Joseph Smith Jr. (1805–1844) was one of the most successful and controversial religious leaders of 19th-century America, publishing the Book of Mormon and starting what would become the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He built temples, founded a city-state in Illinois, ran for president, and married more than 30 women. This self-made prophet thrilled his followers with his grand vision of peace and unity, but his increasingly grandiose plans tested and sometimes shattered their faith.
John G. Turner, professor of religious studies and history at George Mason University, presents Smith as a consummate religious entrepreneur and innovator, a man both flawed and compelling. He sold books, land, and merchandise. And he relentlessly advanced doctrines that tapped into anxieties about the nature and meaning of salvation, the validity of miracles, the timing of Christ’s second coming, and the persistence of human relationships for eternity. His teachings prompted people to gather into communities, evoking fierce opposition from those who saw those communities as theocratic threats to republicanism.
Drawing from his 2025 book, Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet, Turner illuminates Smith’s stunning trajectory, from his beginnings as an uneducated, impoverished farmhand to his ultimate fall at the hands of a murderous mob, revealing how he forged a religious tradition that has resonated with millions of people in the United States and beyond.
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