The Columbia Sourcebook of Mormons in the United States

ONE

THEOLOGY AND DOCTRINE

THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS (hereafter referred to as the church) took shape amidst a flood of other-worldly phenomena. Visitations of God and Christ, miraculously preserved golden plates and seerstones, along with Old Testament prophets, New Testament apostles, ancient American kings and warrior-priests, all appearing now as holy angels, converged on a young seeker named Joseph Smith. Even by the standards of an age prone to supernaturalism and folk magic, the restorationist movement popularly known today as Mormonism unfolded as a spectacular effusion of the miraculous. To the church’s early faithful, this manifold merging of heaven and earth was a sign of the end times, a fulfillment of millennial expectations, and the harbinger of a final gathering preparatory to Christ’s return and the building of a New Jerusalem, as described in the Bible and the Book of Mormon.

A number of historians have observed that the church’s theology is its history. This is essentially true in the same sense it could be said of Christianity, especially primitive Christianity. The earliest creed, the Apostles’, was primarily an attestation of events, not dogmas: Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of a virgin, suffered under Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. And, most importantly, faith rested on assent to the historical claim that on the third day He rose again from the dead. Before scriptural canons or Trinitarian formulas took shape, the brute fact of a literal resurrection of the man Jesus on the first Easter Sunday was the heart and soul of Christian belief.

Latter-day Saints continue in affirming these traditional Christian fundamentals, but they have extended the historical bases of such faith into the present age. This historical focus operates to at least two purposes. First, to more contemporary Mormons, this history is a hedge against the mythologizing common in liberal Protestantism. The relatively recent accounts of Joseph Smith’s visions attest to the continuing interaction of God with humans in the modern age. And this is a God who is fully realized in Smith’s descriptions as embodied and capable of human speech and of weeping real tears. The history of the church, in other words, points to a particular kind of divine nature and divine activity.

Second, the litany of miraculous events and heavenly visitations confirms in the LDS mind the special status of the church. Latter-day Saints frequently refer to their belief in the only true and living church (Doctrine and Covenants 30:1), language outsiders interpret as exclusivist and jingoistic. What the Mormons mean is perhaps what the Roman Catholic Church has traditionally meant, insofar as both traditions emphasize the divinely appointed role the church has as the earthly vehicle for human salvation. Mormon history is therefore inextricably connected to claims for a specific kind of authority that is central to their people’s religious understanding. And Latter-day Saints in the twenty-first century still look for and appreciate the continuation of charismatic spiritual gifts and otherworldly blessings in their lives, despite the church’s more institutional nature.

Authority functions in the LDS tradition in several related, important ways. First is the Mormon claim of authority for the restoration of the church itself, which they believe to have been instituted by Christ but fatally maimed through the historical loss of apostolic authority and the corruption of the original apostasy. Latter-day Saints usually date Joseph Smith’s calling as a prophet to the event known as the First Vision, wherein God the Father and his son Jesus Christ appeared to the fourteen-year-old boy and informed him that no true church then existed on the earth. Mormons sing and testify of this event as the cardinal symbol of Smith’s status as God’s latter-day prophet. He viewed the significance of the event as an affirmation of the Lord’s scriptural promise to answer the humble seeker of wisdom and as a supernal moment of forgiveness and spiritual cleansing.

Joseph Smith’s mandate to organize a church came just years later. He only prepared for public dissemination an account of this First Vision more than two decades after the event. Figuring much more prominently in early LDS mentality was Smith’s role in translating the Book of Mormon. Remarkably, the book that garnered such notoriety—and so many converts—for the faith was relatively unremarkable for conspicuously new theology. But its material reality was the paramount sign of Joseph Smith’s prophetic status, confirming his claims to be acting under divine authority in restoring the church. It was no coincidence that the formal organization occurred mere weeks after the book’s publication. Smith subsequently used this seership, or ability to reveal ancient texts, to produce writings from more familiar biblical figures, like Moses, Abraham, and, reproduced later in this chapter, Enoch. He also dictated dozens of revelations in the voice of God, the most celebrated of which was his vision of the three degrees of glory, describing a multitiered heaven.

Latter-day Saints also see authority as necessary to the performance of saving ordinances (sacraments). This power, which they term priesthood, must be traceable to Jesus Christ through a line of unbroken transmission. In the aftermath of the apostasy, such divine provenance could only be reestablished by the appearance of resurrected apostles. No contemporary account exists of the visit of Peter, James, and John to Joseph Smith to bestow the Melchizedek Priesthood, but Smith and Oliver Cowdery both attested to the appearance of John the Baptist to confer the lesser, Aaronic Priesthood (see the selection later in this chapter). Old Testament figures like Moses and Elijah conferred on Joseph Smith more specific keys; that is, rights and authority pertaining to more specific powers or dispensational functions, like the gathering of Israel (Moses) or the perpetuation of the family united beyond the grave (Elijah).

Finally, a particular kind of authority inheres in the position of prophet. For Latter-day Saints, the generic use of the word prophet refers to a general category of the Lord’s anointed mouthpieces, or any who enjoy the spiritual gift described by the New Testament Apostle Paul. But more particularly, the prophet is Joseph Smith or any successor to his office, who is the one individual in whom all priesthood authority and keys reside and who alone is authorized to speak the Lord’s will to the church and to the world.

The Mormon prophet has the further prerogative of pronouncing new doctrine for the church. Protestantism developed largely as a consequence of theological reflection, with revisionist readings of biblical passages generating new understandings of grace, Christology, or the role of and necessity for the sacraments, for example. LDS doctrine developed largely as a consequence of production of scripture via revelations dictated to Joseph Smith in a process initiated by an intellectual response to some theological quandary or scriptural enigma, but which Latter-day Saints believe eventuated in a visionary experience or oracular pronouncement vouchsafed to the prophet. However, when Smith stood outside his charismatic role to preach spontaneously, he could produce doctrinal sermons whose status as scripture is therefore fairly ambiguous in the LDS faith. The most famous such example is his King Follett sermon, which represents the acme of his theology, incorporating such themes as the eternal existence of spirit, creatio ex materia, the potential for deification of humans, and the anthropomorphic nature and origins of God. Some of these, but not all, were elaborated or reaffirmed through revelations canonized in the church’s Doctrine and Covenants volume of scripture.

Although the office of prophet survived Joseph Smith’s death (after a three-year hiatus when Brigham Young led the church as president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles), the pentecostal era of visions, visitations, and production of scripture largely abated. The last prophetic vision recorded and canonized was that of President Joseph F. Smith (Joseph Smith’s nephew) received in 1918, which elaborated the Mormon doctrine of the evangelizing of the dead in the spirit world (and explains the Latter-day Saints’ massive, worldwide genealogical program). Subsequent prophets would speak with authority comparable to that of Joseph Smith, and the principle of ongoing revelation to living prophets continues to the present, but such pronouncements are in general carefully crafted affirmations or clarifications of standing doctrine. This is the case with declarations on such subjects as the principle of evolution and the status of gender, marriage, and the family in this world and beyond. However, for a contemporary Latter-day Saint, the most essential calling of a prophet is as a testator of the divinity of Jesus Christ. It is in that sense that all living apostles (a quorum of twelve and all members of the First Presidency) are sustained by church members as prophets, seers, and revelators.

1. Joseph Smith, Latter Day Saints

Writing in 1835, Joseph Smith dated his prophetic career to 1827, when he began work on the Book of Mormon. At that time, few of his contemporaries knew the details of his First Vision, which occurred when he was a youth of fourteen in 1820. Apostle Orson Pratt published a second-hand account in an 1839 Edinburgh publication , An Account of Several Remarkable Visions. Only in 1842 did Smith prepare for publication a sketch of the rise, progress, persecution, and faith of the Latter-day Saints that included the first autobiographical account of his visions and angelic visitations, as well as a summary of Mormon beliefs. This version was published in the March 1 edition of the Church’s newspaper , Times and Seasons. The next year, historian Israel Daniel Rupp submitted a request to Joseph Smith to prepare a statement for his encyclopedia of American religions. Smith complied with a slightly edited and updated version of his 1842 narrative. This version, which saw print in 1844, was thus the only first-person account of the foundational events of the church published to a non-Mormon readership during Joseph Smith’s lifetime. The thirteen Articles of Faith with which he concluded his narrative is a curious blend of the familiar and the iconoclastic. While it affirms some Latter-day Saint distinctives (the Book of Mormon; no original sin), it was silent on others (an embodied God, pre-mortal existence, and human theosis) .

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was founded upon direct revelation, as the true church of God has ever been, according to the scriptures (Amos, iii. 7, and Acts, i. 2). And through the will and blessings of God, I have been an instrument in his hands, thus far, to move forward the cause of Zion. Therefore, in order to fulfil the solicitation of your letter of July last, I shall commence with my life.

I was born in the town of Sharon, Windsor county, Vermont, on the 23d of December, A.D. 1805. When ten years old, my parents removed to Palmyra, New York, where we resided about four years, and from thence we removed to the town of Manchester, a distance of six miles.

My father was a farmer, and taught me the art of husbandry. When about fourteen years of age, I began to reflect upon the importance of being prepared for a future state; and upon inquiring the place of salvation, I found that there was a great clash in religious sentiment; if I went to one society they referred me to one place, and another to another; each one pointing to his own particular creed as the summum bonum of perfection. Considering that all could not be right, and that God could not be the author of so much confusion, I determined to investigate the subject more fully, believing that if God had a church, it would not be split up into factions, and that if he taught one society to worship one way, and administer in one set of ordinances, he would not teach another principles which were diametrically opposed. Believing the word of God, I had confidence in the declaration of James, If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.

I retired to a secret place in a grove, and began to call upon the Lord. While fervently engaged in supplication, my mind was taken away from the objects with which I was surrounded, and I was enrapt in a heavenly vision, and saw two glorious personages, who exactly resembled each other in features and likeness, surrounded with a brilliant light, which eclipsed the sun at noonday. They told me that all the religious denominations were believing in incorrect doctrines, and that none of them was acknowledged of God as his church and kingdom. And I was expressly commanded to go not after them, at the same time receiving a promise that the fulness of the gospel should at some future time be made known unto me.

On the evening of the 21st September, A.D. 1823, while I was praying unto God and endeavouring to exercise faith in the precious promises of scripture, on a sudden a light like that of day, only of a far purer and more glorious appearance and brightness, burst into the room; indeed the first sight was as though the house was filled with consuming fire. The appearance produced a shock that affected the whole body. In a moment a personage stood before me surrounded with a glory yet greater than that with which I was already surrounded. This messenger proclaimed himself to be an angel of God, sent to bring the joyful tidings, that the covenant which God made with ancient Israel was at hand to be fulfilled; that the preparatory work for the second coming of the Messiah was speedily to commence; that the time was at hand for the gospel in all its fulness to be preached in power, unto all nations, that a people might be prepared for the millennial reign.

I was informed that I was chosen to be an instrument in the hands of God to bring about some of his purposes in this glorious dispensation.

I was informed also concerning the aboriginal inhabitants of this country, and shown who they were, and from whence they came;—a brief sketch of their origin, progress, civilization, laws, governments, of their righteousness and iniquity, and the blessings of God being finally withdrawn from them as a people, was made known unto me. I was also told where there was deposited some plates, on which was engraven an abridgment of the records of the ancient prophets that had existed on this continent. The angel appeared to me three times the same night and unfolded the same things. After having received many visits from the angels of God, unfolding the majesty and glory of the events that should transpire in the last days, on the morning of the 22d of September, A.D. 1827, the angel of the Lord delivered the records into my hands.

These records were engraven on plates which had the appearance of gold; each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were filled with engravings in Egyptian characters, and bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches in thickness, a part of which was sealed. The characters on the unsealed part were small and beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited many marks of antiquity in its construction, and much skill in the art of engraving. With the records was found a curious instrument which the ancients called Urim and Thummim, which consisted of two transparent stones set in the rim on a bow fastened to a breastplate.

Through the medium of the Urim and Thummim I translated the record, by the gift and power of God.

In this important and interesting book the history of ancient America is unfolded, from its first settlement by a colony that came from the tower of Babel, at the confusion of languages, to the beginning of the fifth century of the Christian era.

We are informed by these records, that America, in ancient times, has been inhabited by two distinct races of people. The first were called Jaredites, and came directly from the tower of Babel. The second race came directly from the city of Jerusalem, about six hundred years before Christ. They were principally Israelites, of the descendants of Joseph. The Jaredites were destroyed, about the time that the Israelites came from Jerusalem, who succeeded them in the inheritance of the country. The principal nation of the second race fell in battle towards the close of the fourth century. The remnant are the Indians who now inhabit this country. This book also tells us that our Saviour made his appearance upon this continent after his resurrection; that he planted the gospel here in all its fulness, and richness, and power, and blessing; that they had apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists; the same order, the same priesthood, the same ordinances, gifts, powers, and blessing, as was enjoyed on the eastern continent; that the people were cut off in consequence of their transgressions; that the last of their prophets who existed among them was commanded to write an abridgment of their prophecies, history, &c., and to hide it up in the earth, and that it should come forth and be united with the Bible, for the accomplishment of the purposes of God, in the last days. For a more particular account, I would refer to the Book of Mormon, which can be purchased at Nauvoo, or from any of our travelling elders.

As soon as the news of this discovery was made known, false reports, misrepresentation and slander flew, as on the wings of the wind, in every direction; my house was frequently beset by mobs, and evil designing persons; several times I was shot at, and very narrowly escaped, and every device was made use of to get the plates away from me; but the power and blessing of God attended me, and several began to believe my testimony….

Believing the Bible to say what it means and mean what it says; and guided by revelation according to the ancient order of the fathers to whom came what little light we enjoy; and circumscribed only by the eternal limits of truth: this church must continue the even tenor of her way, and spread undivided, and operate unspent.

We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in his son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

We believe that men will be punished for their own sins and not for Adam’s transgression.

We believe that through the atonement of Christ all men may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.

We believe that these ordinances are: 1st, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; 2d, Repentance; 3d, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; 4th, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

We believe that a man must be called of God by prophecy, and by laying on of hands, by those who are in authority to preach the gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church, viz. apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, &c.

We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, &c.

We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal, and we believe that he will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

We believe in the literal gathering of Israel, and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes. That Zion will be built upon this continent. That Christ will reign personally upon the earth, and that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisal glory.

We claim the privilege of worshipping Almighty God according to the dictates of our conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates in obeying, honouring, and sustaining the law.

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul; we believe all things: we hope all things: we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is any thing virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek thereafter.

From He Pasa Ekklesia: An Original History of the Religious Denominations at Present Existing in the United States (1844)

2. Joseph Smith, Selection from The Book of Mormon

The earliest and most conspicuous emblem of the Mormon faith, which gave the movement its popular appellation, was the book published a few weeks before the church’s formal 1830 organization. Joseph Smith used the gift and power of God to translate a set of ancient plates he retrieved, under the angel Moroni’s supervision, from a hillside near his home in upstate New York in 1827. The record chronicled various peoples who migrated to ancient America. The principal group, whose prophets created the plates and maintained a thousand years of history, traveled from Jerusalem to the Western hemisphere in the sixth century BCE. The text Smith produced is a mixture of political and military history, with copious quotations from Isaiah, midrashic readings adapted to the narrators’ ancient American audience, and a history of a pre-Christian church established in the second century BCE. The worshipful anticipation of Jesus Christ by New World inhabitants and religious tenets that parallel New Testament teachings comprise the thematic core of the Book of Mormon. The dramatic high point of the narrative occurs when, subsequent to tempests and destructions that occur in Book of Mormon territory at the time of Christ’s Old World crucifixion, the resurrected Jesus makes an appearance among his New World disciples (called Nephites). The scene is described in the excerpt that follows .

And now it came to pass that there were a great multitude gathered together, of the people of Nephi, round about the temple which was in the land Bountiful; and they were marvelling and wondering one with another, and were shewing one to another the great and marvellous change which had taken place; and they were also conversing about this Jesus Christ, of which the sign had been given, concerning his death.

And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice, as if it came out of Heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice, it did pierce them that did hear, to the centre, insomuch that there were no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.—And it came to pass that again they heard the voice, and they understood it not; and again the third time they did hear the voice, and did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards Heaven, from whence the sound came; and behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it saith unto them, Behold, my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name, hear ye him.

And it came to pass as they understood, they cast their eyes up again towards Heaven, and behold, they saw a man descending out of Heaven: and he was clothed in a white robe, and he came down and stood in the midst of them, and the eyes of the whole multitude was turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant: for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.

And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand, and spake unto the people, saying: Behold I am Jesus Christ, of which the prophets testified that should come into the world; and behold I am the light and the life of the world, and I have drank out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things, from the beginning.

And it came to pass that when Jesus had spake these words, the whole multitude fell to the earth, for they remembered that it had been prophesied among them that Christ should shew himself unto them after his ascension into Heaven.

And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying: Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands, and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one, until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes, and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety, and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets that should come.

And it came to pass that when they had all gone forth, and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying: Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.

And it came to pass that he spake unto Nephi, (for Nephi was among the multitude,) and he commanded him that he should come forth. And Nephi arose and went forth, and bowed himself before the Lord, and he did kiss his feet.—And the Lord commanded him that he should arise. And he arose and stood before him. And the Lord said unto him, I give unto you power that ye shall baptize this people, when I am again ascended into heaven. And again the Lord called others, and said unto them likewise; and he gave unto them power to baptize. And he saith unto them, On this wise shall ye baptize; and there shall be no disputations among you. Verily I say unto you, that whoso repenteth of his sins through your words, and desireth to be baptized in my name, on this wise shall ye baptize them: Behold, ye shall go down and stand in the water, and in my name shall ye baptize them. And now behold, these are the words which ye shall say, calling them by name, saying: Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. And then shall ye immerse them in the water, and come forth again out of the water. And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name, for behold, verily I say unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one. And according as I have commanded you, thus shall ye baptize. And there shall be no disputations among you, as there hath hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there hath hitherto been; for verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention, is not of me, but is of the Devil, which is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away. Behold, verily, verily I say unto you, I will declare unto you my doctrine. And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me, and I bear record that the father commandeth all men, every where, to repent and believe in me; and whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they which shall inherit the kingdom of God. And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.—Verily, verily I say unto you, that this is my doctrine; and I bear record of it from the Father; and whoso believeth in me, believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me; for he will visit him with fire, and with the Holy Ghost; and thus will the Father bear record of me; and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me: for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost, are one. And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things. And again I say unto you, Ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. Verily, verily I say unto you, that this is my doctrine; and whoso buildeth upon this, buildeth upon my rock; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them. And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock, but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell standeth open to receive such, when the floods come, and the winds beat upon them. Therefore go forth unto this people, and declare the words which I have spoken, unto the ends of the earth.

The Book of Mormon [3 Nephi 9–11] (1830)

3. Oliver Cowdery, Letter to W. W. Phelps on Priesthood Restoration

One of the distinguishing features of the church was Joseph Smith’s claim that he received authority for his actions through the ministry of angels. His translation of the Book of Mormon was an act delegated by a heavenly messenger—Moroni—who appeared to him in 1823, as well as a sign of his divine calling and implicit authority. While working together on the translation, Oliver Cowdery and Smith were impressed by the Book of Mormon precedent of immersive baptism, done by men having authority (Mosiah 18:17; 3 Nephi 11:25). Prayerfully seeking authorization to perform this ordinance, Joseph Smith, accompanied by Cowdery this time, again heard the voice of God, followed by the receipt of authority from a ministering angel in May 1829. The important development in this case was the formal bestowing of authority through the laying on of hands, rather than through a simple verbal commission. Smith and Cowdery subsequently identified the angel as the resurrected John the Baptist. Evidence is incomplete, but indicates that a short time later, Joseph Smith and Cowdery declared the similar bestowal of additional authority from resurrected apostles Peter, James, and John. Gradually, Smith would refer to this authority as priesthood and associate it with the several offices that emerged in subsequent years. With a revelation in 1835, Joseph Smith first explicitly differentiated the two forms, the lesser or Aaronic Priesthood coming from the Baptist, and the higher or Melchizedek Priesthood derived from the New Testament apostles. Latter-day Saints thus trace their priesthood authority back through an unbroken chain of succession to Jesus Christ himself .

Dear Brother,

Before leaving home, I promised, if I tarried long, to write; and while a few moments are now allowed me for reflection, aside from the cares and common conversation of my friends in this place, I have thought that were I to communicate them to you, might, perhaps, if they should not prove especially beneficial to yourself, by confirming you in the faith of the gospel, at least be interesting, since it has pleased our heavenly Father to call us both to rejoice in the same hope of eternal life….

On Friday, the 5th, in company with our brother Joseph Smith Jr. I left Kirtland for this place (New Portage,) to attend the conference previously appointed. To be permitted, once more, to travel with this brother, occasions reflections of no ordinary kind. Many have been the fatigues and privations which have fallen to my lot to endure, for the gospel’s sake, since 1828, with this brother. Our road has frequently been spread with the fowler’s snare, and our persons sought with the eagerness, of the Savage’s ferocity, for innocent blood, by men, either heated to desperation by the insinuations of those who professed to be guides and way marks to the kingdom of glory, or the individuals themselves!—This, I confess, is a dark picture to spread before our patrons, but they will pardon my plainness when I assure them of the truth. In fact, God has so ordered, that the reflections which I am permitted to cast upon my past life, relative to a knowledge of the way of salvation, are rendered doubly endearing. Not only have I been graciously preserved from wicked and unreasonable men, with this our brother, but I have seen the fruit of perseverance in proclaiming the everlasting gospel, immediately after it was declared to the world in these last days, in a manner not to be forgotten while heaven gives my common intellect. And what serves to render the reflection past expression on this point is, that from his hand I received baptism, by the direction of the angel of God—the first received into this church, in this day.

Near the time of the setting of the Sun, Sabbath evening, April 5th, 1829, my natural eyes, for the first time beheld this brother. He then resided in Harmony, Susquehanna County Penn. On Monday the 6th, I assisted him in arranging some business of a temporal nature, and on Tuesday the 7th, commenced to write the Book of Mormon. These were days never to be forgotten—to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom! Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated, with the Urim and Thummim, or, as the Nephites would have said, Interpreters, the history, or record, called The book of Mormon.

To notice, in even few words, the interesting account given by Mormon, and his faithful son Moroni, of a people once beloved and favored of heaven, would supersede my present design: I shall therefore defer this to a future period, and as I said in the introduction, pass more directly to some few incidents immediately connected with the rise of this church, which may be entertaining to some thousands who have stepped forward, amid the frowns of bigots and the calumny of hypocrites, and embraced the gospel of Christ.

No men in their sober senses, could translate and write the directions given to the Nephites, from the mouth of the Savior, of the precise manner in which men should build up his church, and especially, when corruption had spread an uncertainty over all forms and systems practiced among men, without desiring a privilege of showing the willingness of the heart by being buried in the liquid grave, to answer a good conscience by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

After writing the account given of the Savior’s ministry to the remnant of the seed of Jacob, upon this continent, it was easily to be seen, as the prophet said would be, that darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the minds of the people. On reflecting further, it was as easily to be seen, that amid the great strife and noise concerning religion, none had authority from God to administer the ordinances of the gospel. For, the question might be asked, have men authority to administer in the name of Christ, who deny revelations? when his testimony is no less than the spirit of prophecy? and his religion based, built, and sustained by immediate revelations in all ages of the world, when he has had a people on earth? If these facts were buried, and carefully concealed by men whose craft would have been in danger, if once permitted to shine in the faces of men, they were no longer to us; and we only waited for the commandment to be given, Arise and be baptized.

This was not long desired before it was realized. The Lord, who is rich in mercy, and ever willing to answer the consistent prayer of the humble, after we had called upon him in a fervent manner, aside from the abodes of men, condescended to manifest to us his will. On a sudden, as from the midst of eternity, the voice of the Redeemer spake peace to us, while the veil was parted and the angel of God came down clothed with glory, and delivered the anxiously looked for message, and the keys of the gospel of repentance!—What joy! what wonder! what amazement! While the world were racked and distracted—while millions were groping as the blind for the wall, and while all men were resting upon uncertainty, as a general mass, our eyes beheld—our ears heard. As in the blaze of day; yes, more—above the glitter of the May Sun beam, which then shed its brilliancy over the face of nature! Then his voice, though mild, pierced to the center, and his words, I am thy fellow servant, dispelled every fear. We listened—we gazed—we admired! ’Twas the voice of the angel from glory—’twas a message from the Most High! and as we heard we rejoiced, while his love enkindled upon our souls, and we were rapt in the vision of the Almighty! Where was room for doubt? No where: uncertainty had fled, doubt had sunk, no more to rise, while fiction and deception had fled forever!

But, dear brother think, further think for a moment, what joy filled our hearts and with what surprise we must have bowed, (for who would not have bowed the knee for such a blessing?) when we received under his hand the holy priesthood, as he said, upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer this priesthood and this authority, which shall remain upon earth, that the sons of Levi may yet offer an offering unto the Lord in righteousness!

I shall not attempt to paint to you the feelings of this heart, nor the majestic beauty and glory which surrounded us on this occasion; but you will believe me when I say, that earth, nor men, with the eloquence of time, cannot begin to clothe language in as interesting and sublime a manner as this holy personage. No; nor has this earth power to give the joy, to bestow the peace, or comprehend the wisdom which was contained in each sentence as they were delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit! Man may deceive his fellow man; deception may follow deception, and the children of the wicked one may have power to seduce the foolish and untaught, till nought but fiction feeds the many, and the fruit of falsehood carries in its current the giddy to the grave; but one touch with the finger of his love, yes, one ray of glory from the upper world, or one word from the mouth of the Savior, from the bosom of eternity, strikes it all into insignificance, and blots it forever from the mind! The assurance that we were in the presence of an angel; the certainty that we heard the voice of Jesus, and the truth unsullied as it flowed from a pure personage, dictated by the will of God, is to me, past description, and I shall ever look upon this expression of the Savior’s goodness with wonder and thanksgiving while I am permitted to tarry, and in those mansions where perfection dwells and sin never comes, I hope to adore in that day which shall never cease!

From Messenger and Advocate (1834)

4. Joseph Smith, Extract from the Prophecy of Enoch [Moses 7]

Joseph Smith’s production of the Book of Mormon burst open the traditional Christian belief in a closed canon. Within months of publishing that new scripture, he began work on a revision (translation he called it) of the Bible. Almost immediately, Smith began incorporating new material into Genesis, which he considered inspired restoration through his gift of revelation. The most remarkable of these interpolations was the Prophecy of Enoch, an extended narrative based on the Old Testament figure of that name. The narrative adds to an already considerable number of variants of the Enoch tradition, which include Ethiopic, Old Slavonic, and Kabalistic accounts. Joseph Smith’s version is noteworthy, among other details, for its depiction of the Weeping God, a motif appearing in many ancient noncanonical sources. In Smith’s earliest version of the text, it is the heavens that actually weep. The redaction to a God himself who weeps (in current Mormon scripture) is a deliberate step away from poetic personification of the heavens, toward the literal assignment of emotions to God. Later, Joseph Smith would add physical embodiment to his divine anthropology, to arrive at a Mormon God—in contradistinction to the Christian creedal God—who emphatically is possessed of body and parts, as well as passions. The Weeping God of Enoch was an early, crucial step in the elaboration of a godhead that consists of three separate and distinct beings. This LDS divergence from classical Trinitarianism may be the single most consequential aspect of the Mormon gospel, one that puts the church in direct tension with creedal Christianity .

And it came to pass that Enoch continued his speech saying, Behold our father Adam taught these things, and many have believed and become the sons of God, and many have believed not and have perished in their sins, and are looking forth with fear, in torment, for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God to be poured out upon them. And from that time forth Enoch began to prophesy, saying unto the people, That, as I was journeying and stood upon the place Mahujth, and I cried unto the Lord, there came a voice out of heaven, saying, Turn ye and get ye upon the mount Simeon. And it came to pass that I turned and went upon the mount, and as I stood upon the mount, I beheld the heavens open, and I was clothed upon with glory, and I saw the Lord; he stood before my face, and he talked with me, even as a man talketh one with another face to face; and he saith unto me, Look, and I will shew unto thee the world for the space of many generations….

And it came to pass that Enoch continued to call upon all the people, save it were the people of Canaan, to repent: And so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them, and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled; and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language, which God had given him. There also came up a land out of the depth of the sea; and so great was the fear of the enemies of the people of God, that they fled and stood afar off, and went upon the land which came up out of the depths of the sea. And the giants of the land, also, stood afar off; and there went forth a curse upon all the people which fought against God; and from that time forth there was wars and bloodsheds among them, but the Lord came and dwelt with his people, and they dwelt in righteousness. The fear of the Lord was upon all nations, so great was the glory of the Lord, which was upon his people: And the Lord blessed the land, and they were blessed upon the mountains, and upon the high places, and did flourish. And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and of one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them: and Enoch continued his preaching in righteousness unto the people of God. And it came to pass in his days, that he built a city that was called The City of Holiness, even ZION. And it came to pass that Enoch talked with the Lord, and he said unto the Lord, Surely Zion shall dwell in safety forever:—But the Lord said unto Enoch, Zion hath I blessed, but the residue of the people have I cursed. And it came to pass that the Lord showed unto Enoch all the inhabitants of the earth; and he beheld, and lo, Zion, in process of time, was taken up into heaven! And the Lord said unto Enoch, Behold mine abode forever: and Enoch also beheld the residue of the people which were the sons of Adam, and they were a mixture of all the seed of Adam, save it were the seed of Cain, for the seed of Cain were black, and had not place among them. And after that Zion was taken up into heaven, Enoch beheld and lo, all the nations of the earth were before him! and there came generation upon generation, and Enoch was high and lifted up, even in the bosom of the Father, and the Son of man; and behold the power of Satan was upon all the face of the earth! And he saw angels descending out of heaven; and he heard a loud voice, saying, Wo, wo, be unto the inhabitants of the Earth! And he beheld Satan, and he had a great chain in his hand, and it veiled he whole face of the earth with darkness, and he looked up and laughed, and his angels rejoiced. And Enoch beheld angels descending out of heaven bearing testimony of the Father and Son, and the Holy Ghost fell on many, and they were caught up by the powers of heaven into Zion: And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept, and Enoch bore record of it, saying, How is it the heavens weep and shed forth her tears as the rain upon the mountains? And Enoch said unto the Lord, How is it that thou canst weep seeing thou art holy and from all eternity from all eternity? and were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, and millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations; and thy curtains are stretched out still; and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and so, thou art just; thou art merciful and kind forever; thou hast taken Zion to thine own bosom from all thy creations, from all thy creations, from all eternity to all eternity, and nought at peace, justice and truth is the habitation of thy throne; and mercy shall go before thy face and have no end: how is it that thou canst weep? The Lord said unto Enoch, Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the garden of Eden gave I unto man his agency; and unto thy brethren have I said, and also, gave commandment, That they should love one another; and that they should choose me their father, but behold they are without affection; and they hate their own blood; and the fire of mine indignation is kindled against them; and in my hot displeasure will I send in the floods upon them, for my fierce anger is kindled against them: Behold I am God; Man of Holiness is my name; Man of council is my name, and Endless and Eternal is my name, also. Wherefore, I can stretch forth mine hands and hold all the creations which I have made; and mine eye can pierce them, also; and among all the workmanship of mine hand, there has not been so great wickedness, as among thy brethren, but behold their sins shall be upon the heads of their fathers: Satan shall be their father, and misery shall be their doom; and the whole heavens shall weep over them, even all the workmanship of mine hands: Wherefore, should not the heavens weep, seeing these shall suffer? But behold, these, which thine eyes are upon, shall perish in the floods; and behold I will shut them up: a prison have I prepared for them:—And that which I have chosen hath plead before my face: Wherefore he sufferth for their sins, inasmuch as they will repent in the day that my chosen shall return unto me; and until that day, they shall be in torment: Wherefore, for this shall the heavens weep; yea, and all the workmanship of mine hands.

And it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Enoch and told Enoch all the doings of the children of men: wherefore Enoch knew, and looked upon their wickedness, and their misery, and wept, and stretched forth his arms, and his heart swelled wide as eternity; and his bowels yearned, and all eternity shook.

From The Evening and the Morning Star (1832)

5. Joseph Smith, A Vision [Doctrine and Covenants 76]

Contemporary Latter-day Saints, if queried on Joseph Smith’s vision, would assume his 1820 theophany was the subject. But that First Vision, as it is now called, came into greater prominence many decades after his 1844 assassination. Of Smith’s myriad visitations, revelations, prophecies, and pronouncements, only one so transcended all others in its scope, detail, and theological ramifications, to later be labeled The Vision in the nineteenth century. Adding to its considerable authority is Joseph Smith’s claim that the revelation was actually a transcript from the records of the eternal world. Virtually all Christians believe in a dualistic afterlife: salvation and heaven for the righteous, damnation and hell for the rest. This revelation ironically moves in two seeming contradictory directions—both iconoclastic. First, it explicates that the many mansions to which Jesus Christ referred to mean a multitiered heaven, differentiated into distinct realms. At the same time, however, in considering all three kingdoms to be kingdoms of glory, the vision makes salvation quasi-universal. Only a few, the intractably rebellious sons of perdition, will suffer everlasting punishment. As for hell, it is revealed in this revelation as a temporary abode of suffering prior to judgment. Even the unbelievers, eventually, shall be heirs of salvation. It thus comes close to Universalism in its generous conception of heaven. A final significance of this revelation was its allusion to humans as gods, even the sons of god. A potentially metaphorical reference, it became a contested passage around which the LDS doctrine of theosis (human deification) would first emerge in a public forum as writers like Apostle Parley P. Pratt rushed to defend it. All of these unorthodoxies startled even the Mormon faithful. Brigham Young himself initially struggled with the doctrine here revealed, and some membership defections resulted. Today, it is one of the most loved and invoked revelations of Joseph Smith .

We, Joseph and Sidney, being in the Spirit on the sixteenth of February, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty two, and through the power of the Spirit, our eyes were opened, and our understandings were enlightened, so as to see and understand the things of God; even things which were from the beginning before the world was, which was ordained of the Father, through his only begotten Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, even from the beginning, of whom we bear record, and the record which we bear is the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is in the Son whom we saw and with whom we conversed in the Heavenly Vision; for as we sat doing the work of translation, which the Lord had appointed unto us, we came to the twenty ninth verse of the fifth chapter of John, which was given unto us thus: speaking of the resurrection of the dead who should hear the voice of the Son of man, and shall come forth; they who have done good in the resurrection of the just, and they who have done evil in the resurrection of the unjust. Now this caused us to marvel, for it was given us of the Spirit; and while we meditated upon these things, the Lord touched the eyes of our understandings, and they were opened, and the glory of the Lord shone round about; and we beheld the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father, and received of his fulness; and saw the holy angels, and they who are sanctified before his throne, worshiping God and the Lamb forever and ever. And now after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him, that he lives; for we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the only begotten of the Father; that by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are made, and were created; and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God. This we saw also and bear record, that an angel of God, who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the only begotten Son, (whom the Father loved, and who was in the bosom of the Father,) and was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son, and was called Perdition; for the Heavens wept over him; for he was Lucifer, even the son of the morning; and we behold and lo, he is fallen! is fallen! even the son of the morning. And while we were yet in the Spirit, the Lord commanded us that we should write the Vision; for behold satan, that old serpant, even the devil, who rebelled against God, and sought to take kingdoms of our God, and of his Christ; wherefore he maketh war with the saints of God, and encompasses them about: And we saw a vision of the eternal sufferings of those with whom he maketh war and overcometh, for thus came the voice of the Lord unto us.

Thus saith the Lord, concerning all those who know my power, and who have been made partakers thereof, and suffered themselves, through the power of the devil, to be overcome unto the denying of the truth, and the defying of my power: they are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say it had been better for them never to have been born; for they are vessels of wrath doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels, throughout eternity: concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness for them in this world nor in the world to come; having denied the Holy Ghost after having received it, and having denied the only begotten Son of the Father, crucifying him unto themselves, and putting him to an open shame: these are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels, and the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power; yea, verily the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath, who shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph & the glory of the Lamb; who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made. And this is the Gospel, the glad tidings which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us, that he came into the world, even Jesus to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; that through him all might be saved, whom the Father had put into his power; and made by him who glorifieth the Father; and saveth all the work of his hands, except those sons of perdition, who denieth the Son after the Father hath revealed him: wherefore he saveth all save them, and these shall go away into everlasting punishment, which is endless punishment, which is eternal punishment, to reign with the devil and his angels throughout eternity, where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched, which is their torment, but the end thereof, neither the place thereof, and their torment, no man knoweth, neither was revealed, neither is, neither will be revealed unto man, save to them who are made partakers thereof: nevertheless I the Lord showeth it by vision unto many, but straightway shutteth it up again: wherefore the end, the width, the height, the depth, and the misery thereof, he understandeth not, neither any man save them who are ordained unto this condemnation. And we heard the voice saying, Write the Vision for lo, this is the end of the vision of the eternal sufferings of the ungodly!

And again, we bear record for we saw and heard, and this is the testimony of the Gospel of Christ, concerning them who come forth in the resurrection of the just: they are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name, and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he hath given, that, by keeping the commandment, they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power; and who overcome by faith, and are sealed by that Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father shedeth forth upon all those who are just and true: they are they who