These notes discussing D&C 19 contain links to a few books that have helped me understand the context and content of the scriptures. As an Amazon Affiliate, I do earn a small commission from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you). Click here to see all of my favorite books on Amazon.
Brief Overview: Doctrine and Covenants 19 is a very personal and theologically profound revelation given to Martin Harris through Joseph Smith in summer 1829. Martin was a prosperous and well-respected farmer in Wayne County, New York, who had supported Joseph Smith’s translation of the Book of Mormon and was now negotiating its printing. The process, however, stalled when Egbert Grandin, the Palmyra printer they had chosen, refused to begin printing unless the full $3,000 cost was guaranteed.
This created a major financial dilemma for Martin Harris, as he was expected to mortgage his land—more than 150 acres—as collateral for the printing. His confidence wavered. What if the books didn’t sell? What if he lost everything? Martin turned to Joseph Smith, seeking divine reassurance: “I want a commandment… I must have a commandment.”[1]Joseph Knight, Sr. Reminiscences, no date. MS 3470, Church History Library, Salt Lake City. In response, Doctrine and Covenants 19 was given—a revelation that, at its core, was a commandment to repent and trust in the Lord. But it was more than this, for it open our minds to heavens view, helping us to see things the way the Lord does, while also unlocking key New Testament passages regarding the afterlife that theologians have grappled with for centuries.
D&C 19 was given either the summer of 1829 or in early 1830 in Manchester, New York[2]We do not have the exact date that section 19 was given. Historians from the Joseph Smith Papers project have dated the revelation to the summer of 1829, though it is possible it came a few months … Continue reading
This revelation came in response to Martin Harris’s inquiry to the Prophet regarding his standing before the Lord. Troubled in spirit by his transgression, concerned about his farm of over 300 acres, which he had mortgaged to finance the printing of the Book of Mormon, and feeling the gravity of his responsibility associated with the extraordinary vision shown to him and the other special witnesses of the Book of Mormon, Martin was desirous to receive both confirmation and direction from the Lord.
From the account of Joseph Knight, we can see into the situation that surrounded these events in March 1830 and how Martin must have worried about his property and the reception of the Book of Mormon:
“In the Spring of 1830 I went with my Team and took Joseph out to Manchester to his Father. When we was on our way he told me that there must be a Church formed But did not tell when. Now when we got near to his fathers we saw a man some Eighty Rods Before us run acros the street with a Bundle in his hand. ‘There,’ says Joseph, ‘there is Martin going a Cros the road with some thing in his hand.’ Says I, ‘how Could you know him so far? Says he, ‘I Believe it is him,’ and when we Came up it was Martin with a Bunch of morman Books. He Came to us and after Compliments he says, ‘The Books will not sell for no Body wants them.’ Joseph says, ‘I think they will sell well.’ Says he, ‘I want a Commandment.’ ‘Why,’ says Joseph, ‘fullfill what you have got.’ ‘But,’ says he, ‘I must have a Commandment.’ Joseph put him off. But he insisted three or four times he must have a Commandment.[3]Joseph Knight, Sr. Reminiscences, no date. MS 3470, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
“We went home to his fathers and Martin with us. Martin stayed at his Fathers and slept in a Bed on the flor with me. Martin awoke me in the nite and asked me if I felt any thing on the Bed. I told him no. Says I, ‘Did you?’ ‘Yes, I felt some thing as Big as a grat Dog Sprang upon my Brest.’ Says I, ‘Was you not mistekened.’ ‘No,’ says he. ‘It was so.’ I Sprang up and felt, But I Could see nor feal nothing. In the morning he got up and said he must have a Commandment to Joseph and went home. And along in the after part of the Day Joseph and Oliver Received a Commandmant which is in Book of Covenants Page 174 [D&C 19]”[4]Dean C. Jessee, “Joseph Knight’s Recollection of Early Mormon History,” BYU Studies 17 (Autumn 1976): 36-37; spelling and punctuation as in original. See also: Michael Marquardt, Manchester as … Continue reading
A principle seems to be at work here. It seems that one way to read section 19 is that if the Lord has already spoken, it is wise to listen to the first answer (see also D&C 3-5).
In this revelation readers are introduced to things associated with the Savior’s suffering in connection with his Atonement that are not explicitly described in the rest of the canonized texts that we currently have.
This appears to be the only time the Savior ever describes what He went through in the Garden of Gethsemane (see D&C 19.18).
Understanding Hell – D&C 19.6-12
These few verses begin to unlock a mystery regarding the next life that prophets, poets, and theologians have been discussing for thousands of years. Questions like: Do we live after this life? Are the wicked and the righteous in one place that is “morally neutral” or are they separated? If they are separated, how permeable is the barrier between life and death? Where is the balance between justice and mercy? How exactly are the wicked punished in the next life, if at all? If God’s will is absolute, why will some seem to suffer for eternity? Can prayers or dedicatory rites help the dead? Where did the idea of purgatory come from?[5]For an in depth analysis of purgatory, see: Jacques Le Goff, The Birth of Purgatory, 1990, Scholars Press. I write a short article on this subject with a brief historical sketch of this teaching … Continue reading
The Prophet Joseph Smith declared that the Saints should study the purpose of life and death, in fact should study it “more than any other” subject—“study it day and night.” He observed that “if we have any claim on our Heavenly Father for anything, it is for knowledge on this important subject.”[6]Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 324; emphasis added.
Ancient Understandings of the Underworld
This text also seems to unpack some of the conventional ways Christians have interpreted the concept of heaven and hell. The concept of Hell, Hades, Sheol, Tartarus, Gehenna, etc. has been around for thousands of years. The notion of an afterlife and how things work on the “other side” is something that has not remained static, rather, it has changed over time and across cultures. Even in The Tanakh, or Old Testament as Christians call it, the idea has been expressed in different ways, depending on the questions and situations prophets, poets, and scribes worked to express the word of the Lord.
It is vital to know how to read history, especially in light of what has been given to us in texts connected directly to the Restoration. D&C 19 is one of these fundamental texts. It brings many ideas to light that were not usually embraced in Joseph Smith’s day, although a somewhat nuanced form of these ideas were discussed as early as the time of Plato.[7]Plato spoke of a temporary abode for the souls that had learned what was necessary for them to learn in his report of Socrates’ dialogue with his friends on the day of his death. Bernstein writes: … Continue reading
One of the challenges in understanding history, particularly sacred history, is recognizing the ways in which texts have been shaped, redacted, and transmitted over time. This is especially relevant when considering foundational Restoration scriptures like D&C 19, which shed light on concepts that were once obscured or altered in earlier traditions. The same principle applies to the Old Testament, where textual and doctrinal modifications, particularly by Deuteronomistic editors of Lehi’s day, may have significantly reshaped its original meaning. Thankfully we have the Book of Mormon to help us navigated these challenges! From our redacted and heavily edited Old Testament, we have a shadow of what was most likely on the Plates of Brass, the original thinking of the creators of what we now have in our modern Old Testament. In truth, the best lens with which to study the Old Testament is the writings left to us from the Plates of Brass, Small Plates, and Mormon’s work.[8]As one author has concluded regarding the importance of the Book of Mormon in understanding the Bible, “The Stick of Joseph in the Hand of Ephraim (The Book of Mormon) is a sacred, … Continue reading
After the Deuteronomistic editors were finished with the text, many of the teachings regarding the afterlife were most likely lost, deleted or otherwise left in obscurity. What is left is a text that speaks of Divine Punishment of individuals being applied in this life. Some have supposed that the Old Testament makes the claim that there is no life after death, something other scholars say is not true.[9]Bernstein, The Formation of Hell, p. 136-138. He writes: It is frequently maintained that there is no belief in life after death in Judaism, but that statement is not universally true. It is … Continue reading The Old Testament, from what has survived several editing events, shows a world of the dead that appears “morally neutral,” in other words, a place where good and bad departed souls co-exist.[10]Bernstein, The Formation of Hell, p. 139. We see this in the narrative of 1 Samuel 28.19 where wicked Saul is told that he will die and join Samuel in Sheol. Bernstein writes, “When Samuel … Continue reading This view generally coincides with the Babylonian view of the underworld, and for this reason I see why the Book of Mormon takes a different approach to the underworld than the Tanakh. The Book of Mormon has the benefit of not being tainted by Babylonian influences. It is a text that avoids the ideas of Babylon because the prophets that wrote this record left before the captivity. This is one reason the explanations of the underworld are so different than the Old Testament. Another reason would be the Egyptian influence on the text, something that can be found if we look closely, something I may write about in the future. So while the Old Testament is seriously lacking in teaching what later prophets would write concerning the Spirit World, there are left over clues that we can work through as we study.
Some scholars contend that there is evidence of the remnants of what was a concept of the afterlife in the Old Testament. They propose, as I believe, that this was once a text that was more plain. James Kugel gives evidence that the Tanakh was read (and still can be!) with a perspective that not only is there an afterlife, but that justice would prevail. And while many commentators have stated that these ideas only developed after the Second Temple period, these concepts came from somewhere. And Kugel even points to a reading of Ezekiel that points us in the direction of the Nephite prophets and record keepers when he says, “His (Ezekiel’s) vision of the valley of dry bones may have been, as we have seen, essentially concerned with the “resurrection” of the northern tribes and their eventual reunion with Judah. But for later readers, it acquired a quite different meaning. It was now a favorite example of the Hebrew Bible’s doctrine of the resurrection of the dead…”[11]He continues: The mother of seven sons [said]: “[Your father] read to you about Abel slain by Cain, and Isaac who was offered as a burnt offering, and about Joseph in prison . . . He reminded you … Continue reading Kugel plainly makes the point that there was recontextualization happening as early Christians read these texts, but I would also argue that these ideas were swirling around in the ancient world in Egypt and in the land of Canaan centuries before Nephi left Jerusalem.[12]Tryggve N.D. Mettinger, The Riddle of the Resurrection, “Dying and Rising Gods” in the Ancient Near East, Coniectanea Biblica, Old Testament Series 50, Almqvist & Wiksell International, … Continue reading And the Nephites had these ideas of life after death and resurrection, all of which helped their culture to see that events in this life took on new meaning in light of the existence of an afterlife. I would contend that the Nephite record contained on the Plates of Brass shows that there were many religious ideas being fought over in the 7th century BCE. The reforms of Josiah demonstrate that this is the case.[13]Mike Day, How did Josiah change the religion of the Jewish nation? Aug. 9, 2018. Since Lehi was the political loser of these fights (though the true representative of Jehovah [Yahweh], rather than “the elders of the Jews,” see: 1 Nephi 4.22, 27), what we have in the Book of Mormon is teaching and doctrine about Jehovah and the afterlife that was edited out of the Old Testament.
This is essentially what Bernstein asserts, that there were multiple religious traditions of the afterlife and Hell swirling around among the scribes and editors that contextualized what we today call “The Old Testament.” He writes:
Ezekiel 32 and Isaiah 14.10–15 agree that there is more than one fate in death. The wicked suffer ignominy in the deepest recesses of the underworld. Shame in death is the beginning of hell. If this passage of Isaiah is properly dated to the period of anticipation before Cyrus defeated Babylon in 539, or shortly thereafter, it is probably the Hebrew Bible’s second earliest expression of belief in segregation after death, for it would precede the story of Job or Psalms 73 and 49. This apparent reverse in chronology indicates a vitally important point: the different approaches to death and punishment after death which occur in the Hebrew Bible do not develop toward some perfect or more sophisticated position. No linear model applies here. It is not the case that the religious writings of each century refine earlier, “primitive” ones. Rather, the different positions expressed simultaneously reflect various sensibilities within the religious community. They suggest a competition within the biblical tradition for the loyalty of reciters, scribes, and editors.[14]Alan Bernstein, The Formation of Hell: Death and Retribution in the Ancient and Early Christian Worlds, Cornell University Press, 1993, p. 167. Later he writes (p. 175), “I want to reiterate … Continue reading Clearly there were religious differences the existed over time as these communities worked to interpret and define what it meant to follow God, what that meant in this life and the next, and how mankind existed after this life.
Jacob’s Religious Beliefs versus Edited Old Testament Theology on the Afterlife
The religious worldview of Jacob (as seen in 2 Nephi 9) presents a radically different emphasis on the afterlife and resurrection compared to the Old Testament. The Hebrew Bible, particularly in much of the earlier texts that have been edited, often lacks a clear doctrine of resurrection and focuses more on Sheol, a shadowy land of the dead where all souls—righteous and wicked alike—reside in a state of inactivity (e.g., Psalm 6.5; Ecclesiastes 9.10). While later Jewish texts, such as Daniel 12.2, hint at resurrection, they are exceptions rather than the norm.
In contrast, Jacob’s teachings in 2 Nephi 9 go all in on the doctrine of resurrection and universal restoration through the Infinite Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. He clearly lays out a theology where death and resurrection are absolute necessities dictated by God’s merciful plan, a framework that is strikingly absent from most much of the Old Testament as it now stands. He teaches:
“For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection… Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement…” (2 Nephi 9.6-7).
Jacob’s sermon aligns more closely with later Jewish apocalyptic texts that never made it into the Old Testament canon. Jonah Barnes’ Key to the Keystone: How Apocryphal Texts Unlock the Book of Mormon’s Brass Plates highlights how ancient works such as 1 Enoch and 2 Baruch contain resurrection theology, similar to Jacob’s sermon.[15]Jonah Barnes, Key to the Keystone: How Apocryphal Texts Unlock the Book of Mormon’s Brass Plates, Plain and Precious Publishing, 2024, 120-126.
For example, in 1 Enoch 61.5, the prophet Enoch proclaims that even those devoured by beasts and lost to the sea will be resurrected, ensuring that “none can be destroyed” before God. Likewise, the Apocalypse of Baruch (chapters 48-51) closely parallels Jacob’s discourse, emphasizing:
The Creator
The Fall
The Resurrection
The Judgment
The Permanence of One’s Spiritual Condition (righteous vs. wicked)
The Torment of the Wicked
The Kingdom Prepared for the Righteous
The Beholding of One’s Sins
The Burden of the Law
The Refusal to Hear Divine Warnings
Jonah notes that these two texts are amazing parallels of each other. He writes, “Not only do these sermons incorporate nearly all the same elements, but they do so in the same thematic order—almost as though both prophets were expounding from the very same text.”[16]Barnes, Key to the Keystone, 125.
Why This Matters
Jacob’s theology represents a restoration of doctrines about Christ’s Resurrection and Atonement that were almost completely lost in the Old Testament that we now have. While early Israelite religion tended to focus on covenant, land, and divine retribution in this life, Jacob’s teachings fit into a broader stream of ancient Jewish thought preserved in texts like Enoch and Baruch—texts that confirm a more developed belief in resurrection, final judgment, and eternal life.
Thus, Jacob’s sermon in 2 Nephi 9 isn’t just innovative—it’s part of the ancient tradition that was largely removed from the Old Testament but later resurfaced in apocalyptic Jewish writings during the Second Temple period.
Enoch and his Apocalyptic Tour of the Underworld
Jacob’s sermon in 2 Nephi 9, then, stands as a powerful example of how lost theological traditions—particularly those concerning resurrection, judgment, and the afterlife—resurfaced in later Jewish apocalyptic writings of the Second Temple period. These same themes, which were largely absent or obscured in the Old Testament through the brutal edits of the Deuteronomists, were central to the visionary experiences of prophets and seers of the Book of Mormon peoples and in the writings of the visionaries who lived in Israel between 530 BC-100 AD. There were many apocalyptic visionaries that lived in Israel and its environs during this time, and while much has been lost to us, we do have fragments of their ideas. Among this corpus of literature existed the visions of Enoch. Much of what is contained in this literature has echoes that we see throughout the Book of Mormon. In the 22nd chapter of The Book of Enoch, this visionary is taken on a tour of the underworld. He is shown that in this realm there exist divisions between the wicked and the righteous, something we see in the Book of Mormon text (see: Alma 40.12-14).
The Rise of Christianity – Hell Reinterpreted
Origen
These ideas continued to be discussed into the Christian period. Christianity saw the ideas of Origen in contradistinction to the teachings of Augustine. Before Augustine, Origen worked to incorporate his ideas of hell into his philosophical training in Neoplatonism. Origen of Alexandria (c. 185–253 AD) was an early Christian theologian and scholar known for his powerful influence on Christian thought, particularly in biblical exegesis, theology, and philosophy. One of his most controversial theological positions was his view on hell and the afterlife, which was heavily shaped by his belief in universal restoration (apokatastasis).
Much of this philosophy dealt with the concept of understanding the this world as a cycle comprising essentially two basic motions: emanation and return. The source of everything and the goal of return is the One, which religious readers consider analogous or identical to God. This One, the supreme being, has a knowledge of itself which is distinguishable from the One, and so, decadence and plurality begin with the One’s knowledge of itself. This knowledge consists of the Ideas, which seem to circulate under the One. From this source there emanate, in creative but regressive cascades, other levels of existing beings that form the world. No level of being exists as fully as the One, and each successive lower level exists less excellently than the one above it.[17]Bernstein, The Formation of Hell, 306.
Beneath the Ideas is the World Soul, an agent that allows the Ideas to become reality. Through the World Soul the ideas function as the forms of all things. In combination with these forms, matter emanates from the World Soul to produce corporeal and sensible things, that is, things perceptible through the senses. Yet matter alone, apart from the idea-forms that give it shape, approaches nothingness. All these inferior beings conceive a longing for reunion with their source, and all intelligent beings (including humans) strive, through the intellect, to regain the One. Origen will view Jesus’ intercessory prayer in John 17 through this lens. Jesus’ prayer is essentially that all mankind needs to return to the Father in Heaven. Origen’s conception of hell and punishment could be wrapped up into the Greek concept of apokatastasis, which means “restoration.” He believed that all would eventually be restored to God. Origen taught that at the end of time, all rational beings (even the devil and demons) would eventually be reconciled to God. This concept of universal salvation was central to his interpretation of 1 Corinthians 15.28, where Paul speaks of God becoming “all in all.” Return, therefore, is possible and, indeed, almost necessary, since every existing being bears the stamp of its origin and, through the use of mind, longs to return to its pristine state.[18]Ibid. There is an excellent account of Neoplatonism in Eduard Zeller, Outlines of the History of Greek Philosophy, 13th ed., rev. by Wilhelm Nestle (1931), and trans. L.R.Palmer (Cleveland: … Continue reading
Origen believed that the suffering in hell would be of a finite duration. Origen viewed the spiritual progress that came from decline and increased punishment as eventually leading to a greater perfection and to restoration. Think of the lessons you have learned as you made mistakes, suffered, and repented. Even wrong choices can lead to spiritual progress!
Thus, in Origen’s mind it would seem that there will be a time when all debts will have been paid. In Origen’s theological system, no debt can be infinite, because that would imply that God’s healing powers could not redeem it. Since no debt is infinite, any debt can be paid, and once it has been paid, no further punishment is deserved unless the soul begins to neglect God again, in which case a new cycle is initiated.[19]Bernstein, The Formation of Hell, 310 The return of the soul back to God was something he tied into his reading of Paul and the gospels. In Origen’s view, mankind would eventually come back into God’s presence and conform to the image of God. As conformity approaches, death, the last enemy, will be destroyed, not so much by its elimination as by its conformity to the source of all goodness. It will then lose its hostile character, its “bite.” Nor will this happen quickly, but “over the course of immense and infinite ages,” for the changes will be realized at different times in different people through the “many and innumerable degrees of those advancing” until even the last enemy, death, shall have been reconciled.[20]Ibid., 313.
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE) was one of the most influential theologians in Christian history, shaping doctrines on sin, grace, and the afterlife that many Christians still believe today. His views on hell were significantly different from Origen’s, as he firmly supported the idea of eternal punishment for the damned. As Bernstein demonstrates: “It is hard to imagine a more severe contrast than that between Origen’s view of punishment after death and Augustine’s. Origen’s view of time is cyclical, like Plato’s. Augustine’s is teleological, like Matthew’s or John’s in Revelation. The consequences are astounding. Augustine agrees with Origen that the rational creature is free to choose between a higher and lower good, to cultivate or neglect God. That is how he describes the fall of Satan in the City of God. Yet, building on a linear view of history, at the human level, Augustine imposes a deadline for each one’s choice, after which the consequences are irreversible. The sinner must repent before death. All fates are pronounced in the Last Judgment. From then on there will be no change.”[21]Bernstein, Ibid., 316.
Augustine wrote, “To say in one and the same sense that ‘Eternal life will be without end, but eternal punishment will end’ is entirely absurd.” (21.2.3.48-50).[22]Ibid.,p. 320. Augustine did present the idea of a four-part division overlaid onto a three-part division in the next world,[23]Ibid, 324. The dead are divided into three groups as far as benefiting from suffrages is concerned. There are those whose situation does not change because they were so good; there are those whose … Continue reading but this was only temporary. After the Last Judgement there were in Augustine’s view only two groups: those with Christ in eternal happiness and the wicked who would exist in eternal misery.
Over time Augustine made concessions around the idea that the living could somehow benefit their dead ancestors, allowing “suffrages” for them. As Bernstein asserts, “Augustine has set down two rules concerning suffrages. The first is that suffrages benefit not all the dead but only those who qualify. The second is that one may qualify for suffrages only in life. “It is here that one obtains all the merit by which one may be relieved or burdened after death” (29.110.13–15). So vital is this rule that Augustine warns…“Let no one hope that after he dies, he will be able to obtain from the Lord what he neglected to merit here” (29.110.15–16). These two rules came to guide the church in regulating the devotion of the living for the dead. As time went on they were taken to endorse the practice of dedicating certain good works in memory of the deceased. Thus believers endowed charitable practices and funded houses where the clergy would pray or lead prayers for the souls of the dead. It was on this basis that the concept of indulgences arose.”[24]Ibid., 325-326.
The Restoration
From the teaching of the prophet Alma, the righteous spirits rest from earthly care and sorrow. Nevertheless, they are occupied in doing the work of the Lord. President Joseph F. Smith saw in a vision that immediately after Jesus Christ was crucified, He visited the righteous in the spirit world. He appointed messengers, gave them power and authority, and commissioned them to “carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men” (D&C 138:30). In this way, the texts and prophetic teachings of the Restoration carry the idea that a separation does exist in the next life and that the righteous are working for the salvation of their fellow man, something that Origen would find comforting and fitting with his view of a God working to save the whole human family.
Elder James E. Talmage read this passage and explained it this way:
During this hundred years many other great truths not known before, have been declared to the people, and one of the greatest is that to hell there is an exit as well as an entrance. Hell is no place to which a vindictive judge sends prisoners to suffer and to be punished principally for his glory; but it is a place prepared for the teaching, the disciplining of those who failed to learn here upon the earth what they should have learned. True, we read of everlasting punishment, unending suffering, eternal damnation. That is a direful expression; but in his mercy the Lord has made plain what those words mean. “Eternal punishment,” he says, is God’s punishment, for he is eternal; and that condition or state or possibility will ever exist for the sinner who deserves and really needs such condemnation; but this does not mean that the individual sufferer or sinner is to be eternally and everlastingly made to endure and suffer. No man will be kept in hell longer than is necessary to bring him to a fitness for something better. When he reaches that stage the prison doors will open and there will be rejoicing among the hosts who welcome him into a better state. The Lord has not abated in the least what he has said in earlier dispensations concerning the operation of his law and his gospel, but he has made clear unto us his goodness and mercy through it all, for it is his glory and his work to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man.[25]Elder James E. Talmage, Conference Report, April 1930, 97.
In future podcasts we will continue this discussion of the afterlife, what the revelations of the Restoration tell us regarding this next sphere of existence, as well as look into prophetic statements and historical reminiscences from our faithful predecessors to help paint a better picture of how an understanding of the Spirit World can be applied in our lives to enrich our souls. Joseph Smith had many questions about this subject and was given continual light as he asked the Lord for more understanding.
The Suffering of Christ – D&C 19.13-20
This suffering caused a God to tremble, caused a God to cry and wish that it would end.
John Taylor wrote:
The suffering of the Son of God was not simply the suffering of personal death; for in assuming the position that He did in making an atonement for the sins of the world He bore the weight, the responsibility, and the burden of the sins of all men, which, to us, is incomprehensible… Groaning beneath this concentrated load, this intense, incomprehensible pressure, this terrible exaction of Divine justice, from which feeble humanity shrank, and through the agony thus experienced sweating great drops of blood, He was led to exclaim, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” He had wrestled with the superincumbent load in the wilderness, He had struggled against the powers of darkness that had been let loose upon him there; placed below all things, His mind surcharged with agony and pain, lonely and apparently helpless and forsaken, in his agony the blood oozed from His pores… And again, not only did His agony affect the mind and body of Jesus, causing Him to sweat great drops of blood, but by reason of some principle, to us unfathomable, His suffering affected universal nature…Thus, such was the torturing pressure of this intense, this indescribable agony, that it burst forth abroad beyond the confines of His body, convulsed all nature and spread throughout all space.[26]John Taylor, Mediation and Atonement. Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1882, 152.
In the Least Degree
This is the only revelation in which the Savior has unveiled that his suffering for sin included the withdrawal of the Spirit. This fact is intimated in the Savior’s soul-wrenching cry from Golgotha, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). With reference to that moment on the cross, Elder James E. Talmage wrote: “What mind of man can fathom the significance of that awful cry? It seems, that in addition to the fearful suffering incident to crucifixion, the agony of Gethsemane had recurred, intensified beyond human power to endure. In that bitterest hour the dying Christ was alone, alone in most terrible reality. That the supreme sacrifice of the Son might be consummated in all its fulness, the Father seems to have withdrawn the support of His immediate Presence, leaving to the Savior of men the glory of complete victory over the forces of sin and death.”[27]James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 661. Brigham Young provided increased understanding regarding the withdrawal of the Spirit from the Savior as part of the atoning sacrifice: “The Father … Continue reading
Do not Covet Your Property & Pay the Printer – D&C 19.25-26, 32-35
On 25 August 1829, more than six months previous to this revelation, Martin Harris mortgaged 151 acres[28]Martin Harris, The Great Benefactor. To help repay the mortgage on Martin’s farm, Joseph Smith gave him the right to sell copies of the book (see: Joseph Smith, “ Agreement with Martin … Continue reading of his farm to pay for the printing of five thousand copies of the Book of Mormon. E. B. Grandin, who was also the publisher of the book, held the contract for three thousand dollars.[29]One historian helps modern readers realize the cost of Martin’s sacrifice: It is likely that this was the first time that the sheer magnitude of the cost was fully comprehended by Martin Harris … Continue reading
Martin agreed to deed a sufficient amount of his farm to pay the debt if the money could not be raised within eighteen months by the sale of the Book of Mormon to interested parties. Clearly Martin was very concerned about the strong possibility that he would lose his farm. His anxiety proved to prophetic because the citizens near Palmyra voted to boycott purchasing the Book of Mormon. To pay the debt, Martin sold 151 acres of the family farm, which included the frame home he had built earlier in his married life. His wife, Lucy, had made preparations to provide for herself and the children, if she ever deemed it necessary to end the marriage. “When the property was about to be sold, [she] left him, taking their children, and never again returned to live with Martin Harris.”[30]Tuckett and Wilson, The Martin Harris Story, Vintage Books, 1983, 51.
Remembering Martin for his Good Decisions
Martin Harris is not unlike most of us. He had moments of doubt as well as faith. He was the man whom the Lord had chosen to make the incredible sacrifice required to publish the first edition of the Book of Mormon, a feat that was way beyond Joseph Smith’s ability. Martin certainly made some decisions that are discussed in the Doctrine and Covenants that cast him in a negative light. Yet I believe that the Lord will look upon Martin’s sacrifice and faith, rather than focus on the decisions that Martin made when he was at his lowest points in life.
Elder Oaks, a descendant of Martin Harris, presented a message about Martin that is so vital today as we live in a culture that wants to denigrate those of the past, focusing on their mistakes rather than their virtues. Elder Oaks states:
I will review some of the high points of Martin Harris’s life following the devastating episode of the stolen and lost manuscript.
About nine months after Martin’s rebuke, the Prophet Joseph received a revelation declaring that there would be three witnesses to the plates and if Martin would humble himself he would be privileged to see them (see D&C 5:11, 15, 24). A few months later, Martin Harris was selected as one of the Three Witnesses and had the experience and bore the testimony described earlier.
One of Martin Harris’s greatest contributions to the Church, for which he should be honored for all time, was his financing the publication of the Book of Mormon. In August 1829 he mortgaged his home and farm to Egbert B. Grandin to secure payment on the printer’s contract. Seven months later, the 5,000 copies of the first printing of the Book of Mormon were completed. Later, when the mortgage note fell due, the home and a portion of the farm were sold for $3,000. In this way, Martin Harris was obedient to the Lord’s revelation (see D&C 19).[31]Joseph Smith did sign a note that allowed Martin Harris “equal privilege” of selling copies of the Book of Mormon. This note is dated January 16, 1830. From historical sources, we know … Continue reading
Other records and revelations show Martin Harris’s significant involvement in the activities of the restored Church and his standing with God. He was present at the organization of the Church on April 6, 1830, and was baptized that same day. A year later he was called to journey to Missouri with Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Edward Partridge (see D&C 52:24). In Missouri that year—1831—he was commanded to “be an example unto the church, in laying his moneys before the bishop of the church” (D&C 58:35), thus becoming the first man the Lord called by name to consecrate his property in Zion. Two months later he was named with Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and others to be “stewards over the revelations and commandments” (D&C 70:3; see also D&C 70:1), a direction to publish and circulate what later became the Doctrine and Covenants.
In 1832 Martin Harris’s older brother, Emer, who is my great-great-grandfather, was called on a mission from Ohio (see D&C 75:30). Emer spent a year preaching the gospel near his former home in northeastern Pennsylvania. During most of this time Emer’s companion was his brother Martin, whose zeal in preaching even caused him to be jailed for a few days. The Harris brothers baptized about 100 persons. Among those baptized was a family named Oaks, which included my great-great-grandfather. Thus, my middle name and my last name come from the grandfathers who met in that missionary encounter in Susquehanna County in 1832–33.
Back in Kirtland, Ohio, after his mission, in February 1834 Martin Harris was chosen by revelation to serve on the first high council in the Church (see D&C 102:3). Less than three months later, he left Kirtland with the men of Zion’s Camp, marching 900 miles to Missouri to relieve the oppressed Saints there.
One of the most important events of the Restoration was the calling of a Quorum of Twelve Apostles in February 1835. The Three Witnesses, including Martin Harris, were appointed to “search out the Twelve” (D&C 18:37), to select them and, under authority granted by the Prophet and his counselors, to ordain them [these ordinations were then confirmed under the hands of the First Presidency] (see B. H. Roberts, Comprehensive History, 1:372–75).
From a position of great influence and authority, all three witnesses fell, each in his own way. During 1837 there were intense financial and spiritual conflicts in Kirtland, Ohio. Martin Harris later said that he “lost confidence in Joseph Smith” and “his mind became darkened” (quoted in Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses, 110). He was released from the high council in September 1837 and three months later was excommunicated.
Martin’s wife, Lucy, who had been involved in the loss of the manuscript pages, died in Palmyra in 1836. Within a year thereafter, Martin and his family located in Kirtland, and Martin married Caroline Young, a niece of Brigham Young.
When most of the Saints moved on—to Missouri, to Nauvoo, and to the West—Martin Harris remained in Kirtland. There he was rebaptized by a visiting missionary in 1842. In 1856 Caroline and their four children took the long journey to Utah, but Martin, then 73 years of age, remained on his property in Kirtland. In 1860 he told a census taker that he was a “Mormon preacher,” evidence of his continuing loyalty to the restored gospel. Later he would tell a visitor, “I never did leave the Church; the Church left me” (quoted in William H. Homer Jr., “‘Publish It Upon the Mountains’: The Story of Martin Harris,” Improvement Era, July 1955, 505), meaning of course that Brigham Young led the Church west and the aging Martin remained in Kirtland.
During part of his remaining years in Kirtland, Martin Harris acted as a self-appointed guide-caretaker of the deserted Kirtland Temple, which he loved. Visitors reported his alienation from the leaders of the Church in Utah but also his fervent reaffirmation of his published testimony of the Book of Mormon.
Finally, in 1870, Martin’s desire to be reunited with his family in Utah resulted in a warm invitation from Brigham Young, a ticket for his passage, and an official escort from one of the Presidents of Seventy. A Utah interviewer of the 87-year-old man described him as “remarkably vigorous for one of his years, … his memory being very good” (Deseret News, 31 Aug. 1870). He was rebaptized, a common practice at that time, and spoke twice to audiences in this Tabernacle. We have no official report of what he said, but we can be sure of his central message since over 35 persons left similar personal accounts of what he told them during this period. One reported Martin saying, “It is not a mere belief, but is a matter of knowledge. I saw the plates and the inscriptions thereon. I saw the angel, and he showed them unto me” (quoted in Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses, 116).
Martin Harris died in Clarkston, Utah, in 1875, at age 92. His life is commemorated in the memorable pageant, Martin Harris: The Man Who Knew, produced each summer in Clarkston, Utah.[32]Elder Dallin H. Oaks, The Witnesses, Ensign, May 1999.
References
| ↑1, ↑3 | Joseph Knight, Sr. Reminiscences, no date. MS 3470, Church History Library, Salt Lake City. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | We do not have the exact date that section 19 was given. Historians from the Joseph Smith Papers project have dated the revelation to the summer of 1829, though it is possible it came a few months later, in early 1830. Joseph Fielding McConkie and Craig Ostler see March 1830 as the date of this revelation. See: McConkie and Ostler, Revelations of the Restoration, A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants and Other Modern Revelations, Deseret Book, 2000, p. 143. |
| ↑4 | Dean C. Jessee, “Joseph Knight’s Recollection of Early Mormon History,” BYU Studies 17 (Autumn 1976): 36-37; spelling and punctuation as in original. See also: Michael Marquardt, Manchester as the Site of the Organization of the Church on April 6, 1830. The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal, Spring/Summer 2013, Vol. 33, No. 1, Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of JWHA (Spring/Summer 2013), pp. 141- 153. |
| ↑5 | For an in depth analysis of purgatory, see: Jacques Le Goff, The Birth of Purgatory, 1990, Scholars Press. I write a short article on this subject with a brief historical sketch of this teaching here. |
| ↑6 | Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 324; emphasis added. |
| ↑7 | Plato spoke of a temporary abode for the souls that had learned what was necessary for them to learn in his report of Socrates’ dialogue with his friends on the day of his death. Bernstein writes: In the Phaedo, Plato takes the earth to be a porous, pumicelike sphere with hollows and channels that penetrate it in every direction. The holes are connected by subterranean rivers that carry various fluids into different internal seas. They run with mud, cold and hot water, and fire (111d–e). Penetrating the whole earth, however, is Tartarus, a funnel, drain, or chasm through which all the other rivers flow. For although an oscillating motion of the earth forces each river to the center of the earth, sometimes through serpentine coils, sometimes more directly, they do not flow into each other, and each returns to its place of origin, though each in a different way (112a–e). Four principal rivers, already mentioned by Homer, run into Tartarus… The dead populate the interior of this complex, riddled, spongelike earth. They are assigned to different regions at the judgment after their deaths. Four fates are possible: that of the holy, that of those who have lived lives of indeterminate character, that of those guilty of sins that can be expiated (iasima=curable), and that of the incurably wicked (doxosin aniatos). The morally neutral are sent to the Acheron in vessels provided for the purpose. They dwell at the lake until they are purified, paying penalties for misdeeds and receiving rewards for any (slight) good deeds (113d). The incurable, who have committed great wrongs, many acts of sacrilege, murders, or other such crimes, are cast into Tartarus, whence they never (oupote) emerge (113e). That is eternal punishment. Others are judged curable even if they may have violently afflicted their father or mother or perhaps committed manslaughter, provided they performed these deeds in only a momentary passion and they have spent the remainder of their lives in repentance. These too are sent to Tartarus, but annually the oscillations of the earth wash them out. The slayers of humans flow through Cocytus and the offenders of parents through Pyriphlegethon. As they approach the Acheron, they call out from their respective streams for the forgiveness of those whom they wronged. If pardon is granted they come out into the lake and their suffering ends, but if not, the current carries them back again into Tartarus, where they stew for another year until the cycle is repeated (113e– 114b). It is important to observe how their fate is in the control of those they offended. In this context, the value of forgiveness is inestimable. Finally, those who are judged to have led holy lives are freed entirely from these cycles within the earth. Having purified themselves by philosophy they move without bodies to the pure regions, where they share the ether with the gods and rise to even more beautiful dwellings (114b–c), presumably with experiences similar to those described in the Phaedrus. See Alan Bernstein, The Formation of Hell: Death and Retribution in the Ancient and Early Christian Worlds, Routledge, 1993, p. 54-55. |
| ↑8 | As one author has concluded regarding the importance of the Book of Mormon in understanding the Bible, “The Stick of Joseph in the Hand of Ephraim (The Book of Mormon) is a sacred, first-temple-period, Israelite text, written by a prophetic family from the tribe of Joseph who fled Jerusalem in 601 BCE, prior to the Babylonian destruction. YHWH led them for years in the wilderness and finally brought them “over the wall” to the American continent, in fulfillment of Jacob’s final blessing to Joseph (Gen. 49:22). For a thousand years, these ancient Israelites built their civilization, fought wars, served the God of Israel, and kept sacred records. When their civilization ended in destruction (420 CE), their final prophet, M’roni, hid this record in the ground, to come forth at a future time and begin the prophesied restoration of scattered Israel to its former glory. This is the only Hebrew Messianic/ascension document in existence that has not been influenced by entanglements with Babylon, Greece, or Rome, because those who kept the record left Jerusalem and the Eastern Hemisphere prior to the Babylonian captivity. It is the most sublime and direct Jewish ascension text in existence.” See: The Stick of Joseph: In the Hand of Ephraim, Originally Translated by Yosef ben Yosef, First Edition Published 5590/1830 CE. Translated Updated and Restored 5780/2019 CE. Restoration Scriptures Foundation, 2019, p. vii. |
| ↑9 | Bernstein, The Formation of Hell, p. 136-138. He writes: It is frequently maintained that there is no belief in life after death in Judaism, but that statement is not universally true. It is clear from biblical texts that in the process of conquering Canaan and intermingling with the vanquished, some of the Jewish people adopted from them certain practices that, if they do not quite form a cult of the dead, at least constitute a reverence for or dedication to the dead that is very hard to delineate now but that the authors of the Bible were at pains to extinguish. These are among the customs that 2 Kings 16.3 calls “the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israël” (cf. Deuteronomy 18.9). Archeological evidence includes the remains of sacrifices made to propitiate the spirits of dead family members and vessels placed in tombs, presumably to supply their needs.6 Biblical prohibitions against communicating with the dead would make no sense unless some people propitiated, consulted, or venerated deceased family members. Leviticus 19.31 and 20.6 forbid consulting mediums; Deuteronomy 18.11 prohibits the practices of divination and necromancy. Deuteronomy 26.14 enjoins that a person state to the officiating priest that none of the matter being offered in a sacrifice had been offered to the dead. Psalm 106.28 mentions prior wrongs committed by the Jewish people. In addition to occasionally worshiping “the Baal of Peor,” they also “ate sacrifices offered to the dead.” In a telling critique of the practice, Isaiah associated the dead with false gods. “Should not a people seek unto their God? On behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead?” (8.19). These practices and the opposition they provoked reflect belief in a range of beings at once less than human— that is, merely shades (unless they were the shades of kings and therefore more potent)—and more than human (because of the demands they could make) but less than divine. Initially, at least, these beings inspired reverence among the Hebrews who settled the land of Canaan. In dispositions clearly meant to be exemplary for their descendants, Genesis describes the arrangements Abraham made for Sarah and relates his own burial in the same cave east of Mamre (23.1–20, 25.7–11). Isaac died at Mamre “and was gathered to his people” (35.29). Rebekah was buried there (49.31). Jacob buried his wife Leah there and ordered that he also be buried at Mamre (49.29–32). He too was “gathered to his people” (49.33). The expression applied to Isaac and Jacob, but not to Abraham, connotes more than proximity in a family lot. Rather, it suggests some localized drawing power by which deceased elders attract their descendants. It is significant that Abraham, who left his father’s home, was not so “gathered.” I once had a conversation with Robert J. Mathews about this idea as expressed in the Old Testament. Essentially my question was, “Why is the Old Testament so puzzling over whether or not we are resurrected? Why do we not have texts that plainly speak of the Spirit World and resurrection as contained in other scripture?” At the time of my asking him this question I had not been exposed to the scholarship surrounding the Deuteronomistic Reforms, or what I commonly call the 7th century Jewish Apostasy. Robert Matthews expressed ideas similar to what Bernstein has expressed in this citation, that elements, hints, and clues in the text demonstrate that this teaching was going on and that on some level the scribes who included these stories have left us enough information to piece together the story. In one of his books Matthews writes, “Since the doctrine of the resurrection is a major cornerstone of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we can be assured that whenever the gospel was taught, the doctrine of the resurrection was taught. It was taught in the premortal life and was taught to Adam and to all of the prophets. It is taught in each of the standard works. Our present Old Testament doesn’t contain much evidence that the Fall and the resurrection were taught by the ancients, but there are several New Testament and latter-day scripture indications that certify that once the Old Testament did teach the doctrine clearly.” See: Robert J. Matthews, Selected Writings of Robert J. Matthews: Gospel Scholars Series, Deseret Book, 2011. |
| ↑10 | Bernstein, The Formation of Hell, p. 139. We see this in the narrative of 1 Samuel 28.19 where wicked Saul is told that he will die and join Samuel in Sheol. Bernstein writes, “When Samuel prophesies Saul’s death, he says: “Tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me” (1 Samuel 28.19). Thus, the disobedient Saul and his progeny will join Samuel below, in the world of the dead. From the very beginning, then, Sheol combines the righteous and the wicked. Like the Babylonian fortress of the netherworld, like the kingdom of Hades, it is morally neutral. So close were these conceptions that the earliest translators of the Bible into Greek, whose work of the third and second centuries B.C.E. formed a compilation known as the Septuagint, translated Sheol as Hades. The New Testament would also employ this translation, thus blending the Jewish and ancient Greek traditions. In his translations, Jerome rendered Sheol as infernus or inferus and Hades as infernus (except in Matthew 16.18, when it is inferus). The Revised Standard Version retains Sheol and Hades.” |
| ↑11 | He continues: The mother of seven sons [said]: “[Your father] read to you about Abel slain by Cain, and Isaac who was offered as a burnt offering, and about Joseph in prison . . . He reminded you of the scripture of Isaiah, which says, ‘Even though you go through the fire, the flame shall not consume you.’ He sang to you songs of the psalmist David, who said, ‘Many are the afflictions of the righteous.’ He recounted to you Solomon’s proverb, ‘There is a tree of life for those who do his will.’ He confirmed the query of Ezekiel, ‘Shall these dry bones live?’ For he did not forget to teach you the song that Moses taught, which says, ‘I kill and I make alive: this is your life and the length of your days.’” (4 Macc. 18.6-19).
Then the heavenly one will give souls and breath and voice to the dead, and bones fastened with all kinds of joinings . . . flesh and sinews and veins and skin about the flesh, and the former hairs. Bodies of humans, made solid in heavenly manner, breathing and set in motion, will be raised in a single day. Sibylline Oracles II 221–26 For the prophets have foretold his two comings: one, which has already taken place, as a dishonored and suffering man; the second when, according to prophecy, he will raise the bodies of all men who have ever lived, and will clothe those among the worthy with immortality, and will send the wicked . . . into everlasting fire with evil devils. And we can demonstrate these things to come have likewise been foretold. This is what was spoken through Ezekiel the prophet: “Joint shall be joined to joint, and bone to bone, and flesh shall grow again” and “every knee shall bow to the LORD, and every tongue shall confess him” [Ezek. 37:7–8; Isa. 45:24] Justin Martyr, First Apology 52 Apart from its inherent interest, the transformation of Ezekiel’s words attested in these passages written by ancient interpreters is a good example of how texts can change their meaning over time. Ezekiel was talking about a fairly immediate and altogether political matter: can those northern tribes be brought back to Israel and reestablish the mighty empire of David? But for later ages, that question receded. Ezekiel’s new message was that God could, and would, resurrect the dead. See: James Kugel, How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now, Free Press, 2007, p. 613-614. |
| ↑12 | Tryggve N.D. Mettinger, The Riddle of the Resurrection, “Dying and Rising Gods” in the Ancient Near East, Coniectanea Biblica, Old Testament Series 50, Almqvist & Wiksell International, 2001. Mettinger demonstrates how the Baal cycle contributed to the ideas of a dying and rising god in the Ancient Near East on pages 55-81. Several times throughout the book Mettinger emphasizes that syncretism was going on all over in the ancient world. He states that the gods analyzed in his study are “of very different types,” but are all associated through syncretism in the ancient world (p. 218). Ideas about Osiris were used to better express Adonis, and Baal symbolism could have blended with ideas about Osiris, and so forth. Things were being mixed together (see p. 44). He writes, “…ancient Near Eastern gods integrated into the symbolical universe of Greek religion may have undergone important changes” (p. 460). |
| ↑13 | Mike Day, How did Josiah change the religion of the Jewish nation? Aug. 9, 2018. |
| ↑14 | Alan Bernstein, The Formation of Hell: Death and Retribution in the Ancient and Early Christian Worlds, Cornell University Press, 1993, p. 167. Later he writes (p. 175), “I want to reiterate that it is not my contention that Jewish thought “developed” toward these apocalyptic speculations or that they constitute a kind of “perfection” of Judaism. I assume no such evolutionary model. In religious literature the end is not necessarily better than the beginning. On the contrary, the Hebrew Bible is composed of many strands, expressions of religious sentiments that vary from person to person and age to age according to individual outlooks and changing circumstances. The advocacy of these tendencies—sublimated vengeance, the Deuteronomic system, messianism, apocalypticism—varied over the course of biblical composition.” |
| ↑15 | Jonah Barnes, Key to the Keystone: How Apocryphal Texts Unlock the Book of Mormon’s Brass Plates, Plain and Precious Publishing, 2024, 120-126. |
| ↑16 | Barnes, Key to the Keystone, 125. |
| ↑17 | Bernstein, The Formation of Hell, 306. |
| ↑18 | Ibid. There is an excellent account of Neoplatonism in Eduard Zeller, Outlines of the History of Greek Philosophy, 13th ed., rev. by Wilhelm Nestle (1931), and trans. L.R.Palmer (Cleveland: World, 1964), 311–36. |
| ↑19 | Bernstein, The Formation of Hell, 310 |
| ↑20 | Ibid., 313. |
| ↑21 | Bernstein, Ibid., 316. |
| ↑22 | Ibid.,p. 320. |
| ↑23 | Ibid, 324. The dead are divided into three groups as far as benefiting from suffrages is concerned. There are those whose situation does not change because they were so good; there are those whose situation does not change because they were so wicked, and there are those in between, whose situation does change. In the middle group, though, according as they resembled the good or the wicked more, they merited different fates. Those who were relatively good would eventually escape suffering. Those who were relatively evil were still not good, and so, although their punishment might be lightened, it would continue forever and must be called damnation. The Latin phrase tolerabilior damnatio means “a more tolerable damnation.” Therefore, although Augustine conceived of a middle group that could benefit from suffrages, the territory these souls occupy between their individual deaths and the Resurrection was divided by a ridge whose slopes ran either to heaven or to hell. How difficult this subject is may be seen in the discussion by Le Goff, in Birth of Purgatory, where he neglects the overlay of the threefold division on the fourfold division. Le Goff believes that it was not until Peter Lombard in the mid twelfth century that the division became tripartite; it is that moment which serves as the starting point for the “birth” of purgatory a generation later. See Le Goff, 73–74 for Augustine, 149 and 222–23 for Peter Lombard. |
| ↑24 | Ibid., 325-326. |
| ↑25 | Elder James E. Talmage, Conference Report, April 1930, 97. |
| ↑26 | John Taylor, Mediation and Atonement. Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1882, 152. |
| ↑27 | James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 661. Brigham Young provided increased understanding regarding the withdrawal of the Spirit from the Savior as part of the atoning sacrifice: “The Father withdrew His spirit from His son, at the time he was to be crucified. . . . At the very moment, at the hour when the crisis came for him to offer up his life, the Father withdrew Himself, withdrew His Spirit, and cast a vail over him. That is what made him sweat blood. If he had had the power of God upon him, he would not have sweat blood; but all was withdrawn from him, and a veil was cast over him, and he then plead with the Father not to forsake him” (Journal of Discourses, 3:206). |
| ↑28 | Martin Harris, The Great Benefactor. To help repay the mortgage on Martin’s farm, Joseph Smith gave him the right to sell copies of the book (see: Joseph Smith, “ Agreement with Martin Harris, 16 January 1830,” josephsmithpapers.org.). The books did not sell as well as they had hoped, however, and Martin struggled to repay the loan. In a revelation given through Joseph Smith, the Lord told Martin: “I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart it freely to the printing of the Book of Mormon, which contains the truth and the word of God. . . . Impart a portion of thy property, yea, even part of thy lands, and all save the support of thy family. Pay the debt thou hast contracted with the printer. Release thyself from bondage.” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:26, 34–35)
Obeying this commandment, Martin sold 151 acres of his property to pay the debt. In addition to this great financial sacrifice, Martin sacrificed much for the gospel of Jesus Christ. While at one time he was “one of the most socially and politically prominent members of the community,” his support of Joseph Smith and the Church “cost him his political office, his social position and ultimately helped lead to the dissolution of his marriage.” |
| ↑29 | One historian helps modern readers realize the cost of Martin’s sacrifice: It is likely that this was the first time that the sheer magnitude of the cost was fully comprehended by Martin Harris or Joseph Smith. Grandin’s terms, $3,000 to produce the desired five thousand copies of high quality books, was nearly the value of Harris’s entire farm. To put the cost in perspective, Joseph had purchased his fourteen-acre, already cultivated farm with accompanying house, in Harmony for only $200. The Book of Mormon cost, by comparison, was fifteen times that of his home and farm. Day laborers in New York often worked for a dollar per day, making the cost of the Book of Mormon printing at least ten times the amount Joseph Smith could have made digging wells for an entire year.
Despite the cost, Harris still tried to persuade Grandin to undertake the printing of the book, but Grandin was skeptical and refused. The reasons for his refusal are difficult to determine with certainty. Grandin’s own view of the book was reflected in the 26 June 1829 issue of his paper, in which he editorialized of the gold plates and the Book of Mormon: “Most people entertain an idea that the whole matter is the result of a gross imposition, and a grosser superstition. It is pretended that it will be published as soon as the translation is completed.” Given Grandin’s skepticism in late June that the book would be published at all, he likely was not seriously considering performing the task himself at that time. Pomeroy Tucker, one of Grandin’s business partners, later explained that Grandin’s motives for rejecting the proposal to publish the book were altruistic in nature, motivated by his concern over the financial ruin it would bring upon Martin Harris. Tucker said that as soon as Harris proposed to mortgage his farm to pay for the printing of the Book of Mormon, “Grandin at once advised them against the supposed folly of the enterprise.” But Grandin’s opposition to the plan apparently went much further than a simple refusal. According to Tucker, once Grandin found he could not personally persuade Harris to give up on the idea of paying for the printing of the Book of Mormon, he began a campaign among Harris’s neighbors and friends to deter Harris. With their help he “sought to influence [Harris] to desist and withdraw” his financial support. Undaunted by this unified opposition, Harris “resisted with determination” all efforts to persuade him to abandon Smith and the printing endeavor. For Grandin’s part, “after repeated interviews and much parleying on the subject” he still gave a final negative answer and thereafter refused “to give it further consideration.” See: Michael Hubband MacKay and Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, From Darkness unto Light: Joseph Smith’s Translation and Publication of the Book of Mormon, Brigham Young University, 2015, p. 165. Electronic version: p. 163. |
| ↑30 | Tuckett and Wilson, The Martin Harris Story, Vintage Books, 1983, 51. |
| ↑31 | Joseph Smith did sign a note that allowed Martin Harris “equal privilege” of selling copies of the Book of Mormon. This note is dated January 16, 1830. From historical sources, we know that Martin was unable to sell the needed copies to cover the cost of printing, thereby necessitating the sale of 151 acres of land to cover the cost. See: JosephSmithPapers for the actual document being referenced.
In the podcast, I, Mike Day, made the statement that Martin was never paid back the $3,000 for the cost of printing the Book of Mormon. I have been able to also track down some evidence that Martin was reimbursed the cost of printing in later years. From Dirkmaat and MacKay’s book, From Darkness unto Light we get the following: Though Joseph and Oliver apparently attempted to sell the books in bulk or wholesale even before the printing was finished, there are no indications that the money generated by the sale of the books was originally intended to pay for Harris’s mortgage. However, on 16 January 1830, Joseph Smith signed an agreement that allowed Harris to sell the books until he recovered the entire cost of the mortgage. The money that individuals paid for the copies of the Book of Mormon eventually reimbursed Harris, though he did not originally intend to have the cost of his property refunded. When Grandin’s Wayne Sentinel first advertised the book on 26 March 1830, it stated that it would be sold for both retail and wholesale prices. Joseph may have been trying to sell the books wholesale to Josiah Stowell in October 1829 before they were printed, because he stated in a letter to Cowdery that “Mr. Stowell has a prospect of getting five or six hundred dollars he does not know certain that he can get it but he is a going to try and if he can get the money he wants to pay it in immediately for books.” Letter to Oliver Cowdery, 22 October 1829, in JSP, D1:97; See: Agreement with Martin Harris, 16 January 1830, in JSP, D1:104–8. Dirkmaat further writes: With Harris’s mortgage, Joseph Smith’s difficult odyssey to find a willing printer of the book had finally come to an end. Although Joseph apparently anticipated that the book would be finished by February 1, 1830, it was not until late March that copies were finally available for sale. And while the secular prognosticators were right in asserting that the general public would eschew the book and there would be no brisk sales, they were wrong in asserting that there would be no sales at all. Over the course of the next decade, the stockpile of five thousand copies of the original printing was eventually exhausted, and plans to reprint the Book of Mormon were already under way as early as 1833. And though cynics like Weed and Grandin were certain Harris would lose everything and Harris did indeed lose most of his Palmyra property as a result of his difficult decision to follow through on his commitment and pay for the publication, Harris was eventually repaid as the books were sold. He later told an interviewer, “I never lost one cent. Mr. Smith . . . paid me all that I advanced, and more too. (David B. Dille, “Additional Testimony of Martin Harris,” Millennial Star, August 20, 1859, 545. See also: Joseph Smith’s Negotiations to Publish the Book of Mormon, by Gerrit J. Dirkmaat and Michael Hubbard MacKay, as found in The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon: A Marvelous Work and a Wonder. |
| ↑32 | Elder Dallin H. Oaks, The Witnesses, Ensign, May 1999. |
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