Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith – Joseph Fielding Smith
Title: Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith
Author: Joseph
Fielding Smith
Publisher: Deseret
Book
Year: Original
Publication 1938 – Current Editions
Rating:
5 STARS
Price and Purchasing
Options: Paperback at Deseret Book: $17.95 or you can get it on Amazon; “Red” Scriptural Teachings of
the Prophet Joseph Smith eBook only (Hardcover Out of Print).
In all honesty, the best way to get this text is to
frequent a local Deseret Industries, and keep an eye out. About every week there will at least be one
that hits the shelf there for $2.00 to $5.00.
If you are not close to a Deseret Industries, keep an eye out on eBay
and you can pick one up for a couple of bucks.
Background: This book was originally published in
1938 and still is a cornerstone to any library dealing with the restoration. It was compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith, and
contains excerpts from sermons, letters, and other sources from the Prophet
Joseph Smith.
Although, this text has remained relatively unedited
since its original publication, there has been an edition printed in later
years titled The Scriptural Teachings of
the Prophet Joseph Smith with it noted and citations from the scriptures
added by Richard Galbraith. This is a
commonly seen hardcover book that looks like the recent normal (blue) edition,
except with a red cover. This more
recent edition notes and annotated many references throughout the words of Joseph
Smith, and cites them to scriptural sources within the standard works. An example would be when he uses the phrase “Jesus
Christ being the chief cornerstone” in his sermon, it would cite on the bottom
of the page the appropriate scripture in Ephesians.
Outside of the scripture references added at the bottom,
there is not additional text to this edition.
For the most part as much as you would think the scriptural references
are nice, they ultimately are a distraction.
I have had and studied my copy for the last 20 years (almost) and I
can’t think of a time I have used them.
The beauty of this book is the text itself. The selections and words of the Prophet Joseph
Smith are paramount. The collection is
insightful to the gospel, the restoration, and the voice and ideas of the
prophet. It helps shed light on the key
principles of the gospel, and expands their understanding. It opens up an understanding of the early
saints, and how and why they responded and developed in future
generations. It indeed helps to
understand that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and what that meant.
An important element to consider is also the development
of the prophet. The book is outlined in
a fairly chronological manner, where you are able to see the development of the
ideas and revelations of the prophet.
For the most part the commonly known revelations are not repeated in
this text, and so there is less “I’ve heard that before” moments. It is important to realize that throughout
the restoration the early stages were full of the prophet receiving and
revealing defined revelations for public printing and consumption; however, as
he evolved and the church evolved with him the doctrinal developments were
publically revealed through public discourses and letters rather then through
defined “revelations.” There are times
when there is more power in witnessing the development of early Mormonism and
it’s doctrine through this work, than through reading the Doctrine and Covenants.
This book is a masterful work, and should be on every
shelf in the Latter-day Saint community.
When soon-to-be-missionaries ask me for book references before their
missions, after I exhort them on the power of learning the standard works, I
point them to this text. When someone
wants to start reading beyond the standard works for any reason for
supplemental doctrinal development, this MUST be their first stop. To say I highly recommend it, is an
understatement.
The power of this book, originally published in the
1930’s is yet to be seen. It’s relevancy
is proven more and more everyday. There
is a common theme at times within the LDS community, and outside, that the
church may filter, censor, or morph the narrative of these types of
publications. To some extend there are
times and places where that conversation is a relevant discussion. However, in the context of this book we are
finding it to be more and more powerful.
With the current Joseph Smith
Papers Project and publications, we are seeing something powerful – as it
relates to this text. What I have found
is as I read those source materials, I will come across gems that I think I
have discovered for the first time; only to look them up and find those amazing
words had already been published in Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
The fact is the more I study the Joseph Smith Papers the more I am convinced that at the end of that
project, when some scholar sits down and complies the “highlights of the Joseph
Smith Papers” in an LDS coffee table book – so that the average reader can
avoid the source material and just get the best stuff – the text of that book
will be a near replication of the text of Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
If you haven’t read this book – go and get it.
Suggestions: I want to be sensitive to the average reader,
and I feel like this is an important enough text; so please bear with me as I
make a fairly crude recommendation. For
those of you who are not “readers” that sit down and just read through a book –
I have a recommendation for you.
A fun little thing you will notice about the book, is
that the sections are broken up into smaller topics and headlines with maybe
just a paragraph or two containing the text and quote and principles. In this format, this makes the perfect
bathroom book. I suggest going and
getting the softcover edition, either from eBay or your local Deseret
Industries for a couple of bucks, and put it in the bathroom. Every time you visit, read a few
sections. I actually think you will find
greater insights in the focused few paragraphs at a time in the bathroom than
those who do sit for hours and finish books.
I hope you have enjoyed this review, and I encourage your
to follow this blog as I update more reviews in the coming days, weeks, months,
etc. Please feel free to also follow my
YouTube page – however, I enjoy writing more than being on camera!
Review #1
Tags: Joseph Smith (Topic), Teachings of the Prophets, Joseph Fielding Smith, 5 Stars
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