The McElveen Delusion

Rev. FLOYD C McELVEEN

AN ANTI-MORMON THAT HAS

AUTHORED MORE THAN ONE MILLION BOOKS! BUT WHO IS UNABLE TO READ AND COMPREHEND A SIMPLE SENTENCE IN ENGLISH!

The McElveen Delusion

A Brief But Robust Examination Of Some Of Floyd C McElveens Highly Distorted Version Of Mormonism
By Ronnie Mormon Bray

A Question
Is it fair, is it Christian to examine Floyd C McElveen and to question what he says about Mormonism? According To McElveen,1 it is, and so we will. McElveens book, The Mormon Illusion previously published under the title, Will The Saints Go Marching In? is an unkind and pejorative work that makes statements about Mormonism, some of which are true, some of which are not, and some of which are deliberately slanted contrary to what they actually represent to make lies from truths. According to the Holy Bible that is directly condemned by Almighty God.2 For example, McElveen in his The Mormon Illusion [hereafter, FM-TMI], states that Brigham Young failed to mention the first vision.3 It is true that the thirty-three of Youngs sermons published in the Journals of Discourses do not broach the subject, but McElveens suggestion that Young did not know about the first vision and that he never, ever spoke of it is ludicrous, because information to the contrary is readily available, and was readily available in 1997, when TMI was first printed, and in 1998, when TMI was revised, and 1980, when my personal copy of McElveens book was re-published.

Is it fair, is it Christian to examine Joseph Smith and to question Mormonism? FM-TMI, p. 5 He concludes that it is essential 2 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Exodus 20:16 [AV] 3 FM-TMI p. 25

From his cited sources it is evident that McElveen is simply too lazy in his research and is content to rest his own case against Mormons and Mormonism on the Tanners4 prevaricating case, from which he quotes freely. McElveen ought to be aware that relying on professional Anti-Mormons, such as Jerald and Sandra Tanner, James Bjornstad, Dee Jay Nelson, Marvin W Cowan, Arthur Budvarson, Jerry Urban, Wesley P Walters, Elmar Anderson, and Wally Tope, etc., means that his statements will only be reliable if those whose word he takes without questioning are is factual and reliable, and that when he unquestioningly accepts the word of anarchic researchers, however well his borrowings from these people fit his own propositions, he only follow his blind guides down into the murky depths of their and his mucky ditches.5 When a reverend gentleman tell us that he will,

With Gods help, [] seek to take a fair and honest look at Joseph Smith, and a few of his teachings as Scripture and the love of Christ constrain us to do.6
Then we are entitled to expect him to be as good as his word and not to rely on fallacies, lies, or non-researched material that he has not looked at fairly and honesty as he assures us he will. This short article does not deal with the entire content of McElveens book, The Mormon Illusion, because it would take too much time and occupy too much space. But the points that are taken up here, and subjected to fair and honest scrutiny, will show how far McElveen has managed to drag himself along in his love for Mormons, and in his striving to be an honest presenter of Mormonism and Mormons. Whilst not wishing to present my conclusions before my survey of McElveens work, I will point out the McElveen does not shrink from setting out his conclusion on the first page, and then throwing everything into the pot that supports his conclusion, and omitting every iota of evidence
4 5

Jerald & Sandra Tanner, Modern Microfilm Co., various publications. they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch Matthew 15:14; 23:16, 24 6 FM-TMI, p. 8

that shows his conclusions to be the product of bias, perjury, and scholarly mendacity. I wish I could say that McElveen has done a fair and honest job of describing Mormonism, as he promised to do. However,. I am forced to conclude, by the sheer weight of evidence, that he has only managed to churn out one more shoddy Anti-Mormon book, in the usual fashion of would-be professional Anti-Mormons, which is by copying what other professional Anti-Mormon writers have written, and passing their nonsense of as the truth, which it patently is not, as any fair and honest writer would have discovered for themselves. However, history teaches us that fair and honest does not sell Anti-Mormon books. Therefore, Brother Mac writes a Mac-Book for his Mac-Version of Mac-Mormonism, and the losers are the Truth, and whoever dips into their pockets to purchase his Satanic Verses. You find me hard on him? Oh, No, I am not hard on the poor man: merely robust! How sad that McElveens promise to be fair and honest turns out to be biased and deceitful. But then, Mormons are used to being treated badly by hostile and abusive Anti-Mormon Mormon-lovers.

What Brigham Young Knew About the First Vision?

Fair and Honest McElveen insists:

"Brigham Young never once mentioned the First Vision of God the Father and his Son in his 30 years of preaching as President of the Church."7
To which we are justified in asking him in the manner of Gilbert & Sullivans comic opera, What never? To which question he makes the reply, No, never!8 This conversation continues: What never? Well hardly ever!9 Such a bold statement as McElveen makes regarding Brother Young is easy to agree with if you dont know any better, and just as easy to disagree with if you do know better. Reverend McElveen rests his case on wrong material he has found in other Anti-Mormon works and relies on the gullibility of his readers, from whom he hopes the true facts are unknown in the first place, and he hopes to keep them suspended in his darkness, and prays to whomever it is he prays for support in his egregious error, that no one will make the truth about Brigham and the First Vision known to his cynically duped customers in the second place. Sorry, Floyd. I have done that which you hoped no one would do and exposed your duplicity in this matter. Perhaps that is why you blush. Henceforth you will be known as Pink Floyd!

7 8

Op. Cit. p. 25 Gilbert and Sullivan, HMS Pinafore 9 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-AcMXJUMwk Time 2:06 minutes

The relevant point is not that Mr McElveen says Brigham Young knew nothing about the First Vision, which he does say, but whether Brigham Young did know about the First Vision and preached about it. The evidence is big, bright, and bold that Brigham Young not only knew about the First Vision in which the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith, but that he often referred to it when it was part of the subject of one of his sermons. First, to McElveens use of Tanners material. The red ellipses, thus, , indicate where McElveen, following the Tanners sneering practice,10 leaves out essential words that, when put back into place, change the meaning entirely. For example, the Tanners said of Youngs statement:

Mormon scholars have been unable to locate any sermon by Brigham Young in which he identifies the personages as God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. As we have shown before, in one sermon Brigham Young said that The Lord did not come But he did send his angel to this same obscure person, Joseph Smith jun., (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 2, p. 171)
Take note of the ellipses because they are omissions whose inclusion is necessary to recognise the sense of what Brigham Young was saying. After posting their disembowelled extract from Young, the Tanners continue:

Here we have it from the lips of Brigham Young that The Lord did not come, to Joseph Smith. But He did send His angel, to Joseph Smith. Leading us to believe that Brigham thought that the angel informed him that he should not join any of the religious sects.
Reading this, I was reminded of the mischievous boy that glues together several pages of the parsons Holy Bible. When the parson rose to sermonise he began reading,
10

if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Matthew 15:14

And God made man in his own image, [here, he turned all the stucktogether pages and continued reading without pause], and he was thirty cubits long, and tarred inside and out with pitch. Somewhat confused, he said, Well, brothers and sisters, I have never seen that before, but since it is in the Bible it must be true, and it goes to show how wonderfully and marvellously made we are! With regard to their accuracy, the parson in the story and Parson McElveen are a pair of brothers. You can make almost anything mean almost anything it isnt meant to mean if you are cunning enough to know what to leave out. Now, lets look at the entire quote from Brigham Young with the missing portions sliced out by the Tanners editorialising scissors shown here in red: The Lord did not come with the armies of heaven, in power and great glory, nor send His messengers panoplied with aught else than the truth of heaven, to communicate to the meek the lowly, the youth of humble origin, the sincere enquirer after the knowledge of God. But He did send His angel to this same obscure person, Joseph Smith Jun., who afterwards became a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, and informed him that he should not join any of the religious sects of the day, for they were all wrong; that they were following the precepts of men instead of the Lord Jesus; that He had a work for him to perform, inasmuch as he should prove faithful before Him. (Journal of Discourses 2:170-171)11 What a difference it makes when the whole of Youngs statement is provided. Brigham does not say that the Lord never came. He said that the Lord Jesus did not come with the armies of heaven, in power and great glory. In other words, He didnt come with in a grand display of his kingship and power. The circumstances of the coming of the father and the Son were witnessed only by their chosen vessel, in a sacred place, and out of the view of those for whom this First Vision was not intended to inform. When we look closer at Brighams words, we find that he expressly says that the Lord did come. The Lord informed him [it was not the angel that told Joseph, read the sentence], But He [referring to the Lord] did [later]
11

Cited in: http://www.fairlds.org/authors/misc/ask-the-apologist-did-early-lds-leaders-misunderstand-thefirst-vision ?

send His angelAND [He, meaning the Lord] informed him [meaning Joseph Smith] When read by someone with a reasonable education who is not trying to twist, distort, and wrest simple words into a trap by fools,12 then Brighams words take on their intended meaning, and we are left wondering What kind of person mangles truth to make it make a lie so that he can make money from his trashy books, and what kind of person warms over and reproduces the first persons lies in an equally evil way without taking the trouble to check it for themselves and not insult their readers by their deliberately manufactured falsehoods? Not a Christian, because McElveen tells us that

John 7:24 tells Christians to judge righteous judgement, not according to appearance but according to the Word of God.13
Clearly, McElveen indulges in something for which he says that he and the Word of God find sinful, and that is hypocrisy! McElveen apparently gets his authority to lie about Mormons and Mormonism from his belief that it is tragic today that some of us Christians in the name of love have withheld the truth from those in error, lest we offend, or because we did not love enough.14 What, we are entitled to ask, is the notion that makes a person tell lies about those they profess to love? Since God is Love, and lying is not loving, then how do we not identify hatred as the prevailing and motivating emotion behind Rev. McElveens out-and-out lies about Mormonism and Mormons. Unintended misunderstandings arise for a variety of reasons. However, when a critic tells us that he can look critically at the religion of another person only after he has first looked very critically at his own religion,15 then we are right to observe that McElveen didnt look critically enough at his personal religious practices nor find it lacking where he considers it grants him permission to manufacture lies and perseverate the lies of others in
12 13

Rudyard Kiplings poem, IF FM-TMI, p. 6 14 Ibid. p. 6 15 Ibid. p. 6

pursuit of an enemy, especially whilst vaunting mawkish love for his prey as he continues the hunt. In one of my favourite comic operas, Iolanthe, William Schwenke Gilbert, the lyricist, has a group of Lords misunderstand the words of Iolanthe, as she consoles her heartbroken son, Strephon, the shepherd lad cum fry: When tempests wreck thy bark, And all is drear and dark, If thou shouldst need an ark, I'll give thee one! When Phyllis, Strephons intended bride, asks, What was that? Lord Tolloller, an elderly peer of the realm, transmits Iolanthes words to as: I heard the minx remark, she'd meet him after dark inside St. James's Park and give him one! While we understandably forgive the doddering peer for mishearing Iolanthes words and repeating them to Phyllis as though they were true, we find ourselves with less latitude for understanding why the Tanners and their sycophantic cohort, Floyd McElveen, acting, we are assured, with concern and candor,16 feel at liberty to imitate preposterous figures in a comic operetta and then expect us to take them seriously, and charge us for making us into gullible fools! But, how are we to take seriously a man whose website makes for him a claim that is impossible? Floyd C McElveen has also authored well over 1 million books17

16 17

FM-TMI, jacket blurb, Regal Books, CA www.goodnewsforlds.com

Floyd C McElveen
has authored more than a million books!
Has McElveen really authored more than a million books? A website supporting McElveen makes this amazing claim:

Floyd C. McElveen, better known as "Brother Mac," grew up in Mississippi religious but was lost. Graduating from Western Baptist Seminary in Portland, Oregon, he then moved to Alaska as a missionary for 14 years. Brother Mac has started Churches in Alaska, Idaho and Washington and was a National Evangelist for the CBHMS. He has also authored well over 1 million books in print and urgently seeks to get every Christian to be a soul-winner, "From henceforth thou shalt catch men." Though I am nothing, and can do nothing without Christ and I praise God for 1 Jn. 5:13! Brother Mac has enjoyed 58 wonderful years of marriage and has 3 sons and 1 daughter.18 [Emphasis added]
A Little Simple Arithmetic Authoring more than a million books is a prodigious amount of writing. If Brother Mac were 100 years old, he would have to have written an average of ten thousand books in each of those hundred years, including those years before he learned to write or developed a vocabulary. That works out to an average of more than twenty-seven books every day that he was alive at a rate of more than one an hour without taking time to eat, drink, sleep, or do anything else. Truly, if this is actually so, and McElveen must believe it is, then we find him to be a miraculous man and one that has broken all known records for literary output.

18

http://www.goodnewsforlds.com/bios/floyd-c-mcelveen.html

Obviously, whatever is intended in this claim has not been well expressed, whatever it might be. Even more surprising is the fact that Brother Mac seems not to think it necessary to make any clarification, but is apparently pleased to allow us to believe he is a prodigious author! Dare we suggest that he is more interested in the specks in the eyes of Mormons than he is in applying the beam-check to his own faults and failings? On to another McElveen failing!

McElveen Rearranges
The Date of the First Vision
One more dip into McElveens bran tub19 and we find that he insists that Joseph was seventeen when he experienced the First Vision.

Orville Spencer, a leading Mormon in the early church, wrote a letter from Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1842, stating, Joseph Smith, when the great designs of heaven were first made known to him, was not far from the age of seventeen.20
In the preceding sentence to Spencers statement, McElveen lays out his stall so that we cannot misunderstand to what event he refers.

The vision we are discussing was plainly declared, by Joseph Smith himself and by other Mormon authorities, to be the First Vision. We must face reality, gently, but firmly.21
He the inserts Spencers statement as proof that Mormon believed the First Vision took place when Joseph Smith was seventeen. The only difficulty reasonable people will have with McElveens juxtaposition of the one with the other so that he can rely on Spencer to support his theory is that Spencer nowhere mentions the First Vision, nor doe his text indicate that the First Vision is the event to which he refers. This is what Spencer wrote.

Joseph Smith when the great designs of heaven were first made known to him was not far from the age of seventeen. From that time to this he has had much said about him both of a favourable and unfavourable
19 20

Tubs filled with bran in which are hidden trinkets. A lucky dip. McElveen, Op. Cit. p. 26 21 Ibid. p. 26 prior paragraph.

nature I shall only speak of his character as I believe it to be from an intimate acquaintance of more than one year and from an intimate acquaintance with those who have been with him many years no man is more narrowly watched by friends and enemies than Joseph Smith. Consequently, if he were as good a man as any prophet that has preceded him he would have as violent enemies as others have had
What could Spencer have had in mind when he wrote that? Did anything happen when Joseph was seventeen that would fit Spencers description of the great designs of heaven [that] were first made known to him?

Joseph Smith when the great designs of heaven were first made known to him was not far from the age of seventeen.
Let us recollect the salient features of Josephs First Vision. Joseph said: In accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally. After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction--not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any

being--just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other-"This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)--and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof." He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home. From Josephs account it is evident that Joseph was instructed to join no church, and the reason for this is given by Jesus; they were corrupt. By this, Joseph understood Jesus to mean that they did not have the pure, true doctrine that is found in the Church of Jesus Christ. Accordingly, Joseph did not join himself, nor did he seek to join himself, to any church. It is apparent that during the First Vision, the great designs of heaven were not revealed to young Joseph Smith. That being so, when were the great designs of heaven revealed to him?

The Great Designs of Heaven

In his History, Joseph Smith details certain other events in addition to the First Vision. I highlight the essentials in his account that can be described as the great designs of heaven, and then do a little more simple arithmetic. 27 I continued to pursue my common vocations in life until the twenty-first of September, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, all the time suffering severe persecution at the hands of all classes of men, both religious and irreligious, because I continued to affirm that I had seen a vision. [Emphasis added]
28 During the space of time which intervened between the time I had the vision and the year eighteen hundred and twenty-threehaving been forbidden to join any of the religious sects of the day, and being of very tender years, and persecuted by those who ought to have been my friends and to have treated me kindly, and if they supposed me to be deluded to have endeavoured in a proper and affectionate manner to have reclaimed meI was left to all kinds of temptations; and, mingling with all kinds of society, I frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature; which, I am sorry to say, led me into divers temptations, offensive in the sight of God. In making this confession, no one need suppose me guilty of any great or malignant sins. A disposition to commit such was never in my nature. But I was guilty of levity, and sometimes associated with jovial company, etc., not consistent with that character which ought to be maintained by one who was called of God as I had been. But this will not seem very strange to any one who recollects my youth, and is acquainted with my native cheery temperament. 29 In consequence of these things, I often felt condemned for my weakness and imperfections; when, on the evening of the above-mentioned twenty-first of September, after I had retired to my bed for the night, I betook myself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follies, and also for a manifestation to me, that I might know of my state and standing before him; for I had full confidence in obtaining a divine manifestation, as I previously had one.

30 While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor.
31 He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so, also, were his feet naked, as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that I could see into his bosom. 32 Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person. When I first looked upon him, I was afraid; but the fear soon left me.

33 He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil

among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people. 34 He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants;
35 Also, that there were two stones in silver bowsand these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and Thummimdeposited with the plates; and the possession and use of these stones were what constituted seers in ancient or former times; and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book. 36 After telling me these things, he commenced quoting the prophecies of the Old Testament. He first quoted part of the third chapter of Malachi; and he quoted also the fourth or last chapter of the same prophecy, though with a little variation from the way it reads in our Bibles. Instead of quoting the first verse as it reads in our books, he quoted it thus: 37 For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall burn as stubble; for they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 38 And again, he quoted the fifth verse thus: Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 39 He also quoted the next verse differently: And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming. 40 In addition to these, he quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, saying that it was about to be fulfilled. He quoted also the third chapter of Acts, twenty-second and twenty-third verses, precisely as they stand in our New Testament. He said that that prophet was Christ; but the day had not yet come when they who would not hear his voice should be cut off from among the people, but soon would come. 41 He also quoted the second chapter of Joel, from the twenty-eighth verse to the last. He also said that this was not yet fulfilled, but was soon to be. And he further stated that the fulness of the Gentiles was soon to come in. He quoted many other passages of scripture, and offered many explanations which cannot be mentioned here. 42 Again, he told me, that when I got those plates of which he had spokenfor the time that they should be obtained was not yet fulfilledI should not show them to any person; neither the breastplate with the Urim and Thummim; only to those to whom I should be commanded to show them; if I did I should be destroyed. While he was conversing with me about the plates, the vision was opened to my mind that I could see the place where the plates were deposited, and that so clearly and distinctly that I knew the place again when I visited it. 43 After this communication, I saw the light in the room begin to gather immediately around the person of him who had been speaking to me, and it continued to do so until the room was again left dark, except just around him; when, instantly I saw, as it were, a conduit open right up into heaven, and he ascended till he entirely disappeared, and the room was left as it had been before this heavenly light had made its appearance. 44 I lay musing on the singularity of the scene, and marveling greatly at what had been told to me by this extraordinary messenger; when, in the midst of my meditation, I suddenly discovered that my room was again beginning to get lighted, and in an instant, as it were, the same heavenly messenger was again by my bedside. 45 He commenced, and again related the very same things which he had done at his first visit, without the least variation; which having done, he informed me of great judgments which were coming upon the earth, with great desolations by famine, sword, and pestilence; and that these grievous judgments would come on the earth in this generation. Having related these things, he again ascended as he had done before.

46 By this time, so deep were the impressions made on my mind, that sleep had fled from my eyes, and I lay overwhelmed in astonishment at what I had both seen and heard. But what was my surprise when again I beheld the same messenger at my bedside, and heard him rehearse or repeat over again to me the same things as before; and added a caution to me, telling me that Satan would try to tempt me (in consequence of the indigent circumstances of my fathers family), to get the plates for the purpose of getting rich. This he forbade me, saying that I must have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God, and must not be influenced by any other motive than that of building his kingdom; otherwise I could not get them. 47 After this third visit, he again ascended into heaven as before, and I was again left to ponder on the strangeness of what I had just experienced; when almost immediately after the heavenly messenger had ascended from me for the third time, the cock crowed, and I found that day was approaching, so that our interviews must have occupied the whole of that night. 48 I shortly after arose from my bed, and, as usual, went to the necessary labors of the day; but, in attempting to work as at other times, I found my strength so exhausted as to render me entirely unable. My father, who was laboring along with me, discovered something to be wrong with me, and told me to go home. I started with the intention of going to the house; but, in attempting to cross the fence out of the field where we were, my strength entirely failed me, and I fell helpless on the ground, and for a time was quite unconscious of anything. 49 The first thing that I can recollect was a voice speaking unto me, calling me by name. I looked up, and beheld the same messenger standing over my head, surrounded by light as before. He then again related unto me all that he had related to me the previous night, and commanded me to go to my father and tell him of the vision and commandments which I had received. 50 I obeyed; I returned to my father in the field, and rehearsed the whole matter to him. He replied to me that it was of God, and told me to go and do as commanded by the messenger. I left the field, and went to the place where the messenger had told me the plates were deposited; and owing to the distinctness of the vision which I had had concerning it, I knew the place the instant that I arrived there.

This account of Josephs visits from the Angel Moroni is much different in content from the visit of the Father and the Son. In the First Vision, Joseph had been told what NOT to do he must join none of the churches. Moronis visits were formulaic in that they contained commissions of what Joseph was to do in the future. This, clearly, was the beginning of the series of revelations through which the grand designs of heaven were shown to the Boy Prophet.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

God had a work for me to do. News of him would spread throughout the world. He was to find and translate a hidden book of scripture that would confirm that Jesus Christ was the Saviour. Moroni spoke of the restoration of Gods priesthood authority to earth. Moroni indicated that missionary work was to be done to spread the gospel of Christ throughout the world. He told Joseph that God would pour out his judgements with power upon the earth.

7.

Satan would tempt him to convert the golden plates into cash because of his familys poverty.

The visitations of Moroni were sufficiently detailed to allow us to refer to their content as the great designs of heaven, and are, doubtless, the events to which Brother Spencer refers in his letter. Joseph Smith when the great designs of heaven were first made known to him was not far from the age of seventeen. In his famous Wentworth Letter, Joseph Smith made the following statement regarding what was transmitted to him by the Angel Moroni: This messenger proclaimed himself to be an angel of God sent to bring the joyful tidings, that the covenant which God made with ancient Israel was at hand to be fulfilled, that the preparatory work for the second coming of the Messiah was speedily to commence; that the time was at hand for the gospel in all its fullness to be preached in power unto all nations that a people might be prepared for the millennial reign. I was informed that I was chosen to be an instrument in the hands of God to bring about some of his purposes in this glorious dispensation.22 Clearly, Great Designs of Heaven!

22

The Wentworth Letter, was a letter written in 1842 by Joseph Smith, Jr. to "Long" John Wentworth, editor and proprietor of the Chicago Democrat in response to Wentworth's inquiry on behalf of a friend who was writing a history of New Hampshire. The letter was first published on March 1, 1842 in the Latter-day Saints Times and Seasons, Nauvoo, IL.

A Little More Simple Arithmetic

Joseph Smith was born on 23rd December of 1805. Moronis visit took place on 21st September, 1823. Therefore, at the time when the great designs of heaven were first made known to him, Joseph was two months and two days short of being eighteen years of age, that is, he was seventeen. Clearly, Spencer was not referring to the First Vision. Had he been so doing, he would have said so. What do we know about Brother Orville Spencer that makes us consider him a man of intellect and integrity? The Latter-day Saints Millennial Star, volume 4, carries the letter from Spencer in which his statement about Joseph and the great designs of Heaven appear.

Orville Spencer was a graduate of Union College New York and [had] for many years respectable standing as a minister in the Baptist Church and [was] generally known in the New England states.

Watch Out For Ellipses!

McElveen cites the Tanners who cite a report that appeared in Messenger and Advocate volume 1, pp. 79-79, that reports of a vision were given. Following this, McElveen offers a confused medley of supposed contradictions, but it is clear that when the historical procession of certain visions is known, then this confusion disappears. McElveen casts doubt on the revival having taken place when Joseph says it did. reports of a vision were given, as proven from the Messenger and Advocate, volume 1, pages 79, 79, referring to a revival that is supposed to have taken place in and around Palmyra, New York, at about the time of Joseph Smiths vision. While this excitement continued, he continued to call upon the Lord in secret for a full manifestation of divine approbation and for, to him, the all important information if a supreme being did exist, to have an assurance that he was accepted of Him. [Now follows one of McElveens famous ellipses!] On the evening of the 21st of September 1823, previous to retiring to rest, our brothers mind was unusually wrought upon the subject that had so long agitated his mind his heart was drawn out in fervent prayer [ellipse warning!] while continuing in prayer for a manifestation in some way that his sins were forgiven; endeavoring to exercise faith in the Scriptures, on a sudden a light like that of day, only of a purer and more glorious appearance and brightness, burst into the room [ellipse warning!] and in a moment a personage stood before him [ellipse warning!] he heard him declare himself to be a messenger sent by the commandment of the Lord, to deliver a special message, and to witness to him that his sins were forgiven.23

23

FM-TMI, p. 26, citing Messenger & Advocate, Vol 1, pp. 78-79

Floyd McElveens Confusion of Two Discrete Visions

McElveen, in company with many others, confuses two separate visions, the First Vision and the Visit of the Angel Moroni, hence their confusion. Let us briefly examine the elements of two visions.

The First Vision - 1820

A revival stirred in him a desire to know for himself of the certainty and reality of pure and holy religion. Desired to know if a Supreme Being did exist, and wanted manifestation that his sins were forgiven. Age 14 (1820) He was in a grove of trees behind his home Vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ Told not to join any church

The Visit of Moroni - 1823

Age 17 (1823) He was in his bedroom Vision of an angel Told sins were forgiven and Lord would do a work through him Told about gold plates and their location I often felt condemned for my weakness and imperfections; when, on the evening of the abovementioned twenty-first of September, after I had retired to my bed for the night, I betook myself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follies, and also for a manifestation to me, that I might know of my state and standing before him; for I had full confidence in obtaining a divine manifestation, as I previously had one. [Emphasis added]

The First Vision - 1820

The Visit of Angel Moroni - 1823

McElveen and others rest their insistence that the First Vision could not have taken place in 1820 because there was no revival in the area at that time. However, this is not true. There were revivals during this year, and they are well documented.

"In religion, optimism took the form of belief in an early millennium. Just as the American political system would lead the to equality and justice, so would American revivals inaugurate the thousand years' reign of Christ on earth before the Second Coming and the end of the world"24
Religious revivals swept through western New York in the early years of the nineteenth century.25 Joseph Smith was deeply influenced by these revivals.

In the first half of the 19th century, America experienced a renewed interest in religion. Contemporaries noted that throughout the United States revivals of religion were regularly occurring. The signs of this phenomenon were increasing church memberships, missionary zeal at home and abroad, and the proliferation of religious meetings during the week. Frontier regions in particular were scenes of the most emotional revivals. Indeed, in Kentucky, the Rev. James McCready held the first camp meeting in July of 1800.i Perhaps the most intense and dramatic example of revivalism, and certainly the best known, occurred in upstate New York, in "the burnt-over district." However, like the rest of the nation, New England too witnessed its share of religious revivalism in its many forms.

24

Cross, Whitney R, The Burned-over District: The Social and Intellectual History of Enthusiastic Religion in Western New York, 1800-1850, p. 79 25 Wanderer, Amazon reviewer of Cross The Burned Over District

Participants in revivals ascribed their occurrence and success to the workings of the Holy Spirit. Contemporary critics as well as modern historians have. advanced other explanations. The emotional need of people living under the rigors of factory life, or those of the frontier, in a society beginning to undergo profound changes, is a frequently used explanation for revivalism's popularity. Quite often an ambitious preacher would latch upon the sudden death of a child, the spontaneous conversion of some renowned local reprobate, or some other recent dramatic event to stir the fear and awe of a people deemed ripe for a revival.26
The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1790, gained momentum by 1800, and, after 1820 membership rose rapidly among Baptist and Methodist congregations, whose preachers led the movement.27 Considering that Whitney R Cross book was published in 1950, and McElveens was not published until 1975, it seems strange that a man that claims to have looked critically at Mormonism failed to find the important historical contribution of Cross, and others, that refutes his own findings, although the information had been available for a quarter of a century. How strange that this did not find its way into McElveens book. We are well within our rights to question how hard he tried to find contrary information to that which he so readily accepted from Anti-Mormons apparently without feeling the need to examine his hearts and question his motives for these omissions. Joseph Smith tells his own story and prefaces the appearance of the Angel Moroni by writing:

26 27

www.teachushistory.org Nancy Cott, Young Women in the Great Awakening in New England, Feminist Studies 3, no. 1/2 (Autumn 1975): p. 15

29 In consequence of these things, I often felt condemned for my weakness and imperfections; when, on the evening of the above-mentioned twenty-first of September, after I had retired to my bed for the night, I betook myself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follies, and also for a manifestation to me, that I might know of my state and standing before him; for I had full confidence in obtaining a divine manifestation, as I previously had one. Clearly, this was not the prelude to the First Vision, for he says he had previously had a divine manifestation. That manifestation took place in what is known as the Sacred Grove, in 1820, when Joseph was 14. Case closed! McElveens final paragraph begins, Real love cares enough to tell the truth.28 That being so, we are well within the function of the authority of love, to take Reverend McElveen to task for his efforts to imitate earlier AntiMormons in a spirit that show no heart, no mercy, no goodness, no love, which are the fundamental essences of practical Christianity.

28

FM-TMI, p. 204

Costly Versus Cheap Grace

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, Grace without Jesus Christ.29
In other words, Cheap Grace is to hear the gospel preached as follows:

Of course you have sinned, but now everything is forgiven, so you can stay as you are and enjoy the consolations of forgiveness.
The main defect of such a proclamation is that it contains no demand for discipleship. In contrast to this is Costly Grace:

confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: My yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Bonheoffer argued that as Christianity spread, the Church became increasingly secularised, accommodating the demands of obedience to Jesus to the lesser requirements of a society in which faith became weakened to the point where it was something parsons talked about and people listened to, but few did anything with their faith, and so the light of their faith dimmed and failed. In this way, the world was Christianised, and grace became its common property. The hazard of this was that the gospel was cheapened, and the necessity of obedience to the living Christ was misplaced and lost under a thick coating
29

Dietrich Bonheoffer

of prescription and ceremonial, so that in the end, grace was literally sold for coin and profit. But that Cheap Grace is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, nor is it Mormonism, the Gospel of Jesus Christ restored to a tired and seeking world that has been led astray by the likes of the Mormon Research Ministry and their efforts to market their Cheap Grace Hersey, their Cheap Gospel, and their do-nothing programme of lie back and let Jesus do everything for you, but from, you, nothing at all is asked or required. Instant Salvation sits on their market shelves alongside instant coffee, instant cereal, and instant confusion. Have they not heard what Jesus warned them of?

Not everyone that calls on my name, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only those that do the will of my Father in heaven. But, Lord, we have done wonderful things in your name! You cant not let us in! And then shall I say unto them: Depart from me, I never knew you, ye workers of iniquity.
Are you willing to risk it?

As his schoolteachers must often have written on his report card, Floyd must try harder! 10% = F.
Copyright 2012 2013 Ronnie Bray MESA, Arizona, USA