Without Disclosing My True Identity
Other LDS/Mormon leaders, who knew Joseph and heard some of the things he
taught, made many comments about reincarnation in their writings.^35 Even the erroneous
LDS concept of the Plan of Salvation, as absent of real truth as it is, provides for four
distinct incarnations:
- As eternal intelligences, we were embodied into human form as spirits.
- We were then re-embodied into a mortal (physical) body.
- We die and are once again re-embodied into human form as spirits.
- We resurrect and are re-embodied into perfect physical bodies.
However, the greatest proof that Joseph taught reincarnation, though symbolically, was
in the presentation of the Temple Endowment. All three characters—Elohim, Jehovah, and
Michael—are equally embodied men, the latter two of whom would have been, as yet, unborn
into mortality. This clearly shows that there is a physicality to pre-mortal beings that does not
include the ethereal idea of a see-through, ghost-like appearance. Obviously, this pre-mortal
physical body must be released before mortal birth can take place, becoming the first of many
reincarnations until the final state of a person’s body is made permanent by resurrection.
Joseph Attempts to Teach More Concerning the Spirit, Body, and Degrees of Glory
At one point in his discussions with some of the Elders in a branch of the Church in
May 1843, the concept of a spiritual body came up. Some believed that the spirit could not
be material because it cannot be seen when it enters the body upon birth or when it leaves
the body at the time of death. Some reasoned that the spirit grew with the body, because
claims had been made that some were visited by their small children and older
acquaintances who had died, and that they appeared just as they were remembered.
When Joseph reasoned with them on the state of the spirit, without disclosing too
much, he asked, “If a spirit grows with the body, then when it reaches the age of an old
man, will it be old still when it leaves the body?” The men incorrectly assumed that the
spirit would appear as the mortal body did when it died and entered the “spirit world,”
where it would await the final resurrection, at which time it would be restored to its perfect
state as an adult. To this Joseph responded, “I would hardly then recognize my children.”
Joseph was playing the devil’s advocate with the men, because he wasn’t allowed to tell
them the entire truth.
Joseph explained that it was impossible for life to exist without a body and spirit
connected, that one was just as important to the consciousness of the soul as the other.^36 He
explained that our resurrected form would be similar to the body we had when we existed
in the presence of our Creators. He expounded upon the state of mortality, calling it a fallen
state of existence because we had fallen from a previous form that existed like our heavenly
parents exist in their glory.
He explained some of the relationships that existed in the different kingdoms of
glory,^37 yet stopped short of revealing too much. He was visibly frustrated with the men
who argued each point with him. He ended the discussions by saying, “It is impossible for
any of you to know the mysteries of God unless you have the spirit of prophecy given
through the power of the Holy Spirit. Not one of you will be saved in ignorance.”^38 But it
would not have mattered how much Joseph explained of the mysteries, the people were