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Question: Was Joseph Smith’s only mission to bring forth the Book of Mormon?
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Question: Was Joseph Smith’s only mission to bring forth the Book of Mormon?
Introduction to Question
In The Book of Commandments, which contains many of the revelations now canonized today as the Doctrine and Covenants, we read the following in the forth chapter and second verse:
- 4:2 And now, behold this shall you say unto him:--I the Lord am God, and I have given these things unto my servant Joseph, and I have commanded him that he should stand as a witness of these things, nevertheless I have caused him that he should enter into a covenant with me, that he should not show them except I command him and he has no power over them except I grant it unto him; and he has a gift to translate the book and I have commanded him that he shall pretend to no other gift, for I will grant him no other gift.
This revelation was given in March 1829. That last phrase—“for I will grant him no other gift”—has puzzled certain interpreters. Did this mean that Joseph Smith was only meant to translate the Book of Mormon as his prophetic gift? Did Joseph Smith lose the ability to receive revelation after finishing the translation the Book of Mormon? Did Joseph Smith perhaps fabricate his encounters with Peter, James, and John in order to bolster his credibility and continue his religious exploits?
Later on when this revelation was incorporated into the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, the revelation was edited. All of the above blue highlights are changed from the third person to the second person as if the Lord was speaking to Joseph Smith directly and not Oliver Cowdery. There are other edits made to the revelation. The revelation is quoted below with the newer edits (beyond the shift from third to second person) highlighted in red:
5:2 And now, behold, this shall you say unto him--he who spake unto you, said unto you: I, the Lord, am God, and I have given these things unto you, my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and have commanded you that you should stand as a witness of these things;
5:3 And I have caused you that you should enter into a covenant with me, that you should not show them except to those persons to whom I commanded you; and you have no power over them except I grant it unto you.
5:4 And you have a gift to translate the plates; and this is the first gift that I bestowed upon you; and I have commanded that you should pretend to no other gift until my purpose is fulfilled in this; for I will grant unto you no other gift until it is finished.
Certain critics claim that Joseph Smith may have revised the revelation in order to continue his imagined prophetic career and alleged religious exploits.
This article will examine these questions as they have arisen.
Response to Question
The Original Revelation Makes No Mention of How Long Joseph Smith is to Pretend to No Other Gift
The immediate point is that the original revelation makes no mention of how long Joseph is to pretend to no other gift. The critics are assuming that the revelation is saying something when it might not be saying that thing at all. Does “pretend to no other gift” mean “pretend to no other gift at all”? Or just “pretend to no other gift for now”? Joseph seems to have clarified that meaning for us with further experience and revelation. Part of that revelation is 2 Nephi 3:8. 2 Nephi 3 contains a prophecy of Joseph Jr. becoming a "choice seer" that brings forth the Book of Mormon in the last days. The prophecy is given to Joseph of Egypt. Echoing the language of the Book of Commandments, God tells Joseph of Egypt, "And I will give unto him a commandment, that he shall do none other work, save the work which I shall command him." Here, the words of the Lord to Joseph of Egypt clarify the words of the Lord to Joseph. Joseph is not being prohibited from having any other gift, but only from pretending to a gift that the Lord hasn't given him. The Lord still intended to give Joseph Smith other writings to translate revelations to dictate.
All categorical statements are context-dependent. We can walk into a room and exclaim “Everything’s dirty!” That doesnt literally mean that everything in the universe and in existence is dirty. That doesn’t even mean that literally everything in that particular room is dirty. It means that there is enough in the room that is dirty that it provokes us to exclaiming "everything is dirty". The same principle applies here. Yes, the language is categorical; but we must take more into account in order to interpret that categorical language correctly. In this case, that includes further revelation and experience given to Joseph Smith.
The ‘gift to translate this book’ can be language to refer to the gift to translate broadly
The next part of this revelation that we need to deal with is the ‘gift to translate this book’ part. The language, if taken in a strict, textualist, literal sense, does refer to the gift of translating the Book of Mormon specifically. But, we can interpret this language more broadly to just refer to the gift to translate ancient texts generally. Indeed, that will be the necessary position for us to take as orthodox Latter-day Saints since Joseph Smith was granted the opportunity to translate a long lost papyri about John the Baptist—the translation of which is contained in section 7 of the Doctrine and Covenants. That section of the Doctrine and Covenants was received in April 1829 during the translation of the Book of Mormon which took place from late April 1829–mid-June 1829.[1]
So Joseph Smith had the gift to translate the Book of Mormon because he had the broader gift given to him by God to translate ancient texts that are vital to the exaltation and salvation of God’s children.
The Coming of Elijah and the Translation of the Rest of the Book of Mormon
Two more reasons that we can tag onto this response to convince people that the revelation may be interpreted wrong are the following.
- The Lord has already promised, prior to the translation of the Book of Mormon, other gifts that were promised by the Lord to his children in the latter days. This includes the coming of Elijah prophesied by Malachi and given by the Lord Jesus Christ to the Nephites in 3 Nephi 25. Why shouldn't we believe that the Lord would effectuate that coming of Elijah through Joseph Smith who he entrusted to reveal the most significant ancient record to?
- The Book of Mormon also declares that the Book of Mormon must have its sealed portion translated at some point. According to the Book of Mormon, the sealed portion of the gold plates "contains the complete record of the vision of the brother of Jared ( see Ether 4:4–5; [ 5:1 ]). This vision included 'all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof' (2 Nephi 27:10–11; see also Ether 3:25). So basically the Lord revealed to the brother of Jared the history of mankind, and the sealed portion of the plates was Moroni's translated copy of it."[2] The Lord declared that the words of the sealed portion would not be revealed "until the day that they [the Gentiles] shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord. And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me...that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw" (Ether 4:6–7). It may be for this reason that Bruce R. McConkie explained that the sealed portion of the gold plates will be translated during the Millennium.[3] The Book of Mormon already establishes as well that the ability to translate must come through a seer and seership (encompassing), in the Book of Mormon, is passed linearly.[4] Surely Joseph Smith would have had to establish some sort of prophetic succession so that another seer, at the time of the "repentance of the Gentiles" referenced in Ether 4:6–7, could translate the sealed portion. Fortunately, we have just such succession criteria given via revelation to Joseph Smith.
Did Joseph Smith receive other gifts prior to completing the Book of Mormon translation?
So we want the revelation to mean that God would not provide another gift besides translating the Book of Mormon until he completed the Book of Mormon. One might ask: Did Joseph Smith receive other gifts from God prior completing the translation of the Book of Mormon?
The Book of Mormon translation was done from late April–mid-June 1829. Doctrine & Covenants 5 was received in March 1829 and was the only revelation received that month. Joseph Smith received 12 revelations that are recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants between April–June 1829. These include Doctrine & Covenants 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18.[5] The uses of “gift” or “gifts” in those 12 sections of the Doctrine and Covenants are as follows:
- Doctrine & Covenants 6:10
- Doctrine & Covenants 6:10
- Doctrine & Covenants 6:11
- Doctrine & Covenants 6:12
- Doctrine & Covenants 6:13
- Doctrine & Covenants 6:13
- Doctrine & Covenants 6:13
- Doctrine & Covenants 6:25
- Doctrine & Covenants 6:27
- Doctrine & Covenants 6:28
- Doctrine & Covenants 8:4
- Doctrine & Covenants 8:5
- Doctrine & Covenants 8:6
- Doctrine & Covenants 8:7
- Doctrine & Covenants 8:8
- Doctrine & Covenants 11:10
- Doctrine & Covenants 11:10
- Doctrine & Covenants 14:7
- Doctrine & Covenants 14:7
- Doctrine & Covenants 17:7
- Doctrine & Covenants 18:32
These uses of “gift” in the revelations refer to:
- Joseph Smith’s gift of translation
- Salvation
- Oliver Cowdery being given the gift of translation
- Oliver Cowdery being given the gift of revelation/working with the sprout.
- The gift given to Hyrum Smith to bring souls unto Christ (most likely this is the "gift" mentioned).
- The gift given to the Three Witnesses to see the gold plates like Joseph Smith had
- Spiritual gifts given to those that are ordained to preach the Gospel.[6]
Thus, at least if following the wording of the revelations in the Doctrine & Covenants as canonized today (and the earliest manuscripts/copies of those revelations extant today), there is no other gift that Joseph Smith received prior to finishing the translation of the Book of Mormon. Of course, Joseph Smith had a gift of receiving other revelations during the translation of the Book of Mormon, but that is not another gift on top of being able to translate ancient documents.
Our critics still might not be satisfied though. They might argue that the reception of the priesthood by Oliver and Joseph might constitute a “gift” from God. Thus even if the revelations don’t refer to the priesthood as a gift, it might be argued that it was nevertheless a gift that Joseph and Oliver received. Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery stated that the reception of the Aaronic priesthood happened on May 15, 1829.[7] It is uncertain exactly when the Melchizedek priesthood was received but a lot of evidence can be marshalled to argue that it was received in late May 1829.
We might be tempted to reply that the priesthood is more of a privilege rather than a gift—the former being something that is given because it is earned and taken away if the conditions for receiving it are not met and the latter being something freely given without compensation. This may be too problematic of an approach though because the gift of translation was sometimes treated in the way that we talk about privileges. Joseph Smith lost his gift to translate after not keeping God’s commandments. Oliver Cowdery’s gift to translate was taken away from him and the Lord calls this “gift” of translation a “privilege” in Doctrine & Covenants 9:5. Perhaps someone else will find a way to make that approach work but it doesn’t seem to work for the author of this article.
The better approach would be to reply something along these lines: Joseph Smith was given the gift to translate ancient texts broadly with Book of Commandments 4/Doctrine & Covenants 5. He was given this gift and told that he would not receive another gift until the translation was complete. This revelation was likely given because the Lord did not want Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to delay completion of the translation. He wanted them to hurry as fast as they could to get it done. Seeing, though, that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were completing the translation so fast, God decided that they were ready for the next gift of the priesthood so that they could have the power and keys necessary to organize the Church and baptize people into it. Remember, the translation of the Book of Mormon took place between late April–mid-June 1829. Joseph Smith and Oliver had nearly completed the Book of Mormon translation by mid-to-late May 1829 when they received the priesthood.[8]
Conclusion
Others may come up with different approaches for answering this criticism. This is just the one that seemed to make the most intuitive sense to the author. Hopefully it will provide everyone interested in the criticism all the necessary documents to make an informed judgement about it. It’s clear that no matter how one chooses to deal with this criticism, that it does not have to prove anything fatal to orthodox Latter-day Saints’ belief in the integrity and inspiration of their founding prophet.
Notes
- ↑ John W. Welch, “Timing the Translation of the Book of Mormon: ‘Days (and Hours) Never to Be Forgotten’,” BYU Studies 57, no. 4 (2018): 16–30.
- ↑ "What is the 'sealed portion' of the Book of Mormon, and will we ever know what’s in it?" New Era 40 (October 2011): 31.
- ↑ Bruce R. McConkie, "The Bible, a Sealed Book," Supplement, A Symposium on the New Testament, 1984; in Teaching Seminary: Preservice Readings [2004]).
- ↑ Susan Staker, "Secret Things, Hidden Things: The Seer Story in the Imaginative Economy of Joseph Smith," in American Apocrypha: Essays on the Book of Mormon, ed. Dan Vogel and Brent Lee Metcalfe (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2002), 235–74. The general tenor of the volume cited is anti-Mormon in nature with this essay being an exception. Reader discretion is advised.
- ↑ According to Brigham Young, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the revelation regarding plural marriage during their translation of the Book of Mormon. If this revelation is not Doctrine & Covenants 132, then this would be the only uncanonized revelation received during the period of the translation of the Book of Mormon. Neither Doctrine & Covenants 132 nor the revelation Brigham Young recounts include use of the word “gift”.
- ↑ The earliest manuscripts/copies of the revelations do not include other uses of gift than these.
- ↑ Oliver Cowdery letter to William W. Phelps, Sept. 7, 1834, in Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, vol. 1, no. 1 (Oct. 1834), 15; Joseph Smith, “History, 1838–1856, Volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834],” 17–18, josephsmithpapers.org.
- ↑ Some may think that this has implications for God’s foreknowledge—necessitating that God not know the exhaustive future. But this is not the case. God could have known exactly how Joseph’s and Oliver’s human psychology would respond to different commands and given them the revelation as recorded in BoC 4/D&C 5 to motivate them toward the end of completing the Book of Mormon translation. He could have known all along that the rapid completion of the translation would only be motivated by this type of revelation. This entire unfolding of events works for those that hold to open theism, middle knowledge, and even simple foreknowledge.