They differed from traditional religions which taught themselves as an unbroken continuation of the original church or as a protest against corruptions in doctrines. The restorationists did not want to change the existing church—they wanted to restore the original church, which they believed was lost. Two leading restorationist movements of that time were a group incorrectly called Campbellites, led by Alexander Campbell, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, led by Joseph Smith. Some early church members joined the Mormons (the nickname sometimes applied to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) from the Campbellite movement, including Sydney Rigdon, a leading preacher in that organization.

The proper name of the Campbellites is the Disciples of Christ. The group began with Thomas Campbell and his son Alexander Campbell. They were former Irish Presbyterian ministers. Thomas formed an organization called the Christian Association of Washington in Washington County, Pennsylvania. Alexander formed a related organization and joined with the Baptists, where he preached only from the Bible. However, he felt the Bible repudiated infant baptism and the eternal condemnation of infants who died without baptism, which upset some listeners. Others were offended at his insistence that baptism by immersion by those old enough to make the decision, was necessary.

He eventually separated from the Baptists, taking with him Sydney Rigdon and Walter Scott. Rigdon, a Baptist preacher, continued his preaching circuit, but now avoided denominational issues, since one goal of the Campbellites was to unify the Christian faith into one single body that focused only on 1^st century Christianity. Rigdon’s ministry taught only faith, repentance, baptism for the remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Soon, there emerged an intersection between the two restoration faiths. Parley P. Pratt, a minister for the Campbellites, encountered the Book of Mormon. He was so enthralled by it he read it in just one day and night, having no desire for food or rest. He gained a testimony by the Holy Ghost of its truthfulness and went in search of Joseph Smith. He instead met Joseph’s brother Hyrum. He was soon baptized.

Pratt, in his previous ministry, had known Sydney Rigdon. Rigdon had brought many people into the Campbellite’s organization, including Orson Hyde, who devoted much of his time to preaching against the Book of Mormon, which he had heard about, but not read more than a few segments of. Eventually, he felt uncomfortable teaching something he had not actually read for himself, so he sought Joseph Smith to learn about the book from an authentic source.

When he arrived, Hyde learned Sydney Rigdon had left the Campbellites through the missionary efforts of Parley P. Pratt and become a Mormon. Hyde also converted. All three of these men—Parley P. Pratt, Orson Hyde, and Sydney Rigdon would become Mormon apostles. Elder Pratt would help to bring about 150 members of the Campbellits into the new church.

Joseph Smith was the prophet and president of this new church, which was also restoration-oriented. However, he taught that Jesus Christ Himself was restoring the Church to the earth, whereas the Campbellites were merely trying to establish proper teachings by studying the Bible to find out what was true. Joseph Smith taught that in ancient times, a group of people had left Jerusalem by commandment from God, eventually coming to the American continent, where they settled among whatever native peoples were already here. They had prophets and as much of the Bible as was in use at the time of the Fall of Jerusalem. Jesus Christ had come to them for a few days soon after his resurrection and helped them to organize their church.

These people had largely been destroyed during a great war. One faction, the Nephites, had been completely destroyed, and when the war ended, the other faction, the Lamanites, continued to attack one another. It is likely only a small civilization remained at the conclusion.

The last of the Nephites, Moroni, had concluded and hidden the record of his people, which he, as an angel, led Joseph Smith to retrieve. Joseph translated them through inspiration and the manuscript, called the Book of Mormon, after Moroni’s father, served as a companion book to the Bible, which the Mormons also used.

Joseph taught that Jesus had told him the fullness of the gospel was no longer on the earth. This was clear since so many churches existed, even within the Protestant tradition. There was no longer any agreement on what God really wanted us to know or to do. Joseph’s role was to restore the gospel and to continue the tradition of prophets established by God as the way for God to communicate His will in changing times.

The restoration movement of the Campbellites and other similar movements helped to prepare the way for the restoration of the gospel, demonstrating how carefully God plans His work. Many who joined the church and became its leaders in the early days were seeking New Testament Christianity and believed it no longer existed on the earth. The Campbellites, who taught minimal doctrine, helped give them a small but important focus on key elements of New Testament Christianity—faith, repentance, baptism, and the atonement’s power to save even infants.

By the time these people encountered the Mormons, their hearts had been opened to the idea of a restoration and were prepared to turn to God for confirmation that they had found it in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

More information on early Mormonism:

HistoryofMormonism.com

In a recent article for the Deseret News, Peterson explained some of the new findings that lend credence to the scripture. He cited an example of the plain of Olishem, which is mentioned in Abraham 1:10, and that is not mentioned in the Bible, but has been found on an inscription, dating about 2250 BC, which indicates the correct place in northwestern Syria.

Additionally, the names of three of the four idols that are named in Facsimile 1 of the Book of Abraham have been verified, and the crocodile identified as “the idolatrous god of Pharaoh” in fig. 9 seems to be the Crocodile God Sobk, a King that is described in the Pyramid Texts of Pharaoh Unas (ca. 2350 BC).

The attempt to sacrifice Abraham as seen on Facsimile 1 (PGP Abraham 1:7), has been evidenced in post biblical literature, which frequently describes Abraham’s miraculous escape from being murdered. Also, a third-century AD Egyptian papyrus connects Abraham to a lion-couch scene similar to the one in Facsimile 1.

The Bible does not describe Abraham as an astronomer, but many post biblical texts and scholars describe him as one who taught Astronomy to Egypt’s priests and Pharaoh, including Josephus, who described him as understanding the “celestial science.” Peterson explained additional findings:

The 10th-century Muslim scholar al-Tabari says that “the seven heavens were opened to Abraham, up to and including the throne (of God).” Facsimile 3 shows an Egyptian scene bearing the explanation, “Abraham is reasoning upon the principles of Astronomy, in the king’s court.” Similarly, Josephus tells of Abraham’s teaching astronomy in Egypt, and the fourth-century Christian historian Eusebius preserves an even earlier account specifying that Abraham taught astronomy to both Egypt’s priests and Pharaoh himself.

Abraham 4-5 records the patriarch’s vision of creation, unknown in the Bible but known to al-Tabari. And, though the Bible says nothing of a heavenly council that planned the creation of man, several ancient documents first published in the 20th century describe it.

Finally, Abraham’s account describes creation as the “organization” of pre-existing materials, which contradicts traditional doctrines that God made the universe from nothing. But creation from nothing doesn’t appear in the Bible. Ancient Jewish writings teach that God created the universe by forming preexistent matter. Christian thinkers, influenced by Greek philosophy, began to teach creation from nothing only in the second century.

Peterson concludes the article with this tongue-in-cheek comment: “It’s amazing what Joseph Smith was able to pick up on the western frontier.”

In 1977, Michael D. Rhodes, a Mormon scholar, published a translation and commentary of Facsimile 2 from the Book of Abraham. But in 1997, because of advances in Egyptological understanding, he felt that his study needed revision. He concluded the later writing with the following words:

“Joseph Smith simply could not have acquired the understanding he had of these things from the world. Nevertheless, as this study has shown, many of the prophet’s explanations of the hypocephalus illustrated in Facsimile 2 are supported by our present understanding of ancient Egyptian religion, and are in fact especially typical of Late Egyptian religious writings. One or two could conceivably be dismissed as mere chance or lucky guessing, but the many correct interpretations taken together are impossible to ignore. It is clear that Joseph Smith know what he was talking about. This only reaffirms what every honest person can learn in earnest prayer, that Joseph Smith received these things from God, even as he claimed.”

by Jan

Additional Resources:

Joseph Smith: Prohet of the Restoration

The Book of Mormon (Another Testament of Jesus Christ)

Mormon Doctrines

]]> https://prophetjosephsmith.org/2964/did-joseph-smith-get-it-right/feed 0 https://prophetjosephsmith.org/1392/plan-of-salvation-2 https://prophetjosephsmith.org/1392/plan-of-salvation-2#respond Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:24:25 +0000 http://www.prophetjosephsmith.org/?page_id=1392 God’s Great Plan of Salvation was in place before the earth was created, and probably before all worlds were created.  An understanding of the Plan of Salvation answers the following profound questions for mankind:

• “Where did I come from?”
• “Why am I here?”
• “Where am I going?”

No amount of secular research can answer these questions, nor can research into the works of religious scholars. The true answers come directly from God through His chosen prophets.

“Where did I come from?”

Everyone who lives, did live, or who will live on this earth, existed before in a spiritual state.  In fact, we all eternally existed before the short span of mortal life on earth.  In our spiritual state, we dwelt with God.  He is the literal father of our spirits, so we are all literally children of God. God the Father is a glorious, perfect, all-powerful, all-knowing resurrected man.  He enjoys the blessings of exaltation in a celestial kingdom of light. His desire is to help His children become like Him, also to enjoy the blessings of life eternal in an exalted state.  In the Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:39, it says,

For behold, this is my work and my glory-to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

To become like God, we must follow the path He has outlined for us, overcoming temptation, developing perfect faith, and cleansing the worldliness from our souls.  Earth life is a mortal probationary period, albeit very short, in order to accomplish that.

Mormons call our previous, spirit state, the “Pre-existence,” “Pre-mortal Life,” or “Pre-earth life.”  The Plan of Salvation was presented to us there, for us to exercise our God-granted agency in giving our “common consent” to the Plan.  Revelation tells us that the Plan of Salvation was presented to us in a “grand council.”  God knew that when we entered our earthly time of testing, we would fall short of perfect performance. God the Father, knowing we would perform imperfectly, chose a Savior for us, Jesus Christ, known in the Pre-existence as Jehovah, or the Word.  Satan, also a spirit-son of God, came forward with another plan:

That Satan, …is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying-Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore, give me thine honor.

But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me–Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.

Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;

And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive, and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice (Moses 4:1–4).

One-third of the host of heaven sided with Satan and were cast down with him, never to earn physical bodies. The rest of us, everyone who enjoys the probationary “second estate” period of mortality, sustained and supported Jesus the Christ in the Pre-existence.

Paramount to the Plan is the guarantee of free agency for man, and no choice can be made unless there are opposites to choose from:

And he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon.

And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter.

Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other (2 Nephi 2:14–16).

The gift of understanding where we came from is to give us a sense of ourselves as truly immortal beings with a purpose that transcends mortal existence.  It can give us a heavenly view that diminishes the importance of our minor setbacks and attachments on earth and makes our every day problems manageable.  We can also know that we are indeed children of God, and that He is our personal Heavenly Father, standing at the ready day and night in case we might call upon Him.  We can and should call upon Him on bended knee.  Through the power of the Holy Ghost, He promises that He will answer.

“Why am I Here?”

We are here to be tested in the hopes that we will seek God, rely on the saving power of the atonement of Christ, live by faith, and learn compassion.  The Lord said to Abraham:

And there stood one among them [Jesus Christ] that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;

And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

And they who keep their first estate [Pre-mortal Life] shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate [life on earth] shall haveglory added upon their heads for ever and ever (Abraham 3:24–26).

Remember that God introduced opposition into the world, so that all men and women would have freedom to choose good or evil.  This is why He gave two conflicting commandments to Adam and Eve–so they would have agency.  Mormons do not view the fall of Adam as the result of sin, nor do they believe in “original sin” that taints every human being (including infants).  They believe Adam and Eve were fore-ordained in the Pre-existence to perform the very difficult callings of becoming the first man and woman on earth.  Mormons believe that God instructed them in the garden, and that Adam was a prophet who understood and taught the Plan of Salvation and the coming of Christ.  Thus, the fall of Adam is an integral part of the Plan of Salvation:

And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.

And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.

But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.

Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy (2 Nephi 2:22–25, emphasis added).

A fullness of joy can only be achieved in a resurrected state, when the spirit and body of man are joined in a state of perfect health and immortality.  The anchor of the Plan of Salvation is the atonement of Christ.  If we in our imperfection, do everything in our power to keep His commandments and lay hold upon the power of His atonement, His grace is ample to take us the rest of the way to the purity necessary to dwell again with God.  The resurrection is a free gift to all men, wicked or righteous, but exaltation to God’s own dwelling place is reserved for those who believe on the name of Christ and follow Him, repenting and keeping His commandments:

And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.

Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself (2 Nephi 2:26–27).

“Where am I going?”

Because The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints always has a living prophet, the Church teaches much about where we are going that is unknown to friends outside the Church.  Prophet Joseph F. Smith experienced a vision of the “Spirit World,” which is recorded in Doctrine and Covenants, Section 138. In the vision, he learned that when we die, our spirits separate from our bodies.  The mortal body molders in the ground, but the spirit is very much alive.  The righteous go to a spirit “paradise,” while the wicked go to a place he called “spirit prison.”  In spirit prison, the wicked suffer for their sins.  Christ suffered already for the sins of the righteous.  All spirits have the opportunity to hear the true gospel of Christ in the spirit world and can use their continuing agency to accept or reject it.  Christ Himself (in the spirit) initiated this missionary work in spirit paradise during His three days in the tomb.  We wait in the spirit world for resurrection and judgment.  Once judgment occurs, we are assigned to a kingdom of glory.

Joseph Smith, the prophet, saw a vision of heaven and beheld the kingdoms of glory, as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants, Section 76. This vision tells us more about heaven than any scripture heretofore had among men.  From it, we learn that all men will inherit a kingdom of glory surpassing all description, except those who “deny the Holy Ghost” (having a perfect witness of the Christ and then denying Him, thus crucifying Him anew).  Through modern prophets, we also learn that we enjoy eternal felicity with our friends and families, and that families can be sealed as units through covenants that last eternally.  This is why Mormon funerals are so inspiring–we know that we will shortly be reunited with loved ones again.  In addition, Joseph Smith taught that little children will be resurrected to the age at which they died, so their once-grieving parents can nurture them in the resurrection to maturity (see Chapter 14 under Teachings: Words of Hope and Consolation at the Time of Death).

An understanding of God’s eternal Plan of Salvation fills us with the knowledge that God is all-loving.  He has established this grand plan in order to exalt His children eternally.  We are eternal entities, not just mortal beings or thinking animals.  We are potential gods, the Children of God.  Remember that Mormonism is not a new religion, but the restoration of truths that have been had by prophets since the beginning of time.  The original apostles passed on the knowledge of “theosis,” or potential god-hood to the early elders of the Christian church. As Justin Martyr said,

“…to prove to you that the Holy Ghost reproaches men because they were made like God, free from suffering and death, provided that they kept His commandments, and were deemed deserving of the name of His sons… in the beginning men were made like God, free from suffering and death, and that they are thus deemed worthy of becoming gods and of having power to become sons of the highest….”

And St. Irenius said,

We were not made gods at our beginning, but first we were made men, then, in the end, gods. How then will any be a god, if he has not first been made a man? How can any be perfect when he has only lately been made man? How immortal, if he has not in his mortal nature obeyed his maker? For one’s duty is first to observe the discipline of man and thereafter to share in the glory of God.Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, of his boundless love, became what we are that he might make us what he himself is.

And modern Prophet Spencer W. Kimball said,

You are the [children] of God, [that] you are the elect of God, and you have within your [grasp] the possibility to become a god and pass by the angels … to your exaltation”-possibilities which seem beyond ordinary imagination-yet the promises are divine. (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982, p. 496.)

Additional Resources:

Mormon Beliefs

Purpose of Life

This principle is basic to our belief. President Wilford Woodruff declared, “Whenever the Lord had a people on the earth that he acknowledged as such, that people were led by revelation” (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, sel. G. Homer Durham [1946], 138).  We affirm at the beginning that the inspiration of God is available to all who worthily seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is particularly true of those who have received the gift of the Holy Ghost. [1]

The ninth Article of Faith states the following: “We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.”  Thus, Mormons believe in an “open canon of scripture,” allowing the Lord to speak from the past, in the present, and in the future through His prophets.  When prophets speak, their words are recorded.  Thus, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints adds to the Bible, The Book of Mormon-Another Testament of Jesus Christ, the Doctrine and Covenants (mostly comprised of the revelations of Joseph Smith), and the Pearl of Great Price (revelations of Moses and Abraham).  Mormons expect that when the “Ten Lost Tribes” return, they will bring with them their own scripture to add to the body of canonized works, and that other scriptures have been “hidden up by the Lord” to be brought forth at a later day, when men are worthy to receive them.  These scriptures have been alluded to in the Book of Mormon and through revelation to modern prophets.  They will include the writings of John the Baptist, Joseph who was sold into Egypt, and an ancient prophet called in the Book of Mormon “the Brother of Jared.”

One of the arguments often used in any defense of a closed canon is the New Testament passage recorded in Revelation 22:18: “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of … this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.” However, there is now overwhelming consensus among virtually all biblical scholars that this verse applies only to the book of Revelation, not the whole Bible. Those scholars of our day acknowledge a number of New Testament “books” that were almost certainly written after John’s revelation on the Isle of Patmos was received. Included in this category are at least the books of Jude, the three Epistles of John, and probably the entire Gospel of John itself.  Perhaps there are even more than these.

But there is a simpler answer as to why that passage in the final book of the current New Testament cannot apply to the whole Bible. That is because the whole Bible as we know it—one collection of texts bound in a single volume—did not exist when that verse was written. For centuries after John produced his writing, the individual books of the New Testament were in circulation singly or perhaps in combinations with a few other texts but almost never as a complete collection. Of the entire corpus of 5,366 known Greek New Testament manuscripts, only 35 contain the whole New Testament as we now know it, and 34 of those were compiled after a.d. 1000.

One Protestant scholar has inquired tellingly into the erroneous doctrine of a closed canon. He writes: “On what biblical or historical grounds has the inspiration of God been limited to the written documents that the church now calls its Bible? … If the Spirit inspired only the written documents of the first century, does that mean that the same Spirit does not speak today in the church about matters that are of significant concern?”  We humbly ask those same questions.

One of the great purposes of continuing revelation through living prophets is to declare to the world through additional witnesses that the Bible is true. “This is written,” an ancient prophet said, speaking of the Book of Mormon, “for the intent that ye may believe that,” speaking of the Bible.  In one of the earliest revelations received by Joseph Smith, the Lord said, “Behold, I do not bring [the Book of Mormon forth] to destroy [the Bible] but to build it up.”

In a sense Joseph Smith and his prophetic successors in this Church answer the challenge Ralph Waldo Emerson put to the students of the Harvard Divinity School 170 years ago this coming summer. To that group of the Protestant best and brightest, the great sage of Concord pled that they teach “that God is, not was; that He speaketh, not spake.” [2]

As recorded in the Pearl of Great Price, the Lord said to Moses, ““My works are without end, and … my words … never cease” (Moses 1:4).

Late President and Prophet of the Church, Spencer W. Kimball, declared that the Church continues to be guided by revelation:

“We testify to the world that revelation continues and that the vaults and files of the Church contain these revelations which come month to month and day to day. We testify also that there is, since 1830 when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, and will continue to be, so long as time shall last, a prophet, recognized of God and his people, who will continue to interpret the mind and will of the Lord. …

“Expecting the spectacular, one may not be fully alerted to the constant flow of revealed communication. I say, in the deepest of humility, but also by the power and force of a burning testimony in my soul, that from the prophet of the Restoration to the prophet of our own year, the communication line is unbroken, the authority is continuous, a light, brilliant and penetrating, continues to shine. The sound of the voice of the Lord is a continuous melody and a thunderous appeal. For nearly a century and a half there has been no interruption.” [3]

Prophet Joseph F. Smith testified–

The Latter-day Saints … bear testimony to all the world that God lives and that he reveals his will to men who believe in him and who obey his commandments, as much in our day as at any time in the history of nations. The canon of scripture is not full. God has never revealed at any time that he would cease to speak forever to men. If we are permitted to believe that he has spoken, we must and do believe that he continues to speak, because he is unchangeable. …

What is revelation but the uncovering of new truths, by him who is the fountain of all truth? To say that there is no need of new revelation, is equivalent to saying that we have no need of new truths—a ridiculous assertion. As well, too, might we say that the revelations which Abraham received were sufficient for the prophets; that the revelations given to Enoch were sufficient for Noah, whose mission was to build the ark and preach repentance; or that the words spoken to Moses were sufficient for all time; or that what Abraham received would be ample for his children through all the ages. But not so. Notwithstanding Abraham was favored with great promises, the word of God was not denied to his son Isaac, nor to his grandson Jacob. Why? Because these could not have performed their missions on the word of the Lord alone to their father and to others. And how could the Father of the Faithful have accomplished his work on the instructions received by Noah? Of what personal use were the revelations of prior patriarchs and prophets to Balaam or to Paul? It is true, they were of use as historical truths or lessons, but not sufficient for them individually.

So we moderns stand in need, oh so greatly! of constant revelation, that we individually may fill our missions acceptably to our Father, and that we may the better work out our own salvation; and also that we may know the will of God concerning his Church, his people, and his purposes in regard to the nations. These are a few of the thousand needs that exist for revelation. [4]

Video: Mormons Believe God Speaks

Notes:

1.  James E. Faust, “Continuing Revelation,” Ensign, Aug 1996, 2.

2.  Jeffrey R. Holland, “‘My Words … Never Cease’,” Ensign, May 2008, 91–94.

3. Conference Report, Apr. 1977, 115; or Ensign, May 1977, 78.

4. “Editor’s Table: Modern Revelation,” Improvement Era, Aug. 1902, 805–7; paragraphing added.

Go to the next article in the Beliefs section: Mormon Books.