Known as the founder of Mormon, Joseph Smith is widely known as a prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Some people might regard him as a fanatic, but to the Mormons, Joseph Smith is an idol that should be symbolized. As the years went on, Mormons grew in numbers, which also gave them more popularity.
Interesting Facts About Joseph Smith
1. Joseph Smith Had Several Heavenly Visions.
Before Joseph Smith became a spiritual prophet, he experienced several visions that Smith claimed to be from God. While in his first spiritual trance, Joseph Smith saw Jesus and God, so he asked them a question,” Of all the churches in the world, which is the right one?” According to Smith, they answered that all the churches were wrong. After retelling his vision to his church congregation, many dismissed his “vision” as a delusion. However, that did not stop Joseph Smith
After the first heavenly vision, Smith claimed that an angel of God came to him in a dream, an interesting fact about Joseph Smith. In short, the angel called Moroni inspired Joseph Smith to write the Book of Mormon. According to many religious critics, the Book of Mormon is very similar to the Bible.
2. Joseph Smith Was Involved in Over 200 Lawsuits.
Due to his religious beliefs, Joseph Smith was persecuted by the public and also by the press. You probably can see his main problem in the third interesting fact, but polygamy was illegal in the United States. When the issues of polygamy were sent to the Supreme Court, the judges decided on monogamy, which was the marriage between one man and one woman. Due to this legal decision, Joseph Smith was arrested and tried time and time again due to his practice of polygamy.
3. Joseph Smith Had 30 ~ 40 Wives.
In addition to the Book of Mormon, Smith added another book containing the commandments and doctrines of Mormonism. Since he took after the Bible, Mormons were allowed to have multiple wives since Abraham (Biblical character) also had multiple wives. Due to the polygamy in the Bible, Joseph Smith was involved in polygamy, and history shows that he had up to 40 wives in total.
More interesting facts about Joseph Smith are unveiled as we look closely at his wives. Some of his wives were underaged, and several of his wives were married! They were married to his followers, but I guess Joseph Smith didn’t really care and his followers didn’t seem to object to his choices.
4. During the Persecution, Joseph Smith Moved Over 10 Times.
Since the United States was deeply rooted in Christianity, many US citizens disagreed with the doctrines and principles of Mormonism. Wherever they went, Joseph Smith and his followers were thrown out of their community. Due to their radical beliefs, Joseph Smith had to move from house to house nearly 14 times. If you count his childhood, Smith moved from state to state nearly 20 times!
5. Joseph Smith Kept His Practice of Polygamy a Secret.
Since polygamy was illegal in the United States, Joseph Smith unveiled his secret to a privileged few. As the years passed on, his secret was leaked from one person to another until it was heard by the press. After hearing this news, many papers were published to let people know. When the news was published, Joseph Smith was enraged, so he sent his followers to destroy the press that printed out this news.
Destruction of private property gave the government an excuse to arrest Joseph Smith, and due to his bad choice, he would be sent to jail. Joseph Smith would meet his end because he couldn’t control his temper.
6. During the 1844 Campaign, Joseph Smith Ran for President.
When Mormons were persecuted due to their religious beliefs, Joseph Smith began to seek out which Presidential candidate to support. Even though he sent out many letters, none of the candidates was willing to support his cause. To make a change for his followers, he decided to run for the President of the United States, an interesting fact about Joseph Smith. Before the election really started, Joseph Smith made several political stands that were eye-opening. He even had the abolition of slavery among his political agendas.
Due to his popular stand and convincing claims, Joseph Smith grew in strength, and many feared that he would win the Presidential election sooner or later. However, Smith’s Presidential campaign abruptly ended due to an unexpected tragedy.
7. Joseph Smith Was Killed in Cold Blood.
During his campaign, Joseph Smith was threatened by his enemies, and they began to implement their plan. Since they couldn’t find a sufficient reason to arrest him, his enemies trumped illegal charges on Joseph Smith. After putting Smith in a jail cell located in Carthage, Illinois, they decided to murder Smith in cold blood. Since his enemies didn’t want to do the dirty work, they hired a drunken mob to eliminate Joseph Smith.
Even though the mobs were repulsed several times, Joseph Smith and his followers were killed on June 27, 1844. Due to his martyrdom, many viewed Mormonism in a positive light, and many conversions took place due to the death of Joseph Smith.
8. Failed Prophecies of Joseph Smith
During his lifetime, Joseph Smith made many prophecies concerning the United States, Coming of the Lord, and the Building of Temple.
He prophesied the destruction of the United States, but that didn’t really happen. Joseph Smith also prophesied the coming of the Lord in 56 years, which he made in 1835. However, even in 1891, the Lord still didn’t return. In addition, Joseph Smith prophesied the building of a Temple in Salem, Massachusetts. Due to the persecution of Mormons, they weren’t able to complete the temple to fulfill this prophecy
I hope that this article on Joseph Smith facts was helpful. If you are interested, visit the Historical People Page!