Twenty (1825)
Choosing Between “Good” and “Evil”
The “Spirit of Christ” is nothing more or less than “the doctrine of
Christ...when he [Christ] shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which
he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.”^13 Many times during his life, Joseph
wanted to explain the “Spirit of Christ” further. He wanted the people to understand
that the “power of the Holy Ghost” was and is “the words of Christ.”^14 He hoped they
would understand that, simply by using our common sense “given to every man,”^15 we
could figure out what is good and causes our own joy and what is not and causes our
own misery.
But every time Joseph wanted to explain the simplicity of it all, “the Spirit
stoppeth [his] utterance, and [he was] left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the
wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they [would] not
search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it [was] given unto them in
plainness, even as plain as words can be.”^16 Had Joseph taught the people that they
alone were solely responsible for their own actions, good or bad—because neither the
“Holy Ghost” nor “the devil” actually existed—the people would have killed him; and
had they killed him then, his mission would have ended too soon.
Providing the “Good” Fruit
Joseph’s role enabled the people of the earth to make a choice between good and
evil, so that it could be proven, during the days of their probation—to themselves—which
they would choose by using their free will. Without Joseph’s role, the inhabitants of the
earth only had their common sense (“Spirit of Christ given to every man”^17 ), which was
being inhibited by the foolish imaginations and doctrines and precepts of men. At the
time Joseph was chosen, there was no “good fruit (human actions) on the trees (human
cultures) of the vineyard (the earth)”;^18 i.e., there were no “good” human actions (that
which brings happiness) among the cultures of the earth. There was only “corrupted
fruit”^19 (unhappiness) caused by the “loftiness of the vineyard”^20 (human ego). Joseph’s
role was to initiate a “grafting, pruning, digging, and dunging”^21 in an attempt to “save
the trees of the vineyard.”^22 Using another popular religious symbol, Joseph was to
ensure that there was “good fruit” along with the “evil fruit” growing on the “Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil,” so that “Adam and Eve” (the inhabitants of the earth)
would have the free agency of choice (that which brings happiness or unhappiness).
As Joseph’s role began and developed, he used every means at his disposal,
called upon all of his training by his advanced mentors, and utilized the tools he had
been given to persuade people to choose the “good” over the “evil,” without taking
away their free will. If the people wanted to believe in a God, a Holy Ghost, a devil,
personal revelation,^23 calling and election,^24 priesthood authority,^25 or whatever
“doctrine and precept” they chose to believe in, then Joseph would not stop them. Oh,
how many times he was “left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness,
and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they [would] not search
knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it [was] given unto them in
plainness, even as plain as word can be.”^26 Oh, how often the people “look[ed] beyond
the mark” and had “delivered unto them many things which they [could not]
understand, because they desired it.”^27