How I Know Joseph Smith is a Prophet Pt. 1: The Great Apostasy

Since his boyhood in the early nineteenth century, the life of Joseph Smith has been one of the most studied, controversial, and misrepresented stories in modern religious history. I would like to take the time right now to explain a little about his life in easy terms, in addition to sharing with all who read this blog how I know that he was a prophet of God.

Joseph was a young boy who was very confused. He wanted to know about God, who He was, how to please Him, what to do to keep His commandments, etc., but he had no idea how to go about doing any of that. It seemed to him (Joseph) that God is a God of order, who has a set standard and plan for each of us, and that He would not be divided against Himself. But Joseph would look around himself and see preacher against preacher, layman against layman, and family member against family member. Joseph probably thought to himself (as many in the world probably still do), "Wait....that doesn't make sense. I thought God sent His Son Jesus to unify everyone in the true faith. But everybody keeps arguing about what the true faith is, and nobody can seem to agree. Shouldn't we all be together in this? But how am I supposed to know who is right? Where do I even start?"

 

Have you ever asked yourself those questions? Try putting yourself in his position. You are young, barely educated, but with a great desire to know the truth and the mysteries of God. You've tried talking to your parents, but they are just as confused as you. You've tried talking to the preachers, but they just make you feel even more confused, in addition to pressuring you to accept their church and deny the rest. But your whole life you have been taught that God is the Father of every human, that He sent His Son to save the world (John 3:16). But there are so many divisions amongst the churches, even though the Bible states that there is "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephesians 4:5). So Joseph eventually came to the conclusion that God is not the Author of confusion. Which means that He must have only one church; and Joseph was determined to find out which one it was.

With his limited knowledge, Joseph's conclusion is pretty commendable, especially at his age. But what Joseph didn't know is that religious confusion had enveloped the world for the last 1800 years (roughly). The world that Joseph Smith lived in had been in a state of apostasy for thousands of years. An apostasy is a time of spiritual darkness, when there are no authorized representatives of God (apostles and prophets).  The Bible states that these ordained servants are necessary for the Church of Jesus Christ (see Ephesians 4:11-15). After the death of Jesus Christ, the apostles began to spread the Gospel all over the earth (just read the book of Acts, that'll give you a good feel of the missionary efforts in those days), but eventually, all of those special witnesses were murdered or exiled, leaving the church without approved leadership.

So what does that mean for us?

We as children of God are dependent on the revelation that He gives to His prophets. Revelation is the process by which God makes known His will; divine information, as it were. But when there are no prophets to receive general revelation, we are lost. Sure, we can make guesses as to what God wants us to do, or how to worship Him, but it would be no more than that...a guess.

Imagine a school of elementary aged children. They go to class, they learn from the teacher, and all is fine and peachy. But then one day, the kids decide that they don't want to have a teacher any more. So they get rid of him. The children are left to themselves, to learn on their own. They have the books to help them, but how much can they actually teach themselves? Will they really learn how to add and subtract? What about deriving maximums and minimums and integrating parabolic equations? Highly unlikely. Not only will they not learn the truth, but they will also introduce concepts that are just plain wrong. Even if they all decide that 2+2=5, the plain fact of the matter is that they are wrong.

That is what the Apostasy did to the entire world. After they rejected the apostles (after they kicked out the teacher), men were left to themselves spiritually. They were not able to learn all that they could because they were restricted to their own juvenile capacities. Wrong ideas also crept into the one-time simple doctrine of Christ. But then some of the children didn't agree with the other children, and they decided to start their own school. Repeat that process about a thousand times.....and now look at where we are: A world filled with confusion, thousands of different opinions, thousands of different organizations....and the poor boy Joseph Smith trying to figure out which one is correct.

Well, maybe now you can imagine a little bit of the confusion that Joseph felt at the time. Now we are ready to talk about what he did next to figure out the truth. But alas, this post is long, and I will continue another day with the story of the First Vision.