History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 6Smith, Joseph, Jr.
History
History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 6
Smith, Joseph, Jr.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Smith, Joseph, Jr., 1805-1844
But what was more wonderful than the manifestation of moral and
physical courage and good generalship during these turbulent months of
his career, was the pursuance of his duties as a teacher of religious
truth--his calling as a Prophet of God. Notwithstanding he was troubled
on every side, he could compose his mind to instruct the {XLII} Church
on such doctrines as the complete salvation of their dead; how to
proceed with the administration of all ordinances given for and in
behalf of the dead; the doctrine of the resurrection and the reality
of spiritual existences; the plurality of Divine Intelligences, or
Gods; the nature of man's spirit; the doctrine of eternal progress for
intelligences who keep the estates through which they are appointed to
pass; the nature and character of the Godhead, and the relationship
of man to God. All these themes and many more he dwelt upon in
public discourse and private interview and written communications.
He lived his life, as I have said elsewhere, _in crescendo,_ it grew
in intensity and volume as he approached its close. Higher and still
higher the inspiration of God directed his thoughts; bolder were
his conceptions, and clearer his expositions of them. So far was he
from being a "fallen prophet" in the closing months of his career,
as apostates charged, that he grew stronger with each passing day;
more impressive in weight of personal character, and charm of manner;
for he preserved amid all the conflicts and trials through which he
passed--until the shadows of impending death began to fall upon him
in Carthage prison--the natural sweetness of his nature, and the
intellectual playfulness characteristic of him from boyhood--_so do not
fallen prophets._
* * * * * * *
Side by side on the banks of the majestic river that half encircles
Nauvoo, the "beautiful," carrying with it also the idea of "rest,"
peacefully sleep the brothers, Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the Prophet and
the Patriarch of the Church in the New Dispensation of the Gospel.
Their lives were interlaced by almost daily associations from childhood
to the last awful scene of martyrdom. It was therefore most fitting
that they should be buried beside each other, on the banks of the
"Father of Waters" in the city they had founded, where they had toiled
and suffered and achieved; where their joys rose to greater heights
and their sorrows sounded greater depths than falls to the lot of but
few men in this world. Undisturbed may their death slumber be until it
shall be ended by the trump of God, calling them forth to a glorious
resurrection.
* * * * * * *
_Prophet and Patriarch_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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