Job's Friends

I haven't spent much time in the Book of Job.  I am familiar with the story, but remember from my seminary days that 42 chapters seemed awfully long for telling that a good man lost everything, but through faith it was restored double.  Maybe it is time to read it again, with a little more of my own life experience to reflect on.

In any case, the story of Job was brought to my attention recently when Daniel was preparing his lesson for Primary class.  We started talking about friendship and judging.  In the story, Job's friends come to him in his misery and do what friends do - they tried to help.  I imagine them having the best of intentions as they offered counsel and support.  They knew that God is just and that blessings come through keeping the commandments, but somehow in the process they became accusers.  Maybe they were repeating what others were saying. Maybe they recognized his afflictions as specific judgments that resulted from breaking commandments.  Whatever the situation, they did not believe him when he declared his innocence.  As a result, God required Job to offer a sacrifice on their behalf - for they were the ones, who as false accusers, were now guilty of offense.

Because the timing of this Job lesson came as the LDS church's essays on polygamy were getting nationwide attention, I began to wonder whether or not we, as modern day friends of the Prophet Joseph are guilty of this same offense before God.  Why, as his friends, do we believe the rumors he publicly denied throughout his life?  

I have no claim to specific knowledge on the subject.  I have read more than some people and much less than others on the topic of polygamy.  What weighs most on my mind is that the person on trial here is not Joseph, it is me.  When given two sides of an event which I have no personal knowledge of, sheer volume of "evidence" is not enough to convict anyone.  "For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man [judgeth] on the outward appearance, but the Lord [judgeth] on the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)  My ability to accept Joseph as a prophet of God is dependent on him having the character to say what he means and mean what he says, or else he would be an unreliable witness. If I am willing to parse together an interpretation of his words that mean something totally opposite to what he said publicly (in order to believe what Brigham Young, or Eliza Snow, or anyone else said about him years after his death when he couldn't defend himself), then that standard of interpretation would also apply to everything Joseph taught. I'm not willing to subject the restoration of the gospel to that standard, or it would be completely meaningless.  If I am wrong in my opinion, I would rather err on the side of mercy than otherwise, knowing I will be judged by the standard I use to judge others.

I am not writing today to convince anyone of anything.  To my knowledge, my mom will probably be the only one who reads this .(Hi, Mom. I love you.) I have even been told that putting opinions online that dissent from the church teachings is wrong, even if they are personal opinions on a personal blog.  However, I want to be the friend of Joseph and Job who came and sat by their side when everything else had been taken.  In order to do that, I am posting here for anyone to read who might care what I think. I wouldn't be much of a friend and comfort by staying quiet amid the gossip, would I?