All things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.
(2 Nephi 2:24)
An attribute which God possesses in its fullness that humans possess in only a very limited way is the ability to see into the future. Divine foreknowledge allows God to “see the end from the beginning,” and thereby intervene at appropriate moments for the accomplishment of divine purposes and the fulfillment of the divine plan. As Nephi so eloquently said more than 2500 years ago, “But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words” (1 Nephi 9:6).
But how is it done? God has also granted unto man agency, the right to choose between good and evil (2 Nephi 2: 26-27). How can God accomplish His purposes without infringing on the agency of man? This chapter will attempt to answer this question with reference to the experience of Joseph who was sold into Egypt and the fortuitous deliverance of his family from famine; and also to delineate—from the time of Joseph of old—the divinely orchestrated, centuries-long, preparation for the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ accomplished through modern-day prophet Joseph Smith. From a consideration of aspects of the experience of the two Josephs and the foreordained and divinely orchestrated convergence of events leading to the Restoration of the gospel, this chapter will develop the idea of the “providential sequencing” of events, which may serve as an explanation of the means by which an omniscient and omnipotent God, with full foreknowledge and unrestricted power to act, can accomplish His ends without impinging on human agency. Within the existing framework of contemporary understanding in providential history, this discussion will underscore distinctively Latter-day Day Saint concepts such of the pre-mortal existence and foreordination as explanatory tools and assess the uniquely Latter-day Saint contribution to the discussion.
Christian Antecedents
The most prominent Christian theologian to deal with the issue of free will and divine providence was Luis de Molina (1535-1600), a Spanish Jesuit theologian and a seminal thinker of the sixteenth century. Molina attempted to “reconcile divine providence with free will,” or, in other words, to understand how God accomplishes His purposes without infringing on the agency of man. In Molina`s thought, central to the resolution of that problem was the omniscience of God, by which He not only knows everything that has happened or will happen, but also what would happen under altered circumstances. He knows His children so well that he can predict how each will freely react in every circumstance, and, as a result, can alter outcomes by timely intervention. While God knows how his creatures will freely act in every circumstance, this knowledge does not impinge on their choices. The Molinist approach fits in better with Catholic and Catholic-based theologies, which put greater emphasis on free will than do Calvinist predestination doctrine and other Protestant theologies, which adhere to the doctrine of “salvation by grace alone,” but the Molinist approach, with some modifications, can also be applied to the gambit of Protestant theologies.[1]
While there has been considerable controversy of recent date among Christian theologians on aspects of the Molinist view, challenging in particular God’s knowledge of “counterfactuals,” or things which do not yet, and may never exist, Molinism, has been the dominant interpretation for a generation among contemporary theologians. It has had many notable disciples, including William Lane Craig and Alvin Plantinga, whose retirement in 2012 was the occasion for a major academic conference and the publication of a volume of conference proceeding.[2]
To what extent does Latter-day Saint doctrine fit in with the Molinist philosophical system? What new insights, if any, do the scriptures and doctrines of the Restoration have to contribute in that regard, or do they simply support and amplify Molinist ideas? How do these ideas apply to divine providence in preparing the Restoration?
Agency, a Key Issue in the Pre-mortal Existence
One of the unique aspects of Latter-day Saint doctrine is the concept of a pre-earthly existence in which spirit sons and daughters of Heavenly Father dwelt with him in a pre-mortal condition. For their eternal progression, God the Father presented them with a plan to come to earth to be tried and tested away from the immediate presence of deity. The focus of that discussion was on the agency of His children, necessary for their growth and development, which would allow them to choose between good and evil, and which would also make them accountable for their actions (see Abraham3:24-26). While it is not our purpose here to describe the full extent of what has been revealed about our pre-mortal existence, or its impact on earth life,[3] it is necessary to explore some aspects to set the stage for the subject of the chapter, which is to address from Latter-day Saint doctrine the fundamental question, “How can God accomplish His purposes for the salvation of His children in an environment of freedom of choice?”
The Pre-earthly Heritage. No one knows the entire discussion or discussions that took place in the pre-earthly existence regarding the plan of salvation. But God has revealed some key elements in the discussion involving the principles involved and choice of a savior. “And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the son of Man: Here am I send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said, I will send the first. And the second was angry and kept not his first estate; and at that day, many followed after him (Abraham 3:27-28; also Moses 4:1-3). God thus chose Jesus Christ and rejected Lucifer, later known as Satan. One of the key issues concerned the agency of mankind. As God told Moses, “Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I the Lord had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down; and he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice” (Moses 4: 3-4).
That man's life on earth is a continuation of the pre-earthly existence in which agency was the basic issue has major implications for human history. The history of the world is a reflection of the fundamental conflict between good and evil, transported from that world; a contest in which God’s children, endowed with agency, respond to and interact with the influences about them--choosing between the light and intelligence of God to the extent to which they have been enlightened, the ways and traditions of their societies, and the evil enticements of Satan (see D&C 46:7). God would that His children should be free and enlightened, while Satan strives to take away light and truth and to enslave them and to destroy their freedom, both individually and collectively (see D&C 93: 36, 39). Humans are free to choose (2 Nephi 2:27). The stage was thus set in the pre-earthly existence for the great drama of human experience. The influences of evil were arrayed before mortal man set foot on the earth, and the conflict between good and evil, in the divinely ordained scheme of things, was set at the center of the human experience (see 2 Nephi 2:11).
The divine plan, based on the principle of agency, involved high risks. Not everyone would rise to the highest possible level of attainment, as men and women would be judged according to their varying level of valiance in keeping the commandments of God (see D&C 76; 39-113). And a key issue was how God would accomplish the work of salvation in an environment of agency or freedom of choice. While this essay can little more than mirror, as a small child playing on the seashore, the mysteries and wonder of God, it will attempt to reflect on the role of divine foreknowledge, particularly among those whom God has chosen to send to earth to assist Him in this great work of salvation (see Abraham 3:22-23). Going beyond Molina, who postulates that God knows his children so well that He can predict their behavior under all circumstances, Latter-day Saints believe that God has also decided well in advance of the mortal existence of man, whom He will send, at what time, and for what purposes.
Insights from John W. Welch
In a presentation at Brigham Young University in July 2008 to several of the future authors of this book, John W. Welch, a noted scholar of Latter-day Saint scripture and theology, discussed a number of basic issues relating to providential history. In his discussion, he pointed out that in the derivation of the word “providence,” the initial syllables can be broken down into “pro-video,” which implies God’s ability to see things in advance. The final segment of the word, “evidence,” has to do with what is seen or how things may appear. Providence therefore consists of exercising foresight, preparing, and actually providing. God’s providence thus involves 1) prescience, 2) preparing the way, 3) giving guidance and, 4) acts of loving care and actual intervention.[4]
Acts of intervention, he suggested, may take the form of a whole range of activities. The most obvious on the individual level include the prevention of evil from happening to us, discouraging us from committing ignorant sins, and dissuading us from making bad choices. God may also prepare the way for the opportunity for good things to happen, in providing opportunities for learning or experience, association with various people and ideas, and may actually make things happen by moving material objects or by causing or making other individuals or groups to do certain things, as a prelude to the reception of divine insight. The concept of the providential sequencing of chains of events, which Welch related in connection with his own experience in discovering chiasmus in the Book of Mormon, proved to be the catalyst for my further inquiry in the scriptures to test the thesis.[5]
God’s Work in the Latter Days
A foundational Latter-day Saint doctrine, unique to Latter-day Saint theology, is that in the latter-days, the Lord would “proceed to do a marvelous work. . . and a wonder” among the people, marked by the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, another scriptural testament of Jesus Christ, and the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness (see Isaiah 29:7-14,18-19; 2 Nephi 27-29). Central to divine purposes in the latter days is the dissemination to all the world of the restored gospel, upon which depends the salvation of past, present and future generations. The establishment of the Kingdom of God on the earth is in preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which will usher in the glorious thousand years of millennial reign, during which the completion of the divine work of salvation of the human family will take place (D&C 65:2-6; 43:28-30).[6]
We learn by revelation that the plan of God for the salvation of His children was formulated before the foundation of the world (Abraham 3:22-28; Moses 4:1-2). The Prophet Joseph Smith declared that God comprehended even before the creation of the earth the entire vista of human experience including the circumstances of each nation, the strengths and weaknesses of humanity and the depth of human depravity, and that He made “ample provision” for the salvation of mankind.[7] While the unfolding of events under divine foreknowledge and guidance, as planned in the pre-existence, stretches back before the beginning of human experience on the earth, for this discussion we shall restrict ourselves to the more limited segment of time stretching from the time of Joseph, son of Jacob, until the restoration of the gospel under modern-day prophet Joseph Smith. A reflection on the personal experience of Joseph of old, with its many providential twists and turns, and the accomplishment of the prophecies made to him, with the intervening chains of events culminating in the restoration of the gospel under Joseph Smith, provide many refractions of light on the divine role in historical development. In the process, we shall explore how God, with divine foreknowledge, fulfills his divine plan and purposes through the work of foreordained servants and the providential sequencing of events, without impinging on human agency.
Divine Foreknowledge Affirmed
The scriptures are replete with statements on the foreknowledge of God. The Lord declared to Abraham, “My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee” (Abraham 2:8). And to Moses, “all things are present with me, and I know them all” (Moses 1:6). The prophet Isaiah reaffirmed that God declares “the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I shall do all my pleasure” (Isaiah 46:9-10). Not only does God know all things in advance and have power to accomplish all His purposes, but He gives prophetic witness in advance of actual happenings in order to build faith in Him. Through Isaiah the Lord explained, “I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass . . . lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them” (Isaiah 48:3-5; 1 Nephi 20:3-5).
In New Testament times, the Apostle Paul, affirmed in his discourse on Mars Hill that God had made “all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation” (Acts 17:26). John the Apostle, in a great panorama, had the privilege of viewing in vision “things which must be hereafter” (Revelation 4:1ff) through all the great and dramatic future events of the earth until the appearance of “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:4).
Book of Mormon prophets were equally explicit. Lehi declared, “All things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.” (2 Nephi 2:24). And Nephi’s brother Jacob exclaimed, “O how great is the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it” (2 Nephi 9:20). In the book of Helaman, Nephi declared that God not only knew the iniquities of the people and “all things” that would befall them as a result (Helaman 8:8), but, extending hope, reiterated the testimony of many old prophets that a Messiah would come to redeem his people (Helaman 8:11-22). Alma likewise declared that priesthood holders were “called and prepared from the foundation of the world, according to the foreknowledge of God” (Alma 13:3). Mormon concluded that “God, knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting, . . . sent angels among the children of men, to manifest concerning the coming of Christ” (Moroni 7: 22).
In modern times, the Lord declared to Joseph Smith: “Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I Am, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made; The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes; I am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me” (D&C 38:1-3). Not only did Jehovah create the world, but He prepared before its dawn the plan of salvation and the means for its accomplishment. The Prophet Joseph Smith, in a ringing statement, further declared: “The Great Jehovah contemplated the whole of the events connected with the earth, pertaining to the plan of salvation, before it rolled into existence, or ever ‘the morning stars sang together’ for joy; the past, the present, and the future were and are, with Him, one eternal ‘now,’ . . . He was acquainted with the situation of all nations and with their destiny; . . . He knows the situation of both the living and the dead, and has made ample provision for their redemption, according to their several circumstances, and the laws of the kingdom of God, whether in this world, or in the world to come.”[8]
How He knows. The means by which God can foreknow all things, however, has been largely obscured from human vision and is but dimly understood by mortal beings. Elder James E. Talmage, along the lines of Molinist thought, offered the following explanation: “Our Heavenly Father has a full knowledge of the nature and dispositions of each of His children, . . . By reason of that surpassing knowledge, God reads the future of child and children, of men individually and of men collectively as communities and nations; He knows what each will do under given conditions, and sees the end from the beginning.”[9] This would concord with the Molinist view.[10]
But there is a more sweeping view in Latter-day Saint theology which transcends the Molinist interpretation. This is that as an eternal being, God, in His omniscience,[11] has surmounted the boundaries of temporal existence and transcended time. The Prophet Joseph Smith declared that “all things. . . past, present and future . . . are continually before the Lord” (D& C 130:7); further, he revealed that when the Millennial reign is ushered in and Satan is bound “there will be time no longer” (D&C 88:110; cf. 130:7-11). While the successive passage of events may continue, the effect, evidently, is to be able to see all things past, present and future and therefore the limitations of time are overcome. Apostle Neal A. Maxwell has affirmed that “in ways which are not clear to us, he [God] actually sees rather than foresees, the future—because all things are, at once, before him.”[12] God has thus transcended the limitations of time as known to humans and “knoweth all things from the beginning” which, as Nephi affirms, allows Him to prepare “a way to accomplish all his works” (1 Nephi 9:16).
Foreordination and Whom God Sends
The doctrine of foreordination as a means by which God deploys his faithful servants for the accomplishment of divine purposes is associated with the doctrine of foreknowledge in Latter-day Saint theology, and extends into realms of knowledge unknown to Molina. The prophet Joseph Smith declared that “Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the earth was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was.”[13] Brigham Young expanded the concept to include all those who have a particular work to accomplish in their lifetime. He observed: “From the spirit and tenor [of] the ancient Scriptures and revelations which we have received, it is plainly set forth that there are men preappointed to perform certain works in their lifetime, and bring to pass certain ends and purposes in the economy of heaven. . . Whom did he not foreknow? I do not think there is anybody now on the earth, that has lived before us, or that will come after us, but what he knew. He knew who would be his anointed; he had his eye upon them all the time, as he had upon Moses, Pharaoh, Abraham, Melchizedek, and Noah, who was a chosen vessel to build the ark and save a remnant from the flood.”[14] Luis de Molina, who postulated that God knew his children so well as to predict their future acts, would have been impressed to learn that they had actually dwelt with Him for an undisclosed period of time in the spirit realm, and that many had been commissioned by Him to accomplish specific tasks in their future earthly experience. President Joseph F Smith, in a grand revelation on the spirit world received in 1918, went a step further, after enumerating many prophets and others assigned to perform important tasks in building up the Lord’s kingdom, in saying that, “Even before they were born, they with many others, received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men. (D&C 138:56; also vs. 38-47, emphasis added).
Brigham Young was very careful, nonetheless, to spell out that foreordination did not in any way imperil the agency of those thus called: “It is a mistaken idea that God has decreed all things whatsoever that come to pass, for the volition of the creature is as free as air. . . . When he decrees great plagues and overwhelming destructions upon nations or people, those decrees come to pass because those nations and people will not forsake their wickedness and turn unto the Lord. . . . God rules and reigns, and has made all his children as free as himself, to choose the right or the wrong, and we shall then be judged according to our works.”[15] God’s foreknowledge does not imply divine predestination, but rather foreordination, as each person designated for a future role in the pre-earthly existence has the right to choose in earth life if he or she will accept it. Elder James E. Talmage taught that God “foresees the future as a state which naturally and surely will be; not as one which must be because He has arbitrarily willed that it shall be.”[16] The Calvinist notion of predestination is thus replaced by the concept of foreordination, which preserves the agency of man. Molina would have been pleased.
Causation in the Divine Scheme: “What ifs?” and “But fors”
That God knows all things in advance and can plan and prepare for the realization of his purposes—in a world where Satan’s influence is felt and people often make decisions based on evil desires—raises the issue of divine causation. As God has chosen to leave the human will intact and not to compel people to make choices,[17] human agency is preserved. The notion of causation thus enters into the discussion of how God arranges for the things which He wishes to happen.
One of the most exhilarating ideas presented by Welch in the afore-mentioned presentation was that of “divine sequencing”—that is to say, the sequencing of events in a providential manner, which eventually led to the desired result. This he illustrated with his own discovery of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon, which provides strong evidence of its Hebrew origin, just as does chiasmus in the Bible, which has the same literary device. In documented fashion, Welch was able to identify twelve “but-fors,” that is to say important events, but for which the final result of his discovering chiasmus while on a mission in Germany in 1967, would not have happened. [18] This introduced to me a new insight on the nature of divine causation. Causation among intelligent living beings may not be to compel, in cause-and-effect manner as in the natural world, but to open opportunities for growth, learning and circumstances (sometimes the result of evil acts by others) in preparation for divine intervention, which is sometimes required to produce desired outcomes.
In the western tradition of historical scholarship, causation is linked to the scientific notion of cause and effect-- that one series of happenings give rise to another. The question of agency is thereby side-stepped, and in practical terms does not arise. Secular historians are loath to consider the question of “what if” a different turn of events had occurred in any chain of sequential events, since any explanation of the “what if?” postulate is deemed counterfactual. In the absence of lived experience, there is no way of testing the results, and therefore of knowing for sure the consequences. God, however, must prepare contingency plans for all possible contingencies given the agency of man, and contemplate all the “what ifs” that might arise along the way in order to accomplish His purposes. That God knows the results of all the “counterfactual” possibilities or “what ifs” concords with the Molinist view. The implication for the realization of divine purposes are immense.
Sequential Chains of Events. In God’s plan, the immediate or proximate cause of a desired outcome may thus be part of a sequential chain of events, facilitating the desired outcome. Human volition allows people to make choices, some of which may be clearly deleterious in nature, but divine grace may provide that the outcomes from these may ultimately be turned to the accomplishment of divine purposes. Because of God’s foreknowledge, proximate causes, pushed one step further, may thus be sequential, with chains of happenings going back a long while in their interaction, in ways that only God could foresee. Amazingly, in the divine plan, multiple chains of providential happenings may also converge for the accomplishment of some important purpose, such as in the case of the Latter-day restoration of the gospel. In this case, the law of witnesses, orchestrated in the coming together of the scriptural records of both the Jews and the house of Joseph, provided a compelling means for the furtherance of the Lord’s work. God may thus accomplish his purpose through chains of events, with multiple chains of events operating concurrently, and eventually converging, to produce a desired outcome.[19]
The Role of Divinely Appointed Servants. The role of divinely appointed servants appears to be particularly significant in the unfolding of divine purposes.[20] God sends His servants as agents to accomplish His work in circumstances humans could not have possibly foreseen. God knows the talent and abilities and the faithfulness of all his children, and therefore whom he can employ for what purpose and to what effect. God not only determines whom He sends, but under what conditions, and what roles they will be sent to play. As Welch observed, He may open doors for individuals, prepare circumstances, provide opportunities for learning and experience and open the way for development appropriate to their needs and the accomplishment of His designs. Providential events, he concluded, may be empowering, open opportunities, but not be compelling.[21] At appropriate turns in the sequencing of events, according to His wisdom, God may thus guide his servants by the light of Christ, reveal truths to them by His Spirit, send messengers or even favor them with His presence.
God in fact may work at all levels as he chooses--in the great affairs of state, in the outcomes of wars, in the discovery of important scientific or technological truths[22] or simply in the lives of individual people, through a myriad of small promptings received each day. God’s interventions, however, may often go unobserved, for by “small and simple things are great things brought to pass” (Alma 37:6), “and out of small things proceedeth that which is great” (D&C 64:33).[23]
Joseph, Who Was Sold into Egypt
The case of Joseph of old provides a classic example of the providential sequencing of events, which extended over two generations, in order to provide for the happy results of preparing Egypt for the seven years of famine and saving Jacob and his family from starvation--with their subsequent relocation into Egypt. This sequence of vital “but-fors,” those pivotal events, the non-occurrence of which would have altered the course of events, goes back to the youthful conflict between Jacob and Esau. One may indeed conceptualize a whole series of pivotal “but-fors,” the non-realization of which would have greatly altered the outcome. The list is long.
Jacob’s surreptitious obtaining of the birthright blessing from Isaac, and the consequent ire between Esau and Jacob were long in consequences (see Genesis 25:20-34, 27:1-41). Had Jacob not been obliged to flee for his own safety and been instructed by Isaac to take as his wife one of Laban’s daughters, he would have never come in contact with Rachel and Leah (Genesis 27: 41-46; 28:1-7; 29:1-13). Had Laban not tricked Jacob into marrying Leah first instead of Rachel, he would have not had a preferential relationship between the wives (Genesis 29:13-30). Ostensibly, had that circumstance not prevailed, Joseph, Rachel’s firstborn after a long period of childlessness, would not have been the preferred son (Genesis 29:30; 32:22-24).
Had Joseph not been the preferred son, the expression of which resulted in his coat of many colors given to him by his father, the jealousy of the brothers would not have been so intense (Genesis 37: 3-5). Joseph’s dream of dominion over his brothers, an instance of divine intervention, only heightened their jealousy and hatred (Genesis 37:5-11).
Had Jacob not sent Joseph out to take provisions to his brothers who were shepherding the sheep, the opportunity to kill him may never have arisen. Had Reuben not spoken up in Joseph’s favor, he might have been killed, rather than being cast unto a pit. Likewise, had not Judah suggested that Joseph be sold into slavery at the approach of the Midianite caravan, Joseph might have been murdered by the brothers rather than being sold into slavery (Genesis 37:12-28). Had the Midianite caravan not passed by that day, Joseph would not have gotten into Egypt (Genesis 37:28), or had it been traveling east rather west that day, the story might have been far different.
Once in Egypt, Joseph had the good fortune of being bought by and going to work for Potiphar, an officer of the King’s guard. Had not Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph into illicit sexual activity, and then lied about his conduct, he would not have entered into the ill favor of his master. Had his service not been so exemplary, he would undoubtedly have been executed rather than being confined to prison (Genesis 29). The time was then ripe for divine intervention. Had he not been thrown into prison, he would never have met the butler and the baker of Pharaoh’s court. Had God not given Joseph the interpretation of their dreams, the seeds of his rehabilitation would not have been in place (Genesis 40).
Had not the butler been restored to the Pharaoh’s good grace, he would not have been present to learn of the Pharaoh’s troubled dreams of seven full and seven thin ears of corn and of the seven fat and seven lean cows. Had the butler not known of Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams, he would not have recommended him to the Pharaoh. Divine intervention then occurred in Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream and its implication for the future famine in Egypt. (Genesis 41: 1-36). The divine interaction with this sequence of events is truly uncanny.
Had the Pharaoh not believed Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams, Pharaoh would never have appointed Joseph to be his second in command in Egypt, with authority to manage the economic affairs of the kingdom. Had Joseph not stored grain during the seven good years, presumably under divine influence, resources would not have been amassed for the seven years of famine (Genesis 41:37-57). Had Egypt not been a bastion of foodstuffs, Jacob would not have sent his sons to Egypt to buy corn. Had they not succeeded in obtaining corn with promises of more, the family would not have been brought to Egypt for their temporal salvation (Genesis 42:1-47:1-13).
The foreknowledge of God thus included God’s foreseeing the famine in Canaan several decades before it arrived and also having provided the means for the delivery of Jacob and his family from the famine’s ravages. This was accomplished through a series of seemingly chance events, some motivated by evil intentions, followed by divine intervention at critical junctures. Certainly, the birth of Joseph and his spiritual preparation, with the special gifts that he had, were foreordained prerequisites. But they could only be brought to bear with the sequence of events, known by God in advance, which opened opportunities and extracted good from evil at various stages, and which provided for Joseph to be at the right place at the right time to accomplish the Lord’s work. Some of the steps in the sequence of events, such as the hatred of the brothers and attempted seduction and deceit of Potiphar’s wife, were evil acts (see 2 Nephi 2:11-12). Divine grace was evidenced, with the ability to extract good from the evil which resulted from the unhappy exercise of human volition.
Opposition, it would appear, was a necessary component. It is a curious notion that good and evil often follow in lock step. Satan apparently cannot see the entire future (see Moses 4:6). In the sequence of events surrounding Joseph of old, some parts, such as the animus of the brothers which brought about evil acts, were supported by Satan. The same applies to the seduction of Potiphar’s wife and her false accusations. Others, such as the appearance of the Midianite caravan bound for Egypt and the appearance of the baker and the butler in prison, would. to human eyes, appear to be entirely coincidental. Yet, God used these events for the ultimate realization of his purposes. Joseph’s explanation to the brothers was most revealing: “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt” (Genesis 45:5-8). The divine purpose was thus realized, despite the malevolence of the brothers, which in fact appears to have played a major role in its realization.
Prophecy to Joseph: The Latter-day Restoration
But the Lord had broader vistas in mind in that righteous Joseph’s posterity should not only be “a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall,” (Genesis 49:22), but also be blessed to play a vital role in the Latter-day restoration of the gospel. Jacob indeed prophesied that as a remnant of Joseph’s many-colored coat had been preserved, so a portion of Joseph’s seed would be “preserved by the hand of God” (Alma 46; 23-24.). The seed of Joseph would in fact be called upon to play a vital role in the building of the New Jerusalem in America in the latter-days (Ether 13:6-10). The word of God to Enoch shows that, several hundred years earlier, the plan was already in place to bring forth the Book of Mormon and to have its doctrines sweep the earth, preparatory to the building of the New Jerusalem: “And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem” (Moses 7:62).
Looking down the stream of time, God prophesied to Joseph regarding his posterity and the latter-day Joseph who would bring about the restoration of the gospel. Nephi rehearsed the words of his father Lehi as follows:
For Joseph truly testified. . . Thus saith the Lord unto me: A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and he . . . shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren, which shall be of great worth unto them, even to the bringing of them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers. . . .and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins—and not to the bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them.
Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord . . .
And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father.” (2 Nephi 3:6-12, 15).[24]
The plan of the great latter-day work with a second volumes of scripture, the Book of Mormon; to bear witness of the first, the Bible; to the convincing of the people and bringing them to a knowledge of the Lord’s covenants was thus fully reiterated to Joseph, who was sold into Egypt, several thousand years before its fruition. The name of the prophet who would accomplish this and the name of the prophet’s father were even spelled out as being Joseph, the same as his own. The realization of these promises to Joseph, nevertheless, entailed a succession of varied circumstances, including evil-based acts and divine interventions.
Sequential Chains of Events Leading to the Restoration
The providential arrival of Joseph in Egypt to save his family from destruction during the famine and the relocation of the House of Israel into Egypt, however, were not the end of the story. As the Old Testament relates, there “arose a king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.” who brought about the enslavement of the Israelites, which “made their lives bitter with hard bondage” (Exodus 1:8-14). It therefore took a prophesied Moses (2 Nephi 3:16-17), who, exercising great power and authority from God, was able to deliver the Israelites out of bondage; and after a purification of 40 years in the wilderness, a Joshua to lead them into the Promised Land. But following several hundred years of checkered history, at a time, about 600 years BC, when the house of Judah and their companions were ready for destruction and captivity—the Ten Tribes of the northern kingdom having suffered a similar fate some 80 years earlier—the Lord raised up a prophet Lehi and his prophet-son Nephi to lead a remnant of the Tribe of Joseph to the promised land of America.
Lehi and Nephi were fully cognizant of their role, not only in establishing a new society under a new covenant, but also of preparing the way for the latter-day Restoration (2 Nephi 1: 4-11; 3; 26:14 to 30:18).[25] The obtaining of the brass plates of Laban provided the scriptural record of the people. The conflict between the Nephites and Lamanites accomplished divine purposes of stirring up the backsliding Nephites to repentance. Future events were prophesied in advance (see 1 Nephi 10-15; cf. Amos 3:7).
The scriptural record of the Nephites would stand as a second witness of Christ. And not only the revelatory statements of the prophets, but the visit and teachings of Christ would enrich that record. There followed a period of millennial felicity during two hundred years of righteousness. But evil would again triumph in the renewed wickedness of the people after two hundred years of peace and lead to the entire annihilation of the Nephite society. To preserve their record for a later generation, Mormon was instructed to make a compilation of the sacred history (see Words of Mormon, 1-9), which his son Moroni, after adding other inspired writings and an abridgement of the Jaredite history (Ether 1:1-2, Moroni 1:1-4), buried in the earth to await its discovery and translation some 1400 years later. This divinely inspired sequence of events prepared the record.
In the meantime, God, in another sequence of happenings, prepared world circumstances for the coming forth of the Book of Mormon by the establishment of a free land in America. This Nephi saw in vision: “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.” After having thus seen a vision of Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America, He continued, “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. . . And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles, and they did prosper and obtain the land for their inheritance.” Having seen the arrival of European colonists in America, most of whom who came in pursuit of religious freedom, Nephi further “beheld that their mother Gentiles were gathered together upon the waters, and upon the land also, to 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 Nephi 13:10-19).
The establishment of the United States of America as an independent nation thus proceeded under divine auspices (see 3 Nephi 21:4).
This work culminated in the establishment of the divinely inspired Constitution of the United States, a banner of liberty “for the rights and protection of all flesh. . . that every man may act . . . according to the moral agency, which I have given him. . . . 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 101:77-80). The stage was thus set for the Restoration.
Another providential chain of occurrences, too long and complex to detail here, resulted in the coming forth of the Bible, or the “stick of Judah,” as described by Joseph (see also Ezekiel 37:15-20), whose testaments, old and new, give the religious history of the Hebraic people including the tribe of Judah, bear witness of Jesus Christ and teach His gospel. Much remains unknown about various of the authors, the date of their writings, or how the records were preserved, compiled and passed the test for inclusion into the accepted canon of scripture.[26] Miraculously, despite the lapse into apostasy of the Christian Church, the texts remained largely intact, though, as Joseph Smith affirmed in making the inspired translation, “many important points touching the salvation of men, had been taken from the Bible, or were lost before it was compiled.”[27]
The Bible was to prove the most influential book of western civilization. The translation of the Bible from Latin and Greek into the vernacular in order to make gospel study available to the people had to await the advent of such notable religious scholars as John Wycliffe (ca 1330-84) and William Tyndale (1494-1536) in England, and reformers such as Martin Luther (1483-1646) in Germany. Widespread distribution of the Bible was made possible by Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the movable type printing press, which resulted in his publication of the Bible in 1455. The wide diffusion of the Bible was a key element in the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century in Western Europe, which, in the ensuing religious conflict, set the stage for the providential founding of America as a land of freedom.[28] The Bible was brought to America by the early American colonists, many of whom came seeking for religious freedom, but as Nephi saw in vision, the loss of “many plain and precious things” from the book would lead many to “stumble” (1Nephi 13-29).
Enter Joseph Smith, whom the Lord had foreordained for the great latter-day task. According to Brigham Young: “It was decreed in the counsels of eternity, long before the foundations of the earth were laid, that he, 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 eyes upon him, and upon his father, and upon his father’s father, and upon their progenitors clear back . . . to Adam. He has watched that family and that blood [line] . . . from its fountain to the birth of that man.”[29]
The Smith family had thus been prepared for generations for the advent of the future prophet. The fortuitous move of the Smith family from Vermont to upstate New York in late 1816 is attributed to successive crop failures, the result of a succession of cold summers, possibly due to increased volcanic activity, including the massive eruption of Mount Tambora, on the far away island of Sumbawa, in 1815.[30] Joseph Smith was thus placed in the right place and even in the right circumstances—that of a camp revival environment—to spark his question as to which of the churches was right; and even more to the point, in a location close to the Hill Cumorah where were deposited the gold plates, containing the scriptural record of the former inhabitant the American continent. The Bible was at his disposal and he was led to the passage of scripture in James 1:5 that urged those who lacked “wisdom” to call upon God (Joseph Smith-History, 5-14; 34, 51-52). The time was ripe for the glorious first vision in the spring of 1820 and the subsequent coming forth of the Book of Mormon. The restoration of divine authority and the fullness of the gospel followed.
Uniquely in the foreordained divine plan, the several chains of events came together at precisely the right time and place for the great work of Restoration to proceed.
The Book of Mormon had been prepared in the long history of the descendants of Lehi.
The land of America had been prepared as land of liberty independent of other nations.
The Bible had been preserved and brought to America. And Joseph Smith had been placed in the location and circumstances which would lead him to seek divine guidance from the Lord. The prophecy to Joseph of old was thus accomplished in every detail in the conjoining of these several chains of events. The latter-day seer, also named Joseph, was not only given power to bring forth the Book of Mormon, the word of God from the tribe of Joseph, to his latter-day descendants, but also “to the convincing them of my word [the Bible], which shall already have gone forth among them.”
The law of witnesses is that “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Cor.13:1, D&C 6:28, 2 Nephi 11:2-3). In this case, the means by which God would accomplish his purposes was not only through the testimony of individual witnesses, but by the convincing power of independent scriptural records as a collective manifestation of the law of witnesses. This was to be in connection with the prophesied gathering of the house of Israel. The scattering of Israel and the independent revelation of the gospel to dispersed branches would prepare the way for the operation of the law of witnesses in the combining of their scriptures (2 Nephi 29:11-14). The powerful law of witnesses would thus be given full sway, just as the Lord revealed to Joseph several millennia earlier, “unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among fruit of [his] loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of [God’s] covenants” (2 Nephi 3:11-12). The convergence of divinely orchestrated events was truly phenomenal in preparing for the great latter-day work.
Contingency Planning in the Divine Perspective
A powerful illustration of the concept divine contingency planning is the story relating to Martin Harris’s loss of the first 116 pages of the Book of Mormon. With divine foreknowledge of human events, God knew, centuries in advance of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, that Martin Harris would request the first 116 pages of the translation of Mormon’s record, and that the forces of evil would cause him to lose these pages. Satan had in fact plotted to have the manuscript changed by evil men to read contrary to the original text and then, if Joseph were to re-translate it, to produce the falsified version to persuade people not to believe the Book of Mormon (D& C 10: 6-33).
Therefore, knowing this evil plot well in advance, God had Nephi prepare another set of records pertaining particularly to his ministry some 2400 years earlier, “for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not” (1 Nephi 9:3, 5) and then God had Mormon place this record with his abridgement of the large plates of Nephi (W of M 3-6). This Mormon did for a “wise purpose” according to the “whispering of the spirit,” with the observation that “the Lord knoweth all things which are to come” (W of M 7). The small plates of Nephi, the Lord later explained, did in fact “throw greater views upon my gospel” than the lost pages, so that Joseph Smith could replace the lost pages with an alternate and more meaningful text, and thereby the work of the Lord would not be thwarted in this generation. In undoing of the subtle plan of the adversary, God explained that “my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil” (D&C 10: 43 [38-53]). This marvelous illustration of divine providence would help to explain the fundamental conundrum of how God can accomplish his work through his servants in a world of evil and designing men and contrary to the influence of the adversary.
God’s plans are often contingency plans, which take into account human foibles, the opposition of Satan and various circumstances. Adam and Eve, for example, were placed in the Garden of Eden and given the right of choice, and Satan was allowed to tempt them. Their fall, essential to the plan of salvation, was foreseen. A contingency plan was provided for their salvation in the preparation of a Savior, in the event of their partaking of the forbidden fruit.
The atonement of Christ was the greatest of all the contingency plans in that it provides a way for all of humanity to be cleansed from their sins on conditions of repentance and for their resurrection from the dead. Amazingly, the atonement of Christ depended on the evil actions of others, including Judas’ betrayal and the murderous intent of the Sanhedrin, the animosity of the Jews and the iniquitous crucifixion of the innocent Son of God. The concept of drawing good from evil is thus illustrated. The glorious resurrection could not have taken place without the evil taking of the Lord’s own life. This also involved His own willing sacrifice, however, as He also had power to prevent it. In addition, a contingency plan was prepared for those who might not have the opportunity to hear the gospel in their lifetime in the work of salvation for the dead, which involved the preaching of the gospel in the spirit world and the vicarious administration of saving ordinances by the living (see 1 Corinthians 15:29; 1 Peter 3:18-20; 4:6; D&C 138: 5-37).
God thus appears to engage in contingency planning to cover the conditions which he knows will arise due to human foibles and variety of circumstances. Having foreseen the falling away and the wickedness of the people in successive generations, God has sent prophets to open new dispensations of the gospel. When the children of Israel fell into bondage in Egypt, God sent a Moses to deliver them. The Restoration itself was a contingency plan against future events. In the 1833 preface to the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord speaks of His anger, because of the wickedness of the people and that His sword is “bathed in heaven” to fall on the inhabitants of the earth (D&C 1:13). He then details the reason why—because they have “strayed from mine ordinances, and broken mine everlasting covenant” and each walks “after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world . . . Wherefore, I, the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments” (1: 15-17). God’s work would thus go forth to counteract the apostate condition of the world.
The Pattern of Divine Foreknowledge
The pattern of divine foreknowledge followed by timely intervention in chains of events, which transcends the Molinist conception, may well prove to be a model worthy of consideration in a number of providential happenings in the lives of individuals and of nations. The divine orchestration of the converging chains of events leading to the Restoration of the gospel bears the divine imprint; only God could have conceived and carried out such a plan. Indeed, from the time of Joseph of old until the restoration of the gospel under Joseph Smith, the entire Book of Mormon story in its origins, preparation and coming forth, may be viewed as a meta happening, which contains many examples of the providential sequencing of events and timely intervention. Whom God sends represents a timely intervention at each crucial juncture. Joseph Smith was certainly foreordained in the spirit world for his great mission, and his family had been prepared for generations. The religious agitation in his neighborhood and his reading of James 1:5 was the final event which propelled him toward direct inquiry in the grove in the spring of 1820.
Satan only has foreknowledge of what God has revealed. In the Garden of Eden prior to the fall, he tempted Adam and Eve, “for he knew not the mind of God” (Moses 4:7). Those who disobey God are in Satan’s power. This is apparently what he seeks, most of all. But God can use the circumstances caused by evil acts to prepare the way for the desired outcome. Humans may break their covenants with God, but God has demonstrated that He can turn the results to a higher purpose.[31] People who do evil are no less accountable. But God can use evil to accomplish his purpose: the divine plan encompasses both good and evil. Good and evil are like the troughs and peaks of a wave, but God can use the force of the waves to accomplish his purposes. An omniscient God, who can see the end from the beginning, can thus provide for desired outcomes, while respecting the agency of man. Before the sheer complexity of such a situation, one cannot help but exclaim with Lehi: “Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty!” (1 Nephi 1:14).
Conclusions
Patterns of divine influence may provide clues as to the divine role in human affairs, for the Lord has declared, “I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived” (D&C 52:14). The foreknowledge of God and the consequent providential sequencing of events has extended all the way back to Adam and into the pre-earthly existence. Projecting these concepts into the future, by extension, one is thus left to marvel that God, while observing and respecting the agency of man, has foreseen all of the circumstances which will befall the children of Adam. This Joseph Smith has affirmed and also that He has “made ample provision” for their salvation.
While highly prescient in terms of the means by which God could both preserve the agency of man and accomplish His purposes, Luis de Molina, living in the sixteenth century, could not have known of the pre-earthly existence of man and the concept of foreordination. Nor could he have known of the sequential chain of events leading to the restoration of the gospel. But the fundamentals of his ideas do not appear to be contrary to the views contained within the restored gospel message, particularly with regard to the concept of man’s exercise of agency to choose the path to God. In this he was closer to Latter-day Saint theology than the later Calvinists who took the view that the heirs of salvation had already been predetermined by the grace of God, and that the extent of man’s choice was to recognize that grace. Latter-day Saint theology on the foreknowledge of God is consistent with Molina’s postulates, but provides a fuller and more meaningful understanding.
The discussion of divine providence in the past reaffirms God’s interest in the human family and His power to overrule the forces of evil at various junctures, according to His wisdom and judgment. In troubled times, one can take comfort from the knowledge that God is at the helm, and that as He has carried out his word previously, so shall He attend to the overall preservation of his people in the future (see 1 Nephi 22:17). For, as Nephi said, “the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words” (1 Nephi 9:6).
Endnotes
[1] See Alvin Plantinga, God, Freedom and Evil (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977 [c1974]); William Lane Craig, The Only Wise God: The Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1987); Luis de Molina, On Divine Foreknowledge: Part IV of the Concordia, tr., ed., with an introduction by Alfred J. Freddoso (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1988); Thomas P. Flint, Divine Providence: The Molinist Account (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998) ;Kenneth Keathley, Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2010); William Hasker, God, Time and Knowledge (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1989); For an account in layman`s language, see “Molinism,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molinism (consulted 18 March 2014, 5 November 2018).
[2] Kelly James Clark and Michael Rea, eds., Reason, Metaphysics, and Mind: New Essays on the Philosophy of Alvin Plantinga (Oxford; Oxford University Press, 2012). For an alternate view, see Dean Zimmermann, “The Providential Usefulness of “Simple Knowledge’” in Ibid. For the main lines of the controversy, see Ken Perszyk, ed., Molinism: The Contemporary Debate (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).
[3] For a fuller discussion, see chapters herein, Ricard O. Cowan and Craig James Ostler, “The Divine Plan and Providential History” and LeRoy E. Whitehead, “‘The Mighty Acts of God: The Scriptural Witness of God’s Involvement in Human History.”
[4] John W. Welch, after luncheon presentation at BYU, July 11, 2008, to contributors of articles then in preparation as a special issue of BYU Studies (Handouts by Welch, and notes of Roy A. Prete).
[5]Ibid. This chapter was written in response. See John W. Welch, “The Discovery of Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon, 40 Years Later,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 16/2, 74-99.
[6] During the Millennium, the gospel will be preached to all the inhabitants of the earth, resulting in their conversion, and saving ordinances will be administered vicariously for the dead in order to complete the work of redemption for the former inhabitants of the earth. (Gospel Principles [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1997], 282-83).
[7] Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Comp. by Joseph Fielding Smith (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1976), 220.
[8] Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, 220.
[9] James E. Talmage, The Great Apostasy [Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1909, reprinted 1994], 20)
[10] For a vast appraisal of divine omniscience within a Latter-day Saint perspective, including its relationship to Molinism, see Blake T. Ostler, Exploring Mormon Thought: The Attributes of God (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2001), 137-363. For the evolution of the concept of foreknowledge in LDS theology, see David l. Paulsen, “Response to Professor Pinnock,” in David W. Musser and David L. Paulsen, eds., Mormonism in Dialogue with Contemporary Christian Theologies (Macon, GA; Mercer University Press, 2007), 530-32.
[11] See Scott C Esplin, “Divine Attributes and the Role of God in History: The Witness of Scripture,” herein.
[12] Neal A. Maxwell, “Meeting the Challenges of Today,” BYU Devotional Address, 10 October 1978.
[13] Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, 365.
[14] Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, Selected and Arranged by John A. Widtsoe (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1966 [c. 1954]), 55.
[15] Ibid., 56.
[16] Talmage, The Great Apostasy, 20
[17] See John A. Widtsoe, A Rational Theology, 7th ed., (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1965), 16-18.
[18] Welch, “The Discovery of Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon,” 74-99. Welch’s sequential events did not cause each other, but there was an overall pattern of preparation of opportunities and circumstances, which prepared the way for the desired result of his making the inspired connection. Providential events, he concluded, may be empowering, open opportunities, but not be compelling. This is tied to divine respect for agency and choice.
The divine preparation of detailed events in our individual lives, Welch postulates, can also lead to the accomplishment of divine purposes as in his discovery of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon. While he was unable to “prove” the divine hand operating in similar ways in similar circumstances, the amassing of circumstantial evidence made a strong case for the likelihood of the proposition. (John W. Welch after luncheon presentation at BYU, July11, 2008).
[19] For the providential ordering of converging events preparing the way for the Restoration in the writings of Nephi, son of Lehi, see Roy A. Prete, “How Does God Intervene in History? Nephi’s Answer,” unpublished paper, June 2008.
[20] See Richard O. Cowan, Craig J. Ostler, “The Divine Plan and Providential History,” herein.
[21] Ideas adapted from John W. Welch after luncheon presentation at BYU on July 11, 2008 (Notes of Roy A. Prete)
[22] On technology, see Sherilyn Farnes, “Divine Influence in Technology: The Fourfold Mission of the Church,” herein.
[23] As humans with a limited perspective, we may have difficulty appreciating the multitude of the ways in which divine influence may be exerted. For an attempt to understand several of the more visible means of divine intervention in human affairs, see Roy A. Prete, “How Has God Intervened in History?” in Roy A. Prete, et al, eds, Window of Faith: Latter-day Saint Perspectives on World History (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center Brigham Young University, 2005), 175-95.
[24] The inspired revision of the Bible gives a somewhat more detailed account of the prophecy. (See LDS Version of the Bible [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1979], Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 50: 24-37).
[25] See also Roy A. Prete, “God in History? Nephi’s Answer,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 14/2 (Fall 2005), 26-37, 71.
[26] See Kent P. Jackson and Frank F. Judd Jr. eds., How the New Testament Came to Be: The 25th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 2006)
[27] Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, 10-11. For a sample of Latter-day Saint writings on the apostasy, see Talmage, The Great Apostasy; Kent P. Jackson, From Apostasy to Restoration (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1996); Noel B. Reynolds, ed., Early Christians in Disarray: Contemporary LDS Perspectives on the Christian Apostasy (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2005).
[28] On the importance of making the Bible available to the people, see Thomas S. Monson, “The way Home,” Ensign, May 1975, 15ff. For summary treatments of the Reformation, see Palmira Blummett, et al, Civilization:Past and Present , 9th ed., (New York: Longman, 2000), 384-422, 44647, and James P. McKay, et al., A History of World Societies, 5th ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2000), 459-484.
[29] Discourses of Brigham Young, 108
[30] Richard L. Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 27, 568 n67.
[31] This idea is very similar to that of Herbert Butterfield, an important twentieth century providential historian, who based many of his ideas on a study of the Old Testament. (See Malcolm R. Thorp, “Herbert Butterfield on Tragedies and Providence in the Twentieth-Century Historical Experience: A Reappraisal,” Prete et al, eds., Window of Faith, 447-60).