Joseph Smith: Mormon Prophet

As some people see things, we are living in the Information Age. That is, the dominating and distinguishing attribute of our era is information. Earlier eras were known as the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. The distinguishing characteristic was the materials the used. But our age is different. It is not so much the materials or tools we use, but how we use them. It is the guiding information that sets us apart from previous ages.

Even though information is a blessing—after all, the Internet is also known as the Information Superhighway for a reason—there are some drawbacks associated with the process. I see three critical aspects of information: accessibility, accuracy, and utility. These are some of the basic questions of informatics.

ACCESSIBILITY

One of foremost problems with information was noted by Thomas Sowell. Although he was speaking as an economist, his point applies generally:

“Knowledge is one of the most scarce of all resources.” (Basic Economics, 14)

The book of Job asks, “But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?” (Job 28:12) Of course we can partially answer Job by saying that wisdom can be found in public libraries, the Internet (with a grain of salt), and at learning establishments, among other places.

That is why this era of human history is so prosperous—we have all of this readily accessible information. Instead of being locked-up in royal archives, or sequestered in remote monasteries, our information is superabundant.

Even so, books go out of print, are lost and damaged, and Internet links sometimes go dead. The question “where is wisdom?” in part still remains.

ACCURACY

Nowadays it has become proverbial to respond to ridiculous ideas by saying, “Oh? I bet you read that on the Internet!” This sarcasm underscores the point that it is one thing to know a fact, and the another matter entirely to know if said fact is true. The questions we ask are: Is our information accurate? Is it reliable? And how can we verify the information?

The problem is further compounded because even good people make mistakes. The Book of Mormon, which is another testament of Jesus Christ comparable to the Bible, has a passage that strikes me as relevant. In it, an ancient prophet describes the word’s infosphere in the last days:

“They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.” (2 Nephi 28:14)

In a revelation given to Joseph Smith, the first prophet of the Mormon Church, the same point is affirmed:

“And my vineyard has become corrupted every whit; and there is none which doeth good save it be a few; and they err in many instances because of priestcrafts … ”(D&C 33:4)

And another revelation speaks of people who are:

“ … honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by the craftiness of men.”(D&C 76:75)

So good people can make mistakes, and there are sometimes shady people who are less than honorable. And these character flaws and the occasional bald-faced mischief can hamper the information we receive. Information thereby becomes disinformation, or even worse: noninformation.

UTILITY

The last aspect of information is utility. Joseph Smith once spoke of “correct (though useless) knowledge” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 287). After accessing the information, and verifying it, the question remains as to how to put it to good use.

With some backwoods imagery, Joseph Smith observed:

“A man never has half so much fuss to unlock a door, if he has a key, as though he had not, and had to cut it open with his jack-knife.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 307)

We’ve all done this—used a butter knife as a screwdriver. It works, but it is not as effective as using the proper tool the right way. The same holds true for information. At one meeting I attended, one of the people kept offering solutions to non-existent problems. As the proverb goes, “To a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail.”

It’s that tool imagery again. But information is not so much a tool as a guide for how to use the tools we have. Sometimes we use the wrong tool, or more commonly, we use the right tool the wrong way. Information helps sort out these types of practical questions.

JOSEPH SMITH’S INSIGHT

I am impressed how Joseph Smith handled these three problems of information—accessibility, accuracy, and utility. The amazing thing about this is that he was born in 1805. So not only was he pre-Information Age, he was also pre-Industrial Age. Although the Industrial Age had its beginnings in the late 1700s, this was primarily in England. Joseph Smith lived far outside of the pale of its potency.

Also, by his own admission Joseph Smith was more of a backwater hillbilly than intellectual titan. Describing himself at fourteen years, he said that he was:

“ … an obscure boy, of a little over fourteen years of age, and one, too, who was doomed to the necessity of obtaining a scanty maintenance by his daily labor.”(JS-History 1:23)

And his poverty limited his education:

"And being in indigent circumstances, were obliged to labor hard for the support of a large family, having nine children. And as it required the exertions of all that were able to render any assistance for the support of the family, therefore, we were deprived of the benefit of an education. Suffice it to say, I was merely instructed in reading and writing and the ground rules of arithmetic, which constituted my whole literary acquirements.” (1832 History, Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, 10. Standardized.)

And I love the letter to his wife that he wrote from New York City. It reminds me of the fable of the City Mouse and the Country Mouse. As a wide-eyed country yokel, he was over-awed by the big city:

“This day I have been walking through the most splendid part of the City of New York. The buildings are truly great and wonderful to the astonishing of every beholder.”

“And the language of my heart is like this: Can the great God of all the Earth maker of all things magnificent and splendid be displeased with man for all these great inventions sought out by them? My answer is no, it cannot be, seeing these works are calculated to make men comfortable wise and happy.” (Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, 277ff. Standardized)

So his insights (and foresight) into informatics are uncanny. They certainly were not part of his intellectual environment and upbringing.

ACCESSIBILITY

Joseph Smith was a champion of transparency. In 1830 he published the Book of Mormon. Then in 1835, he published a book of his revelations the Doctrine and Covenants. He also set the pattern for regular church periodicals that lasts to this day. He also pioneered adult high education with the School of the Prophets and the University of Nauvoo.

In our day, the Mormon Church has added radio, television, satellite, cable, and internet media for distributing information.

Joseph Smith also utilized church conferences. There were both local and general conferences of the church, which now happen semi-annually. The point of all of this it to keep the information flowing. There was never a policy of “need to know.”

Joseph Smith taught:

"God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least [Mormon] may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them, for the day must come when no man need say to his neighbor, Know ye the Lord; for all shall know Him . . . from the least to the greatest [see Jeremiah 31:34]." (“Chapter 22: Gaining Knowledge of Eternal Truths,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, [2007], 261–270.)

ACCURACY

The Mormon Church’s information oversight is meticulous. The Correlation Department oversees the publication of church materials, lesson plans, magazines, and web content. This certifies that the information is trustworthy. This overseership began with Joseph Smith proofreading and editing the early church periodicals and the scriptures.

Joseph Smith affirmed that Mormonism embraces all truth:

“Mormonism is truth, in other words the doctrine of the Latter-day Saints, is truth. . . . The first and fundamental principle of our holy religion is, that we believe that we have a right to embrace all, and every item of truth, without limitation or without being circumscribed or prohibited by the creeds or superstitious notions of men, or by the dominations of one another, when that truth is clearly demonstrated to our minds, and we have the highest degree of evidence of the same." (Ibid.)

However, this does not mean that Mormons believe every idea. There must be a testing process to verify that the idea in question is true: “clearly demonstrated to our minds … and we have the highest degree of evidence of the same.” That is why there is oversight.

Mormons also have their own personal “Oversight Committee” with the scriptures, the monthly periodicals, the church leaders, and prayer.

UTILITY

The first two aspects, accessibility and accuracy, are a corporate church responsibility. Utility is an individual responsibility.

A revelation explains:

“For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.”

“Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;”

“For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.” (D&C 58:26-28)

Joseph Smith pioneered what we now call “empowerment.” He said that there must be “a balance or equilibrium of power” between leadership and flock, so that “harmony and good-will may be preserved ...” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 23). The free-flowing information empowers people to act on their own, and to act intelligently. The goal was to work harder, work smarter, and to work autonomously.

CONTENT

Joseph Smith’s reason for setting such a system has to do with the content of his message. He was a religious leader, so his message was of capital importance and eternal consequence. His message can be seen as having three main divisions: Absolute Truth, The Atonement, and the Principles of the Gospel.

Absolute Truth. Any discussion of Joseph Smith and information must begin with his belief in absolute truth. In one of his revelations, truth is defined this way:

“And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.” (D&C 93:24)

This definition embraces both the correspondence and the coherence theories of truth. It also bridges the objective and the subjective gap by emphasizing both the “things as they really are” and our knowledge of said things. Something can be true, but we can also be ignorant of the truth. We need to have both.

Spencer W. Kimball, twelfth president of Mormon Church taught:

"There are absolute truths and relative truths. The rules concerning what a person should eat have changed many times in my lifetime. Many scientific findings have changed from year to year. The scientists taught for decades that the world was once a nebulous, molten mass cast off from the sun, and later many scientists said it once was a whirl of dust which solidified. There are many ideas advanced to the world that have been changed to meet the needs of the truth as it has been discovered.”

“There are relative truths, and there are also absolute truths which are the same yesterday, today, and forever—never changing. These absolute truths are not altered by the opinions of men. As science has expanded our understanding of the physical world, certain accepted ideas of science have had to be abandoned because new truths have been discovered. Some of these seeming truths were stoutly maintained for centuries.”

“The sincere searching of science often rests only on the threshold of truth, whereas revealed facts give us certain absolute truths as a beginning point so we may come to understand the nature of man and the purpose of his life." (Spencer W. Kimball, “Absolute Truth,” Ensign, Sep 1978, 3)

Mormonism deals with fixed and eternal principles, not with fuzzy ideas or shifting values.

The Atonement. When asked about the bare essentials of his faith, Joseph Smith replied:

“The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.” (“Chapter 3: Jesus Christ, the Divine Redeemer of the World,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, [2007], 45–56.)

Joseph Smith’s focus was Christ. As Howard W. Hunter, the fourteenth president of the Mormon Church taught:

“The doctrine of the Resurrection is the single most fundamental and crucial doctrine in the Christian religion. It cannot be overemphasized, nor can it be disregarded. Without the Resurrection, the gospel of Jesus Christ becomes a litany of wise sayings and seemingly unexplainable miracles—but sayings and miracles with no ultimate triumph.” (Howard W. Hunter, “An Apostle’s Witness of the Resurrection,” Ensign, May 1986, 15)

That is why there is so much precision in overseeing the flow of information. If the Atonement can neither be overemphasized nor disregarded, then it also cannot be taught in a slipshod or an inaccurate way. We must have our facts straight and the doctrine pure. There is no salvation in believing a lie; there is no use in believing error.

Principles of the Gospel. Mormonism has thirteen Articles of Faith. The third and fourth focus on the core message:

“We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.”

“We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Articles of Faith 1:3-4)

In addition to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Mormonism has specific ordinances (sacraments), specific covenants, and specific rules of membership. These also need to be transmitted and taught with utmost care.

That is why Joseph Smith was cautious about going off on bizarre tangents and low-brow speculation. When counseling missionaries, he said:

“Declare the first principles, and let mysteries alone, lest ye be overthrown.” (“Chapter 28: Missionary Service: A Holy Calling, a Glorious Work,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, [2007], 327–38)

The point is to accurately have the right content readily accessible for personal use.

CONCLUSION

When I began writing this blog, I had a sense of Joseph Smith’s uncanny insight into informatics. But after seeing the nuts and bolts of his informatics matrix, and that coming from a self-proclaimed poorly educated country boy, I am dumbfounded. He was operating way beyond his environmental and educational capacities.

Richard L. Bushman wrote:

“[Joseph Smith’s] natural bent was charismatic, not bureaucratic. His influence had come through his visionary gifts, not by appointing officers and assigning duties. Yet he formed institutions almost intuitively, showing a surprising aptitude for one with limited experience.” (Rough Stone Rolling, 111.)

Exactly. But the question remains, where did all of this come from? How do we explain this gap of experience when contrasted with the sound informatics he designed?

That is where faith in him as a prophet comes in. For me, the gap is too big to be ignored, bushed aside, or explained away. As I see it, there is only one possible explanation: he was a prophet.

I am also grateful that the promise of Isaiah may be fulfilled:

“They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.” (2 Nephi 27:35)

That is the point of a pure information flow: to make us better people.

There was a lot of reminiscing when political commentator William F. Buckley passed on. I read and saw several of the “last interviews” various people had with him.

One interview caught my eye. In it, Buckley discussed his experience at Yale as an undergraduate, and the relationship universities have to God:

“Well, what happened there was that as a student at Yale in my junior and senior year, certain paradoxes sort of crystallized. One of them had to do with Christianity. Although Yale was at least ostensibly a Christian-oriented college having been founded as such 200 years earlier, there was a kind of nagging inattention and sometimes hostility to religion in the classrooms, and then it was—I’m talking about 1945, '46, '47, '48. There was a great infatuation with postwar socialism, so that the socialist government in Great Britain was spoken about here and there as sort of a high point of political sophistication.”

“So when I pulled out, I thought that these paradoxes should be examined in the framework of a book that said, ‘What is a college supposed to do by way of furthering missions?’ and who is entitled to vote on what should be in that mission, my point being that the alumni who sustain a college should have a significant voice in it.”

I chuckled. I’m a graduate of Brigham Young University (BYU), and we constantly had these discussions about God, Man, and the Academy.

For example, Merrill J. Bateman, the eleventh president of BYU and a general authority in the Mormon Church, observed:

“Is the university apart from or a part of the Church? Following the announcement of my appointment as president of Brigham Young University, the Salt Lake Tribune carried an article on what it means to have a General Authority as the school's leader. The major point of the article concerned the university's relationship to the Church. The news reporter suggested that although some might have assumed prior to the announcement that the university was a secular institution distinct from but reporting to the Church, the call clearly indicates that the university is an integral part of the kingdom.”

“The article surprised me in that I had never thought of Brigham Young University separate from the Church. Prophet after prophet has stated clearly that Brigham Young University is a religious institution with a divine mission, even though secular education is a key part of its purpose. Given the organizational structure by which the university is governed, it seems paradoxical that some might think that Brigham Young University is not an integral part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church itself is an educational institution, and Brigham Young University is one of its key components.”

“Thus, one might say that this institution is not only a university in Zion but is in the process of becoming a ‘Zion university.’” (A Zion University)

So, yes, the student body has everything to do with the body of Christ. They should be one and the same.

The Mormon Church has no professional clergy. Day-to-day management of the church is done on a voluntary basis. When I was an undergraduate student at BYU, I served in the Sunday School as a teacher, as the president of the ward Sunday school (the local congregation), and as Stake Sunday School president. This involved visiting the classes in our stake (akin to a diocese), and reporting back to the stake president. And all that while being a student full-time and working part-time. On top of that, many BYU students are married, with children.

Then there is missionary work. Like me, a majority of the students at BYU have served missions for the Mormon Church. The same can also be said for the professors. In fact the Missionary Training Center for North America is located between the BYU campus and the Provo, Utah Temple. Of course there is some symbolism with this location. The motto of BYU is taken from Mormon scripture: “The glory of God is intelligence.” (D&C 93:36)

The Mormon view of higher education goes back to its first prophet Joseph Smith. In March 1832, almost two and a half years after the organization of the church, Joseph Smith received this revelation from God that endorsed education.

In part it reads:

“Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand;”

“Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms—“

“That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you.” (D&C 88:78-80)

The practical result of this was the creation of the School of the Prophets. This group met in the Kirtland Temple, and the curriculum covered both spiritual and secular topics.

Richard L. Bushman observed:

“The school has been represented as an early adult education effort, but the name ‘the School of the Prophets’ indicated a higher purpose. By alluding to the band of prophets who received instruction under Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha, it implied preparation for a holy work. Missionaries had been going into the field without instruction; in the school, they were to teach one another ‘the doctrines of the kingdom,’ and virtually everything else … There seems to have been no limit on the knowledge needed to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.” (Rough Stone Rolling, 210-211)

Joseph Smith loved these classes, and personal study as well. Two journal entries highlight this:

"Spent this day at home, endeavoring to treasure up knowledge for the benefit of my calling." (21 December 1835, History of the Church, 2:344)

"Spent the day at school. The Lord blessed us in our studies. This day we commenced reading in our Hebrew Bibles with much success. It seems as if the Lord opens our minds in a marvelous manner, to understand His word in the original language; and my prayer is that God will speedily endow us with a knowledge of all languages and tongues, that His servants may go forth for the last time the better prepared to bind up the law, and seal up the testimony." (19 January 1836, History of the Church, 2:376)

The same pattern used in Kirtland was followed in Nauvoo, Illinois with the founding of the University of Nauvoo. A proclamation explained the aims of the university:

“The ‘University of the City of Nauvoo will enable us to teach our children wisdom, to instruct them in all the knowledge and learning, in the arts, sciences, and learned professions. We hope to make this institution one of the great lights of the world, and by and through it to diffuse that kind of knowledge which will be of practicable utility, and for the public good, and also for private and individual happiness. The Regents of the University will take the general supervision of all matters appertaining to education, from common schools up to the highest branches of a most liberal collegiate course. They will establish a regular system of education, and hand over the pupil from teacher to professor, until the regular gradation is consummated and the education finished.” (History of the Church, 4:269)

Brigham Young University is the third incarnation of the School of the Prophets. The university mission statement explains:

“The mission of Brigham Young University—founded, supported, and guided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—is to assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life. That assistance should provide a period of intensive learning in a stimulating setting where a commitment to excellence is expected and the full realization of human potential is pursued.”

“All instruction, programs, and services at BYU, including a wide variety of extracurricular experiences, should make their own contribution toward the balanced development of the total person. Such a broadly prepared individual will not only be capable of meeting personal challenge and change but will also bring strength to others in the tasks of home and family life, social relationships, civic duty, and service to mankind.” (Mission Statement)

I am not sure of William F. Buckley ever visited BYU, to see this marriage of the secular and the spiritual at work. Even if you disagree with his politics, you must agree with his thoughts on tearing down the wall of separation between Church and Academy. Buckley was a practicing Catholic and worked within the tradition of John Duns Scotus, Albertus Magnus, and Thomas Aquinas. He believed that the secular academy needed to work with the spiritual academy.

So do I. After all, Christ is the Truth.

As a Mormon working within the tradition of Joseph Smith, I also agree that there needs to be an intellectual union of the secular and the spiritual. And I am glad that the Mormon Church actually puts this ideal into practice. Trust me—it works!

William Moore Allred had this charming recollection about Joseph Smith, the first prophet of the Mormon Church:

“[Joseph Smith] said it tried some of the pious folks to see him play ball with the boys. He then related a story of a certain prophet who was sitting under the shade of a tree amusing himself in some way, when a hunter came along with his bow and arrow, and reproved him. The prophet asked him if he kept his bow strung up all the time. The hunter answered that he did not. The prophet asked why, and he said it would lose its elasticity if he did. The prophet said it was just so with his mind, he did not want it strung up all the time.” (Encyclopedia of Joseph Smith’s Teachings, 395)

In our age of over-programming, this is a needed reminder. All too often we try to wedge more and more into the crannies of our schedule. Of course we want to make the most of every day, but we can go overboard. Our time management permutates into time micromanagement. And, as the Law of Diminishing Returns reminds us, the more we try to micromanage our time, the less effective our efforts become.

Indeed, Aristotle said that a well-rounded life includes relaxation as well as activity (Ethics IV.8). We forget that we are both spiritual and temporal beings (D&C 29:35). This temporal aspect requires maintenance, just as much as our spiritual sides need attention. Even God Himself rested after the days of creation, something which workaholics seem to forget.

The same need for rest and relaxation applies to families as well. In 1995 the Mormon Church issued a declaration called “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” This document contains both doctrine and counsel on how to overpower the corrosions that are eating at the family.

One paragraph contains this sentence:

“Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.”

We all understand the importance of faith, prayer, compassion, and so forth, in rearing families, but wholesome recreation activities? And that listed right after a reaffirmation of the gospel of work?

As I see it, this is not just another platitude about “taking time to smell the roses.” The roots run deeper. As I mentioned earlier, rest, or to be true to the Hebrew, cessation is a divine activity. Our present-day work week is based upon God’s creative week: six days on, one day off. The weekdays are used for our “day jobs.” Saturday is a special day where we take care of odd jobs around the house, and we use it to prepare for the new week. Sunday is a holy day, set apart from the commonplace days. On that day we are to offer our “oblations and [our] sacraments unto the Most High, confessing [our] sins unto [our] brethren, and before the Lord.” (D&C 59:12)

But never forget that rest is a divine activity. God preformed specific tasks on each of the days of creation, culminating with the creation of Adam and Eve. Then He rested. This rest was as much a part of creation as were the six other days. Of course I am not implying that God needed rest in the way we do. But He clearly stopped working for some reason. It is imperative that we follow this pattern in our lives, even if we do not fully understand the whys and wherefores.

We need to rest because we have to make room in our schedules for God. Sunday allows for proper worship. Instead of focusing on our bills to merchants, we can focus on the debt of the Atonement. This great sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which is the hinge of all history, should also be the hinge of our own personal histories and life plans. Recreation, in effect, allows us to get our bearings, to jump out of our intellectual and behavioral ruts, and to switch focus from our daily anxieties to the peaceable things of eternity. Once we are refocused, we in turn become reinvigorated for the upcoming battle next week.

Gordon B. Hinckley, the fifteenth president of the Mormon Church shared this story about how his father engaged in rest and relaxation:

"Will you pardon me if I tell you about my father? When he was about the age that I am now [87 years], he was fully retired. But he was active. He lived in a rather simple but comfortable home in a rural area. He had an orchard around him and enjoyed giving away the fruit. The yard of his home included lawns and shrubs and trees. It had a rock wall about two feet high separating one level from another. Whenever the weather was good he would sit on the wall, an old hat on his head to shade his eyes from the summer sun. ...”

“I discovered that when he sat on the wall, hours at a time on a warm day, he would reflect on the things he had read from his library.”

“I think he grew old gracefully and wonderfully. He had his books with the precious treasures they contained of the thoughts of great men and women of all the ages of time. He never ceased to learn. As he sat on the wall he thought deeply of what he had read the night before. He acquired the habit as a student here under Dr. Maeser. It was part of his BYU experience.”

“At times I almost envy him: time to read and time to ponder. What a blessing. He reminded me of leaves on the trees. When autumn comes with killing frost, the leaves change their color, and they give off a new beauty until they eventually drop to form a carpet on the ground.”

“Now, you are young, and why am I telling you of an old man and the wall on which he sat? I am telling you because I think it has a lesson for each of us. We must never cease to learn. We believe in eternal progression and that this life is a part of eternity to be profitably lived until the very end.” (The BYU Experience)

In addition to learning, we also need to take time to rest. We set down our tools, shut off the computers and other gizmos, retire to our rooms, and pray. We need to make time for unstringing the bow. We need time for God.