Answers to Gospel Questions, Vol 1 Pt. 1
One interesting book I started reading since this blog was Answers to Gospel Questions by Joseph Fielding Smith. I posted some entries from the book along with the foreword of the book with contains a history of the book and an introduction explaining the books purpose. I hope you gleam something from this reading.
Foreword
Since May 1953, President Joseph Fielding Smith has been answering the questions of readers, in a monthly page in The Improvement Era, under the continuing title—"Your Question."
In his mail comes a multiplicity of questions of all kinds, pertaining to scripture, to doctrine, to history, and to the interpretation of many points and problems.
He cannot, of course, answer all the questions that come. The mail is too voluminous, the questions too repetitious, and time and strength too limited, with all the other official obligations.
But with all these limitations, President Smith has given an earnest and eminently able service in selecting from among the many, those questions which to him seem most timely, or most significant, or most frequently repeated.
In using the pages of The Improvement Era for this purpose, President Smith has carried forward a tradition passed on from his father, President Joseph F. Smith, who, in 1897, was one of the Era's first editors, and whose doctrinal and other writings appeared on the "Editor's Table" and elsewhere in the Era, beginning some sixty years ago. Some of those Era writings of President Joseph F. Smith found their way into the much read and much quoted book, Gospel Doctrine, which has proved so significantly useful to the Church.
And now, in this generation, we are grateful for President Joseph Fielding Smith's willingness to bring his broad background of scripture, and doctrine, and history to the Church, through the pages of The Improvement Era, and through the pages of this book, which carries the title Answers to Gospel Questions.
The Deseret Book Company has requested the privilege of collecting and publishing these writings, and The Improvement Era, with President Smith's concurrence, has granted that privilege, to perpetuate a work that will be widely read and widely referred to, in answering "Your Question."
From the days when Adam was driven from the Garden of Eden, the Lord has commanded that his children should seek knowledge concerning their salvation. The heavens have always been open when necessary for knowledge to be revealed and when the people sought for light in relation to their temporal and eternal salvation. It is not the will of the Lord that the heavens have been closed since the departure of the apostles nearly nineteen hundred years ago. He has always been willing to converse with man and instruct him in doctrine, and guide him in spiritual things, when man has shown a willingness to be so instructed. It is a sad reflection upon the Christian world that there has been a prevailing belief that revelation ceased and man is dependent solely upon what has been written in the scriptures as it has come down to us, unfortunately too often in imperfect form. The trouble with the Christian world since the time when Peter and his associates of the Twelve were on the earth, is that it has arrogated to itself the right to know the mind of the Lord and the plan of salvation without any further manifestation of divine power or spiritual guidance. We have been told that the "canon of scripture" is closed; that there is to be no more vision, no more coming of messengers from the divine presence, for all such things are no longer needed. Hence we find the professed followers of our Master divided, and stumbling in the dark with diverse interpretations on the "written word." The simple logic of this condition should teach us one and all that it is impossible for unity to exist in the minds of men in relation to the plan of salvation.
One prominent writer, many years ago, summed up the matter in these words:
The sum of the whole matter is this: Reason is the last arbiter; our own reason, our individual reason, my reason, nobody's else. There are various sources of authority, Bible, or Church, or God, but each one must be tested by our personal reason before it is believed. We are all of us at bottom rationalists, cannot help being. What God is, whether there be a God, we must decide by the best reason we have. If we are made in the image of God, that image is in reason, not in body; and our little reason can and must get some true view of God, just as our little blinking myopic eyes can truly, if imperfectly, decry the infinite spangled universe. Reason may see faintly, even erringly, but it is all we have to guide us. It may rest on custom, tradition, social inheritance, the teachings from childhood of those whom we think possessed of more knowledge and judgment than we, but all our beliefs rest on such reason as we have. . . . It is by reason that we too must test the Bible as well as the Vedas, Moses as well as Hesiod or Zarathustra. If we find in our Bible anything of cosmogony, or history or morals that does not approve itself to our reason, we must reject it, we cannot help it. That did not, could not come direct from God, but came through fallible man, the framework and the chord of whose harp was constructed after the fashion of their day, and could not sound perfect music. Reason prefers our school text-book to our Bible on matters of geology and astronomy, sifts Bible history by comparison with contemporary records recovered from the sands and clay of ancient empires and reason it is that judges the teachings of Jesus to be superior to the sacrificial cult of Leviticus, or the cursings of Ezekiel and Amos. Our light is better than theirs, for our reason has more knowledge, more experience, on which to rest. The best human reason—I think I do not err—whether it looks outward or inward, finds God.(William Hays Ward, The Independent, March 14, 1915. )
This may be an accurate summation of the prevailing view which has dominated the thinking of men during the past few centuries and more particularly that of the present century; but it does violence to the doctrine of revelation and guidance by the Holy Ghost, which was promised to those who truly served the Lord in righteousness. This view is the natural result of the doctrines of the closed heavens. If men are left to grope in spiritual darkness guided only by their individual reasons, then confusion, disorder, contention and a million different views are the inevitable result. Far better is the counsel of our Savior to his disciples just before he left them:
And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (John 14:13-17.)
Likewise, we have the testimony of Moroni which thousands have put to the test:
And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. (Moroni 10:4-5)
It is a dreadful thought to believe that our Eternal Father thinks so little of us that he leaves us to guide ourselves, falteringly, blindly groping, with no help but our weak, uncertain power to reason out the eternal plan of salvation. The Lord has not forsaken the inhabitants of the world, they have forsaken him. In the very beginning he said to Adam that he was to teach the glorious truths of the gospel to his children, and this Adam faithfully did. We read however—
And Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters.
And Satan came among them, saying: I am also a son of God; and he commanded them, saying: Believe it not; and they believed it not, and they loved Satan more than God. And men began from that time forth to be carnal, sensual, and devilish.
And the Lord God called upon men by the Holy Ghost everywhere and commanded them that they should repent;
And as many as believed in the Son, and repented of their sins, should be saved, and as many as believed not and repented not, should be damned; and the words went forth out of the mouth of God in a firm decree; wherefore they must be fulfilled. (Moses 5:12-15.)
The Lord has commanded the members of the Church in this day to seek him by prayer, by faith and study. We have been commanded to study the commandments he has given us in the Doctrine and Covenants,(D&C 1:37.) in the Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 23:1-5; 26:6-11.) and in all the scriptures, with the promise that "Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life . . . , it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come."(D&C 130:18-19) Notwithstanding these commandments it has always been a difficult problem to get the members of the Church, with few exceptions, to study diligently the revelations and the commandments that have been given for our eternal blessing. The Savior said to the Jews: "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."(John 5:39.) How many members of the Church think likewise, but fail to prepare themselves by study and by faith? The Lord has revealed to us all things pertaining to our salvation that are expedient and that we should know in order to give him the proper service and find the way back into his presence.
And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom.
Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand.
Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms—
That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you.(D&C 88:77-80)
The Lord said to the Nephites:
. . . And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have 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, who 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. (3 Nephi 11:28-30.)
If the members of the Church would search their scriptures more intensely in the spirit of humility and prayer, disputations would cease among us. It seems to be a difficult thing to eliminate from the minds of some of our brethren cherished notions that are contrary to the revealed word. Many questions have been answered time and time again by those who have the knowledge and are prepared to give the answers, yet the error continues to exist. At this point it is not amiss to mention the fact that there are numerous fictitious "visions" and "manifestations" that have been palmed off on the people. These have been denied and corrected time and time again, yet they still persist. We have been taught from the beginning, and the Lord has proclaimed it, that when he has some revelation for the Church it will come through the divinely appointed source. Why is it that some members of the Church grasp at every sensational rumor with apparent eagerness and delight? If the same eagerness were applied to the revelations already given and we would heed them soberly and in humility of spirit, all would be well. The Lord has promised the Church "commandments not a few, and revelations in their time,"(D&C 59:4.) yet we have some clamoring for more revelation when we have failed to keep those already given. The Lord said to Nephi—and this not many years after Lehi landed on this American continent—
Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.
And now I, Nephi, cannot say more: the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be. (2 Nephi 32:6-7.)
. . . After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.(Jeremiah 31:33-34.)
That will be the day spoken of by Isaiah, when peace and righteousness shall rule the earth.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.(Isaiah11:9.)
Can we not hasten that day by manifesting a little more faith, a little more desire to seek for knowledge and a little more obedience to the commandment, "to give diligent heed to the words of eternal life?"
The Lord has told us to take heed, "walking uprightly before me, considering the end of your salvation, doing all things with prayer and thanksgiving, that ye may not be seduced by evil spirits, or doctrines of devils, or the commandments of men; for some are of men, and others of devils. Wherefore, beware lest ye are deceived; and that ye may not be deceived seek ye earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what they are given." (D&C 46:7-8.)
From time to time members of the Church are deceived and led astray because they have no substantial foundation in faith, and lack knowledge of the gospel. Skilful deceivers, under these conditions, prey upon the weak and destroy the little measure of faith which they possess. Therefore it behooves us all to be alert, diligent and studious, doing all things in prayer and humility. Then we can overcome the world. Alma has given good advice in his counsel to Zeezrom:
. . . It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.
And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell. (Alma 12:9-11.)
The reason for these answers to questions is to endeavor to settle once and for all time the problems discussed, which occur and re-occur so frequently, yet are answered in the revelations in the Standard Works; moreover with the thought in mind to stimulate members of the Church to spend a little more of their spare time in personal search. Of far more profit is a fact discovered by research than by information received. The impression on the mind lasts longer.
Question: "I would like to have you help me explain for an investigator what the last sentence in the testimony of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon means when it says: 'And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God.'
"I was puzzled for a moment but told him that surely the three witnesses knew of the first vision of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and therefore knew that they were separate personages, but they were one in purpose and unity. He did not say whether he accepted or rejected what I said, but I was not completely satisfied."
Answer: A careful reading of this testimony reveals the fact that the three men understood clearly the individualistic nature of the members of the Godhead. Moreover, Oliver Cowdery had written most of the manuscript of the Book of Mormon, which he could not have done without becoming acquainted with the fact that the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost are three separate Personages.
We find similar expressions to this of the witnesses in other scriptures; in the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Bible; for instance, Moses, by divine revelation, declared to Israel that there is but one God whom we shall worship. Yet Moses knew that it was Christ (Jehovah) who led Israel from Egypt to the land of Canaan, and that he is God.(Dueteronomy 6:3-4.)
In the Doctrine and Covenants we find this written:
As well as those who should come after, who should believe in the gifts and callings of God by the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of the Father and of the Son;
Which Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one God, infinite and eternal, without end. Amen.
And we know that all men must repent and believe on the name of Jesus Christ, and worship the Father in his name, and endure in faith on his name to the end, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God. (D&C 20:27-29.)
This is very clear, and there is no confounding of the Personages of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Therefore the statement that they are "one God" must refer to something other than that they are "one essence" and "without body parts and passions" as so many Christian people believe.
Supreme Council Comprised of Three Personages
This reference, then, to the three as one God, must be interpreted to mean that they constitute one Godhead or Supreme Council, composed of three separate Personages, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Paul, in his epistle to the Corinthian saints, says this:
As concerning therefore, the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. (1 Corinthians 8:4.)
Paul knew as well as any man could know it that the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost constitute one Supreme Council—one God. In the following verses he adds this:
For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)
But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.(Ibid., 8:5-6.)
Here Paul speaks of both the Father and Son as God. Near the close of his epistle to the Roman saints, he said:
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. (Romans 16:20.)
The "God of peace," who according to the scriptures is to bruise Satan, is Jesus Christ. (Genesis 3:15; Hebrews 2:14.)
It is very strange that Christian people can be confused and believe that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one substance or entity, in the face of the constant repetition in the New Testament of the evidence which clearly proclaims them separate and distinct from each other. It appears to those who are guided by the light of truth, that the frequent declarations of the Savior that he and his Father are distinct from each other, but one in thought and action, is so plain that even the most simple should understand it. Our Redeemer was constantly addressing his Father in prayer. He taught his disciples to pray to the Father, not to him, and the most touching and tender appeal that was ever recorded is his prayer to his Father in the seventeenth chapter of John.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent . . . .
And now Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. . . .
And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. . . .
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are. (John 17:3,11,22.)
How plain it is that the Father and Son are separate Personages, yet one in power, wisdom and unity. Hence they are, with the Holy Spirit which carries out their will—one God or Presiding Council!
Then there are the words to Mary at the tomb, so distinctly declaring the separate Personages of Father and Son:
Jesus said unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.(John 20:17.)
Jesus Our Advocate and Our Mediator
Question: "Will you be kind enough to answer the following question? Who is it that speaks to Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Moses and the Prophets of the Old Testament? Is it our Eternal Father or Jesus who was known as Jehovah? We have had several discussions on this question, but we seem to be hopelessly divided. Some of our members maintain that it is Jesus Christ who represented the Father, others that it was the Father himself."
Answer: This is one question that constantly recurs, notwithstanding the clearness of our scriptures on this point and the repeated answers that have been given during the past century. At the October Conference of the Church in 1953 the writer took this subject as his text. These remarks were published in the Conference Proceedings, and in the following December Improvement Era. In substance it had been published several times since the restoration of the gospel and treated in discourses many times. This discourse of October 1953 is here repeated in full:
"If I may have the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord, I wish to speak of our Redeemer as our Advocate and our Mediator. I think that quite generally we do not understand his mission as fully in this regard as it is possible for us to do.
"In the sixth chapter of Exodus there is a statement which is a mis-translation which I will read to you:
'And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him I am the Lord:
'And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.'(Exodus 6:2-3)
"Now the Hebrew scriptures inform us that he referred to himself and is referred to throughout the Old Testament as Jehovah, so this cannot be a correct translation. It should read:
'And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Lord:
'And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob. I am the Lord God Almighty, the Lord Jehovah, and was not my name known among them?'(See JST, Exodus 6:2-3)
"That changes the whole meaning of it.
Meaning of Advocate and Mediator
"Now an advocate is one who defends or pleads for or in behalf of another. A mediator is one who reconciles or brings about agreement between parties. I want to read one or two passages of scripture on this point.
'Lift up your hearts and be glad, for I am in your midst, and am your advocate with the Father; and it is his good will to give you the kingdom.'(D & C 29:5)
'Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—
'Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified.'(Ibid., 45:3-4.)
'Behold, and hearken, O ye elders of my church, saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, your advocate, who knoweth the weakness of man and how to succor them who are tempted.'(Ibid., 62:1.)
'I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.'(Ibid., 110:4.)
'These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood.'(Ibid., 76:69.)
'The power and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church—
'To have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heavens opened unto them, to commune with the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.'(Ibid., 107:18-19.)
"This from the First Epistle of John Verse 1, Chapter 2:
'My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.'
"Paul wrote to Timothy as follows:
'For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
'Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.'(1 Timothy 2:5-6)
Adam was banished from the presence of God
"When Adam was in the Garden of Eden he was in the presence of God, our Father. He learned his language. The first part of Genesis dealing with the creation and with Adam in the Garden of Eden is when the Father was present with him.
"After he was driven out of the Garden of Eden the scene changed. Adam was banished because of his transgression from the presence of the Father. The scriptures say he became spiritually dead—that is, he was shut out from the presence of God.
"From that time on Jesus Christ comes on the scene as our advocate, pleading for us as our mediator through his ministry and labors to reconcile us, to bring us into agreement with God, his Father.
"This is part of his great mission. He stands between the Father and man. He pleads our cause. You know, when he was upon the earth he prayed frequently, and he prayed for his disciples, pleading with his Father in their behalf, and he has been pleading ever since, and he stands between us and God, our Father.
"I would like to call your attention to one little thing in the first vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It is very significant, and Joseph Smith did not know it. If he had been perpetrating a fraud, he would not have thought of it. You will recall in your reading that the Father and the Son appeared, and the Father introduced the Son and told the Prophet to hear the Son.
"Now suppose the Prophet had come back from the woods and had said the Father and the Son appeared to him, and the Father said, 'Joseph, what do you want?' and when he asked the question and told him what he wanted, the Father had answered him; then we would know that the story of the Prophet could not be true.
"All revelation comes through Jesus Christ. I have not time to go into the scriptures and give references for that, but that is the fact. He it was who led Israel, and if I do not procrastinate upon the time, I will take the rest of it to read to you the statement from President George Q. Cannon, bearing on this point.
Statement of President George Q. Cannon
'There is in modern Christendom a strong tendency to ascribe to the Father visits and communications with mankind that were really made by the Lord Jesus. There is even a respectable percentage of the members of his Church, established in these days, who have the idea that it was the Father and not the Son who appeared to the patriarchs and prophets of old, who delivered Israel from Egypt, who gave the law on Sinai, and who was the guide and inspirer of the ancient seers. This was not the understanding of the true servants of God either before or after his coming. Those who preceded the advent of the Messiah understood that he whom they worshipped as Jehovah should in due time tabernacle in the flesh, and the writings of Justin Martyr and other of the early fathers show that this was the belief of the early Christian Church on the eastern continent. The writings of the Hebrew prophets, as we have them in the Bible, are perhaps not as plain on this point as are those of the Nephite seers that are revealed to us in the Book of Mormon. But we have in this latter record some quotations from the earlier Hebrew prophets that make this point very clear. Nephi writes:
"And the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yieldeth himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man, into the hands of wicked men, to be lifted up, according to the words of Zenock, and to be crucified, according to the words of Neum, and to be buried in a sepulcher, according to the words of Zenos. . . . (1 Nephi 19:10)
'Here we have the testimony of Zenock, Neum, and Zenos that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was by wicked man to be lifted up, crucified and afterwards buried in a sepulchre, showing that these ancient worthies understood that it was the God of Israel who should come to his own. Nephi who himself was a Hebrew and the son of a prophet of the same race, also testifies in the above passage that it was the same God of their fathers who led them out of Egypt and preserved them in the wilderness. About four hundred years later another Nephite seer, King Benjamin, testifies that an angel came to him and made this glorious promise:
"For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases."(Mosiah 3:5)
"And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.
"And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through faith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him."(Exodus 6:2-3) (Ibid.,3:8-9)
'But we have the word of the Savior himself on this point that puts controversy to an end. When, after his resurrection and ascension into heaven, he first appeared to his Nephite disciples on this land, he declared,
"Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. . . .
"I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world."(Exodus 6:2-3) (3 Nephi 11:10, 14.)
'Later during his ministry among the Nephites he affirms:
"Behold, I say unto you that the law is fulfilled that was given unto Moses.
"Behold, I am he that gave the law, and I am he who covenanted with my people Israel; therefore the law in me is fulfilled. . . ."(Ibid., 15:4-5.)
'Should any still have a lingering doubt that the Jehovah who revealed himself to Abraham, to Moses, and to others was any other than he whom we know in the flesh as Jesus Christ, that doubt is set at rest by the revelation given in these days. In the vision seen by the Prophet Joseph Smith and by Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple, 3rd. of April 1836, the following appears:
"We saw the Lord standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, before us; and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold, in color like amber.
"His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying:
"I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father."(Ibid., 15:4-5.) (D & C 110:2-4)
'Somewhat curiously an ancient Syriac manuscript has within the last few months been unearthed that is known as the gospel of the Twelve Apostles. Whether the Twelve Apostles had anything to do with writing it has nothing to do with the point under consideration. The writing was originally in Hebrew, and what we wish to draw attention to is that whenever the manuscript was first written the writers of the original believed that Jesus was he who spake with the ancient Israelites. It commences:
"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, according as it was said by the Holy Spirit, I send an angel before his face, who will prepare his way.
"It came to pass in the 309th year of Alexander, the son of Philip the Macedonian, in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, in the government of Herod, the ruler of the Jews, that the Angel Gabriel, the chief of the angels, by command of God went down to Nazareth to a virgin called Miriam, of the tribe of Judah the son of Israel (her who was betrothed to Joseph the Just) and he appeared to her and said, 'Lo there ariseth from thee the one who spake with our fathers, and he shall be a Savior to Israel; and they who do not confess him shall perish, for his authority is in the lofty heights, and his kingdom does not pass away.' "
"The Lord bless you all I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."
Prophet's vision contrary to religious beliefs
There are a few other matters of vital importance closely related to this subject and the Prophet Joseph Smith's vision of the Father and the Son, which may be discussed here.
When Joseph Smith went out to the grove to pray, he had no idea that the Father and the Son were separate Personages. His religious training had been solely along the lines of the sectarian Protestant and Catholic world. This doctrine proclaimed with apparent assurance that the Father and the Son were one; that God was a Spirit in some mysterious form that could not be understood, and definitely not an anthropomorphic being. The current doctrine was that God was invisible to mortal eyes.
We may well believe that when the youthful prophet knelt and prayed he never expected such a visitation, which was contrary to the universal religious views in his day. Evidently his mind was not clear as to how an answer would be received. Possibly he could have thought he might hear a voice or even that an angel might appear to him, as angels once appeared in ancient times. That he would receive a visitation from both Father and Son absolutely could not have entered his mind. Their presence, therefore, must have been just as great a shock to him as his repeating it to certain ministers must have been to them. For telling it he was severely rebuked and accused of blasphemy.
Without doubt, one of the chief reasons for the coming of both Father and Son was to establish the great truth which was lost to the world, that the declaration of the scriptures is true, and that once again there was to be a witness in the flesh to bear testimony to the world. Through the mixture of the gospel with pagan philosophy, the true nature of God had been lost. It was necessary that it be restored again through the presence of a living witness. There were other reasons, of course, why the Lord should have living witnesses on the earth. The time had come for the light of the gospel to break through the dark clouds of superstition and false philosophy.
If the story of Joseph Smith had been a concoction, an imaginary story of his mind, he never would have said that both the Father and the Son appeared to him, and that they were glorious Personages beyond mortal description. Moreover, he never would have said that the Father introduced his Son, saying: "This is my Beloved Son: Hear Him." Had the prophet's story been a falsehood, he would have said more likely, "The Father addressed me and asked me what I wanted." He would have said the Father gave him the answer! Had he said such a thing, then we would have known that he was not telling the truth. Such a thing as this would have stamped the story as fiction, for it would be contrary to the divine law by which Jesus becomes our Advocate and Mediator. The Prophet made no mistake and had his story been false that mistake he inevitably would have made! It would have been in perfect harmony with the universal misunderstanding of the Godhead which existed in that day.(Ibid., 15:4-5.
For further reference on this subject see Smith, Joseph Fielding, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 1, Chapter 2, and Man: His Origin and Destiny, chapter 14.)
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