Death of a Prophet (apologies for the lateness due to the internet error!)

Posted by rjhmoore at 6:39 AM 1 comments
Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Joseph Smith is dead, finally. Not to say I was looking forward to it, but it does raise a road block on the path to new discoveries in this story. He and his brother, Hyrum Smith, were killed, or as the Mormons like to say, "martyred," in the Carthage Jail in Nauvoo, Illinois. The cause of his imprisonment was due to criminal acts committed by him and other members of the Church, against Illinois "gentiles" (regular people, non-Mormons). Mormons feared, when Smith was taken to jail, that he would be massacred, but the governor (Governor Ford) refused to add extra security. Thus, Joseph Smith was killed.

Honestly, I believe his death did some good for the Mormon Church and for himself. I think that the only reason the Mormon Church has survived so long is due the fact that their esteemed prophet was killed in the face of religious persecution. Had Smith lived out his natural life, the Mormon Church would have found an increasing number of reasons to NOT believe his "revelations." Personally, I don't believe that he really talked to God and Jesus and decoded the Book of Mormon from brass plates, I believe he made it up for power and attention. In the end, you can kind of see that the revelations made closest to his death were more ludicrous and selfish than the earlier ones. Celestial marriage (polygamy) was revealed to be the holy way, "Thus saith the Lord." Bickering had been occurring between Church saints and other officials and Joseph was desperate to stay on his little pedestal created by his faithful band of followers. Also, testimonies had been made that Smith had made "dishonorable proposals" to the wives of well-known Mormon men long before his polygamous insight. So he made up his latest vision in a bit of a hurry to keep the restless herd at bay. Then he died. The Mormons, so devastated by his loss, were determined to carry on his noble work in his name and in the name of the Lord. Now they no longer expected revelations, but wholeheartedly believed those made by the martyred leader because to say otherwise would be treacherous blasphemy.

Joseph Smith's death was a kindness done unto himself as well, despite how horrible it sounds. Let me explain, or rather, let Ann Eliza Young explain, because the thought that we share is much better put into her clear and scholarly words.

"It is safe to believe that no one man can wear all these 'honors' without growing somewhat dizzy under them; and it is no wonder that the Prophet Smith overreached himself at last, and fell victim to his overweening ambition and stupendous self-esteem, which probably made him believe that he could accomplish impossibilities."

Well said, I think, and quite true.