During the period between the time when the Church of
Jesus Christ established at the time of Christ was taken from the earth and the
promised restoration of all things was know as the dark ages. It was a time
that the Old Testament Prophet Amos called a “famine of hearing the words of
the Lord” (Amos
8:11-12). After all the apostles died, the priesthood
authority that they held was also lost. Revelation ceased and there was no one
on the earth that could hear the word of the Lord. The earth plunged into the
dark ages. This lasted until the spring of 1820 when a 14-year-old boy entered
a grove of trees and prayed to know which church to join.
Getting from apostacy to restoration was no easy task
but Lord knew what needed to be done and an American Prophet wrote about it 600
years before the birth of Jesus Christ. He said:
And
it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying: Look! And I looked and
beheld many nations and kingdoms.
And
the angel said unto me: What beholdest thou? And I said: I behold many nations
and kingdoms.
And
he said unto me: These are the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles.
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.
And
it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the bland of
promise; and I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my
brethren; and they were scattered before the Gentiles and were smitten.
And
I 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 13:1-19)
The Lord knew that changes in religious freedom needed
to happen before his Gospel could be restored. Many reformers sought for
religious reforms and were persecuted and killed for their ideas. Governments
and churches persecuted and killed those who worked to make changes and to
bring the bible to the common person. If a restoration was to succeed, a new
form of government needed to be established.
Almost 2400 years before the U.S Constitution was
established; the Lord showed a prophet that Columbus and later others would
come to America. He saw those who would come to America seeking religious
freedom. He was shown the revolutionary war and other wars and that the Lord
would bless the young nation with independence from all other nations. But
before The Gospel of Jesus Christ could be restored and survive more than a new
government needed to be established, true religious freedom was needed.
The Articles of Confederation did not guarantee
freedom of religion. Each state had their own “state” religion and if you did
not belong to that church you were persecuted. Even though the churches were
not government sponsored, the people that belonged to different churches
migrated to areas where common believers lived and so they might as well have
been state supported.
Not until the Constitution of the United States was
ratified and became law was true religious freedom guaranteed and protected by
law. The first amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. The
first 10 amendments were ratified on September 25, 1789. Finally, a government
with a constitution was established that would allow true religious freedom.
The new constitutional government would produce the
religious revivals or great awakening from 1790-1820 and would be the beginning
of the restoration of all things as foretold in the Book of Acts. It is during
this time when Joseph Smith and his family started attending the religious
revivals in their area leading Joseph to want to know which of the many
churches was the true church of Jesus Christ.
Many of the delegates that helped write the
constitution acknowledged the hand of God in founding of our constitutional
government. Benjamin Franklin speaking to the constitutional delegates stated: "the longer I live, the more
convincing proofs I see of this Truth--that God governs in the Affairs of
Men." "I also believe," Franklin continued, that "without
his concurring Aid, we shall succeed in this political Building no better than
the Builders of Babel." (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel06.html#obj145)
The Lord Jesus Christ
speaking to his church on December 16, 1833 said:
“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.” (Doctrine
and Covenants 101:80)
The eleventh article of faith of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints says:
“We claim the privilege of worshiping
Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men
the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.”
Joseph Smith once said:
“I am bold to declare before Heaven that I am just as ready
to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of
any denomination; for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of
the Latter-day Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics, or
of any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend
themselves. It is a love of liberty which inspires my soul — civil and
religious liberty to the whole of the human race.” (Joseph
Smith – Religious Freedom)
These “wise men” understood that having a government
that protected the right of all its citizens to worship God as they desired was
important to the success of the new nation. It was important then and it is
still important today; however, these freedoms are being restricted so much
that the first amendment guarantees are being lost. All citizens of the United
States, no matter what church they belong to, must do everything in their power
to elect people that will protect the rights we were given in the first amendment.
The future of our country depends on religious freedom.
Your comments and questions are welcome.
