Saturday, February 25, 2023

"Testing the Spirits" in D&C 50 and the April 1, 1842 Times and Seasons

 In 1 John 4:1-3, we read:

 

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

 

This is often used as a proof-text against Latter-day Saints, sometimes being used as a "proof-text" for Sola Scriptura and/or against the LDS belief in the "testimony of the Holy Spirit." I have addressed these issues before (see the articles under "further reading").

 

It should be noted that early Latter-day Saints did believe in the importance of "testing the spirits." Consider the following two examples:

 

In a revelation dated May 1831, we have warnings against false spirits:

 

Hearken, O ye elders of my church, and give ear to the voice of the living God; and attend to the words of wisdom which shall be given unto you, according as ye have asked and are agreed as touching the church, and the spirits which have gone abroad in the earth. Behold, verily I say unto you, that these are many spirits which are false spirits, which have gone forth in the earth, deceiving the world. . . . Wherefore, it shall come to pass, that if you behold a spirit manifested that you cannot understand, and you receive not the spirit, ye shall ask of the Father in the name of Jesus; and if he give not unto you that spirit, then you may know that it is not of God. And it shall be given unto you, power over that spirit and you shall proclaim against the spirit with a loud voice that it is not of God. (D&C 50:1-2, 31-32)

 

In the article, probably authored by Joseph Smith (*), "Try the Spirits," Times and Seasons 3, no. 11 (April 1, 1842): 744-45, 747, we are told how to discern the different manifestation of "spirits" among various groups:

 

We answer that no man can do this without the Priesthood, and having a knowledge of the laws by which spirits are governed; for as, “no man knows the things of God but by the spirit of God,” so no man knows the spirit of the devil and his power and influence but by possessing intelligence which is more than human, and having unfolded through the medium of the Priesthood the mysterious operations of his devices; without knowing the angelic form, the sanctified look, and gesture, and the zeal that is frequently manifested by him for the glory of God:—together with the prophetic spirit, the gracious influence, the godly appearance, and the holy garb which is so characteristic of his proceedings, and his mysterious windings. A man must have the discerning of spirits, before he can drag into daylight this hellish influence and unfold it unto the world in all its soul destroying, diabolical, and horrid colors: for nothing is a greater injury to the children of men than to be under the influence of a false spirit, when they think they have the spirit of God. . . . As we have noticed before, the great difficulty lays in the ignorance of the nature of spirits, of the laws by which they are governed, and the signs by which they may be known; if it requires the spirit of God, to know the things of God, and the spirit of the devil can only be unmasked through that medium, then it follows as a natural consequence that unless some person, or persons, have a communication or revelation from God, unfolding to them the operation of spirit, they must eternally remain ignorant of these principles:—for I contend that if one man cannot understand these things but by the spirit of God, ten thousand men cannot; it is alike out of the reach of the wisdom of the learned, the tongue of the eloquent, and the power of the mighty. . . . A man must have the discerning of spirits as we before stated to understand these things, and how is he to obtain this gift if there are no gifts of the spirit? And how can these gifts be obtained without revelation?—“Christ ascended into heaven and gave gifts to men, . . . “and he gave some apostles and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.” And how were apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists chosen? by “prophesy (revelation) and by laying on of hands:”—by a divine communication, and a divinely appointed ordinance—through the medium of the priesthood, organized according to the order of God, by divine appointment. The apostles in ancient times held the keys of this priesthood—of the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and consequently were enabled to unlock, and unravel all things pertaining to the government of the church, the welfare of society, the future destiny of men, and the agency, power, and influence of spirits; for they could control them at pleasure, bid them depart in the name of Jesus, and detect their mischievous and mysterious operations when trying to palm themselves upon the church in a religious garb, and militate against the interest of the church, and the spread of truth—we read that they “cast out devils in the name of Jesus,” and when a woman possessing the spirit of divination cried before Paul and Silas “these are the servants of the most high God that shew unto us the way of salvation:” they detected the spirit, and although she spake favorably of them Paul commanded the spirit to come out of her, and saved themselves from the opprobrium that might have been heaped upon their heads, through an affiance with her, in the development of her wicked principles:—which they certainly would have been charged with if they had not rebuked the evil spirit. . . . Some will say ‘try the spirits’ by the word. ‘Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.’ John iv, 2, 3.66 One of the Irvingites once quoted this passage whilst under the influence of a spirit, and then said, ‘I confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.’ And yet these prophesies failed, their Messiah did not come; and the great things spoken of by them have fallen to the ground. What is the matter here? did not the apostle speak the truth? certainly he did—but he spoke to a people who were under the penalty of death, the moment they embraced christianity; and no one without a knowledge of the fact would confess it and expose themselves to death: and this was consequently given as a criterian to the church or churches to which John wrote. But the devil on a certain occasion cried out, ‘I know thee who thou art the ‘Holy one of God’[’]67 Here was a frank acknowledgement under other circumstances,—that ‘Jesus had come in the flesh.’ On another occasion the devil said ‘Paul we know, and Jesus we know;’ of course come in the flesh. No man nor set of men without the regular constituted authorities, the priesthood and discerning of spirits can tell true, from false spirits. This power they possessed in the apostles’ day, but it has departed from the world for ages.

 

(*) According to the Joseph Smith Papers website:

 

JS likely authored the article, which was signed “Ed.” . . . Although it was not uncommon for JS’s amanuenses to author documents on his behalf using that pronoun (for instance, Willard Richards used “I” to describe JS when keeping the latter’s personal journal), it was not typically used in Times and Seasons editorials written by someone other than JS. The frequency of use in this editorial, particularly in informal parenthetical asides, suggests JS’s authorship. Certain examples of authoritative pronouncements in the editorial—like the author’s statement that a “bad angel” could be identified by “the color of his hair”—seem to also suggest JS’s authorship.

 

Further Reading:

 

Not By Scripture Alone: A Latter-day Saint Refutation of Sola Scriptura


Personal Divine Revelation and the Knowledge the Bible is the Word of God and/or one is "Saved" in the Protestant Traditions


“Testing God,” Gideon, and Praying about the Book of Mormon (cf. Gideon and the Dry Fleece, God giving "signs" to His people, and Praying about the Book of MormonRoger Ryan on Gideon and the FleeceNotes from David Marcus, “Gideon’s Two-Part Tests As Signs of Assurance (Judges 6.36-40)")