Chapter XX.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS.
It has been shown in the preceding chapters that Joseph Smith recognized and stated the fundamental laws of all science, the fundamental principles of physical and biological science and astronomy, together with a great number of scientific facts, and made these statements usually in advance of workers in science.
It is a surprising fact that a young man of twenty-eight, who had had no educational advantages of schooling, or reading, or society, should state clearly and correctly known laws of science; but it is marvelous that he should state fundamental laws that the workers in science did not discover until many years later. Every honest man, be he friend or enemy, must marvel, and ask, "Whence did this man derive his knowledge?"
Was he a man of lively imagination who guessed shrewdly? If so, he was the shrewdest guesser the world has known. All that he said has come true; his bitterest enemies have been unable to prove incorrect statements of facts. Their attacks have always been on the origin of the work, on its ethical ideals (which are largely personal opinions), and on the probability that Joseph Smith was the real founder of "Mormonism"—thus tacitly admitting the greatness of the work. Had he been a guesser, simply, he would have failed somewhere, and thus revealed his weakness. But let any man show one error in the inspired writings of Joseph Smith, even when he dealt with matters which lay far outside of his daily mission. Though thousands of persons have felt impelled to war against "Mormonism," no such error has been found. All human logic denies that he was a guesser.
Did he receive his knowledge from well educated persons, who kept themselves in the background? No documentary evidence has been found to substantiate such a view. Primarily, it is unlikely that men of intelligence and education would hide behind an ignorant boy, from the time he was fourteen until his death at thirty-nine years of age. There was nothing to gain by it; the prophet never had more wealth than just enough to live on; the pleasure that his power over his followers gave him, was more than offset by the ceaseless persecution which followed him. Besides, nearly all the fairly well educated men who joined the Church in the early days were given prominent positions in the Church, yet it is known that they were instructed or chastised by the youthful prophet whenever occasion required, as were those of no or little education. Joseph Smith was always greater than any of his followers. But above all, no educated man would have been able to tell Joseph, by means of his education, of things not yet known. The idea that Joseph Smith was only a dummy for clever heads is not tenable.
Since ordinary means were beyond his power, how did he acquire his knowledge? How was he able to look into the future, and reveal its secrets? "Ah," says a new philosopher, "I have it, he was epileptic, and had trances, during which his visions appeared;" and the philosopher proceeds to write a book proving his theory to be correct.[A] What a pitiful attempt to push the question into the region of the unknown; and at the same time, what a splendid acknowledgment of the fact that the life and labors of Joseph Smith transcend ordinary human explanations! Do epileptics, in their phantasms, see orderly systems of truth, which are carried into effect in their days of health and sanity? Does the epileptic see the truth that shall be revealed in the coming ages, and teach it with a stately soberness of language which admits of no uncertainty? If so, then might the race well long for the time when the great gift of healthful, reasoning imagination shall be exchanged for the ghastly disease of epilepsy. Folly of follies! The life, writings and works of Joseph Smith are healthy, above all else; no trace of physical, or mental, or spiritual disease can be found in them. His teachings are given as eternal truths revealed by the God of nature; and they rise loftily above the vague theorizings of the investigator, or the uncertain gibberish of the diseased intellect. Clearness, reason, logic in method and execution, characterize the teachings and works of Joseph Smith. Have such qualities ever indicated disease?
[Footnote A: The Founder of Mormonism. Riley.]
To the person who can rise above his prejudices, and confess to himself that he is not able to explain in the manner of men how Joseph Smith came by his knowledge of ideas, men and things, comes the strong conviction that the "Mormon" prophet was inspired by a mightier power than men possess; and if that conviction is followed by a prayerful desire to know what that power is, the testimony will be given that from God, the Controller of the universe, known by various men under divers names, did Joseph Smith receive, directly, the truths which fill the pages of his published writings, and direct the lives of his followers.
God spoke to Joseph, and gave him the revelations necessary for building his kingdom in the last days. Little more than was necessary did the Lord reveal, but occasionally, for the comfort of the prophet and his associates, truths were given which hinted of the glorious order of the universe. May it not be, also, that the Lord showed Joseph many truths, similar to those touched upon in these papers, in order that later generations might have additional testimonies of the divinity of the latter-day work? Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, the boy Joseph grew into a man, whose mind was filled with the great vision of the contents and the destiny of the universe, including the future lot of mankind. No man has had a nobler education than that received by Joseph Smith.
When the historian of future days shall review the history of the growth of science, and shall judge men by the record that they have left behind them, he will place Joseph Smith as the greatest philosopher of science of the nineteenth century, and possibly of the twentieth. Then will men reverently speak of that mighty mind and clear vision, which, inspired by the God of heaven, saw, as in an open book, the truths which men have later developed, through ceaseless labor and countless vigils. Then shall the thinkers of the future speak of him as Joseph, the clearsighted.
Knowledge, concentrated into wisdom, is the end of existence. To those who live according to God's law, knowledge will come easily. It will continue to come to his people, until it shall be the most intelligent among the nations. The Lord has said it.
"How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri River in its decreed course, or turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints."[A]
[Footnote A: Doctrine and Covenants, 121:33.]