The Restoration of the GospelWidtsoe, Osborne J. P.
Religion
The Restoration of the Gospel
Widtsoe, Osborne J. P.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Accordingly on Tuesday, the sixth of April, 1830, Joseph Smith and
his friends met at the house of Peter Whitmer, Sr., in Fayette Seneca
County, New York. The laws of the State of New York required that there
should be at least six members of any religious body to effect an
organization. There were already more than six baptized followers of
Joseph Smith. Since, however, no more than six were required, only six
were chosen for the purpose of organization. They were, Oliver Cowdery,
Joseph Smith, Jr., Hyrum Smith, Peter Whitmer, Jr., Samuel H. Smith and
David Whitmer.[F] The Prophet writes:
[Footnote F: "History of the Church," Vol. I, p. 76, footnote.]
"Having opened the meeting by solemn prayer to our heavenly Father, we
proceeded, according to previous commandment, to call on our brethren
to know whether they accepted us as their teachers in the things of
the kingdom of God, and whether they were satisfied that we should
proceed and be organized as a Church, according to said commandment
which we had received. To these several propositions they consented
by a unanimous vote. I then laid my hands upon Oliver Cowdery, and
ordained him an Elder of the 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints;' after which he ordained me also to the office of an Elder of
said Church. We then took bread, blessed it, and brake it with them;
also wine, blessed it, and drank it with them. We then laid our hands
on each individual member of the Church present, that they might
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and be confirmed members of the
Church of Christ. The Holy Ghost was poured out upon us to a very great
degree--some prophesied, whilst we all praised the Lord, and rejoiced
exceedingly."[G]
[Footnote G: "History of the Church," Vol. I, pp. 75-79.]
While the members were thus enjoying the manifestations of the Holy
Ghost, another revelation pertaining to the organization of the Church
was given to the Prophet Joseph. It is preserved in the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants as section twenty-one.
"We now proceeded to call out and ordain some others of the brethren to
different offices of the Priesthood, according as the Spirit manifested
unto us; and after a happy time spent in witnessing and feeling for
ourselves the powers and blessings of the Holy Ghost, through the grace
of God bestowed upon us, we dismissed with the pleasing knowledge that
we were now individually members of, and acknowledged of God, 'The
Church of Jesus Christ,' organized in accordance with commandments and
revelations given by Him to ourselves to the order of the Church as
recorded in the New Testament."[H]
[Footnote H: "History of the Church," Vol. I, p. 79.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account