Twenty-Five (1830)never meant to become part of the translated record; however the damage had been done
when those things that had been written down by Emma were later read by Martin when he
took over as scribe. Furthermore, because of the exigencies brought about by the loss of the
116 pages, Joseph made up a new title page just before he submitted it to the District Court
for copyright protection. Because it came through the Urim and Thummim, Joseph knew
that the revised title page was written as the advanced beings who were overseeing the
publication of the Book of Mormon wanted it to be.
Martin Harris didn’t even know about the new, revised title page until March of 1830,
after he first read a copy of the newly published Book of Mormon. When he read it, he became
furious and confronted Joseph with the “fraudulent” part. Like he usually did when unable
to explain the real truth behind what he was doing, Joseph received a “revelation”
specifically tailored to silence Martin Harris once and for all.^28 Joseph’s rebuke of Harris
over this issue precipitated one of the most powerful and fear-provoking revelations ever
written by him, now found in the LDS Doctrine and Covenants as section 19.
The revelation worked for a while, but by the time Joseph began to write the
“official” history in 1838, the rumor had spread throughout the members of the Church
and been picked up by Joseph’s critics and enemies. Therefore, he had to specifically
mention the title page and create an explanation about it “in order to correct an error,
which generally exists concerning it.”^29
Hiding the Truth to Protect his True Identity
Unfortunately for Joseph, he was forced to hide things—even lie about them if
necessary—to give the people what they desired. However, there were times when he could
not avoid hiding the truth. He kept the true purpose for the Book of Mormon from the people;
he hid his interactions with the Brothers and advanced beings; and many other details and
facts he never discussed with others. But to his personal chagrin (and the hardest part for
him in fulfilling his role), he was required to give the people what they wanted as an
integral component of not disclosing his true identity. If the people wanted to believe in
something that wasn’t really true (i.e., a lie) then Joseph was obligated to let them.
The majority of his friends, who eventually turned out to be his enemies and critics,
had “good cause” to leave him, based on their limited understanding of his calling. They
experienced the contradictions and deceptions that Joseph created for the people, not
understanding why a “prophet of God” would do such things. They could only surmise that
he was a “fallen prophet.”
The Church For the People, By the People
The Book of Mormon was finally released to the public in March of 1830.^30 From the
time that Oliver Cowdery received the “priesthood” from a divine source (see Appendix 1
on the LDS Priesthood) in May of 1829, and the witnesses gave their affidavits to the
authenticity of the gold plates and the reality of an advanced being, Joseph’s friends and
peers desired to organize a church. Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer pressed Joseph
incessantly about how they should go about doing this. Joseph often asked them their
opinions and sought their counsel of what should be done in their church. Cowdery and
Whitmer studied the New Testament to find out how it should be done and reported their
findings back to Joseph. Martin Harris, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with