What do you think of this Joseph Smith quote?

[Flystripper]

I actually found the other portion of the quote more interesting...the one about the wives.

Yeah Joseph was clearly lying about that. Weird that he would even comment on it since it was a very clear lie.

[TripletDaddy]

Yeah Joseph was clearly lying about that. Weird that he would even comment on it since it was a very clear lie.

He could have been using sarcasm and hyperbole, I guess.

[LA Ute]

Given that we are unaware of the context (or at least have not discussed it here) and given what we do know of the adversities that Joseph Smith faced adn what he did, in fact, achieve, this opinion seems a little strident.

I agree.

Fourth, you are also missing one of the more fascinating aspects of the quote, from my POV. He brings Jesus down to us. Jesus is one of us, is to be looked at like us. God, therefore, may have been incarnate but he was just like us. It is a very revealing look at his view of Christ and of his relationship to us. In his eyes, it would seem, Christ really is his brother, not just in lip service, but in the way he sees him and relates to him. He is just one of the family.

I agree with this also.

Joseph is going to act like a fool and boast. He is going to crow like a rooster. He is appears to be trying to show that his critics expectations of him and charges against him are absurd. So he engages in absurdity. That is why most of the rest of the conversation revolves around him answering, what are in his view, false charges (which is when he actually gets serious and is true subject at hand, not his accomplishment relative to Jesus).

And this is persuasive to me too.

Joseph Smith is quoted as having said a lot of things that sound strange to me. In all candor, I had a hard time getting close to Joseph as a man until the last 5 years or so. Rough Stone Rolling helped me a great deal to make me feel much, much better about him. I am willing to cut Joseph a great deal of slack, and he did not need to die a perfect human in order for me to accept his testimony of, and role in the Restoration. In fact, despite my personal qualms about Joseph the man, I always felt OK about Joseph the prophet. That may sound strange, but I'm too busy to explain further right now!

I have a feeling this thread will not go over well with Indy Coug and LA Ute.

Oh, come now!

[ERCougar]

Yeah Joseph was clearly lying about that. Weird that he would even comment on it since it was a very clear lie.

Now, let's be fair--he said he could only find one. I would think it would be tough to keep track of 34.