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32G O D G A V E T H E M U P T O U N C L E A N N E S S T O W O R S H I P A N D S E R V E T H E C R E AT U R E • R o m a n s 1 : 2 4 - 2 5periodicals, presbytery records and publishedinterviews, nothing occurred in 1820-21 that fitsSmith’s description. There were no significantgains in church membership in the Palmyra-Manchester, New York area, during 1820-21such as accompany great revivals. For example,in 1820, the Baptist church in Palmyra receivedonly 8 people through profession of faith andbaptism, the Presbyterian church added 14members, while the Methodist circuit lost 6members, dropping from 677 in 1819 to 671 in1820 and down to 622 in 1821 7 .Smith claims that during his time of prayer (based onJames 1:5) he received a direct visitation from GodHimself and Jesus Christ both in bodily forms. Godtold him not to join any churches, as they were allabominations. To discerning Christians this shouldimmediately ring alarm bells. Interestingly enoughthe LDS church portrays Smith falling backwardswhen he received this ‘visitation’. Most of thosewho fell during the so-called “Toronto Blessing”likewise fell backwards.Throughout scripture God’s holy men alwaysfell FORWARD on their faces before Godand unholy men fell backwards. Whenthe guards came to arrest Jesus they fellbackwards.Judas then having received a band ofmen and officers from the chief priestsand Pharisees, come there with lanternsand torches and weapons. Jesus therefore,knowing all things that should comeupon him, went forth, and said to them,Whom do you seek? They answered him,Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I am he.And Judas also, who betrayed him, stood withthem. As soon as he had said to them, I am he,they went backward, and fell to the ground(John 18: 3-6).Daniel fell on his face before God.Therefore I was left alone, and saw this greatvision, and there remained no strength in me:for my natural colour was turned into deathlypallor, and I retained no strength. I heard thesound of his words: and when I heard the voiceof his words, then I was in a deep sleep onmy face, and my face toward the ground(Daniel 10:8-9).John likewise in the book of Revelation fell on hisface before the Lord Jesus Christ as did Joshuabefore the Captain of the Lord’s Host.And when I saw him, I fell at his feet asdead. And he laid his right hand upon me saying,”Don’t be afraid I am the first and the last”(Revelation 1:17).And it came about when Joshua was by Jericho,that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and,behold, there was a man standing opposite himwith his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshuawent to him, and said to him, Are you for usor for our adversaries? And he said, No; butas captain of the host of the LORD I am comenow. And Joshua fell on his face to theearth, and bowed down and said to him,“What has my lord to say to his servant?”7 See Geneva area Presbyterian church records, PresbyterianHistorical Society, Philadelphia, PA; Records for the FirstBaptist Church in Palmyra, American Baptist Historical Society,Rochester, NY; Minutes of the [Methodist] Annual Conference,Ontario Circuit, 1818-1821, pp.312,330,346,366.Mormonism frequently alters church historyby whitewashing or covering over the facts.The unfavourable aspects get altered orcovered up completely. This is exactly whathappened with accounts of the First Vision.(Joshua 5: 13-14).The current Latter Day Saints (LDS) churchpresident, prophet, seer and revelator, Gordon B.Hinckley, stated in their general conference:Our whole strength rests on the validity of thatvision. It either occurred or it did not occur. Ifit did not, then this work is a fraud. (Gordon B.Hinckley, “The Marvellous Foundation of OurFaith,” Ensign, Nov. 2002, pg 80)It is important to look at what other Mormonchurch leaders have said concerning this. You mustremember that these men claim to be prophets ofGod who are divinely inspired.Joseph Smith, 1st church president, founder,prophet, seer and revelator said in November1835—“...I received the first visitation of angelswhen I was about 14 years old...” —Personalwritings of Joseph Smith, pg. 84.Brigham Young, 2nd church president, prophet, seerand revelator said—“Do we believe that the Lord sent his messengersto Joseph Smith, and commanded him torefrain from joining any Christian church, andto refrain from the wickedness he saw in thechurches, and finally delivered to him a messageinforming him that the Lord was about toestablish his kingdom on the earth...” —Journalof Discourses, Vol. 18, pg. 239George Q. Cannon, apostle, councillor to LDSpresidents Young, Taylor, Snow and Woodruffstated -“But suppose that the statement that JosephSmith says the angel made to him should betrue-that there was no church upon the faceof the earth whom God recognised as His,and whose acts He acknowledged—supposethis were true...” Journal of Discourses, vol.24, pg. 135Brigham Young, 2nd church president, prophet, seerand revelator stated –“The Lord did not come with the armies ofheaven ... but He did send his angel to thissame obscure person, Joseph Smith jun., whoafterwards became a prophet, seer, and revelator,and informed him that he should not joinany of the religious sects of the day, for theywere all wrong.” —Journal of Discourses, vol.2, p. 171Clearly the historical record varies from the officialchurch line. There is no mention in any of thechurch’s records of the visitation of God the fatheror Jesus. Mormonism frequently alters churchhistory by whitewashing or covering over the facts.The unfavourable aspects get altered or coveredup completely. This is exactly what happened withthe accounts of the First Vision. Unfortunately forthe LDS church all the claims about thisFirst Vision are in the public arena. Theyare available in the LDS church’s ownwritings, but are rarely read so peopleremain ignorant of the fact that Mormonshave re-written their history.It is worth noting, in passing, that JosephSmith was a disobedient “prophet”. In 1828he tried to join the Methodist church despitehis “god” telling him that all the churcheswere abominations. The Methodists refusedhim membership because of his occult practices. In1826 Joseph Smith was arrested and found guilty of“money digging”. Today’s term is simply “FRAUD”.He practised divination with a “seer stone” to seekafter buried treasure.In the First Vision Account, Smith is portrayed in1820 as a pious young boy who by 1826 is arrestedand found guilty of fraud who then translates theBOM using occult means. The historical JosephSmith simply does not line up with the Joseph Smithfalsely and deceitfully portrayed by the LDS churchtoday as a prophet of God. The question needs tobe asked, “Are these the ways and results of a trueprophet from God?” The obvious answer is “No”.The next question that needs to be asked is howdid Joseph Smith translate the Book of Mormon?Was it a translation using the correct linguistictools or did Smith use other means at his disposal?First hand evidence is what we need to look at toanswer this question.TO BE CONTINUED NEXT ISSUE.About the AuthorEDWARD BARCLAY has beenmarried to Rosalind for 21years. They have two sons,Timothy and Michael and afoster son, Jaie. Ed and Ros aremembers of CWM-Fellowship,Brisbane where they attendwith their family on a regular basis. Ed does agreat deal of research for a number of Watchmanministries and has been involved in pastoraland other forms of ministry since 1997.