"In That Competition Truth Emerges Triumphant": Hugh B. Brown on Testing Ideas

Hugh B. Brown (1883-1975) is an important figure in the history of Latter-day Saint thought.   He became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in April 1958 after having served for four and a half years as the Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  Furthermore, he was called in June 1961 to become part of the First Presidency, serving first as President David O. McKay's Third Counselor, then as his Second Counselor, and finally as his First Counselor.  After President McKay's death in January 1970, Hugh B. Brown returned to service in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles until his own death.

Hugh B. Brown had what I consider some extremely valuable thoughts about the importance of the testing and competition of ideas.  The following short selections are from Hugh B. Brown, "A Final Testimony", in Edwin B. Firmage, ed., An Abundant Life: The Memoirs of Hugh B. Brown, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 1999), 137-139:

I admire men and women who have developed the questing spirit, who are unafraid of new ideas as stepping stones to progress.  We should, of course, respect the opinions of others, but we should also be unafraid to dissent - if we are informed.  Thoughts and expressions compete in the marketplace of thought, and in that competition truth emerges triumphant.... 

Revelation may come in the laboratory, out of the test tube, out of the thinking mind and the inquiring soul, out of search and research and prayer and inspiration.  We must be unafraid to contend for what we are thinking and to combat error with truth in this divided and imperiled world, and we must do it with the unfaltering faith that God is still in his heaven even though not all is well with the world.

We should be dauntless in our pursuit of truth and resist all demands for unthinking conformity.  No one would have us become mere tape recorders of other people's thoughts.  We should be modest and teachable and seek to know the truth by study and faith.  There have been times when progress was halted by thought control.  Tolerance and truth demand that all be heard and that competing ideas be tested against the other so that the best, which might not always be our own, can prevail.  Knowledge is most complete and dependable when all points of view are heard.  

Now, compare with this passage from a 25 March 1958 fireside address that Hugh B. Brown delivered at Brigham Young University titled "Man and What He May Become":

I hope that you will develop the questing spirit.  Be unafraid of new ideas, for they are as stepping stones to progress.  You will, of course, respect the opinions of others but be unafraid to dissent - if you are informed.  Now that I have mentioned freedom to express your thoughts, I caution you that your thoughts and expressions must meet competition in the marketplace of thought, and in that competition truth must emerge triumphant.  Only error needs to fear freedom of expression. 

Personally, while I may not quite agree with everything that President Brown said in either his 'final testimony' or his earlier fireside address, I see nothing in these passages that is not commendable to the highest degree.  Hugh B. Brown says that all points of view should be heard.  He makes no exception for so-called "anti-Mormon" ideas.  He makes no exception for the ideas of other religious traditions.  He invites the competition of ideas.  He invites testing by the faculties of the mind, that is, reason and faithful study.  He welcomes new ideas to the table, assured that, because God is a God of truth who reigns in heaven, the truth will emerge triumphant from that competition.  These are my firm convictions as well.  What do you think of them?

"Look at Both Sides of the Question": An 1840 LDS Article

The following is a short article that originally appeared as "Look at Both Sides of the Question", The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star 1/6 (1 October 1840): 156-158 to be read by European members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

Almost every thing has two sides.  The world has two sides - else how could the Lord turn it upside down?  Man, beast, bird, fish, insect, and vegetable have two sides each, and all things throughout the natural and artificial world; and before we can become perfectly acquainted with any of these things, we have to examine both sides thereof, and every side, for most of these things have a multitude of sides.  Not so with truth -
           Look at it when and where you will,
           Truth was, and is, and will be still
a principle that has but one side to it, and that side is truth.

Falsehood is but another principle which has but one side; and examine it in whatever form you please, all its properties are false: its nature it congenial to itself, it cannot be altered - its name and nature is falsehood.

The word of God is truth, as saith the Savior, "Father, sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth," and yet, when the word is preached, many are ready to cry out, "look at both sides of the question," just as though truth had as many sides to it as any thing which is naturally constituted with sides, or is continually changing or varying its form. 

The Saints are for truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; and wherever a principle of truth can be found, there is a principle which helps to constitute the great sum and substance of the faith of the Saints of the Last Days; no matter what that truth particularly refers to, whether it be God, angels, men, or devils, things seen or unseen, above or below, heaven or hell, celestial, terrestrial, or telestial, believed or disbelieved by men generally; show us a truth and we will believe it.

This was the reason why the world hated the Lord Jesus, because he was possessed of that charity, that love of truth, which prompted him to believe all things, and rejoice in the truth; and, to be his Saints, we must be willing to suffer for the truth's sake, as he did, even to be called devils, and accounted as mad by this generation - for the servant is not above his master; and if they hated and called the master of the house Beelzebub, because he told them the truth, how much more they of his household, for believing what he said. 

Charity never faileth; neither do we profess to be infallible; therefore, we are ever ready to examine all things which are brought against us, as well as those which present themselves apparently in our favour; so that by the Holy Ghost, whose office it is to guide those who possess it into all truth, we may be enabled to discern the right ways of the Lord, even the way of truth, the old paths, that we may stand and walk therein, until we shall be enabled, by the grace of God, to arrive at the celestial city, the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, and there refresh ourselves in the presence of the Most High, and of his son Jesus; having been cleansed by the blood of Christ, through the sanctification of the spirit, and the belief of the truth; and having been baptized with water, with the Holy Ghost, and with fire, that we might be made co-heirs with him to all the glories of his father's kingdom. 

With all these glorious prospects before us, we are determined to make sure of the promised inheritance; and although truth has but one side to it, yet there are many in the world who suppose, or pretend to believe, that we have not found that side, and that we are groping in darkness at noon-day, and are following falsehood instead of truth; and would fain convince us of our error by printing or publishing what they call truth, either that they may turn us away from our belief, or prevent those who would join themselves unto the Lord in the New and Everlasting covenant. 

Concerning this matter, we would say to the Elders and all Saints every where, whenever and wherever you have or may see any thing printed in any book, pamphlet, paper, tract, or card, concerning us, or the religion we profess; whether it be for or against, in any part of Europe, read it carefully, and examine it candidly by the Spirit of the Lord, for truth will never loose by investigation; compare it with the word of God, by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, which giveth light; and whatever you find to be true, believe and practice - whatever you find to be false, reject; and when you have thus examined, we particularly desire that you would loose no time in forwarding the same to us at our office, or to some one of the twelve; and what you know not now, be faithful, and you shall know hereafter; by thus doing, you will give us, also, the opportunity of Looking at both sides of the Question. 

Some questions for reflection and discussion:

1. In what sense does the author of this article seem to mean that all animals, insects, vegetables, etc., "have two sides each"? 
2. The author suggests that truth, in itself, is simple, containing no plurality and dialectic; and that the same is true of falsehood.  Hence, each has "but one side to it".  While truth is unitary, need it be simple rather than, in some sense, complex?  
3. Given what the author says about the inherent one-sidedness of truth, does the author seem prepared to admit that engagement with other perspectives could be a means to discovering the truth, or to getting a better grasp on the truth?  Given the author's strong presumption that Latter-day Saints have 'The Truth', how would the author and his believing readers be likely to actually practice what he says about being willing to believe any truth they find from any source ("show us a truth and we will believe it")?  
4. Some Latter-day Saints today are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because they strongly believe it to be 'true' (they might, in the parlance of LDS epistemology, say that they 'know' it to be true), but if they found it to not be true, they say that they would leave in order to follow the truth.  Some smaller proportion of people today are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in spite of not believing some or any of that church's central claims.  Some people today are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because they believe it strongly to be 'true', but also say that, if the Church were not true, they would not want to know this; they would prefer to believe it even if it were untrue.  In light of what the author here says about being "willing to suffer for the truth's sake", what might the author say to each of these groups within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?  
5. In spite of the author's claim that Latter-day Saints have 'The Truth', he disclaims infallibility and says that, because they are not infallible, they are "ever ready to examine all things which are brought against us, as well as those which present themselves in our favour".  Later, he encourages Latter-day Saints everywhere to "read carefully" any coverage of the LDS Church - positive or negative - in "any book, pamphlet, paper, tract, or card".  Certainly, much of this negative coverage would be subsumed under the various ways that modern Latter-day Saints construct the category of 'anti-Mormon literature'.  Hence, this author, in an official LDS periodical, is insisting that Latter-day Saints should be ready to read even 'anti-Mormon literature' and to examine it fairly, accepting truth and rejecting error.  The author assumes that they can do this with the Holy Spirit; he does not assume that the presence of the Holy Spirit will flee in the face of criticism of LDS belief and practice.  What attitude(s) does the modern Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints take regarding publications that critique its beliefs and practices?  Why?  
6. The author speaks on several occasions that the Holy Ghost (or, Holy Spirit) will be involved in examining all publications, whether favorable or unfavorable to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  In what ways are modern LDS readers likely to assume that this will happen?  Given the tenor of the article, what is it likely that the author himself meant?  How does this relate to the exhortation to "compare it to the word of God", and what does this tell us about early LDS attitudes toward the Bible?  
7. The author encourages that copies of any literature that Latter-day Saints find, whether favorable or unfavorable it in coverage of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, should be forwarded to the printing office of the Millennial Star or even to "some one of the twelve", in order to give them the opportunity to also examine it.  Early LDS writings often contained rebuttals to writings critical of the LDS Church.  What mindset does this reveal?  How does this compare to prevailing mindsets within the LDS Church today?  

John Wesley on Enthusiasm, Reason, and Love

In 1766, John Wesley published his famous Plain Account of Christian Perfection, into which he incorporated a 1761 work of his called Farther Thoughts on Christian Perfection, which took a Q&A format.  After granting the possibility that a believer could attain "Christian perfection" (i.e., entire sanctification, which Wesley approached in terms of being perfected in holy love with all one's faculties and in the core of one's being) and then lose it, the last several questions are Wesley asking himself his advice on how to guard against the misuse of this spiritual gift or how to pursue it more deeply.  Here I quote the extensive answer to Q33, his second piece of advice, as taken from The Works of John Wesley, 15 vols. (London: Thomas Cordeux, 1812), 11:230-233.

Beware of that daughter of pride, enthusiasm!  O keep at the utmost distance from it: give no place to an heated imagination.  Do not hastily ascribe things to God.  Do not easily suppose dreams, voices, impressions, visions, or revelations to be from God.  They may be from him.  They may be from nature.  They may be from the devil.  Therefore "believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God."  Try all things by the written word, and let all bow down before it.  You are in danger of enthusiasm every hour, if you depart ever so little from Scripture: yea, or from the plain literal meaning of the text, taken in connexion with the context.  And so you are, if you despise or lightly esteem reason, knowledge, or human learning: every one of which is an excellent gift of God, and may serve the noblest purposes.

I advise you never to use the words wisdom, reason, or knowledge, by way of reproach.  On the contrary, pray that you yourself may abound in them more and more.  If you mean worldly wisdom, useless knowledge, false reasoning, say so; and throw away the chaff, but not the wheat.

One general end of enthusiasm is, expecting the end without the means; the expecting knowledge, for instance, without searching the Scriptures, and consulting the children of God: the expecting spiritual strength without constant prayer, and steady watchfulness: the expecting any blessing without hearing the word of God at every opportunity.

Some have been ignorant of this device of Satan.  They have left off searching the Scriptures.  They said, "God writes all the Scripture on my heart: therefore, I have no need to read it."  Others thought, they had not so much need of hearing, and so grew slack in attending the morning preaching.  O take warning, you who are concerned herein.  You have listened to the voice of a stranger.  Fly back to Christ, and keep in the good old way, which was once delivered to the saints: the way that even a heathen bore testimony of, "That the Christians rose early every day to sing hymns to Christ as God."

The very desire of growing in grace, may sometimes be an inlet of enthusiasm.  As it continually leads us to seek new grace, it may lead us unawares to seek something else new besides new degrees of love to God and man.  So it has led some to seek and fancy they had received gifts of a new kind, after a new heart, as, 1. The loving God with all our mind.  2. With all our soul.  3. With all our strength.  4. Oneness with God.  5. Oneness with Christ.  6. Having our life hid with Christ in God.  7. Being dead with Christ.  8. Rising with him.  9. The sitting with him in heavenly places.  10. The being taken up into his throne.  11. The being in the New Jerusalem.  12. The seeing the tabernacle of God come down among men.  13. The being dead to all works.  14. The not being liable to death, pain, or grief, or temptation.

One ground of many of these mistakes is, the taking every fresh strong application of any of these scriptures to the heart, to be a gift of a new kind: not knowing that several of these scriptures are not fulfilled yet; that most of the others are fulfilled when we are justified; the rest, the moment we are sanctified.  It remains only, to experience them in higher degrees.  This is all we have to expect.

Another ground of these, and a thousand mistakes, is, the not considering deeply that Love is the highest gift of God, humble, gentle, patient Love: that all visions, revelations, manifestations whatever, are little things compared with love: and that all the gifts above mentioned are either the same with, or infinitely inferior to it.

It were well you should be thoroughly sensible of this: the heaven of heavens is love.  There is nothing higher in religion: there is, in effect, nothing else: if you look for anything else but more love, you are looking wide of the mark, you are getting out of the royal way.  And when you are asking others, Have you received this or that blessing? if you mean any thing but more love, you mean wrong; you are leading them out of the way, and putting them upon a false scent.  Settle it then in your heart, that from the moment God has saved you from all sin, you are to aim at nothing more, but more of that love described in the thirteenth of the Corinthians.  You can go no higher than this, till you are carried into Abraham's bosom.

I say yet again, beware of enthusiasm.  Such is the imagining you have the gift of prophesying, or of discerning of spirits, which I do not believe one of you has; no, nor ever had yet.  Beware of judging people right or wrong, by your own feelings.  This is no scriptural way of judging.  O keep close to the law and the testimony!

 Some questions for discussion:

1. Two and a half years ago, I posted some reflections on religious 'fanaticism' from nineteenth-century pastor Ethan Smith.  Smith charged that 'fanaticism' was "a religion, which saves man the labor of diligently searching and comparing the word of God, and of studying his own heart", and that 'fanatics' pretend to "reach at once the top of the mount", in terms of "a high and peculiar intimacy with God".  In this way, Smith charged, they "become a prey to enthusiasm and error".  How does John Wesley's portrayal of enthusiasm compare to Ethan Smith's later portrayal of fanaticism?  What distinctive elements do each of them contribute?  
2. The early Latter Day Saint movement was often classified as "fanaticism", "enthusiasm", and "delusion" by outsiders (just as many other movements were when they were new, including Methodism itself - hence John Wesley's sensitivity toward not giving any unnecessary credence to those charges).  In light of Wesley's description of 'enthusiasm', what aspects of early Latter-day Saint religious life lent themselves most readily to that charge?  What elements of Wesley's description are least applicable?
3. John Wesley cautions against uncritical reliance on apparent personal revelations (or visions, dreams, etc.), because there can be several possible sources: "They may be from him [God].  They may be from nature.  They may be from the devil."  Decades later, in the 1830s, Joseph Smith famously quipped: "Some revelations are of God: some revelations are of man: and some revelations are of the devil" (as quoted in David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ [Richmond, MO: David Whitmer, 1887], 31).  How do these statements compare?  What is the likelihood that Joseph Smith was influenced by John Wesley here?  What are the implications of either statement, or of both statements?
4. John Wesley went on to say that, given the inherently ambiguous nature of personal revelations/impressions, we must "try all things by the written word", that is, by the scriptures that form a standard by which such things are to be judged.  Wesley also exalts scripture ("the law and the testimony") over against the prospect of evaluating things by the standard of one's "feelings".  Why does Wesley consistently turn our attention to the scriptures as a standard?  How has this exhortation been implemented in the Wesleyan tradition?  Are there any corresponding impulses in the Latter-day Saint tradition?
5. John Wesley warns that 'enthusiasm' remains a danger "if you depart ever so little from Scripture: yea, or from the plain literal meaning of the text, taken in connexion with the context".  Given Wesley's mid-eighteenth-century context, what sort(s) of hermeneutic might 'plain' and 'literal' suggest to him and his audience, and what sort(s) of hermeneutic might they be primarily intended to rule out?  What sorts of additional informative factors might Wesley include as part of a text's context?  (Nearby literary passages; other parts of the same literary corpus; outside knowledge of historical and cultural circumstances?)  Why would Wesley regard any deviation from this (range of) meaning as a flirtation with "enthusiasm"?
6. John Wesley warns that 'enthusiasm' is equally a danger for one who "despise[s] or lightly esteem[s] reason, knowledge, or human learning: every one of which is an excellent gift of God, and may serve the noblest purposes".  He expands further on this point, urging his readers to never demean these gifts but instead to pray for more knowledge, more wisdom, and more reason.  Why does John Wesley consider these to be such "excellent gifts of God"?  Why would demeaning them risk the peril of "enthusiasm"?  How has the Wesleyan tradition regarded reason, knowledge, and "human learning" (i.e., scholarly pursuits)?  How has the Latter-day Saint tradition regarded these gifts?  How does taking Wesley seriously here impact how we read the Greatest Commandment to "love the Lord thy God ... with all thy mind"?
7. One dimension of John Wesley's assessment of enthusiasm is that it imagines heaps of blessings that will qualitatively distinguish the enthusiast from other professing believers; whereas, Wesley retorts, the foundational blessings are so central as to be all-consuming, and the only relevant distinctions among believers are a matter of quantity.  What are the implications of these two differing views of the Christian life? 
8. John Wesley is at his most impassioned, perhaps, when he urges that love is the infinitely superior virtue, the "heaven of heavens", the "royal way", that than which there is "nothing higher", the "highest gift of God".  Is this a Beatles-esque sentiment ("All You Need is Love")?  Does it seem likely that Wesley means that it doesn't matter what you believe so long as you love everyone?  How does Wesley understand the 'love' that he lauds as highly as he does? 

Call to Sectarian Preachers: Benjamin E. Rich, Observed by David H. Elton

Recently I have enjoyed, on occasion, looking through the numerous nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Latter-day Saint missionary diaries that have been digitized and transcribed out of the collections of the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University.  At the moment, my attention is held by a particular entry from the fourth mission journal kept by one Elder David Horton Elton (1877-1963), who served in the Southern States Mission in 1898-1900.  I quote the following entry, dated 18 February 1900, modernized and edited for presentability (4:86-89):

We met in fast meeting at the Mission Headquarters, Pres. [Benjamin Erastus] Rich presiding.  It certainly was an enjoyable meeting.  We sang, and prayed, and partook of the symbolic emblems of the broken flesh and spilt blood of our Redeemer.  Testimony upon testimony was borne by those worthy servants of God, and with the rest of the brethren I bore my testimony to the truthfulness of the everlasting Gospel.  I have never felt better in all my life than I did this morning, and I feel to thank the Lord with all the energies of my soul, and with every faculty that I possess for His loving kindness unto me. 

At 2 P.M. there was a public meeting held in the Congregational Hall, Pres. Ben E. Rich presiding.  Commenced by singing, "Did you think to pray."  Prayer was offered by Elder Skidmore of the Florida Conference, and a Quartet composed of Elders Stokes, Summerhays, Parker, and myself sang, "Rock of my Refuge."  Pres. Rich then made a few introductory remarks and then introduced Elder Stokes - a Mormon Boy.  He spoke upon the principle of divine revelation from God, and showed the absolute essentiality of communication between God and man.  Ben L. Rich, son of our beloved President, was the next speaker.  He dwelt upon the courage, stamina, virtue, and honesty of the sons of the Western Highlands.  I then spoke for a few minutes upon the goodness of God, and the truthfulness of the Gospel; followed by Elder W. T. Davis, who spoke upon the self-sacrificing conduct of the Elders who left home, friends, loved ones and kindred relations, in order to be of service unto the Lord. 

Pres. Rich made a few remarks in closing - touching upon the words of those who had preceded him, - and once more issued a call for Sectarian preachers to come and point out the errors or absurdities of Mormonism - using the Holy Bible as their guide and defense. 

In compliance with an invitation from Sisters Rich and Hyldahl, we all met in the Mission House, where we enjoyed ourselves beyond expression.  We had a genuine good hearty, old time Hand shake.  Refreshments in the line of Bananas, Nuts, Oranges, Apples and Candy, were served by the sisters.  It seemed just like Home - in great big letters.  Elder Boyle of the South Alabama conference, whose picture can be seen on the first page of this Journal, recited, "Down on the Rio Grande."  Pres. Rich then amused the happy throng by reciting a semi-tragic-comic - portraying a man shaving.  We sang Hymns - Gospel, Sectarian, Revival, and Otherwise, and after rendering that Old Time Hymn found on Page 107 - "Lord dismiss us with thy blessing," we bade, "Good Bye" to our Host, and Hostess, feeling like Peter of old, "It was good to be there."  

Naturally, in this particular missionary journal entry, it was the second-to-last paragraph - as I have introduced paragraph divisions, that is - that most caught my attention.  For a bit of background, Benjamin E. Rich (1855-1913) was the son of Charles C. Rich (1809-1883), who had been a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  Benjamin E. Rich here began serving as a mission president in 1898 over the Southern States Mission, became president of the Middle States Mission in 1900, and returned to presiding over the Southern States Mission in 1903 when the Middle States Mission was dismantled; and eventually, in 1908, he came to preside over the Eastern States Mission until he died in 1913.  (For his part, Elder David H. Elton went on to serve for a number of years as the mayor of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, and became a noted poet  During his mission, he came to preside over the Chattanooga Conference.) 

Clearly, President Ben E. Rich was no slouch; at his funeral, Joseph F. Smith called him a "stalwart defender of the truth".  He wrote missionary tracts and did engage in debates with various Protestant ministers, some of which were published - see, for instance, the 1912 publication of The Brunner-Rich Debate, his debate against Rev. A. A. Brunner.  And here we see President Rich remembered as encouraging Protestant ministers to attempt to offer biblical critiques of the Latter-day Saint belief-system.  Not only that, but he himself modeled critical engagement with those critiques.  That raises some interesting points.  To what degree to modern-day Latter-day Saints exhibit a similar willingness to listen to attempts to biblically critique LDS beliefs?  To what degree are modern-day Latter-day Saints prepared to offer reasonable pushback and attempt to give a similarly biblical defense of LDS beliefs?  If there is a discrepancy between President Ben E. Rich's attitude and the attitudes cultivated by modern-day LDS culture, why? 

Alien Visitors and the Golden Rule: Wilford Woodruff's 1853 Case for Keeping a Journal

On 15 February 1853, Wilford Woodruff preached one of the most interesting LDS talks that I have ever had the pleasure of reading.  In it, among other things, he gives perhaps the most innovative argument for the importance of journal-keeping that has ever been given since the invention of writing.  (I rather enjoyed it.)  I edited the following from the raw text as recorded by Wilford Woodruff in his journal under that aforementioned date, as printed in Scott G. Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff's Journal, 1833-1898: Typescript, 9 vols. (Midvale, UT: Signature Books, 1983-1985), 4:199-201.  

I am always interested in meeting with the Saints, especially with so many of the Seventies and Elders as are here today.  There never was a school in any age of the world that presents as much of interest to the reflecting mind as the one presenting itself to us in this age - not only the affairs of the Church, but the history of the changes and revolutions of all nations on earth.  The time has come when the earth is to be redeemed from the power and dominion of the devil, and the heavens, with all the prophets that have ever lived, are included in the great work.  The Elders who are before me today have this great battle to fight and the victory to win.  I never saw a time in any age of my life when I have had more desire to live than at the present time.  I want to see the work progress, the kingdom rise, that it may become established in all the earth, and the effects that will follow.

Yes, the Elders should improve their time in treasuring up knowledge and counsel, for you will want it when you go to the nations of the earth.  Don't spend your time in playing cards, dice, chess, or in any such foolish way, but improve the time to the best advantage and seek to conquer yourselves and preside over yourselves and bring all your passions in subjection to the law of Christ, as our president has taught us. 

One item which I count of importance, I wish to speak of.  I wish to exhort the Seventies and Elders to keep a journal and history of their lives for the record and history of this Church and Kingdom, which will be wanted in a future day.  There has been no dispensation on earth, the proceedings of which will be more interesting than the one in which we live.  Should we ever have the privilege, in our resurrected bodies, of visiting other planets and the inhabitants of the same, we should want to learn the history of that people.  If they had kept no record of their lives and the dealings of God with them so that we could get their history, we should feel much disappointment.  So would they, should they visit us. 

It is true that Joseph Smith kept a history of his own life and those things in some measure connected with him.  He is now dead, but his life and testimony is now being published to the world in separate pieces in our publications.  Also, President Young has scribes who are recording his daily acts and life, which is right and good.  But does that record the life, history, and dealings of God with the many thousands of the apostles and elders who are or will be in all the world among every nation under heaven?  No, verily, no.  Then, all ye Elders of Israel, write your history and the dealings of God with you in all the world, for your own benefit and that of your posterity, for the benefit of the House of Israel, for the benefit of Jew and Gentile, for the benefit of future generations, and, in fine, for the benefit of those celestial beings on other planets who may see fit to visit us either in time or eternity and wish to visit our libraries and peruse the history of the inhabitants of the earth, especially the Saints in the last dispensation and fulness of times.  Then write, and do not neglect it.

Some questions for discussion:

1. Why is it that Wilford Woodruff was so interested in the ecclesiastical "progress" that he saw before him, actually or potentially, in 1853?  
2. Wilford Woodruff urges that those holding the position of elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints should set to work in "treasuring up knowledge and counsel", because when they "go to the nations of the earth" in missionary work, they will find that "knowledge and counsel" to be quite useful.  What sorts of knowledge and counsel would be helpful in this?  What does that imply about the role of the missionary's intellect in the process of missionary work?  Does the modern-day Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints actively take measures to assist its members to acquire these sorts of "knowledge and counsel" before sending them out on missions to the "nations of the earth"? 
3. Among foolish diversions from this sort of learning, Wilford Woodruff mentions "dice, cards, [and] chess".  What mentality does this show regarding the use of time?  What other diversions are available today?  What attitudes do Latter-day Saints, or should Latter-day Saints, hold in practice toward such diversions, both new and old?
4. Wilford Woodruff employs several arguments for keeping a journal.  One of these is the example set by both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.  In modern Latter-day Saint life, what argumentative force should the practical examples of past and present church leaders have? 
5. Another of Wilford Woodruff's arguments is that the contents of the journal will be edifying and interesting to "future generations", to one's "posterity".  In what way?  Did any of your ancestors write journals that are still extant?  If so, have you read them?  Why or why not?  If you have read them, in what ways did they edify or interest you?
6. Another of Wilford Woodruff's arguments is based on the Golden Rule, the human drive of curiosity, and the existence of extraterrestrial life: If we visited other planets where the denizens kept journals, we would be pleased to read them, whereas if they could not point us to documents recording their history as a people, we would be disappointed to never know; and so, following the Golden Rule, we should keep journals so as not to disappoint future extraterrestrial visitors to our world.  What sort of cosmology does Wilford Woodruff's argument presume, and what does it say about common then-current LDS assumptions about the nature of the universe?  What thoughts did you have as you read and reflected on this argument?
7. As for the contents of one's journal, Wilford Woodruff specifies one's "life, history, and dealings of God with [one]".  If you keep a journal of any sort now, what sorts of things in your life would you include?

"Everything is a Remix": The Book of Mormon and Pre-1830s Publications

Since I had watched the bulk of the October 2013 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I thought it only fair this year to watch a portion of the proceedings of the Exmormon Foundation 2013 Conference, which was held a couple weeks later.  Perhaps the biggest stir was created by a presentation given in the late afternoon (early evening for me here in the eastern United States) of 19 October 2013 by one Chris Johnson, a presentation titled "How the Book of Mormon Destroyed Mormonism".  (Chris Johnson has since posted a summary of his findings on his website in a post titled "Hidden in Plain Sight".)  In it, he offered the fruits of a computerized analysis he and his brother Duane Johnson did of 4-grams (four-word phrases) in the Book of Mormon when compared to a vast plethora of books available at the time the Book of Mormon was published (1830).  Their findings revealed some rather unexpected results, and thankfully the footage of the presentation is now available:

In short, while the work of Solomon Spaulding did not register as a real possible influence, and the 1823 book View of the Hebrews by Ethan Smith (Oliver Cowdery's pastor) registered as a mildly significant possible influence, there were two unanticipated works that appeared to be significant possible influences on the Book of Mormon.  (There was actually a third as well: an 1822 translation of the Qur'an.  Various writings of Joanna Southcott also factored.)  First is the 1809 pseudonymous book The First Book of Napoleon, the Tyrant of the Earth, which might - Chris Johnson suggests - have been written by a young man ('Eliakim the Scribe') close to Joseph Smith's age.  This work was divided into chapter and verse, and this is the beginning of it:

And behold it came to pass, in these latter days, that an evil spirit arose on the face of the earth, and greatly troubled the sons of men.  And this spirit seized upon, and spread amongst the people who dwell in the land of Gaul.  Now, in this people the fear of the Lord had not been for many generations, and they had become a corrupt and perverse people; and their chief priests, and the nobles of the land, and the learned men thereof, had become wicked in the imaginations of their hearts, and in the practices of their lives.  And the evil spirit went abroad amongst the people, and they raged like unto the heathen, and they rose up against their lawful king, and slew him, and his queen also, and the prince their son; yea, verily, with a cruel and bloody death.  And they moreover smote, with mighty wrath, the king's guards, and banished the priests, and nobles of the land, and seized upon, and took unto themselves, their inheritances, their gold and silver, corn and oil, and whatsoever belonged unto them.  Now it came to pass, that the nation of the Gauls continued to be sorely troubled and vexed, and the evil spirit whispered unto the people, even unto the meanest and vilest thereof, that all men being born equal, were free to act, each one according to the imaginations and devices of his own heart, without the fear of GOD, or the controul of the lawful rulers of the land.  (1:1-6)

For an instance of the sort of parallels being identified, compare, for instance, First Book of Napoleon 1:5, "their inheritances, their gold and silver", to 1 Nephi 2:4, "the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things".  Second is Gilbert J. Hunt's 1816 book The Late War Between the United States and Great Britain, which was an account of the War of 1812 framed in pseudo-biblical language and thought patterns.  In a later printing, it was actually used as a historical reader for schoolboys in New York during the teenage years of Joseph Smith and some of his early associates.  The following is the beginning section:

Now it came to pass, in the one thousand eight hundred and twelfth year of the christian era, and in the thirty and sixth year after the people of the provinces of Columbia had declared themselves independent of all the kingdoms of the earth; that in the sixth month of the same year, on the first day of the month, the chief Governor, whom the people had chosen to rule over the land of Columbia; even JAMES, whose sur-name was MADISON, delivered a written paper to the GREAT SANHEDRIM of the people who were assembled together. (1:1-3)

Needless to say, there has been a small firestorm in the wake of this presentation, with the lion's share of attention being given to the latter work.  This is actually not the first time that parallels between the works have been drawn, as can be seen in a 2008 piece from Rick Grunder and also the writings of Jerald and Sandra Tanner.  More recently, the LDS-themed blog Faith-Promoting Rumor gave some coverage to the matter in a post titled "The Book of Mormon and the Late War: Direct Literary Dependence?", arguing that Joseph Smith was not directly using the Late War when writing the Book of Mormon but rather that, having been familiar with it some time previously, it did indirectly shape the creation of the Book of Mormon.  (For instance, compare Late War 20:11-16 with Ether 9:17-19, as Johnson highlights.)  Christopher Smith, writing two posts at the Worlds Without End blog ("New Computer Study Purports to Detect Literary Influences on the Book of Mormon"; "What the New Computer Study Can Tell Us About the Book of Mormon"), also disputes to some extent whether the Johnson and Johnson study has actually made a strong case for literary dependence; but, in my view, Smith's critical assessment still seems rather less persuasive than the actual study. 

The opening words of the Book of Mormon text in 1 Nephi 1:1 ("I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents...") even seem to parallel somewhat the opening words of the introduction to another book identified in Johnson's analysis, David Willson's 1815 book The Rights of Christ, According to the Principles and Doctrines of the Children of Peace ("I, the writer, was born of Presbyterian parents...").  It seems, furthermore, that some (perhaps many) of the features that LDS apologists have previously pointed to as 'unexplainable' Hebraic features of the Book of Mormon, can also be found in these books, such as the use of 'with+noun' in place of adverbial forms (compare Jacob 4:3 to Late War 8:4, both using "with joy" rather than "joyfully" or "joyously"). This is particularly emphasized by the recent coverage at Mormonism Research Ministry's Mormon Coffee blog ("The Late War and the Book of Mormon"), which focuses on the way this is fostering further discussion in the LDS apologetics community.

Also needless to say, the actual significance of these findings will continue to be debated between LDS scholars and non-LDS scholars.  Most probably would not say that this conclusively proves that the Book of Mormon has a nineteenth-century origin; but most would probably agree that it does at least severely mitigate what minimal case had previously been made for an ancient origin, particularly on the basis of semantic features.  I don't profess to know what precisely this analysis can and cannot demonstrate just yet.  I look forward to further studies exploring this angle. 

"A Small Spark of Deity": An 1846 Poem from John Taylor

I recently found a poem that I think is a particularly beautiful one.  It was written by John Taylor (later the third President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) for and to a New York City woman named Abby Jane Hart.  The poem ("Lines, Written in the Album of Miss Abby Jane Hart, of New York City") is dated 5 September 1846, and it was printed in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star 8/11 (19 December 1846): 178-179.  The poem is as follows, and I think it illustrates some interesting tendencies in Latter-day Saint thought:

Abby: Knowest thou whence thou camest? Thine

Origin? Who thou art? What? and whither

Thou art bound? A crysolis of yesterday:

To-day a gaudy fluttering butterfly –

A moth; to-morrow crushed, and then an end

Of thee. Is this so? And must thou perish

Thus, and die ingloriously without a

Hope?

          Ah, no; thou'rt no such thing. Thou in the

Bosom of thy Father bask'd, and liv'd, and

Mov'd thousands of years ago. Yes, e'er this

Mundane sphere from chaos sprung, or sun, or

Moon, or stars, or world was fram'd: before the

Sons of God for joy did shout, or e'er the

Morning stars together sung – thou liv'dst.

          Thou liv'dst to live again. Ah, no! thou liv'd

But to continue life eternal – to

Live, and move, and act eternally. Yes;

Long as a spirit, God, or world exists;

From everlasting, eternal, without end.

And whilst thou dwelt in thy paternal home,

And with thy brethren shar'd extatic bliss,

All that a spirit could not cloth'd in flesh,

Thou through the vista of unnumbered years

Saw'st through the glimmering veil that thou would'st

Dwell in flesh – just as the Gods.

                                              Tread in the

Footsteps of thine elder brother, Jesus –

The “Prince of Peace,” for whom a body was

Prepared.

             Thou heard; thou look'd; thou long'd; thou pray'd;

Thou hop'd for this. At length it came; and thou

Appear'd on this terraqueous ball,

Body and spirit; a living soul, forth

From the hands of Eloheim – eternal

As himself – part of thy God. A small spark

Of Deity struck from the fire of his

Eternal blaze.

                 Thou came! thou came to live! Of life thou art

A living monument; to it thou still

Dost cling eternal life. To thee all else

Are straw, and chaff, and bubbles light as air;

And will be all, until thou gain once more

Thy Father's breast; rais'd, quicken'd, immortal;

Body, spirit, all: a God among the

Gods forever blest.

                          Abby: and hast thou dared to launch thy

Fragile barque on truth's tempestuous sea;

To meet the pelting storm, and proudly brave

The dangers of the raging main; and through

The rocks, and shoals, and yawning gulphs, pursue

The nearest way to life, in hopes that thou

Would'st speedy gain a seat among the Gods?

          Seest thou the multitudes who sail in

Gilded barques, and gently float along the

Silvery stream? Downward they go with sweet

Luxurious ease, and scarce a zephyr moves

The tranquil bosom of the placid stream.

Unconscious of the greatness of the prize

They might obtain, they glide along in peace;

And as they never soar aloft, nor mount

On eagle's wings, nor draw aside the veil

Of other worlds, they know none else than this –

No other joys. They dream away their life,

And die forgot. Just as the butterfly

They gaily flutter on: to-day they live –

To-morrow are no more.

                                  And though, like thee,

In them is the eternal spark; thousands

Of weary years must roll along e'er they

Regain the prize they might with thee have shar'd.

Regain it? Never! No! They may come where

Thou wert, but never can they with thee share

Extatic bliss.

                  For whilst in heaven's progressive

Science skill'd, thou soard'st from world to world, clad

In the robes of bright seraphic light; and

With thy God, eternal – onward goest, a

Priestess and a queen – reigning and ruling in

The realms of light. Unlike the imbeciles

Who dared not brook the scorn of men, and knew not

How to prize eternal life.

                         Abby: the cup's within thy reach; drink thou

The vital balm and live.