CONCLUSION
Jack and the Beanstalks - Just Another Storybook!
Once upon a time there lived a young boy named Jack. He and his mother lived in the country and were very poor. One day Jack’s mother sent him into the nearby town with the last few pennies they had and instructed him to buy a loaf of bread from the baker so they might eat their very last meal. Along the way Jack met a well-dressed man with shiny buttons on his beautiful coat. Jack was so impressed with the shiny buttons that he began to talk with the man as they walked and inquired where the man had found such beautiful attire. Realizing that Jack was not the brightest boy in the world, the well-dressed traveler saw an opportunity to profit from this silly lad. He began to explain how he had discovered a pot of gold in the riverbank near where they walked. “Would you like to see it?” the man asked Jack. Thinking of how poor he and his mother were and how rich they might be if only he could find a pot of gold in the riverbank too, Jack was eager to see the spot and the pot of gold this lucky man had found. “Yes, oh yes I would” Jack hurriedly replied. “It will cost you something then if you want to see my pot of gold young man!” the robust trickster exclaimed. “What do you have that you can pay me with for the opportunity of a lifetime? Very few people ever get to see my pot of gold.” Hurriedly Jack removed the few pennies from his pocket and held them out for the rich man to examine. “Is this enough?” he quickly asked. “Oh my!” exclaimed the deceitful fellow, “Where did you get such a huge amount of money?” “My mother gave it to me to go into town and buy some bread so that we might eat one last meal” answered Jack with a sudden realization that seeing the pot of gold would not fill his empty stomach. “It is all that we have left to buy food with” he muttered as he closed his fist around the few coins in his palm. “I’d better not spend them to see your pot of gold sir!” Hurriedly the man grabbed for the coins in Jack’s hand and tripped over a root in the ground from the nearby tree as he began to chase the retreating boy. Hearing the noise of the heavy man’s fall behind him, Jack turned to find the man unconscious upon the ground and bleeding from a cut where he had banged his head on a rock. Quickly he rushed into town and proceeded to explain the situation to the local Sheriff as they hurried back to the spot where the man had fallen. “Well I’ll be!” exclaimed the Sheriff when they arrived to find the man sitting on the ground in a daze. “Young man, you’ve helped me capture the notorious criminal known as Sticky Fingered Pete! There is a huge reward due for the person who brings this man to justice, and I’m going to see to it that you get it! Follow me into town and help me lock this man into jail and we will go get your reward.” All of the townspeople cheered for Jack later that day, and Jack smiled broadly as he and his mother signed the title deed to a huge bean farm they were able to purchase on the edge of town. “Hooray for Jack who now owns the beanstalks!” they shouted as the Sheriff and Jack’s mother agreed to marry soon, and they all lived happily ever after.
The problem with fairy tales is that they can be written any way the author desires. One might slant the story so far from truth that the fairy tale is obvious to the reader, while another might direct the story so near the truth it could pass as actual historical events. The above fairy tale, altered by this author, illustrates the point perfectly. A simple person might actually believe the story of Jack and the Beanstalks as written here although it is no more truth than the story as originally told with the giant and the goose that laid the golden eggs. Either story is fiction regardless of how true sounding they may be. A fairy tale is merely a tale told that bears no truth.
Joseph Smith’s book is only a fairy tale, just another storybook. Written by somebody other than the recorded authors within its pages, it was originally printed in 1830 with this label on the title page:
BY JOSEPH SMITH, JUNIOR.
AUTHOR AND PROPRIETOR.
_____________________
PALMYRA:
PRINTED BY E.B. GRANDIN, FOR THE AUTHOR.
1830.
An actual photograph of the original title page disclosing this information can be found on the world wide web at
www.inephi.com/1.htm
or on page forty in
THE RESTORED CHURCH. The facts that Joseph Smith was the author and E. B. Grandin was the printer were the only true facts within that original BkM. When the story was reprinted and Smith relabeled himself as the translator, there remained only one true fact within the pages of Smith’s fairy tale, the printer’s name! It matters not how truthful the book sounds; the information within is mere fiction. If Nephi and his father Lehi never truly existed, the events documented by Smith in the BkM bear no more truth than the story of Jack and the Beanstalks above, because they who have never existed cannot tell the truth.
King Solomon once wrote, “ . . . of making many books there is no end; . . .” The truth of that statement continues to ring loud and clear as this novel takes its place among the multitude of literary works already amassed upon this world. Some will bear truth, some will bear fiction, and some will find a place in the middle where truth and fiction are so entwined that only God himself can discern the difference. Let the reader beware that the BkM is pure fiction.
Joseph Fielding Smith, the tenth prophet and president of the Mormon Church, stated that Joseph Smith was either a prophet of God or one of the biggest frauds this world has ever seen. He continued to declare that if Smith was a deceiver who willfully attempted to mislead the people then he should be exposed and shown to be an imposter. Thank you Mr. Joseph Fielding Smith for the invitation and encouragement you have given this author in the endeavor to enlighten the world to the deceitfulness of Joseph Smith. It must have been he who authored the BkM in 1830 and later lied to the world by claiming it to be a work of truth. Smith was Nephi’s author by proxy!
It is this writer’s desire that every reader will turn to the Bible and discover the truths of the only true God who really exists. For thousands of years he has protected his message that men everywhere may prepare themselves for that great day when all will stand before him to be judged. Within the pages of the Bible the sinner will discover their guilt before God, their need of a savior, and the wonderful love of God that sent Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, to bear the punishment for all mankind on a rugged cross nearly two thousand years ago. The Savior of mankind is waiting for all men to repent and turn to him seeking mercy. He will not refuse the worst sinner who comes in true repentance, nor will he accept the most self-righteous religious humans who think themselves worthy before God. Those who come to him must come humbly, repentant, and willing to trust him for their eternal destiny. He has spoken the words of truth in the Bible, protected that message for all who are interested, and now patiently waits for men everywhere to accept his wonderful grace. The ball is in our court now. Will you trust the words of Jesus in the Bible or the plagiarized words of Joseph Smith? Eternity is on the line!!!
