The Baha'i Studies Listserv Dear Mary Lou:
Personally, I think that Mormons should primarily be approached as Christians, only secondarily as Mormons. That is, that they are best approached with the explanations in Some Answered Questions and the Book of Certitude, about the Bible and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, the way any other Christians would be approached, rather than on a focus on the various writings of the Latter Day Saints religion.
Because I do not see the Guardian endorsing Joseph Smith as a Lesser Prophet, and I do not see him endorsing his writings as sacred Scripture. The source for the Guardian's writings on this Faith are primarily found in Lights of Guidance, I suggest you take a look there. And the Guardian says in one of his letters to the Baha'is of Alaska that historians will pass on his writings, which is not the approach he takes to any Scriptures:
"As there is nothing specific about Joseph Smith in the teachings, the Guardian has no statement to make on his position or about the accuracy of any statement in the Book of Mormon regarding American history or its peoples. This is a matter for historians to pass upon" (Shoghi Effendi through his secretary, High Endeavours - Messages to Alaska, p. 71)
The Guardian wrote that it is advisable to approach the LDS people with matters that are common to both, and my recollection is that he said that we share certain ethical teachings, such as chastity and abstinence from alcohol.
There are books such as "So Great A Cause" by an LDS man who became a Baha'i, which you can get on inter-library loan, the Las Cruces public library has a very good program for this, and this would answer your question about the prophecy in Joseph Smith's book The Pearl of Great Price, about if he lived to a certain age he would see the return of Christ, and that pointed to a date towards the end of Baha'u'llah's life.
Joseph Smith was murdered about one month after the Declaration of the Bab. Brent __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:arch...@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-503965-274...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to ly...@list.jccc.edu Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai...@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
