Mormonism Unveiled: Eyewitness testimonies against Joseph Smith

Mormonism Unveiled is a book written in 1834 by E. D. Howe. It was printed and published by the author. The copyright on it is long expired so I am free to reproduce the information here.

Mormonism Unveiled can be considered the first 'anti-Mormon' work. It is an examination of the teachings of Mormonism existing at that time and claims to contain eye-witness accounts and sworn affidavits by those who knew the family of Joseph Smith. If this is true, then we can actually read what people who knew Smith and his family had to say about their character, manners, disposition, etc. These written accounts, gathered by a Mr. Philastus Hurlbut and included in the book by Howe, were taken under oath and before judges and justices of the peace, are legal documents, and worthy of examination regarding Joseph Smith's character. Howe said,

We have not only testimony impeaching the moral characters of the Smith family, but we show by the witnesses, that they told contradictory stories, from time to time, in relation to their finding the plates, and other circumstances attending it, which go clearly to show that none of them had the fear of God before their eyes, but were moved and instigated by the devil (Mormonism Unveiled, p. 232.).

Of course, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) repudiates the claims of Howe and the testimonies of the witnesses by stating they are not trustworthy since they had an agenda hostile to the Smith family and are, therefore, prejudiced. This sword cuts both ways since that would then invalidate anything from Mormon sources that support the idea that Smith's character was admirable since they too would be authored by those with an agenda.

Also, it is alleged that statements from Mormon scholars and, they claim, non-Mormon scholars, validate the proposition that Howe himself wrote the affidavits against Smith. The proofs offered from these scholars are, from what I have seen, opinions dealing with alleged similarities in style of the testimonies. But, I see no evidence of this as I read the testimonies. Also, note that many of the testimonies are purported to have been made under oath, before judges, and pastors. It would be up to the LDS church to prove that these are all lies. They haven't yet, so far as I am aware.

The Mormons must attempt to repudiate the eye-witness accounts against Joseph Smith. Because, if Smith's character is shown to be untrustworthy, it would cast a huge shadow of doubt over Mormonism as a whole. The LDS church does not want this.

But, these testimonies are not needed to cast a doubt upon Mormonism's validity. Doubt is automatically cast when the doctrines of Mormonism come to light and are compared to the Bible. For example: God used to be a man on another world; he has a goddess wife; they both have bodies; they produced spirit children; Jesus, Satan, you and I are all brothers and sisters from the spirit realm; a good temple-worthy Mormon has the hope of becoming a god of his own world with his own wife with whom he can populate that planet, etc. Such doctrines defy common sense but are gradually swallowed, bit by bit, by those who do not know God's word, nor possess true spiritual discernment, and are slowly led astray by the teachers of Mormonism.

From the article: The Mormons must attempt to repudiate the eye-witness accounts against Joseph Smith. Because, if Smith's character is shown to be untrustworthy, it would cast a huge shadow of doubt over Mormonism as a whole. The LDS church does not want this. But, these testimonies are not needed to cast a doubt upon Mormonism's validity. Doubt is automatically cast when the doctrines of Mormonism come to light and are compared to the Bible. For example: God used to be a man on another world; he has a goddess wife; they both have bodies; they produced spirit children; Jesus, Satan, you and I are all brothers and sisters from the spirit realm; a good temple-worthy Mormon has the hope of becoming a god of his own world with his own wife with whom he can populate that planet, etc. Such doctrines defy common sense but are gradually swallowed, bit by bit, by those who do not know God's word, nor possess true spiritual discernment, and are slowly led astray by the teachers of Mormonism. I leave these testimonies for your examination.

Before moving from the "history of calendars" to Mormon prophecies, take the time to examine the character of Joseph Smith...as revealed in some of the better Joseph Smith-focused FREEPER Lds threads from 2010:
* JESUS CHRIST and JOSEPH SMITH COMPARED [214 replies; see 9 points of character comparison @ end of article]
* Joseph Smith Married Other Men's Wives: Would you share your spouse with the Prophet? [570 replies]
* The Prophecies of Joseph Smith

Seekers of truth,

If you peruse the Free Republic religion forums you will notice a pattern. There's an anti-Mormon group of people here that spends a great deal of their time attacking the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They post regurgitated propaganda on an almost daily basis.

They have a misguided obsession. You can witness many different tactics employed that you might find quite interesting. The straw man argument is a big favorite and is frequently preceded by cherry-picking quotes or other material. After the "quotation" the attacker will misrepresent what has been said or what was meant and then attack their own interpretation.Later they will have the audacity to claim they were "only" quoting our own material.

They will of course insist ad nauseum that they are merely using our sources and are therefore innocent of any deceptive practice. LDS persons have no issue whatsoever having our scriptures or leaders quoted as long as it is presented fairly and accurately. This is rarely (if ever) done.

Another favorite is posting scripture or statements which on their own really present no dilemma. They make something out of nothing while never bringing up a single objection that hasn't been addressed a hundred times before.

You might note a couple of other tactics used to try to antagonize is the use of disrespectful or insulting terms or language and/or pictures. That's a Christlike thing to do right? Yeah I don't think so either. It does speak volumes about them though.

Some of them claim being some sort of special witness to you as being supposedly former Mormons. So someone who is an ex-member of any organization would never have an axe to grind or have reason to try to justify their actions by any means? Perhaps not but perhaps so. The LDS Church gains members from other denominations as well as others faiths all the time. This doesn't make them an expert on anything and you certainly won't hear them attacking their forner Church.

Frequently they cruise the headlines of the day seeking any story that might be twisted into making the Church look bad. Anything will do, just watch the progression of posts following it and see what I mean.

After reading their posts, I invite you to seek the truth about whatever "issue" they seem to be "revealing" or "exposing". I promise that if you do so with honest intent, the "ahah" moments you will have will be many and frequent. You will start to recognize the tactics employed to cleverly twist and attack and will likely chuckle the more you see. In actuality, there's nothing new here. It's all been addressed many times before.

The latest twist in the anti-Mormon propaganda machine is to actually go to the links provided, but then they cherry pick what they want, then quote and straw man attack that. Clever. It almost appears that they are helping you, the seeker of truth out by doing some footwork for you. Not so much. Don't be insulted, look for yourself. It's not the haystack they want you to think.

Here's a few links to get your started from a different viewpoint. I have found that the vast majority of the "issues" brought up can be found and addressed at http://www.fairlds.org/ but here's more:

http://scriptures.lds.org/
http://www.lds.org
http://www.fairlds.org/
http://www.mormonapologetics.org/
http://www.mormonwiki.com/Main_Page
http://www.lightplanet.com/response/index.html
http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDS_Intro.shtml
http://www.answeringantimormons.com/index.htm
http://promormon.blogspot.com/

Now you will likely notice the "you never address or answer our points" posts pop up as usual. All after providing the answers just as you have here.

Sometimes it is claimed that these sites present a needle in a haystack. Far from it. But if you give up before you try you won't know will you? They often state that these sites provide no answer. They just don't want you looking. It is as simple as that.

Will you wear blinders too? Seek truth. Find out for yourself. Want to chat with someone on any topic? A few of these sites provide just that. So do your homework sincere seeker of truth. Listen and read from both "sides". Make up your own mind.

I witness to you of these truths and wish you the best, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

With 2010 in the rear view mirror, it might be wise to
reflect on how short our lives are.

Eventually, we will all be extinct - just as the worthy
and ancient Mormonic Curelom has disappeared from the face of the earth!

[Cue the music]

As dawn breaks over mesoAmerica, the trumpeting screams of the hairy curelom fiercely echo over the surrounding cites.

Iron-workers interrupt their production of vast metal works, cities that stretched from sea to shining sea hush in anticipation of another wonderful day in mormon-land.

Just last week, the mormon Jesus had visited to let native Americans know they were really Jews! What a wonderful time to be alive!!!

Flash forward.

America today: If a native American Curelom was watching, he would have a tear in his eye...

All original cities, vanished, leaving nothing behind - not even a cigar butt!

Not even a single foundation of a single iron-worker’s furnace remains.

Not even a single metal work produced here.

And, as it turns out, Cureloms didn’t have bones. Apparently, Cureloms had the structure of jellyfish and today, no evidence remains of their once proud reign!

Only the savage cry of the curelom remains in the brains of mormons who “just believe”, despite any physical evidence.

Only the ring of the ancient iron-workers hammer echos in the minds of mormons who “just believe”, despite the amazing disappearance of millions of metal works.

Only the cheerful laughter remains in the minds of mormons, who insist millions of people lived in cities across America - because Joseph Smith said so!

As it turns out, they too, had the structure of jellyfish.

No bones.
No metalworks.
No cities.
No Cureloms.

A tear wells up in the corner of the imaginary Mormonic Curelom, envisioned within the brain of mormons today.

And the Jewish Indians?

Gone. Replaced with imposters (!) who no longer carry Jewish DNA.

Ah, but the piercing cry of the Curelom remains!!!

They will testify! Oh, how mormons will testify of the Curelom. Joe said!!!

ampu

:-)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.