Joseph Smith - wasmormon.org

"For a long time church art tended to depict the translation of the Book of Mormon as Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery sitting around a table, sometimes with the gold plates out on the table, but that's not really the best match for what we know about the translation process." Mason Kamana Allred, volume editor at the Joseph Smith Papers Project | wasmormon.org — "For a long time church art tended to depict the translation of the Book of Mormon as Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery sitting around a table, sometimes with the gold plates out on the table, but that's not really the best match for what we know about the translation process." Mason Kamana Allred, volume editor at the Joseph Smith Papers Project

An example of church art depicting Joseph Smith with his face in his hat reading the seer stone to a scribe.

Joseph Smith's preferred seer stone, a brown

Depiction of Joseph Smith looking at the stone in his hat and shielding the sun with his hand.

"Through the medium of the Urim and Thummim I translated the record by the gift, and power of God. " (Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons, 1 March 1842

Joseph Fielding Smith Taught The Seer Stone Was Not Used for Book of Mormon Translation

"The Seer stone not used in Book of Mormon translation." Joseph Fielding Smith in Doctrines of Salvation | wasmormon.org

The New Narrative We have many statements and posts from current church leaders trying to normalize Joseph’s seer stone translation. We have Elder Uchtdorf and Brother Brad Wilcox discussing the rock in a hat and independently comparing it to a mobile phone of all things. We even have President Nelson demonstrating the rock-in-hat procedure Joseph …

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Elder Uchtdorf Compares Peep Stone to His Smartphone

“In reality, most of us use a seer stone every day. My mobile phone is like a seer stone”. - Elder Uchtdorf, Mormon Apostle

The church has done much to normalize the fact that Joseph Smith used a peep stone or seer stone when he purportedly translated the Book of Mormon. They have released images of the exact stone he used and have received quite a bit of pushback since in the past, the narrative was he used the …

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Misleading Mormon Thoughts On The First Vision Since 1970

"Here printed for the first time is a report on eight different accounts of the First Vision." - Eight Contemporary Accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision- What Do We Learn from Them? By Dr. James B. Allen, The Improvement Era, 1970 April (No. 4)

Leaders and apologists like to reference an article from 1970 where the church addresses multiple first vision accounts. This is that article, which unsurprisingly, is the same apologetic nonsense as the Gospel Topic Essays. However, the church still wants to use this as proof that the church has never ever hidden anything from members. The …

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"We’re learning more about the Prophet Joseph. It’s wonderful we are. There are volumes of it, there’s so much of in those books now on my bookshelf. Maybe you’ve read them all, but I haven’t." - Elder M Russell Ballard

Other First Visions, Which are Not of This Fold

"I turned and bent my course toward the woods, feeling that I must be alone, and away from all human eyes and ears, so that I could pour out my prayer to God... I attempted to pray I found that my heart would not pray... when I came to try, I was dumb... In attempting to pray I would hear a rustling in the leaves..." Charles Grandison Finney, Upstate New York, 1821

The First Vision of Joseph Smith is told today as an original exact story detailing the unique experience that sets the foundation for Mormonism and the restoration movement. We’ve discussed that even though one version of the story is canonized in Joseph Smith History as the “official” version, there are multiple versions of the first …

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Heidi Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight

Heidi was a faithful member who enjoyed studying church history. Recently, the “new” church history became disturbing and sounded more like a cult. Through her spouse leaving the church she struggled with the fear-based messages of church leaders and digging in to understand when they are speaking as prophets vs as men, realizing that they …

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The Mormon Church Published The Gospel Topic Essays

It was a soft roll out. There wasn’t an announcement saying “You can go to this website to learn everything weird about the Mormon church you ever wanted to learn”. - Elder Steven E Snow, Church Historian | wasmormon.org

After receiving the Faith Crisis Report, the church leaders commissioned and started quietly publishing what they call Gospel Topic Essays. These essays, for the most part, are the first time the church has published an official stance on many of the topics. They were published quietly and buried deep within the church site of materials. …

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Mormon Authorities Threaten Doubters With “Don’t You Dare Bail” Messages

"Those who leave the Church are like a feather blown to and fro in the air. They know not whither they are going; they do not understand anything about their own existence; their faith, judgment, and the operation of their minds are as unstable as the movements of the feather" - Brigham Young | wasmormon.org

There are myriad warnings against dissension and apostasy by church leaders. Church leaders are afraid of those who leave the church behind. Those who leave have the gumption and the gall to stand up for what they believe in, rather than believing what they are told to believe. Those who leave have the courage to …

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"One night she [Emma] missed Joseph and Fanny Alger. She went to the barn and saw him and Fanny in the barn together alone. She looked through a crack and saw the transaction!!! She told me this story too was verily true." William E McLellin

"A dirty, nasty, filthy affair of his and Fanny Alger's was talked over in which I strictly declared that I had never deserted from the truth in the matter, and as I supposed was admitted by himself." Oliver Cowdery regarding Joseph Smith and Fanny Alger

Fanny Alger, Joseph Smith’s “dirty, nasty, filthy affair” Teen Bride

What Happened between Fanny Alger and Joseph Smith? As a young woman, Fanny Alger was a servant in Joseph Smith’s house. She lived with the family for a time while also serving as a maid. Joseph Smith and Fanny got very close. Multiple accounts exist of Emma Smith, Joseph’s wife catching Joseph celestializing (sexually involved) …

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The Joseph Smith “Like a Lamb to the Slaughter” Narrative is Myth

"Brother Joseph snapped the pistol six successive times. Two or three were wounded by these discharges, two of whom died."- John Taylor. "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter" - Joseph Smith. wasmormon.org

Joseph Smith purportedly knew he was going to be killed, and said the following, which is now canonized in the D&C scriptures as the dominant narrative of the church. 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, …

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We Want Nothing Secret Nor Underhanded – Not The Mormon Church Today

We want nothing secret nor underhanded, and for one I want no association with things that cannot be talked about and will not bear investigation." John Taylor, President of Mormon Church, As President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

John Taylor, the third President of the church, would not recognize the church today. He invites discussion and investigation on even trivial matters. He’s not afraid of research or whack-a-mole. When there was speculation and disagreement about a certain plot of land which Brigham Young was reimbursed for after having personally purchased for the church …

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Illustration created via AI from a prompt "An angel with a flaming sword forcing Joseph Smith to marry teenagers."

Martrydom of Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith. A lingering member of the Warsaw militia, his face blackened with mud and gunpowder, is about to decapitate Joseph Smith's corpse. A Mormon witness claimed a pillar of light thrust down from heaven and the made ruffian's arm powerless. In the background, the dead body of Hyrum Smith is carried from the jail.

“Greater Love Hath No Man” Casey Childs - Painting of Joseph Smith and company, armed and barricading the door against the mob. Just before Hyrum is shot through the door and Joseph jumps out the window.

Assassination of Joseph Smith. Joseph Murdered At The Carthage Jail. Smith Was Shot Within The Jail'S As He Attempted To Exit Through The Second Story Window. He Was Also Shot By The Outside Mob. June 27

Assassination of Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith Murdered At The Carthage Jail. After Being Shot From And Falling To The Ground.

Retrofitting Revelation For The Mormon Church Official Name

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - hyphenated and even though in all-caps, with a lower case 'd' in Latter-day.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints With all the hubbub about referring to the church by the proper name, as directed by church president Russell Nelson, let’s stop and look at what the church name is. Why does the official name of the church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) contain …

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Jeffrey R Holland’s BBC Interview – Transcript and Video Clips

(As a record of historical fact, was Joseph Smith convicted of being a con-man in 1826?) I have no idea. There's a good deal of difficulty in the early frontier life in America, but that's an incidental matter to the character and integrity of the man. - Jeffrey R Holland, Mormon Apostle

As a result of a believing Mormon potentially leading the United States, there was increased scrutiny of the Mormon church. John Sweeny, of the BBC, interviewed LDS Apostle Jeffrey Holland for a program called ‘The Mormon Candidate’ which aired on BBC in 2012. Holland is caught in lies during the interview and resorts to claiming he’s neither an idiot or a dodo.

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