1. Burned Over District
2. Second Great Awakening
   1. visions of divine beings
   2. Mysticism
   3. speaking in tongues
   4. falling down
   5. bodily shaking
   6. visions
   7. A number of these new religious groups, now called “restorationists,” similarly believed that their churches were the restored church of Jesus Christ.

1. Elias Smith
   1. (17 June 1769 – 29 June 1846) was a preacher, physician, journalist and clergyman. Smith, along with the preacher Abner Jones, founded a group of Christian Churches in New England that eventually merged with other like-minded, regional groups to become the denomination known as the Christian Connexion. Smith founded The Herald of Gospel Liberty in 1808. Smith spent his later years as a vigorous proponent and practitioner of the Thomsonian system of herbal medicine, though he and Thomson had a public dispute and falling out in 1827
   2. His Book Image“went into the woods one morning after a stick of timber … as I walked along a large log that lay above the snow, my foot slipped and I fell partly under the log … While in this situation, a light appeared to shine from heaven, not only into my head, but into my heart. This was something very strange to me, and what I had never experienced before. My mind seemed to rise in that light to the throne of God and the Lamb, and while thus gloriously led, what appeared to my understanding was expressed in Rev. xiv. 1. “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.” The Lamb once slain appeared to my understanding, and while viewing him, I felt such love to him as I never felt to any thing earthly. My mind was calm and at peace with God through the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. The view of the Lamb on mount Sion gave me joy unspeakable and full of glory. It is not possible for me to tell how long I remained in that situation, as every thing earthly was gone from me for some time. After admiring the glory of the Lamb for some time, I began to think of the situation my body was in, and rose up to return home. Looking around me, every object was changed, and a bright glory appeared on every thing around me. All things praised God with me.”

1. Billy Hibbard
   1. “I thought how happy must Jesus Christ have been when he suffered for sinners. It would yield some satisfaction to me, if my misery can be a cause of happiness to others; but when I came to the place of prayer, had kneeled down, and closed my eyes, with my hands uplifted toward the heavens, I saw Jesus Christ at the right hand of God looking down upon me, and God the Father looking upon him. The look of Jesus on me removed the burden of my sins, while he spoke these words, “Be faithful until death and this shall be thy place of rest.” I never had seen Jesus Christ before, nor heard his voice, nor ever had a sense of his intercession at the right hand of God for me till now.”
   2. Later recounting a dream “saw heaven open, and Jesus at the right hand of God, and the Heavenly hosts surrounding the throne, adoring the Father and the Son in the most sublime strains”
   3. “And we beheld the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father … And saw the holy angels, and them who are sanctified before his throne, worshiping God, and the Lamb, who worship him forever and ever”

1. NORRIS STEARNS 1789-1845
   1. “At length, as I lay apparently upon the brink of eternal woe, seeing nothing but death before me, suddenly there came a sweet flow of the love of God to my soul, which gradually increased. At the same time, there appeared a small gleam of light in the room, above the brightness of the sun, then at his meridian, which grew brighter and brighter: As this light and love increased, my sins began to separate, and the Mountain [of sin] removed towards the east. At length, being in an ecstasy of joy, I turned to the other side of the bed, (whether in the body or out I cannot tell, God knoweth) there "I saw two spirits, which I knew at the first sight. But if I had the tongue of an Angel I could not describe their glory, for they brought the joys of heaven with them. One was God, my Maker, almost in bodily shape like a man. His face was, as it were a flame of Fire, and his body, as it had been a Pillar and a cloud. In looking steadfastly to discern features, I could see none, but a small glimpse would appear in some other place. Below him stood Jesus Christ my Redeemer, in perfect shape like a man---His face was not ablaze, but had the countenance of fire, being bright and shining. His Father's will appeared to be his! All was condescension, peace, and love."I was filled with the sacred flame, and the glory of God; I thought one spark more in my soul would have destroyed this mortal frame!! I was happy!!! happy!!! happy!!! I wanted ten thousand tongues to sing their sweet, their glorious praise!! It was a heaven here below for the space of half an hour!! But how infinitely short must I come of describing their glory, for want of language to paint my feelings! For the joys of Heaven so far surpass all bounds of description, or human conception, that christians here below come infinitely short of forming a competent idea of the joys that await the righteous: ‘Eye hath not seen, Ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive of those good things, the Father hath prepared for them that love him.'”
   2. Norris Stearns, experienced the vision and published it in 1815, in Greenfield, Massachusetts---not far from where the Joseph Smith Senior family lived in Vermont. The most intriguing aspect of Stearns' "vision," is how he described the Father and the Son as two separate, distinct, human-like personages. LDS leaders have insisted separate beings in the godhead was one of the "truths" that had been lost from the world until Joseph Smith's First Vision. It was a major point in the late apostle Hugh B. Brown's 1950's sermon "Profile of a Prophet." Joseph could have been inspired by Stearns, or some other contemporary source.
   3. Parallels

1. John Samuel Thompson ?-?
   1. a teacher at the Palmyra Academy, declared in 1825, Jesus appeared “in a glare of brightness exceeding tenfold the brilliancy of the meridian [noonday] sun.” The Lord told him, “I commission you to go and tell mankind that I am come; and bid every man to shout victory.”

1. Asa Wild 1823 - ?
   
   1. Asa Wild was almost a dozen years older than Joseph Smith, and it is probable the two never met. Like Joseph, Wild was born in Vermont—in 1794 at West Fairlee, about twenty miles northeast of Joseph’s birthplace of Sharon. Most of what we know about Asa Wild comes from a pamphlet he published in 1824, entitled A Short Sketch of the Religious Experience and Spiritual Travels of Asa Wild, of Amsterdam, N. Y. - BYU Article “The “Prognostication” of Asa Wild”
   2. It seemed as if my mind…was struck motionless, as well as into nothing, before the awful and glorious majesty of the Great Jehovah. He then spake…He also told me, that every denomination of professing christians had become extremely corrupt....
2. Solomon Chamberlain (Meridian Magazine Quoting Richard Bushman)
   
   1. “Dissatisfied with the religions he had tried, Chamberlin prayed for further guidance, and in 1816, according to his account, "the Lord revealed to me in a vision of the night an angel," whom Chamberlin asked about the right way. The angel told him that the churches were corrupt and that God would soon raise up an apostolic church. Chamberlin printed up an account of his visions and was still distributing them and looking for the apostolic church when he stopped in Palmyra.”

1. Charles Grandison Finney (First coins term burned over district)
   1. Major parallels between Smith and Finney
   2. Visited palmyra in 1831 (hosea stout)Parrallels1.) Finney felt despair over the eternal state of his soul2.) Finney chose and went into a "grove of woods" to pour out his soul in solitude3.) Upon making his petition Finney found that he could not pray. When he attempted to pray he became "dumb," having "nothing to say to God." Rustling of leaves nearby led him to believe that other individuals were in his presence. Ultimately that thought led him to such a sense of conviction of personal wickedness that it took possession of him. Charles attempted to pray several times without success, leading him to the verge of despair. He recollected that "a great sinking and discouragement came over me at this point, and I felt almost too weak to stand upon my knees."4.) Finney saw a light and Jesus Christ appeared to him5.) Charles Finney also endured persecution for sharing his experience

1. Francis Gladden Bishop (We Covered in prior episode)

1. Alexander Campbell described the experiences he was hearing others have
   
2. Enthusiasm flourishes.... This man was regenerated when asleep, by a vision of the night. That man heard a voice in the woods, saying, 'Thy sins be forgiven thee.' A third saw his Savior descending to the tops of the trees at noon day" (The Christian Baptist, Vol. 1, pp.148-49).
   

1. In 1836, at the age of 10, Brewster began to claim that he had been visited by the Angel Moroni, the same angel that Joseph Smith claimed had led him to the golden plates. In November 1837, due to his persistent claims of being a prophet, Brewster was disfellowshipped from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at age 11. (Joseph has had enough of kids claiming visions)
2. And he creates a book of scripturehttps://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/2041501

1. James G Marsh 1832-1833
   1. His obituary mentions him seeing God the father and Christ both at 9 years old in 1832 (same year as Smith's first recounting a first vision)“It seems that the Lord had respect unto this lover of righteousness, for when he was but about nine years of age, he had a remarkable vision, in which he talked with the Father and many of the ancient prophets face to face, and beheld the Son of God coming in his glory.

1. Joseph only days or weeks later dictates his 1838 account where he too claims to have seen God the Father and his son. He was editor and Thomas Marsh publisher of the Elder’s Journal where the obituary appeared.
2. The Milk Strippings event with Marsh’s father Thomas Marsh the apostle occurred in 1838 as well. Remember Smith was secretly married to Lucinda Pendleton Morgan Harris who was in the dispute with Marsh’s wife.

1. Richard Bushman - Joseph’s Vision fits right in with other contemporary visions because it looks like all the other visions everyone in upstate NEW YORK is having.

1. Vision Accounts don’t agree in both mundane ways but also in significant ways

1. Burned Over District
2. Second Great Awakening
   1. visions of divine beings
   2. Mysticism
   3. speaking in tongues
   4. falling down
   5. bodily shaking
   6. visions
   7. A number of these new religious groups, now called “restorationists,” similarly believed that their churches were the restored church of Jesus Christ.

1. Elias Smith
   1. (17 June 1769 – 29 June 1846) was a preacher, physician, journalist and clergyman. Smith, along with the preacher Abner Jones, founded a group of Christian Churches in New England that eventually merged with other like-minded, regional groups to become the denomination known as the Christian Connexion. Smith founded The Herald of Gospel Liberty in 1808. Smith spent his later years as a vigorous proponent and practitioner of the Thomsonian system of herbal medicine, though he and Thomson had a public dispute and falling out in 1827
   2. His Book Image“went into the woods one morning after a stick of timber … as I walked along a large log that lay above the snow, my foot slipped and I fell partly under the log … While in this situation, a light appeared to shine from heaven, not only into my head, but into my heart. This was something very strange to me, and what I had never experienced before. My mind seemed to rise in that light to the throne of God and the Lamb, and while thus gloriously led, what appeared to my understanding was expressed in Rev. xiv. 1. “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.” The Lamb once slain appeared to my understanding, and while viewing him, I felt such love to him as I never felt to any thing earthly. My mind was calm and at peace with God through the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. The view of the Lamb on mount Sion gave me joy unspeakable and full of glory. It is not possible for me to tell how long I remained in that situation, as every thing earthly was gone from me for some time. After admiring the glory of the Lamb for some time, I began to think of the situation my body was in, and rose up to return home. Looking around me, every object was changed, and a bright glory appeared on every thing around me. All things praised God with me.”

1. Billy Hibbard
   1. “I thought how happy must Jesus Christ have been when he suffered for sinners. It would yield some satisfaction to me, if my misery can be a cause of happiness to others; but when I came to the place of prayer, had kneeled down, and closed my eyes, with my hands uplifted toward the heavens, I saw Jesus Christ at the right hand of God looking down upon me, and God the Father looking upon him. The look of Jesus on me removed the burden of my sins, while he spoke these words, “Be faithful until death and this shall be thy place of rest.” I never had seen Jesus Christ before, nor heard his voice, nor ever had a sense of his intercession at the right hand of God for me till now.”
   2. Later recounting a dream “saw heaven open, and Jesus at the right hand of God, and the Heavenly hosts surrounding the throne, adoring the Father and the Son in the most sublime strains”
   3. “And we beheld the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father … And saw the holy angels, and them who are sanctified before his throne, worshiping God, and the Lamb, who worship him forever and ever”

1. NORRIS STEARNS 1789-1845
   1. “At length, as I lay apparently upon the brink of eternal woe, seeing nothing but death before me, suddenly there came a sweet flow of the love of God to my soul, which gradually increased. At the same time, there appeared a small gleam of light in the room, above the brightness of the sun, then at his meridian, which grew brighter and brighter: As this light and love increased, my sins began to separate, and the Mountain [of sin] removed towards the east. At length, being in an ecstasy of joy, I turned to the other side of the bed, (whether in the body or out I cannot tell, God knoweth) there "I saw two spirits, which I knew at the first sight. But if I had the tongue of an Angel I could not describe their glory, for they brought the joys of heaven with them. One was God, my Maker, almost in bodily shape like a man. His face was, as it were a flame of Fire, and his body, as it had been a Pillar and a cloud. In looking steadfastly to discern features, I could see none, but a small glimpse would appear in some other place. Below him stood Jesus Christ my Redeemer, in perfect shape like a man---His face was not ablaze, but had the countenance of fire, being bright and shining. His Father's will appeared to be his! All was condescension, peace, and love."I was filled with the sacred flame, and the glory of God; I thought one spark more in my soul would have destroyed this mortal frame!! I was happy!!! happy!!! happy!!! I wanted ten thousand tongues to sing their sweet, their glorious praise!! It was a heaven here below for the space of half an hour!! But how infinitely short must I come of describing their glory, for want of language to paint my feelings! For the joys of Heaven so far surpass all bounds of description, or human conception, that christians here below come infinitely short of forming a competent idea of the joys that await the righteous: ‘Eye hath not seen, Ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive of those good things, the Father hath prepared for them that love him.'”
   2. Norris Stearns, experienced the vision and published it in 1815, in Greenfield, Massachusetts---not far from where the Joseph Smith Senior family lived in Vermont. The most intriguing aspect of Stearns' "vision," is how he described the Father and the Son as two separate, distinct, human-like personages. LDS leaders have insisted separate beings in the godhead was one of the "truths" that had been lost from the world until Joseph Smith's First Vision. It was a major point in the late apostle Hugh B. Brown's 1950's sermon "Profile of a Prophet." Joseph could have been inspired by Stearns, or some other contemporary source.
   3. Parallels

1. John Samuel Thompson ?-?
   1. a teacher at the Palmyra Academy, declared in 1825, Jesus appeared “in a glare of brightness exceeding tenfold the brilliancy of the meridian [noonday] sun.” The Lord told him, “I commission you to go and tell mankind that I am come; and bid every man to shout victory.”

1. Asa Wild 1823 - ?
   1. Asa Wild was almost a dozen years older than Joseph Smith, and it is probable the two never met. Like Joseph, Wild was born in Vermont—in 1794 at West Fairlee, about twenty miles northeast of Joseph’s birthplace of Sharon. Most of what we know about Asa Wild comes from a pamphlet he published in 1824, entitled A Short Sketch of the Religious Experience and Spiritual Travels of Asa Wild, of Amsterdam, N. Y. - BYU Article “The “Prognostication” of Asa Wild”
   2. It seemed as if my mind…was struck motionless, as well as into nothing, before the awful and glorious majesty of the Great Jehovah. He then spake…He also told me, that every denomination of professing christians had become extremely corrupt....
2. Solomon Chamberlain (Meridian Magazine Quoting Richard Bushman)
   1. “Dissatisfied with the religions he had tried, Chamberlin prayed for further guidance, and in 1816, according to his account, "the Lord revealed to me in a vision of the night an angel," whom Chamberlin asked about the right way. The angel told him that the churches were corrupt and that God would soon raise up an apostolic church. Chamberlin printed up an account of his visions and was still distributing them and looking for the apostolic church when he stopped in Palmyra.”

1. Charles Grandison Finney (First coins term burned over district)
   1. Major parallels between Smith and Finney
   2. Visited palmyra in 1831 (hosea stout)Parrallels1.) Finney felt despair over the eternal state of his soul2.) Finney chose and went into a "grove of woods" to pour out his soul in solitude3.) Upon making his petition Finney found that he could not pray. When he attempted to pray he became "dumb," having "nothing to say to God." Rustling of leaves nearby led him to believe that other individuals were in his presence. Ultimately that thought led him to such a sense of conviction of personal wickedness that it took possession of him. Charles attempted to pray several times without success, leading him to the verge of despair. He recollected that "a great sinking and discouragement came over me at this point, and I felt almost too weak to stand upon my knees."4.) Finney saw a light and Jesus Christ appeared to him5.) Charles Finney also endured persecution for sharing his experience

1. Francis Gladden Bishop (We Covered in prior episode)

1. Alexander Campbell described the experiences he was hearing others have
   
2. Enthusiasm flourishes.... This man was regenerated when asleep, by a vision of the night. That man heard a voice in the woods, saying, 'Thy sins be forgiven thee.' A third saw his Savior descending to the tops of the trees at noon day" (The Christian Baptist, Vol. 1, pp.148-49).
   

1. In 1836, at the age of 10, Brewster began to claim that he had been visited by the Angel Moroni, the same angel that Joseph Smith claimed had led him to the golden plates. In November 1837, due to his persistent claims of being a prophet, Brewster was disfellowshipped from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at age 11. (Joseph has had enough of kids claiming visions)
2. And he creates a book of scripturehttps://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/2041501

1. James G Marsh 1832-1833
   1. His obituary mentions him seeing God the father and Christ both at 9 years old in 1832 (same year as Smith's first recounting a first vision)“It seems that the Lord had respect unto this lover of righteousness, for when he was but about nine years of age, he had a remarkable vision, in which he talked with the Father and many of the ancient prophets face to face, and beheld the Son of God coming in his glory.

1. Joseph only days or weeks later dictates his 1838 account where he too claims to have seen God the Father and his son. He was editor and Thomas Marsh publisher of the Elder’s Journal where the obituary appeared.

1. The Milk Strippings event with Marsh’s father Thomas Marsh the apostle occurred in 1838 as well. Remember Smith was secretly married to Lucinda Pendleton Morgan Harris who was in the dispute with Marsh’s wife.

1. Richard Bushman - Joseph’s Vision fits right in with other contemporary visions because it looks like all the other visions everyone in upstate NEW YORK is having.

1. Vision Accounts don’t agree in both mundane ways but also in significant ways

1. Burned Over District
2. Second Great Awakening
   1. visions of divine beings
   2. Mysticism
   3. speaking in tongues
   4. falling down
   5. bodily shaking
   6. visions
   7. A number of these new religious groups, now called “restorationists,” similarly believed that their churches were the restored church of Jesus Christ.

1. Elias Smith
   1. (17 June 1769 – 29 June 1846) was a preacher, physician, journalist and clergyman. Smith, along with the preacher Abner Jones, founded a group of Christian Churches in New England that eventually merged with other like-minded, regional groups to become the denomination known as the Christian Connexion. Smith founded The Herald of Gospel Liberty in 1808. Smith spent his later years as a vigorous proponent and practitioner of the Thomsonian system of herbal medicine, though he and Thomson had a public dispute and falling out in 1827
   2. His Book Image“went into the woods one morning after a stick of timber … as I walked along a large log that lay above the snow, my foot slipped and I fell partly under the log … While in this situation, a light appeared to shine from heaven, not only into my head, but into my heart. This was something very strange to me, and what I had never experienced before. My mind seemed to rise in that light to the throne of God and the Lamb, and while thus gloriously led, what appeared to my understanding was expressed in Rev. xiv. 1. “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.” The Lamb once slain appeared to my understanding, and while viewing him, I felt such love to him as I never felt to any thing earthly. My mind was calm and at peace with God through the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. The view of the Lamb on mount Sion gave me joy unspeakable and full of glory. It is not possible for me to tell how long I remained in that situation, as every thing earthly was gone from me for some time. After admiring the glory of the Lamb for some time, I began to think of the situation my body was in, and rose up to return home. Looking around me, every object was changed, and a bright glory appeared on every thing around me. All things praised God with me.”

1. Billy Hibbard
   1. “I thought how happy must Jesus Christ have been when he suffered for sinners. It would yield some satisfaction to me, if my misery can be a cause of happiness to others; but when I came to the place of prayer, had kneeled down, and closed my eyes, with my hands uplifted toward the heavens, I saw Jesus Christ at the right hand of God looking down upon me, and God the Father looking upon him. The look of Jesus on me removed the burden of my sins, while he spoke these words, “Be faithful until death and this shall be thy place of rest.” I never had seen Jesus Christ before, nor heard his voice, nor ever had a sense of his intercession at the right hand of God for me till now.”
   2. 3rd Hibbard slide Later recounting a dream “saw heaven open, and Jesus at the right hand of God, and the Heavenly hosts surrounding the throne, adoring the Father and the Son in the most sublime strains”
   3. “And we beheld the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father … And saw the holy angels, and them who are sanctified before his throne, worshiping God, and the Lamb, who worship him forever and ever”

1. NORRIS STEARNS 1789-1845
   
   1. “At length, as I lay apparently upon the brink of eternal woe, seeing nothing but death before me, suddenly there came a sweet flow of the love of God to my soul, which gradually increased. At the same time, there appeared a small gleam of light in the room, above the brightness of the sun, then at his meridian, which grew brighter and brighter: As this light and love increased, my sins began to separate, and the Mountain [of sin] removed towards the east. At length, being in an ecstasy of joy, I turned to the other side of the bed, (whether in the body or out I cannot tell, God knoweth) there "I saw two spirits, which I knew at the first sight. But if I had the tongue of an Angel I could not describe their glory, for they brought the joys of heaven with them. One was God, my Maker, almost in bodily shape like a man. His face was, as it were a flame of Fire, and his body, as it had been a Pillar and a cloud. In looking steadfastly to discern features, I could see none, but a small glimpse would appear in some other place. Below him stood Jesus Christ my Redeemer, in perfect shape like a man---His face was not ablaze, but had the countenance of fire, being bright and shining. His Father's will appeared to be his! All was condescension, peace, and love."I was filled with the sacred flame, and the glory of God; I thought one spark more in my soul would have destroyed this mortal frame!! I was happy!!! happy!!! happy!!! I wanted ten thousand tongues to sing their sweet, their glorious praise!! It was a heaven here below for the space of half an hour!! But how infinitely short must I come of describing their glory, for want of language to paint my feelings! For the joys of Heaven so far surpass all bounds of description, or human conception, that christians here below come infinitely short of forming a competent idea of the joys that await the righteous: ‘Eye hath not seen, Ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive of those good things, the Father hath prepared for them that love him.'”
   2. Norris Stearns, experienced the vision and published it in 1815, in Greenfield, Massachusetts---not far from where the Joseph Smith Senior family lived in Vermont. The most intriguing aspect of Stearns' "vision," is how he described the Father and the Son as two separate, distinct, human-like personages. LDS leaders have insisted separate beings in the godhead was one of the "truths" that had been lost from the world until Joseph Smith's First Vision. It was a major point in the late apostle Hugh B. Brown's 1950's sermon "Profile of a Prophet." Joseph could have been inspired by Stearns, or some other contemporary source.

1. John Samuel Thompson ?-?
   1. a teacher at the Palmyra Academy, declared in 1825, Jesus appeared “in a glare of brightness exceeding tenfold the brilliancy of the meridian [noonday] sun.” The Lord told him, “I commission you to go and tell mankind that I am come; and bid every man to shout victory.”

1. Asa Wild 1823 - ?
   1. Asa Wild was almost a dozen years older than Joseph Smith, and it is probable the two never met. Like Joseph, Wild was born in Vermont—in 1794 at West Fairlee, about twenty miles northeast of Joseph’s birthplace of Sharon. Most of what we know about Asa Wild comes from a pamphlet he published in 1824, entitled A Short Sketch of the Religious Experience and Spiritual Travels of Asa Wild, of Amsterdam, N. Y. - BYU Article “The “Prognostication” of Asa Wild”
   2. It seemed as if my mind…was struck motionless, as well as into nothing, before the awful and glorious majesty of the Great Jehovah. He then spake…He also told me, that every denomination of professing christians had become extremely corrupt....

1. Solomon Chamberlain (Meridian Magazine Quoting Richard Bushman)
   1. “Dissatisfied with the religions he had tried, Chamberlin prayed for further guidance, and in 1816, according to his account, "the Lord revealed to me in a vision of the night an angel," whom Chamberlin asked about the right way. The angel told him that the churches were corrupt and that God would soon raise up an apostolic church. Chamberlin printed up an account of his visions and was still distributing them and looking for the apostolic church when he stopped in Palmyra.”

1. Charles Grandison Finney (First coins term burned over district)
   1. Major parallels between Smith and Finney

1. Visited palmyra in 1831

1. Francis Gladden Bishop (We Covered in prior episode)

1. Alexander Campbell described the experiences he was hearing others have
   
2. Enthusiasm flourishes.... This man was regenerated when asleep, by a vision of the night. That man heard a voice in the woods, saying, 'Thy sins be forgiven thee.' A third saw his Savior descending to the tops of the trees at noon day" (The Christian Baptist, Vol. 1, pp.148-49).
   

1. James Brewster 1826–1909
   
   1. In 1836, at the age of 10, Brewster began to claim that he had been visited by the Angel Moroni, the same angel that Joseph Smith claimed had led him to the golden plates. In November 1837, due to his persistent claims of being a prophet, Brewster was disfellowshipped from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at age 11. (Joseph has had enough of kids claiming visions)
2. And he creates a book of scripturehttps://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/2041501
   

1. James G Marsh 1832-1833
   1. His obituary mentions him seeing God the father and Christ both at 9 years old in 1832. “It seems that the Lord had respect unto this lover of righteousness, for when he was but about nine years of age, he had a remarkable vision, in which he talked with the Father and many of the ancient prophets face to face, and beheld the Son of God coming in his glory.

1. Joseph only days or weeks later dictates his 1838 account where he too claims to have seen God the Father and his son. He was editor and Thomas Marsh publisher of the Elder’s Journal where the obituary appeared.
2. The Milk Strippings event with Marsh’s father Thomas Marsh the apostle occurred in 1838 as well. Remember Smith was secretly married to Lucinda Pendleton Morgan Harris who was in the dispute with Marsh’s wife.

1. Richard Bushman - Joseph’s Vision fits right in with other contemporary visions because it looks like all the other visions everyone in upstate NEW YORK is having.

1. Vision Accounts don’t agree in both mundane ways but also in significant ways

Listen Up! Bleeding is Normal!

• Before we get into the specifics, we have to see who is involved in the process and our three players are the Hypothalamus, the Anterior Pituitary gland, and the Ovaries. The role of the Hypothalamus is to sense deviations from the norm in the body and it has to control many of the different processes that our hormones regulate. To do so, the Hypothalamus picks up a megaphone in the form of Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) and shouts to the Anterior Pituitary that there ain’t enough sex hormone in the body currently. Like any dutiful mid-level worker, the Anterior Pituitary takes that signal and releases two memos to the minimum wage worker: “Oi! Take this Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Luteinizing Hormone (LH) and make more sex hormone!” The ever dutiful ovaries take this signal and start to produce the female sex hormones Estradiol (usually referred to as Estrogen) and Progesterone.
  • This Boss-Manager-Worker relationship is referred to as the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Gonad axis (HPG) and really does progress like a business needing to produce a product. The gland at the top of the chain determines that there should be more sex hormone, the manager dictates that the to worker, and the worker dutifully produces it as indicated by the positive signs in the diagram above. So what happens when a factory has an excess of product? Well, production slows down which is where those negative signs come in. The HPG axis is tightly regulated by negative feedback which prevents too much sex hormone from being produced. As Estradiol and Progesterone are produced, the Hypothalamus and Pituitary gland stop mandating more production and the process slows down. Rinse and repeat every 28 days.

• As any female knows, what happens in their sensitive parts is not a constant process; it’s a cycle in which we can see the effect on three major organs. First, let’s see what happens to the thickness of the Uterus as time progresses over the course of the month. Above the Vagina we have the Uterus which is the site of action for implantation of the fertilized egg and where the fetus will grow during the 9 months of development. Over the course of the month, the lining of the Uterus, called the Endometrium will grow thicker with more tissue and increase in blood supply in anticipation of the egg—after all, you can’t grow a baby without providing blood, oxygen, and nutrients.
  • If the egg is implanted then the thickness of the Endometrium is maintained and forms part of the interface between fetus and mother. This is done by the fertilized egg releasing massive amounts of Progesterone to prevent the destruction of the Endometrium. If fertilization does not occur, the body senses the lack of hormone and starts to slough off the unneeded Endometrium and take a moment to think about why? Why wouldn’t the body just maintain the Endometrium at all times in case a fertilized egg suddenly appears? Well a couple of reasons: 1) it takes a LOT of resources to maintain thick tissues with lots of blood supply. There are only a few places in the body that have this much attention: the heart, the lungs, and the brain which are kind of important organs. 2) It's important for the sperm to be able to swim up through the Uterus and enter into the Fallopian Tubes so fertilization can take place. If the endometrium is too thick then the sperm may be unable to reach the egg and thus fertilization cannot occur. And so, the thick tissue layer must be shed.
  • The shedding of the Endometrium is the bleeding part of the cycle, or the Menses. During this time, the Spiral Arteries which make up the blood supply to the Endometrium start to degrade which allows for the tissue to start to fall apart in clumps. Slowly over the course of 3-7 days, the excess Endometrium is shed and leaves the body via the Vagina due to pushing of uterine muscles (cramping).
  • Likewise, remember how we said that Progesterone maintains the Endometrium which would stave off the Menses? Well, that’s part of the action of Oral Contraceptive Pills or Birth Control. Oh look, we have a post about them. Did you know they came from horse urine?

• With an admittedly gross reference picture, let's take a look at what is actually happening with the egg. We talked about how over the course of the month, the Endometrium thickens in preparation of the egg so how does that actually happen? Before we get an egg, we have to start with a Follicle of which females have about 200,000-300,000 by the time they reach puberty. While there is a lot to be said about how Follicles mature, what we care about is the overall process by which the Ovum, or egg, is formed over the first 14 days of the Ovarian Cycle. This first two weeks is called the Follicular Phase, named after the process by which the egg grows and grows and eventually bursts from the mature Graafian Follicle and is deposited into the Fallopian Tubes.
  • This isn’t the end of the story however. When the egg is finally released from the Follicle, the leftover structure becomes the Corpus Luteum which starts releasing massive amounts of hormones to tell the body that “HEY, egg is out!” What is this hormone? Why none other than Progesterone whose job it is to maintain the endometrium—so in this way when the egg is finally released, the Corpus Luteum is the thing responsible for keeping the thick Endometrium around as the body waits for fertilization. Kinda neat eh? Eventually the Corpus Luteum runs out of steam and one of two things happens: 1) maintenance of the Endometrium is taken over by the now fertilized egg, or 2) the lack of Progesterone from the dead Corpus Luteum allows for the shedding of the Endometrium.

• Alright, alright so what does this have to do with our corporate Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Gonad axis we talked about initially? Here we can see a graph of all the hormones that are regulating the two processes we described. It all begins with a quick burst of Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) while the Menses are happening to encourage a new Follicle to mature. You can see that when the Endometrium is at its thinnest, the beginning of growing a new egg is starting with that bump of FSH. As the Follicle starts to mature, the levels of Estradiol (a.k.a Estrogen) starts to rise slowly and eventually peaks right when the Follicle is at its most mature. This rise in Estrogen also corresponds to the proliferation of the Endometrium as it prepares for the release of the next egg. When that Estrogen level peaks, we get the Hypothalamus-Pituitary releasing another burst of FSH and Luteinizing Hormone (LH) whose job it is to pop the mature Follicle like a pimple.
  • Now that the egg has been released, the levels of hormones from the H-P-G axis declines and hormone production is taken over by the Corpus Luteum. Progesterone starts to flood the body which maintains the Endometrium as we’ve discussed before. Eventually the Corpus Luteum runs out of steam and starts to lose the ability to secrete Progesterone which leads to the degradation of the Endometrium. And thus we are back at the Menses once again and the next cycle.

Insulin Plays a Role in the Development of Cysts

• Because we don’t have a clear picture of what causes PCOS, I am limited in talking about what the connections we have seen and the inferences we have made because of those trends. What we are mostly sure of is that PCOS is related to Acquired Insensitivity to Insulin which usually results in abnormally high levels of insulin. The increased levels of insulin causes an increased production of Androgens which are referred to as the male sex hormones, nominally Testosterone. In order to tackle this issue we have to examine the three possible mechanisms that are causing PCOS:

• 1) FSH and LH levels become untethered - Remember in the last section we observed how the levels of FSH and LH generally rose and fell at about the same rates? And remember how that was all regulated by the upper management of the Hypothalamus and the Pituitary gland? Looking at the left and middle of the diagram, we can get an idea of how that happens:
  • As it turns out, it's not a single signal between the two glands that causes FSH and LH to be released but rather two different rhythmic pulsing. See, when the hypothalamus sends a low frequency pulse, think Mozart on the first Spring’s afternoon where the birds are chirping and the finger sandwiches are just perfect, this releases FSH. When the Hypothalamus sends a higher frequency, like rave music in a dark club with flashing strobe lights and fuckboys trying to hit up chicks in the corner because they got a new haircut, that releases LH. These two different frequencies allow for the Pituitary to release these two hormones that end up going to the same location BUT at different times and different concentrations.
    • Due to some communication issue, whether because of genetics, environmental factors, or even stress, there is a disruption in this tight regulation of FSH and LH. Instead of balancing the Mozart and techno-rave, the Hypothalamus starts to only send out signals for LH. If you remember, LH is responsible for follicle maturation which causes the Follicle to release an egg which in this case would be maturing them too early and out of cycle. It's in this regard we think PCOS causes infertility because eggs are not being released during the correct part of the menstrual cycle. This disruption also likely causes the intense abdominal cramps the person feels which can be incredibly debilitating.
    • This disruption is mediated as well due to increased levels of Androgens which we think are caused by….

• 2) Estrogen and Androgens levels become untethered - Although Androgens do not play a role in the menstrual cycle, the body uses the relative levels of Androgens and Estrogens to maintain levels of both—kind of like I need more salsa cause I have left over chips but then you have too much salsa and then need to open another bag of chips. Yknow? In this diagram we see the connection between the brain and the ovaries as we saw in the HPG axis before. When that excess LH is released, it can interact with two cells inside the ovary: the Theca Cells or the Granulosa Cells. In the top pink Theca Cell we see how Cholesterol [top left] is converted through many different enzymes to Testosterone [bottom right]. The production of Androstenedione in the Theca cell is also the precursor for Estradiol in the Granulosa cell. Notice the arrow types of this transfer—they’re dashed! :O What this tells you is that the conversion of Androgens into Estrogen is limited and so the amount of Androgen >>>> Estrogen.
  • It is this excess in Androgens that provides a significant amount of clinical features of PCOS. Since Androgens are the male sex hormones (even though all sex hormones exist in both sexes), when they are in excess they start to make the person present with characteristically male features. This includes Hirsutism or excess hair growth especially on the face and armpits. It may also cause androgenic Alopecia or the loss of hair on the head. A rise in androgens also causes the return of many puberty like features: oily skin and acne. One of the unfortunate symptoms of PCOS is depression and anxiety which may be due to some direct PCOS mechanism but I think it's more due to the intense pain and skin changes.

• 3) Somehow, insulin resistance plays a role in the development of PCOS - I want to preface this section with repeating what I said earlier: because we don’t have a clear picture of what causes PCOS, I am limited in talking about what the connections we have seen and the inferences we have made because of those trends. One of those inferences is that PCOS has a connection between obesity and insulin resistance, although we aren’t sure why. I will say that this theory is controversial, not because the evidence is lacking (I have read the papers and am convinced of what they report) but because of how it's a cudgel used to put down women who are struggling with PCOS. Let me explain the theory first and then why the controversy after:
  • Insulin is a protein whose job it is to tell cells to take glucose from the bloodstream inside of themselves. Think of it like the dinner bell—ding ding ding, food is here! For reasons we still don’t understand, there is a strong association with obesity and insulin resistance which is the same connection we see in conditions like type 2 diabetes. Overtime, the excess glucose in the bloodstream causes more and more insulin to be released and have a high sustained concentration in the blood. This sustained elevated amount causes cells to become deaf to the dinner bell and eventually the effect of insulin starts to decrease.
    • It's thought that in PCOS the ovarian cells become insulin resistant which creates a feedback loop of increased androgen release. There is good evidence to suggest that insulin increases the activity of androgen producing enzymes which ultimately produces more hormones like Testosterone and Estrogen, two hormones which perpetuate PCOS. Likewise the insulin resistance causes other cell types to release androgens, like the adrenal gland, and also prevents the liver from synthesizing Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG) which regulates the level of testosterone in the body.
    • So through three mechanisms we have lots of testosterone: ovarian insulin resistance, a decrease in SHBG, and also the increased production of androgens via the Theca Cells. Eventually this much excess precursor does produce more Estrogen and unbalances the Estrogen/Progesterone balance inside the body. This excess of Estrogen increases the formation of the Endometrium and unchecked growth can increase the risk of Endometrial cancers.
  • So what's the controversy then? Well I believe that it's not the data but how the data is used to undermine the fears of the patients. While there is a clear link between PCOS and obesity (about 80% of PCOS cases are overweight), the weight of the patient is used as a way to dismiss the patients concerns with the most common comment being: “lose some weight and then we will see what the issue is.” Guess what’s difficult to do with the excess estrogen? Lose weight. Thankfully the medical world is slowly starting to wake up to PCOS. especially the complications that come from not treating the condition. While we know obesity is a factor of PCOS, it should not be used as a reason to dismiss a woman’s need for help. Weight loss shouldnt be the only part of treatment, a factor yes, but not the only.

We found the problem, now how do we fix it?

• One of the first treatments for PCOS is Combined Oral Contraceptives (COCs) even though they are not FDA approved for the treatment of it. Modern contraceptives contain both Progesterone and Estrogen in a fixed ratio that help push the body off of the bad hormone levels onto a more regular hormone cycle. One of the big advantages is combating the extra Androgen that is produced which hopefully targets most of the symptoms like acne and excess hair. Progesterone also lowers the risk of endometrial cancers because they prevent unopposed estrogen production. They do this by reducing the shift toward estrogen dominance that occurs when there is no opposing action by progesterone, which can occur in ovulatory cycles. No oral contraceptive is better than another and the decision is mostly made off of insurance or patient preference.

• One medication that is often added to contraceptives (or sometimes alone) is Metformin. Metformin’s place in medicine nowadays is as first-line agent for diabetes to combat the decreased insulin sensitivity in those patients. In PCOS, it’s used to also combat the decreased insulin sensitivity and also stabilizes the menstrual irregularities of the disease. It also has the added benefit of being weight negative and may help patients lose weight if they need to. Metformin’s history has probably the most interesting drug history of any drug I’ve read about: Metformin belongs to a drug class called the Biguanides due to two guanidine molecules being smashed together. Guanidine is naturally found in French Lilacs (also called Goat’s-rue) and when chemists in the 1920s experimented with the drug they found that Metformin was a potent… antimalarial drug! It wasn’t until 1957 that it was discovered to be extremely beneficial in diabetes but then was abandoned when two other drugs in its drug class were withdrawn from the market. Finally in 1994 it was approved by the FDA for the treatment of diabetes, 70 years after it was discovered!
  • If contraceptives and metformin still can’t tackle the issue, there is another option: anti-Androgens. These drugs, Spironolactone, Finasteride, and Flutamide block the Androgen receptor and prevent Androgens from exerting their action. Unfortunately the evidence for anti-Androgens in PCOS isn’t great and often they have more side effects than benefit BUT some patients do see improvement when other methods fail.
• The use of contraceptives has one big issue though: what if the patient wants to get pregnant? Obviously using something that prevents pregnancy will make that very hard so there are treatments available to give the patient the best chance at pregnancy while having PCOS. What’s incredibly difficult about PCOS is that the disease makes fertilization very difficult AND can result in a miscarriage due to hormones not being controlled although its rare. So in treating PCOS when pregnancy is wanted, the goal is to give the female as best a chance as possible to conceive.

• First line is Letrozole, an aromatase inhibitor that has a few key effects. Firstly, it decreases the production of Estrogen in the Granulosa cells which helps rebalance the Estrogen-Progesterone relationship. Remember wayyyyyy up at the top of this post those flowcharts about the HPG axis? Well no Estrogen means no inhibiting the release of FSH and LH, thus more follicles are being stimulated to be released. The result is inducing ovulation in a very controlled manner so the person can time when they are most fertile and hopefully have the best chance at pregnancy. An alternative to Letrozole is using Clomiphene, a hypothalamic estrogen receptor inhibitor. This drug works by blocking that negative feedback directly thus stopping the feedback loop that turns off FSH and LH production. Once again, you get more follicle maturation and hopefully better fertility.
  • Of course another option is to just provide FSH and LH directly, which is something we can do nowadays. We can give human FSH and human menopausal gonadotropin to get the job done if the previous agents just aren’t doing the job.

Now that we know what to do, what was tried?

• Above are two examples of popular medicines to help menstruation, one made of figs to relieve constipation and the other being Wine of Cardui (read the advertisement in full here.) McElree’s Wine of Cardui was a 38-proof medicine made by the Chattanooga Medicine Company that claims to be made up of vegetable extracts and it took me some digging to find exactly was in this boozy tincture. Turns out its Black Haw, Goldenseal, and Blessed Thistle (Carduus benedictus which lends the name) and as it turns out all three plants have been used for centuries for menstrual cramps, irregular bleeding, heavy flow. As it turns out, all three plants contain fairly potent anti-pain molecules that help with the cramping associated with menstrual pain as well as a chemical called Scopoletin, a chemical used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to relax the uterus and relieve cramps. Interestingly I found that the largest market for Wine of Cardui was not women of menstrual age but rather older post-menopausal women. As it turns out, older women would purchase the 20% alcohol by volume medicine to get drunk as it was unseemly for older women to be seen purchasing alcohol from a liquor store. Buying copious amounts of medicine? Sure, go for it.

• Another medication that was quite popular in its day was Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound which was marketed to “relieve the monthly pain” of women. Lydia E. Pinkham deserves an entire post to herself for being a brilliant businesswomen because she could market anything. Her compound, originally produced in 1875 and is still in production to this day, is made up of a series of traditional plants like Dandelion, Motherwort, and Black Cohosh as well as some vitamins. It also contains Glycyrrhiza, which is the main chemical found in licorice, which is known to cause dangerously high blood pressure if too much is taken (like rip your heart in two, not even kidding). Did it help for menstrual issues? Probably, these plants definitely help with pain modulation and relaxing the uterus but I would be worried about that licorice.