Without Disclosing My True Identity
sense out of everything he did. The readers who use common sense to investigate these
things will ultimately prove the claims to themselves. Considering the information
given, and reasonably analyzing it with logic and common sense, one will finally have
all the answers that solve the mystery of who Joseph Smith was and what the relevance
of his work was for all humankind. And it is hoped, but not expected, that this
authorized and official biography will silence Joseph’s critics once and for all.
Withholding the Real Truth
One of the most defining events in Mormon history is called the First Vision, an
event that occurred in 1820. The name given to that event candidly displays a lack of
understanding of those who call it this. It was not a vision. It was a visitation and will
hereafter be called the First Visitation. It was an actual encounter, a face-to-face
communication! And in spite of its magnitude in being the principal event that began
Joseph’s history, no one in the world can honestly proclaim that they fully comprehend
exactly what occurred.
Critics claim, with integrity, that Joseph didn’t publicly publish the details of that
event until 1838, eighteen years after it occurred!^25 Joseph did not tell his family the real
truth; he did not tell his friends; he did not tell anyone. Critical historians also rightfully
conclude that, until the official account was published, many different accounts of Joseph’s
First Visitation spread through rumor circles of the burgeoning early LDS Church. These
rumors, which led to various personal affidavits later gathered by Joseph’s enemies,
stemmed from an 1832 version of the account that Joseph attempted to write, and from two
entries in Joseph’s diary written by his scribe, Warren Parrish, in 1835.^26 There is no doubt
that these versions are inconsistent in their presentation of such an important part of
Mormon history. But why were there such conflicting accounts? Why didn’t Joseph tell the
truth from the beginning?
The easy and short answer to these questions is that Joseph was not allowed to tell
the real truth, because the people were not ready to receive it. (See Appendix 3, “Why True
Messengers Do Not Reveal the Real Truth.”) Early associates of Joseph, who later claimed to
carry the mantle of his authority, were not ready; and apologetic Mormon historians do not
want to consider the possibility that they were not and are not ready to know the truth! This
would be preposterous to their sense of pride and blasphemous to their doctrine that the
Mormon religion is the only true religion of God upon the earth.
Those Lacking Humility
The blindness and hardheartedness of most Mormons keeps them from humbly
admitting that they are not as good as they think they are. They do not know as much as
they think they know. During his lifetime, Joseph would tell the Saints that they might be
called, but few of them were chosen. “And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are
set so much upon the things of this world and they aspire to the honors of men.”^27
Mormons’ self-aggrandizing hypocrisy is hard to dismiss in light of all that their
founding prophet said about them. Joseph’s references and quotes about their
“unrighteousness,” “wickedness,”^28 and “lack of preparedness” to receive a “fullness of the
mysteries of God” (which includes a true accounting of their own history) are plentiful. He