Darth J wrote:Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pages 104-105He said that he possessed the spirit of his fathers, that he was a literal descendant of Matthias, the Apostle, who was chosen in the place of Judas that fell; that his spirit was resurrected in him; and that this was the way or scheme of eternal life--this transmigration of soul or spirit from father to son.
I told him that his doctrine was of the devil, that he was in reality in possession of a wicked and depraved spirit, although he professed to be the Spirit of truth itself; and he said also that he possessed the soul of Christ.
Hello Darth,
Throughout her life Eliza referred to her beloved husband Joseph Smith as her first and only love "The choice of my heart and the crown of my life". (Eliza R. Snow, "Past and Present," Woman's Exponent 15 (August 1, 1886): 37). Before she died on December 5, 1887, Eliza told her brother, Lorenzo Snow, that she “was a firm believer in the principle of multiple probations… [Having] received it from Joseph the Prophet, her husband”. There were others. For instance, Prescendia Huntington Buell who married Joseph Smith in December of 1841 indicated that Joseph spoke with her about "plural probations".
Hyrum Smith(brother of Joseph Smith) also believed in what he called plural probations –”How could people progress to a different kingdom unless there were probations to prove them worthy? Might there be something to our belief that this is the telestial world? Notice the phrases used to describe it: They suffer the wrath of God on earth (could this life actually be a punishment?) Others who are also in the telestial kingdom are considered servants unto the Most High.
Joseph L. Robinson and Charles W. Penrose and his wives claimed that Joseph Smith was the source for their belief in mortal probations.
Joseph Smith's comments about Joshua the Minister do not conflict with what he was revealing to his wives, his brother, or other friends in the Church. Rather, Joseph was calling Joshua the Minister (Matthias) a devil; not the concept of mortal probations. It was Matthias' version of mortal probations which was a doctrine of the devil; i.e., that the soul passes from father to son.
"8 June 1889: During our talks he [Lorenzo Snow] told me that his sister, the late Eliza R. Snow Smith was a firm believer in the principle of reincarnation and that she claimed to have received it from Joseph the Prophet, her husband. He said he [Lorenzo Snow] saw nothing ureasonable in it, and could believe it, if it came to him from the Lord or His oracle." ---Diary of Orson F. Whitney, 8 June 1889 entry, Church Archives
"We have come here to become inured to work - to build temples, and improve upon the elements that God has placed around us, that we may become more skillful tomorrow, through the experience of to-day. What I do not to-day, when the sun goes down, I lay down to sleep, which is typical of death; and in the morning I rise and commence my work where I left it yesterday. That course is typical of the probations we take. But suppose that I do not improve my time to-day, I wake up to-morrow and find myself in the rear; and then, if I do not improve upon that day, and again lay down to sleep, on awaking, I find myself still in the rear. This day's work is typical of this probation, and the sleep of every night is typical of death, and rising in the morning is typical of the resurrection. They are days labours, and it is for us to be faithful to-day, tomorrow, and every day." Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses 4:329
The Mormon History Association awarded Lance S. Owens's "Joseph Smith and Kabbalah: The Occult Connection" its Best Article Award for 1995.Owens's basic thesis that concepts taken directly from the text was used in his most important doctrinal sermon, the "King Follett Discourse." (p. 119):
"In centuries past the teachings of the Kabbalah were closely guarded and taught to a chosen few, but today the Jewish Kabbalah is being taught to anyone with a unveiled spiritual perception and a desire to learn. Joseph Smith had a desire to learn.
The Kabbalah--the Hebrew esoteric doctrines--is a system of teachings with which only the very learned attempt to wrestle. It is claimed to have been handed down by oral tradition from angelic sources, through Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, the Seventy Elders, to David and to Solomon. . Man has ears to hear, but hears not, He has eyes to see, but sees not.” King David
King David was a great warrior by day and a great mystic of the Kabbalah by night. Many of the great Cabbalists of history made reference to the above quote when illustrating one of the first spiritual laws of. Life No attempt was made to commit this sacred knowledge to writing, till, in the early centuries of the Christian era (authorities differ widely as to the date) the pupils of Rabbi Simeon ben Joachi put his teachings into writing; and this in later ages became known as the "Zohar," or "Book of Splendor religion of the Kabbalah as a gift of the Deity to mankind."
The Zohar, which is only a part of the Kabbalah, is the great store-house of the esoteric teaching of the ancient Hebrews.The following is a quote from the Sephar ha Zohar. The souls must re-enter the Absolute, from whence they have emerged. But to accomplish this end they must develop the perfections; the germ of which is planted in them. And if they have not developed these traits in this one life, then they must commence another, a third, and so forth. They must go on like this until they acquire the condition that allows them to associate again with God.General George S. Patton: "I have fought in many guises, many names, but always me."
Henry Ford: "Genius is experience. Some think to seem that it is a gift or talent, but it is the fruit of long experience in many lives".
In April 1843 Joseph Smith said the purpose of successive probations or 'worlds' was to permit the gradual accumulation of intelligence and knowledge.
Orson Pratt taught that if a soul has not proved itself in this Probation the soul may be cast into another world and live out another probation. (October 6, 1853. Journal of Discourses Vol 1, p. 332)
Heber Kimball: "When an unbaked pot is broken, the potter can use the mud to make a new one, but when a baked one is broken, he cannot do the same any longer. So when a person dies in a state of ignorance, he is born again but when he becomes well baked in the fire of true knowledge and dies a perfect man, he is not born again.”
"When the elements in an organized form do not fill the end of their creation, they are thrown back again."
Plato taught that before each incarnation, the soul enters into a forgetfulness of what has gone before. The purpose of human learning and philosophy is, then, to reawaken in the soul remembrance of the eternal, spiritual realm of pure forms and ideas.
Many of the most famous Early Church Fathers also believed in reincarnation. I can provide some quotes if you like. Also, there is evidence in the Bible of an existing and understood belief in reincarnation.
Blessings,
jo