Joseph’s Death
History is filled with religious charlatans—men and
women—deceivers, who claimed to have "the truth." Their movements
made a big splash and then they disappear. A few create organizations that
survive their deaths—Ellen G. White (Seventh-day Adventists), Charles Taze
Russell (Jehovah's Witness), and Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science) come to
mind. Most of these "visionaries" lived relatively long lives and
died in relative prosperity. A few have gone out in a "blaze of
glory" so to speak, such as Jim Jones, David Koresh, and Marshall
Applewhite.[12] There are other false teachers today who preach the so-called
"prosperity gospel"—a "name it and claim it" message
teaching that God wants all of His children to be financially prosperous—and
live in the lap of luxury themselves.
Throughout history, these leaders have milked their people for
their money and, at times, have demanded their lives. Jones and Applewhite
ordered the death of their people and killed themselves. Koresh ordered his
people to resist federal agents and died with them in the ensuing inferno
(some, including Koresh, died by suicide). But in contrast to these men, Joseph
Smith's story is very different. How is Joseph different? He died for his
people.
Tensions were high in Hancock County Illinois in 1844. Throughout
their history (and for various reasons), conflict swirled around the Latter-day
Saints and their leaders. The citizens of Illinois, which had initially
provided a refuge for the Latter-day Saints, were rapidly becoming hostile to
them. In June of 1844, Joseph Smith, Major of Nauvoo, and the city council
ordered the destruction of a newspaper (the Nauvoo Expositor) critical of Smith
and his leadership. The owners of the press went to the county seat, Carthage,
IL, and swore out warrants for the arrest of Smith and the other town leaders.
But this was not enough for many of the old citizens of Hancock county who were
enraged. years of perceived favortism by politicians. Joseph Smith's ability to
circumvent county and state laws through the courts of Nauvoo, as well as
rumors of polygamy and sexual immorality served as dry tinder for the spark
that was the destruction of the Expositor press.[13]
Consider the words of Thomas Sharp, the editor of a neighboring
community’s newspaper, The Warsaw Signal, just before and after the Expositor
incident.
We have seen and heard enough to convince us that Joe Smith is not
safe out of Nauvoo, and we would not be surprised to hear of his death by
violent means in a short time. He has deadly enemies—men whose wrongs have
maddened them.
. . . The feeling of this country is now lashed to its
utmost pitch, and will break forth in fury upon the slightest provocation . . .
[14]
“We have only to state, that this is sufficient! War and
extermination is inevitable! Citizens ARISE, ONE and ALL!!!—Can you stand by
and suffer each INFERNAL DEVILS!!! to ROB men of their property and RIGHTS,
without avenging them. We have no time for comment, every man will make his
own. LET IT BE MADE WITH POWDER AND BALL!!!” [15]
Joseph was worried for his own life and the lives of his people.
He was being warned that mobs were amassing and if Smith and his city
councilors did not surrender, the city would be attacked. Now, Smith had at his
call the Nauvoo Legion, a militia with over 2,000 men. He could have easily
called up the Legion, fortified Nauvoo, and engaged in a bloody civil war with
the neighboring militias. But he did not do that. It became obvious to Smith
that he was the primary target of the legal action and the antagonism of the
neighboring communities. He felt that if he were to leave town, things would
calm down and the residents of Nauvoo would be safe. So, he left for the West.
He didn’t get very far when a delegation of leaders from Nauvoo sought him out.
Some of his followers thought he was deserting them. Others accused him of
cowardice. Smith is reported to have said, “If my life is of no value to my
friends, it is of no value to me.” Smith did return, assisted in the disarming
of the Nauvoo legion, surrendered to officials in Carthage, and was murdered at
the hands of an angry mob in Carthage, Illinois on June 27, 1844. Smith reportedly
made another comment as he was preparing to leave for Carthage, “I am gong like
a lamb to the slaughter, but I am as calm as a summer’s morning. I have a
conscience void of offense toward God and toward all men.” Some argue that
Joseph never said these things. They argue that Joseph was confident he would
again escape from the law. But given the warnings of Thomas Sharp and the
Warsaw Signal, he had to know that if the mobs were to get ahold of him, he
would be lynched. And that is what happened. Yes, Joseph attempted to defend
himself and the other men in the upper room of Carthage Jail. But, when faced
with impending doom, he didn’t order his followers to kill themselves or to
fortify the city and prepare for battle. He did what he thought he needed to do
to save his people, not just his own life. That’s pretty odd behavior for a
huckster, don’t you think? As a matter of fact, I can’t think of any other
known “fraud” in the history of Christendom who sacrificed himself for his
people. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a may lay down his life for
his friends” (John 15:13). (Bryan Ready, Crossing the Divide: From Baptist
to Latter-day Saint [Springville, Utah: CFI, 2021], 90-93)
Notes for the Above
[12] Jim Jones (1931-1978), an American religious leader, led his
followers to the jungles of Guyana, South America, where they established an
“agricultural” commune. When rumors of human rights abuses reached the United
States, a Congressional delegation was sent to investigate. As the delegation
prepared to depart, Jones’s militia attacked, killing several members of the
delegation. That evening, Jones ordered his 909 followers to drink flavor-aid
laced with cyanide. Jones died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
David Koresh (aka Vernon Howell, 1959-1993) was the leader of the
Branch Davidians, an offshoot from the Seventh Day Adventists. In 1993, Federal
ATF agents raised Koresh’s headquarters and a gunfight ensued killing four ATF
agents. A siege resulted. Koresh refused to surrender or allow any of his
followers to leave. On April 19, 1993 government agents began pumping tear gas
into the compound. A fire then broke out killing 79 people. It was later
discovered that Koresh had been killed by a gunshot wound to the head.
Marshall Applewhite (1931-1997) founded the religious group
“Heaven’s Gate.” In March 1997, Applewhite and his thirty-eight followers
committed suicide believing that in so going they could rendezvous with an
alien spaceship following the Hale-Bopp Comet. The spaceship would take them on
to heaven.
[13] The Nauvoo Expositor was published by Church dissidents who
broke with Joseph Smith over teachings related to plural marriage and
exaltation. Many critics argue that Joseph had the press destroyed because he
did not want these teachings exposed. Though Joseph was secretly teaching
plural marriage to a few select church leaders at that time, he was publicly
teaching the doctrine of exaltation (ex. The King Follett Discourse). It wasn’t
just the exposure of the teachings which was troubling, it was the way the
paper was portraying Joseph and his teachings. One article called Joseph a
“Blood thirsty and murderous . . . demon . . . in human shape” and a
“syncophant (sic), 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” (Francis M. Higbee,
“Citizens of Hancock County,” Nauvoo Expositor [7 June 1844]). This
inflammatory rhetoric led to genuine fears that the Expositor would embolden
the enemies of the Church and spark mob violence like the Saints had endured in
Missouri. Joseph wasn’t the only one concerned. The Nauvoo City Council (which
included some non-Church members) voted unanimously to declare the Nauvoo
Expositor a public nuisance and have it removed from the city.
[14] Sharp, Thomas. Editorial. Warsaw Signal. May 29, 1844.
[15] “Unparalleled Outrage at Nauvoo.” Warsaw Signal. June 12,
1844.