Where it all began

This weekend I visited Ad-Dir'iyah, the original capital of the Saudi State which was razed by Ottoman forces commanded by Ibrahim Pasha, son of the famous Egyptian (Albanian by birth) ruler Muhammad Ali in 1818. As you can see, they are rebuilding parts of the city on the old foundations. It was here that Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab took refuge with a regional tribal ruler named Muhammad ibn Al-Saud who embraced his message of reform. The ruins to the left are all that remain of Salwa Palace where that historic meeting took place. In 1765, ibn Al-Saud's son, Abdulaziz ibn Muhammad, conquered the neighboring city of Riyadh. Abdul Wahhab died in 1792 and Abdulaziz was assassinated in 1803, but the fledgling empired continue an to expand. They were able to gain control of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and this victory took them into conflict with the mighty Ottoman Empire who asked their viceroy in Egypt to send an army.

In 1814 the Ottomans retook the Holy Cities and on September 11, 1818, the destroyed the city of Ad-Dir'iyah and executed Abdullah the current ruler. I have to wonder, given Al-Qaeda burning hatred of the Saudi regime and their love of history, if the attacks on September 11 didn't have something to do with this event. Most of the subsequent rulers of Saudi Arabia have built their own palaces in the same region, though after the fall of Ad-Dir'iyah in 1891 to invaders from Hail, this area was never rebuilt. Currently there are extensive renovations on going -- though I don't know how long "on going" has been or will last.

Abdullah's son, Turki ibn Abdullah, retook Riyadh in 1824. This time the empire endured, fending off attacks from the Egyptians, the Ottomans, and the other Arab tribes, until 1891 when Abd al-Rahman ibn Faisal was defeated by the Al-Rashid clan and driven into exile in Kuwait with his son, Abdulaziz known to history as the founder of the modern state and often called simply ibn Saud in the West. The picture on the left depicts one of the doors in the old palace. They were intensely colorful and often the buildings were painted as well, especially white trim around the windows and along the edges of the roofline. The door is about four or five inches thick with a wooden lock that required a wooden key - one of which was on display in the courtyard. There was no museum, just a few objects in glass cases inside one of the buildings.

This picture depicts one of the old watch towers as well as the quarry where materials were procured, though most of the walls were made of mud brink --hence their very transience over time and the unlikelihood that most of what remains is in any sense original. The greenery is the Wadi Hanifa the agricultural region around Ad-Dir'iyah and Riyadh. Most of the trees are date palms which, of course, produce the quintessential fruit of the region famous both for its taste, but also for its ability to endure for months.

This is a reconstructed tower at Salwa palace. The zigzaging trail that leads visitors through the palace complex, which includes palaces, residences, a mosque, a bathhouse, watchtowers, and courtyards, is actually quite dangerous as crews of immigrant workers have dug trenches and holes everywhere installing what looks like a drainage system. I assume that this is for future visitor ammenities.

I was not permitted in this tower, but I found another one that was open -- though I still don't know whether it was strictly speaking permitted. The inisdes are cramped and cool with dusty floors and slit windows just large enough to peak out at the vast plains and, when necessary, stick out a weapon.

After Abdulaziz returned from Kuwait, he and some loyal followers stormed the fortress of the Al Rashid family (see the Masmak Fortress in a former post) located in Riyadh. They never returned to the old capital, but continued to use the fortifications in Riyadh. Masmak became, eventually, a prison and is now a museum. You can still see the battle scars from Abdulaziz's attack including holes in the door left by spears and bullet holes.

This is me in all my pasty-white glory outside the Faisal Tower, the only tower I was able to enter- albeit surrepticiously. My driver, Abdulrahman, took the photo. This tower was built by Faisal bin Turki one of the nineteenth century Kings of the Saudi State though it was mostly destroyed and has been only recently rebuilt.

1642

In the year 1642, a lot of things happened. King Charles I of England attempted to arrest members of parliment precipitating the English Civil War. Later that year, the war itself began as Parliment and the King ravaged the country side. Ultimately the King was beheaded in 1649 and Oliver Cromwell created his Protestant Commonwealth and all its horrors. Also that year, Rembrandt van Rijn painted one of his most famous paintings, The Night Watch. It was the year that Isaac Newton was born and Suleiman II, an Ottoman Sultan. Galileo Galilei and Cardinal Richelieu both died ending their important and epoch careers. Also in that year, somewhere in Saudi Arabia, a book was published somewhere in Arabia. It discusses the Arabic language, its forms and grammar; a subject that for many Muslim scholars took on a spiritual dimension as part of their efforts to understand the Holy Quran. Here are the pictures of my beloved treasure:

Small Miracles

Today I ordered breakfast in bed. Yes, go ahead. Hate me. However, to "improve my Arabic" I turned on the TV, which has nearly 100 channels mostly in Arabic and English, but also in Urdu, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, and a few others. As I was flipping for something good, I suddenly saw Bryce Canyon and lo and behold a documentary was on the national parks of Utah in Arabic! More proof that Utah and Saudi Arabia have a lot in common. For more proof that Saudi Arabia is the Utah of the Middle East, just look at the pictures below, all of which are in Saudi Arabia.

I stole these pictures from another website (sorry!), but until I get a chance to visit these places, this will have to do. Seriously though; a few Artic Circles, more snow (there is snow is the higher elevations of Saudi Arabia and indoor man-made snow resorts!), a few polygamists in the desert, oh wait...

Still, the scenery is beautiful, when it's not intensely hot. It was, I think, around 110 degrees. But its a dry heat.

Riyadh, city of Kings

Though the Arabian Peninsula has a long and storied history, first being mentioned in the Babylonian chronicles which complained of the bands of camel and horse riding warrior "Arabs" allied with their enemies, Riyadh is quite young and one of the oldest buildings dates only to 1856 or so. It is a fortress: Al-Masmak (picture at right). It is a giant, mudbrink structure built by the former rulers of Riyadh after the Saudi family had been driving out by a rival family and were in exile in Kuwait. In 1902, King Abdulaziz, founder of the modern state and father of King Faisal, the subject of my project, stormed the fortress and conquered Riyadh leading to a series of victories that ultimately led to the modern state of Saudi Arabia. In 1905, about the time of the of the early decisive victories, Faisal bin Abdulaziz was born. His name, which means (as the dicitionary puts) decisive criterion, was, according to some sources, named for this auspicious era (or for an ancestor).

This relative youth of Riyadh and the fact that it was built of mudbrick, means that much like the United States, Riyadh and much of Saudi was not burdened by the decaying or decayed remains of past civilizations, but has been able to build a modern city whose freeways and malls would not see out of place in LA or Las Vegas.


This is a picture of the skyline seen from the Globe, a highrise restaurant cum observation deck in Faisaliyah, the skyscraper my hotel is located in. The tower in the picutre, Kingdom tower, anchors the other end of the main road, though there are plans to build a larger skyscraper between close to Faisaliyah.

I was able to see some of the city with my new boss's secretary who was asked to chaperon me through the night life. I am somewhat troubled by the kindness of Arabs, not because I suspect ulterior motives, but because I doubt my ability to be so generous in return. We Americans are a solitary bunch and even Utah, somewhat more communal than most of America, is nothing, in my experience, to social life of Arabs. It is overwhelming to me sometimes, but I kind of like once I get my feet wet.

Here is a picture of some armor and weapons used in the battle to unify Saudi Arabia. Most of it is nineteenth century. It is a marvel that in less than one hundred years, Riyadh has transformed itself from a mudbrink regional capitol to a world city. You can see the contrast in this picture; chainmail, spears, sword, but at the same time they were using rifles and pistols. It was pragmatism. They used everything that had regardless of where or when it came from.

Tonight I was able to visit some of the nightlife of Riyadh-nothing exciting. With no movie theaters or clubs aloud, visiting the mall is, according to Raid, my guide to all things hip in Saudi, the major past time. He took me to a mall in Olaya, the fashionable part of north Riyadh and I was able to visit a books store, which sold everything from the complete sayings of Mohammad to the latest Ken Follett or Robin Cook novels. It also had a Starbucks and wireless hotspot. Very exotic.

I worry that in writing this, someone will either say, "You are pointing these out only because you had bigotted views about the backwardness and/or otherness of Saudi Arabia," or, "You are representing only how the westernized elite live, not the opressed majority." Both charges likely have some merit, but it is useless to deny that one has prejudices and expectations. That is part and parcel of the human thought process. In order to make decisions and avoid insanity, the brain creates categories and shortcuts to speed up decision making. Everyone has prejudices. Were it not so, you could not function because your mind would be constantly overwhelmed by every little detail. You would be, in other words, Autistic. It is interesting, therefore, to note that in some literature on Austism, researchers have pointed out that Autistics are less likely to be prejudiced; they are childlike in their openness to new information and hence overwhelmed by the minutiae of life.

This is a picture of some of the rock art in Saudi Arabia (don't worry they're are lots more where this came from! The ubiquitious sandstone and rock art which its delicate arches, mesas, and sheer rock cliffs reminds me of Southern Utah quite a bit. I hope at some point to be able to visit.

Finally, a picture of Faisaliyah Tower, my hotel is not visible as it is part of the lower complex that forms the base of the tower. The Globe, from which I took the aforementioned picture, is visible. It is primarily a restaurant with some stores. The complex also includes the King Faisal Foundation headquarters and the library/archives, though they are building new headquarters nearby that will have a place dedicated to the archives I am assisting with. There are also condominiums, offices, stores, a gallery and so on. The Faisaliyah is a major downtown landmark close to some of the major shopping districts.

As for the job. I have been doing some research. My new boss, Mashail (pronounced Ma-shaw-il with a slight pause between shaw and il like the double "t" in the cockney bottle or little (bo'il or li'il)), will be providing me with her research so that I can begin creating a database of the archives to ensure I don't waste days redoing work already done. That is one of my major tasks for this trip. I hope I get it soon so I don't waste much time. Right now, I have too much spare time to have fun! That doesn't feet right. I will right again soon.

Stranger in a Not so Strange Land

Ahlan wa Sahlan, I just came from meeting with Princess Haifa and my new boss at the King Faisal Foundation in Riyadh, Mashail bint Turki bin Faisal. She is the granddaughter of the King whose life I will be researching. It is not that his life is unknown, it is rather that there is not complete record of his life and career in one place and what better place for the premiere archive of the life of King Faisal, than the King Faisal Foundation. They hope, with my poor help, to create a complete record of the King's life.

This is a picture of me trying to look cool with my sports coat and shades. As you can tell it didn't work. I left Washington, DC, at 4:45 from Dulles travelling on Air France. I have always dislaked flying for while I love the sensation of flying and the view, I hate being packed in like cattle. Then I flew Business Class and I rediscovered my love of flying. My chair reclined fully into a bed and I could stretch all the way out. I had a private TV with remote and movies on demand, real pillows and blankets rather than those flimsy little things they give the Hoi Polloi. Dinner started with lobster and a green salad followed grilled sirloin, green beans, potatoes and for desert a delicious peach tart. Later we had breakfast with fresh fruit, baguettes, and variety of cheeses and yoghurt. Life is tough.

After my layover in the depressingly dingy and filthy French airport, I flew to Riyadh. I knew the moment we entered Saudi Airspace, because the steward announced that alcohol could not longer be purchased. We came down through a dusty fog in the early dusk of a Saudi evening. I could see desert until the horizons criss-crossed by wadis (valleys) that shimmered green blue; all the more colorful for the sandy surroundings. For many people, their image of Saudi Arabia is a contradictory one: turbaned bedouins on camels living in tents in barren wastelands, tanned and wrinkled by the powerful desert sun or oil-rich sheikhs in their long white thobs and red-checkered head scarfs chauffered in black sedans from gleaming tower to gleaming tower. Both stereotypes have some truth, but the western visitor to Riyadh will, if anything, be shocked by how familiar the streets and shops appear. Were it not for the Arabic script, the roadway signs could be directing me to LA instead of Riyadh. Families drive minivans as the mother reaches back to dispense a treat to quiet chattering mouths and the father drives.



In fact, I don't really feel out of place here, not really much more out of place than anywhere else I have travelled. I have felt, whether real or not, that I am somehow apart from my surroundings, but here some things are strikingly familiar:

• The population lives in the narrow inhabitable regions surrouned by desert near springs and the few rivers which scarely deserve the name, much like Utah


• The population is conservative and religious and eschews alcohol which is difficult to come by, much like Utah


• Furthermore, most of the population follows the same religion which infuses whether directly or indirectly everything from the politics to the availability of certain drinks and foods; much like Utah


• Virtually all the places of worship teach the same thing; much like Utah


• Everyone here thinks they have the truth and everyone else is going to hell, much like Utah


• Families are large, much like Utah


• There is a real dearth of a nightlife, again, much like Utah


• The deserts are expansive and beautiful full of soaring peaks, lush forests in the mountain valleys, wild game, arches, ancient rock art and perhistoric ruins, again much like Utah


• In fact, the biggest difference between Saudi Arabia and Utah is the total lack of skiing and fry sauce in the one and the the real scarcity of good dates (the eating kind) in the other.

We so often see not only through the prism of our own upbringing and worldview, but because of that worldview, we see certain things and don't see other things. We see what is different and so construe others as being somehow in contrast to ourselves and our experiences. It is difficult for us to see the mundane and the everyday. We know, for example, that our daily lives are centered around family, grocery shopping, prayer (for some), our jobs, etc. However, when we look at others through the prism of the media or ever scholary writings and histories, we see what is different from us and we emphasis that, ignoring that for most of these people, daily life centers around family, grocery shopping, prayer (for some), their jobs, etc. Sometimes I think, though, that is not all bad. Scientific objectivity may not be able to understand a religiously imbued culture like Saudi, but a Mormon boy from Mormonville, Utah, has some insight that the secular scholar lacks. As I always say; it is good to listen to everyone, because insights come from all sources. Who knows, maybe I can learn something from all those godless heathen scholars!


Sunset over the desert outside Riyadh on my first day in Saudi.

I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane...

A more personal than philosophic entry today. I am leaving for Saudi Arabia on Sunday the 25th, 2008, to start my new job. Though I will periodically visit Saudia (as it is called colloquially in Arabic), I will not be working there primarily. My job will take me to many different countries including, but not limited to, America, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Egypt, Morocco, Russia, and possibly India.

I have a lot to do in preparation for this first trip. I need to plan my itinerary, determine what needs to be accomplished, buy outlet adapters for my camera, phone, computer, etc. That being said, this entry will be short as I need to get a lot done to prepare. I am at once excited, terrified, overwhelmed, intrigued, and even nonplussed. How such a whirlwind of emotions can coexist, especially in one normally so reserved, is not something I can easily explain.

I need to familiarize myself with the culture of Saudi Arabia more, brush up my spoken Arabic, buy a guidebook and a map, purchase sun glasses, and make a list of everything I could ever possibly need. I cannot say now whether I will have free access to write in this blog while I am in Saudia. It may have to wait until my return.

Sorry for the scattered, superficial thoughts, but my mind cannot concentrate properly now. I hope to be able to write more later.

Joseph Smith Among the Prophets

The Last of my Recycled Essays:

Perhaps no other American is as controversial as Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Mormon Church and a self-proclaimed prophet. Such claims as he made, to have been visited by God, the Father, and Jesus Christ; to have been called to be a prophet to preach the Gospel to a world in apostasy are at least shocking and incredible and at most outrageous. Joseph Smith, his life and his legacy deserve close attention, then, for if true, his claims are the most important message since the discovery of the empty garden tomb.

To understand the issue, however, one must first understand what a prophet is and only then can Joseph Smith be measured against this rubric. To dismiss Joseph Smith as a prophet because he does not fit one’s own definition of “prophet” is a circular argument since that wholly depends upon the person’s preconceived image of what a prophet is. We must, therefore, look to the Bible, the record of God’s prophets to begin to understand what a prophet is. In the popular imagination the role of a prophet is to tell the future. This is, however, only one aspect of a prophet’s calling and likely not a major one. So, what does the Bible tell us a prophet will be like?

There are two words in the Bible that are translated as prophet. One is the Hebrew word Nabi (or Navi), and the other is the Greek Prophetes. Both have the basic meaning of spokesman or one who proclaims something. A prophet of God, therefore, speaks in the name of, and hence with the authority of, God. A prophet says, “Thus saith the Lord.” Joseph Smith was such a spokesman. He spoke in God’s name. To him, the Lord said, “I give unto you my servant Joseph to be a presiding elder over all my church, to be a translator, a revelator, a seer, and prophet” (Doctrine and Covenants 124:125).

This mouthpiece of God speaks God’s word. The Lord said to Moses concerning Aaron’s role as Moses’ spokesman: “Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet [hence, his spokesman]” (Exodus 7:1). In a latter revelation to Moses the Lord said:

I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him (Deuteronomy 18:18).

Peter thus said in his epistle that “prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:21). The Doctrine and Covenants (hereafter D&C), which is a compilation of revelations given to modern prophets of the Mormon Church, echoes this statement saying that, “whatsoever they [the prophets] shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation” (D&C 68:4).

The Bible is a collection of the inspired words and deeds of prophets. Thus, the words of prophets become scripture. Isaiah was a man who saw great visions. Paul was a prophet whose inspirational teachings form the bulk of the New Testament. The revelations given to the Prophet Joseph Smith including the Book of Mormon and the visions and revelations recorded in the Doctrine & Covenants testify that Joseph Smith was a prophet. He spoke the words he received of God in visions and revelations. These words became scripture, just as in biblical times.

The message for which prophets are spokesmen is of the mission of Jesus Christ and the importance of obeying God’s commandments. In Revelation 19:10, an angel tells John that, “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” A prophet, who must by definition have the spirit of prophecy, must also therefore have a testimony of Jesus. Jesus commanded His disciples to read the scriptures, comprising essentially the Old Testament, explaining that, “in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). He later testified that every prophet wrote about Him:

These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me (Luke 24:44).

John the Baptist, of whom Jesus said, “there is not a greater prophet,” had as his primary mission to prepare the way for Jesus Christ. Of him, no record details miracles or great prophesies of the future. Instead, he taught the people to prepare themselves for Jesus’ coming and when that came he willingly stepped aside (see Luke 7:28 ff). Joseph Smith likewise testified of Jesus Christ. In a vision he received on February 16, 1832, he and an associate Sidney Rigdon saw Jesus Christ much as Paul had centuries earlier. They declared:

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, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God (D&C 76:22-24).

For Joseph Smith, Jesus Christ was the central figure in every doctrine and deed. Joseph Smith taught that Jesus Christ atoned for the sins of all mankind and provides salvation to all those who love and serve him. Prophets also denounce sin and call people to repentances. In 2 Kings 17:13, we read:

The LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

It is the duty of prophets to call people to repent and return to God. This can be seen in many instances. In 2 Kings 12, we read that Nathan, the prophet, was sent to call David to repentance because of his sins with Bathsheba. Nehemiah was sent to call the people of his day to repent and rebuild the temple. Jonah was sent to preach against the wickedness of Nineveh. Joseph Smith said, “This we believe to be our duty-to teach to all mankind the doctrine of repentance” (History of the Church 2:255). It is the duty of a prophet to denounce sin, call people to repentance and to worship the God of Israel. This last duty, namely calling to worship the God of Israel is essential, for Moses warned that false prophets could accurately predict the future, but if they used these “miracles” to lead people away from the God of Israel, then they would be false prophets (Deuteronomy 13:1-10).

The Lord says further, “If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream” (Numbers 12:6). Prophets, then, have dreams and visions in which the Lord is made known unto them. Peter also mentions this as what may be termed the prophetic pattern. In Acts 10:39-44, Peter teaches that God reveals Jesus Christ to chosen witnesses, the prophets, who then teach the world about God. Every prophet is chosen by God, taught by angels or through dreams and visions and finally commissioned to teach others. Isaiah fits this pattern. In a vision recorded in Isaiah chapter 6, this great poet-prophet saw the Lord on His throne surrounded by angels. He is forgiven of his sins, and charged with a mission.

This vision and the charge given to the prophet is the Sowd, the sacred and oftentimes secret intimacy that prophets obtain with God. Sowd in Hebrew translates as counsel, assembly, secret, or divine intimacy. At its root it refers to private correspondence or counseling. The Prophet Amos said, “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret [Sowd] unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). That is, the Lord will not act until He has revealed His counsel, His plans, and His secrets to the Prophets. Thus another role of a prophet is to be a diviner, through revelation, of God’s deed present and future. This can refer to prophesying the future, or to determining what work is of God right now and what His will is regarding human actions.

Joseph Smith and his mission fit this ancient pattern perfectly. As a young man, confused but full of faith, he prayed to God. According to Joseph Smith’s own account, he saw in vision, just as Moses, Isaiah, and Stephen had, the God of Israel. Just as was the case with Isaiah his sins were forgiven and like Moses he learned the true nature of God. In subsequent visions he was taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ by angels and through multiple revelations which are recorded as sacred scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants. He was commissioned by God to translate the Book of Mormon as testimony to Jesus Christ and to Joseph Smith’s own divine commission. He was shown God’s counsel and prophesied many things that have since occurred.

In connection with this divining of counsel, it is interesting to note that the Samaritan women whom Jesus met at the well in Sychar said, “I perceive that thou art a prophet” (John 4:19), when He told her about her life previous to meeting Him. Prophets, then, are given such spiritual insights as necessary to fulfill their missions. In this capacity a Prophet may rightly be called a Seer. When Saul sought out a man of God who could give him advice on what course he could take, the record states, “Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer” (1 Samuel 9:9). A Seer, then, is one who sees what is ahead, who understand the operations of God in the world. He sees accurately not only the future, but also the present and the past. Through this divine insight he can perceive God’s workings in the world.

In a revelation given to Joseph Smith in November of 1831, the Lord said of Joseph Smith’s mission:

Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments (D&C 1:17)

The reasons given were:

1. That every man might speak in the name of God the Lord (v. 20)

2. that faith also might increase (v. 21)

3. That mine everlasting covenant might be established (v. 22)

4. That the fullness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple (v. 23)

Joseph Smith was commissioned to be an instrument in the hands of God, but only one of many, who would lay the foundation of God’s Kingdom here in these days. As a Seer and Revelator he taught truth and revealed many things to come, as a Prophet he preached repentance in God’s name and taught the testimony of Jesus Christ, and as translator he translated and published the Book of Mormon. Finally, as a prophet he was a leader. In Hosea we read:

And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved(Hosea 12:13).

A prophet is set to lead the covenant people of the Lord. Paul said that the “household of God” is built upon a “foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:19-20). Apostles, as can be easily shown, are prophets also, since they have the spirit of prophecy which is the testimony of Jesus Christ, but as apostles they have a special mission to go forth and proclaim Jesus Christ’s resurrection (see Acts 1:22). Prophets and Apostles lead the people of God. In this capacity, Joseph Smith was the leader of the Mormon Church, “called of God, and ordained an apostle of Jesus Christ, to be the first elder of this church” (D&C 20:2). Until his death in 1844, he led the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a Prophet and Apostle of god. Joseph Smith guided the Mormon Church through persecution and trials.

It must be remembered, however, that prophet are human agents working for God and are thus fallible. James said of Elias (i.e. Elijah), that he, “was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months” (James 5:17). Commenting on this passage Joseph Smith said:

I was this morning introduced to a man from the east. After hearing my name, he remarked that I was nothing but a man, indicating by this expression, that he had supposed that a person to whom the Lord should see fit to reveal His will, must be something more than a man. He seemed to have forgotten the saying that fell from the lips of St. James, that Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, yet he had such power with God, that He, in answer to his prayers, shut the heavens that they gave no rain for the space of three years and six months; and again, in answer to his prayer, the heavens gave forth rain, and the earth gave forth fruit. Indeed, such is the darkness and ignorance of this generation, that they look upon it as incredible that a man should have any intercourse with his Maker. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 2:302)

Of himself he later said, “I never told you I was perfect; but there is no error in the revelations which I have taught” (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:366). The Prophets and Apostles of God are human and hence fallible, but the inspired words they reveal, as Peter said, come from the Holy Ghost who is a revelator to mankind. Like Isaiah, Samuel, Moses, Noah, Paul, and Peter before him, Joseph Smith had his faults, which makes his miracles and teachings all the more amazing and inspiring, for God works always through weak and erring servants to accomplish His great purposes.

Perhaps it is the faults of the prophets that make some people reject them. Jesus Christ once remarked that, “A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house” (Matthew 13:57). To neighbors, Jesus was merely a carpenter, the son of Joseph, but to those with faith He was the Messiah, the Son of God. Similarly with the prophets who, unlike Jesus, were not sinless, they are often rejected for trivial reasons. Some rejected Joseph Smith as a prophet because a business venture he participated in failed, or because he enjoyed playing sports. Others were offended by his denunciation of their actions. Finally, on June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith was murdered by a mob with faces painted black while he sat in jail awaiting trial on false charges. Like Paul before him, Joseph Smith was jailed, persecuted, and finally killed. Many prophets and apostles have been killed because of their teachings and deeds and Joseph Smith was no different.

In every possible test Joseph Smith compares favorably with the prophets of the Bible. Like them, he spoke in God’s name and the revelations given to him have become scripture just as Paul or Moses did. He had the testimony of Jesus Christ, the spirit of prophecy, and so devoted his ministry to testifying of the divine mission of Jesus Christ. He was commissioned by God through visions and the visitations of angels to do God’s work here on earth and so received authority to act and speak in God’s name. He was a prophet, a seer, a revelator, a translator, a missionary, an apostle, and a martyr for he was hunted and murdered by angry mobs because he dared to speak against their traditions and because his teachings and deeds stirred up controversy.

Ultimately, one must look at the fruits of Joseph Smith’s mission. To know if Joseph Smith truly was a prophet of God, one must study his teachings and his deeds. These can be found first and foremost in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. If the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God, then Joseph Smith truly was a prophet of God and while argument and evidence may be compiled for pages upon pages, only the Spirit of God will ultimately reveal to a person whether or not Joseph Smith was a prophet. Why this matters, even and perhaps especially for Christians, is that if Joseph Smith was a prophet, then Jesus Christ has a message for the whole world and especially for those who claim to believe in Him. This message is that His Church has been established by prophets and is now being led by them through inspiration of God. For non-Christians, the message is one of faith and hope, that Jesus Christ lives again and through His power all may be resurrected and saved.