Michael V

Tomorrow, October 4, is the second day of the 179th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It will be from 10:00 am - 12:00 noon and 2:00 - 4:00 pm, Utah time. It is accessible at http://www.lds.org/ and by various other radio, TV, cable, and satellite broadcasts. Please give your thoughts afterward!

This prophecy was received by revelation in March, 1839, five years before Joseph's martyrdom. Does the part (verse 4) about Joseph's voice among his enemies have yet future fulfillment?

The ends of the earth shall inquire

after thy name, and fools shall have

thee in derision, and hell shall rage

against thee;

2 While the pure in heart, and the

wise, and the noble, and the virtuous,

shall seek counsel, and authority,

and blessings constantly from under

thy hand.

3 And thy people shall never be

turned against thee by the testi-

mony of traitors.

4 And although their influence

shall cast thee into trouble, and into

bars and walls, thou shalt be had in

honor; and but for a small moment

and thy voice shall be more terrible

in the midst of thine enemies than

the fierce lion, because of thy right-

eousness; and thy God shall stand

by thee forever and ever.

(Doctrine & Covenants 122:1-4)

This is an eyewitness account by Parley P. Pratt:

"In one of those tedious nights we had lain as if in sleep till the hour of midnight had passed, and our ears and hearts had been pained, while we had listened for hours to the obscene jests, the horrid oaths, the dreadful blasphemies and filthy language of our guards, Colonel Price at their head, as they recounted to each other their deeds of rapine, murder, robbery, etc., which they had committed among the 'Mormons' while at Far West and vicinity. They even boasted of defiling by force wives, daughters, and virgins, and of shooting or dashing out the brains of men, women and children.

I had listened till I became so disgusted, shocked, horrified, and so filled with the spirit of indignant justice that I could scarcely refrain from rising upon my feet and rebuking the guards; but had said nothing to Joseph, or anyone else, although I lay next to him and knew he was awake. On a sudden he arose to his feet, and spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering, as near as I can recollect, the following words:

'SILENCE, ye fiends of the infernal pit. In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still; I will not live another minute and hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die THIS INSTANT!'

He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible majesty. Chained, and without a weapon; calm, unruffled and dignified as an angel, he looked upon the quailing guards, whose weapons were lowered or dropped to the ground, whose knees smote together, and who, shrinking into a corner, or crouching at his feet, begged his pardon, and remained quiet till a change of guards."

(Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, 1979 paperback edition, pages 210-211. Elder Pratt, Joseph and others were imprisoned in Richmond, Missouri in November 1838, having been lured from Church headquarters at Far West on October 31 under a false premise of making peace arrangements between the citizens of Far West and a surrounding mob-militia numbering thousands. The citizens of Far West afterward surrendered their arms, upon which the mob-militia broke all promises, attacking the city without restraint, widely committing such acts as above referred to.)

Many of us suspect such bastions of "objective" scientific research as the Smithsonian Institution deliberately avoid verifying anything which might suggest Divine origin of either the Bible or the Book of Mormon. I once wrote to the Smithsonian concerning specific Bible events, and received a form letter dated January 11, 1980 (I don't have their current info) ending with "In the best analysis, the Bible is a religious book, not an historical document."

The December, 2008 National Geographic has an article presenting archeology and history related to King Herod which may represent the mainstream scientific community's standardized outlook on things religious. Page 40 of this issue refers to the Biblical story of Herod's having ordered the slaughter of "every male infant in Bethlehem" (actually Matthew 2:16 says it was age two and under, and "all the children" of that age "in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof") in an effort to kill Jesus. Then, the article states this:

"Herod is almost certainly innocent of this crime, of which there is no report apart from Matthew's account. But children he certainly slew, including three of his own sons, along with his wife, his mother-in-law, and numerous other members of his court."

Thoughts?

In introductory pages preceding the text of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith's testimony of the book's origin includes a remarkable prophecy given to the seventeen-year-old Joseph by the angel Moroni:

"He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people."

How do you view this prophecy?