I have always liked the words of Brigham Young,
who said, "I feel like shouting 'Hallelujah'
all day long when I think that I ever knew
Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet!"
[Journal of Discourses 3:51] There is also
the inspired and accurate statement of evaluation
by John Taylor, which has been placed in the
Doctrine and Covenants, in which he said,
"Joseph Smith the Prophet and Seer of the
Lord has done more, save Jesus only, for the
salvation of men in this world than any other
man that ever lived in it."
[D&C 135:3]
The Prophet Joseph stands at the head of the
dispensation of the fulness of times, the
dispensation into which all other dispensations
must finally be gathered in order to make
the fulness of times, or the fulness of dispensations,
and in order to give the righteous of all
ages a fulness of glory in the eternal world.
When this is accomplished, then, as the Lord
says in Section 29:30, "the last shall be
first."
The Prophet Joseph Smith will stand in proper
status as he who has not only done most for
the salvation of men on this earth, with the
exception of Christ only, but he will stand
next to Christ in the eternal worlds in relation
to the Lord's work.
The Prophet Joseph Smith was seen and written
about by many, many people.
One of the most sophisticated observers was
Josiah Quincy of the famous Quincy family.
Josiah later became Mayor of Boston.
He and Charles Francis Adams visited the Prophet
Joseph Smith in May of 1844, just a little
over a month prior to the martyrdom.
Quincy later wrote a book called, "Figures
of the Past," and the last chapter in it is
called, "Joseph Smith at Nauvoo."
He begins that chapter with these words:
"It is by no means improbable that some future
textbook for the use of generations yet unborn
will contain a question something like this:
What historical American of the 19th century
has exerted the most powerful influence upon
the destinies of his countrymen?
And it is by no means impossible that the
answer to that interrogatory may be thus written:
Joseph Smith the Mormon Prophet.
And the reply, as
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
2
absurd as it doubtless seems to most men now
living, may be an obvious commonplace to their
descendants.
History deals in such surprises and paradoxes
quite as startling as this.
The man who established a religion in this
age of free debate, who was and is today accepted
by hundreds of thousands as a direct emissary
from the Most High, such a rare human being
is not to be disposed of by pelting his memory
with unsavory epithets.
Fanatic, imposter, charlatan, he may have
been, but these hard names furnish no solution
to the problem he presents us.
Fanatics and impostors are living and dying
every day, and their memory is buried with
them.
But the wonderful influence which this founder
of a religion exerted and still exerts, throws
him into relief before us, not as a rogue
to be incriminated but as a phenomenon to
be explained."
Then he goes on and talks about the Prophet.
In the course of his article, he describes
him.
"A fine looking man is what the passerby would
instinctively have murmured upon meeting this
remarkable individual who has fashioned the
mould which was to shape the feelings of so
many thousands of his fellow-mortals.
But Joseph Smith was more than this."
And then he talks about great men with whom
he has rubbed shoulders, those who exuded
charisma, personality, character, all those
things that make a human being great.
He identifies a gentleman by the name of Elisha
R. Potter of Rhode Island, and then he comments
as follows.
"Of all men I've ever met, these two, Potter
and the Prophet Joseph Smith, seem best endowed
with that kingly faculty which directs by
intrinsic right the lives and the interests
of other people."
An old gentleman who joined the Church in
the early days of the Church and later settled
in Logan, Utah, was interviewed one day by
a reporter who asked him if he knew Joseph
Smith.
He said, "Did I know the Prophet Joseph?
Well, I should think I did.
I was one of his hired men for several years,
and that simply means that I was a member
of his family."
"Well, what sort of man was he, anyway?" asked
the inquirer.
The old veteran looked keenly at his inquirer,
and said, "He was the biggest-hearted, bravest,
most whole-souled man I ever knew.
That's what he was.
If ever I loved a man, it was Joseph Smith.
Outside of all his priestly connections, he
was an admirable man, a good man.
I tell you, at least that's the way I regarded
him.
He was a lover of a good horse, and there
wasn't any better horses around that country
than Old Charley and Joe Duncan, the two
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
3
animals he rode.
And there wasn't many better horsemen, either,
about them parts than the Prophet.
Joe Duncan was a chestnut sorrel and was a
beauty, but he wasn't anything as fine a horse
as Charley, a great big black fellow with
a star on his forehead.�
"The Prophet's enemies used to recognize him
by his horse when he had Charley.
And many a time out on the farm, that star
had to be painted out of his forehead in order
to fool them.
Joseph Smith had a good deal of affection
for his horses, and we young fellows thought
they were the greatest steeds on earth.
The Prophet was always kind and sympathetic
in his way, but he wasn't afraid to rebuke
anyone.
And I never knew anyone who was more frank
than he was.
He called a spade a spade, you bet.
And he was just as brave and fearless as he
was outspoken.
He certainly was a man of all men."
Another early convert who spoke of the Prophet
was Patriarch Lorenzo Hatch.
He gives us an interesting little insight
into his nature and character.
He said, "I am rather proud and thankful that
I knew Joseph Smith, for I don't have to take
any other man's testimony as to what kind
of man he was.
I know that myself, and he was a fine man,
too, I can tell you.
He was brave, fearless and frank, but he was
kind and sympathetic also.
Some people imagined that he was an ignorant
man, but that is entirely wrong.
For in those days one seldom met a brighter,
more progressive man than the Prophet.
"Joseph Smith was a fine looking man, tall,
athletic in build, quick, active and about
the finest figure on horseback that I've ever
seen.
I have never met a man yet that I admired
so sincerely, and I've met a few, too.
You simply couldn't help but like him.
He was so considerate, so sympathetic and
so manly."
Another good gentleman by the name of Jacob
Earl spoke of the Prophet Joseph Smith's "commanding
presence," this "kingly faculty" that Josiah
Quincy mentions, and his strength of mind
and of body, and above all, that superiority
of soul which was one of his distinguishing
features.
Lucy W. Kimball was an early convert, very
intimate with the Prophet.
She gives this statement.
"What kind of person was Joseph Smith?
Having been associated with him in life, I
can answer that he was 6 feet in height, weighed
about 200 pounds.
His eyes were blue and tender, his hair a
beautiful brown, soft and wavy.
He was grandly proportioned, his carriage
erect and graceful.
He moved with an air
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
4
of dignity peculiar to himself.
He was 38 1/2 years old when martyred.
Naturally, he was courteous, kind and obliging,
frank to all men both friends and foe.
He was remarkably cheerful for one who had
seen well-tried friends martyred around him
and felt the inflictions of calumny, the vexations
of lawsuits, the treachery of intimates and
multiplied attempts upon his person and life,
together with the cares of much business.
"Still, his influence among his friends was
very great, and they were as ardently attached
to him as his enemies were violently opposed
to him.
Free toleration was given to all opposing
religions, and yet persecution followed him.
Very many of the world looked upon the Prophet
as a marvel, confessed the mystery of his
power and the unaccountability of his grandeur.
The Prophet lived an humble an upright life,
the world knew him not.
He sought only the salvation of the human
family.
When asked by strangers how it was that he
held such power over the people, he replied
that he taught them correct principles and
they governed themselves."
Peter Burnett was the first governor of the
State of California.
Prior to that, he lived in Missouri and was
there at the time of the Missouri difficulties.
Being of the legal profession, he acted as
one of the Prophet Joseph Smith's lawyers
in the difficulties that were related to the
expulsion of the Latter-day Saints from the
State of Missouri.
Later, Burnett wrote about the Prophet Joseph
Smith and described him and his experiences
with him.
He said, "Joseph Smith was a most extraordinary
man.
I was his lawyer in 1838 and 1839.
I studied him as a man, not his religion,
and knew him as a man.
Joseph Smith was at least 6 foot tall and
weighed 180 pounds or more."
I think Emma's good cooking got the best of
his midriff when he got into the Nauvoo period.
"He certainly was no ordinary man.
He possessed the most indomitable perseverance
and was a good judge of men.
He deemed himself born to command, and he
did command.
His views were strange and striking, his manner
earnest.
One could not but be interested.
There was a kind, familiar look about him,
which pleased.
He was courteous in discussion and would not
oppose an opponent abruptly, but had due deference
for the feelings of others.
His views and illustrations were his own.
He had great influence on others."
Then he talked about the Prophet being taken
prisoner there at Far West, and he was confined
in a place that General Doniphan called
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
5
the "Bull Pen," where they put the Mormon
prisoners and treated them very harshly.
But the Prophet, with the magnetic personality
that he had, brings this statement from Peter
Burnett.
He says, "After a short period of 5 days,
Joseph had managed to mollify his enemies
to the extent that he could move about unprotected,
without danger.
He was a strong, athletic man and was known
to have been a wrestler.
The guards proposed that he wrestle one of
their men.
Smith courteously refused on the grounds that
he was now a minister of the gospel.
"The men assured the Prophet that there would
be no betting or gambling, it would all be
in fun.
So the Prophet then consented.
They selected the best man among their number,
and Joseph Smith threw him many times in succession,
very much to the amusement of the spectators.
Joseph Smith was an eloquent speaker and made
a fine appearance.
Sidney Rigdon did not possess the native intellect
of Joseph, and he lacked Joseph's determination
and will."
Well, the Prophet was a unique person; he
was a man among men.
A United States artillery officer spoke of
him as follows: "Joseph is a noble-looking
fellow, a Mohammed, every inch of him.
Who will not say that the Mormon Prophet is
not among the great spirits of the age?"
The New York Herald in an article on Mormonism
in the Prophet's day, expressed it this way:
"Joseph Smith the President of the Church,
Prophet, Seer and Revelator, is 36 years of
age, 6 feet high in pumps, weighing 212 pounds.
He is a man of the highest order of talent
and great independence of character, firm
in his integrity and devoted to his religion.
As a public speaker, he is bold, powerful
and convincing.
As a leader, wise and prudent, yet fearless
as a military commander, brave and determined
as a citizen, affable and kind, bland in his
manners and of noble bearing.
Probably Parley P. Pratt, who lived with him,
traveled with him and was one of the first
members of the Quorum of Twelve, gives us
as accurate a pen-picture of the Prophet as
we have.
Elder Pratt writes as follows: "President
Joseph Smith was in person tall and well-built,
strong and athletic, of a light complexion,
light hair, blue eyes, very little beard,
and of an expression peculiar to himself,
on which the eye naturally rested with interest
and was never weary of beholding.
"His countenance was ever mind, affable, beaming
with intelligence
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
6
and benevolence, mingled with a look of interest
and an unconscious smile or cheerfulness,
and entirely free from all restraint or affectation
of gravity.
And there was something connected with the
clear and steady penetrating glance of his
eye as if he would penetrate the deepest abyss
of the human heart, and gaze into eternity,
penetrate the heavens and comprehend all worlds.
He possessed a noble boldness and independence
of character.
His manner was easy and familiar, his rebuke
terrible as the lion, his benevolence unbounded
as the ocean, his intelligence universal,
his language abounding in original eloquence
peculiar to himself--not polished, not studied,
not smooth and softened by education and refined
by art, but flowing forth in his own native
simplicity and profusely abounding in variety
of subject and manner.
"He interested and edified while at the same
he amused and entertained his audience, and
none listened to him who were ever weary with
his discourse.
I have even known him to retain a congregation
of willing and anxious listeners for many
hours together, in the midst of cold or sunshine,
rain or wind, while they were laughing at
one moment and weeping the next.
Even his most bitter enemies were generally
overcome if he could once get their ears.
In short, in him was the character of a Daniel
and a Cyrus.
These were wonderfully blended.
The gifts, wisdom and devotion of Daniel were
united with the boldness, courage, temperance,
perseverance and generosity of a Cyrus.
And had he been spared a martyr's fate until
mature manhood and age, he was certainly endowed
with powers and ability to revolutionize the
world in many respects and to have transmitted
to posterity a name associated with more brilliant
and glorious acts than has yet fallen to the
lot of mortals."
Now, that kind of observation comes not only
from friends, but from foes.
One person in meeting the Prophet records
this statement: "My impression on beholding
the Prophet and shaking hands with him was
that I stood face to face with the greatest
man on earth."
Another: "When I first saw him I believed
he was one of God's noblemen, and as I grew
older I became thoroughly convinced that he
was a true Prophet of God."
Wilford Woodruff put it this way: "In his
public and private career, he carried with
him the Spirit of the Almighty, and he manifested
a greatness of soul which I have never seen
in any other man."
Another person: "I knew him as soon as I saw
him.
Although I was
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
young, I knew that he was a man of God."
7
General Moses Wilson was one of the most bitter
anti-Mormons-- "Mormon haters" as they called
them in that day in Missouri.
When the Prophet was taken captive in Missouri,
for a time he was in the custody of Moses
Wilson.
Moses Wilson has this to say about him: "He
was a very remarkable man.
I carried him into my house a prisoner in
chains, and in less than two hours, my wife
loved him better than she did me."
Well, that's the Prophet.
The kind of person who blends personality,
charisma and intellect with great, profound
spiritual capabilities.
All of these rolled into one magnificent bundle,
if I can put it that way.
Probably one of his most distinctive features
was just the gaze of his eyes.
We have accounts where that fact is brought
out on more than one occasion.
One person put it this way: "His handsome,
blue eyes would seem to dive down to the inmost
thoughts with their sharp, penetrating gaze.
I felt when he was present that he could read
me through and through."
He was very companionable, just the ideal
kind of individual.
In the fall of 1842, because his enemies were
after him, the Missouri enemies and mob, etc.,
came over into Illinois, the Prophet felt
that it was appropriate to just retire from
public life, so he went out into an area on
the outskirts of Nauvoo, where the father
of John Taylor lived.
He would sleep in the Taylor home, have breakfast
in the morning, and then he and John Taylor's
younger brother, William Taylor, would knock
around out in the brush and keep out of the
way during the day.
Then in the evening they would come back to
have the evening meal, sit around and talk
about the things of the Kingdom, and retire
and repeat the performance the next day.
William Taylor makes this report of that rather
interesting and intimate association he had:
"It is impossible for me to express my feelings
in regard to this period of my life.
I have never known the same joy and satisfaction
in the companionship of any other person,
man or woman, that I felt with him, the man
who had conversed with the Almighty.
He was always the most companionable and loveable
of men, cheerful and jovial.
Much has been said about his geniality and
personal magnetism.
I was a witness to this.
People old and young loved him and trusted
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith him instinctively."
8
Emmaline B. Wells, who later became famous
as a Mormon writer and president of the Relief
Society here in the Salt Lake area, was a
convert in the Nauvoo period and became well
acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith.
She makes this statement concerning him: "I
heard him preach all of his last sermons,
and frequently met him and shook hands with
him and always felt in my inmost soul that
he was indeed a man unlike all others.
He possessed the innate refinement that one
finds in a born poet."
He wasn't just a man of physical power, but
he had sensitivity and refinement of character.
"...that one finds in a born poet, or in the
most highly cultivated intellectual and poetic
nature.
He was beyond my comprehension.
The power of God rested upon him to such a
degree that on many occasions he seemed transfigured.
His expression was mild and almost childlike
in repose, and when addressing the people,
who loved him it seemed to adoration, the
glory of his countenance was beyond description.
At other times the great power of his manner
more than his voice, which was sublimely eloquent
to me, seemed to shake the place on which
we stood and penetrated the inmost heart of
the hearers.
And I am sure that then they would have laid
down their lives to defend him.
I always listened spellbound to his every
utterance, the chosen of God in this last
dispensation."
The Prophet was an active man, and he loved
sports.
As you read through the journals of the day
and his own journal, you find repeated reference
to his engaging in various physical kinds
of activity.
He used to go out of his way to do it.
He loved to wrestle, he loved to pull sticks,
he loved to jump at the mark.
He loved to play ball, and he loved the physical
kinds of things.
This apparently was characteristic of him,
even as a young person.
Prior to the time the Prophet got the plates
from which the Book of Mormon was translated,
after the angel Moroni came and before he
got the plates, that interim period between
1823 and 1827, he worked part time, at least,
down in the southern part of the state of
New York, for a gentleman by the name of Joseph
Knight.
Knight had quite a lot of land, hired young
men to work for him.
He had a couple of boys, one of them called
Joseph, Jr., and another was called Newell--
Newell K. Knight.
Joseph, Jr., makes this comment, speaking
of the Prophet:
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
9
"His noble deportment, his faithful and his
kind address could not fail to win the esteem
of those who had the pleasure of his acquaintance.
One thing I will mention which seemed to be
a peculiar characteristic with him in all
of his boy's sports and amusements.
I never knew anyone to gain advantage over
him, and yet he was always kind and kept the
good will of his playmates."
You find repeated reference to the Prophet's
physical activities.
One person described him as "being quick as
a squirrel, strong as a lion but as gentle
as a lamb."
Major Joseph McGee of Gallatin, Missouri,
reported: "I saw Joseph Smith throw John Brasfield,
the champion wrestler of the county, the first
two falls out of a match of three.
He was a powerful man."
Another acquaintance of the Prophet put it
this way: "I've seen the Prophet wrestle and
run and jump, but have never seen him beaten.
In all that he did, he was manly and almost
godlike."
On one occasion the Prophet was out taking
up a collection for his good friend, Orrin
Porter Rockwell.
Rockwell was in the hands of the Missourians,
and the Missouri law in those days wasn't
worth very much, particularly with the hatred
of the Missourians against the Latter-day
Saints.
They had sent word that if the Prophet would
raise a certain amount of money they would
free Porter, who was one of the Prophet's
close and bosom friends, and allow him to
come home.
So the Prophet was out taking up a collection.
As he wandered around or went around the streets,
he found on a vacant lot there in Nauvoo a
group of young Mormon boys engaging in the
frontier activities and sports of the time,
pulling sticks and wrestling.
Among them was a big fellow from the neighboring
town of La Harpe, Illinois.
He had pretty well showed his mastery over
all the Mormon boys in the area.
As the Prophet came up to make his wishes
known, this big fellow figured he'd put the
final feather in his cap, so he challenged
Joseph Smith to a wrestle.
The Prophet took up the collection and said
o.k., so they squared off.
This fellow made a pass at him, which was
his last.
The Prophet stepped nimbly to the side, grabbed
him by the nap of the neck and the seat of
the britches and hoisted him bodily over the
top of his head, walked a short distance and
dropped him into a ditch of water, right on
his back.
And when the fellow came up bubbling and spouting,
the Prophet reached out his hand with a big,
broad grin on
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
10
his face, pulled him out, slapped him on the
back, and said, "Now, you mustn't mind this;
when I'm with the boys I like to make all
the fun for them I can."
That's the kind of person that he was.
He loved social things.
As Benjamin F. Johnson, who became a close
and intimate friend to him, said, "When with
us there was no lack of amusement.
For with jokes, games, etc., he was always
ready to provoke merriment, one phase of which
was matching couplets in rhyme."
The Prophet was a man of extreme integrity.
He just had a quality of integrity that you
seldom see in a person.
This kind of thing, this quality within him,
brought him to the point where in his feelings
and thinking he simply did everything that
a human being ought to do.
He treated other people completely and fully
as he would want them to treat him.
He did his share of work around so that it
wasn't a matter of saying, "Well, I'm the
Prophet of the Lord and I have to go talk
to the Lord and you guys do the work."
For example, as they were traveling in Zion's
Camp, that body of a couple hundred men left
Kirtland and marched for a thousand miles
or so down to Jackson County to make an effort
to reinstate the Latter-day Saints on their
lands, since they had been driven out of Jackson
County by the mob.
As they were going along in a frontier situation
with few, if any roads in the spring of the
year and with mud sometimes axle deep, this
situation reduced people down to basic integrity.
We have this statement made of the Prophet:
"Zion's Camp in passing through the state
of Indiana, had to cross very bad swamps.
Consequently, we had to attach ropes to the
wagons to help them through.
The Prophet was the first man at the rope,
in his bare feet.
This was characteristic of him."
The Prophet had a childlike simplicity, and
he loved children.
When a group of Latter-day Saints would come
into Kirtland, converts from some area, the
Prophet would go to meet them.
After shaking hands with the men and saying
"Howdy" to the ladies, he'd go play with the
kids.
He was just that kind of person.
One reporter made this statement of him: "Joseph
was noted for his childlike love and familiarity
with children, and he never seemed to feel
that he was losing any of his honor or dignity
in doing so.
If he heard a child cry, he would rush out
of the house to see if it was harmed."
Another statement: "He was a great favorite
among the children.
I
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
11
have known him many times to stop as he passed
the playgrounds when we were out of school,
and shake hands with the girls and play ball
and marbles with the boys."
Another statement: "One marked illustration
of his character was his love for children.
He never saw a child but what he desired to
take it up and bless it.
And many he did so bless, taking them in his
arms and upon his knee.
I have myself sat upon his knee.
He was so fond of children that he would go
far out of his way to speak to a little one,
which is to me a striking characteristic of
true manhood.
He had a like true love for the human race."
Then here, finally, was the disposition of
the Prophet Joseph when he saw little children
in the mud.
He would take them up in his arms and wash
the mud from their bare feet with his handkerchief.
"Oh how kind he was to the old folks as well
as to the little children.
He always had a smile for his friends and
was always cheerful."
That's the kind of person he was in the sense
of basic endowments.
Let's shift gears and talk about another aspect
of the Prophet's life.
He was raised on frontier or semi-frontier
conditions.
When his mother, Lucy Mack, brought the family,
Joseph Smith, Sr., having preceded them to
Palmyra, she had about two cents left after
making the journey from New England down to
New York.
They homesteaded some land there just thickly
covered with trees.
You know that you don't grow very much wheat
when you have trees so thick you can hardly
see the sunshine.
So they exerted every effort first of all
to clear the land and then to work on the
side to just get the basic necessities of
life.
As a result of this kind of life in his early
days, the Prophet had very, very little opportunity,
if any, to get an education.
Martin Harris said that when he began to translate
the Book of Mormon, he couldn't spell the
word "February" without using the Urim and
Thummim.
Emma Smith said that he couldn't dictate a
coherent letter, and yet, she said, over and
over again she saw him as he dictated in a
period of 75 working days, or thereabouts,
this sacred volume we call the Book of Mormon.
As she would call dinner, the scribe would
cease, and they might just stop right in the
middle of a sentence, and when the Prophet
came back and picked up the Urim and Thummim,
he didn't say, "Oliver, read back the last
paragraph to see where we're going," he just
took the Urim and Thummim, looked in it, dictated
the next word and rolled right on through,
just like there had been no
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith break.
12
I've written several books, and you just can't
do that kind of thing; it just can't be done,
unless you want to have some kind of wandering,
meandering document.
You can't do that and get the kind of document
you have in the Book of Mormon.
George A. Smith, the Prophet's cousin, called
him a "plowboy," one who cultivated the earth
and "had scarcely education enough to read
his Bible."
Orson Pratt who was an early convert, when
he was in from his missions, at times stayed
with the Prophet in his home.
He explained the basic educational capabilities
of the Prophet in these words: "He could read
without much difficulty and write a very imperfect
hand, and had a very limited understanding
of the elementary rules of arithmetic.
These were his highest and only attainments."
When the Prophet began the translation of
the Book of Mormon, it was under these circumstances.
That doesn't mean that he stayed that way.
The Prophet got up early in the morning day
after day, week after week, and he studied
grammar, and he studied German, and he studied
Hebrew.
He became a very learned and polished individual.
He was a person who had a native intellect
that I simply, personally don't believe we've
seen equaled in the Church since his day.
I was talking one time in the Historian's
Office, with Preston Nibley, who has written
20 or 30 books on Mormon subjects, including
a biography of the Prophet.
He was saying, "You know, when I wrote my
book on Brigham Young," and he wrote a husky
one of President Young, "I got so familiar
with him that I could start reading the report
of a sermon, and I could tell you how he was
going to end it.
But I never could do that with Joseph Smith."
Then he observed, "In my personal feelings,
I think Brigham Young was our second greatest
president.
But to me, I don't think he came up to the
top of the Prophet's shoes.
What do you think, Brother Andrus?"
I said, "Well, I hate to disagree with you,
Brother Nibley."
That kind of took him back.
He said, "Well, what do you think?"
I said, "I don't think he came up to the top
of the Prophet's soles!"
Now, maybe he was more accurate than I was.
But the Prophet had a tremendous native intellect,
and he had an insatiable thirst for knowledge.
Now maybe some of you sophisticated folks
won't know exactly what this simile means--when
he said of Joseph, "He was the calf that sucked
three cows."
He just
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
13
couldn't get enough.
He was that kind of person.
When he began the translation of the Book
of Mormon, he did it under extremely humble
circumstances.
He began with a friend and neighbor not too
far distant from where they lived, by the
name of Martin Harris, who in that day was
a well-to-do farmer.
The Lord instructed the Prophet to invite
Martin to come over and help him translate
the Book of Mormon.
The Prophet sent word over to Martin, "Come
on over to our place this evening, and let's
talk about it."
So Martin made his way on over there to the
Smith home.
They talked about the thing.
Joseph told him the story, and Martin didn't
know whether he wanted to believe it or not.
At that time, the Prophet had the plates in
his possession, but as you know he wasn't
permitted to allow anyone to see the contents
or to see the record itself.
But he had them in an old Ontario glass box.
He allowed Martin Harris to pick up the glass
box and to shake it, to rattle it.
He could hear the metallic plates in there
rattling.
After the visit, Martin went on his way home
pondering what he had been told and what he
had experienced.
In his mind this is the way he evaluated it.
He said, "I knew that the Smith family didn't
have enough money to buy that much gold.
And I knew that the contents either had to
be gold or lead.
I knew also that they didn't have enough money
to buy that much lead.
So I had to conclude that the Prophet had
found gold plates, because there was something
metallic in there that weighed heavy enough
to be gold, or lead, and they just didn't
have enough money to buy that much lead."
When the Prophet went with Martin down to
Harmony, Pennsylvania, where they began to
translate, and then Martin lost the first
unit of the abridgement of Mormon, called
the Book of Lehi, the 116 pages.
Oliver Cowdery then came to work with him
in the spring of 1829.
By that time, the Prophet was basically destitute
of any sustenance.
He had made friends with the Knight family,
as I indicated.
He worked for Joseph Knight.
Apparently Joseph Knight knew that he was
over there working on the Book of Mormon.
So one day he took his wagon and loaded it
full of provisions and headed out for Harmony.
When he got there, he couldn't find the Prophet.
The Prophet and Oliver were out trying to
find work, because they were just that desperate.
He finally found them and supplied their physical
needs.
Then he found that they didn't have any paper
on which to write the translation, and they
didn't have any money to buy any paper.
So
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
14
Joseph Knight goes into town and buys a whole
bunch of foolscap paper.
He indicates that under those circumstances,
the Prophet begins the translation.
The Prophet's father-in-law lived just across
the street from where Joseph and Emma lived.
Isaac Hale was a great hunter and a great
trapper, and he had in the back yard an old
hide house.
It was an old shack that he had rigged up
with means to hang the hides on.
When he skinned a skunk, he hung it up out
there, or a muskrat or a beaver or something
like this.
He hung it up there.
The Prophet began the translation of the Book
of Mormon out there in Isaac Hale's old hide
house, writing the manuscript on paper that
Joseph Knight provided, and living on the
food that Joseph Knight provided, and not
able to spell the word "February" without
using the Urim and Thummim.
Those were the circumstances out of which
the gospel came in this day.
And yet the Prophet was one with a tremendous
native ability, with a tremendous intellect,
a tremendous capacity of mind, and with the
kind of faith where he could stand on earth
in mortality and his head be above the vail,
where he could penetrate the Heavens and where
he received ministrations from angelic beings
far more than we realize.
Under those circumstances, then, this great
work came forth.
For this reason, some of his later associates
talk about the contrasts in his life.
John Taylor, for example, put it this way:
"I can tell you what he told me.
He said that he was very ignorant of the ways,
designs and purposes of God and knew nothing
about them.
He was a youth at the time of his vision,
unacquainted with religious matters or systems
or theories of the day.
He was ignorant of letters as the world has
it, but the most profoundly learned and intelligent
man in afterlife that I have ever met in my
life.
And I have travelled hundreds of thousands
of miles, been on different continents and
mingled with all classes and creeds of people.
Yet, I have never met a man so intelligent
as Joseph Smith."
In my opinion, President Brigham Young was
the Prophet Joseph Smith's most ardent and
devoted disciple.
President Young spoke of contemporary sectarians
as being as "blind as Egyptian darkness, without
correct information about Heaven, hell, God,
angels or devils.
But when I saw Joseph Smith, he took Heaven,
figuratively speaking, and brought it down
to earth.
And he took the earth and brought it up and
opened up in plainness and simplicity the
things of God.
And that is the beauty of his mission."
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
15
Then on another occasion, he expressed it
this way: "In my experience I never did let
an opportunity pass of getting with the Prophet
Joseph and of hearing him speak in public
or in private, so that I might draw understanding
from the fountain from which he spoke.
In the days of the Prophet Joseph, such moments
were more precious to me than all the wealth
of the world.
No matter how great my poverty, if I had to
borrow a meal to feed my wife and children,
I never let an opportunity pass of learning
what the Prophet had to impart."
Then he confesses, "This, now, is the secret
of your humble servant Brigham."
This is where he got his insight and his understanding.
When, then, did the Prophet get his?
How was he taught?
I have four college degrees, including a PhD.,
and I'd trade all of mine without even blinking
an eye for just one-half of what Joseph Smith
had and what he got in the way of education.
It began with that great theophany we call
"the first vision," in the spring of 1820.
When he came out of the sacred grove he knew
more about God and about the nature of God
than the whole Christian world combined.
The real education that was given to the Prophet
began with the angel Moroni.
This was kind of an ideal kind of education,
where you've got two people sitting on the
log and eyeball to eyeball instruction between
them.
He began to pray to the Lord to determine
what his condition and situation was before
God.
He says, "In this situation, hours passed
unnumbered.
How many or how few, I know not, neither is
he able to inform me.
But I suppose that it must have been eleven
or twelve and perhaps later, as the noise
and bustle of the family in retiring had long
since ceased.
While continuing in prayer for a manifestation
that in some way his sins were forgiven, endeavoring
to exercise faith in the scriptures, `on a
sudden, a light like that of day, only of
a purer and far more glorious appearance and
brightness, burst into the room'.
Indeed, to use his own description, the first
sight was as though the house was filled with
consuming and unquenchable fire.
This sudden appearance of a light so bright
as must naturally be expected would be a shock
or sensation visible to the extremities of
the body.
It was, however, followed with a calmness
and a serenity of mind and an overwhelming
rapture of joy that surpassed understanding,
and in a moment a personage stood before him.
Notwithstanding the room was previously filled
with light above the
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
16
brightness of the sun, as I had before described,
yet there seemed to be an additional glory
surrounding or accompanying this personage,
which shone with increased degree of brilliancy
of which he was in the midst.
And though his countenance was as lightning,
yet it was of a pleasing, innocent and glorious
appearance, so much so that every fear was
banished from the heart and nothing but calmness
pervaded the soul."
Moroni began to quote Biblical prophecies.
In the official statement that we have in
the Pearl of Great Price, you have some of
the scriptural references identified by the
Prophet, which Moroni quoted.
But if you'll go to Oliver Cowdery's account,
he gives you literally many times more.
He begins his description by saying, "Now,
I might not get the words exactly that the
angel repeated, but I'll give you the substance
and the scriptural references."
Then he goes on page after page after page.
And when he gets through, he says:
"Again, I may not have followed the exact
words, but I have given you a true account
of the substance."
So Moroni spent considerable time explaining
Biblical scriptures to the Prophet.
But this isn't all.
In addition to this, Moroni used divine means
of instruction.
You remember when the Prophet reported that
Moroni had told him about the golden plates
on the hill Cumorah, he says as he was speaking
concerning this repository "there on yonder
hill," he says, "The vision was opened so
that I could see, and this so clearly that
when I went there the next day I had no difficulty
finding the place."
It's this visual kind of instruction.
For example, Oliver Cowdery gives us this
statement of the way by which Joseph Smith
was taught: "When God manifests to his servants
those things that are to come or those which
have been, he does it by unfolding them by
the power of that spirit which comprehends
all things always.
And so much may be shown and made perfectly
plain to the understanding in a short time
that the world who are occupied all their
life to learn a little, look at the relation
of it and are disposed to call it false."
Now note, he says, "You will understand by
this that while those glorious things were
being rehearsed, the vision was also opened
so that our brother was permitted to see and
understand much more fully and perfectly than
I am able to communicate to you in writing."
For example, Moroni told him about the ancient
inhabitants on this
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
17
continent.
But he didn't just tell him, he showed them
to him.
In the Wentworth Letter, from which we get
the Articles of Faith, the Prophet wrote as
follows: "I was informed 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
withdrawn from them as a people was made known
unto me."
He had the Book of Mormon down cold before
he got the plates out of the hill!
He had seen the Lehi colony, he had seen their
coming to this land, he had seen the whole
history clear down to the winding up thing,
and all of this through visual means there
in September 1823.
Imagine having that kind of understanding,
what the Smith family home evenings would
be like after that.
Mother Smith tells us a little about it--and
they did have them.
She says, "During our evening conversations,"
and she's talking about 1823 and 1824, in
that period of time, "Joseph would occasionally
give us some of the most amusing recitals
that you could imagine.
He would describe the ancient inhabitants
of this continent, their dress, mode of travelling
and the animals on which they rode, their
cities, their buildings, with every particular,
their mode of warfare and also their religious
worship.
This he would do with as much ease, seemingly,
as if he had spent his whole life among them."
In another statement, Mother Smith says, "During
the day our sons would endeavor to get through
their work as early as possible and say, 'Mother,
have supper early so we can have a long evening
to listen to Joseph.'
Sometimes Joseph would describe the appearance
of the Nephites, their mode of dress and warfare,
their implements of husbandry, and many things
he had seen in vision."
Oliver Cowdery gives us two examples scripturally
of the way by which Joseph Smith was taught.
One of them is here in the book of Ether.
You know, Mark Twain said he once read the
book of Mormon, and he called it "chloroform
in print."
He must have started here with the book of
Ether, in my opinion.
But here in the book of Ether you do have,
seriously now, the account of the Brother
of Jared and the great vision that was shown
to him.
Here in Ether 3, and this is a reference that
Oliver Cowdery gives as an example of how
Joseph Smith was taught, verse 25: "When the
Lord had said these words, he showed unto
the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of
the
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
earth which had been, and also all that would
be; and he withheld
them not from his sight, even unto the ends
of the earth."
In a similar way, Joseph Smith was taught.
Oliver Cowdery gives another reference, and
this is over in the book of Moses in the Pearl
of Great Price, chapter 1, where when Moses
was talking with the Lord, the record says
that he cast his eyes and beheld the earth,
"yea, even all of it, and there was not a
particle of it which he did not behold, discerning
it by the Spirit of God.
And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof,
and there was not a soul which he beheld not.
And he discerned them by the Spirit of God,
and their numbers were great, even numberless
as the sands of the sea."
Moroni used the same divine means to teach
Joseph Smith.
He showed him the Lehi colony.
He unfolded the scriptures and taught them
to him not merely by verbal means, but by
the intelligent powers of the Spirit and by
visual means and processes, so that when the
Prophet comes out of that experience he has
an education based on what I would call celestial
audio-visual techniques.
As the Prophet went to the hill Cumorah the
next day, he was taught further things, this
time the vision opening in two different ways--one,
he sees into the spirit world and he sees
the forces of the adversary.
As he went to the hill Cumorah, he had dollar
signs in his eyes.
I mean, he was tempted because of the monetary
value of those records.
If you haven't got enough money to buy a pound
of lead, you might think twice if the angel
tells you there is gold in those hills.
So as he went to the hill Cumorah, he was
caught up with the fact that these plates
were made of gold, and he had dollar signs
in his eyes.
When he got up on the hill Cumorah, he immediately
found the place, got himself a stick and pried
off the top stones of the sacred repository
and began to reach down to lift out the plates.
As he did, a very severe and powerful shock
came on his body, and he just couldn't reach
his hand any further.
It threw him back, and he looked at the thing
and there they were, and he made another effort
at it.
He was a husky fellow, so he tried it again,
and this time another powerful shock.
So he made a third effort.
This time he ended up on his back down the
hill a ways.
He made the comment, "Why can't I get these
things?
What's the matter?"
The messenger said, "Because you haven't kept
the commandments," and he explained to him
that strict requirements were necessary and
that as a result of
18
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
not keeping those strict requirements, he
was not permitted to take
the plates at the time.
With this, and here's how Oliver Cowdery explains
it, "At that instant he looked to the Lord
in prayer.
As he prayed, darkness began to disperse from
his mind and his soul was lit up as in the
evening before.
He was filled with the Holy Spirit, again
did the Lord manifest his condescension and
mercy.
The Heavens were opened and the glory of the
Lord shown round about and rested upon him.
While thus he stood, gazing and admiring,
the angel said, "Look.
And as he thus spake, he beheld the prince
of darkness surrounded by his innumerable
train of associates."
All this passed before him, and the heavenly
messenger said, "All this is shown, the good
and the evil, the holy and the impure, the
glory of God and the power of darkness, that
you may know the difference and know how to
differentiate hereafter between the two powers
and never be influenced or overcome by the
wicked one.
Behold, whatsoever entices or leads to do
good is of God, and whatsoever does not comes
from the wicked one.
It is he that fills the hearts of men with
evil, to walk in darkness and to blaspheme
God.
And you may learn from henceforth that his
ways are to destruction, but the way of holiness
is peace and rest."
Then the Prophet was given a vision of the
future, including the restoration of the gospel,
the restoration of the holy priesthood, and
things that go on down, even future to our
day and that we haven't yet seen fulfilled.
As the Prophet saw this vision of the powers
of darkness and the glory of God, he was told
concerning this ancient record.
He says, "On it is contained the fulness of
the gospel of Jesus Christ as it was given
to the Lord's people on this land, and when
it shall be brought forth by the power of
God, it shall be carried to the Gentiles,
of whom many will receive it.
And after will the seed of Israel be brought
into the fold."
Then he goes on and explains that when this
comes forth, "persecution will increase and
those that are not built upon the rock will
seek to overthrow you and will seek your life.
When they are interpreted, the Lord will give
the holy priesthood to some, and they shall
begin to proclaim this gospel and baptize
by water.
And after they shall have power to give the
Holy Ghost by the laying on of their hands,
then will persecution rage more and more.
For the iniquities of men shall be revealed
and those who are not built upon the rock
will seek the overthrow of this church.
But it will increase the more
19
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
20
opposed and spread farther and farther, increasing
in knowledge, till they shall be sanctified,"
and note this, "and receive an inheritance
where the glory of God shall rest upon them."
Now, we're talking about getting back to Jackson
County, building Zion where the spiritual
endowment will be given because we finally
build Zion and do the things that we should.
The spiritual endowment will be such that
the Lord will create upon every dwelling place
in Mount Zion and upon all of her assemblies
a cloud and smoke by day and the flaming fire
by night--that kind of spiritual endowment.
So he says this work will continue until finally
the Saints "will receive an inheritance where
the glory of the Lord shall rest upon them.
When this takes place," when you get to that
point, "and all things are prepared, the ten
tribes of Israel will be revealed in the North
country."
When do the ten tribes come in?
Some people think we're already gathering
them.
Well, we're gathering Israel, that's true,
because Israel is not only in a body but they
are also dispersed throughout the world.
But there is a body, and to that group of
people Jesus went and ministered after visiting
the Nephites.
They are to return, and he indicates their
return is after the Saints have been sanctified
and received an inheritance where the glory
of the Lord rests upon them.
He goes on to say, "And when this is fulfilled,"
or when the ten tribes come, "then will be
brought to pass that saying of the prophet,"
and he quotes Isaiah 59:20, "And the Redeemer
shall come to Zion and to them that return
from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord."
A lot of us are looking for the second coming,
we talk about it once in awhile, and we usually
have reference to that great world appearance
where Christ comes in glory in the clouds
of heaven, and every eye sees him and the
wicked are consumed and the righteous are
caught up to meet him, and his kingdom is
made universal.
But what we sometimes fail to understand is
that Christ will appear among the righteous
of his people and live among them for a matter
of years before he comes in to the world in
glory.
And this will take place, this appearance
of Christ as Moroni explained it, will take
place after two prior events:
Number one, after the Saints have finally
lived the gospel to the point that they receive
an inheritance where the glory of the Lord
rests upon them.
And then after the ten tribes come from the
North countries.
Then, after those two things, the words of
Isaiah will be
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
21
fulfilled who writes that the Redeemer shall
come to Zion and to those who turn from ungodliness
in Jacob.
See, for example, the explanations of Jesus
to the Nephites, in 3 Nephi 20:22, and 21:25.
As the Prophet is instructed concerning these
things, then he is shown that this work to
come forth is designed to bring about marvelous
transformations, not only in individual lives,
and not only on this land, but ultimately
throughout the world.
The Prophet Joseph put it this way: "I intend
to lay a foundation that will revolutionize
the world.
It will not be by sword or gun that this will
be accomplished, but the power of truth is
such that it will ultimately be done."
But as Moroni discussed with the Prophet these
events, he says this:
"Therefore, says the Lord, I will proceed
to do a marvelous work among this people,
even a marvelous work and a wonder.
The wisdom of their wise shall perish and
the understanding of their prudent shall be
hid.
For according to his covenants which he made
with his ancient Saints, his people the House
of Israel must come to a knowledge of the
gospel and win that Messiah whom their fathers
rejected, and with them the fulness of the
gospel, be gathered in to rejoice in one fold
and one shepherd.
"Now this cannot be brought to pass," this
marvelous work and a wonder, "cannot be brought
to pass until first certain preparatory things
are accomplished.
For so has the Lord proposed in his own mind.
He has therefore chosen you as an instrument,"
speaking to Joseph, "as an instrument in his
hands to bring to light that which shall perform
his strange act and bring to pass a marvelous
work and a wonder."
Now, the Book of Mormon to me is the greatest
miracle of modern times.
To think that the Prophet whipped that off
in 75 working days and to really get into
it and understand what it says--it contains
the key not only to the knowledge of the gospel
but of our day, that is superior to anything
you can find anywhere else.
And it is prophetic to the nth degree.
If you want to know more about what's going
to happen in the 1990s, the best source to
go to is the Book of Mormon, if you read it
and read it in the way it is intended that
you understand it.
Sometimes we call the Book of Mormon the "marvelous
work and a wonder."
But that's not so.
The Book of Mormon was a preparatory action
to the marvelous work.
The marvelous work and a wonder is
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
22
the establishment of the Lord's kingdom, the
gathering of Israel, the whole new order of
society and of government that will bring
peace and righteousness and renovate the earth
and renew the earth to a paradisiacal state
of glory.
That's the marvelous work and a wonder.
In that marvelous work, the wisdom of the
wise will perish, and the understanding of
the prudent will be hid.
It's that kind of work that the Lord initiated
through this young man, the Prophet Joseph
Smith.
In connection with that, it wasn't just a
matter of Moroni appearing on the scene.
Besides Moroni in those early days, there
were other Nephite prophets.
For example, in the Wentworth Letter, and
I'm talking about 1823 to 1827, that period
of time, the Prophet Joseph writes as follows:
"After having received many visits from the
angels of God," and the word is plural--"angels,"
not just Moroni--"unfolding the majesty and
glory of the events that should transpire
in the last days, on the morning of September
1827, the angel of the Lord delivered the
records into my hands."
Now, he had had angels, many angels prior
to getting the plates.
We usually say Moroni, John the Baptist, Peter,
James and John, but you see what we've left
out with that kind of statement.
Here's John Taylor: "When Joseph Smith was
raised up as a Prophet of God, Mormon, Moroni,
Nephi and others of the ancient prophets who
formerly lived on this continent, and Peter
and John and others who lived on the Asiatic
continent, came to him."
Here's George Q. Cannon, who was one of the
great minds of the Church and a counselor
in the First Presidency for more than one
prophet, says, "If you will read the history
of the Church from the beginning, you will
find that Joseph was visited by various angelic
beings, but not one of them professed to give
him the keys until John the Baptist came to
him.
Moroni, who held the keys to the stick of
Ephraim, visited Joseph.
He doubtless also had visits from Nephi and
it may have been from Alma and others.
But though they came and had authority, holding
the authority of the priesthood, we have no
account of their ordaining him."
See, what I'm trying to say is that the Prophet
had a familiarity with the ancient personalities
of the past.
William Taylor who was with him in those days
when he was keeping out of the sight of the
Missourians who were after him, has this to
say about him as he
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
23
evaluates Joseph.
He says, "He seemed to be just as familiar
with the spirit world and as well acquainted
with the other side as he was here."
If you read Section 128 of the Doctrine and
Covenant, about verse 20 and 21, you'll find
that the Prophet delineates many of the major
events in the ushering in of this dispensation.
He begins with the coming of Moroni and then
talks about other events that happened.
Michael, who was Adam, appeared on the banks
of the Susquehanna River, he talks about Peter,
James and John.
Then in verse 21, he says this: "And again,
the voice of God in the chamber of old Father
Whitmer, in Fayette, Seneca county, and at
sundry times, and in divers places through
all the travels and tribulation of this Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!
And the voice of Michael, the archangel; the
voice of Gabriel (who was Noah) and Raphael,
and of divers angels, from Michael or Adam
down to the present time, all declaring their
dispensation, their rights, their keys, their
honors, their majesty and glory, and the power
of their priesthood."
As President John Taylor spoke of it, he says
this: "Although the Church was so few in numbers,
the principles and purposes of God were developed
fully to the vision of Joseph Smith's mind.
And he gazed upon the things that are to transpire
in the last days associated with the dispensation
that he was called upon by the Almighty to
introduce.
He learned by communication from the heavens
from time to time of the great events that
should transpire in the latter-day.
He understood things that were past and comprehended
the various dispensations and the designs
of those dispensations.
He not only had the principles developed,
but he was conversant with the parties who
officiated as the leading men of those dispensations.
And from a number of them he received authority
and keys and priesthood and power for the
carrying out of the great purposes of the
Lord in the last days."
John Taylor lists the following with whom
the Prophet was intimately acquainted: Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Adam, Seth, Enoch, Jesus,
the Father, the Nephite apostles, and the
Asiatic apostles.
If you wanted the Prophet to describe Adam,
he would do so, and he did at times.
Some people get the idea that Adam was some
kind of half-baboon or half-monkey or some
kind of personality, but Adam had a perfect
physique with power physically enough to live
almost a thousand years.
And that's more than any of us here have.
I mean,
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
24
he could outrun anyone here when he was 600
years old.
When the Prophet talks about him, he says
after the fall when he went out hunting, he
didn't worry about using a weapon, he just
ran them down.
On another occasion he talks about Adam and
says he was a very handsome man, a man of
great strength.
On one occasion a good sister up in New York
had been converted to the gospel, and while
she was doing her work about the house, a
glorious vision opened to her and she saw
a personage, a very glorious personage.
She describes him, but she felt that maybe
for the sake of not being deceived, she shouldn't
tell anyone.
So she told her husband and that was about
as far as it went.
One day the Prophet Joseph happened to be
passing through on his way back east and he
stopped over and stayed overnight with them.
As they conversed in the evening, this good
sister took the opportunity to relate her
vision to him and said, "Now, brother Joseph,
I don't want to be deceived.
What do you think about it?"
The Prophet informed her that she had a true
vision and it was from the Lord and that the
person she saw was Adam.
He said he had seen the same angel several
times.
It was Michael, the Archangel who was revealed
to her.
He had seen him several times.
It's that kind of person.
We think of Peter, James and John coming to
restore the priesthood back in the wilderness
between Harmony and Colesville, but they were
on the scene more often than that.
In Missouri the Prophet commented to the brethren
one time, "I was talking to the Apostle Peter
the other day, and this is what he told me...."
And as you hear men like Heber C. Kimball
speak, they tell you that Peter and John were
in the Temple for at least an hour and a half
on one occasion, the Kirtland Temple.
The Prophet sits down and has an hour and
a half's conversation with John the Revelator.
It's that kind of experience that you've got
to see if you want to understand Joseph Smith.
He lived and breathed this kind of thing to
such an extent that as William Taylor says,
"He was as familiar over there as he was here."
You have kind of a hard time distinguishing
where the vail fits in between when you have
a person like that.
And under those circumstances he was taught
and instructed and this not only by ministry
but by visual means.
And it's on this basis that much that we have,
that we call the gospel, is given.
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
25
We talk about the three degrees of glory revelation.
If you read Section 76, the Prophet tells
you that he and Sidney Rigdon were working
on the Inspired Revision of the Bible.
As they came to a certain passage in the 5th
chapter of John, it was given to them differently
than as it is recorded in the King James Version.
As it was given to them, they marveled, and
as they marveled the glory of the Lord rested
upon them.
Then the vision was opened and they saw the
future destiny of the human family.
There were about a dozen people in the room
at the time, or at least before the whole
thing was over with.
One of these men was a good brother by the
name of Philo Dibble.
He gives us this account: "Joseph would at
intervals say, 'What do I see?' as one might
say while looking out of the window and beholding
that which all in the room could not see.
Then he would relate what he had seen or what
he was looking at.
Then Sidney would reply, 'I can see the same
thing,' and would repeat what he had seen
or was seeing.
Joseph would reply, 'I can see the same thing.'
This manner of conversation," brother Dibble
says, "was repeated at short intervals to
the end of the vision.
And during the whole time, not a word was
spoken by any other person, not a sound or
motion was made by any but Joseph and Sidney.
It seemed to me that they never moved a joint
or limb during the time I was there, which
was over an hour to the end of the vision."
He came in a little bit late.
"Joseph sat firmly and calmly all the time
in the midst of a magnificent glory.
But Sidney sat limp and pale, apparently as
limber as a dishrag, observing which, Joseph
smiling said, 'Brother Sidney isn't used to
this like I am.'"
It's under those kinds of circumstances that
we not only get the three degrees of glory
vision, and what we have in Section 76 is
only a small fraction of what Joseph Smith
received.
Here in the Teachings, Joseph makes this observation:
"I could explain a hundred times more than
I ever have of the glories of the kingdoms
manifested to me in the vision, were I permitted
and were the people prepared to receive them."
See, I could give you a hundred times more
than what's in Section 76.
It's this kind of thing that we need to see
in order to appreciate Joseph Smith.
There is one account of the Prophet where
he says something like this: "After I got
through translating the Book of Mormon, I
took the Urim and Thummim and read the Bible."
Now, let me just stop there for a minute.
The Urim and Thummim operates on
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
26
a visual principle.
When Abraham had the Urim and Thummim, if
you read Abraham 3, he says, "Now I, Abraham,
had the Urim and Thummim which the Lord my
God had given me at Ur of the Chaldees, and
I saw the stars that they were great and that
there was one of them nearest the throne of
God.
And there were many great ones which were
near unto it."
Then he records his great vision of the stellar
heavens to which we belong, with Kolob as
the great governing orb of this galaxy.
The Urim and Thummim operates on a visual
principle.
One of the things that Moroni taught the Prophet
when he was sitting on the hill with him during
those four years was how to use the Urim and
Thummim.
When he finally got the plates, he was far
more fascinated with the Urim and Thummim
than he was with the plates themselves.
He went there initially, as I've said, with
dollar signs in his eyes.
But when he finally got them, he was far more
interested in the Urim and Thummim than the
plates, because he said, "I can look in this
thing and see anything that I want to see."
When the Prophet completed the translation
of the Book of Mormon, he says, "I took the
Urim and Thummim and read the Bible.
I read the book of Genesis and I saw the things
that were recorded therein."
You think for a minute what that includes.
That's the creation, the garden, the fall,
the antediluvian period, the flood, clear
on down through to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
etc.
Then he says, "I read the book of Exodus,
and I saw the things that are recorded there."
That's the great exodus of Israel.
That's better, I'm sure, than what Cecil B.
deMille did.
Then he says, "I so continued from one book
to another until I had read the whole of it.
The whole Bible passed before me like a great
panorama."
Then he kind of mused about the sectarian
ministers who were bombarding him, "Old ignoramus
Joe Smith," etc., and he said, "Why, I've
forgotten a thousand times more about the
Bible than they ever knew."
When the Prophet translated the Book of Mormon,
he translated not just as a bright intellect,
he translated as a seer.
He translated by a visual means.
For example, here in the 8th chapter of the
book of Mosiah, we have an account where the
Nephites wanted to know about the Jaredite
records.
Ammon had a little insight to help the Nephite
king.
Verse 13: "Ammon said unto him: I can assuredly
tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate
the records; for he has wherewith that he
can look and translate all records that are
of
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
27
ancient date."
It's a visual process.
He has wherewith he can look.
"And it is a gift from God.
And the things are called interpreters, and
no man can look in them except he be commanded,
lest he should look for that he ought not
and he should perish.
And whosoever is commanded to look in them,
the same is called seer."
The root word being "see."
When Joseph Smith translated, he did so as
a seer.
Here in Section 3, the Lord is making reference
to the lost book of Lehi, the 116 page manuscript
that Martin Harris lost.
He makes this statement in verse 12: "And
when thou deliverest up that which God had
given thee sight and power to translate...."
What did he give Joseph to translate?
He gave him sight and power to translate.
So the Prophet translated as a seer, through
visual means.
When it came to organizing the Church, he
didn't just sit down and figure out how it
should be organized, he was shown the organization
of the Church in vision.
If you read Section 107 where it talks about
the seventies, it says that it is according
to the vision that the seventies should be
organized.
Then he goes on to explain the organization
that he had seen in vision.
Similarly, when the Prophet finally rolled
the keys of the kingdom off onto the Twelve
in the spring of 1844, he did so with this
comment: "I have now finished the work which
was laid upon me by committing to you all
things for the building up of the kingdom
according to the heavenly vision and the pattern
shown to me from heaven."
Much that we have didn't come just because
Joseph Smith prayed and received a revelation.
It came because of the principle of vision
and revelation, opening to view the scenes
of the last days and the scenes of the organization
of the Church and the scenes of doctrine,
to the Prophet.
And this was true of the Temples.
The Prophet didn't just sit down and get himself
an architect, he says, "Lord, what do you
want to build," and the Lord showed it to
him.
When it comes to the Nauvoo Temple, the Temple
was under construction at the time that Josiah
Quincy and his distinguished friend, Charles
Francis Adams, visited Nauvoo, just before
the martyrdom.
So the Prophet took them around the city,
and among other things he took them to the
Temple site.
As they were there the workmen were working
on the Temple, and one of them was working
on one of these huge face stones that sits
up at the top of the pillars, if you have
a vision in your mind of the Nauvoo Temple.
And this
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
28
good brother asked the Prophet, "Brother Joseph,
is this face exactly like the one that you
saw in vision?"
The Prophet sits back and looks at it and
studies it over, and he says, "Very near it,
except the nose is just a thought too broad."
Then Josiah Quincy makes this comment: "Being
presumably like something Smith had seen in
vision, it cannot be compared to any ecclesiastical
building which may be discerned by the natural
eyesight."
During the course of that building, the Prophet
did hire an architect to translate his vision
to architectural design.
This good brother by the name of Weeks came
in one day, and he said, "Joseph, this thing
just isn't conventional.
It just defies everything in regard to architectural
design.
I suggest that you do this and this and this."
Well, the Prophet listened to him very carefully,
and when he got through, Joseph made this
comment: "I wish you to carry out my designs.
I have seen in vision the splendid appearance
of that building illuminated and will have
it built according to the pattern shown to
me."
When you enjoy the blessings of the gospel,
my brothers and sisters, think where they
came from.
They came from a latter-day seer.
They came from a man who could say and did
say this: "Paul has seen the third heavens,
and I more."
They came from a man who wrote to a prominent
American and said, "I have witnessed the visions
of eternity and beheld the glorious mansions
of bliss and the regions of the misery of
the damned.
I have heard the voice of God and communed
with angels and spoke as moved upon by the
Holy Ghost for the renewal of the everlasting
covenant and for the gathering of Israel in
the last days.
It is my meditation all the day and more than
my meat and drink, to know how I shall make
the Saints of God comprehend the visions that
roll like an overflowing surge before my mind."
Then he gave that greatest of all recorded
discourses, and I underscore the word recorded,
the King Follett address.
He concluded with this statement: "You don't
know me.
You never knew my heart.
No man knows my history; I cannot tell it.
I shall never undertake it.
I don't blame anyone for not believing my
history.
If I had not experience what I have, I could
not believe it myself."
On that basis, then, as we talk about the
Prophet and evaluate him, let me just give
you one or two statements here in conclusion.
I'm going to put away most of the rest of
my notes and come down to a
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith
29
comment or two that may be helpful in the
conclusion here of my remarks.
Here's Wilford Woodruff: "There is not so
great a man as Joseph standing in this generation.
The Gentiles look upon him and he is like
a bed of gold concealed from human view.
They know not his principles, his spirit,
his wisdom, his virtue, his philanthropy,
nor his calling.
His mind, like Enoch's, expands as eternity,
and only God can comprehend his soul."
Then there is the New York Sun, a paper in
that day: "This Joseph Smith must be set down
as an extraordinary character, a prophet-
hero, as Carlisle might call him.
He is one of the greatest men of the age and
in the future will rank with those who will
in one way or another have stamped his impression
strongly upon society."
Then there's John Greenleaf Whittier, the
poet: "Once in the world's history we have
had a Yankee Prophet, and we have had him
in Joe Smith.
For good or for evil, he has left his track
on the great pathway of life, or to use the
words of Horne, `knocked out for himself a
window in the wall of the 19th century, whence
his ruddy, bold, good- humored face will peer
out upon the generations to come'".
I've studied my whole life about the Prophet
Joseph, academically and by personal interest.
And I can safely say that, "If you were to
search out and find one man and one man only
where the appellation of prophet, seer and
revelator can appropriately be used, above
all other individuals who have held the prophetic
calling, from Adam to the present, with the
exception of Jesus alone, that one man would
be Joseph Smith the Mormon Prophet.
He was a greater lawgiver than was Moses.
He was a greater seer than was Samuel.
And in modern times he had a more phenomenal
rise from more humble circumstances than Abraham
Lincoln.
He knew more theology hands down than Jonathan
Edwards.
And he, and not Emerson, is our greatest and
wisest American."
I bear you my testimony that he was everything
that he claimed to be- -a Prophet of God,
a revelator, a seer, and that the great vision
that he was given, opening the Lord's purposes
for the future, is still in process.
In fact, the biggest part of it is still yet
to be done.
And there are things to transpire in the not
very far-distant future which will be the
major events of the dispensation, and will
overshadow everything that has happened so
far, with the exception of those great founding
experiences that Joseph Smith had himself,
the first vision, Moroni and others.
And you people are living on the threshold
Lecture � 2 Joseph Smith of that day and
age.
30
May the Lord bless you to catch the vision
of the Prophet's work and to do that which
you have been foreordained and appointed to
do to bring it about, is my humble prayer
in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
