The Message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ ("Joseph Smith 101")

This post and the post that will follow have been in development for a long time, and I have been feeling for the last several months that it was time to really sit down, formulate, and share this message.  My primary objective of this post is that those who are unfamiliar with the origin story of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will desire to learn more and accept the invitation to do so.  This post will also provide the foundation for my next post.  What follows in this post will be a relatively brief summary of the message of the restoration of the gospel and Church of Jesus Christ.  I will refer to this summary as “Joseph Smith 101.”  Then, in my next post, I will move on to a discussion of “Joseph Smith – Advanced Topics.”   

Joseph Smith 101

You are likely familiar to one extent or another with the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You may have friends or co-workers who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that have served missions, or you have seen the young men and young women with black name tags on the street or on your doorstep.  Second only to the message of Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer, the main message that missionaries share with anyone that will listen is the message of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  A very basic summary of this message is as follows:

• When Jesus Christ was on the earth, He established His Church and gave authority, instruction, and revelation to His Apostles.  His Apostles carried on his work and governed His Church through revelation and proper authority after Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven.

Jesus Christ called and ordained Apostles

• Over time, the people rejected and killed Christ’s Apostles, the truths that they taught were distorted, and revelation and God’s authority to administer ordinances such as baptism were taken from the earth in a period known as the Great Apostasy (roughly equivalent to the Dark Ages).  
• People who lived during the Great Apostasy in many instances did the best they could with the truth they had, but they were missing authority and authoritative revelations.  Protestantism and the colonization of America, with America’s unprecedented freedoms of speech and religion, created the ideal conditions for Heavenly Father to restore revelation, truth, authority, and Christ’s Church back to the earth again.  This unfolding of apostasy and restoration through God’s prophets is consistent with the pattern set forth in the Bible.
• Joseph Smith, as a young fourteen year old boy living in upstate New York in 1820, was confused during the Second Great Awakening as to which church he should join.  He noted that all the churches varied in what they taught, and he sought to know the truth.  Joseph Smith was inspired when he came across the following passage 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)  Young Joseph took this message to heart and went alone to some woods near his home where he saw God the Father and Jesus Christ.  They told him, among other things, to join none of the churches at that time because of the continued effects of the Great Apostasy.

God, the Father, and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith 

in answer to his prayer to know which church to join

• Over the next several years, Joseph Smith was visited by many other heavenly messengers.  John the Baptist appeared as a resurrected being to Joseph Smith and his associate, Oliver Cowdery, in order to restore the Aaronic Priesthood, which includes the authority to baptize.  Christ’s chief Apostles, Peter, James, and John visited Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to restore the Melchizedek Priesthood, which included the authority to confer the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  The Old Testament prophets Moses, Elijah, and Elias all appeared in order to grant special authority that they held.  As we say in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, all the priesthood keys of previous dispensations were restored in this last dispensation in preparation for the second coming of Jesus Christ.

John the Baptist gave Joseph Smith the Aaronic Priesthood, 

which includes the authority to baptize

• Joseph Smith was also visited by an angel named Moroni, who showed him where an ancient record was buried, detailing the happenings of two ancient civilizations who lived in the Western Hemisphere.[i]  This record described Jesus Christ’s visit to the American continent as a resurrected being, and therefore, serves as a second witness to the Bible that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior.  Through the power of God, Joseph Smith translated this record and published it as the Book of Mormon.  The Book of Mormon contains a promise that those who read and ponder the Book of Mormon earnestly, sincerely, and with faith, and pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true, will know by the power of the Holy Ghost that it is a true book.

Joseph Smith received an ancient record from the Angel Moroni

• Jesus Christ instructed Joseph Smith to organize again The Church of Jesus Christ, and Joseph Smith received various divine instructions related to the organization and governance of the Church.  Apostles and other priesthood officers were again called on the earth.  Joseph Smith also received many revelations clarifying and teaching doctrines and the correct procedures for ordinances (for example, that baptism was to be by immersion, as Jesus Christ was baptized, rather than by sprinkling or some other method).  Many of these revelations have been compiled in a separate volume, the Doctrine and Covenants.
• Included in these revelations are instructions about proxy baptisms for the dead, so that, for example, those who lived on earth during the Great Apostasy would have the opportunity to accept baptism performed with proper authority and procedure.  Joseph Smith also learned about and received authority to seal families together to continue as family units after death.  
• Before Joseph Smith’s death, he conferred all the authority he had received to the other Apostles.  And that authority has been passed on, over time, and still exists on the earth today.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has prophets and apostles who have been called like the Apostles of old, with the same priesthood authority that rested on the Apostles Christ called in the New Testament.

Now, I have said it before, but it bears repeating: I fully acknowledge that this narrative includes many fantastic claims and may be a hard pill to swallow for many.  However, if this account is true, it is one of the most important messages you will ever hear – if not the most important message you will ever hear.  The invitation that missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints share and that I echo is to read the Book of Mormon with an open heart, pray earnestly, and ask Heavenly Father if this message is true.  Sincerely test the promise laid out in the Book of Mormon: “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.  And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.”  (Moroni 10:4–5)

Jesus Christ warned against “false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing.”  But, he said, “By their fruits ye shall know them.”  (See Matthew 7:15–20)  The Book of Mormon is a tangible “fruit” of the prophet Joseph Smith.  The primary purpose of the Book of Mormon is to testify of Jesus Christ, but the principal secondary purpose is to prove the truthfulness of Joseph Smith’s calling as a prophet of God and the validity of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Because if the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith has to be a true prophet and, therefore, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ’s Church restored to the earth today.  

Gordon B. Hinckley, former President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, used to say, “To people everywhere we simply say, ‘You bring with you all the good that you have, and let us add to it.’”[ii]  If you have any sliver of an inclination to learn more about this message, please reach out to me in the comments or at aconversationaboutfaith@gmail.com.  This message means the world to me, and I would love to share it with my friends, my neighbors, and anyone who will listen.

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[i] The Book of Mormon includes the history of two main civilizations, the “Lehites” and the “Jaredites,” but each of these civilizations can be subdivided into various groups.  For example, the Lehites merged with another group that migrated to the New World from Jerusalem, the Mulekites.  The Lehites can also further be distinguished into two main subgroups, the Nephites and the Lamanites.  
[ii] See https://www.lds.org/liahona/1997/06/words-of-the-living-prophet?lang=eng.