Joseph Smith the embodied Holy Ghost?
Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 9:57 pm
The following is from Vern G. Swanson in Line Upon Line:
I'm not sure I buy Brigham's explanation. Who would want to kill Joseph for claiming to be a descendant of Joseph of Egypt? Maybe Joseph Smith was referring to something like his having been anointed as king in the council of fifty... Or maybe he actually did mean to imply that he was a divine personage of some kind. After all, he says "you would call it blasphemy". According to Wikipedia, "Blasphemy is the use of the name of one or more gods, in a manner which is considered objectionable by a religious authority." That's pretty specific. Might Joseph Smith have been implying that he was a person of the Godhead?
There are other theories regarding the identity of the Holy Ghost attributed to Joseph Smith. The most widespread is the belief that Smith was the Holy Ghost; or more correctly stated, that he represented the emanating spirit of the Father and the Son.35 This theory arose from several sources. In a 9 March 1841 discourse Joseph Smith apparently discussed three gods who covenanted to preside over this creation: "[An] Everlasting Covenant was made between three personages before the organization of this earth, and [it] relates to their dispensation of things to men on the earth."36 These three gods, some argue, were Father Adam for the beginning of the mortal world, Christ for the Meridian of Time, and Joseph Smith for the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. Others have seen Doctrine and Covenants 135:3 as evidence for Smith being the Holy Ghost: "Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world than any other man that ever lived in it." Accordingly, Christ did the most to save humanity and is the second member of the Godhead; therefore, Smith, who did second to the most, is the third member.
That such notions have circulated in the church since 1844 is made clear by comments from church leaders contradicting these views. In August 1845 Orson Pratt wrote to church members responding to rumors that Joseph Smith was the Holy Ghost incarnate: "Let no false doctrine proceed out of your mouth, such, for instance that the tabernacle of our martyred prophet and seer, or of any other person, was or is the especial tabernacle of the Holy Ghost, in a different sense from that considered in relation to his residence in other tabernacles. These are doctrines not revealed, and are neither believed nor sanctioned by the Twelve and should be rejected by every Saint."37
Similarly, in January 1845, Brigham Young responded to conjectures about what Joseph Smith may have meant when Smith said, "Would to God, brethren I could tell you who I am! Would to God I could tell you what I know! But you would call it blasphemy and want to take my life."38 Young specifically countered any interpretation that Smith was the Holy Ghost: "[Y]ou have heard Joseph say that the people did not know him; he had his eyes on the relation to blood-relations. Some have supposed that he meant spirit [Holy Ghost], but it was the blood-relation. This is it that he referred to. His descent from Joseph that was sold into Egypt was direct and the blood was pure in him."39
I'm not sure I buy Brigham's explanation. Who would want to kill Joseph for claiming to be a descendant of Joseph of Egypt? Maybe Joseph Smith was referring to something like his having been anointed as king in the council of fifty... Or maybe he actually did mean to imply that he was a divine personage of some kind. After all, he says "you would call it blasphemy". According to Wikipedia, "Blasphemy is the use of the name of one or more gods, in a manner which is considered objectionable by a religious authority." That's pretty specific. Might Joseph Smith have been implying that he was a person of the Godhead?
