"This is My Work and My Glory"

“For behold, this is my work and my glory – to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”  This scripture is found in the book of Moses where God reveals his grand purpose for His children.  While studying the Renaissance and Reformation, I have noticed in particular how God’s hand played a role in the very details of events transpiring in this time span. Throughout the 14^th – 17^th century and then later in the 19^th century when the gospel of Jesus Christ was brought back to the earth in what we know as the restoration.  

The restoration of the gospel was happening long before the spring of 1820.  Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught, “Beginning in the 14th century, the Lord began to prepare those social, educational, religious, economic, and governmental conditions under which he could more easily restore the gospel for the last time among men.” 

There are many aspects of LDS doctrine that can be traced back to practices within the Renaissance and Reformation.  First and foremost is the idea of ad fontes, meaning, back to the sources.  This concept relates back to people during the Renaissance who sought learning from the Greek and Roman philosophers of the past. As one student noted in their blogpost, “many scholars sought primary sources to rediscover the language and thoughts of antiquity.”  

In the reformation, Martin Luther exemplified this theme of ad fontes while protesting against the church. Corruption had crept into it, he believed, because it had detoured from how Christ originally established it. His objective was to realign the church with the bible, sola scriptura, so he protested by posting 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle church.

Centuries later, a young farm boy by the name of Joseph Smith followed this same pattern of ad fontes, going back to the sources, by going directly to the source.  As another student wrote in their blogpost, “the best way to get the truth of a subject and to experience a real perspective is to go straight to the source.”  In this case, Joseph went to the Lord to inquire about which church he should join.  He, like Martin Luther, was inspired by God to go back to the sources.

There are many aspects of what Joseph restored that can be traced back to this time period of the reformation.  Protestantism brought about private writing after the invention of the printing press which allowed for individual spiritual experiences rather than only reaching heaven within the walls of the cathedrals.  A wonderful example of this private spiritual journaling is a man by the name of John Donne.  John Donne is well known for his Holy Sonnet No 14 where he completely opens up to God in a very humble and repentant manner.  This time of one on one experience is very common within the LDS church. 

One contrast with the LDS church and criticisms of the catholic church that Martin Luther held, is that of having hierarchical structure and offices.  Luther was very opposed to this idea, yet when Joseph Smith received revelation in restoring the church, the foundation of it was to bring the offices the Christ had originally ordained back to the church.  

There are a few distinct contrasts and many similarities to Mormon ideas and the thoughts and practices of the Renaissance and Reformation.  Regardless of these difference or similarities, it is evident to see that the many acts and protests that occurred were inspired by God.  In an LDS general conference address, Arnold Garr said the following, “Latter-day Saint leaders and authors have variously described this 500-year pre-Restoration period as the “grand design,” “great prologue,” and “prelude to the Restoration.”