Joseph Smith - History

Episode 76: Two men in the air (1-28)

Childhood

¹ I'm writing this to defend myself against those who have criticized me.

² This will include a history of the church since its founding in 1830 until now [1838]. ³ I was born on 23 December 1805 in the town of Sharon, Vermont. My father, Joseph Smith, Sen., moved to Palmyra, New York when I was about ten years old. Four years later, my family moved to the town of Manchester, in the same county, Ontario (now Wayne).

⁴ There were eleven in our family: my father, Joseph Smith; my mother, Lucy Smith (daughter of Solomon Mack); my brothers, Alvin (who died in 1823 when he was 23), Hyrum, myself, Samuel Harrison, William, Don Carlos; and my sisters, Sophronia, Catherine, and Lucy.

Which church to join

⁵ In the second year after we moved to Manchester, there was much excitement among the Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists, who said, "Lo, here!" and "Lo, there!" ⁶ But they were all arguing with each other and only pretended to feel good about their religion.

⁷ When I was fourteen, four members of my family joined the Presbyterian church: my mother, Lucy; my brothers Hyrum and Samuel Harrison; and my sister Sophronia. ⁸ I attended the meeting of several of these groups, and I became somewhat partial to the Methodists. But I couldn't decide which church to join. ⁹ Each group tried to prove the others wrong. ¹⁰ So I often said to myself, "Which group is right, or are they all wrong? And how could I know for sure?"

Two men in the air said, "Don't join any of them."

¹¹ While I was thinking about this, I happened to read James 1:5, which says, “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.” ¹² This verse affected me greatly. Since all the sects disagreed about the words of the Bible, the Bible could not be used to settle the question. ¹³ So I decided to take James's advice and ask God directly.

¹⁴ On a beautiful, clear spring day, I went to the woods to ask God. It was the first time in my life that I prayed out loud. ¹⁵ When I got there, I kneeled down and began to pray. Suddenly some power overcame me and I couldn't speak. It became dark and I thought I was going to die. ¹⁶ But then I saw a pillar of light over my head that was brighter than the sun. The light descended until it fell upon me. ¹⁷ Then I saw two people standing in the air above me, who were brighter than I can describe. One of them pointed at the other and said, "This is my beloved son. Hear him."

¹⁸ My purpose here was to find out which sect was correct in their beliefs (for it never occurred to me that they all could be wrong). ¹⁹ One of them said that I shouldn't join any of them; that their beliefs were an abomination; and that their leaders were all corrupt. ²⁰ He commanded me not to join any of them. He also did many things that I can't tell you about at this time. When I came to, I was lying on my back looking up at the sky. The light went away and I went home. My mother asked me what was wrong, and I said, "I'm okay." Then I said to her, "Presbyterianism is not true."

Persecution

²¹ A few days after my vision, I told a Methodist preacher about it. He said it was from the devil, and that all visions and revelations ended with the apostles. ²² Everyone else persecuted me, too. ²⁴ I was like Paul, who was also ridiculed for his vision. ²⁵ But I knew that I saw a light and that two people spoke to me. And God knew it too.

²⁶ So I didn't join any sect but trusted in the words of James. ²⁷ I continued my regular life until 21 September 1823. ²⁸ During this time, I sometimes did things I shouldn't have done, like laugh.