A frequent tactic used by critics of the church is to attempt to expose some sinful behavior by Joseph Smith. The strategy seems to be that if you convince people that Joseph Smith committed sins during his life, that you can dismiss his prophetic claims, and with them the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This might be an effective approach for some people, but that is unfortunate, because prophets are not infallible, and the righteousness of Joseph Smith is impossible to accurately assess, completely irrelevant, and misses the entire point of the restoration.

Prophets are Not Infallible

The biblical statement, ‘All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God’ applies to everyone - including prophets of God. Thus to say that Joseph Smith committed sin during his lifetime is to state the obvious. Of course he did. Whatever sins Joseph Smith committed are his problem. He will need to stand before God and be judged by his works like everyone else. If he wants to be exalted he will need to repent. But whether or not he sinned during his life does not determine whether or not he was a prophet.

Impossible to Accurately Assess

Determining just how righteous a person is is tricky business. It is something much better left up to God. We can not really know what someone’s situation is, or what we would do in it. We do not know all of the factors that go into the decisions and behavior of a person. Even someone we know quite well.

This makes it even more difficult when it comes to someone like Joseph Smith. He died over 150 years ago. The only things we have to go on are the rare reports we have about his personality and character. And whether Joseph Smith comes out as righteous or wicked depends heavily on who is telling the story.

What is even more difficult is that Joseph Smith was operating under some pretty extreme circumstances. And all the while claiming inspiration and revelation guiding him. Whether you believe his prophetic claims will largely determine whether you think a given action was sinful or not.

Completely Irrelevant

Whether or not Joseph Smith committed certain sins does not determine whether or not his prophetic claims are true. To illustrate, let’s take two big claims made by Joseph Smith: The First Vision, and the translating of the Book of Mormon. These events either happened or they did not. Proving that Joseph Smith committed some sin in 1834 does not prove that God the Father and Jesus Christ did not visited him in 1820. Exposing a sin of Joseph in Nauvoo would not make the Book of Mormon disappear in a puff of logic, or change its content.

Take the example of David from the Old Testament. His committing of adultery is an established scriptural fact. But this fact does not mean that Goliath was not slain. I do not bring this example up because I feel that Joseph committed similar sins, but to illustrate the point. Hearing about alleged sinful behavior of Joseph Smith might make it less likely for someone to believe Joseph Smith’s claims, but it does not prove that these prophetic claims are not true claims.

Misses the Point

The restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not about Joseph Smith at all. He was just the messenger, not the message. The messages of the restored gospel include the claims that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that the priesthood has been restored, and all the associated knowledge regarding the nature of God and the plan of salvation. Joseph Smith is not really part of this message other than that he was chosen to deliver parts of it.

I believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, ‘warts and all’. And while some claims about some of his actions might seem disturbing, keep in mind that the righteousness of Joseph Smith is impossible to accurately assess, irrelevant, and misses the entire point of the restored gospel.