“There has not been so audacious a character [as Joseph Smith] on the Christian stage since the Apostle Paul. Like Paul, Joseph Smith was “born out of due time.” (1 Cor 15:8) His preaching produced conflict with traditional Christianity as Paul’s preaching did with Peter. (Gal 2:7-11)
Will the time ever come when Christians will cease disputing among themselves by claiming to be ‘of Paul’ (Protestant) ‘of Cephas’ (Catholic), ‘of Christ’ (Evangelical), (1 Cor. 1:11-13) or ‘of Joseph’ (Mormon)? Are we doomed to continue the cycle of breaking apart the ‘Body of Christ?'”
(Denver Snuffer, A Man Without Doubt, pg 6-7)
The following contains excerpts from a letter written by Jay Ball on Aug 4, 2016 to a Christian friend who a few years ago left the LDS church for Christianity. After presenting some concerns about his own crisis of faith within the Mormon church, Jay opens up to his friend about Joseph Smith:
You are one who can identify with the struggle of crisis of faith … I wrestled with feelings of betrayal as do most who have the courage to open up to truth and face their cognitive dissonance. Some things are more difficult to let go of than others. For me it has been the character of Joseph Smith. As I have read and studied the historical accounts I’ve asked myself, what if Joseph Smith really lived what he actually taught? What if the warped sense of corruption that we attribute to him is indeed unwarranted?
Considering only Joseph’s public statements, he rejected and condemned polygamy and considered it adulterous and sinful. Those he discovered were involved in the practice were brought before the high council and expelled from the church. Yet the LDS church teaches that he practiced polygamy secretly and publicly lied about it. The LDS church believes he was a smooth, two-faced hypocrite who said and did one thing in private and another in public. But the historical record upon which they base their reconstruction is filled with alterations and emendations to support Brigham Young’s agenda.
Perhaps what disturbs me most is that, ironic as it is, the greatest source of misinformation and false claims against Joseph Smith comes from the LDS church and its polygamous splinter groups that claim him as founder. It is necessary for them to denigrate him in order to justify their own course of immoral misconduct.
I’ve expressed these views to my unbelieving and disaffected [family member] who has abandoned the LDS church he grew up in, largely because of what he has learned about Joseph Smith’s character. Although he still believes Joseph Smith to be a fraud, after considering my comments he acknowledged, “If he was not practicing [polygamy] and others were merely using him for their own gains, I begin to actually feel for the guy.”
For me personally, I’m not ready to abandon my belief in the truths that Joseph Smith has taught. But it has been difficult for me to articulate or compose my line of reasoning fully… It has not been until now that someone has written a book about Joseph Smith from a perspective that I can identify with. The book is A Man Without Doubt by Denver Snuffer. It’s a short book. The author is an excommunicated member of the LDS faith, with no agenda other than to give Joseph Smith his own voice. Mormons present an image of Joseph Smith designed only to fortify their claim that they are a new, heaven established franchise that alone offers mankind salvation. This book does not shed a positive light on Mormonism, but it gives a refreshing view of the man Joseph Smith.
Jay Ball