Symbols and practices with an "occult" connection?
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This section of the video is a good example of a common error: in their hurry to condemn, critics use modern standards to pass judgement on historical figures. The segment opens with the portrayal of an inverted pentagram, with sinister flames behind the symbol. The DVD obviously hopes that the viewer will conclude this is an "evil" symbol.
The inverted pentagram has a long history, and only took on negative connotations in the last one hundred years, well after Joseph Smith's death. Joseph Smith and others of his day would have known the symbol from its use in many aspects of American life. Many Americans were Masons, and used this symbol to represent light from the heavens to man.
The inverted pentogram is found in many contexts, including the Congressional Medal of Honor, on
the Great Star Flag of the United States (used from 1837 to 1845), as well as in the cathedrals of Chartes and Amiens in France. Do the producers of this DVD expect us to believe that all these groups are, in fact, part of the "occult"?
Some occult groups have even used the symbol of the cross as part of their symbolism. Does this make all Christians "occult" by association? Such an idea is laughable.
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Claim: Money digging was an example of Joseph Smith being involved in the occult.
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The video's first attempt to tie Joseph Smith to the "occult" uses the Smith family's involvement in "money digging." The video takes a practice common to the nineteenth-century, and turns it into something sinister.
During the nineteenth century, belief in folk magic of this kind was common in the United States. Indeed, in parts of New England it is still a common practice with so called "water witches" still listed in the phonebook. (See, for example, the 2007 phone book published by Verizon, Inc., for Augusta, Maine.)
Dowsing or water witching was—and to some degree still is—used to locate wells, buried objects such as pipes or utility lines, and lost valuables. It was not then, and is not now (where it is still practiced), considered sinister or "occult." For these people, they simply consider it to be "how the world works." By analogy, such people might not understand the principles of magnetism behind a mariner's compass, but still use it because "that's how the world is."
The fact that Joseph Smith and his family were involved in seeking for buried valuables is not unusual. When Josehp was 16 years old, his local newspaper printed such remarks as the following:
- "digging for money hid in the earth is a very common thing and in this state it is even considered as honorable and profitable employment"
- "One gentleman...digging...ten to twelve years, found a sufficient quantity of money to build him a commodious house."
- "another...dug up...fifty thousand dollars!"
- —Palmyra Herald (24 July 1822); cited in Russell Anderson, "The 1826 Trial of Joseph Smith," (2002 FAIR Conference presentation.) FAIR link
Given how common and respectable such an activity was, it would have been strange for the poverty-stricken Smith family not to take any legitimate opportunity to improve their station in life: despite all their toil, they lost their farm because they could not make the final mortgage payment.
The historical record is clear on this point, but the DVD producers wish to hide that aspect of the truth.
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Claim: "On March 15th, 1842, Joseph joined the Masons which is an organization that believes Jesus is not divine and is on the same level as Buddha, Muhammad or any other religious teacher."
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This is a severe misrepresentation of Masonry. Masonry is not a religion and has never claimed to be a religion. Masonry only requires that its members profess belief in a supreme being: Christians, Buddhists, Jews, or Muslims are all eligible. In this respect, Masonry is like many other such fraternal organization, or even the Boy Scouts. The policy of open membership does not make Masonry "an organization that believes Jesus is not divine." The thousands of Christian Freemasons down through the centuries would find such a statement an insult to themselves and Freemasonry. It would appear the DVD producers know as little of Masonry as they do "Mormonism"!
They ignore, for example, the many prominent Baptists who were also Masons over the last two hundred years. For instance, Robert E. Baylor, founder of Baylor University, was both a Baptist and a Mason. One of the university's presidents, William R. White (served from 1948 to 1961) was a 33rd-degree Mason and served as pastor of First Baptist Church of Austin, First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City, First Baptist Church of Lubbock, and Broadway Baptist Church of Fort Worth. He also served as executive secretary, and later as president, of The Baptist General Convention of Texas.
Geroge W. Truett, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, was also a Mason and remained such as he served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1927 to 1929, president of the Baptist World Alliance from 1934 to 1939, and trustee of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Are these men no longer Christians, or somehow involved in the "occult"?
These are just a few of the many prominent individuals who saw no conflict between their Baptist brand of Christianity and Freemasonry. Since their participation in Masonry would presumably not taint the roots of the Baptist faith, why would the several Baptist ministers associated with Search for the Truth find it necessary to insist that Masonry cast a sinister shadow over the roots of the Church?
To read more:
- Famous Baptists Who Were Freemasons (Adherents.com) off-site
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Claim: "Within one day Smith rose to the highest degree which is the sublime degree."
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Church critics commonly make this error. The visual accompanying this claim shows an old Masonic chart showing the supplemental degrees of Scottish and York Rite Freemasonry, thereby implyingthat Joseph was a member of these bodies.
This would have been impossible, since Masonry in Illinois at the time (1842) did not have these supplemental bodies. The video also errs in the name of the degree. Joseph was a Master Mason, which is also refered to in the Masonic rites as "the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason," but never as "the sublime degree." There is no such degree. The critics' lack of research is again apparent.
The video makes much of the fact that Joseph was raised in a single day, as if this was unusual and a sign of someone of great "occult" status, but fails to point out that Joseph's raising was done in complete accord with the Masonic practice of making a person Mason "upon sight." The Sixth Landmark of Freemasonry states:
- "The prerogative of the Grand Master to grant Dispensations for conferring degrees at irregular times, is another and a very important Landmark. The statutory law of Masonry requires a month, or other determinate period, to elapse between the presentation of a petition and the election of a candidate. But the Grand Master has the power to set aside or dispense with this probation, and allow a candidate to be initiated at once. This prerogative he possessed in common with all Masters, before the enactment of the law requiring a probation, and as no statute can impair his prerogative, he still retains the power, although the Masters of Lodges no longer possess it."
- —(The Landmarks of Freemasonry off-site)
This was the process followed in Joseph Smith's case. While rare, it is not an unheard of or unprecedented procedure, and Grand Master Johnas (the grand lodge grand master who raised Joseph) was well with in his rights in making Joseph Smith a Mason "upon sight" without any sinister undertones.
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Was Josiah Stowell deceived?
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Despite their claims that they are trying to "Search for the Truth," the video does not tell its viewers that Josiah Stowell testified for Joseph as a defense witness and did not believe that Joseph had defrauded him at all. Stowell testified of Joseph's claims, "Do I believe it? No, it is not a matter of belief: I positively know it to be true."
But, the Search for the Truth video will not tell you this part of the truth from the documents.
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If Stowell had no complaint, why was Joseph brought before the judge at all?
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The charges were brought by Stowell's family members, who seem worried that Josiah would accept Joseph's religious claims.
In fact, Stowell joined the Church founded by Joseph, and remained a faithful member to the day of his death.
Would the video's authors condemn Paul because he was brought before many courts because of religious persecution? (See Acts 23:6.)
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Claim: "The next year he falls for Emma Hale, a girl at whose home he lodged…"
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The reader will by now not be surprised that the video distorts in both what it says and does not say. Emma Hale was not "a girl"—she was, in fact, older than Joseph Smith (she was born 10 July 1804; Joseph was born 23 December 1805).
She was an adult of twenty three at the time of their marriage (18 January 1827), but the video's goal of portraying Joseph as a rake and womanizer is made easier if they distort matters.
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Claim: "… Emma will prove to be a companion of such loyalty that the thought of breaking the heart of a woman like this would be unthinkable for most men but not for Joseph Smith."
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It is no secret that plural marriage was extremely challenging for Emma. However, the authors give us no citations to demonstrate what Emma thought about plural marriage, or Joseph's claim to be a prophet.
- Allen J. Stout, who served as a bodyguard for Joseph, recounted a conversation he overheard in the Mansion House between Joseph and his tormented wife. A summary of his account states that "from moments of passionate denunciation [Emma] would subside into tearful repentance and acknowledge that her violent opposition to that principle was instigated by the power of darkness; that Satan was doing his utmost to destroy her, etc. And solemnly came the Prophet's inspired warning: 'Yes, and he will accomplish your overthrow, if you do not heed my counsel.'"
Emma's inner conflict was also dramatized in another report:
- Maria Jane Johnston, who lived with Emma as a servant girl, recalled the Prophet's wife looking very downcast one day and telling her that the principle of plural marriage was right and came from Heavenly Father. "What I said I have got [to] repent of," lamented Emma. "The principle is right but I am jealous hearted. Now never tell anybody that you heard me find fault with that [principle;] we have got to humble ourselves and repent of it."
Emma asked Joseph for a blessing not long before he went to Carthage. Joseph told her to write the best blessing she could, and he would sign it upon his return. Wrote Emma:
- I desire with all my heart to honor and respect my husband as my head, ever to live in his confidence and by acting in unison with him retain the place which God has given me by his side...I desire the spirit of God to know and understand myself, I desire a fruitful, active mind, that I may be able to comprehend the designs of God, when revealed through his servants without doubting.
Emma was troubled by plural marriage, but this trouble arose partly from her conviction that Joseph was a prophet. When one woman asked Emma if she felt Joseph was still a prophet despite her opposition to plural marriage Emma replied, "Yes, but I wish to God I did not know it."
The critics ought to let all of Emma speak for herself—she had a great trial, but also had great knowledge. That she continued to support Joseph's calling and remain with him, despite her feelings about plural marriage, speaks much of her convictions. As she told Parley P. Pratt years later:
- I believe he [Joseph] was everything he professed to be.
If the video's producers believe Emma is an important witness, why do they not include her witness of Joseph's prophetic calling to the very end of her life, despite her struggles with plural marriage?
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Claim: "Within a few short years, even men who were closest to Joseph like David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery, William Law and William McLellin were repulsed by Joseph Smith's multiple adulteries and publicly declared Joseph an adulterer."
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It is curious that the DVD producers seem to feel that making a public accusation against someone is sufficient to prove the case against them. Many charges were made against Jesus and the apostles, even by close friends and associates. Are these charges therefore proven?
That Joseph practiced plural marriage is not a matter of debate. But, the video cannot simply presume that the practice is, by definition, immoral. To do so is circular reasoning and begging the question.
Some members of the Church could not accept plural marriage. It is worthwhile, however, to consider what the historical record can tell us about each of these men and their witness.
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What do we know about Oliver Cowdery's witness?
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Oliver Cowdery left the Church in 1838. The DVD producers do not, however, want viewers to hear Oliver's testimony or learn of his actions. As a lawyer, Cowdery’s integrity was once challenged in court because of his Book of Mormon testimony:
- The opposing counsel thought he would say something that would overwhelm Oliver Cowdery, and in reply to him in his argument he alluded to him as the man that had testified and had written that he had beheld an angel of God, and that angel had shown unto him the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. He supposed, of course, that it would cover him with confusion, because Oliver Cowdery then made no profession of being a “Mormon,” or a Latter-day Saint; but instead of being affected by it in this manner, he arose in the court, and in his reply stated that, whatever his faults and weaknesses might be, the testimony which he had written, and which he had given to the world, was literally true.
- George Q. Cannon, Journal of Discourses 22:251. off-site wiki
Despite his harsh personal feelings toward Joseph Smith, Oliver continued to insist that the Book of Mormon was the word of God, and that he had seen an angel and the plates.
The video also does not tell viewers that Oliver later returned to the Church and was rebaptized, remaining faithful to his death in a witness of Joseph's prophetic calling and the truth of the Book of Mormon.
Why do they not allow the "historical record" to speak?
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What do we know about David Whitmer's witness?
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David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, remained out of the Church for the rest of his long life. Despite this, David repeatedly insisted that the Book of Mormon was scripture.
Just following their excommunication from the Church, Thomas B. Marsh approached Cowdery and Whitmer about their witness. If there was any time for them to deny their witness, this was it:
- I enquired seriously at David if it was true that he had seen the angel, according to the testimony as one of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon. He replied, as sure as there is a God in heaven, he saw the angel, according to his testimony in that book...I interrogated Oliver Cowdery in the same manner, who answered me similarly.
- —"History of Thomas Baldwin Marsh," Deseret News (24 March 1858).
If Whitmer was convinced that Joseph was an adulterer, why did he continue to bear witness that the record Joseph translated was true, for decades after his disaffection from the Church? Whitmer's witness of the Book of Mormon is more impressive because of his falling out with Joseph. But, viewers will await that information in vain.
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What do we know about William McLellin's witness?
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McLellin was an original member of the Twelve apostles. He was eventually excommunicated. McLellin's character is well illustrated by his desire to whip the imprisoned Joseph Smith:
- While Joseph was in prison at Richmond, Mo., Mr. McLellin, who was a large and active man, went to the sheriff and asked for the privilege of flogging the Prophet; permission was granted, on condition that Joseph would fight. The sheriff made McLellin's earnest request known to Joseph, who consented to fight, if his irons were taken off. McLellin then refused to fight, unless he could have a club, to which Joseph was perfectly willing; but the sheriff would not allow them to fight on such unequal terms.
- — Andrew Jenson, Latter-Day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 4 vols., (Salt Lake City, A. Jenson History Co., 1901; reprinted Salt Lake City, Utah : Greg Kofford Books, 2003), 1:82–83. ISBN 1589580222. ISBN 1589580311. ISBN 978-1589580312
McLellin also took part in mob violence and theft against the Saints:
- He took an active part with the mob in Missouri, in robbing and driving the Saints. At the time Joseph Smith was in prison, he and others robbed Joseph's house and stable of considerable property.
- —Andrew Jenson, Historical Record (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson, 1888), 5:38–39.
McLellin also tried to form his own Church with himself at the head, and admitted at his excommunication hearing that
- "he quit praying and keeping the commandments of God, and indulged himself in his lustful desires."
- —History of The Church 3:91. (subscript. required) GospeLink
The reader should be cautious in accepting the testimony of a self-confessed lustful man who would beat a bound prisoner, rob, and drive citizens from their homes by mob violence because of their religion.
They will not learn these facts about McLellin's behavior from the Search for the Truth video, because they do not support the its agenda.
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What do we know about William Law's witness?
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William Law continued to insist that Joseph was a prophet, but a fallen one:
- It was not until perhaps April or May 1844 that he organized his thinking in such a way as to systematically attack his enemy. Even then he was not assailing the validity of the Restoration. The vehemence with which William Law denounced the Prophet in 1844 was not due to disbelief in Mormon polity, but to his conviction that the Mormon leader had plunged into apostate practices.
- — Lyndon W. Cook, "William Law, Nauvoo Dissenter," Brigham Young University Studies 22:1 (Fall 1982): 56. off-site
Are the video's authors willing for us to accept his witness that Joseph was a prophet, and the Book of Mormon the word of God?
William Law is also not in a position to cast stones at Joseph's moral character. Alexander Neibaur's diary recorded:
- "Mr William Law wished to be married to his wife for eternity. Mr. [Joseph] Smith said he would inquire of the Lord, [who] answered, "No," because Law was an Adulterous person. Mrs. Law wanted to know why she could not be married to Mr. Law, who said he would wound her feeling by telling her…
- —Journal of Alexander Neibaur, 24 May 1844, Church archives
This contemporaneous record suggests that William may have had his own moral failings, which kept him from desired blessings. Rather than repent, he sought for a reason to rebel against the teachings of Joseph Smith.
William helped publish the Nauvoo Expositor, which stirred up hatred and the potential for mob violence by describing Joseph Smith as a
- “blood thirsty and murderous…demon…in human shape” and “a syncophant, whose attempt for power find no parallel in history… one of the blackest and basest scoundrels that has appeared upon the stage of human existence since the days of Nero, and Caligula.”
- —Nauvoo Expositor (7 June 1844)
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Claim: “In 1843, Joseph Smith had a revelation and penned D&C 132 outlining the necessity of entering into a new and everlasting covenant of plural marriage.”
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The evidence is quite clear that Joseph mentioned the doctrines of plural marriage as early as 1831—the ideas were well-developed in his mind long before 1843.
The video also distorts the contents of D&C 132. Doctrine and Covenants 132 teaches of “the new and everlasting covenant” which includes marriage, since celestial marriage is a gospel ordinance:
- The gospel is the everlasting covenant because it is ordained by Him who is Everlasting and also because it is everlastingly the same. In all past ages salvation was gained by adherence to its terms and conditions, and that same compliance will bring the same reward in all future ages. Each time this everlasting covenant is revealed it is new to those of that dispensation. Hence the gospel is the new and everlasting covenant. All covenants between God and man are part of the new and everlasting covenant. (D&A 22:, D&A 132:6-7.) Thus celestial marriage is "a new and an everlasting covenant" (D&A 132:4) or the new and everlasting covenant of marriage...
- Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2nd edition, (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966), 529–530. (subscript. required) GospeLink
The key doctrine described in D&C 132 is not plural marriage, but eternal or celestial marriage, which may (if so commanded) include plural marriage. While plural marriage was practiced, some members of the Church interpreted D&C 132 as applying exclusively to polygamy, which is understandable given that they were under a duty to obey the commands given to them.
However, as Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained:
- Plural marriage is not essential to salvation or exaltation... In our day, the Lord summarized by revelation the whole doctrine of exaltation and predicated it upon the marriage of one man to one woman. (D&A 132:1-28:{{{4}}}.) Thereafter he added the principles relative to plurality of wives with the express stipulation that any such marriages would be valid only if authorized by the President of the Church. ({s||DC|132|7,29-66}}.)
- Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2nd edition, (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966), 578. (subscript. required) GospeLink
The video misunderstands LDS doctrine, garbles the history of Joseph's revelations on plural marriage, and distorts LDS teaching on the matter.
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