The teachings of Joseph Smith include many religious doctrines as well as political ideas and theories, many of which he said were revealed to him by God. Joseph Smith is the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement and is recognized by multiple Latter Day Saint churches as the founder. Beginning in 1828, Smith began dictating the text of what later became the Book of Mormon, and also began dictating written revelations he said were inspired by God.
Smith's teachings evolved over his lifetime until his death in 1844. Smith's teachings were published during his lifetime in several books, including the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants (which included the Lectures on Faith), the Book of Abraham, and various essays he wrote in church newspapers. Many of his teachings were also published posthumously, including the transcription of sermons such as his King Follett Discourse, his writings in the official church history, and reminiscences of his teachings written by those who knew him.
Nature of God
Historians have debated about Smith's early conception of God. According to Dan Vogel and Thomas Alexander, in the early-to-mid-1830s Smith viewed God the Father as a spirit.; However, Terryl Givens and Brian Hauglid argue that although Smith sometimes spoke of God using trinitarian language, revelations he dictated as early as 1830 described God as an embodied being. Catholic philosopher Stephen H. Webb describes Smith having had a "corporeal and anthropomorphic understanding of God" evinced in his 1830 Book of Moses that described God as a physical being who literally resembles humans. Steven C. Harper states that because, in the 1830s, Smith privately described to some of his followers his 1820 first vision as a theophany of "two divine, corporeal beings," "its implications for the trinity and materiality of God were asserted that early".
Over time, Smith widely and clearly articulated a belief that God was an advanced and glorified man,; ; embodied within time and space.; By 1841, he publicly taught that God the Father and Jesus were distinct beings with physical bodies.; ; Nevertheless, he conceived of the Holy Spirit as a "personage of Spirit".; Smith extended this materialist conception to all existence and taught that "all spirit is matter", meaning that a person's embodiment in flesh was not a sign of fallen carnality, but a divine quality that humans shared with deity. Humans are, therefore, not so much God's creations as they are God's "kin". There is also considerable evidence that Smith taught, at least to limited audiences, that God the Father was accompanied by God the Mother. In this conception, God fully understood is plural, embodied, gendered, and both male and female.;
Church organization and structure Smith's teachings were rooted in dispensational restorationism. He taught that the Church of Christ restored through him was a latter-day restoration of the early Christian faith, which had been lost in the Great Apostasy. At first, Smith's church had little sense of hierarchy, and his religious authority was derived from his visions and revelations. Though he did not claim exclusive prophethood, an early revelation designated him as the only prophet allowed to issue commandments "as Moses".; ; This religious authority included economic and political, as well as spiritual, matters. For instance, in the early 1830s, Smith temporarily instituted a form of religious communism, called the United Order, that required Latter Day Saints to give all their property to the church, to be divided among the faithful.
Priesthood
By the mid-1830s, Smith began teaching a hierarchy of three priesthoods—the Melchizedek, the Aaronic, and the Patriarchal.; Each priesthood was a continuation of biblical priesthoods through lineal succession or through ordination by biblical figures appearing in visions. Upon introducing the Melchizedek or "High" Priesthood in 1831, Smith taught that its recipients would be "endowed with power from on high", fulfilling a desire for a greater holiness and an authority commensurate with the New Testament apostles.; ; ;
Priesthood keys Beginning in 1834, Smith began teaching the concept of priesthood "keys", and the requirement of literal priesthood ordination and a direct line of apostolic succession. Smith taught that he was the prophet, seer, and revelator of the restored church, and was given all the Priesthood keys necessary for the governance of the church by various angelic messengers in the Kirtland Temple and earlier, including Elijah, John the Baptist, and Saint Peter. He taught that he received revelations for the church from God, and was visited occasionally by angelic messengers.
Clergy Whereas the Book of Mormon had required clergy to work independently and support themselves, Smith later dictated revelations providing for clergy following the New Testament model of traveling "without purse or scrip", meaning that they would work as full-time clergy and be supported solely by donations from the church or from those to whom they taught..
Scripture and revelation Book of Mormon
In 1830, Smith published the Book of Mormon, which he characterized as a religious history of the indigenous people of the Americas.Years later, Smith would state that "the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion Mormonism, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." This book contained discussions and sermons teaching many traditional Christian doctrines, such as the idea that Jesus' death represents an atonement for the sins of humanity, that he was the Messiah, and that he was one with God the Father. However, some scholars interpret the book as portraying modalism rather than the traditional Trinitarian formulation.Widmer, Kurt (2000), Mormonism and the Nature of God: A Theological Evolution, 1830-1915, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, p. 6 . The book also promoted baptism by immersion, the practice of laying on of hands,Alma 31:36 (a high priest clapped his hands those listening to his sermon, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit); Moroni 2:2 (a set of Native American apostles of Jesus were given power for the laying on of hands) the rejection of infant baptism, the existence of a Great Apostasy (thus making Latter Day Saint doctrine firmly Restorationist), and the rejection of secret societies for ill gain.This is widely viewed by secular scholars as an opposition to Freemasonry, although years later Smith would become a Freemason himself. The book taught that all humanity, good and bad alike, will be resurrected and become immortal, receiving back their bodies whole, as a free gift of Jesus,A later reinforcement of that teaching: Sermon given by Joseph Smith, Jr., March 20, 1842, Nauvoo, Illinois, in a grove on the west side of the Temple ("all men will come from the grave as they lie down; whether old or young, there will not be added unto their stature one cubit, neither taken from it."). but that the wicked would suffer a "spiritual death" by which they would be forever separated from God. Some of the book's more unorthodox teachings within the context of Christianity include a positive view of the fall of Man, the idea that indigenous Americans were descendants of the Israelites, and the idea that the Americas were a chosen continent reserved only for the righteous.
Bible translation
Beginning later in 1830, Smith began producing a new revision of the Bible. This translation was a source of new doctrinal teachings, also influenced by the conversion of Sidney Rigdon, a former Disciples of Christ minister who converted to the church in 1831 with his entire congregation. Smith's version of the Bible generally followed the Authorized King James Version, with small changes; however, he also introduced large new passages, including a preface to Genesis and a significantly expanded 24th chapter of Matthew.
Revelations According to historian Richard Bushman, the "signal feature" of Smith's life was "his sense of being guided by revelation". Instead of presenting his ideas with logical arguments, Smith dictated authoritative scripture-like "revelations" and let people decide whether to believe, doing so with what Peter Coviello calls "beguiling offhandedness". Smith and his followers treated his revelations as being above teachings or opinions, and he acted as though he believed in his revelations as much as his followers. Smith's first recorded revelation was a rebuke chastising Smith for having let Martin Harris lose 116 pages of Book of Mormon manuscript.; ; The revelation was written as if God were talking rather than as a declaration mediated through Smith; subsequent revelations assumed a similar authoritative style, often opening with words such as, "Hearken O ye people which profess my name, saith the Lord your God."
According to Smith's follower Parley P. Pratt, Smith dictated his revelations, which were recorded by a scribe without revisions or corrections. Revelations were immediately copied and then circulated among church members. Smith's revelations often came in response to specific questions. He described the revelatory process as having "pure Intelligence" flowing into him. Smith, however, never viewed the wording to be infallible. The revelations were not God's words verbatim, but "couched in language suitable to Joseph's time".
Many of Smith's teachings, such as the Word of Wisdom, were delivered as revelations. Others, however, were given in Smith's own voice. Smith gave varying types of revelations. Some were temporal, while others were spiritual or doctrinal. Some were received for a specific individual, while others were directed at the whole church. An 1831 revelation called "The Law" contained directions for missionary work, rules for organizing society in Zion, a reiteration of the Ten Commandments, an injunction to "administer to the poor and needy" and an outline for the law of consecration.; An 1832 revelation called "The Vision" added to the fundamentals of sin and atonement, and introduced doctrines of life after salvation, exaltation, and a heaven with degrees of glory.; Another 1832 revelation was the first to explain priesthood doctrine.; Three months later, Smith gave a lengthy revelation called the "Olive Leaf" that discussed subjects such as light, truth, intelligence, and sanctification. A related revelation, given in 1833, put Christ at the center of salvation.;
Publication
In 1833, Smith edited and expanded many of his previously dictated revelations, publishing them as the Book of Commandments, which later became part of the Doctrine and Covenants.;
Secular administration and commandments Zion The Book of Mormon spoke of a city of Zion to be built in the Americas, which would be the same as the biblical New Jerusalem. Smith elaborated in 1830 that the location for this Zion would be somewhere near the United States border among the Native American tribes, and the "elect" of the world would be gathered to this location during the great Tribulation that preceded the second coming of Jesus.
Word of Wisdom
In 1833, at a time of temperance agitation, Smith delivered a revelation called the "Word of Wisdom", which counseled a diet of wholesome herbs, fruits, grains and a sparing use of meat. It also recommended that Latter Day Saints avoid "strong" alcoholic drinks, tobacco, and "hot drinks" (later interpreted to mean tea and coffee).; ; The Word of Wisdom was originally framed as a recommendation rather than a commandment and was not strictly followed by Smith and other early Latter Day Saints,; ; though it later became a requirement in the LDS Church.
Consecration