Joseph Smith
The Making of a Prophet
Publishers Summary:
If Joseph's first vision failed to secure his father's full attention, this recital did. Unlike the vision of Jesus which tapped into his mother's visionary heritage, Joseph's 1823 story emerged from the symbols available in Joseph Sr.'s world--seer stones, dreams, guardian spirits, and enchanted treasures. In the interim, Joseph had learned to speak his father's language. Like Joseph Sr., young Joseph had had a remarkable dream in which an "attendant spirit" told him of a box that contained "wisdom and understanding." Upon finding the container, Joseph was confronted by something that frightened him--not the host of threatening beasts that caused his father to flee for his life, but a toad-like creature that transformed itself into the spirit of a little old man who struck him. That Joseph's 1823 encounters with a spirit over a gold book essentially supported Joseph Sr.'s dreams was recognized by Abner Cole, editor of the Palmyra Reflector, who understood in 1831 that the spirit's "tidings corresponded precisely with revelations made to, and predictions made by the elder Smith, a number of years before." How could Joseph Sr. not believe this account? The Smith family soon forgot their religious differences as they gathered nightly to hear Joseph Jr.'s stories. Lucy reports that "we sat up very late and listened attentively to all that he had to say to us." On the night following Joseph's first trip to the hill, Alvin suggested that the family get up early the next morning in order to finish their labor an hour earlier than usual, thus having more time in the evening to hear more of Joseph's account. The following day, the family pursued their labors with excited anticipation for what they might hear that evening. At last, just before sunset, Lucy recalled that the family was "ready to be seated and give our undivided attention to Joseph's recitals." Joseph charged them with secrecy about the gold plates, for as he explained, "the world was so wicked that when they did come to a knowledge of these things they would try to take our lives and as soon as we obtained the plates our names would be cast out as evil by all people." Lucy said the family was "astonished" by such talk. Joseph went on to say that if they were wise and prudent, God would make all things known to them. He turned to his father, asking, "Do you believe it?" Joseph Sr. replied, "Why yes certainly ... he has all power and wisdom, knowledge and understanding and of course can teach us all things if we are worthy and we will try to live in such a [way] as to deserve the favor of God." This exchange reveals something of the intellectual and moral superiority the son was beginning to assume. Brother William remembered that "the whole family were melted to tears, and believed all he said." Joseph quickly emerged from his former stance of quiet observer to the center of attention at these nightly gatherings. "Every evening we gathered our children together," Lucy recalled, "all seated in a circle, father, mother, sons and daughters listening in breathless anxiety to the religious teachings of a boy [seventeen] years of age." This was a creative time for Joseph. "In the course of our evening conversations," Lucy said, "Joseph would give us some of the most amusing recitals which could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent--their dress, their manner of traveling, the animals which they rode, the cities that were built by them, the structures of their buildings, with every particular of their mode of warfare, their religious worship as particularly as though he had spent his life with them." Clearly, the son was honing his talent as a story teller.
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- ISBN
- 978-1-56085-179-0
- Publisher
- Signature Books
REVIEWS
Vogel is nothing if not ambitious. He aims to write "an interpretive biography of an emotional and intellectual life" of Joseph Smith (1805-44), the founder of Mormonism. This volume covers the first part of Smith's career, up to 1831. Smith provoked controversy from early adolescence until his death-and it didn't stop then. There are hundreds of Smith biographies, ranging from the hagi...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
