JOSEPH'S FIRST VISION.
One of the first declarations made by Joseph Smith, when he was only a boy between fourteen and fifteen years of age, was, that the whole Christian world had gone astray, and that the true Church of Christ was not to be found upon the earth. What a startling declaration! Could anything be more presumptuous on the part of a common uneducated farmer's boy than such as assertion? Preachers of the various denominations in the neighborhood where the boy resided became exasperated and at once denounced him as an impostor or a fraud. This boy had seen nothing of the world, save the tract of country in Vermont, where he was born, and the western wilds of the State of New York, where he now resided with his parents. He had perhaps never been even introduced to any of the prominent divines of the day, who had never crossed the threshold of any important institution of learning, who had never thoroughly examined the creed of any one denomination, much less having a knowledge of them all, who had never crossed the ocean to acquaint himself with the great learning of Europe, with its thousands of preachers and its universities and institutions of learning. What did he know about the creeds and organizations existing among the millions of Christians in Europe and America, thus to denounce them all without further ceremony. Why, even Luther, the great reformer of the sixteenth century, with his profound learning and thorough knowledge of the Catholic creed, did not denounce the Roman Catholic Church in such a manner as that. He did not say it was rejected as a whole and that it was not the Church of Christ; he simply contended that it had incorporated into its system, doctrines, sacraments and ordinances which were not true and not warranted in the Bible. Luther simply desired to reform the Church, to purge it and remove from it erroneous doctrines and wicked practices. But Joseph Smith, without any more knowledge of the religions of the world than what opportunities his attendance of the numerous revival meetings held in his immediate neighborhood had given him, denounced them all as false. Whence, then, his authority for the sweeping declaration he made as to the condition of the so-called Christian churches? His story is a simple, plain and unembellished one. He tells in his own straightforward manner how, after attending the different revival meetings without being able to conclude which of the denominations was the right one for him to join, he went into the woods to pray to the Lord for that wisdom which the Apostle James promises shall be given the honest believer. The result was an attack of the power of darkness which threatened him with destruction, then a light far above him in the sky, then an envelopment in that light which descended upon him, then a vision of two glorious personages standing above him in the air, one of whom speaking to him, while pointing to the other, said: "This is my beloved son, hear him." Here, then, was Jesus Christ being introduced by His Father to Joseph Smith, the praying boy, who next was informed by the Great Redeemer Himself, that all the sects of the day were wrong, that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight, that the modern professors and teachers taught for doctrine the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; that he (Joseph) should join none of these churches, but that the true church should be revealed to him at some future time. This, then, was Joseph's authority, Jesus Christ himself, the Redeemer of the world, the Son of God, He that was crucified and put to death on Mount Calvary, but who arose triumphant from the grave, the founder, the organizer, the head, the President of the Christian Church, explained to Joseph Smith the condition of the world. There is no higher authority than He. If anyone in heaven or earth has a right to say what is true Christianity, and what is not, Christ himself, the founder of the church, has that right. With that authority to back him, Joseph Smith had no fear that his declarations would be met with successful contradiction. There is only one question that can present itself to our minds in that connection, and that is: Did the boy tell the truth? Did he really converse with Jesus Christ, or was it an imagination of a bewildered and excited mind? We shall see as we proceed. I will first introduce the Prophet's own testimony, concerning this his first vision. He says in his history:
"It has often caused me serious reflections, both then and since, how very strange it was that an obscure boy, of a little over fourteen years of age, and one, too, who was doomed to the necessity of obtaining a scanty maintenance by his daily labor, should be thought a character of sufficient importance to attract the attention of the great ones of the most popular sects of the day, so as to create in them a spirit of the hottest persecution and reviling. But strange or not, so it was, and was often cause of great sorrow to myself. However it was, nevertheless, a fact, that I had had a vision. I have thought since, that I felt much like Paul when he made his defense before King Agrippa, and related the account of the vision he had when he saw a light and heard a voice; but still there were but few who believed him; some said he was dishonest, others said he was mad, and he was ridiculed and reviled; but all this did not destroy the reality of his vision. He had seen a vision, he knew he had, and all the persecution under heaven could not make it otherwise; and though they should persecute him unto death, yet he knew, and would know unto his last breath, that he had both seen a light and heard a voice speaking to him, and all the world could not make him think or believe otherwise.
"So it was with me; I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two personages, and they did in reality speak unto me, or one of them did; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and while they were persecuting me, reviling me and speaking against me, falsely, for so saying, I was led to say in my heart, Why persecute for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision, and who am I that I can withstand God? Or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I have seen a vision. I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dare I do it, at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God and come under condemnation."
Since the time Joseph had this vision the Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have traversed the globe, they have visited all the so-called Christian nations of the earth; they have examined the creeds and organizations of the Christian sects of every land and every clime, and have learned beyond doubt that the true Church of Christ was not upon the earth at the time Joseph made his sweeping declaration, and that it does not exist outside of the Church organized under the direction and authority of the Redeemer Himself by Joseph Smith.
THE WORDS OF THE ANGEL.
On the 22nd of September, 1823, Joseph Smith, after spending the previous night under the tutorship of the angel Moroni, was again visited by that holy personage on the hill Cumorah in the western part of the State of New York, and was shown the plates, which were delivered to him four years later and from which he translated the Book of Mormon. While standing on this historic hill, with the angel at his side, he again received glorious instructions and warnings, and among other things was told that when he should bring forth the Book of Mormon, the workers of iniquity would seek his overthrow. Says the angel:
"They will circulate falsehoods to destroy your reputation, and also will seek to take your life; but remember this, if you are faithful, and shall hereafter continue to keep the commandments of the Lord, you shall be preserved to bring these things forth; for in due time he will give you a commandment to come and take them. When they are interpreted, the Lord will give the holy Priesthood to some, and they shall begin to proclaim this Gospel and baptize by water, and after that they shall have power to give the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. Then will persecution rage more and more; for the iniquities of men shall be revealed, and those who are not built upon the rock will seek to overthrow the Church; but it will increase the more opposed, and spread further and further."
The angel further told him:
"Your name shall be known among the nations; for the work which the Lord will perform by your hands shall cause the righteous to rejoice and the wicked to rage; with the one it shall be had in honor and with the other in reproach." (Historical Record, page 362.)
These prophetic sayings have had so literal a fulfilment that no further explanation is necessary. If the predictions here made were Joseph's own productions, and no angel of God had a part in it, is it not strange that every word of it should prove true?