Friday, March 5, 2021

Nicholas J. Frederick on D&C 67:11

  

D&C 67:11

 

In November 1831 a conference was held regarding the publication of the Book of Commandments. A handful of church elders were asked to sign a revealed statement about the nature of the truthfulness of the revelations that would be published with the Book of Commandments (44). Some of the elders were troubled by imperfections they perceived in the revelations, and apparently they hoped for a divine witness to confirm the decision for publication. While those present at the conference may have been hoping for something more grandiose, what they received was this short revelation. The revelation declares that the Lord has indeed heard their prayers and knows their hearts (D&C 67:1), but “there were fears in your hearts and verily this is the reason that ye did not receive” (D&C 67:2).

 

The Lord then validates the language of the revelations, stating that “for ye know that there is no unrighteousness in it and that which is righteous cometh down from above from the father of lights” (D&C 67:9) (45). The Lord then states that the members must strip themselves from “Jealesies and fears and humble yourselves before me,” at which point “the veil shall be wrent and you shall see me and know that I am” (D&C 67:10) (46). At this point, the revelation alludes to John 1:18, the only time this verse is quoted in all of Mormon scripture: “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”

 

Following the promise that “the veil shall be wrent and you shall see me and know that I am,” Smith begins his expansion on John 1:18. He states that this ability to “see me and know that I am” cannot be accomplished “with the carnal neither natural but with the spiritual for no man hath seen God at any time in the flesh, but by the Spirit of God neither can any natural man abide the presence of God neither after the carnal mind ye are not able to abide the presence of God now neither the ministering of Angels wherefore continue in patience untill ye are perfected” (D&C 67:10-13). Johannine scholars see the function of John 1:18 as demonstrating that “for no one, not even for Moses, can God be an object of direct observation and that the human person cannot even exist in God’s unveiled presence” (47). God himself had stated the same to Moses on Mt. Sinai: “ . . . for there shall no man see me, and live” (Ex. 33:20) (48). One of the purposes of John 1:18 was to elevate the status of Jesus, the “only Son who has not only seen the Father but is ever at His side” (49). Thus Jesus’ statement that “He who has seen me has seen the Father.”

 

This verse serves at least two important functions for Joseph Smith and the church. First, it re-enforces Smith’s supersessionist idea that he and his followers are the legitimate latter-day heirs of the Jewish covenant. In June 1830, Joseph Smith began a “translation” of the Bible, part of which involved “restoring” a lengthy vision in which Moses “was caught up into an exceeding high Mountain” (Moses 1:1) (50). While on this mountain, Moses sees God “face to face and he talked with him and the glory of God was upon Moses therefore Moses could endure his presence” (Moses 1:2). At the conclusion of the first part of this vision, Moses speaks in language reminiscent of D&C 67:10-11: “And it came to pass, that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man, and he saith unto himself Now for this once I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed, but now mine eyes, mine own eyes but not mine eyes for mine eyes could not have beheld for I should have withered and died in his presence but his glory was upon me and I beheld his face for I was transfigured before him” (Moses 1:10-11) (51). This vision establishes that Moses was “transfigured,” or temporarily changed, in order to abide in the presence of God and still remain alive.

 

According to D&C 67, Moses’ experience was not meant to be unique. D&C 67 promises that those who “strip yourselves” of faults and act humbly may also “see me,” not with the “natural mind” but with the “spiritual mind.” Smith’s church may employ biblical terms like “priesthood” and “prophet,” but it was also to be grounded in the democratic ideals of nineteenth-century America. In a few short months, Smith would receive a revelation granting priesthood authority to all worthy male members, regardless of lineage, and his vision of the afterlife promised all but the worst among humanity a “degree of glory.” D&C 67 thus represents the democratization of prophet-hood. Visions of God would no longer be limited only to men like Moses and Isaiah, but to all who “have been ordained unto the ministry” (D&C 67:10), who, “when ye are worthy in mine own due time ye shall see and know that which was confirmed upon you by the hands of my Servant Joseph Amen” (D&C 67:14) (52).

 

A second function John 1:18 may have served for Joseph Smith was in regards to his own spiritual background. Joseph Smith’s life was a living example of the sacred background. Joseph Smith’s life was a living example of the sacred collapsing into the profane. He spoke of having seen (53) or heard (54) or being visited by numerous divine figures and claimed to have seen the Son on several occasions. Especially noteworthy are the five occasions he would claim to see God the Father (55). One might think that John 1:18 would appear in Smith’s writings more frequently, if for no other reason than explaining that it was possible to see the Father, as long as the circumstances warranted it. What Joseph Smith does in D&C 67:11 is push back against the idea that God remains a distant, unseen presence. While it may be generally true that no man can see God, according to D&C 67:11 this visitation can occur if one is acted upon “by the Spirit of God.” Thus for Joseph Smith, John 1:18 was not an inaccurate claim, it was simply incomplete. D&C 67, with its caveat that “for no man hath seen God at any time in the flesh but by the Spirit of God” may have allowed Smith to feel more comfortable in relaying his own encounters with God the Father. A short time after the reception of D&C 67, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon produced an “inspired” translation of John 1:18, which would read, in a manner echoing D&C 67:11: “And no man hath seen God at any time, except he hath born record of the Son.” In a similar fashion, 1 John 4:12, with its assertion that “No man hath seen God at any time” was followed in Smith’s revised version with the proviso “except them who believe.” Statements like these may have served to alleviate questions about what Smith himself many have experienced, to help him understand how he was able to see God when the New Testament seemed to claim the exact opposite. Those skeptical of Smith’s visionary claims may see D&C 67:11 as Smith laying the groundwork for his multiple stories about visitations from the Father. By expanding upon John 1:18 through the addition of the caveat “except quickened in the flesh” Smith introduced a way in which it would be possible to see God, anticipating potential critics who would point to John 1:18 as proof of Smith’s fraudulence (56).

 

Notes for the Above

 

(44) Godfrey, et al., The Joseph Smith Papers: Documents, vol. 2, 110-13

 

(45) This title “father of lights” stands out in a revelation filled with Johannine language and imagery. However, the provenance for the title, and this verse as a whole, is likely James 1:17: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” This is the only appearance of the title in Mormon scripture and provides an example of how useful an intertextual study of Mormon scripture and the Bible would be outside of merely a Johannine Prologue study.

 

(46) The phrase “know that I am” may allude to John 8:28, which itself likely alludes to the phrase “know that I am the Lord,” found nearly 100 times in the Old Testament, again demonstrating Joseph Smith’s proclivity for appropriating both the Old and New Testament. This phrase will make a crucial reappearance in D&C 93:1.

 

(47) Ridderbos, The Gospel of John, 59

 

(48) Many scholars see John 1:18 as echoing the theophany of Moses in Exodus 33. See Keener, The Gospel of John, 1:442 fn. 562

 

(49) Brown, The Gospel According to John, 1:36

 

(50) All references to the Joseph Smith Translation (including the Book of Moses) are taken from Scott H. Faulring, Kent P. Jackson, and Robert J. Matthews, eds., Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible: Original Manuscripts (Provo: Religious Studies Center, 2004).

 

(51) The similarities between this statement and D&C 67 were made more explicit when Moses 1:11 was edited to read: “But now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him.”

 

(52) This is possibly an early reference to what would become known in Mormonism as the “Second Comforter.” Joseph Smith taught that Mormons can progress to a certain point at which their “calling and election is made sure,” borrowing from the language of 2 Peter 1. This means that their salvation in the highest kingdom, the celestial kingdom is assured. Part and parcel with this process is the accompaniment of the “Second Comforter,” borrowing from the language of John 14, although meaning in a Mormon context that one enjoys the close association of Jesus Christ himself. Is this revelation, with its promise to rend the veil and “see me and know that I am” a precursor to this idea? Part of the problem is a possible confusion over “God.” In John 1:18, the Father is clearly meant when John states that “no one has seen God at any time.” But what does it mean in D&C 67? Is Jesus referring to himself as “God,” speaking in the third person, or does the context of John 1:18 apply here as well and D&C 67:11 refers to the Father? The fact that D&C 67:10 speaks of the promise to “see me and know that I am” suggests that D&C 67:11 refers to Jesus, not the Father. This does not necessarily invalidate the above argument however, as Mormons believe that the “God” of the Old Testament, Jehovah, is actually the pre-mortal Jesus Christ, and therefore Moses’ vision of “God” would have been of Jesus Christ.

 

(53) Historian Alexander Baugh has identified D&C 76 “visionary experiences” of Joseph Smith. See Alexander L. Baugh, “Parting the Veil: Joseph Smith’s Seventy-six Documented Visionary Experiences,” in Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations, 1830-1844, ed. John W. Welch (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 2005), 265-326.

 

(54) Joseph Smith wrote in 1842: “And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the prophets—the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of Fayette, Seneca county, declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the book! The voice of Michael on the banks of Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an angel of light! The voice of Peter, James, and John in the wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna county, and Colesville, Broome county, on the Susquehanna river, declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom, and of the dispensation of the fulness of times! And again, the voice of God in the chamber of old Father Whitmer, in Fayette, Seneca county, and at sundry times, and in divers places through all the travels and tribulations of this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! And the voice of Michael, the archangel; the voice of Gabriel, and of Raphael, and of divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to the present time, all declaring their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood; giving line upon line, precept upon precept; here a little, and there a little; giving us consolation by holding forth that which is to come, confirming our hope!” (D&C 128:20-21)

 

(55) These five occasions were the June 4, 1831 conference in Kirtland, D&C 76, a March 18, 1833 appearance to the School of the Prophets, a vision of the celestial kingdom on January 21, 1836, and the 1838 account of his “first vision.” See Baugh, “Parting the Veil: Joseph Smith’s Seventy-Six Document Visionary Experiences,” 265-306.

 

(56) The tension between John 1:18 and Smith’s vision continues to be noted by those seeking to debunk Mormonism. One such book writes of John 1:18 that “Since Joseph Smith claimed to have seen God the Father, this verse proved to be a problem for him. However, rather than back off from his claim of having seen God, he sought to change Scripture” (John R. Farkas and David A. Reed, Mormons Answered Verse-by-Verse [Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1992], 71). In their treatment of Mormonism, Richard Ostling and Joan K. Ostling wrote that “Mormons believe that spirit is matter, and that those biblical passages implying that God is immaterial must be a mistranslation. Smith freely rewrote biblical passages that conflicted with his own concepts” (Mormon America: The Power and the Promise [New York: HarperCollins, 1999], 299).

 

Source: Nicholas J. Frederick, The Bible, Mormon Scripture, and the Rhetoric of Allusivity (Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2016), 74-77, 90-91