Joseph Smith was living during what some people
call the greatest revival in the history of
the world.
It is known as the Second Great Awakening.
It began about 1800 and continued to 1850
or in the 1850 category and that parallels
the life of Joesph Smith.
He was born in 1805 and died in 1844.
Why in the United States did you have this
unusual religious development?
First, it was a new nation and with the birth
of the new nation was the birth of religious
liberty.
There was greater religious liberty in the
United States than in any other Christian
land.
Second, there were more religious groups in
American than in any other land.
You had multiple faiths, you had an unchurched
population, and religious freedom.
And into that kind of religious vacuum you
had missionaries, ministers of different faiths
the methodist circuit riders, the Baptist
farm preachers, Presbyterian traveling elders,
you had multiple religious groups trying to
convert others to their particular religious
persuasions.
There was a war of words and contest of opinions
so I was interested in trying to determine,
what was the nature of the ward of wards?
What were they arguing about?
We know the nature of the ward of words by
examining the published sermons of the ministers
of that time.
They were arguing over subjects such as the
means of salvation.
They argued over free will and predestination.
There is a major argument over baptism.
There were arguments even over card playing
and over dancing.
In the midst of that historical setting, Joseph
wrote an accurate account of the historical
setting of the First Vision.
Now at the time Joseph was living there the
area was called Farmington but the name of
the place was later changed to Manchester.
And so subsequently when he wrote an account
in 1838, so that is 18 years after he had
the experience Joseph wrote in the second
year after removal to Manchester there was
in the place where we lived religious excitement.
And then he said, this religious excitement
spread, it began with the Methodists, but
soon became general among all the sects in
that region of country and great multitudes
united themselves to the different religious
communities in the whole region of country.
People were trying to come to grips with themselves
and God.
What is their relationship to God, because
it had not be officially established this
is the way you worship and this is how you
worship and this is who you worship.
The United States was somewhat unique in that
it didn't have a establish, a dominant religion
and so when we associate revivals and people
searching for religion with upstate New York
this is actually a national phenomenon going
all the way from New England going down to
the southern states.
