Joseph Smith vs….
Joseph
Smith made a lot of big claims. So have leaders of other religious start-ups.
Following is a list of fledgling religious leaders that have made similar
claims to Smith. It is pretty interesting to see the comparisons:
…David Koresh
David Koresh is infamous. He was also a polygamist. His
people weren’t. He encouraged celibacy among them – even the married ones. But
he himself, he was definitely a polygamist. Once, surrounded by his followers,
he quirked his head as if hearing something - and then this happened:
“…Koresh claimed all marriages in the group were
dissolved and that all of the women would be his “wives” if he wanted them,
even though Koresh was legally married to one woman, Rachel Jones.
“David Koresh’s justification for taking all of the
women for himself was theological … he’s the one that had the power, he’s the
one that had the authority to ‘give the seed,’” [David] Bunds said, adding that
if he had sex with a woman, Koresh would say she was in the ‘House of David.”
What’s
interesting here is the amount of kids he had. Keep in mind he assumed control
in 1989 and died in 1993. This is a pretty short window. Now check out all
these Irish twins:
“…Rachel gave birth to two children with David: a son and a
daughter. He had children with many other wives… Rachel was David Koresh’s only
legal wife, but he had sexual relations with many of the women in the compound… Even
Rachel’s younger sister, Michelle (sometimes spelled Michele), had at least one
child — possibly two — with David. David himself admitted to fathering 12
children, but other sources said he may have fathered 15 or more. (https://heavy.com/news/2018/01/rachel-koresh-david-koresh-wife-bio/)
…Malachi York
Malachi York was the leader
of a group called the Nuwabians. Though not exactly polygamist, he did use his
position of power for, well, you’ll see:
“Investigators
have previously said York is believed to have fathered about 100 children.”
Joseph
had 11 kids – all with Emma. He had no children with any other wives. Literally
no children with other wives. Of
these 11 kids 2 were adopted. The other 9 were genetically Joseph and Emma’s.
Joseph
also had a lot of wives. The exact amount changes depending on who you talk to,
but there were more than 30. It is interesting that with so many wives, and
clearly boys that swim, he only had children with Emma. It is quite peculiar. More
about this here.
Now
for other prophety-comparisons. Any good prophet has to receive some sort of heavenly
visitors, right? Let’s see how these three did:
…Anne Hamilton
Byrne
Anne
Byrne ran a group called the family. She claimed to be the reincarnated female
version of Jesus Christ. And she really needed people to believe this. How’d
she convince them? A hit of LSD is step #1. I’ve heard
there were bright lights positioned behind her in the doorway too, but that
doesn’t appear in this quote:
“And once … they … were … administered … the LSD in a dark room,
the door … would appear open and here would be Anne standing there in a flowing
white gown … behind her was a bucket of dry ice which permeated like smoke …
and under the hallucinogenic drug LSD, they were actually convinced that they
were seeing the Almighty, that they were seeing Jesus Christ.”
...James Strang
When Smith was martyred there were a few
people who stood up and said they should take his place. James Strang had a
letter he claimed was from Joseph, stating Strang should assume the big chair.
Strang, at the time, claimed he was still seeing the same angels Joseph saw.
Per a former Strang follower:
“Strang wanted me to get a couple of bottles of phosphoros and dress
myself in a long white robe and appear on the highest summit on the island,
called Mount Pisgah, break the bottles, make an illumination and blow a trumpet
and disappear so that he might make it appear that an angel had made them a
visit; that it might beget faith in the Saint.” (https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Question:_What_are_the_differences_between_the_Strangite_witness_statements_and_those_of_the_Three_and_Eight_Witnesses_to_the_Book_of_Mormon%3F)
…Mauricio
Berger
Mauricio
Berger is currently running a Latter-Day Saint off-shoot in South America. He's claimed possession of the sword of Laban, his very own Urim and Thummim, heavenly
visitations and witnesses to some of these heavenly visitations. For
circumstances of these witness-encounters, read this:
“Jader [Machado Pereira]’s
story is interesting. Mauricio was the one that introduced him to the church
[of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]. Soon after he was baptized is when
Mauricio started telling him all of this apostasy. A few years went by and
around 2011/2012, Mauricio approached Jader and wanted him to go back to his
bishop and stake president and lie that he had seen an angel....” (https://onewhoiswatching.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/final-mauricio-blog-10.pdf)
Compare
all this to Joseph Smith’s shared visions. It has been quite popular for people
to claim that Joseph’s three witnesses – the ones who saw the gold plates by
the hand of a heavenly angel, eventually recanted. But this is not true. We
know this in part because one of the witnesses, David Whitmer, lived a very long time.
Long enough that two encyclopedias probably thought he died and started
printing things as they thought they should be. He used the opportunity to
reiterate his experience in a newspaper:
“It is recorded in the American Cyclopedia and the Encyclopedia
Britannica, that I, David Whitmer, have denied my testimony as one of the Three
Witnesses to the divinity of the Book of Mormon: and that the two other
witnesses, Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris, denied their testimony to that
book.
“I will say once more to all mankind, that I have never at any
time denied that testimony or any part thereof. I also testify to the world,
that neither Oliver Cowdery nor Martin Harris ever at any time denied their
testimony. They both died affirming the truth of the divine authenticity of the
Book of Mormon.” (https://www.fairmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Book_of_Mormon_Witnesses_4.pdf)
An
interesting thing about those three witnesses is that all three of them left the Church. Harris and Cowdery re-baptized eventually but Whitmer
never did. What’s interesting is that while Cowdery and Whitmer
were out they claimed Joseph Smith was a fallen
prophet – not a false prophet. That’s a funny little detail that really shows
their conviction of what they experienced. For more on these three witnesses, I highly
recommend this.
We're in a good spot to note that Mauricio Berger, featured above, also claimed to
have produced scripture – specifically he claims he was given the gold plates
and translated the sealed portion. This is important as this next fellow also translated the sealed
portion – several years apart and completely separately!
If
the two translations are identical, I’m jumping in with both feet! Wait. Wait.
This next bit kind of ruins it for me.
...Christopher
Nemelka
Any
good prophet needs to produce scripture. Perhaps that is why so many of them
have produced the sealed portion of the gold plates. Christopher Nemelka, as I
just said, also claims to have translated them. But he faked it and you can
watch him say as much in this very short video:
...James Strang
(again – with ancient metal records this time)
Strang also claims to have translated scripture. He says he found ancient metal plates at
least twice:
1) “The first set, the three "Voree" or
"Rajah Manchou" plates, were dug up by four "witnesses"
whom Strang had taken to the plates' burial place. Illustrated and inscribed on
both sides, the Rajah Manchou plates were roughly 1.5 by 2.75 inches in size —
small enough to fit in the palm of a hand or to carry in a pocket.
“Among the many who saw them was
Stephen Post, who reported that they were brass and, indeed, that they
resembled the French brass used in familiar kitchen kettles. "With all the
faith & confidence that I could exercise," he wrote, "all that I
could realize was that Strang made the plates himself, or at least that it was
possible that he made them." (https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Question:_What_are_the_differences_between_the_Strangite_witness_statements_and_those_of_the_Three_and_Eight_Witnesses_to_the_Book_of_Mormon%3F)
2) “…The 18 "Plates of Laban," likewise of brass
and each about 7.5 by 9 inches, were first mentioned in 1849 and were seen by
seven witnesses in 1851. These witnesses' testimony was published as a preface
to "The Book of the Law of the Lord," which Strang said he derived
from the "Plates of Laban." (He appears to have begun the
"translation" at least as early as April 1849. An 84-page version
appeared in 1851; by 1856, it had reached 350 pages.) Strang's witnesses report
seeing the plates, but mention nothing miraculous. Nor did Strang supply any
additional supporting testimony comparable to that of the Three Witnesses to
the Book of Mormon.
“One of the witnesses to the
"Plates of Laban," Samuel P. Bacon, eventually denied the inspiration
of Strang's movement and denounced it as mere "human invention."
Another, Samuel Graham, later claimed that he had actually assisted Strang in
the creation of the plates.” (https://www.deseretnews.com/article/705374177/The-story-behind-James-Strang-and-his-sect.html)
For Joseph Smith’s ancient metal records, see the David Whitmer
quote above. Or see this deathbed bit from Martin Harris:
“Martin Harris bore his testimony
once again on his deathbed. Martin’s highly practical neighbor, George Godfrey,
deliberately waited for a semiconscious moment to suggest that Martin’s
testimony was possibly based on deception. Godfrey recorded the vigorous
response:
“A few hours before his death and
when he was so weak and enfeebled that he was unable to recognize me or anyone,
and knew not to whom he was speaking, I asked him if he did not feel that there
was an element at least, of fraudulence and deception in the things that were
written and told of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and he replied as
he had always done so many, many times in my hearing the same spirit he always
manifested when enjoying health and vigor and said: ‘The Book of Mormon is no
fake. I know what I know. I have seen what I have seen and I have heard what I
have heard. I have seen the gold plates from which the Book of Mormon is
written. An angel appeared to me and others and testified to the truthfulness
of the record, and had I been willing to have perjured myself and sworn falsely
to the testimony I now bear I could have been a rich man, but I could not have
testified other than I have done and am now doing for these things are true.”” (https://www.fairmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Book_of_Mormon_Witnesses_3.pdf)
That’s it. A short list of other would-be Abrahams
starting their own thing with similar claims to Joseph Smith. How do they compare?
Is it a toss-up?
It seems it’s not even close.
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