{"id":98004,"date":"2022-12-22T18:52:53","date_gmt":"2022-12-23T01:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=98004"},"modified":"2022-12-23T16:31:42","modified_gmt":"2022-12-23T23:31:42","slug":"noting-tomorrows-anniversary-of-the-birth-of-joseph-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/12\/noting-tomorrows-anniversary-of-the-birth-of-joseph-smith.html","title":{"rendered":"Noting tomorrow’s anniversary of the birth of Joseph Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Sharon<\/a>
Decorative lights at the birthplace of the Prophet Joseph Smith in Sharon, Vermont.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know the senior missionary couple that is currently stationed there in Sharon, but I can confidently predict that, if you ask them, they will pretend that the lights are there for Christmas, and will pretend never to have heard of \u201cSmithmas.\u201d\u00a0 Latter-day Saints are just sooooo darned deceptive!
(Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perhaps, had he not been born so close to the super-holiday of Christmas, Joseph Smith\u2019s birthday would have been widely commemorated among contemporary Latter-day Saints in the manner of, say, Pioneer Day.\u00a0 I rather doubt it, but perhaps.\u00a0 As it is, like a celestial object that\u2019s positioned adjacent to the sun in the daytime sky, any thoughts of Joseph\u2019s birth that might arise among members of the Restored Church are overwhelmed by the festival of Christ\u2019s birth and the celebrations (as well as, let\u2019s face it, by the frenzy of commercialism) that precede and accompany it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perhaps, as I say.\u00a0 But not very likely.\u00a0 To continue my astronomical metaphor, if Jesus is the sun, Joseph Smith is a moon.\u00a0 What do I mean by that?\u00a0 I mean to suggest that Joseph\u2019s is a reflected light.\u00a0 He is not luminescent in and of himself, innately.\u00a0 Thanks to the sun, our planet teems with life on land, in the soil, in the air, and in the waters.\u00a0 The pale light of our moon cannot sustain life on its own.\u00a0 Earth would be sterile.\u00a0 And the moon itself would be lost in utter darkness.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGod<\/em> is the light of the heavens and the earth,\u201d says Qur\u2019an 24:35 (emphasis mine). \u00a0Not Muhammad.\u00a0 Not Joseph Smith.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the beginning\u00a0God created\u00a0the heavens\u00a0and the earth.\u00a0\u00a0Now the earth was formless\u00a0and empty,\u00a0darkness was over the surface of the deep,\u00a0and the Spirit of God\u00a0was hovering\u00a0over the waters. \u00a0And God said,\u00a0\u201cLet there be light,\u201d and there was light.\u00a0\u00a0God saw that the light was good,\u00a0and he separated the light from the darkness.\u201d \u00a0(Genesis 1:1-4, NIV)<\/p>\n

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.\u00a0\u00a0He was with God in the beginning.\u00a0\u00a0Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. \u00a0In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.\u00a0\u00a0The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.\u00a0 (John 1:1-5, NIV)<\/p>\n

That Ultimate Truth is declared as the illuminator of all that illuminates, beyond the darkness of ignorance, residing within everyone.\u00a0 (Bhagavad Gita 13:18)<\/p>\n

God is the light of the heavens and the earth. \u00a0The likeness of his light is as a niche wherein is a lamp; the lamp is in a crystal, and the crystal, shining as if a pearl-like star, lit from the oil of a blessed olive tree that is neither of the east nor of the west. \u00a0The oil would almost give light of itself though no fire touches it. \u00a0Light upon light! \u00a0God guides to His Light whom He wills.\u00a0 (Qur\u2019an 24:35, my translation)<\/p>\n

He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth; which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made. \u00a0As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made; as also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made; and the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand. \u00a0And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space\u2014the light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.\u00a0 (Doctrine and Covenants 88:6-13)<\/p>\n

I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.\u00a0 (Doctrine and Covenants 93:2)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But tomorrow, 23 December 2022, is indeed the anniversary\u2014the two hundred and seventeenth, to be exact\u2014of the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith.\u00a0 And I won\u2019t let that fact pass unnoticed on my blog.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

As happens each year, critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> are rolling out their annual lie that the Saints celebrate \u201cSmithmas,\u201d Joseph\u2019s birthday, with more enthusiasm and vigor than members of the Church give to the mainstream Christian holiday of Christmas.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

For many such critics, I expect that it\u2019s just a rather bitter and not particularly funny joke. \u00a0Some, though, seem to take the falsehood seriously \u2014 or, at least, to want\u00a0others<\/em>\u00a0to take it seriously.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The truth, of course, is that most Latter-day Saints don\u2019t even know that 23 December\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0the Prophet\u2019s birthday, let alone\u00a0celebrate<\/em> it. \u00a0This year, as in all previous years, the First Presidency Christmas devotional failed to mention \u201cSmithmas\u201d even a single solitary time.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just to put the truth on the record, though, for those who might otherwise be innocently taken in by the claim, here are some things that I\u2019ve written about it during previous years:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cProphet\u2019s birthday fits with season\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Twas the last Sunday before \u2018Smithmas\u2019\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cJoseph Smith would be 210 years old today\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cA modern witness to the baby born in Bethlehem\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"SLC<\/a>
This stained glass of Joseph Smith\u2019s First Vision was created in 1913 by an unknown artist, and is now located in the Museum of Church History and Art in Salt Lake City, Utah
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The image of Joseph Smith\u2019s First Vision shown immediately above will serve as clearly as anything, I suppose, to illustrate the believing Latter-day Saint view of his position. \u00a0It is clearly subordinate. \u00a0The Father and the Son initiated that visit. \u00a0Joseph didn\u2019t. \u00a0He was the (surprised and eventually overwhelmed) petitioner. \u00a0The Father and the Son are instructing him, not the other way around. \u00a0He kneels before them. \u00a0They<\/em> do not<\/em> kneel before him<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Latter-day Saints have no problem distinguishing a prophet of God from God himself, or telling Joseph Smith apart from the Lord.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back in the days when my wife and I used to host a little \u201cbirthday party\u201d for Joseph Smith on 23 December, we would maybe tell a story or two about the Prophet\u2014or invite somebody else to do so. \u00a0(One year, for example, the late historian Scott Faulring participated in our small event.) \u00a0Maybe we would express some appreciation for Joseph. \u00a0Then we would enjoy potluck refreshments and sing Christmas carols. \u00a0Note: \u00a0Not \u201cSmithmas carols.\u201d\u00a0 No such songs exist.\u00a0 Christmas<\/em> carols. \u00a0It was an excuse to get together, and to sing with some highly musical friends.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I do not confuse Joseph Smith with my Savior Jesus Christ.\u00a0 I don\u2019t confuse the Sun and the Moon.\u00a0 But I\u2019m deeply grateful for Joseph and for what, through the grace of God, he was able to do.\u00a0 And I want to put that on public record.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Perhaps, had he not been born so close to the super-holiday of Christmas, Joseph Smith\u2019s birthday would have been widely commemorated among contemporary Latter-day Saints in the manner of, say, Pioneer Day.\u00a0 I rather doubt it, but perhaps.\u00a0 As it is, like a celestial object that\u2019s positioned adjacent to the sun in the 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