Joseph Smith Jr.
Joseph Smith
1805-1844
Born on December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont, to Joseph
and Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Smith Jr. grew up on a series of tenant farms in
Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. Though in his youth Joseph was largely
deprived of a formal education, he was "instructed in reading, writing,
and the ground rules of arithmetic."1 Joseph's mother
said that he was often "given to meditation and deep study."2
Affected
by the great religious excitement taking place around his home in Manchester,
New York, in 1820, fourteen-year-old Joseph was determined to know which of the
many religions he should join. He encountered a passage in the Bible
instructing any who lacked wisdom to "ask of God" (James 1:5). Early
one morning in the spring of 1820, Joseph went to a secluded woods to ask God
which church he should join. According to his account, while praying Joseph was
visited by two "personages" who identified themselves as God the
Father and Jesus Christ. He was told not to join any of the churches.
In
1823, Joseph Smith said he was visited by an angel named Moroni, who told him
of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of
the American continent. In 1827, Joseph retrieved this record, inscribed on
thin golden plates, and shortly afterward began translating its words by the
"gift of God."3 The resulting manuscript, the Book of Mormon, was
published in March 1830. On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith organized The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and became its first president.
Joseph
married Emma Hale on January 18, 1827, and was described as a loving and
devoted husband. They had eleven children (two adopted), only five of whom lived
past infancy. During the thirty-nine years of his life, Joseph established
thriving cities in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois; produced volumes of scripture;
sent missionaries throughout the world; orchestrated the building of temples;
served as mayor of Nauvoo, one of the largest cities in Illinois, and as
general of its militia, the Nauvoo Legion; and was a candidate for the
presidency of the United States. He was a controversial figure in American
history—beloved of his followers and hated by his detractors. Joseph was
persecuted much of his adult life and was killed along with his brother Hyrum
by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844.
Accepted
writings of Joseph Smith which The Church Of The Dual Faith considers scripture
are :
Inspired
re-translation of the KJV of the Bible,The Book Of Mormon, Pearl Of Great
Price, Doctrine and Covenants sections 1-76,89,126-132,
Lectures of Faith