Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Explications of Jesus Preaching the Gospel in the Spirit World Prior to the Reception of D&C 138 in 1918


In D&C138, a revelation received by the then-president of the Church, Joseph F. Smith, we read of Jesus’ establishment of preaching the gospel to those who never received an opportunity in mortality. Notwithstanding, such should not be taken as evidence that this concept was not known prior to 1918, only that with D&C 138, it became explicated and more details were revealed. As Richard E. Bennett noted:

It would be incorrect, however, to conclude that the doctrine of the gospel being taught to deceased spirits in prison was not taught in these years. For instance, Elder Erastus Snow said in 1887 that after his death, Joseph Smith “went and preached [the gospel] to the spirits who are in prison. And so have all the elders of Israel who have lived righteous lives, magnified their callings and ministered in their priesthood to the living, after death, being organized, I believe, as the church here and set to work in their missionary labors in the spirit world, to carry the gospel to their fathers whose spirits were in prison.” Salt Lake Herald, 9 October 1887. One of the significant contributions of Joseph F. Smith’s 1918 vision of the dead was to show that Christ Himself did not go to the deceased spirits in prison but that He “organized” His forces to do so. (Richard E. Bennett, Temple Rising: A Heritage of Sacrifice [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2019], 226 n. 103)