JOSEPH SMITH'S LEGACY AND IMPACT
I was impressed by something I read recently which Will Durant the famous historian wrote about the philosopher Plato in a small book titled The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time. Making his case for including Plato as number two on his list of “The Ten ‘Greatest’ Thinkers,” Durant wrote:
Consider that at this moment, in a hundred countries and a thousand cities, a hundred thousand students, young and old, are absorbed in the Republic or the Dialogues, are being slowly and gratefully molded into a sensitive wisdom by the ardor and subtlety of Plato. Here is an immortality of the soul which makes almost insignificant the passing of the flesh.(1)
If I understand Durant correctly, one of his arguments is that Plato is important and can be considered one of the greatest thinkers of all time, at least in the Western tradition, because of the size of impact he continues to have on 100,000 students yearly in a thousand cities in a hundred countries around the world. Of course, this is Durant’s guestimate of Plato’s ongoing impact, but it is not difficult to agree with that sentiment.
Durant’s comments caused me to consider the legacy and impact left by the Prophet Joseph Smith. That led me to check out the statistics for just the Seminary and Institute program of the Church, of which I was a part my entire adult career of about 35 years. Online I tapped into the Seminaries and Institutes of Religion Annual Report for 2013, and here is what I found.
Total enrollment in seminaries world wide (ca. 148 countries) in 2013 = 391,680, 186,996 of which were outside of the United States. Total enrollment in the Institute program was 352,488 of which 199,754 were outside of the United States. For a grand total of S&I students world wide in 2013 of nearly three quarters of a million, 744,168 to be exact.(2)
Now consider that these students are all engaged in one way or another studying the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Specifically they study the Old and New Testaments, which courses include healthy doses from the JST, Joseph’s inspired additions and alterations to the Bible. They also include numerous courses on The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, as well as various doctrinal and historical classes, some of which are devoted to the “teachings” of Joseph Smith as found in his non-canonical writings.
The figures cited above do not include those attending Church universities in Provo, Utah; Laie, Hawaii; and Rexburg, Idaho–many, many thousands more–all of whom are required to study our religion as part of their general education requirements. Nor do they include students in weekly Sunday School, Relief Society, Priesthood Quorums, or symposia, lectures, “educations weeks,” and firesides. So, let me paraphrase Durant in reference to Joseph Smith:
Consider that at this moment, in a hundred and forty-eight countries and thousands of cities, towns, hamlets, and villages; over seven hundred thousand students, young and old, are absorbed in the Standard Works, are being slowly and gratefully molded into a sensitive wisdom by the ardor and subtlety of Joseph Smith. Here is an immortality of the soul which makes almost insignificant the passing of the flesh.
Indeed, “Here is an immortality of the soul which makes almost insignificant the passing of the flesh.” It is enough to make the enemies of Mormonism fear and tremble in their boots and the Saints to rejoice and praise God, saying “Thank God for Joseph Smith.”
Lets think together again, soon.
Notes:
1. Will Durant, The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002), p. 16.
2. Seminaries and Institutes of Religion Annual Report for 2013, (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2013). Available online at: https://www.lds.org/search?lang=eng&query=Church+Education+enrollment
