Pageant rekindles Smith debate

NAUVOO, Ill. — The lights went up and the mayflies swarmed as Latter-day Saints flooded the stage, with the silhouette of the sacred Nauvoo Temple rising from the hallowed bluff behind them.

Then Prophet Joseph Smith appeared, parting a sea of actors and recounting the life and ministry, sacrifice and resurrection of their savior Jesus Christ.

"Isn't that what all the prophets have taught?" Smith asked as he strolled downstage.

"Yes, Brother Joseph. All the prophets from the beginning of time," the narrator responded. "And such a prophet we found."

As the Mormon Church, officially known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, celebrates the bicentennial of its founding prophet's birth, members from around the world are descending upon Nauvoo, a city that has come to symbolize the meteoric rise and fall of their prophet.

There, immigrants from other nations flocked to be part of a new expression of Christianity, built a temple and created a prosperous and powerful city. And from there, thousands of Mormons were forced to flee across the frozen Mississippi in the dead of night after the murder of their leaders.

For 29 years Nauvoo has hosted a pageant to showcase the city's history. This year, the pageant was rewritten and recast to highlight more boldly the doctrine and teachings that Smith laid down for the Latter-day Saints. Church and town officials expect the pageant to triple the town's population of 1,100 during its monthlong run through Aug. 5.

In this anniversary year, Mormons are reflecting on Smith's legacy, which to some degree has been downplayed for fear that outsiders would mistake their reverence for the prophet as if they were worshipping him as a God.

"If one can not square with Prophet Joseph, we have nothing as a church," said Elder Donald Staheli, church President Gordon Hinckley's liaison to Nauvoo. "If Prophet Joseph and his mission are true, then the church has everything. If it's not true, we become a fraud."

The prophet, who lived only to age 38, also is experiencing a rebirth in the minds of scholars who may not accept his claims of a divine role but recognize his significant contributions to the nation's political and religious landscape.

"Of all the religions or variations of Christianity that were developing, only Mormonism provided its followers with a Bible book, a holy scripture, and that makes it very special," said Robert Remini, a University of Illinois-Chicago professor who wrote a biography of Joseph Smith in 2002. "It's no wonder he had a great impact and influenced so many individuals."