is Christ's church today.<br /> <br /> [http://www.lds.org The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] (sometimes called the [[Mormon Church]]) is led today by a [http://www.mormon.org/learn/0,8672,940-1,00.html prophet of God and twelve apostles], who receive revelation from God on how His church should be run.<br /> Thus we see that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He continues to follow the pattern He followed in Bible days, and He teaches us today in much the same way He taught the Children of Israel, or the early Christians of the New Testament.<br /> <br /> As in ancient times, the Lord has promised that we need not rely on the words and testimonies<br /> of others to know that the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored. We have been promised that we can each receive<br /> our own witness that this is true. One such promise is located near the end of the Book of Mormon:<br /> <br /> :&quot;Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder them in your hearts.<br /> <br /> :&quot;And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.<br /> <br /> :&quot;And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.&quot; (Moroni 10:3-5)<br /> <br /> The Church of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth, and [http://www.lds.org The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] is that church. The Lord promises us today as in times of old that the Holy Ghost will confirm truth to us. If you will pray about the things which you have read and ask the Lord, &quot;Is this true?&quot; He will answer you by bringing feelings of peace into your heart through the power of the Holy Ghost, &quot;that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.&quot; (1 Cor 2:5, KJV) When you feel these feelings, follow them and [http://www.mormon.org learn more about the Church]. You can find a meeting place close to where you live, or you can contact your local missionaries through the telephone book in order to learn more.</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Mormon&diff=4352 Book of Mormon 2006-04-25T21:12:32Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>The Book of Mormon (properly titled The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ) is a sacred book of scripture that testifies of [[Jesus Christ]] and explains the Lord's dealings with His people in the ancient Americas. Latter-day Saints believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God and a companion testament to the Holy Bible. [[Joseph Smith]] translated the Book of Mormon into English in the 1820s, and others have since translated the English version into dozens of languages. The book contains a promise that whoever reads it sincerely, ponders its contents and asks [[God]] if it is true will receive that knowledge by the power of the [[Holy Ghost]].<br /> <br /> Like the [[Bible]], the Book of Mormon is a collection of sacred writings by ancient [[Mormon prophet| prophets]], except these prophets lived upon the American continent. God commanded these prophets to keep a record of their teachings, prophecies, missionary labors, and wars so that we could &quot;know concerning the doings of the Lord in other lands, among people of old&quot; (1 Nephi 21:22). The Lord told the [http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Prophet Joseph Smith] that the Book of Mormon contained the “record of a fallen people” (Doctrine and Covenants 20:9), who would serve as a warning to people of our day. The Book of Mormon is accepted by the members of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] as the word of God, along with the [[Bible]], the [[Doctrine and Covenants]] and the [[Pearl of Great Price]]. <br /> <br /> The ancient American prophet [[Who is Mormon|Mormon]], for whom the book was named, wrote that its purpose is to remind people what God has done for His people anciently and most importantly to convince all people “that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God&quot; ([http://scriptures.lds.org/bm/ttlpg Book of Mormon title page]). The prophet Joseph Smith said that the Book of Mormon is “the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion” and that a person “would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 194). <br /> <br /> == Origins ==<br /> <br /> In the fourth century A.D., God commanded a prophet named [[Who is Mormon|Mormon]] to compile the sacred records of his people, who had lived in the Americas for nearly a thousand years. Mormon was also a military and political leader, like Moses or Joshua in the Old Testament. His people had rejected the Lord and were fighting a devastating war. He compiled all the records and wove them into one narrative, engraving it on metal plates. In his old age, Mormon gave the records to his son, [[Angel Moroni|Moroni]], who finished compiling the history and added some of his own teachings about Christ. Moroni ended with this appeal:<br /> <br /> :Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot. And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen. (Moroni 10:32-34).<br /> <br /> Moroni then closed the records and buried them in a hill, along with a few other sacred items. Approximately 1,400 years later, Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith on September 21, 1823, as an angel of God and told him about the record. He told Joseph that “there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent,” and that it contained the “fullness of the everlasting Gospel [...] as delivered by the [[Savior]] to the ancient inhabitants” (Joseph Smith—History 1:34). [http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 The full account of Joseph Smith] The angel reappeared two more times that night, repeating the message and adding to it, so that Joseph could not forget what was said. The next day, the angel appeared to him once again, commanding Joseph to tell his father about the vision. Joseph did and his father confirmed through the power of the Holy Spirit, that the message was from God. <br /> <br /> Through the next four years the Angel appeared and taught Joseph Smith in order to prepare the young man to translate the record. Finally in 1827, on the twenty-second of September, Joseph was able to obtain the record. Heavy persecution made it difficult for him to work on the translation, and he frequently had to hide the book. Initially, Joseph’s wife, [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma]], helped as scribe. Joseph would translate, using sacred instruments called Urim and Thummin, which ancient Old Testament prophets had also used. Emma would write what he dictated. Emma later said: “Joseph Smith could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter, let alone dictating a book like the Book of Mormon. And, though I was an active participant in the scenes that transpired, and was present during the translation of the plates [...] it is marvelous to me, ‘marvelous and a wonder,’ as much so as to any one else.” (McConkie, Remembering Joseph, p 303). <br /> <br /> Eventually, fame and rumors spread and this led to persecution, but also to inquiries. Many humble, curious people sought out Joseph and he always answered their questions. One of these was [[Oliver Cowdery]], who served as the major scribe for the book and as one of the witnesses to the book’s truth.<br /> <br /> The burden of persecution and gossip, which had forced Joseph to move around while translating, was such that Joseph prayed to God for help in bearing this burden. God revealed to him that others could see the golden plates. These three men, [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[Martin Harris]], and [[David Whitmer]], saw an angel who showed them the plates and commanded to testify about the truth of the book. Their testimony, called The Testimony of Three Witnesses, is affixed to the front of every edition of the Book of Mormon. It says, in part:<br /> <br /> :[W]e, through the grace of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this records [...] And we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us. (''Testimony of Three Witnesses,'' Introduction to the Book of Mormon)<br /> <br /> Later, eight others also saw and felt the records and testified that the record was real and true. Their testimony, The Testimony of Eight Witnesses, is also affixed to every Book of Mormon. Not one of these men ever denied their testimony even though they went through many trials and persecutions because of it. None of them got wealth, popularity, or power by sharing this testimony. In fact, some of them lost nearly everything, but nevertheless, they all testified again and again that the Book of Mormon was true and that [http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith] was a prophet.<br /> <br /> After the translation was finished, Joseph Smith, Martin Harris, a well-respect farmer from the area, and Hyrum Smith, Joseph’s brother, prepared the manuscript for publication. Martin Harris was so convinced of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon that he mortgaged his farm for $3,000 to pay for the publication. The Book was published by E. B. Grandin in Palmyra New York in early spring, 1830 when Joseph Smith was only 25 years old. <br /> <br /> The Book of Mormon went forth to flood the earth and “convince[. . .] the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.” Since 1830, the Book of Mormon has been translated into nearly 110 languages, either completely or in part, including Spanish, German, Turkish, Japanese, Russian, Hindi, Arabic, Hmong, Zulu, Tagalog, Mongolian, Braille, and many others. More than 100 million copies have been bought or distributed throughout the entire earth. If you would like to get your own copy of this marvelous record please check the Church’s official website for a [http://www.mormon.org/freeoffers/1,17785,2068-1-1,00.html?src=tv Free Book of Mormon]<br /> <br /> == Organization ==<br /> <br /> The format of The Book of Mormon includes separate books written or dealing with different authors who were all prophets of God just as Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Paul. There are fifteen books:<br /> <br /> * First Nephi <br /> * Second Nephi <br /> * Jacob <br /> * Enos <br /> * Jarom <br /> * Omni <br /> * Words of Mormon <br /> * Mosiah <br /> * Alma <br /> * Helaman <br /> * Third Nephi <br /> * Fourth Nephi <br /> * Mormon <br /> * Ether <br /> * Moroni <br /> <br /> The order is generally chronological, starting with Nephi, who lived around 600 B.C., continuing to Moroni who lived around 400 A.D. The Book of Ether, inserted by Moroni near the end, is an abridgement of an ancient record of a people called Jaredites who predated the Nephites, that is descendants of the first Nephi, by many hundreds of years. The history and story told in the Book of Mormon is a complex tale of emigrations, wars, preaching, rebellion, revolutions, kings, queens, and wicked bandits. Woven into this narrative are the righteous preaching, sermons, and deeds of holy men and women who testified that Jesus Christ lived and died to save all mankind. <br /> <br /> The Book of Mormon can be broken down into three basic sections:<br /> <br /> === The Small Plates of Nephi: ===<br /> <br /> This covers First Nephi through the Book of Omni and is covers the period from about 600 B.C. to about 130 B.C. It starts with the story of a prophet, Lehi, and it tells how this prophet, along with his family and many others, was led by God to the Americas. Traveling from Jerusalem, after crossing the Arabian Peninsula, this group of faithful finally reached the Americas by ship. Near the beginning of this period the community ends up splitting into two main groups called the [[Nephites]] and the [[Lamanites]] (from the names of two of Lehi's sons). The Nephites and Lamanites grow into two separate civilizations at war with each other for most of the period covered in the Book of Mormon. One of the Nephite prophets explains that there were in fact many different groups, but he only distinguished between two, Nephites, those friendly to the people of God, and Lamanites, those who oppose the people of God (Jacob 1:13-14). Writers after him follow this tradition.<br /> <br /> === The Large Plates of Nephi: ===<br /> <br /> This section includes the abridgement and records of Mormon, for whom the book was named. He took the records of the people and summarized their history. This covers the books from Words of Mormon, which are an introduction to his abridgement, and Mormon chapter 7. This covers the period from about 130 B.C. to sometime after 400 A.D. It includes many accounts of preaching and wars. The prophet Alma and his son called Alma the Younger, are central figures for the first part of this history. Alma was converted by another prophet named Abinadi. He and his son became great missionaries and in their days many Lamanites were converted to the Lord. After this period of righteousness, there follows a succession of wars, civil wars, and rebellions that nearly destroy the Nephites. The Book of Helaman tells how a wicked group, whom the Nephites called Gadiaton robbers, destroyed the government and plunged the whole area into confusion. <br /> <br /> After great destruction and many deaths, the most important moment in the Book of Mormon comes. Sometime after His resurrection, the Savior appears to the Nephites and spends many days teaching the Gospel and healing the sick and wounded. This is narrated in chapters 11 to 30 of Third Nephi. Jesus appears to the surviving Nephites and declares:<br /> <br /> :Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.<br /> ~3 Nephi 11:10-11<br /> <br /> He then allows each person to personally come forward and see him, one by one, until everyone at that first meeting saw him, felt the prints of the nails in his hands and feet, and knew that He was their Savior. Jesus then instructs the Nephites in the Gospel and many other things pertaining to his Kingdom. He sets up a church similar to the one he established in Jerusalem before his death. He then ascends to heaven. These righteous disciples then preach to all the people surrounding them until they convert many. For four generations they have peace and righteousness. <br /> <br /> Hundreds of years later, the people become wicked again, and Mormon is commanded to compile his record before the last righteous Nephites are killed. He leads the army in a series of wars until at last nearly all the Nephites are either killed, scattered, or have joined their foes. Finally, Mormon gives the record to Moroni who completes the history and adds many other teachings about the Savior and His Gospel. He ends with the invitation to come to Christ quoted above.<br /> <br /> === The Book of Ether ===<br /> <br /> Before he completes the record, Moroni abridged and inserted a record written by a Prophet named Ether who predated the Nephites. The Jaredites originated at the time of the Tower of Babel and traveled to America many thousands of years before. God had sent to them many righteous prophets, but by the time the Nephites arrived the Jaredite civilization had been destroyed in a civil war and Ether, the last prophet of the Jaredites, wrote a brief history of his people. The book contains many prophecies and teachings.<br /> <br /> == Major Teachings of the Book of Mormon ==<br /> <br /> While no summary could possibly tell everything that a book as rich and complex as the Book of Mormon teaches, this section will show a few quotations to show some of the major principles and teachings that are restored or confirmed to us through the Book of Mormon.<br /> <br /> === There is a [[Heavenly Father|God]]: ===<br /> :“All things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motions, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.” (Alma 30:44)<br /> <br /> === Jesus is the [[Jesus Christ|Christ]], the [[Savior]] of the World: ===<br /> :“And since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their sins, through faith and repentance, and so forth;” (Alma 22:14)<br /> <br /> :“Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.” (3 Nephi 11:10-11)<br /> <br /> === The Importance and Necessity of [[Repentance]]: ===<br /> :“And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me. And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.” (3 Nephi 11:32-33)<br /> <br /> === The True Nature of Grace: ===<br /> :“For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” (2 Nephi 25:23)<br /> <br /> === [[Faith]], Repentance, [[Baptism]], and the [[Gift of the Holy Ghost]] are the Path to God: ===<br /> :“Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do: for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Nephi 31:17)<br /> <br /> === Men Have the [[Agency|Freedom to Choose]]: ===<br /> :“And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whoseoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free.” (Helaman 14:30)<br /> <br /> :“Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to chose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.” (2 Nephi 2:27)<br /> <br /> === God Always Sends [[Mormon prophet|Prophets]]: ===<br /> :&quot;For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting, behold, he sent angels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of Christ; and in Christ there should come every good thing. And God also declared unto prophets, by his own mouth that Christ should come.” (Moroni 7:22-23).<br /> <br /> === Israel, God’s people, Will Be Gathered Again ===<br /> :&quot;And now behold, I say unto you that when the Lord shall see fit, in his wisdom, that these sayings shall come unto the Gentiles according to his word, then ye may know that the covenant which the Father made with the children of Israel, concerning their restoration to the lands of their inheritance, is already beginning to be fulfilled.” (3 Nephi 29:1)<br /> <br /> :&quot;Yea, then will he remember the isles of the sea; yea, and all the people who are of the house of Israel, will I gather in, saith the Lord, according to the words of the prophet Zenos, from the four quarters of the earth.” (1 Nephi 19:16)<br /> <br /> This brief list of quotations shows the power and clarity of the teachings of the Book of Mormon about Jesus Christ and his Gospel. There are many other powerful teachings which can, as the Prophet Joseph Smith said, “bring a man closer to God” if he will follow them. President Gordon B. Hinckley, current President and prophet to the Church said:<br /> <br /> :Without reservation I promise you that if each of you will observe this simple program [to read the Book of Mormon], regardless of how many times you previously may have read the Book of Mormon, there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God.” (Ensign, Aug. 2005)<br /> <br /> == Is the Book of Mormon true? ==<br /> <br /> The Book of Mormon challenges its readers to discover if it’s really what it claims to be, a true book written by ancient prophets in the American continent which contains the fullness of the everlasting Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. <br /> <br /> At the end of the Book of Mormon, in the 10th chapter of Moroni, verses 3-5 we read: <br /> <br /> :Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. <br /> :And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. <br /> :And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. <br /> <br /> This passage explains how a sincere researcher of the truth can discover by himself if the book is what it claims to be. By reading its content, meditating its words, and finally praying with a sincere and open heart, every person can come to know the truth of the Book of Mormon. In one of the last parts of the Book of Mormon it is explained that readers will &quot;receive no witness until after the trial of their faith&quot; (Ether 12:6). <br /> <br /> If the book is true, then [[Joseph Smith]] was a true prophet of God, and that the church that was restored through him, [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] is indeed the kingdom of God in the earth that was established again to prepare the world for the [[Second Coming]] of the Lamb of God, [[Jesus Christ]].<br /> <br /> ==For More Information==<br /> * [[Book of Mormon evidences]]<br /> * [[Book of Mormon DNA]]<br /> * [http://scriptures.lds.org/bm/contents Book of Mormon Online]<br /> * [http://www.mormon.org/learn/0,8672,1090-1,00.html Mormon.org]<br /> * [http://www.cometozarahemla.org/ CometoZarahemla.org]<br /> * [http://farms.byu.edu/publications/bookofmormon.php?selection=bom&amp;cat=bom FARMS]<br /> * [http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai105.html FAIR LDS]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Moroni&diff=4351 Moroni 2006-04-25T21:05:11Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>If you have ever seen a [[Mormon temple]], chances are you have seen the [http://www.lds.org/newsroom/showpackage/0,15367,3899-1---1-130,00.html golden statue] that adorns most of the steeples of these beautiful buildings. The statue is known as the [http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/basic/bom/people/moroni_2_angel_eom.htm angel Moroni]. The male figure is dressed in a robe and blows a long golden trumpet which he holds in one hand.[[Image:Moroni Bern.JPG|frame|The Angel Moroni statue from the Bern, Switzerland Temple]]<br /> <br /> == Moroni: Warrior, Prophet, Historian ==<br /> Moroni, as a mortal man, was the [http://lightplanet.com/mormons/basic/bom/authorship_eom.htm last author] of the [[Mormon books| Book of Mormon]], burying the plates it was recorded on in the year A.D. 421. He followed in the footsteps of his father, [[Who is Mormon|Mormon ]](after whom the Book of Mormon is named) as keeper of an ancient record detailing the history and eventual destruction of their people by their enemies, the [[Lamanites]]. Moroni served as a general during the final military campaign of his people. Only he and a handful of others survived. Moroni was left alone and described his situation: &quot;My father hath been slain in battle, and all my kinsfolk, and I have not friends nor whither to go&quot; ([http://scriptures.lds.org/morm/8 Mormon 8:5]).<br /> <br /> Despite being alone, Moroni lived for at least 36 years after the destruction of his people. During this time he finished the record of his father by describing the final battle and including a few letters his father had written to him. Since Moroni bids the reader farewell a number of different times, it is presumed he did not expect the Lord to preserve his life for so long. Moroni additionally abridged the record of the Jaredites (a nation that came to the Americas at the time of the Tower of Babel and destroyed itself before Moroni's people arrived) into what is known as the Book of Ether.<br /> <br /> Lastly, Moroni wrote the segment known as the Book of Moroni. In this he details particulars about the organization of Christ's church. He also includes two more epistles from his father, Mormon, containing sermons on faith, hope, and charity. In the last chapter of the book, Moroni leaves the reader with an exhortation and a promise:<br /> <br /> &quot;Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.&quot; ([http://scriptures.lds.org/moro/10 Moroni 10:3-5])<br /> <br /> == Moroni: Angelic Messenger ==<br /> [http://scriptures.lds.org/rev/14/6#6 Revelation 14:6] reads &quot;And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.&quot;<br /> <br /> During the night of September 21, 1823 Moroni, who was then a glorified personage, [http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/basic/gospel/restoration/Moroni_Visitation_EOM.htm visited] young [[Joseph Smith]] as a heavenly messenger sent from God. Moroni told Joseph of the very plates he himself had buried 1400 years earlier. The angel Moroni also recited a number of scriptures to Joseph. Joseph describes the heavenly visit in the [http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 Joseph Smith-History] portion of the [[Pearl of Great Price]]:<br /> <br /> :Not only was his [Moroni's] robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning... When I first looked upon him, I was afraid; but the fear soon left me. He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people. (JS-H 1:32-33)<br /> <br /> Moroni visited Joseph repeatedly that night and the next morning, always with the same message. For the next four years, Joseph annually visited the [[Cumorah| Hill Cumorah]] (the location where Moroni had deposited the golden plates) and received further knowlege and teaching from Moroni. After four years, in 1827, Moroni entrusted the golden plates to Joseph with this warning:<br /> <br /> :That I [Joseph] should be responsible for them; that if I should let them go carelessly, or through any neglect of mine, I should be cut off; but that if I would use all my endeavors to preserve them, until he, the messenger, should call for them, they should be protected. (JS-H 1:59)<br /> <br /> In 1830, Joseph Smith published his translation of the golden plates as the [[Book of Mormon]]. When translation was complete, Joseph returned the plates to Moroni's custody.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm The Story of Joseph Smith] written by himself.</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Joseph_Smith_Translation_of_the_Bible&diff=4350 Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible 2006-04-25T21:01:01Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>Number eight of the Church's [[Articles of Faith]] states that &quot;We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly.&quot;<br /> <br /> In June 1830, [[Joseph Smith]] began translating the King James Version of the Bible. However, this translation was not a literal translation from one language to another. It was actually [http://josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith/menuitem.da0e1d4eb6d2d87f9c0a33b5f1e543a0/?vgnextoid=a78f2a2b8fbe3010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD revelation] that Joseph Smith received concerning truths that had been lost or changed in the Bible. Joseph Smith had learned from 1 Nephi 13:20-39 and Moses 1:40-41 that important pieces of the Bible manuscript had been removed long before it was available to anyone to translate. Moses 1:40-41 states,<br /> :And now, Moses, my son, I will speak unto thee concerning this earth upon which thou standest; and thou shalt write the things which I shall speak. And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write, behold, I will raise up another like unto thee; and they shall be had again among the children of men—among as many as shall believe.<br /> <br /> The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible (or JST) restores many truths about the [[Creation]], the [[Fall]] of Adam, Cain and many other truths. Significant additions that the JST makes to the Bible is the age of accountability being eight years old, an extensive history of the prophet Melchizedek and the Melchizedek [[Priesthood]], and information about the prophet Enoch.<br /> <br /> The translation took Joseph Smith three years to complete and he continued preparing it for printing until his death in 1844. His translation included 477 pages of manuscript and a King James Bible with notations in it. The manuscript was mostly written by scribes including Oliver Cowdery, John Whitmer, and [[Sidney Rigdon]]. Sidney Rigdon appears to have been the principal scribe. <br /> <br /> The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible is not the official Bible of the Church, but insights that it adds to the Bible are included in the footnotes of the King James Version of the Bible that the LDS people use.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith] at josephsmith.net.<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 Joseph Smith--History] Joseph Smith's own account of his history.<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml The Story of Joseph Smith] at BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics.</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Cumorah&diff=4349 Cumorah 2006-04-25T20:58:20Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Image:Cumorah.jpg|frame|The Hill Cumorah in Palmyra, New York]]Cumorah, more commonly known among Mormons as the [http://www.hillcumorah.org/cumorah.asp ''Hill Cumorah''], is the name given to a hill four miles south of Palmyra, New York. It was in this hill, in roughly the year A.D. 421, that the prophet/historian [[Angel Moroni|Moroni]] deposited a record, engraved upon golden plates, he and his father Mormon had made. Fourteen hundred years later in 1827, that same Moroni directed young [[Joseph Smith]] to retrieve the record from the Hill Cumorah. Joseph did as directed and translated the plates into the [[Book of Mormon]].<br /> <br /> In addition to being a storehouse to the sacred record, the Hill Cumorah was somewhat of a school for young Joseph. During the years between Moroni's first visit to the prophet in 1823 and the time Joseph was allowed to take the plates in 1827, Joseph visited Cumorah. Each year, Moroni would meet Joseph and give him further knowledge and instruction.<br /> <br /> == Cumorah in the Book of Mormon ==<br /> In the [[Book of Mormon]], Cumorah was the name of a land and hill where the final battles of that book were fought. In A.D. 384 General [[Who is Mormon|Mormon]] (after whom the Book of Mormon was named) gathered all his people (known as the Nephites) to the land Cumorah. There, his armies and the armies of the enemy (known as [[Lamanites]]) clashed in war. At that tremendous battle, tens of thousands of Mormon's people were slain. After the battle, Mormon records that the enemy &quot;had gone through and hewn down all my people save it were twenty and four of us, (among whom was my son Moroni)&quot; (Mormon 6:11). From atop Cumorah, Mormon looked out over his fallen people and mourned their loss.<br /> <br /> Mormon, who was a prophet and historian as well as a general, was also the keeper of sacred records. Knowing that the battle at Cumorah would be the Nephites last stand, he hid up most of the sacred records in the hill Cumorah so that their enemies would not find and destroy them. The remainder of the records he entrusted to his son Moroni.<br /> <br /> Whether the ancient hill Cumorah and the modern Hill Cumorah are one and the same is of little consequence. Moroni may well have named the hill in modern-day New York Cumorah because of his connections with the other hill.<br /> <br /> == The Hill Cumorah Today ==<br /> <br /> In 1928 [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], or Mormon Church, purchased the Hill Cumorah and in 1935 erected a monument commemorating the visit of the [http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/basic/gospel/restoration/Moroni_Visitation_EOM.htm Angel Moroni]. The Church later built a [http://www.hillcumorah.org/VisitorCtr.asp visitors' center] at Cumorah's base. The visitors' center offers information not only about the Hill Cumorah, but about numerous other Mormon Church history sites in the area.<br /> <br /> Nearly every summer since 1935 the Mormon Church has sponsored a [[Hill Cumorah Pageant|free pageant]] at Cumorah entitled [http://www.hillcumorah.org/Pageant/Default.htm ''America's Witness for Christ'']. The pageant, which runs in July and has a cast of 650, is commonly referred to as the [http://www.hillcumorah.net Hill Cumorah Pageant] and draws around 100,000 visitors a year. The current pageant was written by renowned Mormon author Orson Scott Card based upon the Bible and the [[Book of Mormon]]. The pageant consists of 10 short stories:<br /> * The Prophet Lehi<br /> * The Visions of Christ<br /> * The Building of a Ship<br /> * The Voyage to Ancient America<br /> * The Burning of Abinadi<br /> * The Ministry of Alma<br /> * The Prophecy: A Day, a Night and a Day<br /> * The Resurrected Christ Appears to Ancient Americans<br /> * The Written Word: A Golden Message<br /> * The Restoration of Christ's Kingdom<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_first_vision.shtml Joseph Smith's First Vision Accounts] examines the differing accounts of Joseph Smith's vision.<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm The Story of Joseph Smith] written by himself.<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith] at infoplease.com.</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Golden_Bible&diff=4348 Golden Bible 2006-04-25T20:54:24Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Image:plates.jpg]]<br /> <br /> <br /> The [[Book of Mormon]] is occasionally referred to as the &quot;Golden Bible.&quot; This name is derived from the origin of the Book of Mormon text. [[Mormons]] assert that, just as many ancient records were kept on sheets of various metals, the Book of Mormon was recorded on sheets of gold. [http://farms.byu.edu/other_questions_evidences.php?id=14&amp;table=evidences Ancient writers] fashioned such metal sheets, or plates, by hand and compiled books that would preserve a record of their history. The Book of Mormon transcends mere historical value, however, for it was written by divinely called prophets. Living on the American continent in antiquity, these prophets recorded not only some of the long history of their peoples but also the spiritual matters of their ministry, focusing primarily on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Their record was passed through the generations and then buried in a hill around 400 A.D., resting there for over one thousand years. On September 21, 1823, an angel revealed the gold plates to a youth named [[Joseph Smith]]. Subsequently Joseph translated the record through the power of God and it was published as the Book of Mormon, later subtitled Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It stands in powerful support of the Holy Bible as a witness of Jesus' divinity, and Mormons invite all people everywhere to study the Book of Mormon so that their knowledge of and faith in the Savior will be increased.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bm/contents Book of Mormon online]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 Joseph Smith--History] Joseph Smith's own account of his history.<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_first_vision.shtml Joseph Smith's First Vision Accounts] examines the differing accounts of Joseph Smith's vision.<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Martyrdom_of_Joseph_Smith&diff=4347 Martyrdom of Joseph Smith 2006-04-25T20:47:44Z <p>Wfn: /* External Links */</p> <hr /> <div>Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) consider [[Joseph Smith]], Jr. (1805–1844), the Church's founder, to be a true prophet, in the true biblical sense. The Prophet Joseph, who was ultimately killed by his religious and political foes, is also remembered as a martyr for the cause.<br /> <br /> On June 25, 1844, Governor Thomas Ford of Illinois told the state militia that Joseph and his brother Hyrum were &quot;dangerous men&quot; (''History of the Church,'' 5:563) and guilty of treason. To answer the demands of the governor, the two brothers went to Carthage, Illinois, to deliver themselves up to the &quot;pretended requirements of the law&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 135:1). Joseph Smith said of the event, &quot;I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer’s morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall be said of me—He was murdered in cold blood&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 135:4).<br /> <br /> Joseph and Hyrum were confined in [[Carthage Jail]], along with [[John Taylor]] and Willard Richards, members of the Church administrative body known as the Quorum of the Twelve. The four men remained in the jail for two days, during which time they were treated well by the jailers and were visited by friends from [[Nauvoo]]. On June 27 a mob, made up of members of the town militia who were in charge of protecting Joseph, overran the jail. The mob, later described by John Taylor as men who were &quot;armed&quot; and &quot;painted black&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 135:1) entered the room in which the men were being held. The room was located at the top of the stairs, on the second floor of the jail. The mob forced the room's door open and poked their gun barrels into the room. They began shooting into the room, despite efforts by Willard Richards to deflect the gun barrels with his walking stick. Hyrum Smith was shot multiple times and fell dead to the floor. John Taylor was also shot in several places. He was not killed, but sought refuge by rolling under the bed. Joseph Smith ran toward the window where he was shot in the back from inside the jail and shot in the chest from outside the jail. He either fell or leaped out of the window, landing on the ground near the well outside the jail, where he was again shot by members of the mob. (See ''History of the Church,'' 6:602-618, also ''Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual,'' 348).<br /> <br /> John Taylor and Willard Richards were both present at the martyrdom and survived. John Taylor, who later became the third President and Prophet of the Church, wrote: &quot;Hyrum was shot first and fell calmly, exclaiming: I am a dead man! Joseph leaped from the window, and was shot dead in the attempt, exclaiming: O Lord my God! They were both shot after they were dead, in a brutal manner, and both received four balls&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 135:1). Of the Prophet Joseph, John Taylor also wrote:<br /> <br /> :&quot;Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fullness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 135:3). <br /> <br /> Mormons believe that Joseph Smith is a &quot;testator,&quot; meaning he &quot;provided to mankind a witness of God’s covenants.&quot; When Joseph Smith died, his death &quot;place[d] a seal of truth on the testament&quot; (''Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual,'' 350).<br /> <br /> Joseph Smith, Jr. gave his life to the cause of building The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which restoration members believe brought the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ back to the earth. After having restored precious truths that had long been lost, through the power of the Lord, the Prophet Joseph sacrificed his life. Mormons today &quot;look to the Prophet with reverence because of what he did for their understanding of Jesus Christ and His mission&quot; (''Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual,'' 349). In this way Mormons are ever grateful to Joseph Smith's righteousness and obedience to the divine mission he had in life.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype] The only known photograph of Joseph Smith.<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 Joseph Smith--History] Joseph Smith's own account of his history.<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human] an interview with historian Richard Lyman.<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith] at infoplease.com.<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm The Story of Joseph Smith] written by himself.</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Carthage_Jail&diff=4346 Carthage Jail 2006-04-25T20:46:20Z <p>Wfn: /* External Links */</p> <hr /> <div>The [[Nauvoo and the Martyrdom|Nauvoo]] city council authorized the destruction of a printing press that had been printing lies about the Mormon Church. This made non-Mormon neighbors very angry, and a riot followed. [[Joseph Smith]], Hyrum Smith and others were arrested for starting the riot. The governor promised the men that if they submitted to the arrest and went to [http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/daily/history/people/joseph_smith/Carthage_EOM.htm jail in Carthage], he would protect them. They agreed to go to jail, and undergo the trial. While in Carthage, Joseph was threatened numerous times. <br /> <br /> On the morning of June 27, 1844 while at [http://www.delange.org/Carthage/Carthage.htm Carthage Jail], Joseph wrote a letter to his wife, [[Emma Hale Smith| Emma]],<br /> <br /> :I am very much resigned to my lot, knowing I am justified, and hove done the best that could be done. Give my love to the children and all my friends ... May God bless you all.<br /> <br /> During the afternoon the four men in the jail, Joseph, Hyrum, [[John Taylor]] and Willard Richards were feeling depressed. They asked John Taylor to sing a hymn called “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief.” One part of the hymn was especially fitting to their condition:[[Image:Carthage_Jail.jpg|frame|Memorial to Joseph and Hyrum Smith outside of Carthage Jail in Carthage, Illinois]] <br /> :In pris’n I saw him next—condemned<br /> :To meet a traitor’s doom at morn; <br /> :The tide of lying tongues I stemmed, <br /> :And honored him ‘mid shame and scorn.<br /> <br /> :My friendship’s utmost zeal to try, <br /> :He asked, if I for him would die; <br /> :The flesh was weak, my blood ran chill, <br /> :But my free spirit cried, ‘I will!’ <br /> <br /> :Then in a moment to my view <br /> :The stranger started from disguise. <br /> :The tokens in his hands I knew; <br /> :The Savior stood before my eyes. <br /> <br /> :He spake, and my poor name he named, <br /> :‘Of me thou hast not been ashamed. <br /> :These deeds shall thy memorial be; <br /> :Fear not, thou didst them unto me.<br /> ::(&quot;A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief,&quot; LDS Hymns, no. 29)<br /> <br /> A little after 5:00 a mob of 100 men who had blackened their faces for disguise, headed for the jail. They stormed the jail and began firing through the door. Hyrum was shot in the face. Joseph leaned over his brother and said “Oh dear, brother Hyrum!” with a look of sorrow. Joseph fired three shots through the door at the mob. John Taylor attempted to leave through the window, but was hit. Another shot hit his pocket watch, another his wrist another in his left knee, and again in his left hip. Joseph Smith went to the window knowing that there was no safety in staying in the room. He was shot from outside the window, and [[Martyrdom of Joseph Smith|killed]]. His body fell through the window. Willard Richards luckily only had his ear slightly grazed. <br /> <br /> The mob ran outside to make sure Joseph was dead, while they were gone Willard Richards hid John Taylor who was still alive, because he was expecting the mob to return, but they did not. Joseph Smith’s brother Samuel had heard about the threats on Joseph’s life and was on his way to Carthage. He arrived that same evening and was the one who wrote the letter back to Nauvoo telling the Saints that their prophet and his brother Hyrum were dead. <br /> <br /> Carthage Jail was used as a jail for 25 years. Then converted into a home. The Church bought the building and property in 1903 for $4,000. Joseph F. Smith (son of Hyrum Smith) was President at the time it was bought. The Church did not start to restore it until 1938. It is now open for tours.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith] at lds.org.<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype] The only known photograph of Joseph Smith.<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 Joseph Smith--History] Joseph Smith's own account of his history.<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm The Story of Joseph Smith] written by himself.<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human] an interview with historian Richard Lyman.<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith] at lightplanet.com.</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=First_Vision&diff=4345 First Vision 2006-04-25T20:44:51Z <p>Wfn: /* External Links */</p> <hr /> <div>The ''First Vision'' is the name given to the seminal event in the Restoration--the visitation of God, the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, to Joseph Smith in the Spring of 1820. The event is recognized and revered by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) around the world.<br /> <br /> There are several reasons that the First Vision is so important in [[Mormonism]], but one of the most important is that it impressed upon the Prophet Joseph Smith a new understanding of the nature of God and Jesus Christ. Whatever concept of God Joseph Smith might have had before, there was no doubt in his mind after the First Vision about what kind of beings God and Jesus were. He obtained that understanding because he saw them and conversed with them.<br /> <br /> In John 17:3 we read that &quot;this is life eternal, that (we) might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.&quot; To properly know God is more than seeing Him and even talking to Him, but to know His true nature is a necessary step to be able to develop the faith in Him that is necessary to gain life eternal life and salvation. Thanks to the First Vision, the knowledge of the true nature of God was once again restored on the earth.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision ==<br /> A short time after his family moved to Manchester, New York, the young Joseph Smith witnessed an unusual religious excitement in the area. This excitement brought divisions in the community and even in his family. Joseph Smith recounts that he was unsure which of the various religious sects he should join. <br /> <br /> His father's family had converted to the Presbyterian faith, and four had joined the local church. For a time he considered joining the Methodist church, but Joseph was concerned because he realized that not everybody could be right. He asked himself, &quot;If any one of them be right which is it? And how can I know which one is right?&quot;<br /> <br /> While searching the scriptures in the Spring of 1820, when he was only fourteen years old, Joseph came across the following verse in the first chapter of the Epistle of James:<br /> <br /> :If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5) <br /> <br /> [[Image:SacredGrove.jpg|frame|The grove of trees (now known as the &quot;[[Sacred Grove]]&quot;) where Joseph knelt to pray is a popular destination for visitors]]<br /> Smith felt deeply impressed by this scripture. He later recalled, &quot;never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine.&quot; (Joseph Smith—History 1:12) He decided to act upon his impression and one morning went to a secluded grove of trees near the family's farm, knelt down, and began his first vocal prayer.<br /> <br /> Almost immediately after starting his prayer, Joseph found himself engaged in a struggle with a demonic influence, which for a time completely inhibited his speech. A thick darkness gathered around him, and Joseph believed that he would soon be totally destroyed. However, he continued his prayer silently, asking for God's help. At the very moment when he was ready to sink into despair, he records:<br /> <br /> :I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—''This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!'' (Joseph Smith—History 1:16-17)<br /> <br /> When Joseph recovered and was able again to speak, he asked the two personages which religious sect he should join. He was told not to join any of them, because all were teaching incorrect doctrines and had a form of godliness but &quot;denied the power thereof.&quot; <br /> <br /> The official account of Joseph Smith's First Vision can be found [http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1/1-20#1 in the scriptures of the Church]. It should be noted that Joseph gave eight separate accounts of this vision over the years. As one would expect, these accounts are not exact duplicates of one another, and some accounts leave out important details, but each provides a slightly different perspective on this remarkable event. The official account was chosen for that purpose both because it is the most complete of all the accounts and because it is the one Joseph wanted to publish to the world.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_first_vision.shtml Joseph Smith's First Vision Accounts] examines the differing accounts of Joseph Smith's vision.<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith] at josephsmith.net.<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith] at lds.org.<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype] The only known photograph of Joseph Smith.<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml The Story of Joseph Smith] at BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics.<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm The Story of Joseph Smith] written by himself.<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human] an interview with historian Richard Lyman.</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=First_Vision&diff=4344 First Vision 2006-04-25T20:43:02Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>The ''First Vision'' is the name given to the seminal event in the Restoration--the visitation of God, the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, to Joseph Smith in the Spring of 1820. The event is recognized and revered by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) around the world.<br /> <br /> There are several reasons that the First Vision is so important in [[Mormonism]], but one of the most important is that it impressed upon the Prophet Joseph Smith a new understanding of the nature of God and Jesus Christ. Whatever concept of God Joseph Smith might have had before, there was no doubt in his mind after the First Vision about what kind of beings God and Jesus were. He obtained that understanding because he saw them and conversed with them.<br /> <br /> In John 17:3 we read that &quot;this is life eternal, that (we) might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.&quot; To properly know God is more than seeing Him and even talking to Him, but to know His true nature is a necessary step to be able to develop the faith in Him that is necessary to gain life eternal life and salvation. Thanks to the First Vision, the knowledge of the true nature of God was once again restored on the earth.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision ==<br /> A short time after his family moved to Manchester, New York, the young Joseph Smith witnessed an unusual religious excitement in the area. This excitement brought divisions in the community and even in his family. Joseph Smith recounts that he was unsure which of the various religious sects he should join. <br /> <br /> His father's family had converted to the Presbyterian faith, and four had joined the local church. For a time he considered joining the Methodist church, but Joseph was concerned because he realized that not everybody could be right. He asked himself, &quot;If any one of them be right which is it? And how can I know which one is right?&quot;<br /> <br /> While searching the scriptures in the Spring of 1820, when he was only fourteen years old, Joseph came across the following verse in the first chapter of the Epistle of James:<br /> <br /> :If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5) <br /> <br /> [[Image:SacredGrove.jpg|frame|The grove of trees (now known as the &quot;[[Sacred Grove]]&quot;) where Joseph knelt to pray is a popular destination for visitors]]<br /> Smith felt deeply impressed by this scripture. He later recalled, &quot;never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine.&quot; (Joseph Smith—History 1:12) He decided to act upon his impression and one morning went to a secluded grove of trees near the family's farm, knelt down, and began his first vocal prayer.<br /> <br /> Almost immediately after starting his prayer, Joseph found himself engaged in a struggle with a demonic influence, which for a time completely inhibited his speech. A thick darkness gathered around him, and Joseph believed that he would soon be totally destroyed. However, he continued his prayer silently, asking for God's help. At the very moment when he was ready to sink into despair, he records:<br /> <br /> :I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—''This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!'' (Joseph Smith—History 1:16-17)<br /> <br /> When Joseph recovered and was able again to speak, he asked the two personages which religious sect he should join. He was told not to join any of them, because all were teaching incorrect doctrines and had a form of godliness but &quot;denied the power thereof.&quot; <br /> <br /> The official account of Joseph Smith's First Vision can be found [http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1/1-20#1 in the scriptures of the Church]. It should be noted that Joseph gave eight separate accounts of this vision over the years. As one would expect, these accounts are not exact duplicates of one another, and some accounts leave out important details, but each provides a slightly different perspective on this remarkable event. The official account was chosen for that purpose both because it is the most complete of all the accounts and because it is the one Joseph wanted to publish to the world.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_first_vision.shtml Joseph Smith's First Vision Accounts] examines the differing accounts of Joseph Smith's vision.<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith] at josephsmith.net.<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith] at lds.org.<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype] The only known photograph of Joseph Smith.<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith] at infoplease.com.<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 Joseph Smith--History] Joseph Smith's own account of his history.<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml The Story of Joseph Smith] at BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics.<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm The Story of Joseph Smith] written by himself.<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith Biography and much more] from answers.com.<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human] an interview with historian Richard Lyman.<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith] at lightplanet.com.</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Carthage_Jail&diff=4343 Carthage Jail 2006-04-25T20:40:52Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>The [[Nauvoo and the Martyrdom|Nauvoo]] city council authorized the destruction of a printing press that had been printing lies about the Mormon Church. This made non-Mormon neighbors very angry, and a riot followed. [[Joseph Smith]], Hyrum Smith and others were arrested for starting the riot. The governor promised the men that if they submitted to the arrest and went to [http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/daily/history/people/joseph_smith/Carthage_EOM.htm jail in Carthage], he would protect them. They agreed to go to jail, and undergo the trial. While in Carthage, Joseph was threatened numerous times. <br /> <br /> On the morning of June 27, 1844 while at [http://www.delange.org/Carthage/Carthage.htm Carthage Jail], Joseph wrote a letter to his wife, [[Emma Hale Smith| Emma]],<br /> <br /> :I am very much resigned to my lot, knowing I am justified, and hove done the best that could be done. Give my love to the children and all my friends ... May God bless you all.<br /> <br /> During the afternoon the four men in the jail, Joseph, Hyrum, [[John Taylor]] and Willard Richards were feeling depressed. They asked John Taylor to sing a hymn called “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief.” One part of the hymn was especially fitting to their condition:[[Image:Carthage_Jail.jpg|frame|Memorial to Joseph and Hyrum Smith outside of Carthage Jail in Carthage, Illinois]] <br /> :In pris’n I saw him next—condemned<br /> :To meet a traitor’s doom at morn; <br /> :The tide of lying tongues I stemmed, <br /> :And honored him ‘mid shame and scorn.<br /> <br /> :My friendship’s utmost zeal to try, <br /> :He asked, if I for him would die; <br /> :The flesh was weak, my blood ran chill, <br /> :But my free spirit cried, ‘I will!’ <br /> <br /> :Then in a moment to my view <br /> :The stranger started from disguise. <br /> :The tokens in his hands I knew; <br /> :The Savior stood before my eyes. <br /> <br /> :He spake, and my poor name he named, <br /> :‘Of me thou hast not been ashamed. <br /> :These deeds shall thy memorial be; <br /> :Fear not, thou didst them unto me.<br /> ::(&quot;A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief,&quot; LDS Hymns, no. 29)<br /> <br /> A little after 5:00 a mob of 100 men who had blackened their faces for disguise, headed for the jail. They stormed the jail and began firing through the door. Hyrum was shot in the face. Joseph leaned over his brother and said “Oh dear, brother Hyrum!” with a look of sorrow. Joseph fired three shots through the door at the mob. John Taylor attempted to leave through the window, but was hit. Another shot hit his pocket watch, another his wrist another in his left knee, and again in his left hip. Joseph Smith went to the window knowing that there was no safety in staying in the room. He was shot from outside the window, and [[Martyrdom of Joseph Smith|killed]]. His body fell through the window. Willard Richards luckily only had his ear slightly grazed. <br /> <br /> The mob ran outside to make sure Joseph was dead, while they were gone Willard Richards hid John Taylor who was still alive, because he was expecting the mob to return, but they did not. Joseph Smith’s brother Samuel had heard about the threats on Joseph’s life and was on his way to Carthage. He arrived that same evening and was the one who wrote the letter back to Nauvoo telling the Saints that their prophet and his brother Hyrum were dead. <br /> <br /> Carthage Jail was used as a jail for 25 years. Then converted into a home. The Church bought the building and property in 1903 for $4,000. Joseph F. Smith (son of Hyrum Smith) was President at the time it was bought. The Church did not start to restore it until 1938. It is now open for tours.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith] at josephsmith.net.<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith] at lds.org.<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype] The only known photograph of Joseph Smith.<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith] at infoplease.com.<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 Joseph Smith--History] Joseph Smith's own account of his history.<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml The Story of Joseph Smith] at BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics.<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm The Story of Joseph Smith] written by himself.<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith Biography and much more] from answers.com.<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human] an interview with historian Richard Lyman.<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_first_vision.shtml Joseph Smith's First Vision Accounts] examines the differing accounts of Joseph Smith's vision.<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith] at lightplanet.com.</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Martyrdom_of_Joseph_Smith&diff=4342 Martyrdom of Joseph Smith 2006-04-25T20:33:40Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) consider [[Joseph Smith]], Jr. (1805–1844), the Church's founder, to be a true prophet, in the true biblical sense. The Prophet Joseph, who was ultimately killed by his religious and political foes, is also remembered as a martyr for the cause.<br /> <br /> On June 25, 1844, Governor Thomas Ford of Illinois told the state militia that Joseph and his brother Hyrum were &quot;dangerous men&quot; (''History of the Church,'' 5:563) and guilty of treason. To answer the demands of the governor, the two brothers went to Carthage, Illinois, to deliver themselves up to the &quot;pretended requirements of the law&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 135:1). Joseph Smith said of the event, &quot;I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer’s morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall be said of me—He was murdered in cold blood&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 135:4).<br /> <br /> Joseph and Hyrum were confined in [[Carthage Jail]], along with [[John Taylor]] and Willard Richards, members of the Church administrative body known as the Quorum of the Twelve. The four men remained in the jail for two days, during which time they were treated well by the jailers and were visited by friends from [[Nauvoo]]. On June 27 a mob, made up of members of the town militia who were in charge of protecting Joseph, overran the jail. The mob, later described by John Taylor as men who were &quot;armed&quot; and &quot;painted black&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 135:1) entered the room in which the men were being held. The room was located at the top of the stairs, on the second floor of the jail. The mob forced the room's door open and poked their gun barrels into the room. They began shooting into the room, despite efforts by Willard Richards to deflect the gun barrels with his walking stick. Hyrum Smith was shot multiple times and fell dead to the floor. John Taylor was also shot in several places. He was not killed, but sought refuge by rolling under the bed. Joseph Smith ran toward the window where he was shot in the back from inside the jail and shot in the chest from outside the jail. He either fell or leaped out of the window, landing on the ground near the well outside the jail, where he was again shot by members of the mob. (See ''History of the Church,'' 6:602-618, also ''Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual,'' 348).<br /> <br /> John Taylor and Willard Richards were both present at the martyrdom and survived. John Taylor, who later became the third President and Prophet of the Church, wrote: &quot;Hyrum was shot first and fell calmly, exclaiming: I am a dead man! Joseph leaped from the window, and was shot dead in the attempt, exclaiming: O Lord my God! They were both shot after they were dead, in a brutal manner, and both received four balls&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 135:1). Of the Prophet Joseph, John Taylor also wrote:<br /> <br /> :&quot;Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fullness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum&quot; (Doctrine and Covenants 135:3). <br /> <br /> Mormons believe that Joseph Smith is a &quot;testator,&quot; meaning he &quot;provided to mankind a witness of God’s covenants.&quot; When Joseph Smith died, his death &quot;place[d] a seal of truth on the testament&quot; (''Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual,'' 350).<br /> <br /> Joseph Smith, Jr. gave his life to the cause of building The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which restoration members believe brought the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ back to the earth. After having restored precious truths that had long been lost, through the power of the Lord, the Prophet Joseph sacrificed his life. Mormons today &quot;look to the Prophet with reverence because of what he did for their understanding of Jesus Christ and His mission&quot; (''Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual,'' 349). In this way Mormons are ever grateful to Joseph Smith's righteousness and obedience to the divine mission he had in life.<br /> <br /> ==External Links==<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith] at lds.org.<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype] The only known photograph of Joseph Smith.<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_first_vision.shtml Joseph Smith's First Vision Accounts] examines the differing accounts of Joseph Smith's vision.<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 Joseph Smith--History] Joseph Smith's own account of his history.<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml The Story of Joseph Smith] at BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics.<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human] an interview with historian Richard Lyman.<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith] at infoplease.com.<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm The Story of Joseph Smith] written by himself.<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.com/ Joseph Smith - American Prophet]<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith] at lightplanet.com.<br /> *[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site/JosephSmith Joseph Smith] at josephsmith.net.<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith Biography and much more] from answers.com.<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Joseph_Smith,_Jr.&diff=4341 Joseph Smith, Jr. 2006-04-25T20:29:30Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Joseph Smith]] Jr.[http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site] was the first [[Mormon prophet|prophet]] and president of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]. It was through him that [[Jesus Christ|Christ]] revealed information on how to restore His Church. After his death, [[John Taylor]] wrote,<br /> :Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it” (D&amp;C 135:3)<br /> This statement expresses the reason why members of the Church are anxious that his story be told. Because there is so much information about the amazing things Joseph Smith witness and revealed this article will only be a brief outline of the most important events of his life. [[Image:250px-Joseph_Smith,_Jr._(1843_photograph).jpg|frame|Joseph Smith, Jr.]]<br /> <br /> Joseph Smith Jr. was born in Sharon Vermont to Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. At eleven years old Joseph’s family moved to Palmyra, New York. In 1820, Joseph had an experience that changed his life. In answer to a prayer about which church to join he had a [[First Vision|vision]] where he saw [[Heavenly Father]] and Christ. They informed him that all of the Churches were wrong and that he should join none of them. <br /> <br /> During the night of September 21, 1823 Joseph Smith was visited five times by an angel named [[Angel Moroni|Moroni]]. He told Joseph of ancient records known as the gold plates. On January 18, 1827 Joseph eloped with [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Hale]] because her father did not approve of the marriage. That same year in September, Joseph was given the gold plates by the angel Moroni. He was also given the [[Seer Stones|Urim and Thummim]], objects that helped in the translation of the [[Book of Mormon]]. He then began working on the translation. In February of 1828, [[Martin Harris]] who had been helping Joseph in translating, took and lost the first 116 pages of the Book of Mormon. Joseph was instructed by the Lord to continue translating from where he left off and not go back. <br /> <br /> On May 15, 1829 John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and [[Oliver Cowdery]] and ordained them to the Aaronic [[Priesthood]]. Joseph and Oliver [[Baptism by Immersion|baptized]] each other as instructed. In that same year Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the Melchizedek [[Priesthood]] from the Apostles Peter, James and John. <br /> <br /> In June of 1829 Joseph completed the translation of the Book of Mormon, and by March 26, 1830 the first printed copies of the Book of Mormon were available. On April 6, 1830 Joseph officially organized the Church in Fayette, [[New York Period|New York]]. In September of that same year Joseph Smith called the first missionaries to preach to the Native Americans. <br /> <br /> In 1831, Joseph received revelation that the Saints should gather in [[Ohio Period|Ohio]] and in July of the same year he received further revelation that the city of Zion should be built in Independence, Missouri. <br /> <br /> On March 18, 1833 the [[First Presidency]] of the Church was organized with Joseph Smith as the [http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=1&amp;topic=facts President and Prophet] and Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams as counselors. In December of the same year, Joseph Smith gave the first [[Patriarchal Blessings|patriarchal blessings]] of the restored Church to his parents, three of his brothers, and Oliver Cowdery. <br /> <br /> On May 8, 1834 Joseph led [[Zion’s Camp]] to help the Saints under attack from the mobs in [[Missouri Period|Missouri]]. In 1835, the [[Doctrine and Covenants]], which contained all of Joseph Smith’s revelation concerning the Church thus far, were accepted as a [[Mormon books|standard work]] of the Church. <br /> <br /> On March 27, 1836 the [[Kirtland Temple]] was completed and dedicated. Just a few days later on April 3, Jesus Christ, Moses, Elias, and Elijah appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the [[Kirtland Temple]] to restore priesthood keys. From December 1838 until April 1839 Joseph Smith was held in [[Liberty Jail]] in Missouri on exaggerated charges. <br /> <br /> Revelation to build the [[Nauvoo Temple]] and begin [[Baptism for the Dead| baptisms for the dead]] was received on January 19, 1841. In 1842 before the temple was completely finished, Joseph Smith received his [[Mormon endowment|endowments]]. <br /> <br /> By 1844 trouble was escalating between the Saints and their neighbors and Joseph and Hyrum turned themselves over to government officials. Joseph and his brother [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]] were sent to [[Carthage Jail]], where on June 27, 1844 both were [[Martyrdom of Joseph Smith|killed]] by a mob.<br /> <br /> '''External Links'''<br /> * [http://www.josephsmith.net Joseph Smith: Prophet of God]: Official website by the LDS Church<br /> * [http://www.josephsmith.com Joseph Smith: American Prophet]: Information about the prophet and the Church he founded<br /> * [http://www.josephtoldthetruth.com Joseph Told the Truth]: Responses to accusations about Joseph Smith<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith] at lds.org.<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype] The only known photograph of Joseph Smith.<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_first_vision.shtml Joseph Smith's First Vision Accounts] examines the differing accounts of Joseph Smith's vision.<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 Joseph Smith--History] Joseph Smith's own account of his history.<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml The Story of Joseph Smith] at BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics.<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human] an interview with historian Richard Lyman.<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith] at infoplease.com.<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm The Story of Joseph Smith] written by himself.<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith] at lightplanet.com.<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith Biography and much more] from answers.com.<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Joseph_Smith&diff=4340 Joseph Smith 2006-04-25T20:26:40Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Image:250px-Joseph Smith, Jr. (1843 photograph).jpg|thumb|Joseph Smith|190px|right]] <br /> [http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site Joseph Smith, Jr.][http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=1&amp;topic=facts] (1805-1844) was the founding prophet of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]. Mormons call him a prophet because, according to the tradition of Old and New Testament, he relied on revelation from God for teaching the people, and not on his own wisdom or learning.<br /> <br /> The Prophet [[Joseph Smith, Jr.|Joseph Smith]] is one of the most charismatic and influential religious figures in American history. Joseph Smith acquired many followers throughout his life, but also many opponents because his teachings were not welcomed by most people in the existing Christian community. For many of them, the doctrines he taught were nothing more than blasphemy and contrary to their interpretation of the Bible. <br /> <br /> Joseph Smith's ancestors were ordinary New England farm people who emigrated from England to America in the seventeenth century and settled in Massachusetts. Joseph Smith was born on December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont, the son of Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith. In his youth Joseph was largely deprived of a formal education, but he was instructed in reading, writing, and the basic rules of arithmetic; his mother reported that he was often given to meditation and deep study. <br /> <br /> The Smiths moved several times in less than twenty years, but almost all of Joseph's later childhood was spent near [[Palmyra]], New York, in an area that was called the &quot;burned-over district&quot; for its frequent and fervent religious excitement.<br /> <br /> In 1820, at the age of fourteen, Joseph was deeply perplexed about which church he should join, and the conflicting preaching of many religious ministers increased his uncertainty. However, he was determined to know which of the many religions was right. After reading a passage in the Bible, instructing any who lacked wisdom to &quot;ask of God&quot; (James 1:5), Joseph decided to turn directly to God for guidance. <br /> <br /> Early one morning in the spring of 1820, Joseph went to secluded woods to ask God which church he should follow. As he was praying, as he recounted later, God the Father and the Son appeared to him. This experience is called the [[First Vision]] in [[Mormonism]] and considered a fundamental happening in the history of humankind, second only to the death and resurrection of [[Jesus Christ]].<br /> <br /> Later, in 1823, Joseph Smith said he was also visited by an angel named [[Mormon history#Angelic Visitations|Moroni,]] who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent. However, he was also told that he should wait another four years before being able to obtain the plates and that, until then, He should return each year to the same place to receive further instructions. In 1827, Joseph was finally able to retrieve this record that was inscribed on golden plates. Shortly after obtaining the gold plates, Joseph Smith began [[Mormon history#Translating the Book of Mormon|translating]] its words by the &quot;gift of God.&quot;<br /> <br /> The result of his translating efforts became the [[Book of Mormon|Book of Mormon—Another Testament of Jesus Christ]] that was published in March of 1830. Following the publication of the Book of Mormon, on April 6, 1830, the [[Mormon prophet]] finally organized the Church and became its first president.<br /> <br /> While working in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in 1825, Joseph Smith met [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Hale]]. On January 18, 1827, Joseph and Emma were married. Together they had eleven children (including two who were adopted), only five of whom, however, lived past infancy. Joseph deeply loved his family, and his personal writings are filled with concerns and prayers for the welfare of his family.<br /> <br /> During his short life, the Prophet Joseph established cities, produced volumes of scriptures, and sent missionaries throughout the world. He was involved in the construction of temples, served as mayor of Nauvoo, and was even a candidate for the presidency of the United States. <br /> <br /> He was definitively a controversial figure in American history who attracted persecution because he challenged established creeds. On June 27, 1844, while in a jail in [[Carthage Jail|Carthage]], Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed by a mob with blackened faces.<br /> <br /> Joseph Smith was succeeded as [[Mormon prophet|President]] of the Church by [[Brigham Young]].<br /> <br /> '''External Links'''<br /> * [http://www.josephsmith.net Joseph Smith: Prophet of God]: Official website by the LDS Church<br /> * [http://www.josephsmith.com Joseph Smith: American Prophet]: Information about the prophet and the Church he founded<br /> * [http://www.josephtoldthetruth.com Joseph Told the Truth]: Responses to accusations about Joseph Smith<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith] at lds.org.<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype] The only known photograph of Joseph Smith.<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 Joseph Smith--History] Joseph Smith's own account of his history.<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml The Story of Joseph Smith] at BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics.<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human] an interview with historian Richard Lyman.<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith] at lightplanet.com.<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_first_vision.shtml Joseph Smith's First Vision Accounts] examines the differing accounts of Joseph Smith's vision.<br /> *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith Wikipedia - Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. - Wikiquote]<br /> *[http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-smith Joseph Smith Biography and much more] from answers.com.<br /> *[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0845622.html Joseph Smith] at infoplease.com.<br /> *[http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/smithj2.htm The Story of Joseph Smith] written by himself.</div> Wfn https://www.mormonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Joseph_Smith&diff=4339 Joseph Smith 2006-04-25T18:53:12Z <p>Wfn: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Image:250px-Joseph Smith, Jr. (1843 photograph).jpg|thumb|Joseph Smith|190px|right]] <br /> [http://www.josephsmith.net/portal/site Joseph Smith, Jr.][http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=1&amp;topic=facts] (1805-1844) was the founding prophet of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]. Mormons call him a prophet because, according to the tradition of Old and New Testament, he relied on revelation from God for teaching the people, and not on his own wisdom or learning.<br /> <br /> The Prophet [[Joseph Smith, Jr.|Joseph Smith]] is one of the most charismatic and influential religious figures in American history. Joseph Smith acquired many followers throughout his life, but also many opponents because his teachings were not welcomed by most people in the existing Christian community. For many of them, the doctrines he taught were nothing more than blasphemy and contrary to their interpretation of the Bible. <br /> <br /> Joseph Smith's ancestors were ordinary New England farm people who emigrated from England to America in the seventeenth century and settled in Massachusetts. Joseph Smith was born on December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont, the son of Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith. In his youth Joseph was largely deprived of a formal education, but he was instructed in reading, writing, and the basic rules of arithmetic; his mother reported that he was often given to meditation and deep study. <br /> <br /> The Smiths moved several times in less than twenty years, but almost all of Joseph's later childhood was spent near [[Palmyra]], New York, in an area that was called the &quot;burned-over district&quot; for its frequent and fervent religious excitement.<br /> <br /> In 1820, at the age of fourteen, Joseph was deeply perplexed about which church he should join, and the conflicting preaching of many religious ministers increased his uncertainty. However, he was determined to know which of the many religions was right. After reading a passage in the Bible, instructing any who lacked wisdom to &quot;ask of God&quot; (James 1:5), Joseph decided to turn directly to God for guidance. <br /> <br /> Early one morning in the spring of 1820, Joseph went to secluded woods to ask God which church he should follow. As he was praying, as he recounted later, God the Father and the Son appeared to him. This experience is called the [[First Vision]] in [[Mormonism]] and considered a fundamental happening in the history of humankind, second only to the death and resurrection of [[Jesus Christ]].<br /> <br /> Later, in 1823, Joseph Smith said he was also visited by an angel named [[Mormon history#Angelic Visitations|Moroni,]] who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent. However, he was also told that he should wait another four years before being able to obtain the plates and that, until then, He should return each year to the same place to receive further instructions. In 1827, Joseph was finally able to retrieve this record that was inscribed on golden plates. Shortly after obtaining the gold plates, Joseph Smith began [[Mormon history#Translating the Book of Mormon|translating]] its words by the &quot;gift of God.&quot;<br /> <br /> The result of his translating efforts became the [[Book of Mormon|Book of Mormon—Another Testament of Jesus Christ]] that was published in March of 1830. Following the publication of the Book of Mormon, on April 6, 1830, the [[Mormon prophet]] finally organized the Church and became its first president.<br /> <br /> While working in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in 1825, Joseph Smith met [[Emma Hale Smith|Emma Hale]]. On January 18, 1827, Joseph and Emma were married. Together they had eleven children (including two who were adopted), only five of whom, however, lived past infancy. Joseph deeply loved his family, and his personal writings are filled with concerns and prayers for the welfare of his family.<br /> <br /> During his short life, the Prophet Joseph established cities, produced volumes of scriptures, and sent missionaries throughout the world. He was involved in the construction of temples, served as mayor of Nauvoo, and was even a candidate for the presidency of the United States. <br /> <br /> He was definitively a controversial figure in American history who attracted persecution because he challenged established creeds. On June 27, 1844, while in a jail in [[Carthage Jail|Carthage]], Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed by a mob with blackened faces.<br /> <br /> Joseph Smith was succeeded as [[Mormon prophet|President]] of the Church by [[Brigham Young]].<br /> <br /> '''External Links'''<br /> * [http://www.josephsmith.net Joseph Smith: Prophet of God]: Official website by the LDS Church<br /> * [http://www.josephsmith.com Joseph Smith: American Prophet]: Information about the prophet and the Church he founded<br /> * [http://www.josephtoldthetruth.com Joseph Told the Truth]: Responses to accusations about Joseph Smith<br /> *[http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-1,FF.html The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith] at lds.org.<br /> *[http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm Joseph Smith Daguerreotype] The only known photograph of Joseph Smith.<br /> *[http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophecies.shtml Fufilled Prophecies of Joseph Smith]<br /> *[http://scriptures.lds.org/js_h/1 Joseph Smith--History] Joseph Smith's own account of his history.<br /> *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/history/history3.shtml The Story of Joseph Smith] at BBC - Religion &amp; Ethics.<br /> *[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/181/story_18153_1.html Joseph Smith: Prophet, Revelator, Human] an interview with historian Richard Lyman.<br /> *[http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/people/joseph_smith/index.html Joseph Smith] at lightplanet.com.</div> Wfn