With my faith’s practice of baptism for the dead, in my opinion, so misunderstood, it was interesting that this five-page Heber Q. Hale “vision” fell on my desk. It alleges to be a divine vision of the spirit world that Hale, president of the Boise, Idaho, stake almost 100 years ago, received between midnight to 7:30 a.m. on Jan. 20, 1920. Also, Hale is alleged to have delivered the account of his vision in October 1920 at an LDS “Genealogical Conference” in Salt Lake City.
Journalism has hardened my skepticism, and I was prepared to chuckle over Hale’s account. Instead, the account moved me. Maybe it’s because I have an infant son who died, and Hale offers words that would comfort LDS parents who have experienced the death of a young child. Also, the Hale “vision” provides a traditional representation of how Latter-day Saints perceive the afterlife. The Mormon belief in restored Gospel, priesthood authority, necessity of baptism, confirmation, temple ordinances, and other keys and requirements to eternal progression, are underscored in Hale’ comforting “vision.”
It’s such a fun bit of Mormon lore, the Hale “vision,” that it’s almost a shame to throw cold water on it. BYU-Idaho-approved or not, it’s at best apocryphal second- or third-hand stuff, at worst a deliberate hoax. Contributor J. Stapley at the Mormon blog bycommonconsent does a capable job of investigating the Hale “vision." Read the comments too. There’s no record of this account in Hale family books, no record of a “genealogy conference” in Salt Lake City, and other “supporting” material provides names and titles that don’t check out. As one comment on the blog noted, it’s amazing how often Mormons will ignore the canonized examples of modern-day visions, such as Joseph F. Smith’s vision of the Celestial Kingdom, and obsess over the “White Horse Prophecy,” or our current subject.
Having established that the Hale Vision should not be LDS-approved curriculum, I don’t believe it’s a malicious hoax. It sounds like a dream that a deeply religious individual, very versed in Mormon history and theology, may have had. Whether the dream was Hale’s, who died in 1969, or was simply attached to his name, who knows? Hale was born in 1880, early enough to be influenced by how strongly dreams were attached to religious experiences from the 19th century into the 20th century. The LDS Prophet Wilford Woodruff, as Stapley notes, constantly cataloged his dreams. A denunciation of spiritualism and seances from Hale, who asserts those are wicked spirits toying with the foolish, sounds like it would have come from that era. Frankly, I would not be surprised if there were many Latter-day Saints who experienced dreams similar to the Hale Vision.
But I digress. Whoever penned the vision, there are segments that underscore why Mormons believe so fervently in baptism for the dead. I’ll start with one segment that tore at my heart, when infant children are observed. It reads, “I was surprised to find there no babies in arms. I met the infant son of Orson W. Rawlings, my first counselor. I immediately recognized him as the baby who died a few years ago, and yet he seemed to have the intelligence and, in certain respect, the appearance of an adult, and was engaged in matters pertaining to his family and its genealogy. My mind was quite contented upon the point that mothers will again receive into their arms their children who died in infancy and will be fully satisfied, but the fact remains that entrance into the world of spirits is not an inhibition of growth but the greatest opportunity of development. Babies are adult spirits in infant bodies.”
The concept of life, death, and the spirit world as distinct levels of eternal life is captured here: “I passed but a short distance from my body through a film into the world of spirits. This was my first experience after going to sleep. I seemed to realize that I had passed through the change called death and I so referred to it in my conversation with the immortal beings with whom I immediately came into contact. I readily observed their displeasure at our use of the word death and the fear which we attach to it. They use there another word in referring to the transition from mortality to immortality, which word I don’t recall and I can only approach its meaning and the impression which was left upon my mind, by calling it ’the New Birth.’”
The veil, a term used often by Latter-day Saints to indicate how close, yet separate life’s existence is from the spirit world, is exemplified in this paragraph, “My first visual impression was the nearness of the world of spirits to the world of mortality. The vastness of this heavenly sphere was bewildering to the eyes of the spirit-novice. Many enjoyed unrestricted vision, and unimpeded action, while many others were visibly restricted as to both vision and action. The vegetation and landscape were beautiful beyond description; not all green as here, but gold with varying shades of pink, orange, and lavender as the rainbow. A sweet calmness pervaded everything. The people I met there I did not think of as spirits, but as men and women, self-thinking and self-acting individuals, going about important business in a most orderly manner. There was perfect order there and everybody had something to do and seemed to be about their business.”
The concept of family, which lasts forever, far beyond earth, is in this short graph: “As I passed forward, I soon met my beloved mother. She greeted me most affectionately and expressed surprise at seeing me there, and reminded me that I had not completed my allotted mission on earth. She seemed to be going somewhere and was in a hurry and, accordingly, took her leave with saying that she would see me soon again.”
The busyness or Mormon afterlife, the hustle and bustle of making sure that all the required ordinances of the Gospel are met, are found in this segment, which frankly explains baptism for the dead as well as any LDS general authority talking in a conference could: “All men and women were appointed to special and regular service under a well organized plan of action, directed principally toward preaching the gospel to the unconverted, teaching those who seek knowledge and establishing family relationships and gathering genealogies for the use and benefit of mortal survivors of their respective families, that the work of baptism and the sealing ordinances may be vicariously performed for the departed in the temples of God upon the earth. The authorized representatives of families in the world of spirits have access to our temple records and are kept fully advised of the work done therein, but the vicarious work done here does not become automatically effective.
The recipients must first believe, repent and accept baptism and confirmation; then certain consummating ordinances are performed effectualizing these saving principles in the lives of those regenerated beings. And so the great work is going on — they are doing a work there which we cannot do here, and we a work here which they cannot do there, for the salvation of all God’s children who will be saved.”
As doctrine or canon, the Hale vision is, appropriately, officially as inconsequential as the latest “Three Nephites” tale or “Satan as Bigfoot harassing Utah pioneers” account. It could even be a wonderfully moving piece of fiction designed to deceive. But it does a decent job of explaining why we Mormons are running around baptizing all the relatives of so many non-Mormons. I don’t think it would hurt if those outraged over the baptisms read Hale’s “vision.”
-- Doug Gibson
This column was originally published at StandardBlogs.
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