When Joseph Smith died in June of 1844, the Mormon Church faced a succession crisis. Mormon historian Richard S. Van Wagoner explained,
“Despite frequent kidnaping and assassination attempts, Joseph Smith established no firm policies regarding presidential succession in the event of his death. The resulting confusion threw the prophetic transition into turmoil. He simply had not expected to die at thirty-eight. Never given to full disclosure to any man or woman, the prophet’s public and private statements between 1834-44 suggested at least eight different methods for succession, each pointing to different successors with some claims to validity.” (“The Making of a Mormon Myth: The 1844 Transfiguration of Brigham Young,” Dialog, Vol. 28, No. 4, Winter 1995, 4, pdf)
Many people vied for the office of President of the Church left vacant at Smith’s death. The two main contenders, however, were Sidney Rigdon (First Counselor in the First Presidency) and Brigham Young (President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles). Church members were divided and argued over the identity of Smith’s successor. A special meeting was called in Nauvoo for August 8, 1844 to decide who would lead the floundering church. Sidney Rigdon spoke and made a case for his ascension to the office of President. Then Brigham Young spoke in behalf of The Twelve. It was then that the miracle occurred.
“If Joseph had risen from the dead and again spoken in their hearing, the effect could not have been more startling than it was to many present at that meeting, it was the voice of Joseph himself; and not only was it the voice of Joseph which was heard, but it seemed in the eyes of the people as if it were the very person of Joseph which stood before them. A more wonderful and miraculous event than was wrought that day in the presence of that congregation, we never heard of. The Lord gave His people a testimony that left no room for doubt as to who was the man chosen to lead them. They both saw and heard with their natural eyes and ears, and the words which were uttered came, accompanied by the convincing power of God, to their hearts, and they were filled with the Spirit and with great joy. There had been gloom, and in some hearts, probably, doubt and uncertainty, but now it was plain to all that here was the man upon whom the Lord had bestowed the necessary authority to act in their midst in Joseph’s stead. On that occasion Brigham Young seemed to be transformed, and a change such as that we read of in the scriptures as happening to the Prophet Elisha, when Elijah was translated in his presence, seemed to have taken place with him. The mantle of the Prophet Joseph had been left for Brigham. … The people said one to another: ‘The spirit of Joseph rests on Brigham’: they knew that he was the man chosen to lead them and they honored him accordingly.” (George Q. Cannon, circa 1864, quoted in Van Wagoner, 14-15)
Except that they didn’t.
As Mr. Van Wagoner points out, on August 8, 1844 the Latter-day Saints chose a group of men, not one man, to lead the church when they voted in favor of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles as their leading authority. Brigham Young was not sustained as the President of the Church until December 1847, and this was not without opposition and argument. The historical facts actually suggest that Brigham Young was not chosen to lead the church that day, for one week later, on August 15, the Twelve published an epistle that said,
“You are now without a prophet present with you in the flesh to guide you. … Let no man presume for a moment that [Joseph Smith’s] place will be filled by another; for, remember he stands in his own place, and always will.” (Times and Seasons 5 (15 Aug. 1844): 618, quoted in Van Wagoner, 14)
Furthermore, history also suggests that there was no transfiguration on August 8 to guide the people toward God’s will in the matter. According to Mr. Van Wagoner, “no known contemporary record supports a supernatural occurrence” at either the morning or afternoon August 8 meetings, but there are plenty of accounts from later years that mention Brigham Young’s transfiguration.
“The earliest detailed accounts of a purported transfiguration did not begin to surface until long after the Saints were settled in the Great Basin. The fact that no account was included in ‘Joseph Smith’s History,’ completed in August 1856, or in The Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, completed before his 1857 death, suggests that the myth was not fully developed by this period. The first public reference to a ‘transfiguration’ may have been a 19 July 1857 statement by Albert Carrington before a huge gathering of Saints that ‘he could not tell [Brigham Young] from Joseph Smith’ when Young ‘was speaking in the stand in Nauvoo’ during the 8 August 1844 convocation…
“Retrospective retellings of a ‘transfiguration,’ in a variety of forms, can be found in dozens of sources, yet no two seem to agree on precise details.” (16-17)
Some who later claimed to have witnessed the transfiguration were not actually in Nauvoo on August 8, 1844. John D. Lee said he saw and heard a strong resemblance in Brigham Young to Joseph Smith “at that time,” but he did not arrive in Nauvoo until August 20. In 1869 Orson Hyde, an apostle of the Mormon Church, described the famous August 8 meeting and his participation in it. He said,
“We went among the congregation…he [Brigham] spoke, and his words went through me like electricity…This is my testimony; it was not only the voice of Joseph, but there were the features, the gestures and even the stature of Joseph before us in the person of Brigham.” (Journal of Discourse 13:181)
Mr. Hyde’s testimony is astonishing – because he was not in Nauvoo on August 8, but rather arrived in the city five days later.
One contemporary account of the transfiguration of Brigham Young was found in the diary of Mormon George Laub, thought to have been written in 1846. Mr. Van Wagoner explains, “This small tan-colored leather diary, which has misled many scholars, has now been determined to be a copy of the original by Laub himself, with additions.” The original diary has also been discovered, and it contains no reference to Brigham Young’s transfiguration.
Mr. Van Wagoner sums up,
“Apostles Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, and Wilford Woodruff, all of whom made 8 August 1844 entries in their diaries, make no reference to an epiphany. Such an event, had it truly transpired, would have stood at the apogee of world history, a physical metamorphosis unsurpassed except for the transfiguration and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yet neither the Times and Seasons nor the Nauvoo Neighbor, local newspapers owned by the church, mention such a wonder. Neither do the 1844 and 1845 accounts of Jedediah Grant and Orson Hyde, specifically written to refute Sidney Rigdon’s robust challenge to the Quorum of Twelve’s succession claims.” (22)
The transfiguration of Brigham Young is but another Mormon myth used to undergird the validity of a church that has no solid foundation. Mormons, consider the words of Seventy B.H. Roberts:
“…since these things are myth and our Church has permitted them to be perpetuated … might not the other fundamentals to the actual story of the Church, the things in which it had its origin, might they not all be lies and nothing but lies.” (quoted in Van Wagoner, 24)
In the preexistence we were told that we would be tested. Our test would be showing our faithfulness in living the Gospel of Jesus Christ and sharing it with others. We wanted to come here to this earth and take on our first estate, a body of flesh, blood and bone just like our Father in Heaven, only that He is a glorified Being of only Flesh and Bone. We were given instruction, those instructions were that a veil of forgetfulness would be placed over us and we would then have to walk in Faith. If we proved ourselves worthy, meaning faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior then the sacrifice He made would gain us entrance into the Kingdom Of God here on earth with all its ordinances and covenants we would be asked to keep. One of our test would be to show forth Charity to all, that is the Love of Christ to all individuals also considered His spiritual children here on earth. Christ blood washes us clean of sin if we accept Him and His ordinances. We of ourselves cannot be saved since we are all sinners and only one such as Christ, pure and undefiled could ever satisfy justice, that being the payment for our sins by shedding His Blood to satisfy justice.
A test? Do all grades qualify as passing. Interesting that the scriptures say that only God knows the heart and mind of man, and that judgement will be dealt accordingly and fairly, so yes all grades are looked at by a fair and righteous teacher.
2. If you were to evaluate your performance in the course so far, what grade do you think you’ve earned?
Earned? like works? I don’t believe my works will save me, but my performance will be based on love and charity. What other things will He evaluate? Not sure, but it will have to be something to do with the promises I have kept and the ordinances I performed. That in it self would take some time to teach you. Both the Bible and Book of Mormon are worth reading to find just what God expects of us and the commandments we need to keep.
3. Is the grading system based upon a curve? Or is it based upon an absolute standard?
The Lord of the Vineyard.
Remember the worker who hired himself out for a day at a certain pay, and then there was the worker who was only hired for half a day. Both were paid the same amount, yet the one who worked all day was upset, why should I worry about what someone else does, God does not grade on a curve He treats all the same, whether one has strived to live righteously all his life or the one who just found the Lord and changed his life. Both are the same in the eyes of God.
Repent and turn towards the real Christ Helen, you are decieved!
By the way Helen, I HAVE read the entire Book of Mormon from beginning to end, got my degree from BYU where I had to take classes on the Book of Mormon and I give you my testimony that I know the Book of Mormon was written by Joseph Smith the sinner and was not given to him by God, Jesus Chirst or any angel named Moroni. I was once decieved like you, but by the grace of God I have seen the light. I pray the same for you.
Very good Sandi B. and just what is your theory of where the Book of Mormon came from?
There are probably 10 different versions of how the Book of Mormon came to be, what one have you chosen as the most reliable and truthful? Personally, I like the one about plagiarism, yet when I checked it our I could not find a single paragraph that was plagiarized from someone else.
Maybe Sandi B. can answer the following:
A). How did Joseph know so much about the Arabian Peninsula?
B). If the gold plates never existed, how did Joseph get numerous witnesses to stand by their stories until their dying day, even when some of them later became angry with Joseph and left the Church?
C). How could Joseph have known about ancient cement technology in the first century B.C. in Mesoamerica?
D). Why does ancient Mesoamerican geography AND culture provide a plausible setting for the Book of Mormon?
E). How could Joseph Smith make up dozens of names in the Book of Mormon that would later be shown to be authentic ancient Semitic names?
F). Where did Joseph Smith get the idea of ancient scriptures written on metal plates?
G). How did Joseph Smith know about ancient practices regarding preservations of sacred texts?
H). Why do other ancient documents support the Book of Mormon’s idea that the ancient Joseph prophesied of Moses and Aaron?
Sandi,
I was hoping an exMormon would jump in here and respond to our buddy Helen regarding the BoM. But of course, like me, you won’t have any credibility when it comes to commenting on the BoM either. I’ve never read it. You have read it and even studied it at the flagship college of Mormonism, BYU. The only people who have credibility in Helen’s world are those who believe the BoM. It’s a Mormon game that I won’t play.
So you see you and I have the same level of credibility so I figure why waste my time reading it because it will never be enough. There’s plenty of information about the BoM available for anyone who wants to take the time to access it and make a decision as to whether or not the BoM is historically, anthropologically, geographically, linguistically or scientifically accurate.
As to whether or not the BoM provides a testimony of Jesus, so what? The book Ben Hur does that as do other novels.
I find it intriguing that Mormons like Helen fight tooth and nail defending the BoM and then don’t follow the God that is revealed there. At least the early break away sects of Mormonism have the integrity and good sense to recognize that there’s a significant difference between the God of the BoM and the pantheon of gods that Joseph Smith conjured up in his later career.
Helen,
I also have read the BoM and all the standered works, plus many other LDS approved books, and been to LDS church services.
The RLDS and the FLDS also follow JS and believe the BoM and yet you claim they are not “real” LDS, Or at least LDS in general dont accept them. LDS dont teach they are brothers and sisters yet they believe closer to you than we do. I have prayed about the BoM and the LDS church many times and have been told it is false.
You need to do more than pray and want to believe, I want to believe that I am rich and can fight like batman, but wanting to believe will not make it so. The Bible and the BoM since it was plagurised from the Bible all teach, search the scriptures to know if these things are true. They do not teach to pray about truth. Quote James if you like, but that is not saying, pray for truth, it is you praying for wisdom, Wisdom is using your Brain to know if something is true. You can use your brain all you want, but if their is ZERO evidence, then you dont know if it is true or not and simply need to rely on blind faith. This is no different than the atheists that so badly want to believe we arrived here on earth from Lightning striking gasses that caused life, They cannot prove the big bang, they can only have faith it happened and really want to believe since they want to really believe God does not exist.
Yes, I knew that was pretty much what I would get. I will not be answering Helen’s questions. I have read it and I know its false and that she is decieved. If she doesn’t repent she is going to find out just how wrong she was, but she can’t say nobody told her. She will be without excuse. Its seems that her heart is hardened to the truth.
Dear Helen,
Thanks for your answers to my three questions.
I’ve summarized your responses below, to see if I understand. I’ve added in my comments, too. I pose some other questions, but they are more rhetorical; don’t feel you need to answer them except to yourself. God bless you, Helen.
1. For this course, do all grades qualify as passing? Are there any failing grades?
It looks like you believe you existed before you were born, though its memory was removed. And the purpose of this existence is to display your worthiness, or righteousness? This display includes faith in Jesus Christ to be your savior; to do something or to save you from something. And keeping covenants you have made; that is, your promise to keep the law?
I agree with you that God knows the heart and mind of man. So your grading will be dealt with fairly. God knows everything. In fact, he knew everything from before the foundation of the earth. (He knew of Helen’s and Brian’s correspondence these last few days.) In Jeremiah 17:9, God describes the heart of man. What do you think of this description, Helen? Has God graded your heart?
(Continues …)
2. If you were to evaluate your performance in the course so far, what grade do you think you’ve earned?
It looks like you’re not sure what your grade would be. That’s understandable; it was a difficult question. But you would guess your performance is based on ordinances (rites?) you have performed. And promises kept; your promise to keep the law. Do you have to keep all the law? Or can you keep part of it (James 2:10)? Have you kept the law, Helen?
3. Is the grading system based upon a curve? Or is it based upon an absolute standard?
You’ve said that God does not grade on a curve. So it must be upon an absolute standard. I agree with you, Helen. And you’ve stated that someone who has tried to be righteous all his life, and another who just recently tried to be righteous, are viewed as the same in the sight of God? I agree they would be viewed as the same.
Conclusion
Since God has declared that no one is righteous (Romans 3:10), could it be that the verdict is already in? God has known everything forever. So is he qualified to make such a blanket verdict, pronouncing the guilt of man?
Is this life a test? A course? Well, if it is, I have certainly failed the course. I believe that God knew this from eternity past, and decided to grade not my coursework, but his. He saved me from being graded; from judgment. (John 5:24). He decided to save me from judgment before I was ever born. And then, eleven years ago, he did.
What about the course I’m now in? I believe it is to express gratitude to him, yield to him as he makes me his workmanship, and share with others what he has done for me.
Falcon states, I Quote: ” It looks like you believe you existed before you were born, though its memory was removed. And the purpose of this existence is to display your worthiness, or righteousness? This display includes faith in Jesus Christ to be your savior; to do something or to save you from something. And keeping covenants you have made; that is, your promise to keep the law?”
Preexistence is in the Bible, so yes my statement is of course correct. My memory was never removed; I stated a veil of forgetfulness was placed over our minds. We do not remember our pre-mortal life or from remembering our pre-birth experiences — Eccl. 1:11
11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
Again quoting Brian: ” In Jeremiah 17:9, God describes the heart of man. What do you think of this description, Helen? Has God graded your heart?” Brian has also argued the following, according to the bible it is not wise to trust our hearts when seeking for spiritual guidance, because our hearts are deceitful and cannot be understood.”
Let me address both issues. First what is the context of this Biblical text? What is not said by Brian?
So reading the very next verse allows us to understand a little better what this passage means:
10 “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways,
According to the results of his deeds.
Has God graded yor heart? So Brian, why does God use the word search if he know all. To search implies there is more to it.
Quoting Falcon, not Brian that was a error on my part in the above post.
2. If you were to evaluate your performance in the course so far, what grade do you think you’ve earned?
“It looks like you’re not sure what your grade would be. But you would guess your performance is based on ordinances (rites?) you have performed. And promises kept; your promise to keep the law. Do you have to keep all the law? Or can you keep part of it (James 2:10)? Have you kept the law, Helen?”
Of course you overlooked what I stated, God will judge me both on keeping the commandments and my performance. Charity or the Love of God for others. Of course you go directly too only me keeping the covenants I make and consider that performance. Interesting bit of misunderstanding, I wonder why? You do well to quote James 2:10 yet leave out Charity and performance therein.
So what else I Gods law spelled out in James, let me help you Falcon:
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath bfaith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily bfood,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye agive them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so afaith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Falcon again, “Is this life a test? A course? Well, if it is, I have certainly failed the course. I believe that God knew this from eternity past, and decided to grade not my coursework, but his. He saved me from being graded; from judgment. (John 5:24). He decided to save me from judgment before I was ever born. And then, eleven years ago, he did.”
Then you state ” is it a absolute standard” since it is not a curve.
Book of Mormon:
“And since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their sins, through faith and repentance…” — Alma 22:14
Mormons belief between grace and works:
Some gifts coming from the Atonement are universal, infinite, and unconditional. These include His ransom for Adam’s original transgression so that no member of the human family is held responsible for that sin. Another universal gift is the Resurrection from the dead of every man, woman, and child who lives, has ever lived, or ever will live on earth.
What is the absolute standard. Eternal Life and membership into His Kingdom through Faith, Repentance, Baptism and Gift of the Holy Ghost. Absolute standard for Eternal life, but not the resurrection of all, that is a free gift.