How I Know Joseph Smith is a Prophet Pt. 3: The Book of Mormon

So last time we talked about how Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ in a grove of trees in 1820, how they told him that none of the churches on the earth were correct, and that he would be called as a prophet to restore the church that Jesus Christ originally founded in the meridian of time. Well, all that sounds great, right? But how can we know if that really happened?

Short answer: The Book of Mormon.

Have you ever wondered why Mormons have that book anyway? Why do they read it? Where did it come from? What's in it? Why would we need another book from God? Doesn't the Bible have everything we need?

Lemme 'splain. A few years after the incredible vision that Joseph Smith had on that spring morning in 1820, he was told by an angel (named Moroni) that "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 fullness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants."

So that means that Joseph was told where this book had been hidden by Moroni himself 1400 years ago, and that this book was the religious history of the people who had once inhabited the ancient Americas. Naturally, Joseph was excited to go and get this book of books. When the time was right, Joseph was told to go retrieve the plates, keep them safe, and to go about translating them.

So the question is this: How does an uneducated farmboy, who hasn't even reached his twenty-second year go a translate a book that is written in a language that had long-since died? Answer: With God's help. Joseph was given the ability to translate the record word for word from the original language, which was a type of reformed Egyptian. Obviously, the task would have been impossible to accomplish unless he had been inspired by the Almighty, and given the necessary tools to do so. With the help of several scribes, Joseph translated the book in a very short period of time and had the book published as The Book of Mormon (named after one of the principle characters in the book).

So what does the book talk about? Lemme sum up: Around 600 B.C., a family leaves Jerusalem because they were warned by God that the city would be destroyed (and it later was). They go to the sea, build a ship (God tells them how) and they cross the ocean, landing somewhere in the Americas (probably Central/South America). When they get there, the family splits up, creating two different nations or civilizations, called the Nephites and the Lamanites. The rest of the book is a history of those two peoples, focusing heavily on the teachings, prophecies, writings, sermons, and actions of their prophets. The book itself is a summary that was created by a prophet/historian/warrior named Mormon (that's why it has his name), but the concluding chapters were written by his son, Moroni (the same one who came to Joseph Smith as an angel and told him where the book was. He knew where it was because he put it there). By the end of the book, only the Lamanites remain, and they become the principle ancestors of the the American natives who were living here when the Europeans came over a thousand years later.

Okay, so that's the brief summary. Next question: why the heck do we need to know about all of that? Well, God knew that many would doubt the veracity of Joseph's claim that he had been called by God to restore the primitive church of Jesus Christ. Even more would doubt that he had actually seen the Father and the Son face to face. So He brought forth this book as spiritual evidence that Joseph Smith was a prophet and His chosen servant. One can know that the message of the Restoration is true if he will read the Book of Mormon and pray to know that it is true. As the introduction of the book says, "We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3-5.) Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah."

And that's why it is here. To show the entire world that God still talks to His children through ordained prophets, that the fullness of the Gospel is once again available to all mankind, and that the Church of Jesus Christ has been reestablished in its pure form in the latter days. That is our message. That is why Mormons try so hard to talk about the Book of Mormon, because it is the only way to know if this message if true. And if the book is true, everything else (Joseph Smith, the priesthood, ordinances such as baptism, etc.) would also be true. So my invitation to everyone who may read my blog is to go and read the Book of Mormon, and then ask God in prayer if it is true. He will answer you. He answered me.

And here is the testimony of one of the modern apostles of Jesus Christ as he testifies of the Book of Mormon. Enjoy!

How I Know That Joseph Smith Is A Prophet Pt. 2: The First Vision

Okay, so let's recap a little bit. Joseph is confused, wants to know which church is right, doesn't know where to go because the world is in an apostasy, there aren't any prophets or apostles, ordinances have changed, doctrines vary from church to church, and to top it all off, everybody is fighting about it, but nobody is right. Whew! That's a bleak way to start off a search for the truth, isn't it?

So like I said before, Joseph talks to as many people he can, but they just make him more confused. He writes, "In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?" But he seems to find the best source of knowledge to be the scriptures. One day he found this gem of a scripture, in James 1:5, which states, "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."

"Alright," he says to himself (I'm taking artistic liberty, I'm not actually privy to his thoughts), "this here scripture says that if I don't know something, I should go ask the Person that knows everything. I guess that makes sense."

This scripture really opened up his eyes, apparently, because he says that, "Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine." Not only that, but he couldn't stop thinking about it. It came into his mind over and over again, each time with "great force," prompting him to go and ask God. And so (and I think that there is a great lesson to be learned here) as he pondered the scriptures, his desire to act on what he had learned increased dramatically. It led him to actually apply what James had told him (ask of God), which probably would have been a frightening prospect for a boy so young asking a Being so great, especially since "it was the first time in [his] life that [he] had made such an attempt, for amidst all [his] anxieties [he] had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally." But trusting in God, he made his venture.

He tells us that it was a spring morning in 1820. I imagine that New York at that time and season would be beautiful, the perfect setting for a humble prayer, a quiet attempt to communicate with the Almighty. Joseph went into the woods nearby his home to a place that he had already chosen, where he knew he would not be interrupted....where he could be completely alone, with no distractions to interfere with his attempt to talk with God. He found a spot, knelled, and began to pray.

What happened next was something that Joseph did not expect. As he began to pray, he tells us that he was "seized upon by some power," that tried to keep him from praying. Satan, the enemy of God and of all mankind, was very upset with the Smith boy, and launched a full assault him. Using all of his dark powers, he tried to stop Joseph by stopping his prayer. Why would he do that? Why would the devil be so afraid of a 14 year-old boy that he would attack him in broad daylight? Because about 1800 years ago, Satan had accomplished one of his most devastating victories...the Great Apostasy. Remember what we talked about in the last blog post? Satan had meticulously driven the righteous saints of the primitive church to obscurity through internal corruption and external persecution. The church of Jesus Christ had lost its priesthood authority, the ordinances had been changed, the organization was left in ruin, and mankind slowly "turn[ed] away their ears from the truth, and...turned unto fables." (2 Timothy 4:4). Satan had already rid himself of the Church of the Lamb of God, and he had been spreading his darkness and confusion over the earth for the last 1800 years. That is why he tried in that moment to stop a humble farmboy from praying. That is why what happened next is even more glorious.

I would spoil it with my own words, so I am going to let Joseph describe exactly what happened:

"...Exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction....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. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. 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!"

For the first time, after almost two thousand years of apostasy and darkness...the heavens were once again opened....and God the Father, with His Beloved Son Jesus Christ at His right hand, came to the earth that They created and literally talked with the boy Joseph face to face. Can you see how glorious an event that was? Can you imagine how intense and wonderful the scene would have been? Can you imagine the millions of angels shouting for joy as light once again entered the earth that had been in darkness and suffering for so long? That is why this event was so important. When Joseph came from the woods later that afternoon and told the world what had happened, he wasn't just telling a story of something cool that had happened. He was reporting to the entire human race that truth, light, and revelation had once again penetrated the darkness, and that God had once again reached out to His children and offered them hope....hope that was so desperately needed in a world that had been on its knees and suffering.

So what did They tell Joseph? In short, They told him that none of the churches that were currently on the earth were correct, but that Joseph would be called to be the prophet that would restore the Church of Jesus Christ, exactly the way that it was before. And Jesus Christ Himself would lead it. Gone were the days of spiritual darkness, gone were the days without priesthood authority, gone were the days of mankind struggling in vain to know the will of God. For the last time, God had reestablished His kingdom on the earth, never again to be taken away until the Second Coming of the Messiah, when He will reign personally over the whole earth.

That is what Joseph learned that spring morning in 1820. Pretty cool, huh?

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.