Frases de Joseph Smith Jr
Joseph Smith Jr
Data de nascimento: 23. Dezembro 1805
Data de falecimento: 27. Junho 1844
Joseph Smith Jr. foi um religioso, empreendedor e político norte-americano. Foi, ainda, primeiro presidente de A Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Últimos Dias. Hoje conta com dezenas de milhões membros em mais de 100 países pelo mundo.
Quando tinha apenas 14 anos de idade, Joseph afirma ter sido respondido a uma oração, cuja pergunta era: "Qual de todas as igrejas estava certa?" Ele foi respondido com uma visão, da qual Deus lhe orientou, dizendo que não deveria se unir a nenhuma das igrejas, mas que logo a mesma igreja que fora criada durante o ministério pessoal de Cristo, voltaria para terra.
Em 1829 aos 24 anos, Joseph Smith afirma ter sido chamado como profeta de Deus, assim como Moisés, Abraão e muitos outros na Bíblia, servindo como um instrumento nas mãos de Deus para restaurar a Igreja primitiva de Jesus Cristo, e todos seus ensinamentos que foram perdidos. Depois ele termina e publica a tradução do Livro de Mórmon , que de acordo com Joseph, foi um registro escrito no continente americano em placas de metal, que começou a ser escrito no ano 600 AC, e que foi encontrado por ele através de revelação divina. Com bem pouco estudo formal, ele traduziu esse registro do Egípcio reformado para o Inglês, através do poder de Deus, sendo assim o seu principal fruto como profeta de Deus.
Joseph testifica que Deus organizou sua Igreja novamente na terra, com a mesma organização existente na igreja primitiva de Jesus, isto é, com profetas e 12 apóstolos.
Os membros da Igreja de Jesus Cristo consideram Joseph Smith como um profeta. Título semelhante é carregado por todos aqueles que o sucederam na presidência de A Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Últimos Dias. Os membros da Igreja também consideram como textos sagrados, todas as suas revelações, publicadas em livro denominado Doutrina e Convênios. Essas revelações tem a mesma autoridade e importância às contidas na Bíblia e no Livro de Mórmon. Os membros da Igreja testificam, que Jesus Cristo é o mesmo ontem, hoje e para sempre , logo, Cristo irá chamar profetas hoje e sempre, todos participando de uma linhagem de profetas que ensinam continuamente o evangelho, sem discordâncias entre si.
Entre 1830 até 1844, Joseph e os membros da Igreja foram muito perseguidos, pois a igreja crescia muito rápido e os religiosos mais influentes da época estavam atemorizados. Os mórmons estavam apenas pregando o evangelho de Jesus Cristo. Porém, a perseguição foi tão grande que eles foram forçados a fugir para Kirtland e posteriormente para Nauvoo. Em 1844, Joseph declara estar perto o dia de sua morte. Nesta época, por causa de muitos pedidos, Joseph Smith foi candidato a Presidente dos Estados Unidos, mas foi morto dias antes das eleições . Ele foi morto juntamente com seu irmão, Hyrum, quando uma multidão anti-mórmon invadiu a Cadeia de Carthage, onde ele se encontrava preso.
Citações Joseph Smith Jr
„You don't know me; you never knew my heart. No man knows my history.“
— Joseph Smith, Jr.
Context: You don't know me; you never knew my heart. No man knows my history. I cannot tell it: I shall never undertake it. I don't blame any one for not believing my history. If I had not experienced what I have, I could not have believed it myself.... When I am called by the trump of the archangel and weighed in the balance, you will all know me then.
History of the Church 6:317 (7 April 1844)
„You have to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you“
— Joseph Smith, Jr.
Context: You have to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you, namely by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one: from grace to grace FROM EXALTATION TO EXALTATION until you ATTAIN THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
History of the Church, 6:306 (7 April 1844)
„That which is wrong under one circumstance, may be, and often is, right under another.“
— Joseph Smith, Jr.
Context: That which is wrong under one circumstance, may be, and often is, right under another. God said, 'Thou shalt not kill'; at another time He said, 'Thou shalt utterly destroy.' This is the principle on which the government of heaven is conducted— by revelation adapted to the circumstances in which the children of the kingdom are placed. Whatever God requires is right, no matter what it is, although we may not see the reason thereof till long after the events transpire.
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 256 (11 April 1842)
„Salvation cannot come without revelation; it is in vain for anyone to minister without it. No man is a minister of Jesus Christ without being a Prophet.“
— Joseph Smith, Jr.
Context: Salvation cannot come without revelation; it is in vain for anyone to minister without it. No man is a minister of Jesus Christ without being a Prophet. No man can be a minister of Jesus Christ except he has the testimony of Jesus; and this is the spirit of prophecy.
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 160 (2 July 1839)
„The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.“
— Joseph Smith, Jr.
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 121 (8 May 1838)
„[T]he doctrine of a plurality of Gods is as prominent in the Bible as any other doctrine.... The head God organized the heavens and the earth. I defy all the world to refute me. In the beginning the heads of the Gods organized the heavens and the earth. Now the learned priests and the people rage, and the heathen imagine a vain thing. If we pursue the Hebrew text further, it reads, 'The head one of the Gods said, Let us make a man in our own image.' I once asked a learned Jew, 'If the Hebrew language compels us to render all words ending in heim in the plural, why not render the first Eloheim plural?' He replied, 'That is the rule with few exceptions; but in this case it would ruin the Bible.' He acknowledged I was right.... In the very beginning the Bible shows there is a plurality of Gods beyond the power of refutation. It is a great subject I am dwelling on. The word Eloheim ought to be in the plural all the way through—'Gods'. The heads of the Gods appointed one God for us; and when you take [that] view of the subject, its sets one free to see all the beauty, holiness and perfection of the Gods. All I want is to get the simple, naked truth, and the whole truth.“
— Joseph Smith, Jr.
History of the Church, 6:474-76 (7 April 1844)
„A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge.“
— Joseph Smith, Jr.
History of the Church, 4:588 (10 April 1842)
„If you do not accuse each other, God will not accuse you. If you have no accuser you will enter heaven, and if you will follow the revelations and instructions which God gives you through me, I will take you into heaven as my back load. If you will not accuse me, I will not accuse you. If you will throw a cloak of charity over my sins, I will over yours—for charity covereth a multitude of sins. What many people call sin is not sin; I do many things to break down superstition, and I will break it down.“
— Joseph Smith, Jr.
History of the Church, 4:445 (7 November 1841)
„Our heavenly Father is more liberal in His views, and boundless in His mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive; and at the same time more terrible to the workers of iniquity, more awful in the executions of His punishments, and more ready to detect in every false way, than we are apt to suppose Him to be.“
— Joseph Smith, Jr.
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 257 (11 April 1842)
„I teach the people correct principles and they govern themselves.“
— Joseph Smith, Jr.
Quoted by John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, 10:57-58 (18 May 1862)
When asked how he governed his followers in Nauvoo, Illinois.
„Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand, and watch over them with tenderness. When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what power it has over my mind, while the opposite course has a tendency to harrow up all the harsh feelings and depress the human mind.“
— Joseph Smith, Jr.
History of the Church, 5:23–24 (9 June 1842)
„Element had an existence from the time he [God] had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and re-organized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning, and can have no end.... [T]he mind of man — the immortal spirit. Where did it come from? All learned men and doctors of divinity say that God created it in the beginning; but it is not so: the very idea lessens man in my estimation. I do not believe the doctrine; I know better. Hear it, all ye ends of the world; for God has told me so... We say that God himself is a self-existent being. Who told you so? It is correct enough; but how did it get into your heads? Who told you that man did not exist in like manner upon the same principles? Man does exist upon the same principles. God made a tabernacle and put a spirit into it, and it became a living soul.... The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is [co-eternal] with God himself. I know that my testimony is true... Is it logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it had a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they are [co-eternal] with our Father in heaven.... I take my ring from my finger and liken it unto the mind of man— the immortal part, because it has no beginning. Suppose you cut it in two; then it has a beginning and an end; but join it again, and it continues one eternal round. So with the spirit of man. As the Lord liveth, if it had a beginning, it will have an end. All the fools and learned and wise men from the beginning of creation, who say that the spirit of man had a beginning, prove that it must have an end; and if that doctrine is true, then the doctrine of annihilation would be true. But if I am right, I might with boldness proclaim from the house-tops that God never had the power to create the spirit of man at all. God himself could not create himself.“
— Joseph Smith, Jr.
History of the Church, 6:308-309 (7 April 1844)
