Joseph Smith's Contributions to Understanding God -- given December 2006

It seems hard after a year of such celebration regarding the 200th birthday of the prophet Joseph Smith to add much that will be particularly insightful or meaningful. Yet, as I considered what I could say today, I settled on one particular contribution of the Prophet. I hope that you will forgive me for speaking so narrowly, there is so much regarding the prophet and his life that I will not address, but I feel that the area I have chosen is of particular significance, at least to me personally.

I want to discuss specifically the contributions of the Prophet Joseph Smith to our understanding of the nature and attributes of God, our Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ, our Savior.

The importance of this particular contribution of the prophet was expressed by him, himself, when he taught:

“It is necessary for us to have an understanding of God himself…There are but a very few beings in the world who understand rightly the character of God…they do not know neither to they understand the nature of [their relationship to God]…If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves…I want you all to know him, and to be familiar with him; and if I am bringing you to a knowledge of him…you will then know that I am his servant.”

Similarly, President Hinckley has reminded us of the importance of the contributions of the Prophet Joseph Smith in this regard. He stated:

“How great indeed is our debt to [Joseph Smith]…It was he who brought us a true knowledge of God, the Eternal Father, and His Risen Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. During the short time of his great vision he learned more concerning the nature of Deity than all of those who through centuries had argued the matter in learned councils and scholarly forums. He brought us the Book of Mormon as another witness of the living reality of the Son of God.”

Since I do not want to keep you all here for hours, I want to mention only three of the specific ways that Joseph Smith has enriched understanding of God and Jesus Christ.

1-The Nature of the Godhead

Joseph Smith’s testimony of the first vision was in stark contrast to the teachings of his day, and even Christianity in our day, concerning the nature of the Godhead. Previously, the accepted wisdom regarding this doctrine was well summarized in the “Creed of Athanasius” created in AD 325 which stated:

“We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity…And yet they are not three eternals: but one eternal. As also there are not three incomprehensibles nor three uncreated: but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible.”

Joseph Smith’s first vision countered all three of the claims herein: it established that the nature of the Godhead was that of three separate beings, God and Jesus Christ possessing bodies in the form of man’s, and as such was quite comprehensible. As James E. Talmage summarized in Jesus the Christ:

“The boy Joseph knew that both the Eternal Father and His glorified Son, Jesus Christ, were in form and stature, perfect Men; and that in Their physical likeness mankind had been created in the flesh. He knew further that the Father and the Son were individual Personages, each distinct from the other…He realized that the unity of the Godhead was a oneness of perfection in purpose, plan, and action, as the scriptures declare it to be, and not an impossible union of personalities…this effectively dissipated the delusion that direct revelation from the heavens had forever ceased; and affirmatively proved the actuality of personal communication between God and mortals.”

Not only did the first vision clarify the nature of God and Christ in relation to their forms and distinctness, but the understanding that flows from this knowledge helps us to understand more fully our relationship to them. It is much simpler to comprehend that God is our Father when we know that he has a body of flesh that is in form and substance like unto ours. The status that we will one day have a resurrected beings is clearer when we have the Prophet’s additional testimony that the resurrected Christ has a body like ours and not subsumed by but separate from our Heavenly Father’s.

We also gain from Joseph Smith an understanding of the nature of God as our Father. We know through his teachings:

“God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man…It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God…and to know that he was once a man like us…and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves.”

Thus, our duty in this life to prepare to become like God is and the reality that we can do so is directly a result of the Prophet’s teachings. We truly can feel our closeness to God and the reality of our relationship to him as His children through these teachings.

2-Jesus Christ Truly Lives as a Resurrected Being

The Book of Mormon provides a unique additional witness of the reality of the risen Lord. It culminates in the personal ministry of the resurrected Savior on this continent and in so doing corroborates the New Testament accounts of Christ’s post-mortal appearances. One who accepts the Third Nephi account of Christ’s appearance in the America’s is left without a doubt as to the reality of his resurrection and the universality of his atonement and gospel.

Yet, in addition to bringing to light this ancient account of the living Christ, Joseph Smith offers an incomparable testimony of his own that Christ continues to live. From the first vision, we gain this account:

“I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me...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!”

This modern testimony from the First Vision that Christ lives in our time and continues to guide and direct his Church was not the only one borne by Joseph Smith. To this, he added the vision contained in the 76th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants:

“And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father – That by him, and through him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.”

3-God and Christ Know and Love Us

One of the great blessings of the above knowledge of God’s nature and the living reality of Christ is that it enriches our understanding that God and Christ know and love us.

From the Book of Mormon we gain a beautiful and continuous view of God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ’s concern for the welfare of man. As Jeffrey R. Holland taught in October 2003:

“One of the remarkable contributions of the Book of Mormon is its seamless, perfectly consistent view of divinity…Here there is no Malachi-to-Matthew gap, no pause while we shift theological gears, no misreading the God who is urgently, lovingly, faithfully at work on every page of that record…we have in the Book of Mormon a uniform view of God in all His glory and goodness, all His richness and complexity.”

The Book of Mormon allows us to hear from many prophets who knew the Lord personally and felt his goodness in their lives. We learn how a kind father prepared a means for several peoples to flee destruction and be given a promised land. We know that many were given visions and witnesses of the Savior long before his birth, and immediately proceeding it. And that these peoples were not neglected in the Savior’s earthly ministry. We learn that he knew the name of Nephi, Alma, Nephi again, the Brother of Jared, and Moroni. It is much easier to believe that the God who knew and loved and comforted and saved these people, the Savior who visited them personally and healed their sick and blessed their children and taught them the gospel has a similar desire and capability in our lives.

Likewise, we know again, that this concern was not limited to ancient times because in our day and age the very Prophet who brought us this singular account, was also known by name to God.

Sister Sydney S. Reynolds of the Primary General Presidency taught:

“Joseph Smith at age 14 had to be one of the least conspicuous human beings on the earth, and yet the God of heaven knew him and called him by name in the Sacred Grove. I believe the Lord knows my name and your name as well.”

Clearly, Joseph himself felt this loving connection to God when he said:

“I will try to be contented with my lot, knowing that God is my friend. In him I shall find comfort…I desire to be with Christ.”


I am grateful for the Prophet Joseph Smith’s remarkable contributions to my understanding of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. This is one of the most pivotal blessings in all my life. Understanding them helps me to understand myself.

As I mentioned before, Joseph Smith taught that “if I am bringing you to a knowledge of him…you will then know that I am his servant” – he truly has brought me to that knowledge and it is critical to my testimony that he truly was a Prophet of God.

Joseph Smith further taught:

“Our Heavenly Father is more liberal in His views, and boundless in His mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive…the nearer we get to our Heavenly Father, the more we are disposed to look with compassion on perishing souls; we feel that we want to take them upon our shoulders, and cast their sins behind our backs.”

During this season as we celebrate not only the birth of Joseph Smith, but the birth of our Savior, the greatest manifestation of God’s love for us, I am hopeful that I can use the blessings of understanding provided by the Prophet to draw nearer to God and become more like He is…..