Posted June 13, 2010
Ruth writes:
I was contemplating if Joseph Smith was the reincarnation of “Mormon”.
John C Responds:
This is what Chris Nemelka teaches, if I am not mistaken.
JJ
I read that he was teaching this and wondered if he got that from me. Here is what I wrote back in 1978 and published it on the net in 2001:
Why was Joseph Smith told that he was “called and chosen to WRITE the Book of Mormon”? We know that as Joseph Smith he did not write the book, but translated it. The one most responsible for compiling and writing it as it reads was Mormon. Could this be a clue that Joseph was once this ancient hero? This would mean that Moroni was no stranger to Joseph for they had worked together before (Since Mormon was his father.).
His mother gives an interesting account of Joseph’s early childhood that indicates that Joseph had flashbacks to lives on the ancient American continent:
“During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He could describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of traveling, and animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, AS IF HE HAD SPENT HIS WHOLE LIFE WITH THEM.” (Lucy Smith Biographical Sketches, Pg 85)
It is interesting that this occurred when he was a young boy before he ever met Moroni in this life and before he was supposed to know anything about those ancient inhabitants. It sounds as if he were merely recalling his past life experiences just as numerous young people do today to an ever increasing degree.
https://freeread.com/archives/1560.html
John C:
We need to stop imitating the Catholics with their Peter fetish, their whole foundation upon which their hierarchy of authority is built. Joseph Smith sought glory and authority for himself and did not honor God, nor his fellow servants. This is one reason why his talent will be taken away from him and given to another.
JJ
I wouldn’t be so quick to so harshly judge the man. He had his faults but he had a lot of good things going for him. The King Follett discourse showed that near the end of his life he was still greatly progressing in light and truth.
Then at his death when, at the time of a clear blue sky, a man with a Bowie knife went to cut his head off a great light struck him paralyzed and dispersed the frightened mob after they recovered from shock. This illustrates a recognition that his service was more in the light than the dark and his mission was not done or given to another.
A Gentile (non-Mormon) named William W. Daniels claimed to have witnessed the martyrdom. He wrote that after Joseph Smith fell from the second story window a miraculous event occurred after a member of the mob attempted to cut-off Joseph Smith’s head with a bowie knife. Daniels wrote:
“The ruffian, of whom I have spoken, who set him against a well-curb, now gathered a bowie knife for the purpose of severing his head from his body. He raised the knife and was in the attitude of striking, when a light, so sudden and powerful, burst from the heavens upon the bloody scene (passing its vivid chain between Joseph and his murderers,) that they were struck with terrified awe and filled with consternation. This light, in its appearance and potency, baffles all powers of description. The arm of the ruffian, that held the knife, fell powerless; the muskets of the four, who fired, fell to the ground, and they all stood like marble statues, not having the power to move a single limb of their bodies.”
Murder of an American Prophet, pp.175-6
Other witnesses of this quoted at:
https://freeread.com/archives/3696.html
There’s an interesting book called “The Fate of the Persecutors of the Prophet Joseph Smith” that tells what happened to many who put him to death. Many died strange unnatural deaths testifying on their deathbeds that they killed a prophet. The copyright has expired on this and if there is enough interest I will post it.
Copyright 2010 by J J Dewey