Fourteen (1819)he did, he would have to stand as a witness against him and expose himself to the world.
Timothy was fully aware that his mission was more important than man’s justice and that
he had many years left to accompany Joseph through his trials in life. Exposure in a legal
proceeding would have created excessive attention on Timothy (“Homer”) and created a
benchmark upon which people could remember him and become polarized either for or
against him (because of his court testimony) and certainly brought notice to his “eternal
youth.” More pertinent to the situation of this Nephite was his innocuous relationship to all
men and maintaining a completely protected identity. Moreover, his involvement with
mortals was and is only to accomplish the purposes of advanced beings for this earth until
our Overseer takes over.
Background Information Preparatory to Joseph’s First Visitation
People in mortality are allowed to act unconditionally according to their free-willed
choices. No advanced intervention is used to counter these choices, unless upon so doing,
all of the inhabitants of the earth would benefit equally from the intervention.^17 In the case
of protecting Joseph Smith, Jr as he developed and prepared himself to accomplish his
mission, this situation justly presented a proper reason for intervention.
In the next chapter of Joseph’s life, this “proper reason” will be explained in detail.
In 1820, Joseph Smith became one of the very few mortals on the earth who have had the
experience of gaining firsthand knowledge that we are not alone in the Universe. He came
to know that advanced human monitors are aware of our plight and do everything within
their power and authority to help us gain the necessary experiences, while still abiding by
the laws that govern human development. (These are outlined in the universal codes that
regulate free will.) In this way, they help us get to know ourselves during mortality.
At the young age of 14, Joseph Smith, Jr. met one of our mutual siblings—
foreordained before this world was, to be the Christ (the chosen Overseer) of our solar
system.^18 To introduce this incredible event and explain its great importance to the
inhabitants of the earth, attention will now be turned to a few of the “great and marvelous
things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world”^19 from mortals.
The “Fall” of Humankind
The first thing we need to consider is the true purpose for our Christ and the
meaning of the atonement, given the religious context from which mortals have been
introduced to their “Savior.” Christians speak of and place hope in “salvation” through their
Christ; but is their Christ real? Christians believe in the fall of man and a miraculous process
of redemption that they attribute to their Christ—in spite of themselves—or through the
process of “many wonderful works.”^20
The first question that man must ask concerning Christ is, if there is such a thing as
“redemption,” how does Christ “redeem us from the fall?”^21 To understand these things, one
must keep in mind that all such religious contexts are the invention of mortal minds, which
are communicated between human beings via the languages that have developed
throughout the history of this earth. Religion is the exclusive invention of mortals and
nothing about it has anything to do with real truth.^22 However, because religion has such a
powerful hold upon mortals, its allusions can be used, along with the words and principles
associated with it, to provide a starting point in helping guide us back to the real truth.