Category: Joseph Smith

Learn more about Joseph Smith and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Following the Prophet’s “First Vision” in 1820, the Latter-day Saints have grown to comprise nearly 20 million members around the world.

FromtheDesk features interviews and commentary on the latest Joseph Smith research, including frequent check-ins with scholars from the Joseph Smith Papers project.

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Joseph Smith Latter-day Saint History

The Council of Fifty: A Constitution for the Kingdom of God

An image of a draft constitution written by Joseph Smith's Council of Fifty

The Council of Fifty minutes reveal that Joseph Smith asked a committee to draft a replacement to the U.S. Constitution. The effort was eventually replaced by a revelation from God wherein the Prophet was told that the council itself was to be a living constitution. While the White Horse Prophecy is extremely suspect from a historical standpoint, the Prophet’s efforts to draft a new constitution are well-documented. Legal scholar Nathan B. Oman explains what was going on behind the scenes of the Council of Fifty.

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Joseph Smith Theology

Exploring Open Questions in Latter-day Saint Theology

Cover art showing a painting of the Savior by Yongsung Kim for the BYU Studies issue about Latter-day Saint theology

While Latter-day Saints don’t have a formal theology, the tradition is rich with revealed truth and ongoing inquiry. Yet to Be Revealed, a special issue of BYU Studies, explores meaningful questions for which the Church has not offered definitive positions. The volume highlights how prophetic teachings have, at times, emphasized different dimensions of doctrine. In this interview, editor Eric Eliason discusses topics such as God’s progress in knowledge and the King Follett Sermon, exploring how to engage varied perspectives faithfully.

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Joseph Smith

Did the Kinderhook Plates Really Fool Joseph Smith?

An illustration of the Kinderhook plates superimposed over a broadside from the Nauvoo Neighbor.
An illustration of the Kinderhook plates superimposed over a broadside from the Nauvoo Neighbor. Image via Book of Mormon Central.

What were the Kinderhook plates? Did the Prophet Joseph Smith fall for a hoax? What do and don’t we know about the story? In this interview, Don Bradley and Mark Ashurst-McGee look the the history of Joseph Smith and the Kinderhook forgeries.

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Joseph Smith Latter-day Saint History

Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith’s Tunbridge Farm

Mark Staker participating in an archaeological dig

We can learn a lot about the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith by studying the history of his parents, Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith. Mark Staker, a Master Curator for the Church History Department’s Historic Sites Division, has done precisely that. His landmark new volume is Joseph and Lucy Smith’s Tunbridge Farm: An Archaeology and Landscape Study (John Whitmer Historical Association, 2021).

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19th Century Joseph Smith

Did Joseph Smith Run for President?

Joseph Smith had a grand view of the ultimate relationship between politics and religion. He and the early Latter-day Saints also suffered greatly from political persecution. With no obvious path for recourse, Joseph Smith launched a presidential campaign in 1844. In this interview, historian Spencer McBride explains what happened.

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Joseph Smith

Know Brother Joseph: Q&A with the Editors

A portrait of the prophet Joseph Smith

Know Brother Joseph: New Perspectives on Joseph Smith’s Life and Character is a book drawn from Joseph Smith Papers Project research. Contributors share invaluable insights about the Joseph Smith’s life, ranging from his birth and First Vision to his character and martyrdom. Editors R. Eric Smith, Matthew C. Godfrey, and Matthew J. Grow discuss some of the book’s highlights.

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Bible Come Follow Me Joseph Smith

The Joseph Smith Translation: An Inspired Version of the Bible

Author Kent P. Jackson sits in a library with his arms folded wearing glasses, a blue shirt, and red bowtie

Excerpts from Joseph Smith’s Translation of the Bible (JST) have been included as footnotes in the Latter-day Saint standard works since 1978. The translation process used by the Prophet remains a source of mystery today. Some scholars feel that Joseph Smith consulted and borrowed from Adam Clark’s commentary of the Bible. Others, like Kent P Jackson, believe there are flaws in the hypothesis.

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Joseph Smith Pearl of Great Price

Joseph Smith’s Use of Hebrew in the Book of Abraham

A profile sketch of Latter-day Saint prophet Joseph Smith

Scholar Matthew Grey shares his latest research on Joseph Smith’s usage of Hebrew in the Book of Abraham. Grey published a chapter on the topic in Producing Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith’s Translation Projects in the Development of Mormon Christianity (University of Utah Press, 2020).

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Bible Joseph Smith

Thomas Wayment and the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible

Thomas Wayment studies an ancient text.
Thomas Wayment working on a papyrus at BYU’s Harold B. Lee Library Special Collections. This particular papyrus is a Christian commentary on the book of Psalms. Credit: Jordan Christensen, © 2018 BYU Religious Studies Center

It’s difficult to separate the life of Joseph Smith from his recurring role as a “translator.” The meaning and methods of the Prophet’s translation activities sometimes meant different things, such as the different approaches and outcomes for his translation of the Book of Abraham, Book of Mormon, and the Bible. Thomas Wayment’s chapter in Producing Ancient Scripture contributes to our knowledge about Joseph Smith and his translation of the Bible.

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Joseph Smith Scriptures

How Did Joseph Smith Produce Ancient Scripture?

A picture of Michael Hubbard MacKay and Mark Ashurst-McGee

How did Joseph Smith translate the Book of Mormon, Bible, and Book of Abraham? What did translation mean to the Prophet? What do we know about how the Latter-day Saint founder produced ancient scripture—and what has yet to be revealed? In this interview, Michael Hubbard MacKay and Mark Ashurst-McGee discuss findings from their book about Joseph Smith’s translations.

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