In this volume, Faulring compiles most of Joseph Smith’s diaries and journals. This is missing most of the Book of the Law of the Lord since the LDS church was still keeping it secret at the time this book was written.

While Joseph Smith wrote some of this himself, most of the time he had various scribes write for him. I guess he didn’t like writing. It was no doubt more of a chore to write back then.

There’s a lot of gaps and jumping forward in time. Smith refers to some things without explaining them, so it’s better to already be familiar with his history to make sense of several passages.

A lot of this is boring as you’d expect. There are many repetitious entries about what he did that day such as preaching, visiting his sick father, seeing a couple deer in a field, etc. He writes about the weather, tells us when he’s got a cold, when he attends a wedding or a funeral. I didn’t realize Joseph Smith was such a big fan of sleighing. Seriously. During the winter, nearly every entry ends with the phrase “Fine sleighing.”

I found it funny that he originally wrote October 32nd before crossing it out and writing November 1st. It’s also amusing that he declared a meteor shower on November 13th, 1833 a sign that Jesus was coming soon.

There are some oddly specific prayers. On January 31st, 1834, he prays the Lord will add 3,000 subscribers to his newspaper the Evening and Morning Star within 3 years. Many entries are concerned with money and donations. He complains when he has to pay for postage. He blesses those who give him money in an over-the-top way.

Joseph seems to have a lot of anger in him. On October 26th, 1835, after his brother Samuel is fined by the court $20 for not doing military duty, Joseph declares, “I say in the name of Jesus Christ that the money that they have thus unjustly taken shall be a testimony against them and canker and eat their flesh as fire.” He often condemns people like this and looks forward to the day unbelievers will be wiped from the earth. He even asks God to punish his enemies during the Kirkland Temple dedication.

On October 29th, 1835, a man named David Elliot is accused of whipping his daughter unjustly and Joseph testifies on his behalf. I guess the whipping was just?

When Joseph gets in fights, such as with his brother William, he claims the other party is angry and irrational while he’s calm and understanding. In one incident he describes in a letter dated December 18th 1835, Joseph doesn’t seem that calm to me: “I then dispared [sic] of benefiting you on the account of the spirit you manifested which drew from me the expression that you was as ugly as the Devil.” Way to stay calm, Joseph. Their father then commanded silence. William said he’d say what he wanted in his own house. Joseph was about to leave, but instead said he helped build the house, so he should get to speak too. Joseph then took off his coat, not to fight William, but to avoid getting tangled in it if William tried to fight him. Sure.

After getting beat, Joseph finally leaves. He says the only reason William is stronger than him is because persecution of mobs has weakened him and he says William needs to stop giving way to his passions. (He’s not the only one.)

Joseph prays for sick people to get better. When they do, he’s a hero. When they don’t get better, he blames them for not having enough faith. His prayers don’t seem to work immediately. He complains of still having a cold the day after a healing prayer in one case. On December 10th, 1835, he heals Angeline Works, but she needs healing again two days later. The day after that, she has to sit during her wedding because she’s not healthy enough to stand, so the second healing didn’t work so well either.

On January 21st, 1836, a minister asks Joseph how Mormons are different from other Christians. Joseph replies that Mormons believe in the Bible and other Christians don’t. Burn!

Later that same day, after being anointed by oil, he has a vision that anyone who dies before the age of accountability goes straight to the highest kingdom of heaven. Also, anyone who dies without hearing about Mormonism, but who would have accepted it if they had heard of it, also go straight to heaven. Doesn’t this mean there’s no need for missionary work?

Joseph sees the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb (he doesn’t specify if Judas is included or not) upon the earth in a foreign land. The belief the Twelve are still on the earth is a new one to me. He also sees Brigham Young in a southwest desert being menaced by a dozen hostile men of color, but being protected by a sword-wielding angel. Why don’t modern Mormon prophets have wild visions like this anymore?

Smith is intent on learning Hebrew so he can read the Old Testament in its original language. Why do modern Mormons insist on the King James Version so much when it’s not the best translation? Shouldn’t they seek out translations more true to the original Hebrew?

When members are condemned or kicked out of the church, which is often, what they’re in trouble for is often vague. Often they’re in trouble for believing Joseph did some unnamed bad thing.

Interestingly, at a place called Tower Hill north of Far West, Missouri, Smith found an old Nephite alter and tower. Unfortunately, this isn’t still around today.

On July 4th, 1838, Joseph sicked his dogs, one of whom was a greyhound, on deer for sheer amusement.

He refers to his time period as “these last days” and speaks of “destructions which are coming upon this generation as spoken by all the Holy Prophets Since the world began,” etc. It’s pretty clear Joseph Smith considered the end to be imminent.

On July 8th, 1838, he has a revelation that Oliver Granger’s name “shall be had in sacred remembrance from Generation to Generation for ever and ever saith the Lord.” Since Oliver Granger is an obscure figure even among Mormon history buffs, it’s safe to say this revelation didn’t come true.

On August 7th, 1838, there’s a report that 6 to 12 Mormons were victorious after being attacked by 150 Missourians. This report doesn’t exactly have the ring of truth to it.

There’s a lot of talk of sheriffs trying to arrest Smith and him going to court, but he doesn’t always tell us what the charges are.

Nobody seems to stay in Joseph’s good graces for very long. He’s constantly chastising other higher-ups in the church. In a letter from Liberty Jail on December 16th, 1838, he says of W. W. Phelps, Sampson Avard, and others “who are so very ignorant that they cannot appear respectable in any decent and civilized society, and whose eyes are full of adultery and cannot cease from sin.” He says John and David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery, and Martin Harris “are too mean to mention and we had liked to have forgotten.” He says Thomas Marsh and Orson Hyde “whose hearts of full of corruption, whose cloak of hypocrisy was not sufficient to shield them.”

On December 30th, 1842, Joseph decides not to vote for a slaveholder because they would “compel our children to mix with their Slaves.” He also says, “Should the slaves be organized into an independent government, they would become quarrelsome. It would not be wisdom.”

According to Joseph, “Salt, vinegar and pepper given internally and plunging in the river when the paroxysms begin will cure the cholera.”

On December 31st, 1842, an unnamed Governor says, “Well, from reports we had reason to think the Mormons were a peculiar people. Different from other people having horns or something of the kind, but I find they look like other people. Indeed I think Mr. Smith is a very good looking man.” Growing up, I was told non-Mormons thought Mormons had horns. Is this where that legend originated?

Joseph was not impressed by James C. Brewster, leader of a Mormon break-off group who wrote his own scripture and went to California.

On January 2nd, 1843, while Joseph is being held by the authorities in connection with the Governor Boggs assassination attempt, a man named Laconly, who apparently believes in phrenology says, “Examine his head. I think he is not particularly given to burglary, rape, and Murder.”

On January 20th, Joseph has a dream in which he beats down the Illinois House of Representatives with a rod of iron. I found this amusing since an iron rod isn’t typically associated with violence in the Book of Mormon.

He prophecies in the name of the Lord that he’ll drink wine in Palestine with Orson Hyde. I don’t think this prophecy came true.

On February 9th, Smith relates that when in Philadelphia, a Quaker asked for a sign and Joseph knew he was an adulterous person because the Lord said anyone who asks for a sign is. According to Joseph, someone confirmed they’d caught the Quaker in the act.

On February 20th, after breaking up a fight, Smith says, “No body is allowed to fight in this city but me.”

On March 2nd and 3rd, 1843, Smith relates the testimony in a horrifying malpractice trial. Doctor Brinks is accused of causing harm to a pregnant woman. She had seven children previously with no problem. After his care, she’s been in pain ever since. He claims it was standard care.

She had dysentery and her time was not for 3 or 4 weeks. He told her the fetus was dead and gave her ergot and cayenne pepper to induce delivery. He also pressed his head against her bowels to help expel the fetus. He opened the mouth of her womb by force and violently inserted his hand to ascertain the situation of the fetus, causing lacerations. He ignored her when she asked him to stop.

Dr. Bennett testifies that the force was unnecessary, that ergot causes the womb to expel its contents, but Dr. Brink didn’t administer a large enough dose to produce an abortion. (This is interesting because Bennett is thought to have performed abortions to cover up the results of secret polygamy. It does seem he knows how to do it.)

Brinks lost the case and was ordered to give back the $99 he’d been paid plus costs.

On March 10th, a stream of light in the shape of a sword appeared in the sky and Joseph said it meant a speedy and bloody war was coming. Since wars are a common occurrence, it’s not an impressive prediction, although speedy wars are more rare.

Smith seems to think the end of the world is soon. On March 11th, the papers report a sunken ship disappeared after an earthquake and the Mississippi River got deeper in one area but more shallow in another. On March 13th, the papers say iron filings and sulphur fell in the form of a snow storm in Missouri. March 14th, Joseph sees a large circle around the moon which he considers significant.

On April 2nd, Smith says if he lives to be 85 (1890), he’ll see the coming of the Son of Man. This will be preceded by bloodshed in South Carolina. He says the Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes from Revelation 5:6 is probably a beast which lived on another planet, but it also seems to be the Priesthood.

On April 3rd, he makes fun of Miller for getting the date of Judgement Day wrong, but he shouldn’t really be casting the first stone, should he?

On April 6th, Smith claims Revelation 14:6 and Hosea 6 both point to 1890 being the year of the second coming. Before the Son of Man returns, Jerusalem must be rebuilt, “the Temple water come out from under the temple”, the waters of the Dead Sea be healed, and oceans moving beyond their bounds.

On April 7th, he says some deny the resurrection of the body “because flesh and bones are constantly changing, completely new in 7 or 10 years.” Joseph solves this problem by declaring no “more than 3/4 of our bodies is comprised of animal organization, but is purely vegetable. Hence … a man will have one or two parts which will be the same original.”

On December 16th, 1843, he makes a prophecy that if Congress doesn’t protect the Mormons from Missouri, the US government will be broken up and nothing will be left of them, not even a grease spot. I’m pretty sure this prophecy didn’t come true either.

On March 7th, 1844, he gives his presidential platform. It’s amusing that part of his presidential platform is to annex Canada. (When Madison tried that in 1812, it didn’t work out so well.)

On April 6th, 1844, he gives his famous King Follet discourse. There’s a lot of interesting theology in it. God didn’t create our spirits, they always existed. If we had a beginning, that would mean we have an end, which we don’t. The mind of man is coequal with God. Our greatest responsibility is to look after the dead. The only unpardonable sin is denying the plan of salvation with your eyes open. Children who die will never grow up.

On April 7th, he declares that all of North and South America is Zion.

On June 11th, Francis Higbee predicts that if the Nauvoo Expositor is destroyed, it will lead to Smith’s downfall, which is true. This Higbee guy seems to be a better prophet than Joseph was.