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Ardis Parshall at Keepapitchin just posted an announcement about new resources that are being linked online over the next couple of weeks to the Gospel Doctrine manual. The project is called “Revelations in Context” and was undertaken by the historians who complied the Joseph Smith Papers. It includes extensive footnoting – really an amazing amount of footnoting, based on what I saw. Ardis’ post describes the project and the resources, and it is exciting to me. Here is the link:
http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2013/02/01/revelations-in-context-the-unveiling/ One of the biggest reasons this is exciting to me is the way the resources have been produced. They include actual images of original source material and were written by trained, professional historians. They also talk openly about some of the odd / unique / formerly ignored elements of our history.
For example, the first comment in the thread provides a link to an article that describes the situation around Oliver Cowdery becoming Joseph Smith’s scribe. In that article, Oliver’s use of a divining rod is mentioned openly, along with the context of using divining rods in that time period. Further, a big part of Joseph’s method of receiving revelation is described – and there is an interesting and little known example of it highlighted.
The following are the two quotes that stand out the most to me in the article:
Quote:Sometime that same month, the two men were discussing the fate of the apostle John—a topic of interest at the time. Joseph’s history records they differed in their opinions and “mutually agreed to settle [it] by the Urim and Thummim.” The answer came in a vision of a parchment that Joseph translated, which is now Doctrine and Covenants 7.
D&C 7 was the result of Joseph seeing a parchment in a vision.That simple statement and acknowledgment has SO many implications, and it’s hard to explain how glad I am that it’s in an article being linked to the online Gospel Doctrine manual. Quote:Oliver Cowdery lived in a culture steeped in biblical ideas, language and practices. The revelation’s reference to Moses likely resonated with him. The Old Testament account of Moses and his brother Aaron recounted several instances of using rods to manifest God’s will (see Ex. 7:9-12; Num. 17:
. Many Christians in Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery’s day similarly believed in divining rods as an instrument for revelation. Cowdery was among those who believed in and used a divining rod.The Lord recognized Oliver’s ability to use a rod: “thou hast another gift which is the gift of working with the rod.” Confirming the divinity of this gift, the revelation stated: “Behold there is no other power save God that can cause this thing of Nature to work in your hands for it is the work of God.”
The link to that article is:
http://history.lds.org/article/doctrine-and-covenants-oliver-cowdery?lang=eng I just want to share this with everyone, since it was announced this morning and you probably aren’t aware of it.
Wow! This is great! Well dress me up and call me Emma! I think this slow dissemination of info from sources like this will be a slow but effective way of overcoming the plague of church history secrets. Eventually the context of our history can be woven into the fabric of our understanding. Dumping historical issues on the general church public would be detrimental, but letting them seep out will likely be a safer approach. As more people start questioning and searching, sources like this will be valuable.
It’s a start and exciting. But the first article I looked at was quite ‘helicopter’ http://history.lds.org/article/doctrine-and-covenants-three-witnesses?lang=eng Quote:
Days later, the prophecy was dramatically fulfilled. “It was in the latter part of June, 1829,” Whitmer wrote. “Joseph, Oliver Cowdery and myself were together, and the angel showed them [the plates] to us. … [We were] sitting on a log when we were overshadowed by a light more glorious than that of the sun. In the midst of this light, but a few feet from us, appeared a table upon which were many golden plates, also the sword of Laban and the directors. I saw them as plain as I see you now, and distinctly heard the voice of the Lord declaiming that the records of the plates of the Book of Mormon were translated by the gift and power of God.”9Joseph Smith and Martin Harris had a similar experience, and as the manuscript was prepared for printing, Cowdery, Whitmer, and Harris signed a joint statement that has been included in each of the more than 120 million copies of the Book of Mormon printed since then.
This at least mentions Harris had his vision later, just with Joseph, but not the full story:
Quote:
In late June or early July 1829, Joseph Smith Jr., Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris retired to the woods a short distance from the home of Peter Whitmer Sr. and prayed to receive a vision of the Golden Plates.[3] After some time, Harris left the other three men, believing his presence had prevented the vision from occurring. The remaining three again knelt and soon saw a light in the air over their heads and an angel holding the plates in his hands. Smith retrieved Harris, and after praying at some length with him, Harris too said he saw the vision, shouting, “‘Tis enough; ’tis enough; mine eyes have beheld, Hosanna!”
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