Joseph Smith Biography

Twenty-Five (1830)

it was done, not by man, nor by the power of man, but it was done by God,^57

and by the power of godliness; therefore, let the honor and the praise, the

dominion and the glory, be ascribed to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for

ever and ever. Amen.^58

Nevertheless, Joseph allowed the people to believe as they desired concerning his
personal role in “casting out devils” and other so-called miracles. Although, if they knew
the real truth, they would have been angered that Joseph’s guile, in acting out his role as a
true messenger without disclosing his true identity, had allowed them to play upon their
own fantasies and fears. Of course, the byproduct of their ignorance served to strengthen
the peoples’ faith in him and help keep the enemies of his work tamed for a while longer.

Courts and “the Devil”

As the faith of the people increased in their “prophet, seer, and revelator,” the
resolve of Joseph’s enemies to stop him, his “gold bible,” and the new religion also
increased exponentially. Joseph was taken to court again on the charge of fraud and
disorderly conduct. Because it was believed that Joseph’s sole desire in making his
“fraudulent” claims was to gain money and even sex from unwary women, the
prosecutors found any way they could to try to convict him of something...of anything.
Joseph would no sooner be found “not guilty” in one trial, when on his way out of court,
he would be served with another warrant to appear in a different court. His enemies
“swore to the most palpable falsehoods”^59 and gave many unsubstantiated hearsay
testimonies, most of which were not even admitted as evidence against him.
During one court case, Newel Knight was called to the stand. Joseph was a little bit
worried about what kind of witness Newel would turn out to be, owing to how easily
Newel was swayed and overcome by his own emotions. Joseph was greatly impressed,
however, by the testimony and later recounted in his journal what he remembered of the
testimony. Newel told the truth, the real truth. When asked what the devil looked like “after
he was cast out of you,” Newel responded:

‘I believe I need not answer your last question, but I will do it, provided I be

allowed to ask you one question first, and you answer me, viz., Do you, Mr.

Seymour, understand the things of the spirit?’

‘No,’ answered Mr. Seymour, ‘I do not pretend to such big things.’

‘Well, then,’ replied Knight, ‘it would be of no use to tell you what the devil

looked like, for it was a spiritual sight, and spiritually discerned; and of

course you would not understand it were I to tell you of it.’^60

The members of the early church had, on their own, many visions and dreams, all of
which were given to them in their own minds as “a spiritual sight, and spiritually
discerned.”^61 No wonder then that “of course [others] would not understand” if these
members were to describe the experiences they were having as the “Church of Christ” burst
upon the American scene in 1830.