The joy of his mother must have been indescribable as she beheld the face of her babe on December 23^rd.  He was Lucy’s own little Christmas miracle. New hope, new chances, a new beginning; a new life is what she cradled in her arms. And I wonder as I ponder the scene, did she have any inkling the thresh-hold she stood on while holding her new son? Did she know the legacy that would be created in him? Does any mother know? There are hopes and dreams with the birth of every new born but there are no certainties. There is only a new life unfolding with each new day.

What would Lucy have done had she known the fate of her son? What would any loving mother do if they only knew? The thought is tantalizing as the possibilities are endless. But what she did, though with no inkling of what would be and was nothing out of the ordinary, was gave him a name that would etch itself into history and stay there. The name: Joseph Smith.

The previous sounds enchanting, doesn’t it? The beginnings to a good pro-Mormon book: the exact tone and mood that Mormon supporters would want the world to read. But it most likely isn’t how life seemed when he was born. But it does make for a good story.

The reality of the birth of Joseph Smith was probably a grim blessing bestowed upon his parents. They were already poverty stricken and trying to feed several other children. I can only imagine that Joseph’s birth was more of a sentencing than a blessing on his already financially bewildered parents. But that didn’t stop Joseph from creating his own world. He made paradise out of hell.

In the spring of 1820, though he can’t recall the exact date, Joseph Smith Jr. wrote:  After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God (Joseph Smith-History chapter 1 verse 15).

 At the tender age of fourteen, Joseph had been exposed to the religious revivals that were beginning to occur in Palmyra, New York and in his own writings (written several years after the fact) he records that he was brought into serious reflection again and again to know which of the Christian sects were right.

After reading James 1:5 (If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.)  he decided ultimately that he must ask God to know the truth concerning all the Christian divisions.  And what happened after he knelt down in the woods not too far from his house should ultimately be paid attention to, if it indeed happened.

…I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me; Joseph recorded….When the light rested upon me I saw two Parsonage, whose brightness and glory defy all description…(Joseph Smith-History 1: 16-17). 

The claim of seeing lights wasn’t a new thing for the Smith family. Lucy Mack Smith’s father, Solomon Mack, it is reported, was haunted by lights and voices while on his sick bed.  It also wasn’t a new claim for the burned over district as Charles Finney said that he saw a divine light appearing in his law office in October 1821. But what is uncommon and stands in striking contrast to Finney’s message is what Smith said happened next.

I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right…and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight… (Joseph Smith-History 1:18-19).

To declare that all Christian churches were wrong and “an abomination in his sight” wasn’t a very popular claim. It wasn’t popular then and it’s not now. This claim landed Smith in almost immediate persecution. Charles Finney, on the other hand taught Christianity openly winning converts all over the spectrum, thus enabling him to become the most famous religious revivalist during this period.

But with Joseph’s vision, he was set apart and given “authority”, if you will, to go forth and preach the gospel. These visions were important in the burned over district as well as in the past. Prophets in the Old and New Testaments all started with visions: Moses and the burning bush, Jesus and the ministering of angels, Paul and the visitation of Christ- these visitations set them apart, chosen by God, holding God’s authority to act in his name.

And with this personal revelation for Joseph Smith, he was now a spiritual leader for his family and eventually thirteen million in the world.

This selling point was crucial to Joseph Smith’s career as prophet, seer, revelator. The early 1800’s was a breeding ground for new religions, creeds and cultic practices.

Burned-Over District, 1820’s

In the nineteenth century, America was expanding.  People were moving west, leaving behind the old settlements and starting new ones and in the same process, leaving behind old ideas and developing new ones.  Religious development was on the rise as people were quicker to abandon the old Calvinistic theology and look towards newer, more modern concepts.  After the Erie Canal was finished, the next historical event to take place was the Second Great Awakening, spear headed by the greatest preacher of the time, Charles Finney.

Tent meetings became a wide spread activity as ministers of various faiths stood up proclaiming their interpretations of the Bible, offering their own theologies and doctrines, which ranged in everything from equality for women, abolition movements, communal sex, and preparation for the millennium.  The movement was more evangelical in tradition and spread like wild fire throughout western New York.  It was a time to stretch the imaginations of the mind concerning Christianity and it seemed anything could go.

The heavens were again opened, it seemed, as men such as Charles Finney claimed to see a divine light and converted immediately believing he was a “retainer of the Lord Jesus”, and as John Noyes was brought down with a fever and reflected on spirituality after hearing a revival meeting given by Finney, humbling himself before God and was considered, by his flowers, to be the Moses of the new dispensation and believed himself to be God’s appointed agent on earth.  These, and others, set the way for evangelists like Dwight L. Moody, Billy Sunday, and Billy Graham.

In the midst of this, various religious movements were formed, such as Jehovah Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists and Millerism spawned and grew.  New religions and Christian concepts were in vogue. If one was going to start a new religious movement, the Second Great Awakening was the time to do it and Joseph Smith took full advantage.

Like Finney and Noyes, Joseph Smith was not particularly religious before his conversion as was the case with thousands of people in New England before the Second Great Awakening.  There was a universal thinking that if one didn’t belong to a church, then they were of the world, but if one belonged to another church, then all other churches believed the adherent of another faith was wrong. It was a conundrum.  Religion in the Smith family, for a couple noted generations, remained Christian in nature, but wasn’t particularly religious.

Asael Smith, grandfather of Joseph Smith, wrote: “As to religion I would not wish to point any particular form to you; but first I would wish you to search the scriptures and consult with sound reason…Any honest calling will honor you if you honor that.” (As quoted in Fawn M. Brodie’s No Man Knows My History: the Life of Joseph Smith, pp. 2; Letter dated: April 10^th, 1799: see Topsfield Historical Society Collections Vol. VIII, pp.92-4) The feelings were mutual with Joseph’s other maternal grandparents along with his parents as they believed in the integrity of personal religious revelations rather than in the teachings of organized religion. It seemed they relied heavily on feelings and personal feelings to attain religious understanding for themselves.

Personal revelation was a reoccurrence in Joseph’s family as Joseph Sr. took spiritual leadership from his wife Lucy. Joseph Smith Sr. very much so believed in the power of dreams and one might say even visions. 

The ideas of visions and personal revelations were becoming rather popular in the area in and around the burned-over district. As revivals started it seemed that preachers needed to set themselves apart in order to gain more authority so to speak. Perhaps Charles Finney started this off, but it was a common occurrence.

Joseph Smith followed suite and became the second member (more likely the fourth member) of his family to believe he had received divine revelation.

It was a good sales pitch.

I haven’t done much more reading in the Gospel Principles book and while I’ve thought about it, I thought it wiser on my behalf to do the research for my book. I’ll eventually get back to it. I know, I know, totally blog fail.
But things are sparking in my life finally. It would seem I’ve turned a corner on how I feel life.

I’m finally happy again.

I will get back to post something again soon, but for right now sleep beckons.

Barr Adeeb

“Follow your bliss and the universe will create doors for you where there were only walls.” -Joseph Campbell

Perhaps it is my own grief for my aunt that has thrown me into a crying fit over a child I don’t know, or perhaps Im left perplexed at why cruelty surrounds the world- either way I can’t stop crying and questioning if God is even there.

How does one reckon the chaos and devastation that plagues the world? We try to explain it away, mysterious ways, God’s in the details… I can’t help but wonder if we explain these things as such so that we don’t have to face the facts of nature- that we humans create chaos, living is truly an act of dying… It’s easier to call things we don’t understand divine or if they are barbaric inhumane. Perhaps in all reality what we don’t understand is that we lack the ability to comprehend the reality of the world and that which we call inhumane is really the most human thing possible.

No, I suppose we will never understand and if we did truly understand then we would refuse to believe.

With headaches has come heartache and honestly with the situations that I have faced this past week I’m beginning to wonder if my biggest regret in life is having loved at all. I can see why men can turn into Scrooges, keep to themselves and have no sympathy for anyone else. That sort of lifestyle keeps the heart safe. It also prevents you from feeling happiness… Right now, I can’t say which is worse…

Perhaps it’s the headaches or perhaps it’s the situations themselves. Either way I’m finding myself walking through the aftermath of some rather unpleasant situations, questioning if I should have known this from the start. Right now, the only thing I know for certain is that I’m left with just a piece of my heart.

After the First Vision, Joseph Smith recounts the next seven years of his life in the Pearl of Great Price which included visions of an angle named Moroni who usually appeared to him around 22^nd of September (the first appearance being September 21^st, 1823), the death of his brother, his marriage to Emma Hale and his employment in which he dug a silver mine. It’s a rather boring narrative clear up to Joseph Smith receiving the gold plates that the Book of Mormon was written on and it still doesn’t get much more interesting.  Joseph never wrote just for the pleasure of writing for himself; he always wrote with the audience in mind and therefore, his writings become rather dramatic and altogether too wordy. But that is for the literary eye to critique, not me.  I am more interested in what he says in his writings concerning what happened in his life.  After all, his First Vision declared that God was real and appeared to men and that His son, Jesus, proclaimed that all churches were wrong- if that is all true, I want to know about it! But I also want to know if it isn’t true. (Wouldn’t you?)

After the telling of the First Vision, Joseph sets into motion the idea that it must have happened because he was sorely persecuted for it.  But I’ve already investigated those claims and found that it doesn’t quite match up to what history said happened.  However, this is not an uncommon path to take when trying to tug at someone’s feelings for your religious cause. The New Testament is littered with persecution stories; whether it actually happened that way or not might be considered to be a matter of faith. Regardless, we have the historical evidence that suggests Smith wasn’t as persecuted as he said. Persecution came later in his life and with more compelling reasons than his claim of seeing God.

Three years after the First Vision Joseph had another vision in his own home in which an angel  appeared to him and told him that he had a work to do for God.

The official version of this story, as now canonized in LDS scripture appears as follows in the Pearl of Great Price in the section entitled: Joseph Smith-History:

In consequence of these things, I often felt condemned for my weakness and imperfections; when, on the evening of the above-mentioned twenty-first of September, after I had retired to my bed for the night, I betook myself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follies, and also for a manifestation to me, that I might know of my state and standing before him; for I had full confidence in obtaining a divine manifestation, as I previously had one.

While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor.

He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so, also, were his feet naked, as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that I could see into his bosom.

Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person. When I first looked upon him, I was afraid; but the fear soon left me.

He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.

He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fullness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants… (Joseph Smith-History 1:29-34)

This account, just like the First Vision was written in 1838, eleven years after the fact.  But it isn’t without issues.

It is difficult to say when Joseph Smith first started telling people about the vision of Moroni as history shows that no one really seemed to know Joseph was religious and many were surprised at the publication of the Book of Mormon and while I’ve done research, I still remain confused about when the story first appeared. It seems safe to say, however, that while he was working on much of the translation at the Peter Whitmer Sr. home in Fayette, New York during 1829 he was telling the story.

I have heard my grandmother say on several occasions that she was shown the plates of the Book of Mormon by an holy angel, whom she always called Brother Nephi. (Statement made by J.C. Whitmer in 1888)

Whhhhhaaaaaaaattttttttttt???

I thought the name was Moroni?

Thus stems the problem. It would seem to me that in 1829, while Joseph Smith was working on the translation of the Book of Mormon, he was informing the Whitmer family that the angel whom had presented it to him was Nephi. Of course now, this doesn’t make sense considering that it was Moroni in the Book of Mormon who had buried the plates of gold and was the last to give his account. Apparently Joseph had figured this out by 1838, but there are problems again with the name of the angel who appeared to Joseph.

In 1838, Joseph Smith began writing the accounts of the First Vision and the visitation of the angel Moroni. He dictated to a scribe named James Mulholland and gave him the account of the visitation of the angel whom he called Nephi.  The confusing part of this, however, is that eight years in a revelation Joseph called the angel Moroni: Behold, this is wisdom in me; wherefore, marvel not, for he hour cometh that I will drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the earth and with Moroni, whom I have sent unto you to reveal the Book of Mormon, containing the fullness of my everlasting gospel, to whom I have committed the keys of the record of the stick of Ephraim. (Doctrine and Covenants 27:5, written August 1830) But in 1838, there it was, but why? Of course apologetic answer, Joseph got mixed up. Lame. How do you get mixed up?

I purpose that the angel’s name has been Nephi all along and well as Joseph went along with his creation, he realized that it had to be Moroni.

It was published in the Times and Seasons in 1842: When I first looked upon him I was afraid, but the fear soon left me. He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Nephi…

Mellennial Star, August 1842: …message of the angel Nephi…opened a new dispensation to man…

In the 1851 edition of the Pearl of Great Price page 41: He called me by name and said unto me, that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Nephi.

Even Joseph Smith’s mother, Lucy Mack Smith wrote in Biographical Sketches page 79 writes that the angel’s name was Nephi.

What is most troubling to me is that Joseph lived for two years after the publication of the telling of the angel Nephi in the Times and Seasons and he was the editor, but he never changed the publication and never issued a retractor to it. What’s the deal?  Was Nephi the angel’s name of the angel or was it Moroni?

LDS apologists argue that the references cited above may propagate a transcription error omitted during the 1838 manuscript recitation. It is claimed that Joseph or his scribe perhaps tangled the names in the process. While this is possible, it defies credibility that the error would then go undetected for four years, pass review for conclusion in the Times and Seasons, not be corrected in any subsequent issue, and then recur in 1851 in the printing of the Pearl of Great Price. (http://trailsofascension.net/mormon/nephi.html)

I’ve been reading the Gospel Principles and am up to chapter 30. So far what I’ve been reading has been in regards more towards positive ways to live rather than per-say doctrinal concerns. While I seem psychological games happening I have no major complaint against what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says about work and responsibility, helping others, and staying healthy. In all honesty, everyone could benefit from these ideas.

Anyway I’m pacing my way through, trying to find a balance with the craziness of life, taking care of my family, study, working, etc. etc. etc…

I think too often in life we forget to find a balance-we just plug along hitting the daily grind day in and day out and forget to slow down.

Work, rest, play-all essential aspects to a happy life. And while life isn’t particularly the happiest right now, I am nevertheless happy.

Take care of yourselves.

Adeeb

In all fairness I must state that the modern Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the main branch in Salt Lake City, UT) does not practice polygamy. However, in thus stating this: The command to practice polygamy is still found in their scriptures- Doctrine and Covenants Section 132.

According to Bruce R. McConkie’s Mormon Doctrine: All covenants between God and man are part of the new and everlasting covenant. (D.&C. 22; 132:6-7) Thus celestial marriage is “a new and an everlasting covenant. (D.&C. 132:4) or the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. (Doctrines of Salvation vol. 1 pp. 152-166)

What exactly does everlasting mean?

According to Merrisam-Webster’s Dictionary everlasting means: enduring forever, eternity.

Well the practice of polygamy was stopped in 1890. But where did the practice come from?

To know exactly when Joseph Smith first decided to practice polygamy is a little difficult. In an 1861 letter to Brigham Young, W.W. Phelps wrote that on July 17^th, 1831 Joseph Smith sent a letter to he and five others who were in Jackson County, Missouri that said: It is my will, that in time, ye should take unto you wives of the Lamanites and Nephites, that their posterity may become white and delightsome and just.” In a post script Phelps said: about three years after this was given, I asked brother Joseph, private how ‘we’, that were mentioned in the revelation could take wives of the ‘Natives’ as we were all married men. Phelps then claimed that Smith told him: In the same manner that Abraham took Hagar and Keturah; and Jacob took Rachel, Bilah and Zilpha, by revelation. (see Mormon Polygamy: A History by Richard S. Van Wagoner, pp. 3)

At this time in 1831 the practice and teaching of polygamy was only known to a small circle of Smith’s friends and was kept utterly secret from the rest of the community. When suggestions that adultery and polygamy came up Joseph Smith responded to the charges by writing this revelation:  Inasmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife; and woman, but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.(1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants section 101)

This revelation remained in the Doctrine and Covenants until it was removed and replaced with section 132 in 1876 which commanded polygamy. Section 132 was written in 1843.

Wanna know why it was written?

This story comes from a sworn statement from William Law in 1874-

Joseph Smith was already practicing polygamy in the 1830’s  and it was in the Nauvoo time period (1839-1840’s) that he began asking permission from Emma to have more than one wife. Reluctantly Emma accepted but as the months went on and Joseph’s wives became younger and younger, Emma began to incessantly beg Joseph to be done with the practice. She even started chasing the other brides out of the house, as is the case with the famous story about Eliza R. Snow…

Well Hyrum Smith who had more than one wife was not having the problems that Joseph was having, suggested that Joseph write down a revelation of plural wives and celestial marriage. He said: “I will take it and read it to Emma and I believe I can convince her of its truth, and you will hereafter have peace.”

So Joseph kicks out the revelation  now found in section 132 and starts it off with justifying polygamy on Biblical grounds then goes straight to the heart of the matter- a commandment given to Emma that she must accept Joseph Smith’s other wives: And let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph…For I am the Lord thy God, and ye shall obey my voice, section 132:52-53 read. Then the threat comes: For I am the Lord thy God, and will destroy her if she abide not in my law. (Section 132:54)

Being utterly trapped, Emma sorrowfully told William Law: The revelation says I must submit or be destroyed. Well I guess I’ll have to submit.

So this is the start of a doctrine that has spread like an infectious disease among thousands of Mormon Fundamentalists.

Recently, I’ll call them disappointments, with my family hasn’t exactly put me in the mood to write. It seems I get one relationship patched up and the next thing I know I’m completely ticked off at the other half of my family. Lets just say there is a lot of selfishness and guilt trips happening and while I understand that there are circumstances beyond human control happening- I am very angry that some members of the family are choosing to avoid the situation at hand. Grrr!

Yesterday I read an article about the discovery in the Amazon that could be the elusive El Dorado mentioned by early Spanish explorers. This article talked about the discovery of an Amazonian settlement that situation in the unforgiving Amazon forest where it was originally thought no people groups could survive do to the thick jungle. Satellite imagery is suggesting otherwise. Who knows what marvels away scientist and archaeologists!  (Find the article Here)

As I was reading I began thinking that faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints might see this discovery as opening evidence that the peoples discussed in the Book of Mormon really did exist in South America. And while I could see how they might make this connection I must mention that the time of this Amazonian civilization that has been discovered was settled in about 200 AD, 200 years before the Nephites and Lamanites destroyed and 800 years after the Nephites supposedly arrived in the New Year.

Beyond this, the geography mentioned in the Book of Mormon doesn’t exist anywhere. One either has to distort the story of the Book of Mormon to make the geography fit or distort the land in American itself.

Of course to complicate matters there are no artifacts that back Book of Mormon claims-no evidence suggesting that millions lived in the New World, no evidence of great battles that supposedly took place, no swords, no helmets, no shields-essentially nothing the Book of Mormon talks about can be found in North, Central or South America prior the coming of the first Europeans.

Science and archeology are wonderful things to help prove scriptural stories correct and to help show the divinity of God. But when sciences and historical evidences are lacking one must pause and ask themselves exactly what it is they are being asked to believe. God does not ask us to have a blind faith: hence the reason we all are given intelligence, logic and reason.

“Seek and ye shall find…”

So here I sit tonight-unable to sleep conflicted about multiple things. My biggest conflict lies in the fact that I’m seriously concerned for someone’s spiritual welfare and because of that I’ve become the bad guy because I can’t simply accept that they are happy living in what millions the world over deems as a cult.

Of course I want this person happy but not at the cost of true happiness. Their happiness is dependent upon the fulfillment of obligation to a made up religion, set forth by a made up prophet and given to a made up god. This, in my opinion, does not bring about true happiness but constant lust and desire to do more out of religious obligation rather than a purified desire of devotion. Religious obligation and spiritual devotion are two completely different things.

Ultimately I have put my foot down and will not continue in a relationship with this person because too long before in my life I remained close with another person who followed the whimsical fancies of her own religious credo.  In the end it I was hurt for a number of reasons but more especially hurt because of my great sadness for my former friend’s over all true happiness.

I have not yet achieved the level of discipline not to be a respecter of persons. Now please don’t misunderstand- I do not see race, or financial status, religious or irreligious-I see people, but when it comes to the people I love I cannot stand watching as they throw their hard earned money away by paying tithes to an organization that demands 10% of all income in order to be worthy of gaining eternal salvation. Salvation shouldn’t be a loan paid back through tithes. Beyond this, I can’t stand watching someone choose ignorance over intelligence. While I realize that this is done out of fear and a simple desire to believe in something-anything for that matter, I wish that I could explain without the heated passion of frustration that even though stepping away from what is deemed truth might taste like poison to begin with, in the end the liberation from this dependence of this falsehood, this cult- it will taste as sweet as honey.