THIRTY-TWO
(1837)
Joseph literally became ill because of the people’s desire to replace the fullness of the gospel with priesthoods,
ordinances, and other elements of organized religion. The LDS Church became whatever its leaders and
priesthood councils dictated and continued to fall into debt, almost to its destruction. Eventually,
Brigham Young undercut the priesthood councils by declaring his own absolute authority to dictate
the “word of God.” The LDS people forsook the opportunity to become the “light of the world.”The Latter-day Saints Looked Beyond the Mark
Again and again, Joseph expects the consistent theme presented throughout his
biography to be the principal message of the Book of Mormon, as it was first introduced to
Joseph by Moroni, “the fullness of the everlasting Gospel...as delivered by the Savior to the
ancient inhabitants.”^1 It was meant to leave its mark upon the world by giving another
testament of the “everlasting gospel” that Jesus, the Christ, taught the people in the flesh.^2
Everything written in the Book of Mormon is centered upon and culminates with Christ’s
visitation to the Western Hemisphere. It was here that he taught the people what he had
taught the Jews in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Had this mark been indelibly embedded in the hearts and minds of the people in
Joseph’s time, and if their thoughts (symbolized by a mark in the forehead^3 ) and actions
(symbolized by a mark in the right hand^4 ) had been centered on this mark, then there would
have been no new religion, church, or legalistic framework of commandments and
ordinances desired by the people.^5 Because pride, arrogance, and “looking beyond the
mark”^6 entered the thoughts and actions of the Gentiles who embraced the Book of Mormon,
they considered themselves worthy of the title of “Saints.” Their pride, arrogance, and egos
placed them above other people in their minds and motivated them to eventually change
the name of their church, originally called the Church of Christ, to the present-day Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.^7
In review of the Book of Mormon story, Christ never intended for the people to establish
a church. After he delivered to them the “fullness of the everlasting Gospel,”^8 the people
“marveled and wondered”^9 about what Christ was going to do about their religion and
church, organized under the principles and traditions of the Law of Moses that they had
before he came. He explained to the people that their religion “hath an end in me. Behold, I
am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end. ...Behold, I have given unto
you the commandments [i.e., “the fullness of the everlasting Gospel” he had just delivered to
them as versed in 3 Nephi, chapters 12, 13, and 14]; therefore, keep my commandments.”^10 He
told them that those things he had taught them were now their new religion (loosely rather
than strictly speaking), and that all former things, including “the law and the
prophets...testified of [him].”^11
After explaining to the people that a church and religion were useless and not a part of
his “law,” Christ turned away from them toward the twelve, and explained a few truths that
the other people did not hear. He commanded the twelve to “write these sayings after I am
gone.”^12 He explained that the intent of writing them was to give people the opportunity that