Vocab. 3 W.N. 19 CONTEXT REVEALED

Posted by rjhmoore at 6:39 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Refer back to the previous blog for the definitions of the vocabulary words. They are bold and italicized here so that they are easier to spot!

1. It was the first open rebellion against any of he Prophet's teachings by his most devoted followers, and he was wise enough to see his mistake, and to rectify it.
   
2. If Smith was not a polygamist, his sons must allow that he was a libertine, or an advocate of free-love principles.
3. Very little was said about it openly, until his wife saw something which aroused her suspicions, and she remonstrated with Joseph for having the girls there; but with no effect.
4. He used often to argue in this manner while endeavoring to convince some wavering or unwilling victim: "Now, my dear sister, it is true that your husband is a good man, but you and he are by no means kindred spirits, and he will never be able to save you in the celestial kingdom; it has been revealed by the Spirit that you ought to belong to me." This sophistry, strange as it may seem, had its weight, and scarcely ever failed of its desired results.
5. Joseph has paid his addresses to Mr. Noble's sister-in-law, a very worthy woman, and had succeeded in overcoming her scruples so far that she had consented to be sealed to him.
6. The young girl that Mr. Noble married went to live with his first wife, and, as a matter of course, this arrangement produced the greatest misery to both. Outwardly they were compelled to keep a semblance of regard; but they hated each other with an intensity of hatred that cannot possibly be felt outside of polygamy.
7. She was compelled to turn a deaf ear to their entreaties to return with them, and she could not tell them her secret.
8. Her mother was nearly distracted when she was obliged to return home without her daughter, heart-broken and disconsolate, and bowed down with shame at her supposed dishonor.
9. He was a notorious profligate, and was pronounced by Gentiles who had known him before he embraced Mormonism to be " the greatest villain unhung."
10. Joseph's only method of defending himself from Bennett's attacks was to assail him in return. The raven was taunting the crow for being a blackamoor.
11. He coupled Bennett's name with that of a lady of high standing in the Mormon community, in the most disgraceful manner, and published the scandal to a large congregation of the Saints, causing the utmost consternation and dismay.
12. He "bearded the lion in his den," and defended his wife's character in public, hurling the lie at his leader's head, and incurring anathemas in return.
13. Having made this very pleasant announcement, the Revelation goes on to declare that all contract -- matrimonial or other -- were null and void unless ratified by the Prophet: -- "And verily I say unto you, that the conditions of this law are these: ... "
14. "... Yet they shall come for in the first resurrection, and enter into their exaltation, but they shall be destroyed in the flesh, and shall be delivered unto the buffetings of Satan unto the day of redemption, saith the Lord God."
15. She is told to "receive all that have been given to my servant Joseph." She is forbidden to leave the Prophet, as she had threatened to do if he carried out his "celestial" system... One particular passage is said to refer to a matrimonial scene in which a threat was held out that the life of the Elect Lady should be terminated by poison... It is, however, only right to add that the Mormon exponents of the Revelation say that this passage refers to an offer which Joesph had made to sacrifice his own personal feelings, and to accede to a divorce between Emma and himself.
    

Ponder the situation of these poor people. Think about it; does Joseph Smith sound like the "enlightened Prophet" as he is so referred to? Personally, it hurts to read parts of this book sometimes and hear of the horrible things happening to these people, and I'm honestly glad that I was born in this time than then.