Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

Introduction: The Lord created a free United States to have a place where the fullness of His

gospel could be restored and nurtured. As Elder Mark E. Petersen said, “For years the Church

has held that the Constitution is an inspired document. But how many know why it was

inspired and what the Almighty had in mind in giving such inspiration? May we never forget

the underlying reasons for it all: to provide a proper place for the restoration of the gospel and

to allow for the worldwide preaching of that sacred word.” The three documents that

constitute this reading assignment provide fascinating windows into the Lord’s preparations

for the Restoration in America in 1830. The first chapter of the LDS student manual Church

History in the Fulness of Times and Arnold K. Garr’s “Preparing for the Restoration” both offer

perspectives on the Lord’s hand moving through the histories of the Renaissance and

Reformation, America’s European discovery and colonization, and Revolutionary and

Antebellum America. Richard L. Bushman’s “1830: Pivotal Year in the Fulness of Times”

describes the symphony of political, religious, social, and cultural conditions that the Lord

orchestrated to make possible the restoration of His gospel in upstate New York in 1830.

Questions to Consider as You Read:

How did the Lord’s hand move through the histories of the Renaissance and

Reformation, America’s European discovery and colonization, and Revolutionary and

Antebellum America?

What were the roles of inspired individuals (Gutenberg, Columbus, Wycliffe, Luther,

Washington, Smith, etc.) in the preparations for the Restoration?

What specific political, religious, social, and cultural conditions did the Lord inspire for

the Restoration to take place in upstate New York in 1830?

Research: Church History in the Fulness of Times Student Manual, Chapter 1:

“Prelude to the Restoration” (2003); Arnold K. Garr, “Preparing for the

Restoration” (1999); and Richard L. Bushman, “1830: Pivotal Year in the Fulness

of Times” (1978)

As you read, don’t forget to mark and annotate main ideas, key terms, confusing

concepts, unknown vocabulary, cause/effect relationships, examples, etc.

Church History in the Fulness of Times Student Manual, Chapter 1: “Prelude to the Restoration” (2003)

The restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the establishment of Zion are the two great events in the history of mankind that precede the second coming of Jesus Christ. “The building up of Zion is a cause that has interested the people of God in every age,” wrote the Prophet Joseph Smith. “It is a theme upon which prophets, priests and kings have dwelt with peculiar delight; they have looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live.” 1 This latter-day restoration is the last act in God’s divine drama for his children before the

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

Millennium. This is the “dispensation of the fulness of times” (Ephesians 1:10) in which the “restitution of all things” would take place as the Lord promised through “all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21).

The gospel is actually older than the earth itself. Its principles are eternal and were made known to God’s children in the councils in heaven. The Father’s plan centered on Jesus Christ, who was chosen to be the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). In those councils our Heavenly Father explained that the earth would provide a place of testing for his children, declaring, “And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Abraham 3:25). Therefore, the Father granted his children the eternal principle of agency so that they might choose good over evil. Lucifer rebelled against the Father and his plan and was cast out of heaven. He became known as Satan, or the devil, the father of all lies, who on earth would deceive men and “lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto [God’s] voice” (Moses 4:4).

On the other hand, God has raised up prophets to teach his children the saving principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ. From the beginning there has been a struggle between the kingdoms of God and Satan. The Church of Jesus Christ, the Lord’s earthly organization, was established at times on the earth to gather the chosen and obedient children of God into a covenant society and to train them to fight evil. The true Church has the necessary principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ that lead to eternal life.

A period when the Lord reveals his gospel doctrines, ordinances, and priesthood, is called a dispensation. For example, there were the dispensations of Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and of the Nephites. These dispensations gave the faithful and obedient the opportunity on earth to overcome the wicked world and prepare for eternal life by conforming to the principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Time after time the flowering of the true Church was followed by an apostasy, or a falling away from the truth. Thus in world history these flowerings and apostasies were cyclical. Each time the Lord’s people fell into apostasy, there came a need for a restoration of the gospel. The Restoration discussed in this text is simply the last in the series of restorations that have occurred through the ages.

The New Testament Church

When the Lord Jesus Christ was born into mortality and ministered among Israel, he restored the gospel and the higher priesthood. He organized a church with a “foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 2:20) to carry on the work after him. The Savior spent much of his ministry privately tutoring his Apostles, giving them the authority and keys to continue the work after his death. He chose Peter, James, and John to be the presiding Apostles. At his ascension he commissioned the Apostles to carry the message of salvation unto all the world.

The Church was small in numbers when the Apostles assumed its leadership. Just over a week after the Savior’s ascension, the Holy Spirit was manifest in rich abundance on the Day of Pentecost as the Apostles taught the gospel and bore witness of the reality of the resurrected

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

Lord. On this occasion three thousand people were baptized into the Church. The Apostles continued to minister with power and authority resulting in the conversion of additional thousands. So far, the gospel had been confined to the house of Israel. One day, however, as Peter was praying on the roof of a house in Joppa, he had a vision in which he learned that God is no respecter of persons, that no group should be regarded as unclean, and that the gospel should go to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews (see Acts 10:9–48).

The conversion of Saul of Tarsus sometime later was of great significance to the growth of the Church. Saul, who had been persecuting the early believers, beheld the Savior in a bright light while on the road to Damascus. “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest” (Acts 9:5), proclaimed the risen Lord to the stricken Pharisee. And Saul, the agent of the Sanhedrin, became Paul the defender of the faith, a “chosen vessel” (Acts 9:15) to proclaim the name of Christ before Gentiles and kings. Over the next thirty years this intrepid Apostle, along with many other devoted disciples who accompanied him, spread the gospel message and established branches of the Church throughout much of the Roman Empire. As growth continued and branches multiplied, elders, bishops, deacons, priests, teachers, and evangelists (patriarchs) were called and given proper authority by the Apostles.

The Great Apostasy

While the Apostles and other missionaries were courageously working to establish the Lord’s kingdom on earth, the seeds of apostasy were already sprouting within the Church. Peter wrote that there were false teachers already among the people and that still others would come “who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1). Peter also predicted that “many shall follow their pernicious ways” (v. 2). Paul similarly testified that out of the congregation of believers would “men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:30).

But internal apostasy and disbelief were not the only challenges the early missionaries faced. While it was generally Roman policy to extend cultural and religious freedom to their subjects, there were intermittent periods when the Christians were severely persecuted, making it difficult for them to worship openly and proclaim the “good news” of the gospel. Naturally, at such times the Church leaders were especially targeted for imprisonment and death. The first notable Roman persecution occurred during the reign of Nero, who made the Christians the scapegoat for the burning of Rome in A.D. 64. Tradition says the Apostle Peter was crucified upside down and that later, in A.D. 67–68, the Apostle Paul was beheaded by the order of the emperor.

At first the Twelve perpetuated the apostolic office. For example, Matthias, who was not of the original Twelve, was called to be an Apostle. But through the spirit of prophecy, the leaders of the Church eventually recognized that an apostasy was not only inevitable but imminent. As the Apostles were killed, revelation to guide the Lord’s church ceased, along with authority to operate it.

The years after the Apostles died provided ample evidence of the predicted demise of Christ’s church. Principles of the gospel were corrupted by being mixed with prevailing pagan

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

philosophies. Loss of the Holy Spirit was evidenced by a gradual disappearance of spiritual gifts. Changes were made in church organization and government, and essential ordinances of the gospel were modified.

According to President Joseph Fielding Smith, the results of the Apostasy were devastating: “Satan in his wrath drove the [Church] into the wilderness, or from the earth; the power of the Priesthood was taken from among men, and after the Church with its authority and gifts disappeared from the earth, then in his anger the serpent continued his war upon all who had faith and sought the testimony of Jesus, desiring to worship God according to the dictates of conscience. So successful did he become that his dominion extended over all the known world.”

2

The Long, Dark Night

The change from truth to error in the Church did not take place in a day. The Apostasy, hastened by the death of the Apostles in the latter half of the first century, gradually deepened during the years that followed. By the fourth century there was hardly a trace of the Church of Jesus Christ that was recognizable, and the “long, dark night” was well underway. With the Apostles gone, local church officers gradually assumed more authority. Bishops determined policy and doctrine for their local areas, claiming to be the proper successors to the Apostles. Gradually, a few bishops in key cities, such as Rome, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Antioch gained supreme authority in their entire regions. A great diversity of practices and dogma came as church leaders relied upon logic and rhetoric rather than upon revelation. “The compromising of truth and error, the assimilation of the gospel of Christ with the philosophies of men produced a new religion. This new religion was an appealing composite of New Testament Christianity, Jewish traditions, Greek philosophy, Graeco-Roman paganism, and the mystery religions.” 3

As the Christian church developed and spread, the Roman government changed its policy from mostly toleration to persecution. This was in part due to Christianity emerging as a group separate and distinct from Judaism, which had been allowed special privileges under Roman law. The Christians were considered antisocial in that they refused to hold political office, serve in the military, use the civil courts, or participate in public festivals. They were called atheists because there was no room in Christian monotheism for the Roman gods or for a deified emperor. For these reasons, and perhaps for others, the Romans sporadically launched attacks upon the church until the reign of Diocletian (A.D. 284–305). Diocletian determined to destroy everything that was not pagan as un-Roman. Churches were destroyed, scriptures burned, and Christians made to sacrifice or face torture. In an edict of 306 the persecution was ordered empire-wide.

It was perhaps inevitable that the empire would be forced to rescind its anti-Christian legislation. The church continued to grow, and the weakening condition of the empire called for unity, not disharmony. Constantine, at the Milvian Bridge in A.D. 312, utilized the cross as his symbol as he crushed his opponent Maxentius. The next year at Milan, Constantine issued his famous Edict of Toleration which granted to all people the right to worship as they pleased, revoking the measures which had meant to suppress Christianity.

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

Constantine himself did not become a Christian until he lay dying, but his acceptance and endorsement of Christianity placed the church in partnership with the aims of the empire. The desperate need to strengthen Roman unity is credited for Constantine’s interest in the theological dispute within the church. To resolve a dispute over the nature of the Godhead, Constantine was instrumental in calling the Council of Nicaea, the first of the great ecumenical councils, in a city just south of his capital in A.D. 325. The creed that emerged from the council’s deliberation, and was approved by the emperor, is a classic example of the way apostasy results when revelation is supplanted by argumentation and decree. As similar conflicts were resolved during the following centuries, a strong alliance developed between the state and the church, ensuring a growing secular influence upon the doctrines and practices of the church.

By the time of the barbarian invasion of Western Europe in the fifth century, many of the Germanic tribes already had been reached by various types of Christian missionaries. Therefore they took quickly to Roman culture and Catholicism. The sack of Rome in A.D. 410, however, was a clear signal that the empire was not invulnerable. The masses of Goths, Vandals, and Huns who crossed the imperial boundaries turned the unity of the West into a shambles, leaving behind the beginning of several nationalist states. Local political leaders exerted increased influence over the church in their areas at the expense of Rome. For the next several centuries, the churches in the various developing European countries became in effect the fiefs or feudal estates of the lords of the manors. Culture, education, and general morals retrogressed. It was a beginning of the time often referred to in history as the Dark Ages.

Renaissance and Reformation

By the fourteenth century, Europeans began to show renewed interest in classical Greece and Rome, resulting in a flowering of literature, science, and art. It was, in effect, a period of “rebirth,” or “renaissance,” when men with confidence in themselves started to explore new ways of exploiting their environment. Artists turned from dreary mysticism to employ their skills using new techniques in sculpture, art, and literature. It was an age of naturalism—when the tools of science and art were applied to glorify the human body and to erect vast new cathedrals.

Men seemed to unshackle themselves from old ways. Gunpowder revolutionized warfare; the mariners’ compass opened new vistas of travel and exploration; commerce was launched into the vast reaches of the Orient; and the Western Hemisphere was discovered. In the fifteenth century printing by movable type was greatly refined, and the whole field of printing gained new potential. This of course directly affected the rise of the universities and the dissemination of information.

The Renaissance was also a time of spiritual change. In their search for the classical past, men were introduced to the writings of the early church fathers and to copies of the scriptures in Hebrew and Greek. The scholars of the Renaissance began making these works available to the common people. Discovering the simplicity of the early church as opposed to the ritual and complexity of medieval Christianity led many to discover “anew” their original faith. These people founded or joined new religious orders, such as the Franciscans and Dominicans, as

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

well as heretical movements, such as the Albigensians and Waldensians. In a sense, the effects of the Renaissance provided a setting for the Protestant reformation, which tore asunder the unity of Christendom once and for all.

The most famous of the Reformers was Martin Luther, who was born in Eisleben, Saxony, on 10 November 1483. When he was eighteen he was sent by his father, Hans Luther, to Erfurt to prepare for a career in law. In 1505, however, he abandoned his legal training to enter the monastery of the Augustinian Order of Eremites. In 1508 he was sent to Wittenberg to further his studies in theology and lecture on Aristotle’s philosophy. From his earliest years, he seemed to have been tormented by the wide discrepancy between the doctrines and teachings of the scriptures and the practices of Catholicism. During a journey to Rome in 1510, he was shocked at the corruption of the clergy and the religious apathy of the people. This did much to dispel the veneration in which he had held the papacy and armed him to challenge its authority. Luther’s intensive study of the Bible led him to the doctrinal position that later came to mark the reform movement: that men are justified by faith alone (see Romans 3:28) and not by their good works.

That which most provoked Luther’s direct opposition to the Church of Rome was the sale of indulgences by the agents of Pope Leo X. These indulgences were offered to repay Albert of Mainz his cost in acquiring the archbishopric of Mainz and to continue work on St. Peter’s unfinished basilica. The purchase of indulgences granted individuals the remission of sin and punishment in purgatory and complete remission of all sins for the dead. On 31 October 1517, Luther nailed to the church door at Wittenberg his Ninety-five Theses, which challenged the church to debate on the efficacy of indulgences and the church’s sacramental practices.

Luther’s theses were originally written to promote discussion among scholars, but the masses soon saw in him a champion and public hero. He defended himself against prelate and scholar and finally was even heard by the imperial diet (assembly) at Worms in 1521. By this time his movement had moved beyond the merely religious to the political, and the unity of the holy Roman Empire was threatened.

When Luther was ordered to give up his work, he boldly declared: “Unless I be refuted by Scriptural testimonies, or by clear arguments—for I believe neither the Pope nor the councils alone, since it is clear that they have often erred and contradicted one another—I am convinced by the passages of Scripture, which I have cited, and my conscience is bound in the word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything; since it is insecure and dangerous to act against conscience.” 4

Luther’s resistance led to his excommunication from the church and to his being placed under the ban of the empire, which made him an outlaw. Luther was protected by German princes who sympathized with his ideas and who wanted more political autonomy from Rome. This protection enabled him to begin a German translation of the Bible. This translation was of transcendent importance in all of Europe because it was the first common language translation not based on Jerome’s Latin Vulgate.

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

Gradually new forms of worship and doctrinal innovations advocated by Luther were introduced in many of the German states. When it was evident the Catholic church would not reform, Luther’s followers founded the Lutheran church. Lutheranism became the religion of many of the northern and central German states but never succeeded in winning Bavaria and the states to the east. The faith spread northward, however, into Scandinavia and from there into Iceland. While it cannot be said that Luther brought religious freedom to Europe, the strength of his movement at least assured a pluralistic society where other religious groups could work for toleration.

Although Luther was the most famous of the Reformers, he was not the first. A century and a half earlier, in the 1300s, John Wycliffe in England denounced the corruption and abuses of the Catholic church and condemned the pope as anti-Christ. He translated the scriptures and circulated them among the common people. He was strongly condemned by the church, but his teachings were widely accepted among his countrymen. Thus, when Luther and other continental reformers began their work, many Englishmen sympathized with them.

The Reformation in England was different than in other countries. King Henry VIII, who disapproved of Luther, insisted that the pope did not have the authority to deny Henry a divorce from his wife. A quarrel ensued in which the king rejected the pope’s authority, and in 1533 the pope excommunicated the king. Henry then established the Church of England.

The two major reformers in Switzerland were Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin. Zwingli convinced the citizens of Zurich that the Bible should be the only standard of religious truth. Using this standard Zwingli rejected life in a monastery, celibacy, the mass, and other Catholic practices.

John Calvin was even more influential. At Geneva, he attempted to create a holy city around the biblical models. Gradually Calvinism became predominant in many parts of Switzerland, and from there it spread to France, England, Scotland, Holland, and in a lesser degree to Germany. John Knox, an early convert to Calvinism, helped refine and expand its teachings.

The Pilgrims and Puritans, two strict Calvinist groups who came to the New World, greatly influenced American values. For example, basic tenets of Calvinism prominent in early America included the absolute sovereignty of God, the election of man to grace, the idea that saved church members were to be instruments in God’s hand in redeeming others, and the concept that the church was to be “a light on the hill” to influence the affairs of men in this world.

The work of all these reformers was in preparation for the restoration of the gospel. President Joseph Fielding Smith has written:

“In preparation for this restoration the Lord raised up noble men, such as Luther, Calvin, Knox, and others whom we call reformers, and gave them power to break the shackles which bound the people and denied them the sacred right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience. …

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

“Latter-day Saints pay all honor to these great and fearless reformers, who shattered the fetters which bound the religious world. The Lord was their Protector in this mission, which was fraught with many perils. In that day, however, the time had not come for the restoration of the fulness of the gospel. The work of the reformers was of great importance, but it was a preparatory work.” 5

Discovery and Colonization of America

Another important preparation for the restoration of the gospel was the discovery and colonization of America. It had been preserved as a choice land from which the gospel would go to the nations of the earth in the last days. Moroni, an ancient American prophet, wrote: “Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written” (Ether 2:12).

The arrival of Christopher Columbus was seen in vision by Nephi, also an ancient American prophet, over two thousand years before Columbus was born. “And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren [descendants of Lehi], by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land” (1 Nephi 13:12). Columbus himself confirmed in his writings that he felt inspired in his ventures as a mariner and in establishing religion among the Indians. 6

Nephi continued his prophecy: “And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters” (1 Nephi 13:13). Many people who settled the promised land were led there by the hand of God (see 2 Nephi 1:6).

Nephi foresaw many other events in America. He saw that the Lamanites would be scattered throughout the land by the Gentiles, and that the Gentiles would humble themselves and call upon the Lord, and the Lord would be with them. Nephi beheld that the Gentiles who had settled in North and South America would war against their “mother Gentiles” and would be delivered by the hand of the Lord (see 1 Nephi 13:14–19).

President Joseph Fielding Smith said, “The discovery [of America] was one of the most important factors in bringing to pass the purpose of the Almighty in the restoration of his Gospel in its fulness for the salvation of men in the latter days.” 7

Religious Freedom in America

While many historians today insist that most early colonists came to America for economic reasons, many colonists were also seeking religious liberty. Among these were the Puritans, who established a powerful religious commonwealth in New England. They believed that they possessed the true faith and consequently did not tolerate any other religion. 8 This intolerance had to be overcome before there could be a restoration of Christ’s church.

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

Certain dissenters among the Puritans, Roger Williams chief among them, argued that there ought to be a clear distinction between church and state and that no particular religion ought to be imposed upon the citizens. He also taught that all churches had fallen away from the true apostolic succession. Williams was banished from Massachusetts in 1635, and within a few years, he and others with similar ideas succeeded in obtaining a charter to establish the colony of Rhode Island, which allowed total toleration of all religions.

A courageous woman, Anne Hutchinson, who went to Massachusetts in 1634, disagreed with the local leaders on two theological issues: the role of good works in salvation and whether or not an individual may receive inspiration from the Holy Spirit. Mrs. Hutchinson was likewise banished from Massachusetts, and she sought refuge in Rhode Island in 1638. Despite the efforts of Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, and others, religious toleration was not achieved in New England for another century and a half.

Meanwhile, various religiously motivated groups established settlements throughout the rest of the American colonies. Each in its way contributed to the religious environment of America. Roman Catholics who settled Maryland passed the first toleration act in American history. Quakers in Pennsylvania also promoted religious tolerance and separation of church and state. The various colonists were of so many different faiths that it was impossible for any one denomination to predominate. This religious pluralism was a major reason for the religious liberties that became a unique feature of the United States.

Even though there were many different churches in America, most colonists did not claim membership in any particular denomination. An important movement in American religious history was the Great Awakening, which began about 1739 and continued for almost two decades. This first widespread revival in early American history was a fervent effort to restore righteousness and religious zeal. The Great Awakening swept throughout the length and breadth of the thirteen colonies. Evangelists and itinerant preachers held services in informal settings, including homes, barns, and even pastures. The Great Awakening kindled a religious commitment that had not been felt in America for years, and it promoted greater participation by both laymen and ministers in the affairs of organized religion. It also aroused within the colonial Americans a desire to unite in a democratic order. 9

In spite of this zeal, complete religious freedom was not achieved in America until the American Revolution enhanced the climate for religious freedom. As colonists united against the British, they discovered that their religious differences were really not important to their cause and that they could agree on the essentials of their religious beliefs. 10 Furthermore, Thomas Jefferson was a fierce opponent of undue pressures upon government by organized religion. The Declaration of Independence, which he wrote, stated that man was capable of discovering correct political institutions for himself.

With the new feeling of freedom that followed the Revolutionary War, several states sought to protect basic human rights, including religious liberty. Virginia was one of the first in 1785 when it adopted Jefferson’s Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, which guaranteed that no person could be forced to attend or support any church or be discriminated against because of his religious preference. 11

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

After a few years as an unsuccessful confederation of states, the United States drafted a new constitution in 1787 that was ratified in 1789. This document, which was formed “by the hands of wise men whom [the Lord] raised up unto this very purpose” (D&C 101:80), embodied both the democratic impulse for freedom and the fundamental need for order. Freedom of religion was guaranteed in the first amendment to the Constitution.

The Prophet Joseph Smith stated that “the Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard; it is founded in the wisdom of God. It is a heavenly banner; it is to all those who are privileged with the sweets of liberty, like the cooling shades and refreshing waters of a great rock in a thirsty and weary land.” 12 One reason this was true was because “under the Constitution the Lord could restore the gospel and reestablish his church. … Both were part of a greater whole. Both fit into his pattern for the latter days.” 13

Concurrent with the American Revolution and the establishment of the Constitution was a Second Awakening that brought about a reorientation of Christian thinking. Several new religious societies grew in strength and held a variety of beliefs: Unitarians, Universalists, Methodists, Baptists, and Disciples of Christ. Many beliefs were introduced in the new nation, including the idea that there was a need for the restoration of New Testament Christianity. Those searching for this restoration were popularly known as seekers. Many of them were ripe for the divine Restoration and became its early converts. 14

Almost concurrently with the Second Great Awakening, there arose a spirit of revivalism. Itinerant preachers held spirited camp meetings among new settlers in frontier areas of the growing United States. Lonely settlers from farms and villages gathered in huge crowds to enjoy the camp meetings. Noisy but gifted preachers lent a festive air to these religious gatherings while trying to win converts to their faith. 15

The Second Great Awakening also influenced the formation of voluntary associations to promote missionary work, education, moral reform, and humanitarianism. Revivals brought religious emotions to a fever pitch and aided the growth of the popular denominations, particularly the Methodists and Baptists. 16 This religious awakening lasted for at least forty years, including the time of Joseph Smith’s first vision.

The restoration of the gospel and of the Lord’s true Church could not have taken place amidst the religious intolerance in Europe and early America. It was only possible in the setting of religious liberty, reevaluation of Christian thinking, and spiritual awakening that had developed in early nineteenth-century America. The Lord’s hand was evident in directing that the Restoration take place exactly when it did.

According to one historian, there was a special timing to when the Restoration took place:

“Its timing in 1830 was providential. It appeared at precisely the right moment in American history; much earlier or later and the Church might not have taken hold. The Book of Mormon would probably not have been published in the eighteenth century, in that still largely oral world of folk beliefs prior to the great democratic revolution that underlay the religious tumult of the early Republic. In the eighteenth century, Mormonism might have been too easily stifled

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

and dismissed by the dominant enlightened gentry culture as just another enthusiastic folk superstition. Yet if Mormonism had emerged later, after the consolidation of authority and the spread of science in the middle decades of the nineteenth century, it might have had problems of verifying its texts and revelations.” 17

God knows the end from the beginning and is the author of the grand design of human history. He directed the affairs of history so that America was appropriately fertile soil for the seed of the restored gospel to be planted and tended by his chosen seer, Joseph Smith.

Arnold K. Garr, “Preparing for the Restoration” (1999)

The story of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ began long before the spring of 1820, when our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to young Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove. Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught, “Beginning in the 14th century, the Lord began to prepare those social, educational, religious, economic, and governmental conditions under which he could more easily restore the gospel for the last time among men.” 1 Latter-day Saint leaders and authors have variously described this 500-year pre-Restoration period as the “grand design,” “great prologue,” and “prelude to the Restoration.” 2

The Old Testament prophet Joel foresaw the Spirit of the Lord working among individuals to help prepare the world for the Restoration. The Lord said, “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

“And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit” (Joel 2:28–29).

Of Joel’s vision, President Joseph Fielding Smith said: “I think, properly, we could go back into the days of the revival of learning—the renaissance, as it is called—and the reformation in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, to find the beginning of the fulfilment of this promise.” 3

Those forerunners to Joseph Smith, the long-prophesied seer of the last days (see JST, Gen. 50:30–33; 2 Ne. 3:6–7), did not have access to the fulness of the gospel, but their efforts were vitally important in laying the foundation for him.

Elder Mark E. Petersen (1900–84) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles wrote, “The restoration of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in these latter days, together with the advance preparation of conditions which made it possible, was indeed a divine drama which had many stages and many scenes, some of which were world shaking.” 4 Early acts of this drama were staged in Europe during the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation. Later acts were staged in America, where courageous people—ancestors of Joseph Smith among them—colonized the New World, signed the Declaration of Independence, fought the War for Independence, and ratified the United States Constitution.

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

The Renaissance

When the Great Apostasy took place nearly 2,000 years ago, the world entered a state of spiritual darkness from which it did not begin to recover until the Renaissance. Elder McConkie described the period of universal apostasy during the Middle Ages: “When the gospel sun went down almost two millennia ago, when the priesthood was taken away … and when those on earth no longer were taught and directed by apostles and prophets, then spiritual darkness reigned.” The scriptures were often kept from public use, false creeds were adopted, numerous pagans were forced to convert, and thousands of people accused of heresy were put to death. “The terrors of the night were real and the night was long—long and dark and black.” 5 If the Lord had restored the fulness of the gospel under such oppressive spiritual conditions, it seems improbable that the Church would have survived, let alone flourished.

During the Renaissance, the rebirth of learning that blossomed from about A.D. 1350 to 1550, two events took place that were vital in preparation for the final dispensation: Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in the mid-1400s and Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the Americas in 1492.

In the centuries before the invention of the printing press, the majority of people could neither read nor write. Even Charlemagne, perhaps the greatest ruler of medieval Europe, was illiterate. Books were written by hand, and many ecclesiastical leaders strongly resisted the idea of circulating the Bible among the common people. One clergyman argued, “We must root out printing, or printing will root out us.” 6 However, once Gutenberg’s invention became widespread, “the publication of books, including the Bible, was too great a force to be stemmed,” wrote President Joseph Fielding Smith. “Like an irresistible flood, printing, and the desire to read what was printed, swept over the entire land.” 7 Among the first books Gutenberg printed was the Bible.

One historian wrote: “None of the technological innovations [of the Renaissance] has had a greater effect over a longer period of time and upon more people than the invention of printing in the mid-fifteenth century. Some scholars have pronounced it the single most important development of the Renaissance and perhaps of the entire modern world.” 8 Elder McConkie concurred: “Few tools were more effective than printing in paving the way for the great revival of learning, for the religious reformation, and for the breaking away of peoples and nations from religious domination. Without the discovery of movable type in about A.D. 1440 the barrier of gross darkness covering the apostate world could scarce have been pierced.” 9

Christopher Columbus’s personal study of the Bible greatly increased the influence of the Holy Ghost in his life. Two millennia before Columbus, Nephi prophesied: “And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land” (1 Ne. 13:12). President Gordon B. Hinckley said: “We interpret that to refer to Columbus. It is interesting to note that the Spirit of God wrought upon him.” 10 Columbus himself declared: “With a hand that could be felt, the Lord opened my mind to the fact that it would be possible to sail and he opened my will to desire to accomplish the project. … This was

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

the fire that burned within me. … Who can doubt that this fire was not merely mine, but also of the Holy Spirit … urging me to press forward?” 11

President George Q. Cannon (1827–1901), a counselor in the First Presidency, said: “Columbus was inspired to penetrate the ocean and discover this Western continent for the set time for its discovery had come; and the consequences which God desired to follow its discovery have taken place. … We believe it was a preparatory work for the establishment of the Kingdom of God.

“This Church and Kingdom could not have been established on the earth if [Columbus’s] work had not been performed.” 12

The Protestant Reformation

The activities of Gutenberg, Columbus, and other prominent figures of the Renaissance helped set the stage for another great movement in European history: the Protestant Reformation. This religious movement, which took place primarily during the 16th century, was so powerful that “no area of Europe or field of thought and activity was unaffected by it.” 13 Elder McConkie wrote: “The spirit of inspiration rested upon Wycliffe, Hus, Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Knox, and others, causing them to rebel against the religious evils of the day and seek to make the Bible and other truth available to all who would receive such.” 14 Elder Petersen called the work of the Reformers a “significant prelude to the great events in which the Prophet Joseph Smith was the primary figure.” 15

Englishman John Wycliffe (1330–84) has been called “the Morning Star of the Reformation.” 16

A priest and an Oxford University professor, Wycliffe was courageous and outspoken about religious corruption, and consequently his church condemned him. In 1382 Wycliffe was put under house arrest, under which circumstances he died two years later. However, before he passed away he began the first English translation of the Bible, which his followers completed after his death.

Wycliffe’s ideas fell on fertile soil in Bohemia—located in today’s Czech Republic—where a young priest named Jan Hus 17 (1372–1415) embraced them. Hus was ordered to stand trial for heresy, but he refused and was excommunicated along with his followers. In 1414 the Emperor Sigismund and his councilors interrogated Hus about his attitude toward the teachings of John Wycliffe. Although Hus was more moderate than Wycliffe and did not agree with all of Wycliffe’s teachings, he refused to denounce them in their entirety. Hus was condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake.

Hus and Wycliffe were precursors to the most prominent figure of the Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther (1483–1546). Luther was an Augustinian monk and a professor at Germany’s University of Wittenberg. After a monk came to Saxony in 1517 selling indulgences—essentially permission to commit sin—to raise money for Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Luther protested such corruption and worldliness by nailing his historic 95 theses—statements urging reform—to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church. Antagonism between Luther and the church grew, and in 1521 he was summoned by Emperor Charles V to appear before the Diet (Council) of

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

Worms, where he made this courageous statement: “Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. … Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise.” 18

Luther was officially banned from the empire, but several German princes protected him. He translated the Bible into German for the masses, and Lutheranism spread throughout northern Europe and caused an ecclesiastical revolution. Elder McConkie said, “Luther’s break with Catholicism was part of the divine program; it came as an Elias preparing the way for the Restoration.” 19

About a hundred years after Wycliffe’s English Bible translation, William Tyndale (1494–1536) made an even more significant English translation of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew. When Tyndale could not find a publisher in England, he arranged for copies to be printed in Germany and smuggled into England. Tyndale’s translation was later used extensively by the King James translators of the Bible. In words that evoke the destiny of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Tyndale said: “If God spare me I will one day make the boy that drives the plough … to know more of Scripture than the Pope does.” 20 Tyndale was executed in Belgium as a Protestant heretic.

Other inspired men led the Protestant Reformation elsewhere in Europe. Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531) worked to purify Christianity in the city of Zurich, Switzerland. In 1523 he presented 67 articles of reform to the city, which were accepted, but in 1531 he was killed while serving as a chaplain in a battle between Protestants and Catholics. Also in Switzerland, influential John Calvin (1509–64) carried out the work of the Reformation in Geneva. Among his many religious innovations, Calvin conceived a church organization governed by elders, which evolved into Presbyterian, or Reformed, churches. In Scotland, John Knox (1513–72) expounded and established Calvin’s doctrines. Before long, the Pilgrims and Puritans would take the ideals and thoughts of Calvin and other Reformers to the New World, America.

Events in America

On the occasion of the Church’s centennial in 1930, the First Presidency declared: “It was not by chance that the Puritans left their native land and sailed away to the shores of New England, and that others followed later. They were the advance guard of the army of the Lord, [foreordained] to establish the God-given system of government under which we live … and prepare the way for the restoration of the Gospel of Christ.” 21

President Ezra Taft Benson taught that “all of the great events that have transpired [in America], including the coming of Columbus and of the Pilgrim fathers, were foreseen by ancient prophets.” 22 After prophesying about Columbus, Nephi continued: “I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters” (1 Ne. 13:13). Writers such as Plymouth Plantation governor William Bradford (1590–1657) described the persecution and imprisonment the Pilgrims endured in Europe before they fled to America in search of religious liberty.

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Nephi foresaw that the colonists would “humble themselves before the Lord” (1 Ne. 13:16). William Bradford recorded that as the Pilgrims set sail on their voyage to America, “they had a day of solemn humiliation,” their pastor proclaiming “a fast, that we might humble ourselves before our God.” 23 Acting under inspiration, the Pilgrims drew up the Mayflower Compact, said to be “the first written constitution in North America,” 24 which called for obedience to laws enacted by the group rather than decreed by a monarch.

The Puritans subsequently settled in Massachusetts Bay and eventually absorbed the Pilgrims. However, the Puritans were not tolerant of those who did not believe as they did. One of the dissenters among the Puritans was Roger Williams, who believed in religious freedom and maintained that the apostolic church organized by Christ was no longer on the earth. After banishment, Williams and his followers founded Providence, Rhode Island, and adopted principles that became important traditions in the United States, such as democracy, freedom of religion, and separation of church and state.

Colonists in other parts of America also worked for religious freedom. Under the leadership of the Calvert family, Roman Catholics settled in Maryland and in 1649 passed the Act of Toleration, which advocated freedom of conscience. In 1681 the king of England granted a charter of land to devout Quaker William Penn, whose colony in Pennsylvania became a model of religious tolerance. Of these colonists President Benson wrote, “The Pilgrims of Plymouth, the Calverts of Maryland, Roger Williams, William Penn—all had deep religious convictions that played a principal part in their coming to the New World. They too, I believe, came here under the inspiration of heaven.” 25

The final event that Nephi observed in his vision of the American colonies was the War for Independence. He wrote:

“And I beheld that their mother Gentiles were gathered together upon the waters, and upon the land also, to do battle against them.

“And I beheld that the power of God was with them, and also that the wrath of God was upon all those that were gathered together against them to battle.

“And I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles that had gone out of captivity were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other nations” (1 Ne. 13:17–19).

President Wilford Woodruff taught: “Those men who laid the foundation of this American government and signed the Declaration of Independence were the best spirits the God of heaven could find on the face of the earth. … General Washington and all the men that labored for the purpose were inspired of the Lord.” President Woodruff also related: “Every one of those men that signed the Declaration of Independence, with General Washington, called upon me, as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Temple at St. George, two consecutive nights, and demanded at my hands that I should go forth and attend to the ordinances of the House of God for them.” 26

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

George Washington gave credit to God for the victory of the United States. In his farewell address to his army, he said: “The disadvantageous circumstances on our part, under which the war was undertaken, can never be forgotten. The singular interpositions of Providence in our feeble condition were such, as could scarcely escape the attention of the most unobserving; while the unparalleled perseverance of the Armies of the [United] States, through almost every possible suffering and discouragement for the space of eight long years, was little short of a standing miracle.” 27 President Spencer W. Kimball said: “The Lord permitted these few poorly armed and ill-clad men at Valley Forge and elsewhere to defeat a great army, … a few against the many, but the few had on their side the Lord God of heaven, that gave them victory. And there came political liberty and religious liberty with it, all in preparation for the day when a young boy would come forth and would seek and make contact with the Lord and open the doors of heaven again.” 28

After the colonists won their independence, they experimented for a short time with a government under the Articles of Confederation. When they found that method inadequate, leaders turned their attention to drafting a new form of government. Few, if any, people on earth hold the resulting United States Constitution in higher esteem than do Latter-day Saints. The Lord has said: “That every man may act in doctrine and principle … according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment. …

“And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood” (D&C 101:78, 80).

The Constitution and Bill of Rights applied directly to the needs of a new religion because they provided for freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly. Later the Prophet Joseph Smith taught that “the Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard; it is founded in the wisdom of God. It is a heavenly banner.” 29

The Coming of Joseph Smith

“It was decreed in the councils of eternity, long before the foundations of the earth were laid,” said Brigham Young, that Joseph Smith “should be the man, in the last dispensation of this world, to bring forth the word of God to the people and receive the fullness of the keys and power of the Priesthood of the Son of God. The Lord had his eye upon him, and upon his father, and upon his father’s father. … He has watched that family and that blood as it has circulated from its fountain to the birth of that man. He was foreordained in eternity to preside over this last dispensation.” 30

Thus, many of the Prophet’s ancestors were God-fearing Christians, including his parents, Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith, who were married in 1796, seven years after the Constitution was ratified. Before Joseph’s birth, his grandfather Asael Smith said: “It has been borne in upon my soul that one of my descendants will promulgate a work to revolutionize the world of religious faith.” 31 Years later the Prophet Joseph Smith related that his grandfather

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

died “after having received the Book of Mormon, and read it nearly through; and he declared that I was the very Prophet that he had long known would come in his family.” 32

Elder Petersen noted that it was only a handful of years “after America was established as a free constitutional nation that one of the great spirits in the [premortal existence] was sent to earth to be born on December 23, 1805, in a little farmhouse; and he was named Joseph Smith.” 33

With the birth of the Prophet, the curtains closed on the divinely orchestrated prelude to the Restoration, and conditions were ready for the dispensation of the fulness of times.

Richard L. Bushman, “1830: Pivotal Year in the Fulness of Times” (1978)

We sometimes call the greatest moments of time “axial points” or “watersheds.” The course of history turns in a new direction at these moments. The water flows into a different river system and ends in a different sea. Such moments are not just bright points in a line of dimmer ones, but focal points that affect all that comes before and after. The birth of Christ, the fall of Rome, the American Declaration of Independence, World Wars I and II—all are greater or lesser beginnings or endings that shape our concept of time.

In prophetic history, the year 1830 is such an axial point, the threshold of the fulness of times. From that year, all previous history begins to flow together toward the culmination of Christ’s second coming. It is a time the prophets not only foresaw but also anticipated with gladness. 1830 marks the boundary of a new time zone in world history.

The scriptures do not specify how Providence designed history to prepare for that year; with a few exceptions, we merely surmise when we see God’s hand in specific movements or individuals. The voyage of Columbus, migrations from Europe, the Revolution, Indian wars, and Indian expulsion from the eastern United States were foreknown and foretold (1 Ne. 13:12–19), but the prophets did not explain how each fit into the overall plan or affected the restoration of the Church in 1830.

We do know, however, that the United States and the world were undergoing massive cultural and political changes in the years preceding and just following 1830. One historian finds extensive statistical evidence that the United States changed more profoundly between 1790 and 1820 in virtually every measurable dimension of life than at any other time in its history. Therefore, we can at least take note of the course of events and form private conclusions about the Lord’s part in preparing the world for the restoration of the gospel in 1830.

Political Unrest

The 1828 Fourth of July editorial in the Wayne Sentinel declared that “this is the anniversary of the great day which commenced a new era in the History of the world.” In other words, the American Revolution “proclaimed the triumph of free principles and the liberation of a people from the dominion of Monarchical government.”

Before 1776 Anglo-American advocates of freedom saw the world spiraling downward into tyranny. France, the most powerful nation on earth, lived under the heavy hand of an absolute

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

monarch and a luxury-ridden aristocracy. Most European princes still looked back to Louis XVI, the Sun King, as a model. Frederick the Great of Prussia, although “enlightened,” was equally a despot in his realms. The Dutch, once the standard-bearers of republican freedom, had slid back toward monarchy. England, one of the few holdouts against the French example, seemed to have sunk so far into corruption that English libertarians gave up in despair. Thomas Paine left England in disgust in 1774 and sailed for America. When the colonies teetered indecisively on the brink of independence, he urged an immediate break. America was the world’s best hope for freedom. “The cause of America,” Paine wrote in January 1776, “is in a great measure the cause of all mankind.” The principles which Americans fought for were in jeopardy around the globe.

Revolts from Political Tyranny

The downward spiral did reverse itself in 1776, and a new era commenced. The American Revolution appears to have encouraged liberal aspirations in many parts of the world. Surges of democratic feelings followed by revolution or constitutional reform occurred in Sweden, Poland, the Dutch Provinces, and Belgium within a decade or two of the American Revolution. In 1789 French absolutism, the great stronghold of European monarchy, fell before a democratic revolution. Subsequently, democratic revolts or mutinies broke out in Naples, Russia, Spain, and Portugal. By 1828, most of the Spanish colonies in America were independent republics, and Greece and Serbia had broken free of the Ottoman Empire.

In 1830 a new wave of revolts swept over Europe. France deposed Charles X, and the revolutionaries put a king of their own on the throne. In the next two years revolutions occurred in Belgium, Germany, the Papal States, Parma, Modena, and Poland. After an interlude of conservative reaction, a still more violent and pervasive series of revolts spread across the continent in 1848. France once again deposed its king, and Italy, central Europe, and a score of German states and free cities followed. In Vienna, the heartland of conservative monarchy, a mob sacked and burned the house of the aging Prince Clemens Metternich, and the mastermind of the old order fled to London.

And yet for all this democratic and revolutionary activity, the gains of liberal democracy outside of America were slight. The French Revolution failed, and rather than confirming the American venture in free government, it weakened the cause of republicanism around the world. As if following a script, the French traced precisely the course predicted by critics of the United States: first freedom, then license and anarchy, and finally tyranny, as a despairing citizenry gave all power to a despot capable of restoring order. None of the succeeding revolutions proceeded so violently to such extremes as the French, but the disappointing outcomes were essentially identical. A pent-up yearning for democratic reform brought down the old regime, after which quarreling, excesses of a people unused to freedom, and violence in the new regime frightened and repelled the populace. In the reaction, the former ruler or a facsimile returned to power and abolished most of the reforms.

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

New American Republic Survives

As late as 1860 the United States occupied a singular position in the world. The democratic spirit of the American Revolution had inspired European reformers for eighty-five years, and the impulse was not yet extinguished. But the actual achievements were meager: Greece and a few small republics in Latin America were all there was to show. Englishmen enjoyed the benefits of constitutional monarchy, but the United States was the only major nation in the world to have functioned as a republic for more than a few months. The American republic stood virtually alone among the nations.

Was republican government by its nature doomed to self-destruction? American leaders themselves thought of the United States as a grand experiment whose outcome was yet uncertain. In 1861 civil war in the United States seemed to indicate that the collapse of republicanism had only been delayed, not prevented, in America. At last, it seemed, the greatest republic was about to crumble and follow the others into chaos and tyranny.

In an address to Congress on 4 July 1861, Lincoln underscored the fact that the issue of secession “embraces more than the fate of these United States.” It presented to “the whole family of man, the question” of whether there is “in all republics, this inherent, and fatal weakness. Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?” Recognizing America’s isolation amidst the monarchies and despotisms of the world, Lincoln proceeded to deny the South’s right to secede, not for the sake of the United States alone, but for all other freedom-loving people. The soldiers slain at Gettysburg, he reminded his audience in 1863, fought “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

“Last Best Hope” for Democracy Is Site of the Restoration

Are we to make anything of the fact that the United States of America, democracy’s “last best hope on earth” as Lincoln called it, was also the site of the restoration of the gospel, mankind’s opportunity for salvation? We know the Lord raised up men to frame the Constitution, the document that embodied both the democratic impulse for freedom and the fundamental need for order. (See D&C 101:77, 80.) Under its benevolent protection, freedom of many kinds thrived—including freedom to worship. The Latter-day Saints have tested the limits of that freedom to the breaking point and ironically, ultimately fled the settled areas of the United States. Would the budding Restoration have been pinched off prematurely in another nation before the Church could bloom and bear fruit? Is it also significant that the messengers of the restored gospel came to England, Germany, and Sweden from republican America? Was it part of the Lord’s plan that the nation whose example brought the hope of freedom to common people around the globe was the homeland of the missionaries who brought the hope of salvation? We can only report what in fact has happened: the Church took root in American soil in 1830, flourished there, and thence spread like branches over a wall to the rest of the world.

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

Changes in Society Point to the Restoration

Population migrations. While political revolution shook the old regimes in Europe, another kind of revolution transformed American society. Although not a revolution of guns or riots, it was nevertheless significant. Population growth, rather than oppression and misery, powered the changes. From 1790, when the federal government conducted the first census, until 1830, the population of the United States tripled—from 3.9 to 12.9 million. Had such growth been contained within fixed boundaries, it could have destroyed social institutions. But it was not contained, and change therefore, took another form—not destructive, but still deep and pervasive.

Along the coast from Massachusetts to South Carolina, population increased rather modestly from 1790 to 1830. Rhode Island grew from 69,000 to 97,000; Maryland from 320,000 to 447,000. Overall, the coastal population increased only 1.65 times. The big growth occurred along the edges of this settled coastal plain, in Maine and Georgia to the north and south, and in new states over the Appalachian Mountains. Along these edges the population increased 5.9 times. Kentucky’s population enlarged from 74,000 to 688,000 between 1790 and 1830; Ohio’s from 45,000 to 938,000. Asael Smith, the Prophet Joseph’s grandfather, participated in Vermont’s growth from 85,000 to 281,000 when he moved his family from Topsfield, Massachusetts, to Tunbridge, Vermont, in 1791.

Availability of churches. Churches moved with the migrants and helped to organize and orient them in their new surroundings. Six years after Asael arrived in Tunbridge, he and two of his sons signed the articles of association for a Universalist Society. Other settlers made similar arrangements with Congregational, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Quaker, and Reformed churches. Settlers grouped together and hired a pastor. When no one was available to preach, one of their own number took the pulpit; or they read to each other.

The American churches rose magnificently to the challenge of frontier growth. In fact, there were probably more churches per American after the population burst through the Appalachians than before. In 1750, it has been calculated, the number of persons per church was 706:1. As the population grew and moved after the Revolution, the number of churches at first fell behind; the ratio of persons to churches went up in 1780 to 861:1, and in 1800 to 1,122:1. But as the denominations mobilized, they brought the expanding population under control. By 1820 the proportion was 626:1.

From congregationalism to universalism. The new societies in the West, however, and society along the coast for that matter, failed to replicate the society of 1750. A significant shift had taken place, one which affected the spiritual lives of Americans. The New England village of the 1700s, such as Topsfield, where Asael Smith grew up, characteristically had only one church. Within the township, the people organized various parishes and hired their own ministers, but all the churches were congregational, and the ministers met in common association to discuss doctrine and questions of discipline. Here and there in New England, there were Anglican or Baptist or Quaker meetings. But these were the exception outside of Rhode Island. In Topsfield everyone paid taxes to support the congregational minister unless specifically exempted by

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

certificate. The church was almost an arm of the government. In the South, the Anglican Church occupied a similar position.

When society fell into place in the frontier communities, however, all this had changed. By 1790, Asael Smith had broken away from the congregationalism of his ancestors to embrace universalism. In Palmyra in 1820 the Smiths chose among the Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, the Society of Friends, and sporadic meetings of Episcopalians. Their children were not absorbed automatically into a traditional church. Some neighbors and family members went to one meeting, some to another. Lucy Smith, the Prophet Joseph’s mother, had a deep religious experience in Randolph, Vermont, in 1803 and sought for religious counsel, but she had no pastor to whom she instinctively turned. A Methodist exhorter visited her, she paid a call on a local deacon, and she listened to a visiting Presbyterian preacher. But finally she persuaded a minister to baptize her without requiring that she join any church.

Availability of voluntary associations. Voluntary choice characterized nearly every aspect of nineteenth-century society. Asael Smith’s ancestors lived in Topsfield for four generations. Asael himself moved his family eight times before settling in St. Lawrence County, New York, where he died. Even for those who never had to decide where to move and when, life presented a great number of decisions. After 1790 the simple eighteenth-century society of family, church, and town meeting had to compete with a huge array of other organizations soliciting participation and loyalty. In the 1760s only twenty voluntary associations such as charities, schools, business corporations, and political and civic improvement groups were organized in Massachusetts. In the 1770s, twenty-four were formed. But in the 1790s the number suddenly rose to 180 and kept climbing: in the 1800s 236 new voluntary associations were formed, 511 in the 1810s, and 553 in the 1820s.

Availability of information. In the same years, information began flowing into the towns as never before. In 1760 there were only five newspapers in Massachusetts, all in Boston. But in 1820 there were fifty-three, distributed among twenty-three towns. By 1850 every town of any size had its own paper, carrying articles copied from papers all over the country. In addition, scores of magazines and specialized periodicals attained regional or national circulation. The improved postal system dumped fifty to seventy different titles in the village post office every month. Once dependent for information on influential persons in the town, people now had independent sources of news, each presenting the world from its own perspective. The family, neighborhood, and community lost much of their control over opinions and personal identity. Each person affiliated as he or she chose, read what appealed, and modeled himself or herself after persons at a distance as well as those nearby.

A break in religious tradition. In the turmoil, institutions rose and fell in importance. From the best information available, it appears that in 1750 the largest denomination in America was the Congregational Church. The Anglicans (Episcopal) were second, and the Quakers, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Baptists followed in that order. However, by 1850 the rankings had been overturned. The largest group in 1850, Roman Catholicism, had been almost entirely absent in 1750. The Irish migration particularly swelled its ranks. The largest Protestant denomination in 1850, the Methodists, had not even been in existence in 1750. In 1850 they had 13,280 groups meeting, when the Congregationalists reported only 1,706. Methodist

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

influence touched Joseph Smith who became “somewhat partial to the Methodist sect” (JS—H 1:8) just prior to the First Vision. Behind the Methodists came the Baptists, who in 1750 had been but a small struggling band of dissenters in all of the colonies but Rhode Island.

The growth of a few denominations from obscurity to preeminence meant that hundreds of thousands of Americans broke from the faith of their fathers and chose a new church. The traditions that had governed life for many generations loosened their hold, and individuals moved away under their own power. Two town institutions of the 1820s and 1830s caught the spirit of the new age—the lyceum and the debating society. The lyceum contrasted sharply with the church. Instead of one person instructing an audience from a known and fixed body of doctrine, a series of different speakers addressed the town on a great variety of topics from many perspectives. The debating society went a step further. There was no position, only a question. Young Joseph Smith participated informally with the printer’s apprentices in such a group in Palmyra.

Results of societal change. Having achieved political freedom in advance of other nations in 1776, the United States in the next half century freed its citizenry from the restraints of traditional opinions. Migrations from old neighborhoods, a variety of accessible churches and voluntary associations, and a melee of conflicting values and beliefs compelled each person to choose to a degree unknown a hundred years earlier. That freedom invigorated the minds and enlarged the spirits of the American population—until one by one individuals realized the limits of genuine freedom.

Consider the anguish of a young person wishing for nothing more than his own salvation. In what could he place faith?

“In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?” (JS—H 1:10.)

Freedom allowed people to ask questions. It did not provide answers. The breakdown of the old regime enabled people to choose, but its culmination could not be a limitless enlargement of purposeless liberty. Providence must have had a specific end in view as it directed events toward the last days. The climax of the liberating forces flowing through history toward 1830 was the recovery of the truth. The times reached their fulness when men and women, freed from an oppressive past, recognized and embraced the revelation of heaven.1

Notebook Questions: Reason and Record

• How did the Lord’s hand move through the histories of the Renaissance and

Reformation, America’s European discovery and colonization, and Revolutionary and

Antebellum America?

1 SOURCES: Church History in the Fulness of Times Student Manual, Chapter 1: “Prelude to the Restoration.” Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2003. Garr, Arnold K. “Preparing for the Restoration.” Ensign (June 1999). Bushman, Richard L. “1830: Pivotal Year in the Fulness of Times.” Ensign (September 1978). lds.org. Accessed 21 June 2011.

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

• What were the roles of inspired individuals (Gutenberg, Columbus, Wycliffe, Luther,

Washington, Smith, etc.) in the preparations for the Restoration?

• What specific political, religious, social, and cultural conditions did the Lord inspire for

the Restoration to take place in upstate New York in 1830?

Notebook Questions: Relate and Record

• How do the documents relate to FACE Principle #1: God's Principle of Individuality:

“Everything in God's universe reveals His infinity and diversity. Each person is a unique

creation of God, designed to express the nature of Christ individually in society. The quality of

man's government is primarily determined in his heart”?

• How do the documents relate to Doctrine and Covenants 50:24?

Foundations, Topic 3: The Lord’s Hand in Preparing for the Restoration

Record Activity: Multiple Choice Comprehension Check

1. Sources: “Prelude to the Restoration” and “Preparing for the Restoration” demonstrate

which of the following?

a. The Renaissance and Reformation did not contribute to the Lord’s preparations

for the Restoration.

b. The European discovery and colonization of American did not contribute to the

Lord’s preparations for the Restoration.

c. Revolutionary America and Antebellum America did not contribute to the Lord’s

preparations for the Restoration.

d. The Lord did not raise up noble men to forward His work between the eras of

Peter and Joseph Smith.

e. two of the above

f. all of the above

g. none of the above

2. Sources: Garr argues that two events during the Renaissance (which he dates from

about 1350 to 1550) were vital in preparing the world for the Restoration. What were

they?

a. Wycliffe and Tyndale’s respective English translations of the Bible

b. Michelangelo’s sculpting of David and his frescos in the Sistine Chapel

c. Luther’s reforms and Columbus’s 1492 voyage

d. The War of American Independence and the US Constitution

e. Gutenberg’s printing press and Columbus’s 1492 voyage

3. Sources: Bushman cites all of the following except which one to show that, by 1830, the

political, religious, social, and cultural climates of America were uniquely suited grow

the message of the Restoration?

a. the influence of sweeping political changes in America, France, Sweden, Poland,

the Dutch Provinces, Belgium, Naples, Russia, Spain, Greece, Serbia, and most of

the Spanish colonies in America

b. the survival and unique flourishing of the American republic

c. population migrations

d. a degree of freedom found nowhere else in the world

e. availability of churches

f. a Constitution that would protect religious belief by establishing a state church

g. the shift from congregationalism to universalism

h. availability of voluntary associations

i. the Second Great Awakening

j. availability of information