The Story of the Mormons, from the Date of Their Origin to the Year 1901Linn, William Alexander
History
The Story of the Mormons, from the Date of Their Origin to the Year 1901
Linn, William Alexander
Latter Day Saints -- History; Utah -- History
These "revelations," which increased in number from 16 in 1829 to 19 in
1830, numbered 35 in 1831, and then decreased to 16 in 1832, 13 in 1833,
5 in 1834, 2 in 1835, 3 in 1836, 1 in 1837, 8 in 1838 (in the trying
times in Missouri), 1 in 1839, none in 1840, 3 in 1841, none in 1842,
and 2, including the one on polygamy, in 1843. We shall see that in
his latter days, in Nauvoo, Smith was allowed to issue revelations only
after they had been censored by a council. He himself testified to the
reckless use which he made of them, and which perhaps brought about this
action. The following is a quotation from his diary:--
"May 19, 1842.--While the election [of Smith as mayor by the city
council] was going forward, I received and wrote the following
revelation: 'I Verily thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph,
by the voice of the Spirit, Hiram Kimball has been insinuating evil and
forming evil opinions against you with others; and if he continue in
them, he and they shall be accursed, for I am the Lord thy God, and will
stand by thee and bless thee.' Which I threw across the room to Hiram
Kimball, one of the counsellors."
Thus it seems that there was some limit to the extent of Joe's
effrontery which could be submitted to.
We shall see that Brigham Young in Utah successfully resisted constant
pressure that was put upon him by his flock to continue the reception
of "revelations." While he was prudent enough to avoid the pitfalls that
would have surrounded him as a revealer, he was crafty enough not to
belittle his own authority in so doing. In his discourse on the occasion
of the open announcement of polygamy, he said, "If an apostle magnifies
his calling, his words are the words of eternal life and salvation to
those who hearken to them, just as much so as any written revelations
contained in these books" (the two Bibles and the "Doctrine and
Covenants").
Hiram Page was not the only person who tried to imitate Smith's
"revelations." A boy named Isaac Russell gave out such messages at
Kirtland; Gladdin Bishop caused much trouble in the same way at Nauvoo;
the High Council withdrew the hand of fellowship from Oliver Olney for
setting himself up as a prophet; and in the same year the Times and
Seasons announced a pamphlet by J. C. Brewster, purporting to be one of
the lost books of Esdras, "written by the power of God."
In the Times and Seasons (p. 309) will be found a report of a conference
held in New York City on December 4, 1840, at which Elder Sydney Roberts
was arraigned, charged with "having a revelation that a certain brother
must give him a suit of clothes and a gold watch, the best that could be
had; also saluting the sisters with what he calls a holy kiss." He was
told that he could retain his membership if he would confess, but he
declared that "he knew the revelations which he had spoken were from
God." So he was thereupon "cut off."
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