Today, one of the two lessons I taught this day was about the prophet Joseph Smith. As I was studying, I was wondering about something specific that I read. I was reading the words of Spencer W. Kimball, which taught:
And the individual was prepared in the person of a youth, clean and open minded, who had such implicit faith in the response of God that the heavens could not remain as iron and the earth as brass as they had been for many centuries.He had read in the Bible that God would answer his prayer, and just accepted it as truth. I pondered to myself why this had to be so.
This budding prophet had no preconceived false notions and beliefs. He was not steeped in the traditions and legends and superstitions and fables of the centuries. He had nothing to unlearn.
As I pondered, it hit me: Imagine, if you will, and older person, that had spent many years in any of the Christian churches of the time. He would have learned to memorize the Nicene Creed, and would have recited it thousands of times. It would have been ingrained in his thoughts regarding Deity. Now imagine that same man seeing this vision:
I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!(Joseph Smith-History 1:16-17)
That vision would have been so out of line with this man's understanding of what God looks like that he would have instantly disbelieved it, and thought it a vision from Satan. He never would have accepted it as a vision from God.
On the other hand, take a boy of fourteen, who lived in a family that loved God and read from the Bible daily. He was familiar with prayer, though not familiar with praying vocally while alone. He knew that, in order to learn more about God, he could read from the Bible and gain wisdom. He also had a father that was inspired enough to have known for himself that none of the churches of the time were true, and had enough strength of conviction to keep his family away from the various sects, despite the intense religious excitement of the day. Such a boy would receive the vision described above as what it was: a personal vision from his Heavenly Father and his Son, the Savior. He would have accepted the seemingly simple doctrine that they were two distinct personages, yet acted as one.
This also explains the wildly hostile reaction from the pastors around them, when Joseph recounted the vision that he had seen:
Some few days after I had this vision, I happened to be in company with one of the Methodist preachers, who was very active in the before mentioned religious excitement; and, conversing with him on the subject of religion, I took occasion to give him an account of the vision which I had had. I was greatly surprised at his behavior; he treated my communication not only lightly, but with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil, that there were no such things as visions or revelations in these days; that all such things had ceased with the apostles, and that there would never be any more of them.
I soon found, however, that my telling the story had excited a great deal of prejudice against me among professors of religion, and was the cause of great persecution, which continued to increase; and though I was an obscure boy, only between fourteen and fifteen years of age, and my circumstances in life such as to make a boy of no consequence in the world, yet men of high standing would take notice sufficient to excite the public mind against me, and create a bitter persecution; and this was common among all the sects—all united to persecute me. (Joseph Smith-History 1:21-22)
Well, of course they did! Everything in his vision discounted centuries of accepted dogma regarding the very nature of God. To accept his vision as truth, they would have to accept that the foundation of their preaching was false, and they would have lost the confidence of their congregations, not to mention their source of income. With that in mind, it's no surprise that they persecuted him so.
As for myself, I know that the account of the vision that spring day of 1820 is true. I spent much time studying the story (commonly referred to as the First Vision), and finally received the comforting assurance of the Spirit of God that it really happened, as it has been written. How marvelous it is to know that, same as in Biblical times, there is a man on earth that speaks as the mouthpiece of Gad!
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