Biography at a glance
- Born: December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont
- Died: June 27, 1844, in Carthage, Illinois
- Family: Married Emma Hale in 1827
- Church service: Organized the Church on April 6, 1830, and served as its first president
- Major works: Book of Mormon translation, recorded revelations, and the organization of temple worship and the Relief Society
Seeking answers in western New York
Joseph grew up in a family whose moves eventually brought them to western New York. Religious disagreement and his own questions about forgiveness led him to pray near the family farm in 1820. He later described a vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ, an experience Latter-day Saints call the First Vision. Joseph left more than one account of it; the Church’s guide to those accounts helps readers understand when and how they were recorded.
Scripture and a new church
In 1827 Joseph married Emma Hale. The Book of Mormon was published in 1830, and the Church was organized that April. As converts gathered, Joseph’s recorded revelations shaped its worship, leadership, and ideas about Zion. The Church’s historical overview follows these developments through the New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois years.
Nauvoo and his final years
After the Saints were driven from Missouri, Joseph helped establish Nauvoo, Illinois. There he taught about temple covenants and the eternal family, and in 1842 he organized the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo with Emma as its first president. Religious and political conflict intensified around the city. Joseph and his brother Hyrum were killed at Carthage Jail in June 1844. His life and the movement he led continued to shape the people who crossed the plains after his death.
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Quotes by Joseph Smith
89 quotes
“Happiness consists not of having, but of being – not of possessing, but of enjoying. . . . For what a man has he may be dependent upon others; what he is rests with him alone. What he obtains in life is but acquisition; what he attains is true growth.”
— Joseph Smith
“A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race.”
— Joseph Smith
“The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the apostles and prophets, concerning Jesus Christ. That he died, was buried, and rose again at the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.”
— Joseph Smith
“Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God.”
— Joseph Smith
“A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary [to lead] unto life and salvation.”
Lectures on Faith, p. 58.
— Joseph Smith
“If children are to be brought up in the way they should go, to be good citizens here and happy hereafter, they must be taught. It is idle to suppose that children will grow up good, while surrounded with wickedness, without cultivation. It is folly to suppose that they can become learned without education.”
Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 273
— Joseph Smith
“If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves.”
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Chapter 2
— Joseph Smith
“Our Heavenly Father is more liberal in His views, and boundless in His mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive.”
History, 1838–1856, volume D-1
— Joseph Smith
“The things of God are of deep import, and time, and experience, and careful, and solemn, and ponderous thoughts can only find them out.”
— Joseph Smith
“It is contrary to the economy of God for any member of the Church, or any one [else], to receive instruction for those in authority, higher than themselves.”
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 21.
— Joseph Smith
John learned that God glorified Himself by saving all that His hands had made, whether beasts, fowls, fishes or men; and He will glorify Himself with them.
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 291
— Joseph Smith
“The wisdom and mercy of God in preparing an ordinance for the salvation of the dead. . . . Those Saints who neglect it in behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their own salvation.”
History of the Church, 4:426.
— Joseph Smith
“How are [the Saints] to become Saviors on Mount Zion? By building their temples, erecting their baptismal fonts, and going forth and receiving all the ordinances, baptisms, confirmations, washings, anointing, ordinations and sealing powers upon their heads, in behalf of all their progenitors who are dead, and redeem them that they may come forth in the first resurrection and be exalted to thrones of glory with them; and herein is the chain that binds the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, which fulfills the mission of Elijah.”
History of the Church, 6:184
— Joseph Smith
Many of the signs are terrifying and dreadful. The prophets have warned that the earth will experience great turmoil, wickedness, war, and suffering. The prophet Daniel said that the time before the Second Coming would be a time of trouble such as the earth has never known (see Daniel 12:1). The Lord said, “The love of men shall wax cold, and iniquity shall abound” (D&C 45:27). “And all things shall be in commotion; and … fear shall come upon all people” (D&C 88:91). We can expect earthquakes, disease, famines, great storms, lightnings, and thunder (see Matthew 24:7; D&C 88:90). Hailstorms will destroy the crops of the earth (see D&C 29:16). Jesus told His disciples that war would fill the earth: “Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. . . . For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Matthew 24:6-7). The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “Be not discouraged when we tell you of perilous times, for they must shortly come, for the sword, famine, and pestilence are approaching. There shall be great destructions upon the face of this land, for ye need not suppose that one jot or tittle of the prophecies of all the holy prophets shall fail, and there are many that remain to be fulfilled yet”
Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 252
— Joseph Smith
“And now, I ask, how righteousness and truth are going to sweep the earth as with a flood? I will answer. Men and angels are to be co-workers in bringing to pass this great work, and Zion is to be prepared…”
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 84
— Joseph Smith
“We came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure before God in the Celestial Kingdom…The great principle of happiness consists of having a body.”
Words of Joseph Smith, 60
— Joseph Smith
“Men must become harmless before the brute creation, and when men lose their vicious dispositions and cease to destroy the animal race, the lion and the lamb can dwell together, and the sucking child can play with the serpent in safety.”
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith
— Joseph Smith
“Search the scriptures—search the revelations which we publish, and ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth unto you, and if you do it with an eye single to His glory nothing doubting, He will answer you by the power of His Holy Spirit. You will then know for yourselves and not for another. You will not then be dependent on man for the knowledge of God; nor will there be any room for speculation. No; for when men receive their instruction from Him that made them, they know how He will save them”
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 11–12
— Joseph Smith
“I cannot believe in any of the creeds of the different denominations, because they all have some things in them I cannot subscribe to, though all of them have some truth. I want to come up into the presence of God, and learn all things; but the creeds set up stakes, and say, ‘Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further’; which I cannot subscribe to.”
History of the Church, 4:536
— Joseph Smith
“If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.”
— Joseph Smith
“No man can receive the Holy Ghost without receiving revelations. The Holy Ghost is a revelator.”
— Joseph Smith
The best way to obtain truth and wisdom is not to ask from books, but to go to God in prayer, and obtain divine teaching.
— Joseph Smith
Three things are necessary in order that any rational and intelligent being may exercise faith in God unto life and salvation. First, the idea that he actually exists. Secondly, a correct idea of his character, perfections, and attributes. Thirdly, an actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing is according to His will.
Lectures on Faith 3:2-5
— Joseph Smith
“For neglecting to write these things when God had revealed them, not esteeming them of sufficient worth, the Spirit may withdraw and God may be angry; and there is, or was, a vast knowledge, of infinite importance, which is now lost.”
History of the Church, 2:199
— Joseph Smith
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