_SPECIAL TEXT; Behold, I am God and have spoken it; these commandments are of me, and were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding. And inasmuch as they erred it might be made known: and inasmuch as they sought wisdom they might be instructed; and inasmuch as they sinned they might be chastened, that they might repent; and inasmuch as they were humble they might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive knowledge from time to time."_--THE LORD TO JOSEPH SMITH. _NOTES._ 1. _The Far-reaching Effect of the First Direct Revelation (Called Joseph Smith's First Vision) in Modern Times:_ How little that fair-haired boy, standing there in the unpruned forest, with the sunlight stealing through the trees about him, realized the burden placed upon his shoulders that morning by reason of the visitation he received in answer to his prayer! Here is not the place for argument, that is to come later; but let us consider the wide-sweeping effect of this boy's vision upon the accepted theology of Christendom. First, it was a flat contradiction to the assumption that revelation had ceased, that God had no further communication to make to man. Second, it reveals the errors into which men had fallen concerning the personages of the Godhead. It makes it manifest that God is not an incorporeal being without form or body, or parts; on the contrary he appeared to the Prophet in the form of a man, as he did to the ancient prophets. Thus after centuries of controversy the simple truth of the scriptures which teach that man was created in the likeness of God--hence God must be the same in form as man--was re-affirmed; Third, it corrected the error of the theologians respecting the oneness of the persons of the Father and the Son. Instead of being one person as the theologians teach, they are distinct persons, as much so as any father and son on earth; and the oneness of the Godhead referred to in the scriptures, must have reference to unity of purpose and of will; the mind of the one being the mind of the other, and so as to the will and other attributes. The announcement of these truths, coupled with that other truth proclaimed by the Son of God, viz., that none of the sects and churches of Christendom were acknowledged as the church or kingdom of God, furnish the elements for a religious revolution that will affect the very foundations of modern Christian theology. In a moment all the rubbish concerning theology which had accumulated through all the centuries since the gospel and authority to administer its ordinances had been taken from the earth, was grandly swept aside--the living rocks of truth were made bare upon which the Church of Christ was to be founded--a New Dispensation of the gospel was about to be committed to the earth--God had raised up a witness for himself among the children of men. (New Witness for God, Vol. I, pp. 173-4.)