-Tod

A recently digitized copy of An address to all believers in Christ (1887) by David Whitmer, one of the original three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, caught my interest as I was reading some blogs today. The work is influential for a number of reasons. One reason being the affirmation of Whitmer to the authenticity of the Book of Mormon as shown to him by an angel. Whitmer also takes issue with Joseph Smith’s evolved Mormonism, which he had left long before 1887, and that discussion is worthy of reading for a greater understanding of some of the issues surrounding early Mormonism. Have fun.

An address to all believers in Christ (1887) by David Whitmer

Screen capture of my search (10 Nov 2010)

I am especially pleased and excited about the Recommended Results. It looks like quite a bit of indexing/cataloging has been done for each search result. Very very cool. Thank you Church employees!

I’m looking forward to the next iteration, as they have announced is on the way. The new web apps and now this refined search engine will make studying the gospel more accessible and enjoyable. Link that data!

A great sermon by a great man.

The Seer.
Written for the dedication of the Seventy’s Hall, and dedicated to President Brigham Young:

By John Taylor

The seer;—the seer:—Joseph the seer—
I’ll sing of the Prophet ever dear:
His equal now cannot be found,—
By searching the wide world around.
With Gods he soared, in the realms of day;
And men he taught the heavenly way.
The earthly seer! the heavenly seer,
I love to dwell on his mem’ry dear:—
The chosen of God, and the friend of men,
He brought the priesthood back again,
He gazed on the past, on the present too;—
An ope’d the heav’nly world to view.

Of noble seed—of heavenly birth,
He came to bless the sons of earth:
With keys by the Almighty given,
He opened the full rich stores of heaven,
O’er the world that was wrapt in sable night,
Like the sun he spread his golden light.
He strove,—O, how he strove to stay,
The stream of crime in its reckless way—
With a mighty mind, and a noble aim
He urg’d the wayward to reclaim:
‘Mid the foaming billows of angry strife—
He stood at the helm, of the ship of life.

The saints;—the saints; his only pride,
For them he liv’d, for them he died!
Their joys were his;—their sorrows too;—
He lov’d the saints;—he lov’d Nauvoo.
Unchanged in death, with a Savior’s love
He pleads their cause, in the courts above.
The seer;—the seer—Joseph the seer!
O, how I love his memory dear,
The just and wise, the pure and free,
A father he was, and is to me.
Let fiends now rage in their dark hour;—
No matter, he is beyond their power.

He’s free;—he’s free;—the Prophet’s free!
He is where he will ever be,
Beyond the reach of mobs and strife,
He rests unharm’d in endless life,
His home’s in the sky;—he dwells with the Gods,
Far from the furious rage of mobs.
He died; he died—for those he lov’d,
He reigns;—he reigns in realms above,
He waits with the just who have gone before,
To welcome the saints to Zion’s shore;
Shout, shout ye saints—this boon is given,
We’ll meet our martyr’d seer in heaven.

[Text via Joseph the Seer: His Dreams, Visions, and Revelations]

This allowed me to upload my work with Bill Smith of BOAP.org. As I have posted on previously, I am revamping the look and usability of the BOAP.org site. Specifically, I have been working on the Presidents of the Church section. Currently, only Brigham Young, John Taylor and Gordon B. Hinckley have loadable content. Below are some screenshots of the site to perhaps entice you, and of course a link to the “beta”. Feel free to comment about all the things you like and loathe. Cheers.

BOAP.org Beta “Presidents of the Church”

It’s comforting to know that God has a plan for us. He created our spirits before we were born and they’ll continue into eternity.

It brought me back to recent discussions on By Common Consent and elsewhere that the progression of pre-earth life is one of continual debate. Here, on the official Church website (albeit a “beta”), the doctrine or belief being proffered is that God the Father “created our spirits” somehow. Strange that Joseph Smith once said that if we have a beginning we will certainly have an end, and that God never had the power to create the spirits of humankind. Of course, this concept of viviparous spirit birth (a Brigham Young favorite) with its adjacent tripartite existentialism (thanks? be to B.H. Roberts) continues to kick around, and apparently is accepted enough by Church correlation to appear on the official site.

What are your thoughts on the subject?

Once I lay my troubles aside
in Adam-ondi-Ahman,
I’ll count my friends, all around me,
new bodies at the coming
of Christ from heaven
and light from within.
Once I lay my sins behind
and bow before the peace of the dove,
I’ll count my children
by the crowns on their heads
and alight my hands on air.
I’ll lay my weary side
upon the fields of Adam-ondi-Ahman.