PrefacexxviiThe “fullness of the everlasting Gospel” is the mark left upon this world by Jesus,
the Christ. Its fullness can be found in the words that Jesus delivered to the Jews of the Bible
and to the Nephites of the Book of Mormon.^14 Because the people to whom Joseph was sent
with this “fullness of the everlasting Gospel” looked for other things beyond this mark,
Joseph was given instructions to cause the people to stumble and fall,
for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them
many things which they cannot understand because they desired it. And
because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble.^15Joseph was given the authority and direct mandates to do what he did; but he never
disclosed what those mandates were. History may indeed “consist of a series of accumulated
imaginative inventions” as suggested by Voltaire. Nevertheless, for the first time in history, the
world now finally has the “series of accumulated inventions” as Joseph Smith personally
experienced them. This book will finally distill Joseph’s history into a “palatable concoction”
that will truly cure the reader’s need to know and understand. The account presented
herein will be given in such a way as to satisfy the reader’s common sense in coming to
understand the true history of Joseph Smith, Jr., once and for all, leaving all the other
historical chronologists and theorists to their “accumulated imaginative inventions.”
NOTES
(^1) HR, 15:25.
(^2) DHC, volume 1: Preface, at III.
(^3) In the LDS Temple Endowment established by Joseph Smith in 1842, two types of messengers
are outlined—those who “do not disclose their true identity” and those who do disclose their true identity.
Joseph Smith was a true messenger who did not disclose his true identity. He was given the mandate to
teach the people in such a way that the real truth remained hidden from them. See also SNS, 98.
(^4) TJSP, question 1.
(^5) Throughout this work, wherever possible, citations from the volumes of The Joseph Smith
Papers will be used. This includes journals, meeting minutes, revelations, and letters. This will be
done to satisfy both LDS and non-LDS readers.
“As a Senior Historical Associate then Senior Research Fellow, [Dean C.] Jessee served for
nineteen years in the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute. During this time he continued his earlier work
to produce the papers of Joseph Smith. In 1984, he published most of Smith's own writings and many
of his dictations in The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith. This research continued to expand into two
volumes of The Papers of Joseph Smith, one in 1989 on Smith's autobiographical and historical writings,
and the other in 1992 on Smith's journals. Jessee's efforts were eventually made an official joint effort
of BYU and the LDS Church in 2001, called the Joseph Smith Papers Project. This is intended to be a
large multi-volume series, including virtually everything written by Joseph Smith, by his office, or
under his direction. That year, Larry H. Miller, a Salt Lake City businessman and philanthropist,
began funding the venture. In 2005, Miller announced the goal of completing the project by 2015,
“while Dean Jessee is still around,” since Jessee was then in his 70s. Jessee is general manager of the
project along with Richard Bushman and Ron Esplin.” (“Dean C. Jessee,” Wikipedia, the free