JOSEPH SMITH KNEW BOOK OF MORMON GEOGRAPHY
QUESTION: Was Joseph Smith literally taught by Gods and Angels?
QUICK ANSWER: Yes, well over 20 Prophets and Angels are said in scripture, and history, to have visited and taught Joseph.
SCRIPTURE: HC 6:50; D&C 135:3 D&C 107:53
“Joseph Smith’s six years of advanced training were anything but ordinary, for his tutors were celestial beings who taught eternal truths that would never change or become obsolete. Whereas much of man’s formal education is tentative, wrong, or outdated within a few years of graduation, Joseph said of his own education: “Could you gaze into heaven five minutes, you would know more than you would by reading all that ever was written on the subject.” (History of the Church, 6:50.) This was the quality of the heavenly instruction Joseph Smith enjoyed…
How Many Personages Visited Joseph? “It is impossible to determine the number of “interviews” Joseph had with Moroni, but twenty-two visits are often identified.” Moroni—Joseph Smith’s Tutor By H. Donl Peterson See Moroni—Joseph Smith’s Tutor
“Following is a list of some of the personages who appeared to Joseph Smith to restore priesthood keys, to deliver divine instructions, or to perform other functions. The sources History of the Church and Journal of Discourses are abbreviated as HC and JD. The Prophet Joseph communicated with other messengers who previously had lived righteously on earth, but the precise nature of these visits is not known. These personages include Seth, Isaac, Jacob, and the Jewish and Nephite Apostles [Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Adam, Seth, Enoch, and Jesus and the Father, and the apostles that lived on this continent as well as those who lived on the Asiatic continent. see Journal of Discourses, 21:94]. In addition, Joseph Smith saw other angels in vision, some of whom are identified in recorded revelation (see, for example, D&C 107:53; compare History of the Church, 3:388).
It is not unrealistic to believe that Joseph Smith was visited over 50, maybe 75 times by special witnesses from God. I am confident that Joseph had to be taught with Spiritual Eyes, and in a non-physical way perhaps. I am confident that when Spirit teaches Spirit, it is far more effective than Spirit teaching flesh. Joseph had to be one of the most intelligent beings in the history of the World. He was literally taught by Gods and Angels.
I believe many LDS and Non-LDS academics love to promote the idea that Joseph was an uneducated and ignorant farm boy. It allows them to bring up ideas that seem more intellectual than Joseph, as they sometimes show our Prophets weaknesses in order to allow their theories to be more plausible.
John Sorensen who is one of the leaders of the Mesoamerican theory of geography of the Book of Mormon said, “What may startle some about this situation is that most of what Joseph Smith said or implied about geography indicates that he did not understand or was ambiguous about the fact, as it turns out, that Mesoamerica was the particular setting for Nephite history.
Until he encountered the Stephens’s book, Joseph gave no hint that he was aware that such a limited area with a distinctive civilized culture even existed in the Americas. Even with Stephens’s material in mind, he made no more than a passing attempt to relate the Book of Mormon’s story to the newly-found ruins. And in the long run, the little blip on the Latter-day Saints’ mental screen caused by the explorer’s book faded as the mistaken folk view reasserted its dominance.” John Sorenson Mormon’s Codex
It’s amazing to me that Mr. Sorensen can seem so confident as to what Joseph knew, believed or taught. I strongly disagree with Mr. Sorensen. Joseph Smith was taught by angels many times, and I believe I will take his words over any of the intellects of today.
DETAILED ANSWER: Joseph Taught by Angels and God’s about Geography
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