Joseph Smith: Mormon Prophet

The Prophet Joseph Smith declared that he was laying “a foundation that [would] revolutionize the whole world.” (“Chapter 44: The Restoration of All Things: The Dispensation of the Fulness of Times,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, [2007], 507–16.)

This has come about in a marvelous way. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly called the Mormon Church, is a global faith.

Here are some salient statistics:

• Membership: 12,868,606
• Missions: 344
• Missionaries: 53,000
• Missionary Training Centers: 17
• Temples: 124
• Congregations: 27,475
• Universities & Schools: 4
• Seminary Students Enrollment: 362,756
• Institute Students Enrollment: 358,516
• Family History Centers: over 4,500
• Number of Countries with Family History Centers: 70
• Countries Receiving Humanitarian Aid: 163
• Humanitarian Cash Donations Since 1985: $201 million
• Value of Humanitarian Material Assistance Since 1985: $705 million
• Welfare Service Missionaries: 3,552
• Languages Church Curriculum Available: 178
(Source: Newsroom.LDS.org)

This suggests two questions. First, is the Church of Jesus Christ a mega-church? Second, how do you manage these 13 million members?

The first question, is this a mega-church? No, not in the traditional sense of the word. Mega-churches are those large gathering places you see on TV. They usually have about 2,000 members attending each week, and are semi-independent from larger traditional denominations. They are predominantly a protestant/evangelical phenomenon.

That last point is key: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is its own Christian denomination. It is neither Catholic, Orthodox, nor Protestant.

Joseph Smith explained this idea by comparing the protestant denominations to branches on a tree:

“Here is a principle of logic ... I will illustrate it by an old apple tree. Here jumps off a branch and says, I am the true tree, and you are corrupt. If the whole tree is corrupt, are not its branches corrupt? … ”

“When men come out and build upon other men’s foundations, they do it on their own responsibility, without authority from God; and when the floods come and the winds blow, their foundations will be found to be sand, and their whole fabric will crumble to dust."

“Did I build on any other man’s foundation? I have got all the truth which the Christian world possessed, and an independent revelation in the bargain, and God will bear me off triumphant.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 375-376. Cf. “Chapter 45: Joseph Smith’s Feelings about His Prophetic Mission,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, [2007], 517–27.)

It is not a branch of anything; it is its own unique tree. President Thomas S. Monson, the current world leader of the Church of Jesus Christ, illustrated this principle with some military humor:

"As a 17-year-old, I enlisted in the United States Navy and attended boot camp in San Diego, California. For the first three weeks, one felt as though the navy were trying to kill rather than train him on how to stay alive."

"I shall ever remember the first Sunday at San Diego. The chief petty officer said to us, 'Today everybody goes to church.' We then lined up in formation on the drill ground. The petty officer shouted, 'All of you who are Catholics—you meet in Camp Decatur. Forward, march! And don’t come back until three!' A large number marched out. He then said, 'All of you who are of the Jewish faith—you meet in Camp Henry. Forward, march! And don’t come back until three!' A smaller contingent moved out. Then he said, 'The rest of you Protestants meet in the theaters in Camp Farragut. Forward, march! And don’t come back until three o’clock!'

"There flashed through my mind the thought, Monson, you’re not Catholic. You’re not Jewish. You’re not a Protestant. I elected to stand fast. It seemed as though hundreds of men marched by me. Then I heard the sweetest words which the petty officer ever uttered in my presence. He said, 'And what do you men call yourselves?' He used the plural—men. This was the first time I knew that anyone else was standing behind me on that drill ground. In unison we said, 'We’re Mormons.' He scratched his head, an expression of puzzlement on his face, and said, 'Well, go and find somewhere to meet—and don’t come back until three o’clock.' We marched away. (Thomas S. Monson, “Your Eternal Home,” Ensign, May 2000, 52.)

Another indication that the Church of Jesus Christ is not a mega-church is that we do not use the so-called contemporary worship service. Here and there the Mormon Tabernacle Choir will do something modern, such as Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ In The Wind,” or a piece from Lord of the Rings. But more often than not, this is your grandmother’s worship service. And I prefer it that way. I could not abide having a religious meeting marred by a carnival atmosphere. I think the signers of the Cambridge Declaration were on to something.

A press release from Newsroom.lds.org indicates that the protestant trend towards mega-churches may be leveling out.

“The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released a report this week surveying the faith landscape of the United States. Based on interviews with 35,000 Americans, the report finds that religious affiliation in this country is increasingly diverse and fluid.”

“Religion scholar Stephen Prothero commented on the implications of the Pew survey in the New York Times. ‘The trend is towards more personal religion,’ he said, speaking of evangelicals in particular and religion in general.”

“Prothero points out that even in mega-churches seen in today’s American religious landscape, members are grouped into smaller ministries within the larger church body.”

“Latter-day Saints identify with that. Mormon congregations are kept small enough to maintain a close and intimate relationship between members and their congregational leaders. At the same time, they are large enough — usually a few hundred members — to pool talents and resources for the entire group’s benefit.” (Bishops See National Trend in Mormon Congregations, 28 February 2008.)

That is the genius of Joseph Smith’s system. In effect, Joseph Smith says bigger is not always better. We keep the bodies small, and therefore have more interpersonal contact. This face-to-face, one-on-one interaction is something you could not get if the congregation were in the thousands. It is all too easy to get lost in the crowd.

However, each of the local congregations is not a separate entity, but is closely linked and overseen by the higher organizations. This is where the 13 million members come in. Each member is geographically assigned to a ward, or local congregations. In turn, several wards operate under a stake, akin to a diocese. The next level is called a region, followed by an area. The last level is the general level. Through it all, there is a system and order and a place for people, akin to an army. This analogy should not be shocking to anyone who has sung “Onward, Christian Soldiers.”

So to look at the Church as a lumbering worldwide leviathan is incorrect. Yes, there is a mass of membership, but it is portioned out into manageable units.

Boyd K. Packer, the president of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles (the second-highest governing body in the Church) said this:

“Often we are asked how the relatively few Apostles in the First Presidency and the Twelve can manage the Church, now more than [12] million strong."

"Actually the Church is no bigger than a ward. Each bishop has counselors. He wears a special mantle and is designated as the presiding high priest in the ward. There are other high priests, and there is a presidency of elders. There are auxiliary leaders and teachers sufficient for the need. When we serve obediently, ever willingly, our pay, like the bishop’s, comes in blessings."

"No matter if the Church grows to be a hundred million (as it surely will!), it will still be no bigger than a ward. Everything needed for our redemption, save for the temple, is centered there—and temples now come ever closer to all of us.” (Boyd K. Packer, “The Bishop and His Counselors,” Ensign, May 1999, 57)

To paraphrase Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil, all religion is local. And yet there is a smaller unit within the Church: the family.

In 1995 the Church issued a proclamation on the family. Two paragraphs explain that the family is really the place for spiritual development, with the Church merely being a support.

“Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. ‘Children are an heritage of the Lord’ (Psalms 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.”

“The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.” (The Family: A Proclamation to the World)

President Packer summed up these paragraphs this way:

“I’ve always felt that the ultimate end of all of the activities and programs of the Church rests in a man and a woman and their family being happy at home.” (Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting: Building Up a Righteous Posterity. February 9, 2008.)

That is what I love about my church. It is small. And it focuses on the small things, such as people, families, and the local congregations. Theologically and spiritually speaking, this is where the rubber meets the road.

Joseph Smith, the founding prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called Mormon Church), championed globalism.

One of his early associates, Wilford Woodruff (who later became the fourth president of the Church), recalled a meeting held in the 1830s. In it, Joseph Smith spoke of the worldwide destiny of the Church:

“The Prophet called on all who held the Priesthood to gather into the little log school house they had there. It was a small house, perhaps 14 feet square. But it held the whole of the Priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who were then in the town of Kirtland. … When we got together the Prophet called upon the Elders of Israel with him to bear testimony of this work. … When they got through the Prophet said, ‘Brethren, I have been very much edified and instructed in your testimonies here tonight, but I want to say to you before the Lord, that you know no more concerning the destinies of this Church and kingdom than a babe upon its mother’s lap. You don’t comprehend it.’ I was rather surprised. He said, ‘It is only a little handful of Priesthood you see here tonight, but this Church will fill North and South America—it will fill the world.’”
("Chapter 11: The Organization and Destiny of the True and Living Church,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, [2007], 135–47.)

In another setting, Joseph Smith affirmed:

“I intend to lay a foundation that will revolutionize the whole world.” (“Chapter 44: The Restoration of All Things: The Dispensation of the Fulness of Times,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, [2007], 507–16.)

Joseph Smith had a global vision. The Church began in the United States, then Joseph Smith sent missionaries to Canada, and later went himself in 1833. In 1837 he sent missionaries to Great Britain. From there, it branched out to the rest of Europe, and then the world.

However, some people see the Church and Joseph Smith as a local or national phenomenon. Scholar Harold Bloom wrote, “Mormonism is a purely American Gnosis” (The American Religion, 123). To an extent, that is true. I cannot imagine Joseph Smith and the Church of Jesus Christ arising in any other country besides America. Despite the persecutions and the Extermination Order, no other country is as religiously free as the United States.

On the other hand, if Joseph Smith was merely a permutation of Jacksonianism, then why does the Church have 27,475 congregations with 13 million members worldwide?

Howard W. Hunter, the fourteenth president of the Church, explained:

“Mormonism, so-called, is a world religion, not simply because its members are now found throughout the world, but chiefly because it has a comprehensive and inclusive message based upon the acceptance of all truth, restored to meet the needs of all mankind.” (Howard W. Hunter, “The Gospel—A Global Faith,” Ensign, Nov 1991, 18.)

I am a part of this global phenomenon. I am from California, and I served my mission in Portugal. While there, I had a companion who was Portuguese, I worked with a local church leader from Mozambique, and had a Brazilian mission president. We were a mini-United Nations.

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!

A few years ago I was watching a webcast of a panel discussion. The moderator and one-half of the participants were experts in a certain field, plus there was a cabinet-level government official as the keynote speaker. The other half of the panel, however, included producers and actors who starred in a television drama series about the same field.

It was quite a hoot. The contrast between the two halves of the panel was startling. The real-life experts could give crisp and concise answers to the questions. On the other hand, the Television-Land half of the panel gave short answers about the character they played, or their own personal lives. But unlike the characters they portrayed in the TV show, they had no technical knowledge or insight into the field.

The lesson is this: the real-life experts were knowledgeable in their field—their life was their script; however, the actors were working without a script. The illusion I had from the show—the "willful suspension of disbelief" as it is sometimes called—was shattered. It reminded me of the ancient Greek thespians who wore the bulky masks when they acted, or the first time you see a character from a science-fiction movie out of costume. From what I understand David Prowse is a nice man—until he puts on the Darth Vader mask. Then it is all iron-fisted business.

In writing this, I am not trying to besmear actors. I am from California, so I went to school with aspiring actors. Actors have also held positions of high office. Ronald Reagan was both governor and president. Arnold Schwarzenegger is currently a governor. Both Sonny Bono and Clint Eastwood have been mayors. And Shirley Temple has been a US ambassador twice.

Also, the series in question has won several Emmys and Golden Globe awards, so the people are tops. I give them due credit for the technical and artistic aspects of the show.

What I am saying, however, is that when people—be it actors or everyday people—operate without a script, mistakes can happen.

I think that is one reason why Jesus Christ goes by the title of “the author … of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2). He is the author of the script we are to follow. He is the “Word” (John 1:1), or the words that make up this script. He is “the Alpha and the Omega” (Revelation 1:8)—which is like saying He is the A and the Z, as the God’s Word Translation of the Bible renders this verse. So He is the letters that make up the words of the script. He is everything we are supposed to do and to be, to the smallest detail.

These small details can be big things. An ancient prophet wrote:

“By small and simple things are great things brought to pass.” (Alma 37:6)

And a modern apostle wrote:

“God's shaping personalness is felt in the details of our lives.” (Neal A. Maxwell, “Called To Serve”)

The point is that we have a plan for our lives. That plan is Christ.

Howard W. Hunter, the fourteenth president of the Mormon Church said:

"Several months ago [in 1994] an invitation was given to members of the Church as we strive to keep the commandments of God and receive the full measure of his blessings. The invitation was for all members of the Church to live with ever more attention to the life and example of the Lord Jesus Christ, emulating the love and hope and compassion he displayed. ... "

"We must know Christ better than we know him; we must remember him more often than we remember him; we must serve him more valiantly than we serve him. Then will we drink water springing up unto eternal life and will eat the bread of life."

"What manner of men and women ought we to be? Even as he is." (Howard W. Hunter, “He Invites Us to Follow Him,” Ensign, Sep 1994, 2)

Mormonism is about Christ. That is why Mormons have such a reverence for Joseph Smith. We see him as a revealer of Christ, or in other words, a restorer of this script we are to follow.

Joseph Smith wrote:

“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.)

Following Christ is easy. The first step is studying the script. Our script is the scriptures. In them we see both the historical data about Christ’s life, and also the doctrine, principles, and tenants of what Jesus Christ taught. The scriptures give us both the “what” and the “why” of Christ.

The next part is taking these principles—these ideas from God—and then incorporating them into our life. Actors practice and have rehearsals. Our life is one long dress rehearsal. We are practicing how to be like Christ so that in the next life we can be ready for the Great Opening Day.

It’s hard, but it’s worth it. For centuries now actors have been memorizing pages and blocks of Shakespearian text. Our call as Christians is to do the same. But we are not memorizing a text; we are memorizing Christ.

“The present is an age of progress, of change, of rapid advance, and of wonderful revolutions.”

“The very foundations of society—social, political, commercial, moral and religious—seem to be shaken as with a mighty earthquake, from center to circumference. All things tremble, creation groans, the world is in travail and pains to be delivered.”

“A new era has dawned upon our planet, and is advancing with accelerated force, with giant strides.”

These four sentences sum up the chaos and promise affecting us in the first decade of a new century and a new millennium. Surprisingly, they were not written any time recently. They were actually written in 1855 by Parley P. Pratt, an apostle in the Mormon Church and an associate of Joseph Smith.

These words were the opening sentences to his book Key To the Science of Theology. This book, which is a mixture of missionary tract and theological textbook, was written to explain why the Lord called Joseph Smith to be a prophet in this era of human history.

Parenthetically, the “Why?” questions are usually the most crucial. President Boyd K. Packer, the president of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in the Mormon Church, advised teachers to ask “So what?” before they teach a principle. It puts the principle in context, and focuses both student and teacher on its importance.

But back to Elder Pratt’s words:

“The railroads and the steamboats, with their progressive improvements in speed, safety and convenience, are extending and multiplying the means of travel, of trade, of association and intercommunications between countries whose inhabitants have been comparatively unknown to or estranged from each other.”

“But, as if even these means were too slow for the Godlike aspirations, the mighty throes of human thought and its struggles for light and expansion, man seizes the lightning, tames and subdues it, and makes it the bearer of his thoughts and dispatches. While these things are in progress by one portion of mankind, another learns to seize and control a sunbeam, in a manner subservient to the progress of the fine arts, and by which means a man performs in a minute the work which a short time since would have employed the most active years of a lifetime.”

The same thing could be said about the Internet, household computers, cell phones, PDAs, and microwave ovens. So much is new! Those of use who grew up without all of these creature comforts and labor-saving devices can gauge how much society and even civilization has changed over the space of a few decades.

“While every science, every art is being developed; while the mind is awakened to new thoughts; while the windows of heaven are opened, as it were, and the profound depths of human intellect are stirred, moved from the foundation on all other subjects, religious knowledge seems at a standstill.”

In other words, Elder Pratt asserted that everything was keeping up with the times, except religion.

“The creeds of the fathers seem to have been cast in the mold of other ages, to be adapted to a more narrow sphere of intellectual development, and to be composed of material too much resembling cast iron; or, at least, not sufficiently elastic to expand with the expansion of mind, to grow with the growth, and advance with the progressive principles of the age.”

Those of the Nineteenth Century were experiencing what Alvin Toffler called “future shock.” Culture shock happens when a person is suddenly immersed in a foreign environment. Future shock is a similar phenomenon, except that the change is not with a culture but with technology and change in general—and too much of it.

The Industrial Age was the first instance of future shock. We had a mixture of scientists, inventors, and businessmen who revolutionized the world with electricity, phonographs, photographs, telegraphs, radio, airplanes, automobiles, and thousands of other smaller things, such as the sewing machine, frozen foods, the steam engine, and the cotton gin.

Our age—call it the Space Age, the Information Age, or the Age of “Jihad Versus McWorld”—has had a similar revolution in the area of semiconductors, microchips, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and information services. Again, talk to your grandparents about what they did with their free time before, during, and after the Great Depression and World War II. There was no Nintendo, no surfing of the Internet or cable channels, and none of our diverting distractions.

Consequently many people today are asking the same questions that they did in 1855. Why are the established religions and the traditional faiths not keeping up with the times? Is it time for another Protestant Revolution? And if so, how do we build a consensus with this “reinvented” faith?

Elder Pratt addresses this issue:

“For these reasons, perhaps more than any other, the master spirits of the age are breaking loose from the old moorings and withdrawing from established and venerated systems, by which means society is distracted, divided, broken up, thrown, as it were, into a chaos of confused, disorganized individualization, without a standard or rallying point, without a nucleus by which to concentrate or reorganize this chaotic mass, these atoms of thought.”

This is one of the fundamental questions of revolutions: how far do you go? The American Revolution, for instance, was a moderate one. The colonies were mostly self-sufficient and self-governing to begin with. And after the Peace of Paris, the United States tried to normalize relations with Great Britain as soon a possible.

The French Revolution, on the other hand, went as extreme as was humanly possible. Everything was up for grabs, heads rolled, and they even restarted the calendar to memorialize the revolution. Some historians believe that Napoleon’s rise to power helped stabilize the fringe and lunatic elements that were running amok. And the same can be said about the free-for-all and eventual rise of Stalin (at the expense of Trotsky) in the Soviet Union. Revolutions, by going too far, can be counterproductive.

Elder Pratt, then, has two theses. One, the times have changed so much that an equal revolution in religion was in order. Two, we need to have a calm and rational revolution, or things will get out of hand.

Elder Pratt then makes the case for Joseph Smith:

“One thing is certain, according to ancient prophecy, and agreeable to the general expectation of this and other ages, the day approaches which will flood the earth with the pure principles of religious knowledge; a day when none will have to teach his neighbor, saying, Know ye the Lord; for all persons shall know Him from the least to the greatest.”

“It should be a matter of serious thought and investigation—without respect to party, sect or creed, whether there should not, in the very nature of circumstances, and future Millennial hopes, be an entire remodeling, or reorganization of religious society, upon the broad basis of revealed knowledge, tangible fact, and philosophical, scientific and spiritual Truth—a universal ‘standard,’ of immutable Truth, instead of numberless systems founded on uncertainty, opinion, mere human impression or conjecture.”

We actually see a revolution going on nowadays. On one hand there are many attempts to modernize church services to accommodate politically correct trends. On the other, there is a call to orthodoxy, or even a paleo-orthodoxy, to keep the churches closely moored to their theological docks.

(Two BYU professors, Dr. Truman G. Madsen and Dr. David L. Paulsen have cataloged these trends.)

Joseph Smith supplies a third way. In his own words, he explained:

“I calculate to be one of the instruments of setting up the kingdom of Daniel by the word of the Lord, and I intend to lay a foundation that will revolutionize the whole world.” (“Chapter 44: The Restoration of All Things: The Dispensation of the Fulness of Times,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, [2007], 507–16.)

In effect, Joseph Smith said, yes there does need to be a revolution, but it has to come from outside the traditional system. As Christ said, you cannot put new wine in old bottles. As a prophet called of God, I have this new wine, and the Mormon Church is the new bottle.

But there still exists the problem of how we are to choose among so many voices? That is where truth comes in. God is the God of all truth. He loves us. He wants us to know, so He asks us to pray over these serious and complex matters. That way, we can know for ourselves what is right and what is wrong.

In the conclusion to the preface, Elder Pratt affirms this idea:

“Can anything short of such a standard unite society, enlighten the world, establish real peace, brotherhood and fellowship, and put a final end to all religious ignorance, superstition, jargon, or discord? Is not a difference of opinion, or a disagreement on any given subject, a proof positive of existing ignorance, or want of light or information, on the part of the parties disagreeing? If so, the present age is certainly in the dark, or, in a great measure, ignorant on religious subjects. A knowledge of the Truth can alone bring the desired union and bid discord cease. If the Scriptures be true, it is not religious opinion which will cover the earth, and universally pervade every bosom, but it is a KNOWLEDGE, ‘The knowledge of God.’ ‘God is Truth.’ To know Him, is to know the Truth.”

Joseph Smith read in the Bible, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (James 1:5) And he also read, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” (Matthew 7:7). He had his prayers answered precisely because he went to the fountain of all truth—God Himself.

That promise is still in force. If we feel disjointed or disoriented by the cultural upheavals and societal earthquakes, there is a place we can go to find answers. He is always available, He is always stable, and He wants to talk to us.

Joseph Smith, the first prophet of the Mormon Church, was confident about his mission. He once said of himself:

“I calculate to be one of the instruments of setting up the kingdom of Daniel by the word of the Lord, and I intend to lay a foundation that will revolutionize the whole world.” (“Chapter 44: The Restoration of All Things: The Dispensation of the Fulness of Times,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, [2007], 507–16.)

That is quite an impressive statement, almost bordering on lunacy. How could someone so young, and so for away from the matrices of action—New York, Paris, London, Berlin—even dream about revolutionizing the whole world? He was not of noble birth. He was deprived of the benefits of education. He was just an obscure man born in the backwoods of Vermont. How could someone with the deck stacked against him revolutionize the world?

Being in the Twenty First Century, we have the benefit of twenty-twenty hindsight. We can look back on the courage of the early pioneers plowing their way across the Great Plains. We can see the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, referred to as the Mormons, membership grow incrementally over the decades, until it has reached a membership in the multi-millions. We can see the great humanitarian work that the Church does, with feeding the poor and teaching principles of self-reliance and provident living. We can also see what church membership does to individuals. Practicing Mormons do not smoke, drink, live healthier, and they get married and stay married.

So what is behind all of this?

Part of the answer, as I see it, comes from another statement that Joseph Smith made:

“Friendship is one of the grand fundamental principles of ‘Mormonism’; [it is designed] to revolutionize and civilize the world, and cause wars and contentions to cease and men to become friends and brothers." (“Chapter 40: How Glorious Are Faithful, Just, and True Friends,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, [2007], 458–67)

If we want to not only make a difference, but also to revolutionize the world, Joseph Smith says simply, be a friend. Sometimes we forget the power of being a friend. The Greek philosopher Aristotle said, “For without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.” (Ethics, 1155a5) That is quite an impressive statement coming from such a deep thinker. But the point stands—simply being a friend is no simple thing.

For example, a kind word spoken at the right moment has worked wonders for me when I was down. And in the church, some of the most helpful members were not the bishops and stake presidents (congregational leaders), but my dutiful home teachers. Maybe this was what Joseph Smith was driving at. We look to President Thomas S. Monson with anticipation for his new calling as prophet, but we sometimes forget that the best way to be a leader is to be a friend. Leadership and office-holding are not synonymous.

I also see a second thing that makes Mormonism so revolutionary. It is founded in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. A successor to Joseph Smith, President Ezra Taft Benson taught about the power of Christ’s sacrifice in revolutionizing individuals:

“The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.” (Ezra Taft Benson, “Born of God,” Ensign, Jul 1989, 2)

So Mormonism is also revolutionary because Mormonism is a call back to Christ. He is the Son of God, and His life, example, teachings, and sacrifice can transform, and even revolutionize people. This is the essential miracle of Mormonism: a changed human soul.

Joseph Smith was a revolutionary in the best sense of the word. He had a mission of changing the whole world for the better. And, at least for me, he has accomplished his goal.

At the death of Gordon B. Hinckley, the world leader of the Mormon Church, many people wondered two things. The first was a “who” question: who would be the next leader?

That was settled Monday, February 4th when the Church announced that Thomas S. Monson would be the next world leader.

However, there is another question. It is the omnipresent “how” question: How does one man run a church with thirteen million members?

This question was also answered at this same press conference. President Thomas S. Monson called Presidents Henry B. Eyring and Dieter F. Uchtdorf as counselors. He also called Boyd K. Packer to be the president of the Council of Twelve Apostles.

Notice what the top organization of the Mormon Church is: it is not one man—or even one superman—but a body of men who serve in councils. This system of small bodies of men, rather than one glowing superstar, has so many advantages over other systems.

For example, and by contrast, the Pope has a College of Cardinals with 199 members. This is a rather bulky and unwieldy body, which is why the college has its own subdivisions—cardinal dean, cardinal vice dean, the order of priests and the order of deacons. But you see the problem when you have a “board of directors” with a 1:199 ratio to the "president."

Or take the cabinet of the United States president. There are fifteen secretaries. Additionally there are other bodies called “cabinet level positions,” which include the vice president, the chief of staff, the OBM, the EPA, the National Drug Control Policy, and the US Trade Representative. The total is 21, which is a better ratio (1:21 as opposed to 1:199), but it too can be cumbersome.

Right from the beginning Joseph Smith proposed a different system. When he organized the Mormon Church, he was set apart as the First Elder. But he also called Oliver Cowdery to be the Second Elder. Mormons believe that God guided Joseph Smith to do this because it would be impossible for one man to run the church as a solo act.

Any man, no matter how talented and gifted—or even a man called of God for that matter—needs help and support. When Moses took the children of Israel into the wilderness, he did the “one man show” approach to managing problems. His father-in-law, however, suggested another approach.

"The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone."

"Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do."

"Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee."

"If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace." (Exodus 18:17-23)

By spreading the workload among capable men, Moses increased his efficiency and his effectiveness as a leader. Simply put, he delegated. This is the genius of councils: the leader is empowered by empowering others. President Monson can do much more with Presidents Eyring and Uchtdorf assuming part of the workload. What they cannot do, the Twelve can.

Also, using a council system helps in case of absence or emergency. Think of what happens when a US president is incapacitated. Of course the duties devolve upon the vice president, as stated in the 25th Amendment. But in this system of councils, the first and second counselor can step in without a “constitutional crisis.” This backup system also works when the leader is on vacation, or needs to be in two places at once. A counselor has been meeting with the leader and is up to speed on decisions, programs, and polices.

So Joseph Smith began with First and Second Elders, and six members. Over time church membership grew. As the membership grew, so did the church organization. The First Presidency (the supreme governing body) consisting of three members was organized in March 1832. Then the Council of Twelve Apostles (the second highest governing body) was organized on February 14, 1835. The Quorums of the Seventy (the third highest body) were organized a few days later on February 28, 1835.

Keep in mind that Church membership in 1835 was not 13 million. Yet at that time Joseph Smith was laying the foundation for a church that would eventually grow into the millions. Even so, over time this upper organization has remained relatively intact. There have been increases in the number of the lower councils, but the two top-tier ranks have been the same.

Having been in presidencies and on similar-type councils, I am impressed how well it works on a practical level. You have people who can assume delegated roles at hand. Two people can step in for you. And you have other people you can turn to for advice. If two heads are better then one, then three heads must be even better. It works much better than running the thing as a lone wolf.

One last note. When we look at the Mormon Church, we usually focus on the 13 million members, the 125 temples, the 27,475 congregations, and so forth. But that is just one way of looking at things. President Boyd K. Packer, the president of the Council of Twelve Apostles, once noted:

“Often we are asked how the relatively few Apostles in the First Presidency and the Twelve can manage the Church, now more than 10 million strong. Actually the Church is no bigger than a ward.” (Boyd K. Packer, “The Bishop and His Counselors,” Ensign, May 1999, 57)

The focus of the church is at the local level—the wards (local congregations), the families, the people. Christ suffered for individuals, one by one. The church also has the same focus: it is not the 13 million; it is the one.

We stand in awe of Joseph Smith because he did so much with so little. As John Taylor wrote in his eulogy of Joseph Smith:

"Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain.” (D&C 135:3)

This impressive resume is made even more impressive when we consider that he had the bare rudiments of education and was martyred at age thirty-eight.

Personally, I keep asking myself “How did he do it? How could one young man do so much? How could he found a world-wide church (the Mormon Church) of thirteen million members? How do we go from square one as an obscure farm boy to being a significant figure in American history?”

I think the key was that he thought big, but worked small. On one hand, he had a clear vision of what he was supposed to accomplish:

"I calculate to be one of the instruments of setting up the kingdom of Daniel by the word of the Lord, and I intend to lay a foundation that will revolutionize the whole world." (“Chapter 44: The Restoration of All Things: The Dispensation of the Fulness of Times,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, [2007],507–16.)

This was his vision statement: to revolutionize the world. This revolution, however, was to be something different. Joseph Smith did not see himself as a Caesar or a Napoleon. It was not going to be political or militaristic. He said that it would be “by the word of the Lord.” This was to be an ecclesiastical and a spiritual revolution. He clarified this point by adding, “It will not be by sword or gun that this kingdom will roll on.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 366.)

That was his broad view, his global vision for his soon-to-be global church. But how do you get from here to there? How do you start out with six members in 1830, and end up with almost thirteen million in 2008? What are the in-between steps?

Simply put, Joseph Smith understood incrementalism. This is the idea “that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.” (Alma 37:6). He did missionary work this way. He began with himself, then worked with his family (his brother Samuel was the first missionary), then neighbors, and finally the critical mass hit. He was able to organize large bodies of missionaries and send them to the east, to Canada, England, and then finally out to the entire world. Step by step, one by one.

Joseph Smith explained this process this way:

“When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation." (“Chapter 22: Gaining Knowledge of Eternal Truths,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, [2007], 261–270.)

Although he said this is in the context of learning the gospel, the same underlying principle applies to missionary work—and to an infinite amount of other things. Incrementalism is how he did what he did: he began at the bottom rung—himself—and slowly worked from there, in an orderly fashion.

I am about am the same age as Joseph Smith was when he died, and even though I have not done one fraction of what he did, this principle has helped me immensely. For example, back in 2003 I wrote a two hundred page book about the book of Job in the Old Testament. That is quite a complex undertaking—knowing what the Bible says, learning the Mormon perspective on Job, forming my own opinions and conclusions about the book, and then organizing all of this information. And all of that must occur before I typed word one!

But by following this pattern of incrementalism, or Joseph Smith’s Ladder Model of Accomplishment, I was able to finish writing the book.

We can apply this principle to other areas: paying down credit card debt, reading the scriptures, nurturing a marriage, rearing children, leaning a new language, and so forth.

Even though this principle of incrementalism is not what you would call strictly prophetic or spiritual, it was a useful truth, and I am grateful that Joseph Smith taught it.

Near the end of a long letter in which Joseph Smith summarized his and the Mormon Church’s history, he also included a part about his vision for missionary work:

“Our missionaries are going forth to different nations, and in Germany, Palestine, New Holland [Australia], the East Indies, and other places, the Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.” (“Chapter 38: The Wentworth Letter,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, (2007),435–47.)

I think some people get the wrong idea about why Mormons try to convert people. Sure, members of the Mormon Church serve missions in their early twenties, and this is the norm for all able-bodied male members. On my mission, for instance, I learned some important things such as self discipline, respect for authority, and, because I served my mission in Portugal, I leaned another language.

That is the secular side of things. On my mission I also developed faith in God, in the gospel, and in my church. This is the spiritual component to missionary work. You come to see God in the dark places. Here I was a young single man, living in Europe, and trying to teach people about Jesus Christ and His prophets, all this during the first Gulf War.

On top of that, I was laboring in a country that was predominantly Roman Catholic. It would seem that what I was doing was redundant, since they were already Christians

I like Joseph Smith’s answer to this question. He said:

"We don’t ask any people to throw away any good they have got; we only ask them to come and get more." (“Chapter 12: Proclaim Glad Tidings to All the World,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, (2007),148–57.)

For Joseph Smith, he saw missionaries as a group of people going out into the world bearing gifts. People could choose either to accept or reject this gift, but regardless of what happened, the offer stood.

Religion, like politics, is a touchy matter. It hits us at the core of our being, and in many respects, defines who we are. If mishandled, a gospel encounter could offend. That is why I like Joseph Smith’s approach. It is non-confrontational, and focuses on the good that people already have. People always want more of a good thing, and for me, Mormonism is the best thing I have.

Joseph Smith, Jr., as was Abraham, was prepared from before the foundations of the earth to be the prophet of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Of him it was said,

"Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it” (D&C 135:3).

In the spring of 1820, at fourteen years of age, Joseph Smith, Jr. read a scripture, in the New Testament, that not only changed his life, but changed the fate of the world:

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5)

He'd watched as his mother and sisters went to one church, his father refused to acknowledge any as the truth church of Jesus Christ, his brothers wavered in another direction, and for himself, he wanted to know which of all the sects was true.

In a grove, which became sacred by nature of the very events which occurred there, Joseph learned for himself the answer to that question. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to the boy they had chosen to restore the gospel. He was told none of the churches on the earth at that time were true. Joseph said of that earth shattering occasion:

"I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof." (Joseph Smith History 1:19)

This auspicious and sacred occasion in the history of the world became known as The First Vision.

Joseph returned home from the grove, and leaning weakly against the mantle of the fireplace told his mother that he'd learned for himself that none of the churches were true. Later that night the family listened as Joseph relayed his experience in the now sacred grove. One might wonder at the easy and complete acceptance of Joseph's vision, if we didn't know of a series of dreams his father had earlier on (the time period of which we are unsure) . . . one in particular is of great import at this moment.

Joseph's father, Joseph Smith, Sr., had called the family together to relate yet another dream he'd had. When he was done, Joseph asked him, "Father, what is the meaning of this strange dream you have told us about?"

His father answered:

"My son, there is no true Church of Christ or kingdom of God upon the earth. There is no fruit of Christ's Church for men to partake. But the Lord will set up His kingdom and church upon the earth and this family will have a conspicuous part to play in its establishment. We will partake of the fruit of the tree and invite others to partake, but will be persecuted by the ungodly for doing so. And Joseph, you will be our leader. You will be called to a high and holy calling." (Young Joseph, Ivan J. Barrett, Granite Publishing and Distributing, 1981, 45-46)

The Lord has never sent His servants into any calling or situation without preparing them first. Joseph was blessed with a loving and supportive family because the Lord prepared them long before the First Vision ever took place.

Later, when Joseph was translating the plates he was astonished to find that Lehi's Dream was very similar to the one his father had told them of years before.

Joseph made the mistake of speaking to the minister of his mother's church about this vision. He was instantly condemned and was angrily told that God no longer spoke to man (how dismal that viewpoint must be.) Joseph was ridiculed and serious, concentrated persecution began against the boy who'd see God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ, until it would finally take his life in a brutal and vicious fashion.

And so began the tumultuous and incredible life of the prophet of the restoration, Joseph Smith.

Other posts written about Joseph Smith, Jr.

Joseph Smith, Jr.: Praise to the Man
Preparing of a Prophet
Joseph Smith: The First Vision