Part 4

Finally, among many other scriptures, the angel quoted from the great prophecy of Joel. Before the great and terrible day of the Lord, according to this wonderful prediction, the old men shall dream dreams, and the young men shall see visions, and wonders shall appear in the heaven and the earth. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood; but whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered.[C] This same prophecy was referred to by Peter on the day of Pentecost, and was possibly in part accomplished then. But the prediction refers unmistakably to the last days--before the great and terrible day of the Lord. Now is the day of Joel's great prophecy, and now, said the angel Moroni, it is about to be fulfilled.

[Footnote C: Joel 2:28-32.]

Thereupon, the vision was closed. Gradually the light assembled from the room about the person of the angel. Then he disappeared into heaven, leaving the room in total darkness. The youth to whom had been given this marvelous manifestation lay wide awake on his bed. Sleep was driven from his eyes. He was filled with amazement at the singularity of the vision, and at the doctrines that had been explained to him. Then suddenly, in the midst of his wonder and meditation, the heavenly messenger appeared again. He stood again in the air by the bedside, and repeated minutely all the instructions he had given before. He added predictions concerning the great judgments that should come to the earth, with desolations by famine, sword, and pestilence--and all these things should come during the present generation.

Again the vision closed. Again the light centered in the angel as he disappeared and left the room in darkness. The youth lay again wondering at the marvelous vision, when, to his astonishment, the same divine messenger appeared the third time, and repeated all that he had said before. "After this third visit," writes the Prophet, "he again ascended in heaven as before, and I was again left to ponder on the strangeness of what I had just experienced; when almost immediately after the heavenly messenger had ascended from me the third time, the cock crowed, and I found that day was approaching."[D] Thus ended the second act in the great drama of the Restoration.

[Footnote D: "History of the Church," Vol. I, p. 14.]

Now, what is the significance of this second vision--or of this series of visions? Of what importance is it in the story of man's relationship to God? What bearing has it on the story of the Restoration?

First, it was declared that the Lord God had a work for Joseph to do. In the first vision nothing is recorded of the boy's future mission. He had been told merely to join none of the contending churches striving to win his favor. They were corrupt. Now, the life-work of the boy is briefly outlined. He is to raise an ensign to the nations, and become an instrument in the hands of God in bringing about the gathering of Israel. God is to set His hand a second time to recover His people. Moreover, Joseph is to become a prophet to reveal the word and the law of the Lord. His name, therefore, shall become known for good or for evil the whole world over.

Next, a book, written in a strange tongue on golden plates, is to be delivered to the boy for him to translate. This book contains the history of the inhabitants of the American continent, and will reveal the mysteries of the origin of the American Indian, and of the relics of ancient civilization. Moreover, this book of golden plates contains the fulness of the everlasting Gospel as it was taught to the Nephites. It was taught by Jesus Himself to the ancient inhabitants of this continent. Now, when the world has departed from the truth, it is to be restored by an angel to a divinely chosen prophet of God.

Then the priesthood is to be revealed to Joseph Smith by the hand of Elijah. The keys of the dispensation of "turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers" are to be committed into the hands of the Prophet Joseph. This work of which Elijah appears to be the director, is of a particular kind. He shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so the whole earth would be utterly wasted at the coming of the Lord.

Again, wonderful signs shall appear in heaven and in earth in the days of these things. Dreams and visions shall be given to the old and to the young. The earth shall be troubled, and the sun shall be darkened, while the moon shall be turned to the color of blood. Blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke, shall come to plague; but whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered. Finally, great judgments shall come upon the earth--judgments of sword, and of famine, and of pestilence. And all these things shall come in the present generation.

In this remarkable vision, then, are revealed again seven remarkable truths:--a great work is appointed for the young man, Joseph Smith, to do, and his name is to become known the world over for good or for ill; a book of golden plates containing an account of the ancient inhabitants of America is to be given him to translate; this book, moreover, will contain a fulness of the everlasting gospel which he will be required to teach to the nations; the priesthood will be revealed to him by the hand of Elijah, the prophet; through the operation of the power thus to be committed to the Prophet Joseph, the hearts of the children will be turned to the fathers; in these days, strange signs will appear in heaven and in earth; and, finally, the great and terrible day of the Lord will then speedily come, when judgments of sword, and of famine, and of pestilence, shall visit the earth.

Thus did the angel bear a wonderful message to the eighteen-year-old boy, and thus was the great prediction of an angel flying, in part fulfilled.[E] The far-reaching character of the visions will appear as the story proceeds. Already the boy has received in brief something of most of the great saving principles that distinguish the Gospel of Christ.

[Footnote E: Rev. 14:6, 7.]

VI.

HIDDEN GOSPEL RECORDS.

On Monday, the twenty-second of September, 1823, Joseph Smith was weary from the vigil of the night before. He went into the field to work with his father, but was too nearly exhausted to carry on his part of the labor. The father observed that Joseph was ill, and advised him to return to the house to rest. On the way, however, while climbing a fence, the boy fell helpless to the ground, and remained so for some time. "The first thing that I can recollect," wrote the Prophet later, "was a voice speaking unto me, calling me by name. I looked up, and beheld the same messenger standing over my head, surrounded by light as before. He then again related unto me all that he had related to me the previous night, and commanded me to go to my father and tell him of the vision and commandments which I had received."[A]

[Footnote A: "History of the Church," Vol. I, pp. 39-42.]

Joseph obeyed. He returned to his father and related the whole matter to him. Joseph Smith, Sr., was himself a serious and spiritual man. He recognized the ring of truth in the words of his son. "It is of God," he said; and thereupon he advised his son to go and do as the angel commanded him. Immediately, therefore, Joseph departed for the sacred hill that had been shown him in vision.

Not far from the town of Manchester, New York, stands a hill of considerable size. It is the largest elevation of the kind in the neighborhood. The north end of the hill rises abruptly from the plain to a height of some one hundred fifty feet. The southern end, however, rises gradually from the plain near Manchester, and ascends by easy grade until it meets the high elevation of the north. It was in the west side of the hill, not far from the top, that the golden plates were hidden. So distinctly had the Prophet seen the place in vision, that he recognized it the moment he reached it. The top of a rounded stone was exposed to view. When the earth was cleared away, the stone proved to be a kind of convex cover, thick through the middle, thinner at the edges, and flat underneath. With a lever, the Prophet pried off this lid. There, under the cover, was a box made of slabs of stone laid in cement. And there, in the box, resting on cross-pieces of stone, lay the golden plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breast-plate.

It is perhaps impossible to imagine the exhilaration of soul experienced by the young Prophet at that moment. The Father and the Son had deigned to appear to him and speak to him personally. An angel from heaven had appeared to him four times in succession, had given him great promises, and had instructed him in a life-work for which he had been chosen by the God of heaven Himself. Now he stood before the visible, tangible evidence that what he had seen and heard was no delusion. Before him lay indeed the golden book. There, too, were the sacred interpreters by means of which he should be able to translate it. There, undoubtedly, lay the Scripture containing the fulness of the Gospel. Enraptured--filled with the ecstasy of supreme joy--the boy reached forth his hand to take the sacred relics from their hiding-place.

But the hour had not yet come when these things should be revealed to the world. As Joseph stretched forth his hand to take the sacred plates, the holy angel appeared again, the fifth time, and forbade his touching them. He explained to Joseph that the time was not yet ripe for bringing the records forth. Four years were yet to pass before the plates could be delivered to him. During those four years, Joseph should come to the sacred hill on each succeeding twenty-second of September. The angel would meet him there and give him needful instruction for the consummation of his great life-mission. "Accordingly, as I had been commanded," writes the Prophet, "I went at the end of each year, and at each time I found the same messenger there, and received instruction and intelligence from him at each of our interviews, respecting what the Lord was going to do, and how and in what manner His kingdom was to be conducted in the last days."[B]

[Footnote B: "History of the Church," Vol. I, p. 16.]

It is remarkable how deliberately the acts of the Restoration were brought about. In the spring of 1820, in answer to the boy's prayer, the great God of heaven and earth appeared Himself with His Son, Jesus Christ, to the Prophet Joseph Smith; but that glorious vision bore no further immediate fruit than the restraining of Joseph Smith from joining any of the denominations then contending for new converts. For three and a half long years, he held no further converse with heaven. He was nearly eighteen years of age, and he knew no more of many of the purposes of the Lord than did those who persecuted him for his testimony. Then a special messenger from heaven appeared to him. Three times during the night, and twice the following day, did the angel visit the boy and instruct him. Those instructions, it would seem, covered the ground of the purpose, the mission, and the government of the Kingdom of God. Surely now, the young man was prepared and might be sent forth to accomplish the work divinely appointed him. But no; yet another period of four years must pass--a period of careful preparation--before the sacred record containing the fulness of the Gospel could be delivered to the young prophet. Even then, after four years, with the golden book in the Prophet's hands, the time would not yet be fully come, as we shall see, for the restoration of the Church of Christ.

The four years passed quickly by. It was the twenty-second of September, 1827. Joseph Smith, now a young man of nearly twenty-two, stood once more before the uncovered stone box in which lay the sacred treasures of a former people. The angel, too, was there. The young prophet's four-year course of training was ended. The angel took the sacred plates, and the Urim and Thummim, and the breast-plate, and delivered them to the Prophet enjoining him to be careful of them. If he should let them go carelessly, or should lose them through any neglect of his, he should be cut off; but if he would use every endeavor to preserve them till the angel should call for them, they should be protected.[C] And so the ninth vision of the angel Moroni closed. Holding the sacred records carefully in his arms, the Prophet returned to his home, elated, thrilled with joy at the confidence reposed in him by his God.

[Footnote C: "History of the Church," Vol. I, p. 18.]

The work of translation proved a long and difficult task. The golden book was engraved in ancient Egyptian, Chaldaic, Assyriac, and Arabic characters. Two men came, through the providence of God, to the assistance of the Prophet Joseph: first, Martin Harris; later, Oliver Cowdery. These men acted as scribes, while the Prophet read them the English translation of the strange engravings on the plates. Joseph Smith was far from being a scholar. He knew but little about his own mother-tongue, let alone the ancient languages. It is not to be wondered at, then, if the labor of translation became at times tedious, even with the help of the inspiration of the Lord. The method of translation, as explained to Oliver Cowdery, is thus described by the Lord Himself:

"Behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right; but if it be not right, you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought, that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong: therefore you cannot write that which is sacred, save it be given you from me."[D]

[Footnote D: Doc. & Cov. 9:8, 9.]

The translation of the sacred record was spread over the better part of two and a half years. The whole book was written out in long-hand; and a copy was carefully made, before any of it was sent to the printer. As the young boy had been persecuted for asserting that he had beheld a vision of the Father and the Son, so now he was persecuted for asserting that he had in his possession a sacred record of an ancient people, and that he had translated the record through the inspiration and power of God. Many attempts were made by the Prophet's enemies to steal the plates; but they were protected and preserved as the angel had promised. When the translation was finished, the enemies of the Prophet tried again to destroy his work. They secured from the printer advance sheets of the printed work, and published garbled versions of it. In this, however, they were finally restrained by fear of the law. Joseph Smith had secured a copyright of the book before he sent it to the press. Trial and persecution did not cease, however, but grew rather greater and more severe. Yet, the work of printing went steadily on, and was finally completed. In the early part of the year 1830--ten years after the first vision--the inspired translation of the ancient record was published under the title "The Book of Mormon." Thus was accomplished another act in the great drama of the Restoration.

And what is the "Book of Mormon?" First, it is an abridgment of certain extensive records made by the ancient civilized peoples of America. The abridgment was made by a prophet called Mormon, hence the name "Book of Mormon." The people to whom Mormon belonged are known in the book as Nephites. The record is, then, mainly the story of the ancient possession of South and North America by the Nephites. Besides, the book tells of the Lamanites--the brother-descendants of the Nephites who remain to the present as the American Indians; the Mulekites, a colony from Jerusalem that became afterwards merged with the Nephites; and the Jaredites, a company of people led by divine power to the promised land of America from the Tower of Babel. The Nephites themselves, whose history forms by far the greater part of the book, were descended from an Israelitish family led from Jerusalem by the prophet Lehi, 600 years before Christ.

But the "Book of Mormon" is more than history. The angel that John the Revelator saw fly in the midst of heaven, had the everlasting gospel to preach to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. That is why the "Book of Mormon" is more than history. It contains the fulness of the everlasting Gospel as delivered to the Nephites. It is so simple that the child will read its pages with interest, yet it contains a profound treatment of the philosophy of the Gospel. In the restoration of this sacred record, the prediction of the Apostle John was indeed beautifully fulfilled. Besides the Holy Bible, there was now given to man another volume of Scriptures equally sacred--a monumental volume, free from the doctrines of men, in which the Gospel is treated fully and simply.

This sacred book could not be a product of religious frenzy. Ten long years passed by after the vision of the Father and the Son, before the Book of Mormon was given to the world. Those ten years were years of simplicity of life. There was no "psychological crowd," or other emotional excitement to disturb the quiet of the Prophet's life. Whatever "deep and often poignant" feelings he may have experienced during the spring of 1820, had certainly passed away during the ten years that followed. The "Book of Mormon," then, came not as a result of the religious frenzy of 1820.

Nor is the assertion tenable that Joseph Smith was an epileptic, as has been asserted by some would-be scientific investigators, or an hypnotic, or a mere impostor. In the first place, the book which he translated and gave to the world is wholly consistent and credible within its covers. Anyone who has endeavored to write a book, or even a magazine article, can testify how the problem of consistency often stares one out of countenance. But here is a book which purports to be a sacred record--a book, inspired by the Spirit of God. It contains prophecies and it relates history of war and of peace; it expounds the simplest and the profoundest principles of human salvation; it records the very words of the Lord,--yet it does not once contradict itself, nor is it once inconsistent with itself. Surely, this is a condition of fact that epilepsy, or mere imposition could not achieve.

Moreover, the history of the American continent as set forth in the "Book of Mormon" is corroborated by all that has been discovered of American archaeology. Before 1830, little was known of the ancient inhabitants of America. It was not until several years after the appearance of the "Book of Mormon," that American archaeologists began to determine matters of great moment. And from the first to the last, the discoveries of American archaeology have not only not conflicted with the statements of the "Book of Mormon" but have borne them out in a remarkable way. Even the most recent researches in American antiquities serve only to strengthen faith in the divine authenticity of the "Book of Mormon." Such harmony, again, imposition could not achieve.

Furthermore, the "Book of Mormon" is a far greater work than the native ability and education of a boy like Joseph Smith could have produced unaided. He was not yet twenty-five years old when the book was published. He was not ignorant; but he was, at that time, untrained in the wisdom of the world. He could read, and write, and cipher; he had a good mind, and he could think hard and long; but he knew little of languages, or of history, or of philosophy, or of science, or of any learned branch of the world's knowledge. He did not possess, in short, the information and the training to write unaided such a book as the "Book of Mormon." Yet, he produced a book that is above criticism even from a sane and catholic literary point of view. Once more, such an achievement, imposition--or frenzy--could not have accomplished.

Finally, the "Book of Mormon" is one of the best authenticated books known to the world. The angel Moroni delivered the plates of the book to Joseph Smith and instructed him. But the angel did not appear to him only. Some time in June, 1829, the same heavenly messenger appeared to three other men, with Joseph Smith, turned the metal leaves of the golden book before their eyes, explained to them what the book was, and bore testimony to its divine nature. None of these three men was related in any way to Joseph Smith. They all joined the Church when it was founded; but they all left the Church. Yet no one of them, at any time, whether while he was in the Church or out of it, could be made to deny the testimony which he bore after the visit of the angel. This testimony is found in every copy of the "Book of Mormon," and reads thus:

"Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people unto whom this work shall come, that we, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record, which is a record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, their brethren, and also of the people of Jared, who came from the tower of which hath been spoken; and we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true. And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man. And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon: and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these things are true; and it is marvelous in our eyes, nevertheless the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it; wherefore, to be obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment-seat of Christ, and shall dwell with him eternally in the heavens. And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God. Amen.

OLIVER COWDERY, DAVID WHITMER, MARTIN HARRIS.

Besides the testimony of these three men, there is also the testimony of eight others. To the eight the plates of the "Book of Mormon" were shown by the Prophet himself. They all handled the plates and examined them. Many of them afterwards forsook the Prophet and his teachings; but no one of them ever denied the testimony he had borne. This testimony is also found in every copy of the "Book of Mormon" and reads as follows:

"Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people unto whom this work shall come, that Joseph Smith, Jun., the translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated, we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And this we bear record with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shown unto us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken. And we give our names unto the world, to witness unto the world that which we have seen; and we lie not, God bearing witness of it.

CHRISTIAN WHITMER, JACOB WHITMER, PETER WHITMER, JUN., JOHN WHITMER, HIRAM PAGE, JOSEPH SMITH, SEN., HYRUM SMITH, SAMUEL H. SMITH.