JOSEPH AS A RESTORER AS WELL AS A PROPHET—THE BOOK OF ABRAHAM—JOSEPH'S GROWTH INTO SCHOLARSHIP AND STATESMANSHIP—DIFFICULTIES WITH WILLIAM SMITH.
Joseph Smith was not only a prophet but a reformer—as able as Luther, as bold as Zwingli. And he was more than a reformer. He was a restorer—the greatest in his personality and in the character of his work since the day of the divine atonement.
Through him even the buried past reaches up to the listening present, and the distant future bends down to this gazing age. His work in revealing hidden truths spans the circle of all earthly time—stretching from the decree by which the world was rolled into space unto the moment when it shall become a purified and exalted sphere. This comprehension was the divine gift to the predestined martyr.
Through him had been revealed the hidden truths concerning prehistoric America. From the hour when Joseph gave to the world the Book of Mormon, all ignorance concerning the ancient inhabitants of this land became wilful. Then his labor of restoration reached another hemisphere and a remoter time.
Abraham, the friend of God, Abraham who died thirty-six centuries ago, Abraham who was buried in the cave of Machpelah, spoke through the modern prophet, his descendant; and the manner of that communication so manifestly shows the overruling hand of Providence that no one can doubt the divine direction.
While Joseph had been laboring in Kirtland, journeying to and from Missouri, teaching his brethren and being taught of God, there were moving to him from one of the catacombs of Egypt the writings of Father Abraham and of Joseph who was governor in Egypt.
On the 7th day of June, 1831, a French traveler and explorer penetrated the depths of a catacomb near the site of ancient Thebes. It had cost him time and treasure and influence to make the entrance. After securing the license to make his researches, he employed more than four hundred men for a period of some months to make the necessary excavation. When he was able at last to stand within this multiplied tomb he found several hundred mummies; but only eleven of them were in such a state that they could be removed. He carried them away, but died on his voyage to Paris. By his will the mummies were bequeathed to Michael H. Chandler, his nephew, and in search of this gentleman they were sent through Ireland and finally across the sea. After two years of wanderings they found their owner. Hoping to discover some treasure of precious stones or metals, Mr. Chandler opened the coffins or embalming cases. Attached to two of the bodies were rolls of linen preserved with the same care and apparently by the same method as the bodies. Within the linen coverings were rolls of papyrus bearing a perfectly preserved record in black and red characters carefully formed. With other of the bodies were papyrus strips bearing epitaphs and astronomical calculations. The learned men of Philadelphia and other places flocked to see these representatives of an ancient time, and Mr. Chandler solicited their translation of some of the characters. Even the wisest among them were only able to interpret the meaning of a few of the signs. From the very moment when he discovered the rolls, Mr. Chandler had heard that a Prophet lived in the west who could decipher strange languages and reveal things hidden; and after failing with all the learned, and having parted with seven of the mummies and some few strips of papyrus, bearing astronomical figures, he finally reached Kirtland and presented himself to Joseph with the four remaining bodies, and with the rolls of manuscript. The Prophet, under inspiration of the Almighty, interpreted some of the ancient writings to Mr. Chandler's satisfaction. So far as the learned men of Philadelphia had been able to translate, Joseph's work coincided with theirs; but he went much further, and in his delight Mr. Chandler wrote a letter to the Prophet certifying to this effect.
Later some of the friends of the Prophet purchased the four mummies, with the writings. Joseph engaged assiduously to interpret from the rolls and strips of papyrus. The result of his labor was to give the world a translation of the Book of Abraham. This book was written by the hand of Abraham while he was in Egypt, and was preserved by the marvelous dispensation of Providence, through all the mutations of time and dangers of distance, to reach the hand of God's Prophet in this last dispensation. By this record the Father of the Faithful makes known what the Lord Almighty had shown to him concerning the things that were before the world was; and he declares that he did penetrate the mysteries of the heavens even unto Kolob, the star which is nearest the throne of God the Eternal One.
In the record of Joseph who was sold into Egypt is given a prophetic representation of the judgment, the Savior is shown seated upon His throne, crowned and holding the sceptres of righteousness and power; before Him are assembled the Twelve Tribes of Israel and all the kingdoms of the world; while Michael the Archangel holds the key to the bottomless pit in which Satan has been chained.
At the time when Joseph, aided by the inspiration of the Almighty, was enabled to make these translations, he was studying ancient languages and the grandest sciences, while he was also imparting instruction in the school of the brethren in Kirtland, that others than himself might have their minds fitted to grasp the sublimities of truth in theology and history and the laws governing the universe. Joseph was now in his thirtieth year and was no longer an unlearned farmer lad. He was the leader of the people by the command of heaven, and he was the leader of the people by his growing intellectual greatness. The Prophet had already become a scholar. He loved learning. He loved knowledge for its righteous power. Through the tribulations which had surrounded him from the day when first he made known to a skeptical world his communion with the heavens, he had been ever advancing in the acquisition of intelligence. The Lord had commanded him to study, and he was obeying. Such branches of learning as he knew not, teachers were employed to communicate. His mind, quickened by the Holy Spirit, grasped with readiness all true principles, and one by one he mastered these branches and became in them a teacher.
Joseph Smith was the head of a committee which had been appointed in September, 1834, to compile the doctrines of the Church for publication. And in Kirtland, at a general assembly held on the 17th day of August, 1835, that committee reported by presenting the book of Doctrine and Covenants to the Church for the approval of the congregation. Solemn testimonies were given of the truth of the work and of the inspiration by which Joseph Smith had uttered the revelations from on high. The testimony of the Twelve on this subject closed as follows:
The Lord has borne record to our souls, through the Holy Ghost shed forth upon us, that these commandments were given by inspiration of God, and are profitable for all men, and are verily true. We give this testimony unto the world, the Lord being our helper: and it is through the grace of God, the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ, that we are permitted to have this privile............