Joseph Smith is a former featured article candidate. Please view the links under Article milestones below to see why the nomination was archived. For older candidates, please check the archive.
	Joseph Smith has been listed as one of the Philosophy and religion good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Article milestones Date Process Result August 11, 2005 Peer review Reviewed December 14, 2005 Featured article candidate Not promoted May 3, 2010 Peer review Reviewed June 2, 2010 Good article nominee Not listed March 6, 2011 Good article nominee Not listed October 25, 2012 Good article nominee Listed August 16, 2013 Peer review Not reviewed October 6, 2013 Featured article candidate Not promoted December 27, 2013 Featured article candidate Not promoted Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on January 12, 2005, January 12, 2006, January 12, 2007, January 12, 2008, January 12, 2009, January 12, 2011, January 12, 2013, January 12, 2015, December 23, 2020, and December 23, 2025. Current status: Former featured article candidate, current good article

This  level-4 vital article is rated GA-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to multiple WikiProjects.

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On the "overview" part of the article, there are no citations? Is this because they are mentioned later on? Knotsworth (talk) 21:56, 28 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, per MOS:LEADCITE, we don't always include citations in that section when they can be found in the body. Feoffer (talk) 12:51, 29 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, thanks! Knotsworth (talk) 22:07, 29 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Freedom759:, you tagged with summary "This is article is unbalanced and does not mention the reason he was killed nor mention the controversy between him or the US goverment". I sincerely don't know what you mean -- why was he killed and what was the conflict with the federal government? What material do you think is missing? Feoffer (talk) 01:25, 11 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry My mistake, I was talking about his presidential Campaign. I did not see that at the time and I sincerely apologize for the oversight. I will remove the banner at once. Freedom759 (talk) 19:42, 11 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

White washing.The historical truth is that,Joseph Smith was an Isrealite of dark complextion like his people, the Negroes. My question is, in 2025, why does an organization like this still try to perpetuate the lie that Israelites are white?They are children of Shem,father of the other dark race besides Ham!He who is also Melchizedek,King of Salem. The Melchizedek Preisthood is the only prieshood that Christ recognizes on Earth and none of your churches! ~2025-43579-57 (talk) 05:53, 30 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I think you may be confused. This article is just a summary of reliable sources; They report Smith was a white American, not an "Israelite". Feoffer (talk) 11:19, 30 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Smith was and is one of the most influential people of his era. Smith , like Muhammad, was "supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels". We have unparalled sourcing about Smith's life -- he is the first founder of a religion we can watch, as if by motion picture, as he makes the journey from farmboy to king. A great story, getting to see a whole new religion be born "right before your eyes".
• As neither Smith's follower nor his critic, it is easy to write that, if current trends continue, in a few centuries Smith may be the most influential American to ever have lived.
• For now, the article is structured with a biography followed by summary of teachings, as is common. The ideal article would probably show how events in Smith's life led to his teachings, but that's just too ambitious for now.

• "Life of" should be the most accessible, providing readers with a quick primer on Smith's life. Avoid Mormon-specific 'jargon' as far as possible, try to reduce dates, focus on readability. Imagine a reader who has no interest in the intricacies of Joseph's teachings, just his life and death.
• As is common in these articles, Views and Teachings then goes in for a second pass so readers to learn the in-depth content of doctrines and such.
• In general, "inside baseball" stuff belongs in the section on Smith's teachings.
• We should probably have a third MAIN section on how Smith has been viewed over time in mainstream American culture. Over time, Smith went from "David Koresh" to "Malcolm X" to "Martin Luther King" -- that's a GREAT story unto itself, but a big project to create. Focus on getting the bio right first?

• Bushman and Vogel are currently the "best sources" -- longstanding and highly influential. Bushman is the best synthesis of secular history and the faithful perspective, while Vogel is the best synthesis of the secular history and the skeptical perspective. The two generally agree, and between them, they represent a scholarly consensus that Smith was genuinely and inherently religious.
• Brodie was and sadly still is the GOLD STANDARD of Smith biographers. She also imagined Smith as some secular-rational charlatan, while all modern scholarship agrees he was NOT that; Brodies is generally reliable for facts, but when Bushman and Vogel both deviate from the Brodie facts, readers will want to know "why?", and we had a duty to sort of "issue a correction".
• Similarly, the Joseph Smith Papers is a GOLD STANDARD of primary source documentation, but they aren't independent of the source, so their commentary may be more faith-promoting than secular-historiographic (As well it should be!).

Before inviting peer review, I should probably just type up what my current thoughts, so as to invite correction.

• Smith was born into an interfaith marriage, with a universalist father and older brother who believed in in folk magic (as most did) and a mother more tied to traditional organized Christianity.
• While still a child, Smith was singled out (unsolicited) by a "Seer" as a potential successor.
• After a treasure dig (common in that time and place), Smith reported a dream or vision of a being telling him about nearby treasure.
• Smith was a kid and grown adults including his dad had sworn he was a great seer and begged him to work as a seer to save his family.
• After being singled out by an established seer as a potential successor, Smith was solicited and employed as a seer. (As was common)
• While Smith and his employers sincerely believed Seering was an honest profession, civil authorities in Early America considered it "vagrancy" -- a waste of time, not contributing to the survival of the community.
• A very young Smith was charged, but every single fact leaned in favor of leniency. The frontier court probably found him guilty (of a minor offense), but "suspended his sentence" because everyone agreed he was a country kid recruited by rich adults who didn't know he was doing anything wrong, and promised to stop.
• Smith sincerely pivoted to a career in traditional ministry (Methodist) , but was expelled for his dad/family's reputation (accused of necromancy aka exhuming Alvin's body to obtain treasure). Scholars seem to believe if Joseph Sr. or strangers disturbed the grave, it wasn't the fault of young Joseph Smith who wasn't actually a "necromancer" as his critics claimed.
• Unwelcome in established churches but faced with INTENSE family and community demand, Smith set out to become a seer-author ala A Course in Miracles. He did not twirl his moustache and think how nefarious he was -- he likely sincerely believed he was channeling the words of a past text that only he could access.
• He probably had access to an actual set of "plates" that many handled, but none saw.

• During the dictation, Smith lost the draft. Unable to create a verbatim replica, Smith switched from mere 'translation' to his first 'revelation'. (Famously depicted in South Park, all that many know of Smith)
• The book explained the origins of Native Americans and the fall of the "mound builders".
• Smith collaborated with a cousin, Oliver Cowdery (their familial relationship was not widely discussed). Cowdery's minister had also written a book about Native American origins.
• Book of Mormon addressed Universalist concerns about Christianity by positing Native Americans had also rejected Christ and become wicked and dark-skinned.
• During the 'translation', Cowdery and Smith founded a church; Smith's universalist father and Christian mother resolved their religious differences by both joining the new church
• "Three Witnesses" signed a joint statement claiming they had seen the plates: Cowdery, who had physically written and revised the manuscript; Whitmer, who hosted Smith during the process; and Harris, who financed the printing.
• Eight other members of the Smith and Whitmer families signed similar statements, prompting the satirical quip from Twain "I could not feel more satisfied and at rest if the entire Whitmer family had testified."

• Smith was arrested and transported to back to Bainbridge, likely an alleged violation of his 1826 suspended sentence for 'glass looking'
• This time, Smith has great legal representation. Cowdery falsely testifies the stone used in the "translation" was not the 1826 seer stone, but two "transparent" stones "like glass" set in metal frames, akin to "spectacles".
• Charges are dismissed, Smith is freed, only to be re-arrested on a similar charge in a different jurisdiction. He's trasported there,and again freed, though forced to escape a mob.
• Sidney Rigdon was a highly influential preacher with a large congregation in Kirtland, Ohio. He converted to the new church, along with many of his congregation.
• Smith relocated to Kirtland to join his followers there.

• First revelations limited authority of revivalists. (Hubble)
• Pre-existent communalism in Ohio and need to care for incoming faithful leads to United Order revelations
• Romantic communalism as early as 1831?
• Tar and feathering
• Ebil dued — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2026-10770-33 (talk) 17:03, 17 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I'm trying to disclose to future editors what I tenatively think RS are collectively saying, based on my current understanding. I'm Wrong ALL the time, so be happy to correct me! That's the whole point!

Feoffer (talk) 15:30, 8 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

"accused of necromancy aka exhuming Alvin's body to obtain treasure" Necromancy typically describes attempts to communicate with the spirits of the dead, one way or another. Exhuming the dead to obtain treasure seems to describe grave robbery. By the way, the young Smith's "prophetic" dreams suggest a belief in Oneiromancy (divination by interpreting dreams). Did Smith have a passing familiarity with the Book of Daniel, whose main character uses this ability to gain favor at the royal court? Dimadick (talk) 17:11, 8 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Hi! I wasn't really prepared for feedback on this comment just yet; but I appreciate the initiative! Please remember this is just a work in progress -- please don't judge it just yet! I don't think Joseph was a necromancer, I just think he was accused of that! And of course he believed in prophetic dreams! Exhuming the dead to obtain treasure seems to describe grave robbery Well, according to the stories, they needed his brother's body to appease a spirit who had a treasure. But the stories aren't things we should believe, just need to understand why he wasn't welcome with the Methodists. Feoffer (talk) 17:16, 8 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Rjjiii:. Okay, you asked for me to ping you when we're ready for you. The first two sections of the biography are essentially done, but unpolished. Above, I've written my own basic summary of what I think RSes ware saying. See what you think about the article structure overall, if it makes sense to split into biography and theology, etc. Feoffer (talk)