40 lines
2.1 KiB
Plaintext
40 lines
2.1 KiB
Plaintext
CUL:Testimonals to Joseph Smith's heresies by Walter Martin
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Excerpted from "Kindom of the Cults"
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by Dr. Walter Martin, pg. 175.
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One of the most interesting statements concerning the early life
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of the Smith family and of Joseph, Jr., Was obtained by E.D. Howe, a
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contemporary of Smith's, who did tremendous research during the
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lifetime of Joseph which has never been successfully impugned by any
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Mormon historians. Smith himself never dared to answer Howe's
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charges, though they were well known to him, so great was the weight
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of contemporary evidence.
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Mr. Howe obtained a statement signed by sixty-two residents of
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Palmyra, New York, one that cannot be ignored by any serious student
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of Mormonism:
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"We, the undersigned, have been acquainted with the Smith family, for a
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number of years, while they resided near this place, and we have no
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hesitation in saying, that we consider them destitute of that moral
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character, particularly famous for visionary projects, spent much of
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their time in diggings for money which they pretended was hid in the
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earth: and to this day, large excavations may be seen in the earth, not
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far from their residence, where they used to spend their time digging
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for hidden treasures. Joseph Smith, senior, and his son Joseph, were
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in particular, considered entirely destitute of moral character, and
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addicted to vicious habits"
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- (Mormonism Unveiled, Zanesville, Ohio, 1834, p. 260).
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Some persons reading this may feel that it is unfair to quote only one
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side of the story: what about those who are favorable to the Mormons,
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they will ask. In answer to this, the amazing fact is that there
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exists no contemporary pro-Mormon statements from reliable and informed
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sources who knew the Smith family and Joseph intimately. It has only
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been the over-wise Mormon historians, utilizing hindsight over a
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hundred-year period, who have been able to even seriously challenge the
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evidence of the neighbors, Joseph's father-in-law, and many ex-Mormons
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who knew that was going on and went on record with the evidence not
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even Mormon historians have bothered seriously to dispute.
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