CHAPTER
SIX
JOSEPH
SMITH
What
is the True Status or Station of Joseph Smith?
SHOGHI
Effendi rightly explains Joseph Smith as a SEER and not a PROPHET!
He is not an independent prophet—a Manifestation who reveals
a book—nor even a minor prophet of God like Daniel or Ezekiel
who were firm in the Covenant of God under the Manifestation of
their day. Smith is only a seer! "Seer" means that he
can "see" certain things that are true, but not that he
is some sort of infallible guide, or even that he is part of the
religion of God! Shoghi Effendi makes this distinction absolutely
clear and it cannot be ignored!
Joseph
Smith was a seer, NOT A PROPHET OF GOD, NEITHER MAJOR NOR MINOR
PROPHET. (Memories of 'Abdu'l-Baha, by R. A. Brown, p.
117)
What
this means is that Smith could see visions and glimpses of the future,
but he did not speak or write on behalf of God and is not a prophet
of God. The Bible is full of seers who were not prophets of God
such as Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar. Pharaoh saw the true dream and
vision of the seven fat cows and the seven thin cows, etc. Therefore
he was a seer because he saw this. But he did not know the meaning
of it. It was Joseph [1] the prophet of
God who interpreted the dream and gave the correct meaning of it.
Likewise Nebuchadnezzar was into astrology, and he was a seer. He
saw the dream of the giant statue (representing the powers of the
world until the coming of the Kingdom of God). But he both forgot
the dream and didn't know its meaning. Therefore Daniel the prophet
of God told him the vision of the dream and its meaning.
The
reason God uses people like Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar or Joseph Smith
is that they are popular and well known. Through them the fame and
renown of the message of their vision spreads to all parts of the
world and all people hear about it. Because of Smith, all people
should know the prophecy of the return of Jesus in America. Clearly
Baha'u'llah was never in America or the United States at all! If
God gave these visions and prophecies to people who were unknown,
then these visions would be ignored by everyone. So instead He lets
someone famous have the vision who is a seer. But then He has one
who is from God come to give the meaning of it. Thus the vision
of the seer, through the explanation of one like Daniel or Joseph,
becomes the cause of the people accepting the true religion of God.
Now,
just because Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar and Smith were seers with true
visions, such as those recorded in the Bible, it does not mean that
we convert to their corrupted forms of religion and/or paganism!
No! God forbid! This is so that through the visions given to famous
people such as Smith, Jeane Dixon, Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, etc.,
all people hear about it. Then when the true explanation is given
by an authoritative one speaking on behalf of God, the people can
turn to the religion of God and not to something else.
As
to the actual facts and events surrounding The Book of Mormon
of Joseph Smith, the people are completely uninformed!
When
Smith was 14 years old, he had a vision of the two Christs. He saw
the Father and the Son as two separate people: Baha'u'llah and Jesus.
Later Smith saw that the return of Jesus would be in America in
the Temple described by Ezekiel in the Bible which would be located
in the Rocky Mountains. Thus, up until the time he died in 1844
Smith directed his people to go to the Rocky Mountains "to
prepare the way" for the return of Jesus.
However,
when he was 14 no one would listen to him, so he needed a way to
get the people's attention. Having been a treasure seeker, he took
his own ideas and visions and wrote them into The Book of Mormon,
which he fabricated based on a manuscript that had been stolen years
earlier from Solomon Spaulding.
Solomon
Spaulding had been studying religion at Dartmouth College where
one of the popular ideas of the day was that the Native American
Indians were supposed to have been descended from the ten lost tribes
of Israel. Based on this fanciful idea Spaulding wrote a Romantic
Novel called Manuscript Found about a modern man
who discovers "tablets" with the lost history of the Americas
inscribed on them. Spaulding had submitted his manuscript to R.
and J. Patterson's print shop, who said they were interested in
printing the book. However, in 1816, right before Spaulding died,
Patterson told him that his book, Manuscript Found, had
been lost.
One
of the employees at Patterson's print shop, J.H. Lambdin,
was friends with Sidney Rigdon, a Campbellite preacher, who was
the friend and co-religionist of Joseph Smith. Before Spaulding
died he told several people that he knew for a fact that Rigdon
had stolen his manuscript. One of those he told was Dr. Cephas Dodd
who was Spaulding's attending physician during his last illness
(see photo).
Dr.
Cephas Dodd testifies:
This
work [The Book of Mormon], I am convinced by facts related
to me by my deceased patient, Solomon Spaulding, has been made
from the writings of Spaulding, probably by Sidney Rigdon, who
was suspicioned by Spaulding with purloining his manuscript from
the publishing-house to which he had taken it; and I am prepared
to testify that Spaulding told me that his work was entitled,
"The Manuscript Found in the Wilds of Mormon; or Unearthed
Records of the Nephites." From his description of the contents,
I fully believe that this Book of Mormon is mainly and wickedly
copied from it (Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon?
by Davis, p. 74).
Rigdon
was seen at the Smith farm in New York after Spaulding's manuscript
was stolen and before The Book of Mormon was written.
During
some of my visits at the Smith's, I saw a stranger there who they
said was Mr. Rigdon. He was at Smith's several times, and it was
in the year of 1827 [The Book of Mormon was published
in 1830] when I first saw him there, as near as I can recollect.
Some time after that tales were circulating that a young Joe had
found or dug from the earth a Book of Plates which the Smiths
called the Golden Bible. (Have You Witnessed to a Mormon Lately?
by Spencer, p. 207)
Later
when The Book of Mormon was first published, all of Spaulding's
friends and family immediately recognized the story and the names
and places as those from Spaulding's stolen manuscript. It was easy
to connect Joseph Smith back to Rigdon who by that time was a well-known
Mormon. Spaulding's brother writes:
He
[Solomon] then told me he was writing a book.... It was an historical
romance of the first settlers of America, endeavoring to show
that the American Indians are the descendants of the Jews, or
the lost tribes. It gave a detailed account of their journey from
Jerusalem, by land and sea, till they arrived in America, under
the command of Nephi and Lehi. They afterwards had quarrels and
contentions and separated into two distinct nations, one of which
he denominated Nephites, and the other Lamanites. Cruel and bloody
wars ensued, in which great multitudes were slain. They buried
their dead in large heaps, which caused the mounds so common in
this country. Their arts, sciences and civilization were brought
into view in order to account for all the curious antiquities
found in various parts of North and South America. I have recently
read The Book of Mormon and to my great surprise I find
nearly the same historical matter, names, etc., as they were in
my brother's writings. I well remember he wrote in the old style,
and commenced about every sentence with 'And it came to pass,'
or 'Now it came to pass,' the same as The Book of Mormon,
and according to the best of my recollection and belief, it is
the same as my brother Solomon wrote, with the exception of the
religious part. (ibid., by Spencer, pp. 202, 203)
So
Smith added his own visions and beliefs, "the religious part,"
on top of Spaulding's story of the ancient happenings of America.
The fact that Smith wrote The Book of Mormon himself based
in part on the Bible, the beliefs of his day, Spaulding's manuscript,
and his own visions, cannot be denied. The very first edition of
The Book of Mormon did not even claim to be a "translation
of gold plates" but instead stated that Smith
did in fact write the book himself!
In
the first edition of The Book of Mormon, the statement
of the eight witnesses declares that Joseph Smith, Jr. was
"author and proprietor of this work." This statement
also appeared on the title page of the first edition.
The
subsequent editions have the eight witnesses saying that Smith
was the "translator" of the book. The title page
is also changed. I.W. Riley remarks that "the name of author
and proprietor of The Book of Mormon was inadvertently
assumed and quickly discarded."
All
told there have been at least 3,913 changes added to and deleted
from The Book of Mormon since the first edition. Likewise
there were never any physical gold plates found. This was also a
story made up by Smith (which he learned from the Free Masons) to
attract attention to the movement. If he did have actual physical
gold plates they would have weighed over 234 pounds! This is ridiculous!
No one could carry that weight around by himself in "out-stretched
arms" or with one hand! Further, witnesses testified that they
never even saw any physical gold plates!
Martin
Harris and David Whitmer [two of the witnesses] said they saw the
plates with their "spiritual eyes" only: "[Z.H. Gurley
asked,] 'did you touch them?' His [Whitmer's] answer was, 'We did
not touch nor handle plates.'"
The
Book of Mormon is not "revealed scripture" or translated
from "gold plates." It is certainly not equal with the
writings of the Bible and those of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha.
The people are of no authority to demand them to be as such. Shoghi
Effendi clearly states Smith is not a prophet (neither major nor
minor). The Book of Mormon is a collection of ideas, visions
and prophecies of the seer Joseph Smith and parts are plagiarized
from the King James Bible and Spaulding's manuscript.
The
whole idea of the "Gold Plates" actually originates within
the ancient prophecy of Enoch preserved in Masonic tradition where
Enoch is instructed to bury the "Gold Plates" in a
mountain with the letter "M" written
on it. He is then instructed to place the knowledge of how to
obtain the "Gold Plates" into two structures—one
a "pillar of brick" and the other a "pillar of stone."
These two pillars of Enoch are described in The History of Josephus.
The "pillar of brick" was destroyed during the flood.
The "pillar of stone" is the Great Pyramid of Gizeh—a
chronological and prophetic Book of Stone—the meanings of
which Dr. Jensen has unraveled since his move to Missoula ("Masauwa"
of the Hopi), and his wrongful imprisonment within Ezekiel's Temple
(the "stone with seven eyes") in Deer Lodge. (In Chapter
Eleven in this book I give a short version of Dr. Jensen's explanations
of the Great Pyramid of Gizeh.) In Missoula, looking east
past the University of Montana on Mt. Sentinel, is the mountain
with the large "M" written on it
which can be seen throughout the city, fulfilling the prophecy of
the Masonic Legend of Enoch (see photo). The knowledge of the "Gold
Plates" is also in our possession. [2]
Photo of Mount Sentinel in Missoula.
The "Mountain with the Letter 'M' Written on it"
The
Vision of Joseph Smith
In
the days of Joseph Smith a large consensus of the population believed
that Jesus would return in America. It is believed that the Puritans
came to America for that reason. Also on May 23rd, 1844 the Millerites
were looking for Jesus to descend from a cloud and land on a mountain
in Pennsylvania. They were standing on that mountain dressed in
ascension robes on that date. Thus the young lad Joseph Smith, at
the age of 14, picked up on this and had visions prompting him to
go out looking for the place.
Joseph
Smith was the founder of the Mormon Church. He saw in a vision that
the Kingdom of God would be west of a large river. He set up an
earthly kingdom just west of the Mississippi River in Illinois.
The town had been called Commerce, but Joseph Smith changed the
name to Navoo. Joseph Smith told his followers that Jesus would
return at Independence, Missouri. While in Independence he was arrested
and spent the winter in the Liberty Jail. At this time he saw a
vision of a great river and Jesus was on the west side of the river.
Independence is east of the Missouri River. Joseph Smith was being
transferred to a different jail and his followers helped him to
escape. He traveled on the Mississippi River until he saw a mountain
and a town in a valley west of the river. He told his followers
that this town would now be called Navoo. He said it was a Greek
word meaning "plateau." His followers could not find Navoo
in Greek, but they believed he was a prophet, so they accepted the
new name.
There
in Navoo Joseph Smith built an earthly kingdom, appointing himself
as the president. He appointed 12 apostles. He built the city 12
square miles and paved the main street with gold. Many of his followers
remained in Independence, Missouri, believing Jesus would return
there as first prophesied. Mormons there today still expect Jesus
to return to the temple in Independence. They have laid the cornerstone
for the temple with the top being able to open. The top will open
when Jesus "returns from the sky." The Mormons were expelled
from Missouri when Governor Boggs passed an extermination order
which made it legal to kill a Mormon. The printing press in Missouri
was burned to the ground. The Mormons had attempted to settle in
Kirtland, Ohio, but their temple was burned.
Joseph
Smith called his kingdom in Navoo the "World Order of Enoch."
He set up a storehouse which fed the poor. He had every member contribute
to a fund, giving the Church control of the money. Members were
given money according to their needs and the number in each family.
Joseph Smith told the people that the next president of the church
would be his eldest son. He said the presidency would pass from
father to son.
Joseph
Smith campaigned for the presidency of the United States. He told
the people that the priesthood had been lost at the death of the
apostles. He told his followers that it was necessary to restore
the priesthood. He said everything which had taken place in the
Bible had to be restored. This is how he explained polygamy. Also,
many men had been killed in Ohio and Missouri which left many widows.
Joseph Smith's wife, Emma, never accepted polygamy.
Smith
Saw: Jesus Would Return in the Rockies
In
the spring of 1844 Joseph Smith received a vision called "The
White Horse Prophecy." He saw that Jesus would return in the
Rockies. He told Brigham Young to take the members west and there
they would meet up with a group of people who were pure in heart
(the salt of the earth).
Joseph Smith started to head north in a boat and planned on finding
the place in the Rockies. At the time that he left Navoo, he was
being hunted by the Missouri authorities for escaping from jail.
Joseph Smith had made up many counterfeit notes and was arrested
in Independence when these notes were proven to be counterfeit.
While
Joseph Smith was on the boat leaving Navoo, he changed his mind
and went back to Navoo. He told the believers that "he was
like a sheep going to the slaughter, but he was as calm as a summer's
night." He was soon arrested in Navoo and was escorted to the
Carthage Jail just north of Navoo. A few days later he was martyred
by a mob of people. His brother, Hyrum Smith, was murdered at the
same time.
Brigham
Young told the members to pack up because they were heading west.
Joseph Smith's son was only 10 years old and so was too young to
be president. So Brigham Young appointed himself as the next president.
Emma Smith was very angry. She went to Independence, Missouri and
set up the Reorganized Church, and Joseph Smith's son became the
president when he was older.
The
Pure of Heart
The
people that the Mormons met up with were the Danes. Being of the
tribe of Dan, they were not looking for Jesus to come out of the
sky, but were expecting him to be a descendant of the Kings of Denmark.
Historians comment on the original Danish Kings' belief that they
were descended from Dan. Dan was the one "from whom, so saith
antiquity, the pedigrees of our kings have flowed in glorious series,
like channels from some parent spring." (John Philip Cohane,
The Key, p. 255)
Joseph
Smith told his people that Jesus would return to his temple. Brigham
Young took the Mormons to Salt Lake City, whereas he should have
taken them to the salt lick in Deer Lodge, Montana. Brigham Young
was very corrupt. He would send young men on missions and then marry
their young wives. Most of the wives lived in a small house called
the Beehive House. Brigham Young also had a small farm where the
remaining wives lived. He had 27 wives (19 alive at one time). A
few of his wives were sealed (married) to him by proxy. They would
not refuse his proposal for fear they would be cursed by God. The
Mormons teach that a woman must be sealed to a man to enter the
Celestial Kingdom (the highest degree of heaven).
The
Mormon Religion Becomes Very Weird
Lorinzo
Snow, the fourth president, said, "As man is, God once was,
and as God is, man may become." The Mormons teach that through
Celestial Marriage, they become gods and goddesses. They believe
God had a father and a mother. They created souls in heaven. The
souls were born in heaven. This is called the pre-Soul and the soul
has no choices. They then are born in this world, become a person
and receive a body and the freedom of choice. The body dies, the
soul goes back to heaven and creates its own world. There is eternal
procreation. The souls born in heaven must come to another world
and receive a body. The "father of all gods" is Eloheim
and he had no beginning or end. With believing all this, polygamy
was necessary. In order to create an entire world, it would take
more than one woman. The Mormons teach that everyone has one father
(god), but many mothers (goddesses). Believing this, the young women
would never give up their "opportunity" to be a bride
of Brigham Young. He had complete control of them.
Joseph
Morris, a Mormon reformer, saw through this corruption. He tried
to expose the corruption and was murdered under the direction of
Brigham Young. The Danes (Dans) who came to Salt Lake City to wait
for the coming of Jesus and the City of Gold were shocked to see
the corruption of Brigham Young and were appalled and aghast with
his religion. They became the followers of Morris. They knew that
the return of Jesus would be a descendant of the Kings of Denmark.
George Williams, a Mormon prophet, told Joseph Morris' followers,
the Morrisites, that Jesus would return to his temple in Deer Lodge,
Montana. Joshua (Jesus) the High Priest [3]
after the Order of Melchizedec returned to his Temple—the
Old Montana State Prison (Ezekiel's' Temple)—on the exact
date prophesied by George Williams.
JOSEPH
SMITH WAS RIGHT
Joseph
Smith was right. Jesus did return to his
temple in the Rocky Mountains. Although he was a
bit of a scoundrel having many iniquities, or sins, that did him
in, the greatness of Joseph Smith is that he was the only man who
directed his followers to go to the Rocky Mountains where Jesus
would return. Thus he was a true seer.
One
of the main visions of Joseph Smith was:—
The
Seer Joseph Predicts a National Judgement
You
will see the Constitution of the United States almost destroyed.
It will hang by a thread, as it were, and that thread as fine
as the finest silk fiber....
A
terrible revolution will take place in the land of America, such
as has never been seen before, for the land will be left without
a supreme government, and every species of wickedness will
be rampant. It will be so terrible that father will be against
son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter
against mother. The most terrible scenes of murder and bloodshed
and rapine that have ever been looked upon will take place....
Peace will be taken from the earth, there will be no place of
safety except in the Rocky Mountains. This will cause many
hundreds and thousands of the honest in heart to gather there;
not because they would be Saints, but for safety and because they
would not take the sword against their neighbor....
The
prophet Joseph Smith was shown the doings of Negroes in America
at this time, and the scene was so terrible that he could not
bear to look upon it any longer, and he asked the Lord to close
this scene from his vision. The race rioting was too horrible
to view. (The Three-and-One-Half Years, by Norman C.
Pierce, pp. 14, 15)
Baha'u'llah
has said many things similar to this. We are into the "Day
of Judgment," where everyone will be paid for what they have
done:
Behold,
I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay every one for
what he has done. (Revelation 22:12 RSV)
The
Perversity of all the Religions:
There
are 22,000 sects of Christianity, each pointing to the other as
being perverse. And as the Baha'is were to lead the others out of
their religious marasmus, this one is more perverse
than the rest as they were given a clear and distinct Covenant for
the unity of the faith that the "mainstream Baha'is" have
grievously violated.
The
world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day by day. Its
face is turned toward waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be
its plight, that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly.
Its perversity will long continue. And when the
appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which
shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then, and only then,
will the Divine Standard be unfurled, and the Nightingale of Paradise
warble its melody. (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah,
pp. 118, 119)
Are
the prophecies of the destruction of America unique in the Mormon
faith? No! George Washington was given a similar vision, and it
was common knowledge among the founding fathers of this country.
The symbol of the United States was that of the PHOENIX bird that
lives for centuries, finally being consumed in fire by its own act
and then rises in youthful freshness from its own ashes. The founding
fathers wanted this to be the symbol of this country, as they knew
the fate of this country. But as this was a legendary bird there
were no pictures of it. So they chose the EAGLE to represent the
phoenix bird. The founding fathers knew the fate of this country,
that by its own act it will cause a nuclear war where the United
States will be the most destroyed country in the world. This is
in the works now and may have taken place before
I finish writing this book, that is, the United States, by its stubborn
refusal to lift the sanctions against Iraq, will cause them to nuke
New York City which is the seat of the beast:—
And
the fifth angel [4] [this pertains to
Islam] poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast...[5]
[the UN building in New York City]. (Revelation 16:10)
The
United States will be burned to a cinder. But out of its ashes will
arise a new Phoenix bird which will be spiritual, established by
the return of Jesus. These four beasts (that is, what is left of
them) will become the first Baha'i States.
ENDNOTES
1 Joseph, the youngest son of Jacob
[back]
2
The above scenario of Joseph Smith is from the writings and research
of Neal Chase, an honorable member of the second International Baha'i
Council. [back]
3 Zechariah 3:1 [back]
4 Ali [back]
5
The USA (the eagle), England (the lion), Russia (the bear) and France
(the Leo pard—the lion and the pard (French = panther) became
joined together to be the leopard, Franks and Saxons, when Charlemagne
conquered the Saxons). [back]
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