Joseph Smith was an occultist. What he thought were angels were not necessarily angelic. For example, in June 1834 Joseph received a visit from an angel commanding him to take plural wives. Prior to that he was having an affair with his nanny, Fannie Alger.
Assuming that Joseph was spiritually gifted, he did not know how to control it. In other words, he made some real innovations but he also received guidance from lower beings in what Rudolph Steiner called the 8th sphere. His carnality drove him to madness.
The church split into Smithites and Brighamites after Nauvoo. The latter went west with their tyrannical leader Brigham Young, a kind of American Saddam Hussein.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2023 10:09PM by bradley.