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
Emma caused the Twelve a good deal of anxiety after her husband's death.
Pratt describes a council held by her, Marks, and others to endeavor to
appoint a trustee-in-trust for the whole church, the necessity of which
she vigorously urged. Pratt opposed the idea, and nothing was done about
it.* Soon after her husband's death the Times and Seasons noticed
a report that she was preparing, with the assistance of one of the
prophet's Iowa lawyers, an exposure of his "revelations," etc. James
Arlington Bennett, who visited Nauvoo after the prophet's death, acting
as correspondent for the New York Sun, gave in one of his letters the
text of a statement which he said Emma had written, to this effect, "I
never for a moment believed in what my husband called his apparitions or
revelations, as I thought him laboring under a diseased mind; yet they
may all be true, as a prophet is seldom without credence or honor,
excepting in his own family or country." Mrs. Smith, in a letter to the
Sun, dated December 30, 1845, pronounced this letter a forgery, while
Bennett maintained that he knew that it was genuine.**
*Pratt's "Autobiography," p. 373.
** Emma Smith is described as "a tall, dark, masculine looking
woman" in "Sketches and Anecdotes of the Old Settlers."
The organization--or, as they define it, the reorganization of a church
by those who claim that the mantle of Joseph Smith, Jr., descended
on his sons, had its practical inception at a conference at Beloit,
Wisconsin, in June, 1852, at which resolutions were adopted disclaiming
all fellowship with Young and other claimants to the leadership of the
church, declaring that the successor of the prophet "must of necessity
be the seed of Joseph Smith, Jr." At a conference held in Amboy,
Illinois, in April, 1860, Joseph Smith's son and namesake was placed
at the head of this church, a position which he still holds. The
Reorganized Church has been twice pronounced by United States courts
to be the one founded under the administration of the prophet. Its
teachings may be called pure Mormonism, free from the doctrines
engrafted in after years. It holds that "the doctrines of a plurality
and community of wives are heresies, and are opposed to the law of God."
Its declaration of faith declares its belief in baptism by immersion,
the same kind of organization (apostles, prophets, pastors, etc.) that
existed in the primitive church, revelations by God to man from time
to time "until the end of time," and in "the powers and gifts of the
everlasting gospel, viz., the gift of faith, discerning of spirits,
prophesy, revelation, healing, visions, tongues, and the interpretation
of tongues." No one ever heard of this church having any trouble with
its Gentile neighbors.
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