John 15:13; “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
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Many times you’ll hear Mormons say, Joseph Smith suffered a martyr’s death for the sake of the Mormon gospel. Is this true? We know it’s not, yet not many will tell Mormons the truth about this. Be brave, beloved!
Jesus asked Peter if he’d lay down his life. After some mishaps along the way, Peter finally ‘got it’, and did just that. His unrestrained sense of the heroic shone through like the alabaster cliffs of the Greek shoreline. Just as Jesus prophesied, he’d be crucified for the sake of the gospel John 21:18. (And upside down no less.) For info on how the apostles died, see article Martyrdom of Joseph Smith.
Conversely, Joseph Smith stands as the shining example of everything a martyr is not. While being held on charges of riot and treason, he was murdered by a local mob before getting the chance to stand trial. While the way he was killed was wrong, it’s also wrong to declare Smith a martyr. He shot three people, killing two of them, before he was killed at the Carthage Jail. Fighting back automatically disqualifies you from martyrdom. The Church even referred to this as the ‘Handsome Fight’, which goes to further the case that Smith doesn’t qualify as a martyr. Furthermore, the words Smith cried out when he died was a Masonic distress call. This means if other Masons hear those words, they’ve sworn an oath to protect the one calling for help.
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History of the Church 6:616-618; “…Joseph sprang to his coat for his six-shooter, Hyrum for his single barrel…Hyrum was retreating back in front of the door and snapped his pistol, when a ball struck him…The “Handsome Fight” of Joseph Smith and John Taylor. Joseph reached round the door casing, and discharged his six shooter…When Hyrum fell, Joseph exclaimed, “Oh dear, brother Hyrum!” and opening the door a few inches he discharged his six shooter in the stairway…[he] dropped his pistol on the floor and sprang into the window when two balls pierced him from the door, and one entered his right breast from without, and he fell outward into the hands of his murderers, exclaiming. “O Lord, my God!”