Robert Matthews
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- Not to be confused with Robert Jay Matthews.
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Robert Matthews (1778–1841) was a United States religious con artist whose aliases included Robert Matthias, Jesus Matthias, Matthias the Prophet, and Joshua the Jewish Minister. He is remembered today chiefly for his brief encounter with Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter-day Saint movement.
Matthews began his career in New York City, where he succeeded in convincing three wealthy merchants named Mills, Folger, and Pierson to give him a great deal of money and the deeds to two houses, in exchange for "promised abundance in the kingdom of heaven." Folger went bankrupt and in 1835 had Matthews arrested and briefly incarcerated for obtaining money under false pretenses. Matthews was also accused of murdering Pierson, but was acquitted.
Upon his release from prison later in 1835, Matthews traveled through Ohio, and on 9 November of that year he paid a visit to Joseph Smith under the pseudonym "Joshua the Jewish Minister." The two discussed resurrection and reincarnation. Matthews claimed to be both God and the reincarnation of the apostle Matthias; he also said he was a literal descendant of Matthias, and that transmigration of the soul typically went from father to son. False rumors circulated that Matthews had joined the Mormons, but in fact his meeting with Smith ended with the two prophets denouncing each other as Satanic.
See Paul E. Johnson and Sean Wilentz, The Kingdom of Matthias: A Story of Sex and Salvation in 19th-Century America, New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
