Tweet
I have read the pretty much all of Josephs writings including his Journal and I have this theory brewing in my mind like a hot cup of coffee (the devil's juice).
I believe Joseph believed he got signals from God but they weren't always really clear signals. So Joseph would mull over them and try them out with his congregation. He would experiment in private with these revelations and then if they resonated or were "Sticky" he would start to canonize them.
I think it would be fascinating to see if you could determine the motivation for each of the revelations and put them into categories.... like 1. libido, 2. power, etc...
This would mean some of his earlier revelations really don't have to match his later ones because he was just working through the "truth" of the revelation. So for Joseph it was OK to contradict himself because he was just clearing up the signals he was getting.
It's interesting because I think many christians actually function this way in their daily christian life. So the big difference was that joseph being the prophet or spokesperson for God in his generation was just documenting his journey and making his congregation follow his journey.
I honestly have come to the conclusion that Joseph actually did believe what he was saying because these signals he was receiving were real to him even though they in my opinion were just thoughts in his head. Many of which perfectly reflect the melee of the time. My only struggle with this thought is that he would have had to deceive himself about the plates which would have been a tricky mental game for him.
There is nothing to prove here... it really is just speculation but I do think there is an inkling of truth in this.
I believe Joseph believed he got signals from God but they weren't always really clear signals. So Joseph would mull over them and try them out with his congregation. He would experiment in private with these revelations and then if they resonated or were "Sticky" he would start to canonize them.
I think it would be fascinating to see if you could determine the motivation for each of the revelations and put them into categories.... like 1. libido, 2. power, etc...
This would mean some of his earlier revelations really don't have to match his later ones because he was just working through the "truth" of the revelation. So for Joseph it was OK to contradict himself because he was just clearing up the signals he was getting.
It's interesting because I think many christians actually function this way in their daily christian life. So the big difference was that joseph being the prophet or spokesperson for God in his generation was just documenting his journey and making his congregation follow his journey.
I honestly have come to the conclusion that Joseph actually did believe what he was saying because these signals he was receiving were real to him even though they in my opinion were just thoughts in his head. Many of which perfectly reflect the melee of the time. My only struggle with this thought is that he would have had to deceive himself about the plates which would have been a tricky mental game for him.
There is nothing to prove here... it really is just speculation but I do think there is an inkling of truth in this.
Comment