Benjamin Brown's Vision of His Deceased Brother and Miraculous Understanding of Scripture
Contributed by
Benjamin Brown (autobiography)
After a fatiguing day's labor around 1830, Benjamin Brown sat alone by the fire when a vision of his deceased brother appeared, praying aloud about the Restoration and quoting scriptures. Immediately after the vision faded, a sound like a rushing mighty wind filled the house, and an open Bible appeared supernaturally before him. A voice said, 'This is the spirit of understanding.' Brown then read and comprehended entire books of scripture with lightning speed — chapters in the time normally taken to read a verse — with perfect clarity and interconnection between all the prophets and apostles. He described it as the whole of scripture brought to a focus at once, a gift of intelligence he could only attribute to the Holy Ghost.
In Their Own Words
“Thus left alone, I was musing on things generally, but not particularly on any religious subject, when a vision of my brother, who had died some fourteen or fifteen years previous, appeared before me, praying. I heard his voice clearly and distinctly, and listened attentively. In the course of his prayer, he referred to a great work to be done on the earth during the last days, quoting several scriptures. . . . Soon he disappeared from my view, when suddenly, to use a scripture phrase, a sound, as of a rushing mighty wind, with some accompanying influence, seemed to fill the house and myself, and I heard a voice saying—"This is the spirit of understanding." An open Bible appeared before me, so peculiarly placed, that I could see portions of several books of the prophets and apostles at once. Directly I heard the above words, I began to read, understanding and intelligence burst upon my mind . . . for I seemed able to read a chapter in the time usually occupied in reading a verse, and the contents of a whole book were laid before my mind about as quickly as otherwise I could have perused a single chapter.”
— Benjamin Brown, Testimonies for the Truth (Liverpool: S. W. Richards, 1853), chapter 1, describing the vision he received in 1830 before his baptism; full text at doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/history/benjamin-brown/
Sources & References
Benjamin Brown, Testimonies for the Truth (Liverpool: S.W. Richards, 1853), Chapter I; https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/history/benjamin-brown/ ; Full book text at https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/history/benjamin-brown/