Appearances of Jesus

[LDS Physician]

I am wondering if there exists a collection of records describing the appearances of the Savior in this dispensation? If not, I'd love to create one.

[brianj]

I doubt it would be possible to create such a list because I'll bet most people who have had that experience wouldn't openly share it. We only know of Lorenzo Snow's face to face because the granddaughter he told the story to eventually spilled the beans.

I heard from someone who described an experience with one of the Twelve in a university institute. He invited people to write down questions, and one of the questions asked if he had ever seen Christ. He tried to answer but said the Spirit constrained him. But at the end of the meeting he shared his testimony, in which many of the people present became convinced that he had actually seen his Savior even though he didn't explicitly say so.

tl;dr If people aren't going to publicly share their experiences seeing the Savior then you won't be able to compile a complete list.

[marc]

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=31742&p=444578

[Silver]

We say that the teachings and ordinances of the temple are "sacred," not secret. It's true. Almost every person in the world could qualify to enter the temple under the conditions of repentance and obedience. We desire all to receive their endowment. Shouldn't that perspective be applied to meeting the Savior? To seeing him face to face?

The apostle Paul certainly told the world that he saw the Lord. Should we follow Paul's example or should we not share when we have such a glorious experience?

I know a man who saw the Lord and spoke with Him. He shared that experience with me because he knows I'm a believer and that I would not mock him. That man has not shared with his wife who is not a member of the Church, although she is a Christian.

[passionflower]

Every one of us has "seen the Saviour". During our premortal life, that is.

[marc]

I am wondering if there exists a collection of records describing the appearances of the Savior in this dispensation? If not, I'd love to create one.

When you say "appearances of the Savior," do you mean to say only to general authorities? Because there is a growing number of witnesses throughout the world of Jesus Christ. And it seems to be happening more outside our church than inside. I personally know and have known at least four people who have seen our Savior. I personally have not seen Him, but I have very high hopes and a full expectation that He will visit me before I leave this mortal life.

[BeNotDeceived]

Was written as a Masters Thesis by a grad-student at BYU and tells of four.

[marc]

.

[sandman45]

I am wondering if there exists a collection of records describing the appearances of the Savior in this dispensation? If not, I'd love to create one.

The last known one was with Lorenzo Snow.

There are 2 versions of this story. I will put both for those who want to know.

Official Story as related in "official" church documents

President Snow put his right hand on Allie’s head and said, “Now granddaughter, I want you to remember that this is the testimony of your grandfather, that he told you with his own lips that he actually saw the Savior, here in the temple, and talked with him face to face.”

-https://www.lds.org/friend/1993/08/lore ... n?lang=eng

Unofficial story

(a) At the time of his vision, Lorenzo was fully expecting a manifestation. He fully expected a vision of sorts as he went through the true order of prayer in the SLC temple. Some suggest that such visions were common when one went through the true order of prayer back in the day. That may or may not be true, but Snow most certainly was looking for an answer to his prayers.

To this point, Lorenzo Snow once noted:

“It will be recollected that this Gospel message proposed to give us divine manifestations through our doing certain specified acts; we have performed those acts in precisely the manner indicated. None but ourselves have attempted to conform to this arrangement; consequently, no other people are prepared to be witnesses either for or against this system. … That principle imparts the knowledge or the rock of revelation upon which the Savior declared His people should be established; and we constitute the only religious community which dares assume this Scriptural position; and our realization of the Savior’s promise, “that hell shall not prevail against” a people thus established, affords us peace, tranquility, unshaken confidence, and a cheering and happy assurance of security in the midst of all kinds of threatened ruin and overthrow. It is the people, the masses–not exclusively their leaders, who possess this knowledge, and boldly testify to its possession. (Lorenzo Snow, JD 26:378)

(b) Anthon H. Lund told LeRoi C. Snow, Lorenzo’s son, “a number of times of the Savior’s appearance to [Lorenzo Snow], after he had dressed in his Temple robes, presented himself before the Lord and offered up the signs of the priesthood.” Church News, Apr. 2, 1938.)[3]

(c) After going through the signs and tokens of the true order of prayer, even though he was fully expecting a manifestation, nothing happened. This shocked Lorenzo, who thought that the non-response was due to his unworthiness. He allegedly went and asked for forgiveness from those people he thought he had wronged, or could have wronged, in some way. He then returned to the temple and performed the signs and tokens a second time, again fully expecting a manifestation (presumably because anciently the signs and tokens were the key words which brought revelation; several journal accounts of others indicate that once they gathered around the altar, prayed and performed the signs and tokens, answers came post haste). Again, though, nothing happened. No vision, no revelation, nothing. Snow waited for some time there in front of the altar hoping for a manifestation but finally got up to leave the altar and left the Holy of Holies, distraught by the lack of an answer and not fully sure what the non-response meant.

(d) After leaving the Holy of Holies, in this distraught state, he enters a hallway. There in the hallway he receives an unexpected vision of Christ, the same vision noted in the “official” church account. The “official” church records suggest that the purpose of the vision was merely to communicate how Lorenzo should direct and set-up the first presidency. According to Kraut, however, Lorenzo was told – among other things – that the Lord could not (or would not) appear to him there in the Holy of Holies, over the altar. As Snow was now the presiding High Priest, the common protocol (if we’re even to assume that Christ cares about protocol, and there’s enough evidence to suggest that he doesn’t) would be for Him to appear to Snow in his official capacity. There, however, in the hallway Christ proceeds to tell Lorenze that the vision was not happening as the result of becoming the presiding High Priest of the Church, with the passing of Wilford Woodruff, rather, this “meeting” had nothing to do with him being in that position. Lorenzo is then told that the Lord would not appear him in that capacity, and mostly because the church had rejected Him. Given that the Church had rejected the Savior, the Savior could no longer appear to the Church, or so the “unofficial” story goes. The Savior appeared to Lorenzo as an individual, and only as an individual.

Full article from here if you want
https://truthmarche.wordpress.com/2010/ ... on-of-him/

[Arenera]

From Elder Haight - https://www.lds.org/general-conference/ ... e?lang=eng

I was shown a panoramic view of His earthly ministry: His baptism, His teaching, His healing the sick and lame, the mock trial, His crucifixion, His resurrection and ascension. There followed scenes of His earthly ministry to my mind in impressive detail, confirming scriptural eyewitness accounts. I was being taught, and the eyes of my understanding were opened by the Holy Spirit of God so as to behold many things.

The first scene was of the Savior and His Apostles in the upper chamber on the eve of His betrayal. Following the Passover supper, He instructed and prepared the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper for His dearest friends as a remembrance of His coming sacrifice. It was so impressively portrayed to me—the overwhelming love of the Savior for each. I witnessed His thoughtful concern for significant details—the washing of the dusty feet of each Apostle, His breaking and blessing of the loaf of dark bread and blessing of the wine, then His dreadful disclosure that one would betray Him.

[BackBlast]

I am wondering if there exists a collection of records describing the appearances of the Savior in this dispensation? If not, I'd love to create one.

I say create one anyway even if you find a few.

The world could always use another one.

[brianj]

Lorenzo Snow told his granddaughter a story meant just for her. If she didn't publish the story, we wouldn't know of Lorenzo's vision of the Savior.
Someone I know described a meeting at a church institute with one of the Twelve. Attendees were invited to write down questions and the Apostle would read then answer them. One of the questions asked if he had seen the Savior. Initially he declined to answer, then said it wasn't fair for him to not answer a question and went back to it, then said that the Holy Ghost forbade answering that question. At the end of the meeting he bore a powerful testimony, and afterward some of the people in attendance complained that he hadn't answered that question. But others knew that question had been affirmatively answered in the concluding testimony.

The problem with assembling a complete list of appearances is that few, if any, of the people who have had that experience will share their experience so you won't be able to add their experiences to your list. But I would love to see a compiled list of all known accounts.

[gardener4life]

For starters, the people who really have seen him and tell about it becomes martyrs. And when really pure, innocent celestial people are slain this way it incurs the judgments of God upon that nation. This is one reason. We already have enough trouble with the judgments of God from what's already been done without adding anymore gasoline to the fire. Also you can find references for this idea but I forgot where its at. This isn't just my opinion.

Number 2...go look at Alma 12:9. This is one of the reasons too why people don't bring it up. Giving them too much when they weren't ready for it would cause a reaction on someone that still has a chance to accept if given a slower pace. Don't feed a baby steak. The baby still can grow up.

Also for another point...we can do more work when under the radar unnoticed. We don't need extra attention. We can just keep doing what we need to and get tons more work done if we don't have to stand guard so much. So for now we'll keep going under the radar and when morning comes the field will already be harvested hopefully as much as can be done first before that negative attention happens.

People that have seen the savior aren't going to tell you about it. Also it's in the D&C that the Father and the Son appear personally to men...the faithful. Part of this has meaning in correlation with D&C 88:1-5, and also there's a reference to back this up on D&C 93:1-5; "...but it will be in his own time, and in his own way, and in his own place..."

[lemuel]

For starters, the people who really have seen him and tell about it becomes martyrs. And when really pure, innocent celestial people are slain this way it incurs the judgments of God upon that nation. This is one reason. We already have enough trouble with the judgments of God from what's already been done without adding anymore gasoline to the fire. Also you can find references for this idea but I forgot where its at. This isn't just my opinion.

Number 2...go look at Alma 12:9. This is one of the reasons too why people don't bring it up. Giving them too much when they weren't ready for it would cause a reaction on someone that still has a chance to accept if given a slower pace. Don't feed a baby steak. The baby still can grow up.

Also for another point...we can do more work when under the radar unnoticed. We don't need extra attention. We can just keep doing what we need to and get tons more work done if we don't have to stand guard so much. So for now we'll keep going under the radar and when morning comes the field will already be harvested hopefully as much as can be done first before that negative attention happens.

People that have seen the savior aren't going to tell you about it. Also it's in the D&C that the Father and the Son appear personally to men...the faithful. Part of this has meaning in correlation with D&C 88:1-5, and also there's a reference to back this up on D&C 93:1-5; "...but it will be in his own time, and in his own way, and in his own place..."

The BoM is full of non-martyrs that saw God--Lehi, Nephi, Bro of Jared, Alma...

Alma 12:9--I could be wrong, but I imagine that there's a lot of things Jesus tells you when you meet him that you shouldn't disclose. I suspect that those are the mysteries referred to, but those mysteries are different from sharing the simple witness "That He lives! For we saw him."

[lemuel]

Boyd K. Packer has either seen Christ, or he was lying when he said:

Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon recorded the following after a sacred experience:

“And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

“For we saw him” (D&C 76:22–23).

Their words are my words.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/ ... s?lang=eng

[kittycat51]

I am wondering if there exists a collection of records describing the appearances of the Savior in this dispensation? If not, I'd love to create one.

From a previous thread last year I posted this:
viewtopic.php?f=57&t=44877&p=766578#p766578

[gardener4life]

In regards to; The BoM is full of non-martyrs that saw God--Lehi, Nephi, Bro of Jared, Alma...

Yes, and I agree. I think I could have worded that better. But those are pretty rare even for the rare for someone to be OK with talking about it in their generation and often they don't come out till later. And we're both on the same page that its certainly NOT required to be a martyr if someone had that kind of experience, but perhaps I just didn't word that well.

It's good you noticed that. It's wonderful you are thinking of spiritual things and I hope more people are like you. However, i would say that those people didn't always let on in their generation what had happened and there were circumstances sometimes involved. For example, Nephi on the tower had to receive intervention to save his life, so did the other Nephi, Lehi. Brother of Jared was told his experiences would also be sealed up until people could handle it. Alma also came very close to being a martyr with Amulek, if not for intervention.

I

[inho]

I assume that a book that will be out soon will discuss the appearances of Jesus:
I Know He Lives: How 13 Special Witnesses Came to Know Jesus Christ by Dennis B. Horne

The author writes this in his blog:

I Know He lives will contain an Introduction followed by part 1 containing 3 introductory chapters. The remaining space (part 2) then reviews how these 13 specially selected apostles came to know, and I mean know, Jesus the Christ as He lives today—resurrected, glorified, and exalted. The chapters (in manuscript form) are from 8 to 18 pages long. They do touch on life history, but then concentrate on the hardships and disciplined spiritual preparation each man received, and especially how they came to know Jesus personally.

In his blog, he also writes about these apostles. Those entries are interesting read.