I’ve been meaning to put my scripture study thoughts on this blog. I’ve always been hesitant. I think it had to do with not wanting to sound preachy but, I want to write down what I’m thinking and so this year, I’m going to share them.

Every year in our gospel doctrine class at church we study a book of scripture. Old Testament, New Testament and The Book of Mormon. This year we will study the Doctrine and Covenants and with that goes church history. The Doctrine and Covenants is a collection of those revelations given during the start up of our church.

Whenever we start with church history we tend to reflect on the changes in the world that led to the possibility of a new church even being formed. It starts with the Renaissance, continues on with the Reformation, continues on with the discovery of America and the eventual creation of our country and our Constitution. For Mormons, these are seen as acts of God in creating a world where a restoration of the gospel can begin. Up till this point, state religions were such that you didn’t disagree unless you wanted to shorten your lifespan. Our Founding Fathers understood the havoc state religions could create and fashioned our constitution so that personal preference set ones religious adherence, not the government.

Then began what would be called The Second Great Awakening. A period of time from 1790–1840 where people were opening up the bible and discussing it amongst themselves. This was a time of great evangelical revivals and every thought idea on religion was contending with each other for recognition and dominance.

It’s in this time of great religious fervor that Joseph Smith, Jr, then only 14 years old begins to ponder the worth of his soul. The preachers of the day were really harping on if ones soul was saved. You didn’t want the heathens to get you, you wanted to be saved before it was too late and you were damned forever. Of course, I think more often then not the “heathens” were the other church they didn’t want you joining.

This was a period of time when men believed that God no longer used prophets and apostles. That you had to reason it out in your own mind because God wasn’t talking to man anymore. The bible was all there was and there wouldn’t be any more. The idea of course being that the Bible contained the full and complete gospel. Joseph’s family were as religious as the people of their day. The bible was the main book in most people’s homes. Many a farm kid learned to read from their families bible. His mother and some of his siblings were going to one church, his father and others were leaning to another. And in the midst of all this, young 14 year old Joseph began to wonder about his own soul. Was he saved, and how did one know? He asked everybody, he read the bible, he went to revivals, he compared his readings with the doctrines of the different theologies. No one could agree on what was meant. Everyone viewed it differently. Not much different than it is now for us today.

How long Joseph spent studying I can only speculate. I would gather considering the serious of the subject he was considering, the state of his own soul, that he spent a great deal of time pondering. I know that my own concentrated study, my own challenging my beliefs and interpretations to know what was real spanned a good two year period in my own life. Unlike myself though, Joseph hadn’t been raised to believe that God still talked to man. People just didn’t carry that idea back in those days. So I can imagine when Joseph read James 1:5 it must have struck him as a new idea that he could actually go ask God for the answer. This is how Joseph describes his reaction to that verse:

While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: 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.
12 Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.
At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.

An interesting idea for a child who had grown up in a world that no longer believed God talked to man. At 14, no kid expects much of themselves. And no kid, going to ask God a question in prayer expects much of an answer then a simple feeling of yes or no.

I can only imagine the shock and surprise when during his prayer he is then visited by two personages. One pointing to the other and saying “This is My Beloved Son, Hear Him” The other then identifying himself as Jesus Christ. Joseph grew up in a time where the trinity view of God as one being only was set. In one fell swoop, Joseph learned the error of that idea. The ideas on the nature of God understood at that time were snapped and reshaped in that moment. How amazing that must have been. Joseph was also told that none of the sects of the day spoke the truth about God anymore. That they “draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Teaching the commandments of men and having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.”

And this becomes the basis for our doctrine. The First Vision begins the journey of Joseph Smith in restoring the lost doctrines of God. Without this first vision there is no reason to redefine the nature of God. There is no reason to suppose the bible is missing information or that the doctrines that survived the dark ages are corrupt. Joseph offered a new understanding of God that was rejected by his neighbors immediately. Only his family believed him. It would be another seven years before the Lord would lead Joseph to retrieve the plates that would make up the Book of Mormon. In those seven years, Joseph had to deal with persecution, revilement, disbelief and condemnation. Not an easy thing to do when your a teenager.

Joseph’s name is spoken with respect and revilement around world depending on your point of view. Joseph’s affect on the world is now studied. There was a neat conference held at the Library of Congress where papers were read on his affect on world religion and his thoughts on religion at the time. And recently all papers pertaining to Joseph have been made available for academic study. Will be interesting to see what comes out of that study by those who are not necessarily of our church.

For myself, I studied this and came to my own conclusions that I also verified in prayer. And I find myself in complete agreement with Joseph when he spoke about his vision “For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it”

I also know he had this vision and I bear my simple testimony that this is true.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 12th, 2009 at 7:09 am and is filed under Church. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.