Without Disclosing My True Identity
Blindly Overlooking the Fullness of the Everlasting Gospel
Joseph gave the people what they wanted, in spite of the real truth. In the April 15,
1842 issue of Times and Seasons, Joseph revealed the main purpose of the Book of Mormon—
which was presenting the world with “...the fullness of the everlasting Gospel...as
delivered by the Savior.” In the very same issue and with experienced prose and a hidden
disgust that often brought him to tears while he composed the “stumbling blocks,” Joseph
introduced another ordinance of the LDS Church (not of the Gospel). In that issue, he
introduced the stumbling block of Baptism for the Dead^46 with eloquent and biblical
overtones,^47 pleasing the blind eyes and deaf ears of the LDS people.
The LDS Church in Joseph’s day, as well as the modern LDS Church, put much more
emphasis on baptizing the dead than on “the fullness of the everlasting Gospel...as
delivered by the Savior.” This is just one of its many stumbling blocks,^48 and the greatest
proof of their deep blindness, hardness of heart, and implicit disregard for the very essence
of the Book of Mormon. They proclaim to the world that the Book of Mormon contains the
FULLNESS of the everlasting Gospel, as delivered by the Savior, yet, there is NOT ONE
MENTION OF “BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD” IN ITS PAGES!
Joseph performed his role very well as a true messenger without disclosing his true
identity. Nobody could have done it better than he did. Over the years, he became an expert
at writing in Bible-flavored prose;^49 and, true to the assumptions of his critics, “he was
writing for his own people”^50 —a people who had rejected the everlasting Gospel and the
simple message of the Book of Mormon for their own organized religion.^51
NOTES
(^1) Tanner, Mormonism-Shadow or Reality? 156–62.
(^2) 2 Timothy 3:7.
(^3) 1 Corinthians 9:18.
(^4) See SNS, 93, 105; see also “Nicene Creed,” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 12 Jan. 2012, Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., 14 Jan. 2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_Creed; Acts 7:48; 17:24.
(^5) John 17:4; 1 Corinthians 15:3.
(^6) Matthew 3:11.
(^7) Galatians 1:12; Ephesians 3:3; 1 Corinthians 14:6, 26.
(^8) Isaiah 55:8–9.
(^9) Matthew 12:25; Mark 9:40; John 17:21–3; Ephesians 4:5, 13–14; Luke 18:11.
(^10) Compare to Edith Holland, [The Story of] Mohammed (New York: Frederick A. Stokes
Company, 1914) chapter 9 (“Mohammed as a Lawgiver”).
(^11) Matthew 6:24; 25:45.
(^12) BOM, Alma 31:12, 23; Isaiah 66:23; Ezekiel 46:3.
(^13) 1 Corinthians 2:13; 1 John 2:27. See also HR, 6:2, “we will never achieve this ideal and
perfect state, unless we learn to listen to the gentle persuasions of our internal emotional core.”