Joseph Smith — "And behold, how oft you have transgressed the commandments and the laws of God, …"
And behold, how oft you have transgressed the commandments and the laws of God, and have gone on in the persuasions of men.
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More from Joseph Smith
"It is an unchangeable decree of God, that whenever God gives a commandment to a man, if that man will not obey that commandment, he will be damned."
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Details
Doctrine and Covenants 3:6–7, 9, a rebuke to Joseph Smith himself after the loss of the 116 manuscript pages.
Date: 1828
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Understanding this quote
What it means
The quote confronts a recurring human failure: abandoning God's commands in favor of what other people urge or expect. 'Persuasions of men' means social pressure, peer approval, and human reasoning that overrides divine instruction. The word 'oft' signals this isn't a single lapse but a pattern. It demands self-examination — how often do we compromise convictions to satisfy others rather than honor a higher moral or spiritual standard?
Relevance to Joseph Smith
This verse from Doctrine & Covenants Section 3 was directed at Smith himself after he allowed Martin Harris to take 116 manuscript pages of the Book of Mormon translation — against earlier divine warning. Harris's repeated pleas wore Smith down. The pages were lost, likely stolen. This revelation was a direct rebuke of Smith's capitulation to social pressure over prophetic duty, illustrating the central tension of his life: divine calling versus human loyalty.
The era
The 1820s-1830s Second Great Awakening created fierce religious competition and skepticism in upstate New York. Anyone claiming new revelation faced crushing social and legal pressure to conform to established Protestant norms. Smith's followers were mobbed, expelled from states, and murdered. The phrase 'persuasions of men' carried real weight in a frontier society where community opinion could mean safety or violent exile — making doctrinal independence an act of physical as well as spiritual courage.
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