Spirit Eyes.—Let it not be supposed, however, that to see spiritually is not to see literally. Vision is not fancy, not imagination. The object is actually beheld, though not with the natural eye. We all have spirit eyes, of which our natural or outward eyes are the counterpart. All man's organs and faculties are firstly spiritual, the body being but the clothing of the spirit. In our first estate, the spirit life, we "walked by sight." Therefore we had eyes. But they were not our natural eyes, for these are not given until the spirit tabernacles in mortality. All men have a spirit sight, but all are not permitted to use it under existing conditions. Even those thus privileged can only use it when quickened by the Spirit of the Lord.[[4]] Without that, no man can know the things of God, "because they are spiritually discerned."[[5]] Much less can he look upon the Highest unspiritually, with carnal mind or with natural vision. "No man"—no natural man—"hath seen God at any time."[[6]] But men at divers times have seen him as Moses saw him—not with the natural but with the spiritual eye, quickened by the power that seeth and knoweth all things.
By the Holy Ghost.—The seeric faculty, possessed in greater degree by some than by others, is the original spirit sight reinforced or moved upon by the power of the Holy Ghost. By this means certain persons, peculiarly gifted and sent into the world for that purpose, are able, even while in the flesh, to see out of obscurity, "out of hidden darkness," and behold the things of God pertaining both to time and to eternity. Joseph Smith possessed this ability—this gift, but it was the Spirit of the Lord that enabled him to use it. By that Spirit he beheld the Father and the Son; and by that Spirit, operating through the same marvelous gift, he translated the cryptic contents of the Book of Mormon.
How the Book of Mormon was Translated.—The reputed method of translation was as follows: The Seer, scanning through the "interpreters" (Urim and Thummim) the golden pages, saw appear, in connection with the strange characters engraved thereon, their equivalent in English words. These he repeated to his scribe—Oliver Cowdery most of the time—and the latter wrote them. It was a peculiarity of the process that, until the writing was correct in every particular, the words last given would not disappear; but on the necessary correction being made, they would immediately pass away and be succeeded by others.[[7]]
The Priesthood Restored.—The greater part of the Book of Mormon was translated at Harmony, Pennsylvania, the home of Joseph's father-in-law, Isaac Hale. While the Prophet and his scribe were thus employed (May 15, 1829) John the Baptist, as an angel from heaven, conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood.[[8]] Soon afterward they were ordained to the higher or Melchizedek Priesthood, by three other heavenly messengers, the Apostles Peter, James and John.[[9]] By virtue of this authority, and pursuant to divine direction, the two young men, associated with a few others organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Petty Persecution.—During their sojourn in the little Pennsylvania village, Joseph and Oliver suffered considerable annoyance at the hands of mischievous persons who, having no faith in their work and regarding it as a hoax, seemed bent upon rendering their situation as disagreeable as possible. Learning of their unpleasant situation, and desiring to help along the sacred task to which they were devoting themselves, Peter Whitmer, Sr., a farmer living at Fayette, Seneca County, New York, sent his son David with a team and wagon to bring them to the Whitmer home.
David Whitmer's Account.—"When I arrived at Harmony," says David Whitmer, "Joseph and Oliver were coming towards me and met me at some distance from the house. Oliver told me that Joseph had informed him when I started from home, where I had stopped the first night, how I read the sign at the tavern, where I stopped the second night, etc., and that I would be there that day before dinner; and this was why they had come out to meet me. All of which was exactly as Joseph had told Oliver; at which I was greatly astonished."[[10]] It was at the Whitmer farmhouse, in Fayette, that the Church was organized, April 6th, 1830.
Newel K. Whitney and the "Stranger."—Another instance of Joseph's use of the seeric gift connects with the occasion of his arrival at Kirtland, Ohio, where the Church, at an early day, established its headquarters. A few months prior to that time, Oliver Cowdery and three other Elders, on their way to preach the Gospel to the Lamanites, or Indians, had tarried for a season at Kirtland, where they converted a number of the white dwellers in that region. Among these were Sidney Rigdon, Newel K. Whitney, and others who became prominent in the "Mormon" community. The Saints in Ohio, learning that the Church would probably move westward, began to pray for the coming of the Prophet.
The prayer was soon answered. About the first of February, 1831, a sleigh, driven into Kirtland from the East, drew up in front of the mercantile store of Gilbert and Whitney. A stalwart young man alighted and walked into the store. Approaching the junior partner and extending his hand cordially, as if to an old and familiar acquaintance, he saluted him thus: "Newel K. Whitney, thou art the man!"
The merchant was astonished. He had never seen this person before. "Stranger," said he, "You have the advantage of me; I could not call you by name as you have me."
"I am Joseph the Prophet," said the stranger, smiling. "You have prayed me here, now what do you want of me?"