The planning for the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth began long before the Prophet Joseph Smith walked into the Sacred Grove in 1820 — even centuries before, said Andrew C. Skinner Oct. 29.

Photo by Greg Hill

Following her presentation at Sperry Symposium, Jennifer C. Lane of BYU-Hawaii speaks to those attending her class. She was one of 28 presentors.

"Beginning in the Middle Ages, the Lord began to prepare those social, educational, religious, economic and governmental conditions under which He could more easily restore the gospel for the last time among men," said Brother Skinner, dean of BYU Religious Education. "Almost imperceptibly at times, God moved upon the minds of men and women, who in turn moved the world toward the Restoration."

Offering the keynote address at the annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium held on the BYU campus Oct. 29-30, Brother Skinner addressed the topic, "Forerunners and Foundation Stones of the Restoration."

The title and theme for the annual symposium came from the Church Educational System textbook, "Prelude to the Restoration: From Apostasy to the Restored Church."

In a departure from its 33-year history, the symposium focused on people and events during the Middle Ages that prepared the way for the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ. Traditionally, the symposium, sponsored by Religious Education at BYU, has focused on a specific book of scripture to provide materials that would supplement the Church's gospel doctrine curriculum for the upcoming year.

Presenters for the two-day conference included faculty members from BYU, BYU-Hawaii, BYU-Idaho, and the Church Educational System, and other Church scholars.

During his address, Brother Skinner said Latter-day prophets and apostles have affirmed that preparations for the Restoration took place in stages, throughout the long and varied periods of world history.

"The restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ was not a surprise, nor was it a contingency plan of the Lord's," Brother Skinner said.

Before the foundation of the earth, God and Jesus Christ knew the great apostasy would begin the first century of the Christian era, he said.

More important, "they foreordained both events and individuals that would be associated with the restoration of all things thousands of years before that restoration actually occurred."

Quoting President Brigham Young, Brother Skinner said, "We are a people whose rise and progress from the beginning has been the work of God our Heavenly Father."

For example, Brother Skinner said three foundational preparations were in place so that the restoration of the gospel could proceed:

• A widely accepted translation of the Bible, in the dominant language and tied to the dominant culture of the period.

• A stable political system to provide a base of operations from which the Restoration could go forward.

• A culture and language which fostered the establishment of the gospel, including a spirit of restoration which anticipated a new dispensation.

"These same three foundational preparations were also put in place for the restoration of the gospel in the latter days," he explained. "The convergence of ideas, institutions, and individuals that helped to bring about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ is mind-boggling," he concluded. "Only God could have orchestrated it, using so many individuals over such a span of time. The latter-day restoration of all things is too deep and complex and its preparations too vast and detailed, and yet so perfectly fitted together, for it to be attributed to anything but the plan of an infinite, all-knowing God."

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