Without Disclosing My True Identity
Joseph’s Final Lesson
Because of the tools provided to him, including the Urim and Thummim (which he
was yet to receive), his semi-immortal mentors, and the opportunity from time-to-time to
receive “instruction and intelligence”^47 from an advanced human being, Joseph could not
and did not fail in any regard. There remained one other “classroom experience” Joseph
needed before he was ready for graduation day. This Final Lesson provided him with an
experience that all true messengers must have so that their fully mortal brain can
comprehend, without any reservation or doubt, all that is needed to fulfill that role.
Joseph had already met Christ—the prepared Overseer for this solar system. He had
met Moroni—another advanced human being who came to the earth to instruct him. He
discerned that these two humans were different than the Brothers, who were slightly
different than himself; but, in his experience, these advanced beings were just as real to him
as the Brothers and other mortals were.
When he saw these advanced beings, they would appear to him from inside the
atmosphere of the earth and then, when they left, they would leave the earth altogether.
Where they went and how they got there he didn’t quite understand at the time. He had
been taught that there were other planets “out there” which also have human inhabitants;
and this reality became even clearer when Moroni adjusted his fully mortal brain to provide a
better eternal perspective of all things.
Although we may say that Joseph Smith at that point knew of the existence of
advanced human beings elsewhere in the Universe, it would be more accurate to say that
his knowledge was still based, in part, on faith in his memories. But Joseph also knew that
his memories could deceive him as long as he had an imperfect brain. Although his
knowledge had been enhanced by the face-to-face interaction and subsequent adjustment by
Moroni, nevertheless, there was still room for doubt in his mortal brain.
Joseph had learned that advanced humans (Gods) are only different from mortals
because of the real truth that they know, which mortals were made to forget. “The glory of
God is intelligence, or in other words, light and truth”^48 was one real truth that eventually
became part of those “mysteries” Joseph hid among religious-flavored writings. He knew
that real truth “is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to
come”;^49 and that “whatsoever is more or less than this”^50 is created in the mortal mind of
the “natural man—an enemy of God—the spirit of the wicked one who was a liar from the
beginning.”^51 Joseph revealed that “man was also in the beginning with God; and that
intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be,”^52 and that
man (which includes all people) was just as intelligent as God in the beginning.^53 Of course,
Joseph’s supposed successors would allow the LDS/Mormons to believe that mortal
worldly knowledge was to be coveted and valued as intelligence.
So it was that, even after meeting the Christ, spending four years with the Brothers,
and visiting from time-to-time with Moroni, Joseph’s mind still had the ability to doubt and
rationalize everything that he had learned as if it might be a delusion caused by his fully
mortal brain. It is often the case with true messengers that they reflect on their experiences
and wonder if all of it was created by the power of their own mind, even the actuality of
meeting extraterrestrial beings.^54 Joseph’s mind needed one more experience that would
forever solidify that what he had both seen and heard were actual, real truths! He needed
this experience to strengthen his resolve to perform his role as he endured insurmountable