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Mormonism

For Beginners

For Beginners LLC

part 1

MORMON HISTORY

Make no mistake. Mormons consider Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, to be the greatest prophet in world history, ranking second only to Jesus Christ. This is an extraordinary claim that raises the question: Just what is a prophet?

Some might consider prophets to be serene people whose reputations are ever spotless — people who establish only peace around them, whose every step seems blessed by God. But that was not Joseph Smith. His explosive brand of prophethood broke down social and theological walls, mended millennia-old rifts in human and cultural understanding, and threw itself against the limits of the heart's capacity. Those who interacted with Joseph Smith were inevitably drawn into his intense, frequently overwhelming maelstrom. And in that tempest, they either lost themselves or found themselves. Sometimes both. Joseph's life was a holy storm — both vitalizing and disrupting — whose potency still draws people into its heart almost 200 years after his death. Smithsonian Magazine in 2015 ranked Joseph Smith as the most influential religious figure in American history.

Early Life

Born on December 23, 1805, Joseph Smith grew up in upstate New York in what was called the "burned-over district," so named for the numerous tent revival meetings that swept through the area. Though his family was religious, they weren't attached to a particular church and often participated in these revivals.

Joseph and his family were also very much into folk magic, which often blended into frontier Christianity. Joseph frequently took night-time excursions around the forest, leading groups of people with a divining rod or peep stone (also called a seer stone) and performing elaborate rituals in an attempt to detect hidden treasures beneath the ground.

Joseph was also obsessed about which, if any, of the Christian churches in his area possessed the whole truth. His search for that answer leads us to Mormonism's foundational story: the First Vision.

The First Vision

Though the First Vision of 1820 is at the base of Mormonism's conception of itself, Joseph Smith never actually committed the story to paper until 1832, two years after he founded the LDS Church. In that earliest version, he describes his 16-year-old self (though he was actually 14 if the vision took place in 1820) as being disenchanted with the churches he had come into contact with, feeling that that none of them had the truth. He describes going into the forest near his home in the town of Palmyra, praying about the matter, and being visited by the "Lord," whom Smith records as saying, "behold the world lieth in sin at this time and none doeth good no not one they have turned aside from the gospel and keep not my commandments." (Letterbook 1, The Joseph Smith Papers)

In 1835, Smith recounted his vision again to a religious charismatic named Robert Matthews. In this telling, Smith says that he had been merely perplexed by the different denominations (instead of being convinced that they had no truth) and had been inspired by Matthew 7:7 and James 1:5 to seek divine answers. He goes into the woods to pray but, in this account, has difficulty doing so: his tongue swells in his mouth and he becomes frightened by the sound of footsteps behind him. Soon, a "pillar of fire" descends over him, illuminates the forest, and fills him "with joy unspeakable." One "personage" stands in the pillar of fire for a fleeting moment; then another one descends, telling Joseph that his sins are forgiven and testifying of Jesus Christ. Joseph also sees angels. (Journal, 1835–1836, The Joseph Smith Papers)

But the story that eventually became the accepted version among Mormons was written as a part of Joseph Smith's official history in 1838. This narrative is the most detailed. First, it spends a good amount of space describing how the Second Great Awakening — the Protestant revival movement that swept America during the first decades of the 19th century — affected young Joseph. Seeking the true faith, Smith runs across James 1:5, which reads, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

And so, according to the official version of the First Vision, on the "morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty," young Joseph Smith walks into a grove of trees and, for the first time in his life, begins to pray vocally. "I had scarcely done so," he continues, "when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction."

And then he pens the words that have launched a million Mormon missionary lessons:

[J]ust at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. ... When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other — This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him! (HISTORY 1:16–17)

When Joseph regains possession of himself, he asks the two Personages which church he should he join. As he recounts,

I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt....

A few days later, Joseph recounted his vision to a local preacher, who "treated my communication not only lightly, but with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil...." (History 1:21) Indeed, Joseph said that he suffered a good deal of persecution over the years for talking about his vision. (It seems people didn't react well to being told that their religion is an abomination!)

In 1842, Joseph penned his final version of the story in what came to be called the Wentworth Letter. It's pretty much an abbreviation of the 1838 version, but with the added detail that the

"two glorious personages ... exactly resembled each other in features and likeness," and with a promise from the divine personages that "the fullness of the gospel should at some future time be made known to me." ("CHURCH HISTORY,"Times and Seasons, 3 (9): 706–10)

These various accounts of the First Vision have caused a great deal of debate between Mormons and their critics. Joseph Smith seems to have told different stories each time, beginning with one heavenly being, then adding another, and then sprinkling in some angels — not to mention failing to describe the demonic attack the first time around. Many theories have been advanced to explain these differences, but there is little doubt of the narrative's potency. It is probably the most-told story in Mormonism.

The Great Apostasy

All of this raises the question, why did God need to visit Joseph Smith and tell him all of the churches are wrong in the first place? Mormons came to explain this as the Great Apostasy.

It was the killing of Jesus's original apostles that led to this falling away: a period of about 1,700 years during which God's priesthood was found nowhere in the Eastern Hemisphere. (It was extant in the Americas, but we'll get to that in the section on the Book of Mormon.) Bits and pieces of the truth remained, but not God's authority — the priesthood. As Jesus once said to Peter, "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19) That's the priesthood. Mormonssee priesthood authority as essential to acting in God's name. Without it, no matter how well-intentioned one might be, rites such as baptism are not recognized by the heavens.

Compelling reasons why the Great Apostasy lasted such a long time are difficult to find in Mormon discourse. The best you can usually dig up is that God spent a millennium and three-quarters preparing earth to receive the truth again, notably by inspiring Martin Luther to launch the Protestant reformation and by assisting the Founding Fathers of the United States in developing a political environment tolerant of diverse religious views and practices (though not entirely, as we'll see later).

Things didn't start getting back on track until the Second Great Awakening and the evangelical fervor it brought to much of frontier America in the early 19th century. Those who participated in the Second Great Awakening focused on getting as close to original Christianity as possible, stripping away all the traditions that had built up around and obscured the purity of Jesus's gospel. They were called "restorationists" because they wanted to restore Christ's original church.

Joseph Smith's vision was not just a remarkable personal manifestation but a call to restore the very church Jesus himself had established during his brief three-year ministry.

Angelic Visit

After his First Vision in 1820, Smith heard very little from heaven. Then, in 1823, he said he was lying in bed, praying for forgiveness of his sins, when...

I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air ... He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the ever lasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants. ... While he was conversing with me about the plates, the vision was opened to my mind that I could see the place where the plates were deposited. (HISTORY1:30–42)

It was an amazing vision by anyone's standards, but the night was still young! As it turned out, the messenger reappeared to Joseph two more times that evening.

So Joseph didn't get any sleep that night. In fact, he was so exhausted the next morning that he was unable to do his chores. His father sent him back to the house, but when Joseph tried to cross the fence, he fell and lost consciousness. A voice awoke him, and he looked up to see the same messenger from the night before, delivering the same message. This time, the messenger told Joseph to go dig up the gold plates.

I left the field, and went to the place where the messenger had told me the plates were deposited; and owing to the distinctness of the vision which I had had concerning it, I knew the place the instant that I arrived there. (HISTORY1:50)

Smith said he did a little digging, used a branch as a lever to dislodge a large stone, and found a stone box beneath it.

I looked in, and there indeed did I behold the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate, as stated by the messenger....

I made an attempt to take them out, but was forbidden by the messenger, and was again informed that the time for bringing them forth had not yet arrived, neither would it, until four years from that time; but he told me that I should come to that place precisely in one year from that time, and that he would there meet with me, and that I should continue to do so until the time should come for obtaining the plates. (HISTORY 1:52–53)

And that is just what Joseph says he did, meeting the angel annually for the next four years to receive instruction. During that last meeting, the angel finally allowed him to take the gold plates and its translators.

BOOK OF MORMON TRANSLATION

Most images you will see of Joseph Smith translating the golden plates, producing the Book of Mormon, will show him sitting at a table, bent over the plates like a monk — the finger of one hand resting on one thin golden sheet, his other hand pressed to his brow. On the other side of the table will sit a scribe, diligently taking down Joseph's words.

But there are many accounts of how Smith translated the plates. His first wife, Emma Hale Smith, said that he translated some of the first 116 pages of the Book of Mormon by putting on the breastplate he found with the plates and peering through the Urim and Thummim — a pair of transparent stones that took their designation from a phrase in the Hebrew Bible often translated as "revelation and truth" — which were attached to the breastplate with silver bows.

According to most testimonies of the translation process, Joseph spent the majority of his time peering at a seer stone inside his hat, especially a chocolate-colored stone that he had found while digging a well many years before. According to some second-hand accounts, given years after the fact, Joseph said that words would appear as if on a piece of lighted parchment over the stone until he conveyed them to the scribe, after which they would disappear — as if the stone were a cell phone receiving heavenly text messages.

The Golden Plates

The golden plates were actually hidden from view for much of the time Joseph was translating the Book of Mormon. A few people said that they had seen the plates, such as the "Three Witnesses" who testify at the beginning of the Book of Mormon that an angel showed them the plates, and the "Eight Witnesses" who say that Joseph Smith let them handle the plates, "and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship." Emma Smith said that she often handled the plates while they were wrapped in a cloth, moving them from place to place as she did household chores, but that she never actually unwrapped them.

Most of the physical descriptions of the golden plates portray them as a kind of three-ring binder: rectangular in shape (measuring about 7 inches wide and 8 inches long); each page a little thinner than a tin plate; inscribed with "reformed Egyptian" characters; bound together with three D-shaped rings; and weighing between 30 and 60 pounds.

The Lost 116 Pages

Joseph soon realized that translating golden plates wasn't putting food on the table, and Emma was ready to give birth to their first child. Fortunately, a well-to-do man named Martin Harris became a kind of patron to Joseph. But Harris's wife wasn't too hot on the young prophet or her husband's willingness to give him their money. She demanded to see what Joseph was doing, and Martin asked Joseph to let him show her the first 116 pages (which had been written out by hand but not yet copied), hoping they would change her heart. Against his better judgment, Joseph allowed Martin to take the pages.

Shortly thereafter, Joseph and Emma's first child was stillborn. Then, still grief-stricken, Joseph received news that the 116 pages had disappeared and that God was mad about it. In fact, a whole section of the Doctrine and Covenants (the Mormon scripture containing God's revelations to Joseph Smith) is dedicated to God raking Joseph over the coals for the loss of the pages and suspending his ability to translate.

Priesthood Restored

The translation began again after a few months, continuing for another year and a half. During that time, Joseph and his scribe, Oliver Cowdery, said they were visited by a resurrected John the Baptist who gave them the Aaronic Priesthood. Then the resurrected Peter, James, and John — Jesus's apostles — bestowed the Melchizedek Priesthood upon them. This event is one of the cornerstones of Mormonism's claim to truthfulness. If God's priesthood had disappeared from the earth with the death of Jesus's apostles, now the apostles came back to restore it. Every male in the Mormon Church who receives the Aaronic or Melchizedek Priesthood can trace his priestly "lineage" back to this event.

Book of Mormon Published

The story of the golden plates spread through upstate New York and brought Smith much attention, both positive and negative. Some people tried to steal the plates, others refused to believe they existed, and still other were so captivated by the discovery and translation process that they became Smith's followers.

In June 1829, Joseph applied for a copyright for the Book of Mormon, but he didn't have the money to print it. So he sent some followers off to Canada to sell the Canadian copyright, but that didn't work out either. Once again, Martin Harris had to come to the rescue, pledging his farm against the cost of printing the first 5,000 copies. A year later, he had to auction off 151 acres to cover the bill.

Church Founded

On April 6, 1830, in Fayette, New York, 24-year-old Joseph Smith organized what he called "the Church of Jesus Christ." Unfortunately, that name was already taken — many times over, in fact — which is why it eventually morphed into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Approximately 60 believers showed up for the founding event, 20 of them having traveled 100 miles to attend.

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Excerpted from Mormonism by Stephen Carter, Jett Atwood. Copyright © 2016 Stephen Carter. Excerpted by permission of For Beginners LLC.
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