View source for Mormonism and Wikipedia/Joseph Smith, Jr./Legacy

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{{FAIRAnalysisWikipedia
|title=[[../|"Joseph Smith"]]
|wikipedialink=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith
|uplink=[[../|Joseph Smith]]
|section=Legacy
|previous=[[../Distinctive views and teachings|Distinctive views and teachings]]
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}}

==Reviews of previous revisions of this section==
{{SummaryItem
|link=/051909
|subject=19 May 2009
|summary=A review of this section as it appeared in Wikipedia on 19 May 2009.
}}

==Section review {{WikipediaUpdate|9/3/2011}}==
===Impact===
===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Smith's teachings and practices aroused considerable antagonism. As early as 1829, newspapers dismissed Smith as a fraud.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=82–83, 88–89}} (describing the editorial reaction to the publication of the Book of Mormon); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=16–17}}.</ref> Disaffected Saints periodically accused him of mishandling money and property<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=178–79, 247, 332, 336–40}}; {{Harvtxt|Remini|2002|pp=109–10}}; {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=207, 368–69}}; {{Harvtxt|Hill|1977|p=216}}; {{Harvtxt|Ostling|Ostling|1999|p=14}}.</ref> and of practicing polygamy.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=323–25, 660–61}}; {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=181–82, 369–71}}; {{Harvtxt|Hill|1977|p=188}}; {{Harvtxt|Van Wagoner|1992|p=39}}; {{Harvtxt|Ostling|Ostling|1999|p=14}}.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Smith played a role in provoking an 1838 outbreak of violence in Missouri that resulted in the expulsion of the Saints from that state.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harv|Bushman|2005|pp=345, 357, 365–367}}; {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=225–27}}; {{Harvtxt|Remini|2002|pp=133–34}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|pp=96–97}}.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
He was twice imprisoned for alleged treason,
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=369, 547}}; {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=223, 248, 388}}.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
the second time falling victim to angry militiamen who stormed the jail.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=550}}.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Smith continues to be criticized by [[Evangelicalism|evangelical Christians]] who argue that he was either a liar or lunatic.
|authorsources=<br>
#Richard J. Mouw, ''The Possibility of Joseph Smith: Some Evangelical Probings'' in {{Harvtxt|Neilson|Givens|2008}} at 189.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Despite the controversy Smith aroused, he attracted thousands of devoted followers before his death in 1844
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=380}}.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
and millions within a century.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=15}}.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
He is widely seen as one of the most charismatic and religiously most inventive figures of American history.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Bloom|1992|pp=96–99}} (Smith "surpassed all Americans, before or since, in the possession and expression of what could be called the religion-making imagination," and had [[charisma]] "to a degree unsurpassed in American history".); {{Harvtxt|Abanes|2003|p=7}} (noting that even Smith's harshest critics acknowledge his inventive genius); {{Harvtxt|Persuitte|2000|p=1}} (calling Smith "one of the most controversial and enigmatic figures ever to appear in American history").
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
These followers regard Smith as a prophet and apostle of at least the stature of [[Moses]], [[Elijah]], [[Saint Peter|Peter]] and [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]].
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Widmer|2000|p=97}}; {{Harvtxt|Shipps|1985|p=37}} (making comparisons with [[Moses]] (law-giver), [[Joshua]] (commander of the "armies of Israel"), and [[Solomon]] (king)); {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=xx}} (describing Smith as "a biblical-style prophet—one who spoke for God with the authority of Moses or Isaiah."); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=vii}} (noting that "[i]n official Mormon biographies he has been made a prophet of greater stature than Moses").
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Indeed, because of his perceived role in [[restoration (Latter Day Saints)|restoring]] the true faith prior to the [[Millennium]], and because he was the "choice seer" who would bring the lost [[Israelite]]s to their salvation,
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=72–73, 116–17}} (noting the "choice seer" prophecies in the [[Book of Mormon]] and Smith's [[Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible|revision of the Bible]]); {{Harvtxt|Smith|1830|pp=66–67}} (claiming that the [[Joseph (son of Jacob)|biblical Joseph]] prophesied, "A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins... And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation.").
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{WikipediaCorrect}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
modern Mormons regard Smith as second in importance only to Jesus.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=558}} (quoting a tribute to Smith, probably by [[John Taylor (Mormon)|Taylor]], stating that Smith "has done more, (save Jesus only,) for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it."); {{Citation|last=Smith|first=Joseph Fielding|authorlink=Joseph Fielding Smith|title=The Historical Background of the Prophet Joseph Smith|journal=Improvement Era|date=December 1941|page=717}} ("No prophet since the days of Adam, save, of course, our Redeemer, has been given a greater mission.").
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Status in LDS belief}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
During his lifetime, Smith's role in the Latter Day Saint religion was comparable to that of [[Muhammad]] in early [[Islam]].
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Citation|last=Weber|first=Max|authorlink=Max Weber|title=Economy and society: an outline of interpretive sociology|volume=1|publisher=University of California Press|year=1978|isbn=0520035003|page=446}} (In his role as the founder of Mormonism, Smith "resembled, even in matters of detail, Muhammad."); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=230}} (speech dated October 14, 1838 at the Far West town square, in which Smith called himself "a second [[Muhammad|Mohammed]]"); {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=352}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Status in LDS belief}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
After his death, the Saints believed he had died to seal the testimony of his faith and considered him a [[martyr]].
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=396–97}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Martyrdom}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
His theological importance within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] then only increased.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Widmer|2000|p=98}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Status in LDS belief}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
[[Mormon]] leaders began teaching that Smith was already among the gods,
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Abanes|2003|pp=174–75}} (noting statements by [[Heber C. Kimball]] and [[Brigham Young]] stating that Smith was one of the gods and that his permission was required for entry into heaven, and arguing that regard for Smith has not diminished among modern Mormons); {{Citation|last=Phelps|first=W.W.|author-link=W. W. Phelps (Mormon)|title=Joseph Smith|journal=[[Times and Seasons]]|volume=5|date=1 August 1844|page=607|url=http://patriot.lib.byu.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/NCMP1820-1846&CISOPTR=8291&filename=3402.pdf}} (an ode to Smith, now a popular [[Mormonism|Mormon]] hymn entitled ''[[Praise to the Man]]'', describing him as "mingling with gods").
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Status in LDS belief}}
*{{SeeCriticalWork|work=One Nation Under Gods|author=Richard Abanes}}


===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
and some considered Smith to be an incarnation of the [[Holy Spirit]],
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Citation|last=Swanson|first=Vern G.|title=The Development of the Concept of a Holy Ghost in Mormon Theology}} in {{Harvtxt|Bergera|1989|p=97}} (noting the minority view in the aftermath of Smith's death that he was an incarnation of the [[Holy Spirit]]
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Office of the Holy Ghost}}


===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
a doctrine now taught by [[Mormon fundamentalism|Mormon fundamentalists]].
|authorsources=<br>
#Widmer 2000 98
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Of all Smith's visions, Saints gradually came to regard his [[Joseph Smith's First Vision|First Vision]] as the most important
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Smith|Mulholland|Thompson|Phelps|Richards|1839–1843|p=3}}. This vision was generally unknown to early Latter Day Saints. ''See'' {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=39}} (story was unknown to most early converts); {{Harvtxt|Allen|1966|p=30}} (the first vision received only limited circulation in the 1830s). However, the vision story gained increasing theological importance within the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] beginning roughly a half century later. ''See'' {{Harvtxt|Shipps|1985|pp=30–32}}; {{Harvtxt|Allen|1966|pp=43–69}}; {{Harvtxt|Quinn|1998|p=176}} ("Smith's first vision became a missionary tool for his followers only after Americans grew to regard modern visions of God as unusual.").
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
because it inaugurated his prophetic calling and character.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Allen|1966|pp=43–44}} ("Next to the resurrection of Christ, nothing holds a more central place in modern Mormon thought than" the [[First Vision]].... The most sacred event in church history, a belief in its literal reality is fundamental to belief in [[Mormonism]] itself."); {{Harvtxt|Shipps|1985|pp=9, 32}} (First Vision came to be regarded as the "initial episode in Mormon history," and "emerged as a symbol that could keep the slain Mormon leader at center stage"); {{Harvtxt|Widmer|2000|p=105}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{Detail|Joseph Smith's First Vision}}

===Religious denominations===
===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Smith's death resulted in further [[schism (religion)|schism]].
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|p=143}}; {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=398}}.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Smith had proposed several ways to choose his successor,
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|p=143}} ("He proposed more than one way for a member of the First Presidency to succeed him, left the relative priority of the founding quorums in an ambiguous balance, performed secret ordinations, and suggested more than one method by which a brother or son might succeed him."); {{Harvtxt|Shipps|1985|pp=83–84}} (discussing several of the succession options).
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
but while a prisoner in [[Carthage, Illinois|Carthage]], it was too late to clarify his preference.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|p=143}}.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Smith's brother [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]], had he survived, would have had the strongest claim,
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|p=213}} (after Smith was crowned king, Hyrum referred to himself as "[[President of the Church]]"), and [[Brigham Young]] agreed Hyrum would have been the natural successor.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
followed by Joseph's brother [[Samuel H. Smith (Latter Day Saints)|Samuel]], who died mysteriously a month after his brothers.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|pp=152–54, 213}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=555}}.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Another brother, [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William]], was unable to attract a sufficient following.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|pp=213–26}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=555}} (William Smith "made a bid for the Church presidency, but his unstable character kept him from being a serious contender".).
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Smith's sons [[Joseph Smith III|Joseph III]] and [[David Hyrum Smith|David]] also had  claims, but Joseph III was too young and David was yet unborn.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|pp=226–41}} (outlining the sons' claims and noting, "Even [[Brigham Young]] acknowledged the claims of [[lineal succession (Latter Day Saints)|patrilineal succession]] and as a result never argued that the [[Quorum of the Twelve|Quorum of Twelve]] had exclusive right of succession."); {{Harvtxt|Ostling|Ostling|1999|p=42}}.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*Regarding the possibility of Joseph's sons succeeding him, Brigham said,
<blockquote>
What of Joseph Smith's family? What of his boys? I have prayed from the beginning for sister Emma and for the whole family. There is not a man in this Church that has entertained better feelings towards them. Joseph said to me, "God will take care of my children when I am taken." They are in the hands of God, and when they make their appearance before this people, full of his power, there are none but what will say—"Amen! we are ready to receive you."
<br><br>
The brethren testify that brother Brigham is brother Joseph's legal successor. You never heard me say so. I say that I am a good hand to keep the dogs and wolves out of the flock. I do not care a groat who rises up. I do not think anything about being Joseph's successor.{{JDfairwiki|author=Brigham Young|disc=13|vol=8|start=69}}
</blockquote>
*Brigham's comment "we are ready to receive you" applied to all of Joseph's children, not just Joseph Smith III.
*Ostlings, [[Mormon America: The Power and the Promise|''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise'']] (p. 42) state: "There is historical evidence that Joseph Smith blessed his son, Joseph III, with the intention that the boy would become his successor, but the boy was only eleven when his father was murdered." The endnotes, however, do not provide any supporting references for this claim.
*Brigham was quite adamant that Joseph Smith III would ''not'' lead the church:
<blockquote>
Joseph Smith that now is living in the state of Illinois, the son of Joseph the Prophet, will
never lead the Latter-day Saints: he may lead apostates.<br>
''Brigham Young Addresses'', Given in SLC Bowery, 7 October 1863, HDC, Ms d 1234, Box 49 fd 11 
</blockquote>
*{{Detail|Primary sources/Brigham Young/7 October 1863‎|Succession in the Presidency of the Church}}
*{{SeeCriticalWork|work=Mormon America: The Power and the Promise|author=Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
The [[Council of Fifty]] had a theoretical claim to succession, but it was a secret organization.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|pp=192–98}} (before his death, Smith had charged the Fifty with the responsibility of establishing the [[Millennialism|Millennial]] kingdom in his absence; the [[Quorum of Twelve]] would eventually claim this "charge" as their own).
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{Detail|The Council of Fifty}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Some of Smith's ordained successors, such as [[Oliver Cowdery]] and [[David Whitmer]], had left the church.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|pp=187–91}}.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
The two strongest succession candidates were [[Sidney Rigdon]], the senior member of the [[First Presidency]], and [[Brigham Young]], senior member of the [[Quorum of the Twelve]]. Most of the Saints voted for Young,
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=556–57}}.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
who led his faction to the [[Utah Territory]] and incorporated [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], whose membership surpassed 13 million members in 2007.
|authorsources=<br>
#[http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695242682,00.html?pg=4 Desert News] "Addressing the New Mission Presidents Seminar on June 24, President Hinckley announced that Church membership had reached 13 million." See also: {{Citation |url=http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-851-9,00.html |title=Statistical Report, 2007 |accessdate=2008-04-14 |last=Watson |first=F. Michael |year=2008 |month=April  |publisher=http://www.lds.org |archivedate= |quote=Total Membership: 13,193,999 }}
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Rigdon's followers are known as [[Rigdonite]]s.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=557}}. The largest existing [[Rigdonite]]church is the [[Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)]].
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Most of Smith's family and several [[Book of Mormon witnesses]] temporarily followed [[James J. Strang]],
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|p=211}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=556}} (Strang followed Smith's example of producing revelations with a [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]], saying an angel had ordained him, translating scripture from buried plates, having himself crowned as theocratic king, and practicing [[Mormonism and polygamy|polygamy]]). Strang's current followers consist of the tiny [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)]].
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{Detail|James Strang}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
who based his claim on a forged [[letter of appointment]],
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|p=210}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=555}}.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
but Strang's following largely dissipated after his assassination in 1856.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|p=211}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=556}} (Strang followed Smith's example of producing revelations with a [[seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]], saying an angel had ordained him, translating scripture from buried plates, having himself crowned as theocratic king, and practicing [[Mormonism and polygamy|polygamy]]).
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Other Saints followed [[Lyman Wight]]
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|pp=198–203}}.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
and [[Alpheus Cutler]].
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Quinn|1994|pp=203–09}}.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Many members of these smaller groups, including most of Smith's family, eventually coalesced in 1860 under the leadership of [[Joseph Smith III]] and formed what was known for more than a century as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now [[Community of Christ]]), which now has about 250,000 members. {{As of|2010}}, adherents of the [[religious denomination|denominations]] originating from Joseph Smith's teachings number approximately 14 million.
}}

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
In addition to churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, Smith is also accepted as a prophet by adherents of the [[Raëlism|Raëlian Church]].
|authorsources=<br>
#Raël, ''Intelligent Design'', p. 89.
}}

===Family and descendants===

===== =====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Smith wed [[Emma Hale Smith]] in January 1827. She gave birth to seven children, the first three of whom (a boy Alvin in 1828 and twins Thaddeus and Louisa on 30 April 1831) died shortly after birth. When the twins died, the Smiths adopted twins, [[Julia Murdock Smith|Julia]] and Joseph,
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=110–11}}.
}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
whose mother had recently died in childbirth. (Joseph died of [[measles]] in 1832.)
|authorsources=<br>
#The adopted twins were born of Julia Clapp Murdock and [[John Murdock (Mormon)|John Murdock]]
}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Joseph and Emma Smith had four sons who lived to maturity: [[Joseph Smith III]] (November 6, 1832), Frederick Granger Williams Smith (June 29, 1836), [[Alexander Hale Smith]] (June 2, 1838), and [[David Hyrum Smith]] (November 17, 1844, born after Joseph's death).
As of 2011, DNA testing had provided no evidence that Smith had fathered any children by women other than Emma.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{cite article | title =  Research focuses on Smith family | date = 2005-05-28 | work = [[Deseret News]] | url = http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600137517,00.html }}; {{cite article | title = DNA tests rule out 2 as Smith descendants: Scientific advances prove no genetic link | date = 2007-11-10 | work = [[Deseret News]] | url = http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695226318,00.html }}; name=Perego>{{Citation
 | last = Perego
 | first = Ugo A.
 | last2 = Myers
 | first2 = Natalie M.
 | last3 = Woodward
 | first3 = Scott R.
 | title = Reconstructing the Y-Chromosome of Joseph Smith, Jr.: Genealogical Applications
 | journal = [[Journal of Mormon History]]
 | volume = 32
 | date = Summer 2005
 | url = http://mha.wservers.com/pubs/TOC/05_July_Journal_TOC.pdf
|format=PDF
 | issue = 2}} Although Bushman suggested that Smith had married twenty-seven other women, there is no DNA evidence that Smith fathered any children by any woman other than Emma. Bushman, 493; Compton, 4–7; Remini, 153-54; Brodie, "The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith," Appendix C in ''No Man Knows My History'', 2nd ed. (New York: Knopf, 1971), 457–88. Remini, 153. Brodie guessed that there might have been as many as 48 plural wives, but succeeding scholars have considered her numbers exaggerated. Remini said that the true number might have been as high as eighty-four, although many of these might have been "simply sacred sealings for eternity." Remini, 153. Smith's biography in the ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism'', 3: 1337, says that Smith took at least twenty-eight plural wives. On her deathbed, Emma Smith denied that her husband had ever practiced polygamy.''Church History'', 3: 355–356.
|authorsources=<br>
#
}}
*{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Children of polygamous marriages}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Throughout her life and on her deathbed, Emma Smith frequently denied that her husband had ever taken additional wives.
|authorsources=<br>
#''Church History'', 3: 355–356.
}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Emma claimed that the very first time she ever became aware of a polygamy revelation being attributed to Joseph by Mormons was when she read about it in [[Orson Pratt]]'s booklet ''The Seer'' in 1853.
|authorsources=<br>
#''Saints' Herald'' 65:1044–1045
}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Emma campaigned publicly against polygamy and also authorized and was the main signatory of a petition in Summer 1842, with a thousand female signatures, denying that Joseph was connected with polygamy,
|authorsources=<br>
#''Times and Seasons'' 3 [August 1, 1842]: 869
}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
and as president of the Ladies' Relief Society, Emma authorized publishing a certificate in October 1842 denouncing polygamy and denying her husband as its creator or participant.
|authorsources=<br>
#''Times and Seasons'' 3 [October 1, 1842]: 940. In March 1844, Emma said, "we raise our voices and hands against John C. Bennett's 'spiritual wife system', as a scheme of profligates to seduce women; and they that harp upon it, wish to make it popular for the convenience of their own cupidity; wherefore, while the marriage bed, undefiled is honorable, let polygamy, bigamy, fornication, adultery, and prostitution, be frowned out of the hearts of honest men to drop in the gulf of fallen nature". The document ''The Voice of Innocence from Nauvoo''. signed by Emma Smith as President of the Ladies' Relief Society, was published within the article ''Virtue Will Triumph'', Nauvoo Neighbor, March 20, 1844 (''LDS History of the Church'' 6:236, 241) including on her deathbed where she stated "No such thing as polygamy, or spiritual wifery, was taught, publicly or privately, before my husband's death, that I have now, or ever had any knowledge of...He had no other wife but me; nor did he to my knowledge ever have". ''Church History''3: 355–356
}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Even when her sons [[Joseph Smith III|Joseph III]] and [[Alexander Hale Smith|Alexander]] presented her with specific written questions about polygamy, she continued to deny that their father had been a polygamist.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Van Wagoner|1992|pp=113–115}} As Fawn Brodie has written, this denial was "her revenge and solace for all her heartache and humiliation." (Brodie, 399) "This was her slap at all the sly young girls in the [[Joseph Smith Mansion House|Mansion House]] who had looked first so worshipfully and then so knowingly at Joseph. She had given them the lie. Whatever formal ceremony he might have gone through, Joseph had never acknowledged one of them before the world." Newell and Avery wrote of "the paradox of Emma's position," quoting her friend and lawyer Judge George Edmunds who stated "that's just the hell of it! I can't account for it or reconcile her statements." {{Harv|Newell|Avery|1994|p=308}}
}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
After Smith's death, Emma Smith quickly became alienated from Brigham Young and the church leadership.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=554}} ("Emma's alienation from the main body of the Church began almost immediately."); {{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=399}} (Emma Smith "came to fear and despise" Young); {{Harvtxt|Avery|Newell|1980|p=82}} (noting that Young later stated that "to my certain knowledge Emma Smith is one of the damndest liars I know of on this earth.").
}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
Young, whom Emma feared and despised, was suspicious of her desire to preserve the family's assets from inclusion with those of the church,
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=554}}.
}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
and thought she would be even more troublesome because she openly opposed plural marriage.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=554}} ("Her known opposition to plural marriage made her doubly troublesome.").
}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
When most Latter Day Saints moved west, she stayed in Nauvoo, married a non-Mormon, Major [[Lewis C. Bidamon]],
|authorsources=<br>
#{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|pp=554–55}}. Emma Smith married Major [[Lewis Bidamon]], an "enterprising man who made good use of Emma's property." Although Bidamon sired an illegitimate child when he was 62 (whom Emma reared), "the couple showed genuine affection for each" {{Harv|Bushman|2005|pp=554–55}}.
}}

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{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref>
|claim=
and withdrew from religion until 1860, when she affiliated with what became the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now the [[Community of Christ]]), first headed by her son, [[Joseph Smith III]]. Emma never denied Joseph Smith's prophetic gift or repudiated her belief in the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
}}
{{To_learn_more_box:anti-Mormon_literature_and_Wikipedia}}


{{Endnotes sources}}