15 Prophets Speak of Joseph
Lewis A. Ramsey painting of Joseph Smith, 1910
"I am like a huge, rough, stone rolling down
from a high mountain; and the only polishing I get is when some corner gets
rubbed off by coming in contact with something else, . . . All hell knocking off
a corner here and a corner there. Thus will I become a smooth and polished shaft
in the quiver of the Almighty."
~Joseph Smith
"When I saw Joseph Smith, he took heaven, figuratively speaking, and brought it down to earth; and he took the earth, brought it up, and opened up, in plainness and simplicity, the things of God; and that is the beauty of his mission."
~Brigham Young
"I testify that I was acquainted with Joseph Smith for years. . . . I testify before God, angels, and men, that he was a good, honorable, virtuous man. . . . That his private and public character was unimpeachable—and that he lived and died as a man of God and a gentleman. This is my testimony."
~John Taylor
"Joseph Smith was what he professed to be, a prophet of God, a seer and revelator. He laid the foundation of this church and kingdom, and lived long enough to deliver the keys of the kingdom to the elders of Israel, unto the twelve apostles."
~Wilford Woodruff
"I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God; I know that he was an honorable man, a moral man, and that he had the respect of those who were acquainted with him. The Lord has shown me most clearly and completely that he was a Prophet of God."
~Lorenzo Snow
"I bear
testimony to you and to the world, that Joseph Smith was raised up by the power
of God to lay the foundations of this great Latter-day work, to reveal the
fulness of the gospel to the world in this dispensation. . . . I bear my
testimony to it; I know that it is true."
~Joseph F. Smith
"Joseph Smith has been ridiculed and
characterized as 'old Joe Smith.' I stand before you today a mere boy (39 years
old), and yet Joseph Smith was martyred when he was a year younger than I am. .
. . When we contemplate what he did, considering the opportunities of education
that he had, it is indeed a marvel and wonder."
~Heber J. Grant
"I wonder
if that great man, Joseph Smith, who gave his life that the Church might be
organized and carried on as the Lord intended, could see the Church as it exists
today, with its branches established in all parts of the world, and realize that
each day since he was martyred . . . the Church has become stronger than the day
before?"
~George Albert Smith
"When Joseph Smith taught a doctrine, he taught
it authoritatively. . . . As we look through the vista of over one hundred
years, we have a good opportunity of judging of the virtue of his teachings, and
of concluding as to the source of his instruction."
~David O. McKay
"Since
this is the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith, I feel
inclined to say a word about him, about his mission. As one of the greatest of
all the prophets, he presides over the last dispensation."
~Joseph Fielding Smith
"Joseph Smith was the one whom the Lord raised
up from boyhood and endowed with divine authority and taught the things
necessary of him to know and to obtain the priesthood and to lay the foundation
of God's kingdom in these latter days."
~Harold B. Lee
"I now
add my personal and solemn testimony that God, the Eternal Father, and the risen
Lord, Jesus Christ, appeared to the boy Joseph Smith."
~Spencer W. Kimball
"I bear testimony that Joseph Smith was a
prophet of the living God, one of the greatest prophets that has ever lived on
the earth. He was the instrument in God's hand in ushering in the present gospel
dispensation, the greatest of all, and the last of all in preparation for the
second coming of the Master."
~Ezra Taft Benson
"Joseph
Smith was not only a great man, but he was an inspired servant of the Lord, a
prophet of God. His greatness consists in one thing: the truthfulness of his
declaration that he saw the Father and the Son and that he responded to the
reality of that divine revelation."
~Howard W. Hunter
"I worship the God of heaven, who is my Eternal
Father. I worship the Lord Jesus Christ, who is my Savior and my Redeemer. I do
not worship Joseph Smith, but I reverence and love this great seer through whom
the miracle of this gospel has been restored."
~Gordon B. Hinckley