"I do maintain that the new
and everlasting covenant of marriage is not plural marriage, but is the eternal
union of a man and a woman... To say that those who in the past have or in
the future will enter into plural marriage will be the only ones who shall
attain Celestial Glory is stating that which is not true." �
Ballard - Jenson correspondence, p. 10
However, the following seems
to be in conflict:
Brigham Young:
The only men who become Gods, even
Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy. Journal of Discourses, Vol.
11, p. 269
Millennial Star:
We cannot be married...for eternity
without subscribing to the law which admits a plurality of wives. �
Vol. 5, p. 15
Joseph F. Smith:
Some people have supposed that the
doctrine of plural marriage was a sort of superfluity, or non-essential to
the salvation or exaltation of mankind. In other words, some of the Saints
have said, and believe, that a man with one wife, sealed to him by the authority
of the Priesthood for time and eternity, will receive an exaltation as great
and glorious, if he is faithful, as he possibly could with more than one.
I want here to enter my solemn protest against this idea, for I know it is
false...The marriage of one woman to a man for time and eternity by the sealing
power, according to the law of God, is a fulfillment of the celestial law
of marriage in part... But this is only the beginning of the law, not the
whole of it. Therefore, whoever has imagined that he could obtain the fulness
of the blessings pertaining to this celestial law, by complying with only
a portion of its conditions, has deceived himself. He cannot do it. �
Journal of Discourses, Vol. 20, p. 28
Brigham Young:
Now, where a man in this Church
says, "I don't want but one wife, I will have my religion with one,"
he will perhaps be saved in the Celestial
Kingdom; but when he gets there,
he will not find himself in possession of any wife at all. He has had a talent
that he has hid up. He will come forward and say, "Here is that which
thou gavest me. I have not wasted it, and here is the one talent," and
he will not enjoy it, but it will be taken and given to those who improved
the talents they received, and he will find himself without any wife, and
he will remain single forever and ever. � Ibid, Vol. 16, p. 166
Bishop Samuel Wooley:
The spirit told me...that that revelation
was of God and that no man could or would receive a fulness of Celestial Glory
except he obeyed that law and had more than one living wife at the same time.
� Historical Record, Vol. 6, p. 166
Joseph W. Musser:
A tradition has grown among the
Latter-Day Saints that Celestial Marriage may be comprehended in either the
monogamous or the patriarchal form, when the ceremony is preformed under the
authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood, and by one so authorized. True, a
marriage performed for time and eternity, by an authorized servant of the
Lord and sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise, is of a celestial nature as
it is intended to extend into the Celestial sphere; But it is equally true
that the full and complete act of celestial marriage comprehends a plurality
of wives and cannot be complete in the monogamic form. The title first given
to the Revelation on Celestial Plural Marriage was, "A Revelation on
the Patriarchal Order of Matrimony, including Plurality of Wives." Patriarchal
marriage means the kind of marriage entered into anciently by such Patriarchs
as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and others and has reference to a plurality
of wives.
Brigham Young:
It is the word of the Lord, and
I wish to say to you, and all the world, if you desire with all your hearts
to obtain the blessings which Abraham obtained, you will be polygamists �
at least in your faith, or you will come short of enjoying the salvation and
the glory which Abraham has obtained. This is as true as that God lives. �
Journal of Discourses, Vol. 11, p. 268
Finally, If Celestial Marriage
and Plural Marriage are not synonymous terms, what do we do with:
George Teasdale:
Where you have the eternity of marriage,
you are bound to have plural marriage, bound to; and it is one of the marks
of the Church of Jesus Christ in its sealing ordinances. �
Ibid, Vol 25, p. 21
Joseph Smith:
...[said,] It was a doctrine which
pertained to Celestial Order and Glory. � William Clayton, Historical
Record, 6:225-7
*
* * * *
Argument: Book of Mormon; Jacob 2:23-27: Wherefore...;
for there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines
he shall have none.
Previous verses indicate the
Lord is chastising the people of that time for their much wickedness. They
were not worthy to be living the higher Law of plural marriage. Verse 30 states:
"For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will
command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things."
The Book of Mormon clearly indicates elsewhere
that plural marriage was practiced at proper times:
Alma
10:11 "For behold, he hath
blessed mine house, he hath blessed me, and my women, and my children, and
my kinsfolk..."
Ether 1:14
"Go to and gather together...and thy families; and also Jared thy brother
and his family..."
Ether 6:20
"...now the number of the sons and daughters of the brother of Jared
were twenty and two souls; and the number of sons and daughters of Jared were
twelve..."
The brother of Jared conversed with the Lord
and received revelations because he was living a higher law than was Jared.
Also the Jacob scripture was between 544 and
421 B.C. Over 400 years later, 82 B.C. Amulek proclaimed how the Lord had
blessed his women.
Joseph F. Smith, while testifying in the
Reed Smoot case before the Committee on Privileges and Elections in the U.S.
Senate, March 9, 1904,
said of the Jacob scripture at that time:
"All you need to do, sir, is
to read the whole thing and it explains itself. The revelation to Joseph Smith
does not repeal this. It is simply a commandment of the Lord unto him, and
received by him and accepted by him, to enter into plural marriage by His
law and by His commandment and not by their own volition."
Then it becomes a matter of commandment.
Were we commanded to live the law in this the dispensation of the fulness
of times? Note the following:
Orson Pratt:
Why, then, do Latter-Day Saints
practice polygamy? ...It is because we believe...that the Lord God, who gave
revelations to Moses approbating polygamy, has given revelations to the Latter-Day
Saints, not only approbating it, but commanding it, as he commanded Israel
in ancient times. � JD, Vol. 17, p. 223
Wilford Woodruff:
Again, this testament which Joseph
Smith left contains a revelation from God, out of heaven, concerning the patriarchal
order of marriage...And God, our Heavenly Father, knowing that this was the
only law ordained by the Gods of eternity, that would exalt immortal beings
to kingdoms...to a fulness of Celestial glory, I say, the God of Israel, knowing
these things, commanded Joseph Smith to obey this law, "or you shall
be damned," saith the Lord. � Mill. Star, vol. 41,
pp. 242-243
Joseph Smith:
...We have got to observe it. It
is an eternal principle and was given by way of commandment and not by way
of instruction. � Contrib., vol. 5, p. 259
Again, an incident and never
an essential?
*
* * * *
Argument: The New Testament says, "A
Bishop and a deacon shall each be the husband of one wife." �
1 Tim. 3:2
Brigham Young, 1854:
Instead of my believing for a moment
that Paul wished to signify to Timothy that he must select a man to fill the
office of a Bishop that would have but one wife, I believe directly the reverse;...he
did not say "BUT ONE wife:" it does not read so; but he must have
one to begin with... � Jour. of Disc., vol.
2, pp. 88-89
George A. Smith, 1869:
We interpret it to mean, a bishop
must be blameless, the husband of one wife at least... Now this passage does
not prove that a man should have but one wife. It only proves that a bishop
should be a married man... The Savior denounced adultery; he denounced fornication;
he denounced lust; also divorce; but is there a single sentence asserting
that plurality of wives is wrong? If so, where is it? Who can find it? Why
did He not say it was wrong? � Ibid, vol. 13, p. 39
*
* * * *
Argument: "Let no man BREAK THE LAWS
OF THE LAND, for he that keepeth the laws of God hath no need to break the
laws of the land." � D&C 58:21
1.
Read D&C 98:4-9, which outlines the law of the land to be that which
is Constitutional.
2.
Joseph Smith and all others broke the law wherever they were living, according
to local statutes:
o
Vermont � 1805 � Law of 1797 on record
o
New York � 1815-1830 �
Law of 1788 on record
o
Ohio � 1831 � Law of 1824 on record
o
Missouri � 1831 � Law of 1825 on record
o
Illinois � 1839 � Law of 1833 on record
3.
Instances of breaking the law of the land in favor of God's law, as revealed
in scripture:
The Three Hebrews refused to bow down to the golden image
of King Nebuchadnezzar and were cast into the fiery furnace. All the rest
of Israel
bowed down. And all bow down today to the golden image of monogamy �
except a few.
Daniel refused to cease his prayers according
to the decree of King Darius, and was thrown into the lion's den.
Abraham refused to worship at the shrine of
his apostate father.
4.
The Lord virtually commanded disobedience to the Saints when, for example,
he commanded plural marriage by his servants three years after the Morrill
Law (1879) was enacted, when Seymour B. Young entered polygamy. (In the 1882
revelation to John Taylor)
That 1882 revelation was published by the Church
in early European editions of the D&C, also in the "Life of John
Taylor," p. 349, also in the "Life of Wilford Woodruff," p.
542. Note that this revelation and command from the Lord was given 20 years
after the anti-polygamy law passed by Congress in 1862, and 3 years after
the law was declared constitutional by the U. S. Supreme Court (in 1879),
also 7 months after the Edmunds Law (1882) which was designed to give strength
to the 1862 law. And the 1886 revelation was given 18 months after the Edmunds
Law.
The Manifesto is addressed "To whom it
may concern." Apparently, the Lord didn't feel it concerned Him too much.
Joseph F. Smith (After quoting D&C 58:21):
We are told here that no man need
break the laws of the land who will keep the laws of God. But this is further
defined by the passage which I will read afterwards �
the law of the land, which all have no need to break, is that law which is
the constitutional law of the land, and that is as God himself has defined
it (D&C 107:77-80).
. . . The Lord Almighty requires
this people to observe the laws of the land, to be subject to the powers that
be, so far as they abide by the fundamental principles of good government,
but he will hold them responsible if they will pass unconstitutional measures
and frame unjust and proscriptive laws, as did Nebuchadnezzar and Darius in
relation to the three Hebrews and Daniel. If law-makers have a mind to violate
their oath, break their covenants and their faith with the people and depart
from the provisions of the Constitution, where is the law, human or divine,
which binds me, as an individual, to outwardly and openly proclaim my acceptance
of their acts?
. . . We intend to continue to be
law-abiding so far as the constitutional law of the land is concerned; and
we expect to meet the consequence of our obedience to the laws and commandments
of God, like men. These are my sentiments briefly expressed upon this subject.
�
Gospel Doctrine, Page 406-407
Brigham Young:
Monogamy, or restrictions by law
to one wife, is no part of the economy of heaven among men. Such a system
was commenced by the founders of the Roman Empire.
That Empire was founded on the banks of the Tiber by
wandering brigands. When these robbers founded the city of Rome,
it was evident to them that their success in attaining a balance of power
with their neighbors, depended upon introducing females into their body politic,
so they stole them from the Sabines, who were near neighbors. The scarcity
of women gave rise to laws restricting one wife to one man. Rome
became the mistress of the world, and introduced this order of monogamy wherever
her sway was acknowledged. Thus this monogamous order of marriage, so esteemed
by modern Christians as a holy sacrament, is nothing but a system established
by a set of robbers. � Journal of Discourses,
Vol. 9, pg. 322
The first public law in the Roman
Empire against polygamy was at the latter end of the 4th
century, about the year 393, by the Emperor Theodosius.
Plural marriage was always God's law. Man-made
laws against it are unconstitutional:
"Congress shall make no
law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof . . ."
Deseret News, 1886:
"Any man who says that he really
and firmly believes a certain law of God binding on him, and who will not
obey it in preference to a conflicting law of man or a decision of a court,
has either an unsound mind or a cowardly soul, or is a most contemptible hypocrite."
Polygamy with the Mormon people
is strictly a religious rite and not subject to legislative interpretation
or judicial curtailment. And this position was maintained leading Senators,
Congressmen, Jurists and Publicists of the United
States during the years when the subject
was receiving legislative attention by the Federal Government.
Witness the following by statesmen and prophets:
Abraham Lincoln:
Think if you can of a single instance
in which a plainly written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied.
If by the mere force of numbers a majority should ever deprive a minority
of any clearly written constitutional right, it might in a moral point of
view justify revolution: certainly would if such a right was a vital one.
�
First Inaugural Address
Thomas Jefferson:
The rights of conscience we never
submitted, we could not submit; we are answerable for them to our God.
Blackstone (the English Jurist):
If ever the laws of God and men
are at variance, the former are to be obeyed in derogation of the latter.
Joseph F. Smith testified in
the Smoot case, Vol. 1:335-6, that he was living in open violation of the
"rules of the Church;" so did Francis M. Lyman; so did B. H. Roberts
and others of the presiding brethren.
George Teasdale:
I believe in plural marriage as
part of the Gospel, just as much as I believe in baptism by immersion for
the remission of sins. The same being who taught me baptism. . . taught me
plural marriage, and its necessity and glory. . . I do not know how you feel;
but I do not fear the face of man as I fear the face of God. �
Journal of Discourses, Vol. 25, p. 21
Letter from Catholic Bishops:
But when the laws of the state conflict
with the natural laws and God's commands, then God must be obeyed more than
man.
Peter was commanded by the High
Priests of his day to cease their doctrines. But Peter and John answered and
said unto them, "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto
you more than unto God, judge ye." Also, "We ought to obey God rather
than man." � Acts 4:19; 5:29
Wilford Woodruff:
The Congress of 1862 (Lincoln
was Pres.) and the Supreme Judges of 1879, in their acts and decisions, have
taken a dangerous and fearful step. Their acts will sap the very foundation
of our government and it will be rent asunder, and the God of Heaven will
hold them responsible for these things. . . The Constitution once broken by
the rules of the land, there will be no stopping place until the nation is
broken in pieces, and there is no power beneath the heavens can save this
nation from the consequences thereof. � Mill. Star, Vol. 41,
p. 243, April 21, 1879
George Q. Cannon:
. . .I admit that those raising
children by plural wives are not complying with man-made laws, but in the
sight of God, they are not sinning, as there is no sin in it. �
Sanpete Stake Conf. Sept. 1899
Rudger Clawson:
Your Honor, I have only this to
say why judgment should not be passed upon me: I very much regret that the
laws of my country should come in conflict with the laws of God; but whenever
they do I shall invariably choose to obey the latter. � Nov. 3, 1884; Sentenced to State Penitentiary
Wilford Woodruff:
God. . . commanded Joseph Smith
the Prophet and all Latter-day Saints to obey this law, "or you shall
be damned," saith the Lord. Now, having obeyed the law for many years,
the Congress of the United States
and the supreme judges of the nation, stand forth and say, "You shall
be damned if you DO obey it." Now, Latter-day Saints, what are we going
to do under the circumstances? God says we shall be damned if we do not obey
the law, Congress says we shall be damned if we do. It places us in precisely
the same position that it did the Hebrews in the fiery furnace and Daniel
in the den of lions. The enemies of Daniel counseled together and said, "We
cannot find any occasion against Daniel, except we find it against him concerning
the law of God." Our enemies have pursued the same course. And made it
a law of offense to obey the laws of God. Now who shall we obey, God or man?
My voice is that we obey God. . . � Mill. Star, Vol. 41, p. 242, April 21, 1879
Heber Bennion:
Hundreds of LDS have gone to prison
because they would not do it (obey the law of the land). President John Taylor
died a martyr in exile rather than do it, and men were dropped from their
positions in the Church because they promised they would obey the law of the
land. Joseph F. Smith would not do it, but went on the underground for years,
and had eleven children born after the Manifesto by five mothers.
John Taylor:
When they enact tyrannical laws,
forbidding us the free exercise of our religion, we cannot submit, God is
greater than the United States.
And when the government conflicts with Heaven, we will be ranged under the
banner of Heaven, and against the government. The U.S.
says we cannot marry more than one wife. God says different. . . Polygamy
is a divine institution. It has been handed down direct from God. The U.S.
cannot abolish it. No nation on earth can prevent it, nor all the nations
of the earth combined. I defy the United States.
I will obey God. � S.L. Tribune, Jan. 6, 1880
*
* * * *
Argument: Marriage sealings for time and eternity
must be performed in the Temples.
Brigham Young:
There are many of the ordinances
of the house of God that must be performed in a Temple
that is erected expressly for that purpose. There are other ordinances that
we can administer without a Temple.
. . We also have the privilege of sealing women to men, without a Temple.
. . but when we come to other sealing ordinances, ordinances pertaining to
the holy Priesthood, to connect the chain of the Priesthood from Father Adam
until now, by sealing children to their parents, being sealed for our forefathers,
etc., they cannot be done without a Temple.
But we can seal women to men, but not men to men, without a Temple.
�
Journal of Discourses, Vol. 16, p. 186
John Taylor:
I was asked of certain ordinances
could be performed in different places. I told them, yes, under certain circumstances.
"Where," I was asked � "Anywhere besides
in temples?" Yes. "Anywhere besides the Endowment House?" Yes.
"Where, in some other house?" In another house or out of doors,
as circumstances might be. Why did I say that?. . . It is the authority of
the Priesthood, not the place that validates and sanctifies the ordinance.
I was asked if people could be sealed outside. Yes. I could have told them
I was sealed outside, and lots of others . . . If we are interrupted by men
who do not know about our principles, that is all right, it will not impede
the work of God, or stop the performance of ordinances. Let them do their
work, and we will try and do ours. � Ibid., Vol. 25, p. 355-356
Charles C. Rich
. . . for a Temple
is the proper place to perform these sacred ordinances. We learn from our
past history and experience that there have been deviations from this rule
from time to time . . . There are ordinances which can only be administered
in a Temple, hence the importance
of completing the Temple so that
these ordinances may be administered for the living and for the dead. In relation
to this deviation from this rule pertaining to sealings and endowments, we
understand that the Priesthood is greater than the Temple,
and that which is sealed on earth by those holding the keys, is sealed in
heaven. � Ibid., Vol. 19, p. 164
Samuel Wooley Taylor:
"The plural marriage of the
author's mother and father took place during a carriage ride in Liberty
Park at Salt
Lake City." Samuel's father was John W. Taylor,
son of President John Taylor. � The Kingdom of Nothing
by S. W. Taylor, p. 309-310, footnote
*
* * * *
Argument: "Verily, verily, I say unto
you, that when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men to do a work
unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might and with all they
have to perform that work, and cease not their diligence, and their enemies
come upon them and hinder them from performing that work, behold, it behooveth
me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to
accept of their offerings." � D&C 124:49
Charles W. Penrose (refers to the above D&C
quotation and states):
. . . Quotations sometimes referred
to by the weak-backed who need a ramrod fastened parallel to their spinal
column. . .
It is a little singular that some
people will persistently refuse to see the difference between a certain special
work and a principle or law. The consistency of the Lord relieving a people
from any such obligation as the building of a house when prevented by enemies
from accomplishing it is self-evident. When it comes to the abrogation of
a law, a principle, a truth, the matter is entirely different. The revelation
does not apply even remotely. . . � Deseret Evening News,
Editorial, June 5, 1885
Wilford Woodruff:
No man ever did or ever will obtain
salvation only through the ordinances of the Gospel and through the name of
Jesus. There can be no change in the Gospel; all men that are saved from Adam
to infinitum are saved by the one system of salvation. The Lord may give many
laws and many commandments to suit the varied circumstances and conditions
of his children throughout the world, such as giving a law of carnal commandments
to Israel,
but the laws and principles of the Gospel do not change. If any portion of
this generation be saved, it will be because they receive the Gospel which
Jesus Christ and his Apostles preached. When the Lord inspires men and sends
them to any generation, he holds that generation responsible for the manner
in which they receive the testimony of his servants. � Journal of Discourses,
Vol. 10, p. 217
George Q. Cannon:
There are revelations in that book
(D&C) concerning counsel and the management of affairs that are not binding
upon us only so far as they are not applicable to us. When, however, it comes
to the revelations concerning principle, then those revelations are unalterable,
and they will stand as long as heaven and earth will endure, because they
are true. � Deseret Evening News, Sept. 21, 1895
*
* * * *
Argument: Plural Marriage is fine for the
men, but not for the women.
� Someone should have
counseled the Lord about that several billion years ago.
� When will the Lord
ever reveal a principle that will harm women? Or make them second- class citizens?
� Jesus said, "If
any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of
God, or whether I speak of myself." --John 7:17
� Thousands of women
know the doctrine to be of God. And rejoice in it.
Marian Ross Pratt:
I have been in polygamy 25 years
and have never seen the hour when I have regretted that I was in it. I would
not change my position for anything earthly, no matter how grand or gorgeous
it might be; even were it for the throne of a queen.
Lucy W. Kimball:
I poured out my hearts contents
before God. I at once became calm and composed; a feeling of happiness took
possession of me and at the same time I received a powerful and irresistible
testimony of the truth of plural marriage, which testimony has abided with
me ever since.
Dr. Ellis R. Shipp:
We are accused of being down-trodden
and oppressed. We deny the charge! For we know there cannot be found a class
of women upon the earth who occupy a more elevated position in the hearts
of their husbands, or whose most delicate and refined feelings are so respected
as here in Utah. True we practice plural marriage, not however because we
are compelled to, but because we are convinced that it is a divine revelation,
and we find in this principle satisfaction, contentment and more happiness
than we can obtain in any other relationship.
Eliza R. Snow:
This, one of the most important
events of my life, I have never had cause to regret. The more I comprehend
the pure and ennobling principle of plural marriage, the more I appreciate
it. It is a necessity in the salvation of the human family �
a necessity in redeeming woman from the curse, and the world from its corruptions.
Bathsheba W. Smith:
Joseph Smith counseled the sisters
not to trouble themselves in consequence of it, that all would be right, and
the result would be for their glory and exaltation.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox:
In Salt Lake City the men and women
born of polygamous mothers in the upper classes of Salt Lake City, are superior
in physique and in mental endowments to the same members selected at random
in other cities I have seen. A little investigation will prove the truth of
my statement.
Before we cast any more stones at
their ancestors, let us weed from the ranks of our own churches and our own
fashionable society all the unwelcome and fatherless children, all the deserted,
betrayed girls, and stand them in a row, and practice upon them as targets,
in order that we may have a surer aim when we stone the polygamists again.
� New York Journal
John Taylor (Letter to a sister, January 19,
1883):
. . .You seem desirous to take part
of the law and reject the other part . . . This law (Section 132) pertains
more particularly to the living . . . You seem to be desirous of having dead
women sealed to your husband instead of living ones, whereas the law pertaining
to these matters does not our things in that shape. We read that the Lord
commanded and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife, and it is for wives as
well as husbands to perform their part in relation to these matters. . . no
man or woman has authority to point out any other way than that which the
Lord has appointed. � Joseph W. Musser, Celestial or Plural Marriage,
p. 52-53
*
* * * *
Argument: We can live plural marriage during
the Millennium. It is not for now.
1.
People have said since the beginning of time, "Not now, let's wait."
The command was not given for the Millennial period. Are we to wait for the
Millennium to fulfill a mortal covenant to raise up a choice seed unto God?
2.
The fulness of the Gospel was restored. Can we receive baptism in the Millennium
instead of now? The laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost? Can
we have someone live plural marriage for us by proxy?
3.
Zion, prior to the Millennium, must be built up on principles of celestial
law (United Order and Patriarchal Marriage) according to D&C 105:5. Was
Joseph Smith commanded to wait? The Millennium is too late.
4.
The righteous will be resurrected at the beginning of the Millennium. We
are resurrected according to degree of glory for which we have lived and according
to the laws we have obeyed. How can one become exalted if he hasn't lived
those laws designed to exalt? Have we been given opportunity to live ALL the
restored laws now?
5.
". . .and when we obtain any blessing, it is by obedience to that
law upon which the blessing is predicated."
6.
"For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law
which was appointed for that blessing. . ." (D&C 132:5)
"During the Millennium"
was not included in the verse.
Wilford Woodruff:
. . .The reason why the Church and
Kingdom cannot advance without the Patriarchal order of marriage, is that
it belongs to this dispensation. . . � Life of Wilford Woodruff,
p. 542
Wilford Woodruff:
The Gospel which we preach is the
power of God unto salvation to every one who believes, both high and low,
rich and poor, Jew and Gentile. There is no man who will receive salvation
without it; no man can receive exaltation and be crowned with a fulness of
salvation in the presence of God without receiving the fulness of the everlasting
gospel of the Son of God.
All men who have received a glorious
salvation and resurrection and have gone to receive their reward in the presence
of God, have had to go there by keeping the laws that He gave them. They have
had to obey the Gospel of Christ on the earth: They have had to receive the
law and abide that law while in the flesh, that they might receive a fulness
in the resurrection. It will take just as much to save the Latter-day Saints
and the inhabitants of the earth in this generation as it did to save Adam,
Enoch, Seth, Moses, Elijah, Elias or Jesus and the apostles. There is no change
nor variableness with the gospel of Christ; its ordinances are the same yesterday,
today and forever. As the Apostle Paul said, "If we or an angel from
heaven preach any other gospel than that we have preached, let him be accursed."
� Journal of Discourses, Vol. 12, p. 277
If all of the restored laws cannot
be lived now, then we have to admit that the wishes of the faithful are bound
by the wishes of the unfaithful � that Lucifer has succeeded
in binding Jesus Christ.
*
* * * *
Argument: Only one man on earth can hold keys
of authority, and he is President of the Church.
The student is here advised to
study Priesthood, Apostleship, Church, Kingdom
of God, and church
history.
It will help to read of Joseph Smith's desire
to have Hyrum preside over the Church while he continued presiding over the
keys of Priesthood. See Doc. Hist. of the Church, Vol. 5, pp. 510, 517-518;
also Vol. 7, pp. 213, 382.
Brigham Young:
Perhaps it may make some of you
stumble, were I to ask you a question � Does a man's being
a Prophet in this Church prove that he shall be the President of it? I answer,
no! A man may be a Prophet, Seer and Revelator, and it may have nothing to
do with his being President of the Church. Suffice it to say, that Joseph
was the President of the Church, as long as he lived: the people chose to
have it so. He always filled that responsible station, by the voice of the
people. Can you find any revelation appointing him the President of the Church?
The keys of the Priesthood were committed to Joseph, to build up the Kingdom
of God on the earth, and were not to be taken from him in time or in eternity;
but when he was called to preside over the Church, it was by the voice of
the people; though he held the keys of the Priesthood, independent of their
voice. Journal of Discourses, Vol. 1, p. 133
Only one man does preside over
the keys of Priesthood. But it may not be the President of the Church.
J. Reuben Clark:
The Priesthood is essential to the
Church, but the Church is not essential to the Priesthood. �
Improvement Era, p. 134, March 1936
George Q. Cannon:
We are asked, Is the Church of God
and the Kingdom of God
the same organization? And we are informed that some of the brethren hold
that they are separate. This is the correct view to take. The Kingdom
of God is a separate organization
from the Church of God.
There may be men acting as officers in the Kingdom
of God who will not be members
of the Church. . . � Doctrinal History of the Church, Vol. 7, p.
382
B. H. Roberts:
Joseph Smith when speaking strictly
recognized a distinction between the Church
of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom
of God, and not only a distinction
but a separation of one from the other. � Rise and Fall of Nauvoo,
p. 180
Brigham Young:
(Spoke of the Church structure and
said:) This is what we are in the habit of calling the kingdom
of God. But there are further organizations.
The Prophet gave a full and complete organization to this kingdom the Spring
before he was killed. . . The kingdom
of God will protect every person,
every sect and all people upon the face of the whole earth, in their legal
rights. I shall not tell you the names of the members of this kingdom, neither
shall I read to you its constitution, but the constitution was given by revelation.
The day will come when it will be organized in strength and power. �
Journal of Discourses, Vol. 17, pp. 156-157
Times and Seasons:
There are men here, brethren, who
have got authority, but we don't want to mention their names, for the enemy
will try to kill them. � Vol. 5, p. 663
Times and Seasons:
As to a person not knowing more
than the written word, let me tell you that there are keys that the written
word never spoke of, nor never will. � Vol. 5, p. 667
George Q. Cannon:
Joseph Smith set the pattern; he
taught the brethren who were with him better ideas; you well-informed Latter-day
Saints know that there are two powers which God has restored in these the
last days. One is the Church of
God, the other is the Kingdom
of God. �
Journal of Discourses, Vol. 20, p. 204
Another item of interest:
Brigham Young:
Because a man is ordained an Apostle,
it does not prove that he belongs to the Quorum of the Apostles. I just mention
this that you may understand it. � Deseret News, Sept. 18, 1875 (Stated Aug. 31, 1875)
*
* * * *
Argument: My grandfather was a righteous man,
holding many positions in the Church. Surely he won't receive a lesser reward
because he didn't know about plural marriage. He was nearly perfect.
Joseph F. Smith:
...but if he remain faithful with
only the one wife, observing the conditions of so much of the law as pertains
to the eternity of the marriage covenant, he will receive his reward, but
the benefits, blessings and power appertaining to the second or MORE FAITHFUL
AND FULLER OBSERVANCE of the law, he never will receive for he cannot. ...But
what will become of him that cannot abide it...he that is without understanding
is not under the law, and it remains for God to deal with him according to
his own wisdom. If a man acknowledges that he is incapable, or disqualified
BY A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE, wisdom or understanding to obey this law, then it
remains with God to deal with him according to those principles of justice
which are written, or are yet to be revealed. IT IS NOT LIKELY, HOWEVER, THAT
HE WILL TAKE HIS SEAT WITH ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB, OR SHARE IN THEIR PROMISED
BLESSINGS. � Jour. of Disc., Vol. 20, p. 31
Would this also apply to those
who claim immunity because of the 1890 Manifesto? (The Manifesto pleased the
Utah Commission
and 97% of the Saints; provision for continuing patriarchal marriage pleased
God.)
*
* * * *
Argument: No one can live any principle not
accepted by the Church through the vote of its members. Common consent governs
all Priesthood action.
1.
Someone should have informed Joseph Smith. He and others lived plural marriage
for many years before the Church at large knew anything about it.
2.
Plural marriage from the beginning was, and now is, A LAW OF THE PRIESTHOOD
and was never voted into acceptance by the Church. The Church, rather, was
invited to participate. In 1890 the general Church membership voted against
the principle, but the 1886 revelation to John Taylor had already made it
a matter of individual agency. The principle of celestial plural marriage
continued as a matter of Priesthood law, INDEPENDENT OF THE CHURCH. The 1890
Manifesto was not a revelation to the Priesthood, and it seems that none was
needed to the Church. The negative vote from 97% of the Saints was all the
revelation necessary.
The revelation on celestial plural marriage
states (D.&C. 132):
(Verse 28): "I am the Lord thy God, and will give unto
thee THE LAW OF MY HOLY PRIESTHOOD."
(Verse 58): "Now as touching THE LAW OF THE
PRIESTHOOD..."
(Verse 61): "And again, as pertaining to THE
LAW OF THE PRIESTHOOD..."
The President of the Church accommodated the
Saints of the Church in their demands. But as President of Priesthood, he
made other arrangements.
Wilford Woodruff:
In SOME things, it was the law of
the Church that all things should be done by the common consent of the people;
in the matter of presenting temporal business and in the quorums, it was.
But I have no recollection of any revelation given to the effect that ALL
Church affairs pertaining to what
should be or what would be the law of the Church, that that course was to
be pursued, that the matter should be submitted to the body for its sanction.
�
Temple Lot Case, 1892, p. 291-313
Lorenzo Snow:
The higher law was given to the
children of Israel
when they were first delivered from Egyptian bondage, but in consequence of
their disobedience, the Gospel IN ITS FULNESS, was withdrawn, and the law
of carnal commandments was added. Now, do you imagine that there would be
any wrong IF THE PEOPLE WANTED TO FIND THE PRINCIPLES OF THE HIGHER LAW AND
OBEY THEM as near as circumstances would admit? DO YOU SUPPOSE IT WOULD HAVE
BEEN WRONG TO SEARCH OUT THE FULNESS OF THE GOSPEL, while living under the
Mosaic law? ...Alma, by his energy
and perseverance, had discovered the fulness of the Gospel and obtained revelations
from the Lord, and the privilege of observing the Gospel in all its fulness
and blessings. Do you think the Lord was angry with them? They were under
the Mosaic law, and yet considered it a blessing to observe the higher law....
�
Jour. of Disc., Vol. 19, p. 345
From B.Y.U. Studies, 1976:
"Joseph Smith had often suspended
the prior approval of common consent. At Nauvoo, the Prophet secretly introduced
special endowment ceremonies, the practice of plural marriage, and the organization
and conduct of a parapolitical Council of Fifty without the ratifying vote
of the Church in common consent. Moreover, the following important ordinations
of General Authorities had not only occurred without a prior vote of the Church,
but had also continued in force for weeks, months, or years before being officially
presented for a public vote of common consent:..." �
Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 193-194
*
* * * *
Argument: The Church leaders would never make
misleading statements.
1.
This has always been necessary because of the wickedness and unbelief of
the people. Dr. Hugh Nibley in a series of articles published in the Improvement
Era concerning secrecy in the New
Testament Church
stated:
Quoting from Tertullian: "We believe that the Apostles
were ignorant of nothing, but that they did not transmit everything they knew
and were not willing to reveal everything to everybody. They did not preach
everywhere nor promiscuously...but taught ONE THING ABOUT THE NATURE OF CHRIST
IN PUBLIC AND ANOTHER IN SECRET..." � Imp. Era, May 1965
2.
In 1850, John Taylor made a misleading statement when he took the Gospel
to France.
He quoted a statement of the Church on monogamy (See Times and Seasons 3:940),
and said in part: "We are accused here of polygamy and actions the most
indelicate, obscene and disgusting, such that none but a corrupt and depraved
heart could have contrived. These things are too outrageous to admit of belief...I
shall content myself by reading views of chastity and marriage... "You
both mutually agree to be each other's companion, husband and wife, observing
the legal rights belonging to this condition; that is keeping yourselves wholly
for each other, and from all others, during your lives." � July 1850, Public Discourse, p. 8
John Taylor was quoting from the 1835 edition
of the Doctrine and Covenants, knowing full well the extent of plural marriage
in the Church.
3.
Joseph Smith also made misleading statements on several occasions because
of the unbelief and wickedness of men. The President of the Nauvoo Stake,
William Marks, said: "I met with Bro. Joseph. He said he wanted to converse
with me on the affairs of the Church, and we retired by ourselves. I will
give his words verbatim, for they are indelibly stamped upon my mind. he said
he had desired for a long time to have a talk with on the subject of polygamy.
He said it would eventually prove the overthrow of the Church, and we should
soon be obliged to leave the United
States, unless it could be speedily
put down. He was satisfied that it was a cursed doctrine, and that there must
be every exertion made to put it down," etc. (June 1844) �
Smith, Was Joseph Smith a Polygamist?, p. 15
Joseph Smith also had a good number of wives
at the time.
Also:
"We the undersigned members of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints and residents of the city of Nauvoo, persons of families
do hereby certify and declare that WE KNOW OF NO OTHER RULE OR SYSTEM OF MARRIAGE
than the one published from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants," which
again was the 1835 edition teaching monogamy. And among those who signed the
declaration were W. Woodruff, N. K. Whitney, and John Taylor.
Accompanying this declaration:
"We the undersigned members of the Ladies' Relief Society,
and married females do certify and declare that we know of no system of marriage
being practiced in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints save the
one contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants..." Among those signing
the document were Emma Smith and Eliza R. Snow, as well as Lenora Taylor.
Among others, both Emma and Eliza were the wives of Joseph Smith at the time.
The date was October 1, 1842.
�
Times and Seasons, Vol. 3, pp. 939-940
The statements were plainly designed to mislead.
Also: Joseph Smith published several questions
and answers in the Elders' Journal, vol. 1, No. II, pp. 28 and 29:
Seventh � "Do the Mormons
believe in having more wives than one?" No, not at the same time. But
they believe if their companion dies they have the right to marry again...
�
Doc. Hist. of the Church, vol. 3, pp. 28-30, May 8, 1838
Joseph Smith also published the following:
"As we have lately been credibly informed, that an Elder
of the Church, by the name of Hiram Brown, has been preaching POLYGAMY and
OTHER FALSE and corrupt doctrines, the county of Lapeer, state of Michigan,
this is to notify him and the Church in general that he has been cut off from
the Church for his iniquity; and he is further notified to appear at the Special
Conference on the 6th of April next, to make answer to these charges.
/s/ Joseph Smith
Hyrum Smith
Feb. 1, 1844 (Times and Seasons, vol. 5, p. 423)
4.
Thus prompting Joseph F. Smith to state:
Joseph
F. Smith
Let all the Latter-day Saints know
that Joseph Smith...and his brother Hyrum did practice the doctrine (of plural
marriage) in their lifetime, and until their death, NOTWITHSTANDING THEIR
SEEMING DENIALS as published in the Times and Seasons, and which are so fervently
relied upon as evidence against the fact by a certain class of anti-polygamists.
Those DENIALS can be explained, and have been, and while they are true IN
THE SENSE FOR WHICH THEY WERE DESIGNED, they are not denials of plural or
celestial marriage as taught by Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and practiced at the
time by both of them and many others in prominent standing in the Church.
� Hist. Rec., vol. 6, pp. 219-220, Des. News
of May 20, 1886
"In
the sense for which they were designed" covers the reason for many misleading
statements made by Church leaders, including the 1890 Manifesto period.
5.
Paul in II Thess. 2:10-11 reminded the Saints that because men "received
not the love of the truth...God shall send them strong delusion, that they
should believe a lie."
Misleading statements were also elicited from Joseph F. Smith, Lorenzo
Snow, B. H. Roberts, and others during the Reed Smoot investigations in Washington,
D.C., in 1904. In the matter
of the questioning of Joseph F. Smith:
| Chairman: |
|
"Is
the sealing for eternity ever performed between two LIVING mortals?" |
| |
|
|
| Smith: |
|
"I
have heard of one or two instances of that kind." |
| |
|
|
| Chairman: |
|
"According
to the doctrines of your church, did that carry with it the right of
earthly cohabitation?" |
| |
|
|
| Smith: |
|
"It
was not so understood. It does not carry that right." |
| |
|
|
| Chairman: |
|
"Was
it practiced, do you know?" |
| |
|
|
| Smith: |
|
"Not
that I know of." |
| |
|
|
| Chairman: |
|
"This
Manifesto suspending polygamy, I understand, was a revelation and a
direction to the church?" |
| |
|
|
| Smith: |
|
"I
understand it, Mr. Chairman, just as it is stated there by Pres. Woodruff
himself. Pres. Woodruff makes his own statement. I cannot add to nor
take anything from that statement." |
| |
|
|
| Chairman: |
|
"Do
you understand that it was a revelation the same as other revelations?" |
| |
|
|
| Smith: |
|
"I
understand personally that Pres. Woodruff was inspired to put forth
that Manifesto." |
| |
|
|
| Chairman: |
|
"And
in that sense it was a revelation?" |
| |
|
|
| Smith: |
|
"Well,
it was a revelation to me." |
And
so on...
6.
Church President Heber J. Grant stated in a letter dated November 15, 1935:
"I have been accused of having other wives and of having children by
them, all of which is an absolute falsehood."
However, accompanied by his attorney, F. S. Richards, President Grant
pleaded guilty yo unlawful cohabitation in court, and was fined $100.00 by
Judge Norrell. Two wives were named in the newspaper article, Salt
Lake Tribune, Saturday, September 9, 1899,
accompanied by a picture of President Grant. The two wives were Augusta W.
Grant and Emily Wells Grant. And there were other wives besides those two.
* * * * *
Argument: The "One Mighty and Strong" spoken of in the 85th
section of the D. & C. is not Joseph Smith but Edward Partridge.
Joseph F. Smith is credited with relating Section 85 to
Edward Partridge at one time. However, the latter part of this reference states:
"If, however, there are those who will still insist
that the prophecy concerning the coming of "one mighty and strong"
is still to be regarded AS RELATING TO THE FUTURE, let the Latter-day Saints
KNOW that HE WILL BE a future Bishop of the Church who will be WITH THE SAINTS
IN ZION, JACKSON COUNTY, Missouri, when the Lord SHALL ESTABLISH them in that
land; and he WILL BE so blessed with the spirit and power of his calling that
he WILL BE able to set in order the house of God, pertaining to the department
of the work under his jurisdiction; ...This future Bishop will also be called
and appointed of God as Aaron of old, and as Edward Partridge was." �
Imp. Era, Oct. 1907
- Verse 7 of Section 85,
"...holding the scepter of power in his hand, clothed with
light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words; while
his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order the house of God,"
seems a rather exalted description for Bishop Partridge.
- D.&C. 90:16 refers to
Joseph Smith:
"And this shall be your business and mission in all your
LIVES, to preside in council, and SET IN ORDER all the affairs of this church
and kingdom."
- Brigham Young said:
"Brethren, this church will be led onto the very brink
of hell by the leaders of this people. Then God will raise up the one mighty
and strong spoken of in the 85th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants, to
save and redeem this Church." � Provo Bowery Conf.,
1867
This 1867 statement was made about 35 years AFTER
Bishop Partridge.
- Have the Saints yet received
their inheritances by consecration, so that the issue can be closed?
- Where is the book of remembrance,
the book of the law?
The coming of the "one mighty
and strong" is yet future.
And it will be the Prophet Joseph.
Parley P. Pratt:
(Joseph had just been martyred.)
I cried out aloud, saying, "O, Lord! in the name of Jesus Christ I pray
Thee, show me what these things mean, and what I shall say to Thy people?"
On a sudden the Spirit of God came upon me, and filled my heart with joy and
gladness indescribable; and while the spirit of revelation glowed in my bosom
with as visible a warmth and gladness as if it were fire, the Spirit said
unto me: "Lift up your head and rejoice; for behold! it is well with
my servants Joseph and Hyrum. My servant Joseph still holds the keys of my
kingdom in this dispensation, and HE SHALL STAND IN DUE TIME ON THE EARTH,
IN THE FLESH, AND FULFILL THAT TO WHICH HE IS APPOINTED." �
Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, p. 333
Joseph Smith (Before the Nauvoo Legion):
"...You will gather many people
into the fastness of the Rocky Mountains, as a center
for the gathering of the people, and you will be faithful because you have
been true; and many of those that come under your ministry, because of their
much learning, will seek for high positions. And they will be set up and raise
themselves in eminence above you, but you will walk in low places unnoticed
and you will know all that transpires in their midst, and that are my friends
will be your friends. And this I will promise to you, THAT WHEN I COME AGAIN
TO LEAD YOU FORTH, for I will go to prepare a place for you, so that where
I am you shall be with me." � N. B. Lundwall, The
Fate of the Persecutors of the Prophet Joseph Smith
First Presidency:
...While, from time to time, as
the work of the Lord may have need of their services, men of exceptional talents
and abilities will develop among the people of God; and without disorder or
eruption or excitement, they will be called of the Lord through the appointed
agencies of the Priesthood and Church authority, to positions that will afford
them opportunity for service. They will be accepted by the Saints in the regular
order, appointed by the law of the Church, just as EDWARD PARTRIDGE was called
and accepted, and just as THE "ONE MIGHTY AND STRONG" WILL BE CALLED
AND ACCEPTED WHEN THE TIME COMES for his services.
/s/ Joseph F. Smith
John R. Winder
Anthon H. Lund
(Smith, Gosp. Doc., p. 382 [1969])
Orson Pratt:
The time will come for the Saints
to receive their stewardships, when they shall return to the lands from whence
they have been driven; but the inheritances will not be given until the Lord
shall first appoint to the righteous dead their inheritances, and afterwards
the righteous living will receive theirs. This you will find recorded in the
D.&C.; and in the same book it is predicted that there is to be "one
mighty and strong, AS WELL AS TO BE AN IMMORTAL PERSONAGE, one that is clothed
upon with light as with a garment, one whose bowels are a fountain of truth.
His mission will be to divide, by lot, to the Saints their inheritances, according
to their faithfulness in their stewardships. �
Jour. of Disc., vol. 21, pp. 150-151
*
* * * *
Argument: If you are excommunicated from the
Church, you have no more Priesthood, all blessings are revoked, etc.
1.
Excommunication is for departure from the Priesthood and gospel truths
� not for living MORE
of God's laws, or for believing TOO MUCH of the truth.
2.
Excommunication from the Church for living God's laws is not binding in
heaven. Or why did the prophets at the head of the Church continually risk
it?
3.
Even Jesus Christ was cast out of His Church by the members. But WHO lost
the Priesthood?
4.
Adam was cast out of the Garden of Eden, knowingly breaking a lesser law
to live a higher law. Those entering into plural marriage are breaking a "rule
of the Church" as President Joseph F. Smith admitted, to live a higher
law.
| Adam
was a scapegoat. |
|
(For
the world) |
| Christ
was a scapegoat. |
|
(For
all of us) |
| Joseph
Smith was a scapegoat. |
|
(For
all of us in the latter days) |
| Those
now living plural marriage are scapegoats. |
|
(For
the Church) |
But from the beginning there
has always been a way provided for a "reconciliation" �
the setting of things back in order.
John Taylor:
You cannot take any man's priesthood
away without transgression. � Times and Seasons,
vol. 6, p. 922
Mosiah Hancock:
The next day the Prophet came to
our home and stopped in our carpenter shop and stood by the turning lathe...You
will live to see men arise in power in the Church who will seek to put down
your friends AND THE FRIENDS OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, Jesus Christ. Many will
be hoisted because of their money and the worldly learning which they seem
to be in possession of; and many who are the TRUE FOLLOWERS of our Lord and
Savior will be cast down because of their poverty. � Journal, p. 19
Millennial Star:
Persons sometimes say that they
have enjoyed the spirit of the work as much since they were cut off as while
they were in the Church. Have they enjoyed the Spirit? Yes. Why? Simply BECAUSE
THEY WERE WRONGFULLY CUT OFF. They were cut off in such a way that it did
not take the Spirit of God from them. � Vol. 24, p. 99
Isaiah:
Hear the word of the Lord, ye that
tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that CAST YOU OUT for my
name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified; but he shall appear to YOUR
joy, and THEY shall be ashamed. � Chap. 66, verse 5
Anthon H. Lund:
We made known to President Lund
that children were being born to some of the Saints in the plural marriage
relation and that they were not being recognized by the Church. We asked what
should be done in such cases. His instructions came clear and emphatic:
"Brethren, you hold the Priesthood
and stand at the head of your families. As your children are born, you should
give them a father's blessing and a name. When they reach the proper age for
baptism, you should baptize them, confirm them members of the Church, and
confer the Holy Ghost in the usual manner. Be sure and keep the record, and
when the Church will receive it, hand it in." �
Joseph W. Musser, (At close of prayer circle meeting in the Salt Lake Temple,
1902)
*
* * * *
Argument: In the last days, even the very
elect will be deceived.
1.
The scripture does not so state. The statement is,
"...if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect."
� Matt. 24:24
Jedediah M. Grant:
...Let Lucifer mix truths with error,
and work great signs and wonders to deceive the very elect, BUT IT IS NOT
POSSIBLE. Why? Because they have learned the Priesthood, and they possess
the power thereof that cannot be shaken. ...For it is not possible for them
to deceive the elect of God. � Jour. of Disc., vol.
2, p. 15
Orson Pratt:
The Saints find out 'the deep things
of God' by the Spirit. The faithful Saints or the elect cannot be deceived;
for the Holy Ghost dwells in them as a spirit of constant revelation.... Thus
there is no possibility of a person's ever being deceived who follows the
teachings and revelations of the Holy Ghost. � Orson Pratt's Works,
p. 70
*
* * * *
Argument: Follow the living Prophet.
There is merit in such a position.
But not when the words and actions of the living prophet conflict with those
of the dead. Present
Church leaders have
introduced division between living and dead prophets. Our position is that
no man, whoever he is or however great his office, can change God's laws;
he can only administer them.
Joseph Smith:
Ordinances instituted in the heavens
before the foundation of the world, in the Priesthood, for the salvation of
men, are not to be altered or changed. ALL must be saved ON THE SAME PRINCIPLES.
� Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 1969
ed., p. 308
Joseph Smith:
If any man writes to you, or preaches
to you, doctrines contrary to the Bible, the Book of Mormon, or the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants, set him down as an imposter." �
Times and Seasons, Apr. 1, 1844
Joseph Fielding Smith:
If I ever say anything which is
contrary to the scriptures, then the SCRIPTURES PREVAIL. �
Church News, Aug. 23, 1975
Among other scriptures on other
issues, what about Section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants?
Heber Bennion:
We are told that the living oracles
take precedence over all other authority, living or dead. We agree that the
living oracles take precedence, PROVIDING THAT THEY DO NOT CONFLICT WITH THE
DEAD ORACLES. ...If it is true that the living oracles take precedence over
all others regardless of their disagreements with the dead prophets, then
the Saints must necessarily CHANGE THEIR FAITH every time there is a change
in the presidency, to conform to the views of the new president. We must believe
in Adam-God so long as Brigham Young lives, but so soon as a president arises
differing with Brigham Young, we must disbelieve this doctrine and adopt the
views of the new oracle. The mention of such an attitude is so absurd as to
border upon the ridiculous. � Gospel Problems, p.
6
Joseph Smith:
...Oh! I beseech you to go forward,
go forward and make your calling and election sure; and if any man PREACH
ANY OTHER GOSPEL than that which I have preached, he shall be cursed... �
Doc. Hist. of the Church, vol. 6, p. 365
Isaiah:
...oh MY people, they which lead
thee cause thee to err. � 3:12
Millennial Star:
The day will come when every Saint
must learn to walk by sheer naked principles alone, without bringing either
men or their individual actions into the question at all. �
Vol. 20, p. 708
B. H. Roberts:
| Chairman: |
"In
living in polygamous cohabitation you are LIVING IN DEFIANCE OF THE
MANIFESTO of 1890, are you not?" |
| B.
H. Roberts: |
"Yes
sir. IN DEFIANCE OF THE ACTION OF THE CHURCH on that subject."
� Ibid., vol. 1, pp.
718-719 |
The living prophet wasn't following
the living prophet. Other examples:
Joseph Smith (before):
...And if any man preach ANY OTHER
GOSPEL than that which I have preached, he shall be cursed... �
D. H. C. 6:365
Steven L. Richards (after):
I hold it entirely compatible with
the genius of the Church to CHANGE its forms of procedures, customs AND ORDINANCES
in accordance with OUR OWN knowledge and experience. �
Salt Lake Tribune 4/10/1932
Brigham Young (before):
There is nothing which would so
soon weaken my hope and discourage me as TO SEE THIS PEOPLE IN FULL FELLOWSHIP
with the world, and receive NO MORE PERSECUTION from them because we are one
with them... � Jour. of Disc., vol. 10, p. 32
Heber J. Grant (after):
My greatest happiness I find in
the GOOD WILL AND FRIENDSHIP that has developed among all classes of people
at home and abroad toward the Latter-day Saints, during my lifetime; IN PLACE
OF EVERYDAY PERSECUTIONS and bitterness, WE NOW ENJOY THE HIGH REGARD and
happy association with all denominations. � Salt Lake Tribune 11/22/1938
Here is a modern, frightening
position:
S. Dilworth Young:
Modern revelation is what President
Joseph Smith said, UNLESS PRESIDENT SPENCER W. KIMBALL SAYS DIFFERENTLY. �
B. Y. U. Ten Stake Fireside, May 5,
1974
Brigham Young:
Adam, Seth, Enoch, Noah, all the
Patriarchs and Prophets, Jesus and the Apostles, and every man that has ever
written the word of the Lord, have written the same doctrine upon the same
subject; and you never can find that Prophets and Apostles clashed in their
doctrine in ancient days; neither will they now, if all would at all times
be led by the Spirit of salvation.
...There is no clash in the principles
revealed in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants;
and there would be no clash between any of the doctrines taught by Joseph
the Prophet and by the brethren now, if all would live in a way to be governed
by the Spirit of the Lord. All do not live so as to have the Spirit of the
Lord with them all the time, and the result is that some get out of the way.
�
Jour. of Disc., vol. 5, p. 329
Heber C. Kimball:
The time will come when no man or
woman will be able to endure on borrowed light. Each will have to be guided
by the light within himself. � Conf. Report, April
1906, 74-77
Leaders of the Church once pounded
the pulpit and proclaimed that everyone but polygamists would be damned. Now
the leaders pound the pulpit and decree damnation for the polygamists.
Plural marriage was once a law of God and His
Church; now it is gross sin. Joseph , Hyrum and others died for living it;
now Church leaders would rather die than live it.
Both dead and living prophets are vital. From
whom, after all, do living prophets receive revelation? If living prophets
are true prophets of God, they will be in harmony with one another.
The argument should be to follow the Lord Jesus
Christ and ALL of his restored Gospel through the teachings of the Prophet
Joseph Smith.
(For a more detailed coverage of this particular
issue, the student is advised to read the pamphlet, "Follow the living
Prophet" � and excommunicate Joseph Smith? publ. by Star
of Truth Publishing, 1980)
*
* * * *
Argument: The Manifesto of 1890 stopped the
practice of plural marriage in the Church.
OFFICIAL
DECLARATION:
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
Press dispatches having been sent
for political purposes from Salt Lake City, which have been widely published,
to the effect that the Utah Commission, in their recent report to the Secretary
of the Interior, allege that plural marriages have been contracted in Utah
since last June or during the past year, also that in public discourses the
leaders of the Church have taught, encouraged and urged the continuance of
the practice of polygamy �
I, therefore, as President of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, do hereby, in the most solemn
manner, declare that these charges are false. We are not teaching polygamy
or plural marriage, nor permitting any person to enter into its practice,
and I deny that either forty or any other number of plural marriages have
during that period been solemnized in our Temples or in any other place in
the Territory.
One case has been reported, in which
the parties allege that the marriage was performed in the Endowment House,
in Salt Lake City, in the spring of 1889, but I have not been able to learn
who preformed the ceremony; whatever was done in this matter was without my
knowledge. In consequence of this alleged occurrence the Endowment House was,
by my instructions, taken down without delay.
Inasmuch as laws have been enacted
by Congress forbidding plural marriages, which laws have been pronounced constitutional
by the court of last resort, I hereby declare my intention to submit to those
laws, and to use my influence with the members of the Church to have them
do likewise.
There is nothing in my teachings
to the Church or in those of my associates, during the time specified, which
can be reasonably construed to inculcate or encourage polygamy; and when any
Elder of the Church has used language which appeared to convey any such teaching,
he has been promptly reproved. And I now publicly declare that my advice to
the Latter-day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden
by the law of the land.
/s/ Wilford Woodruff
September 24, 1890
The Manifesto appeared in newspapers in the east before
it was presented to the body of the Church. It comes as advice from Wilford
Woodruff.
25 March 1839:
Joseph Smith, Jun., from Liberty
Jail, told the Church that unless suggestions are made or names mentioned
BY COMMANDMENT or "THUS SAYETH THE LORD," he did not consider it
very binding to the general affairs of the Church. � Doc. Hist of the Church,
vol. 3, p. 295
Lorenzo Snow:
The severest prosecutions HAVE NEVER
been followed by revelations CHANGING A DIVINE LAW, obedience to which brought
imprisonment or martyrdom. � Mill. Star. vol. 48,
pp. 110-111
Wilford Woodruff:
After the law had been revealed
from the Lord, I do not think that it was possible for the Lord to change
that law by revealing something that was contrary to the law previously revealed
through the Prophet. I do not think that he would do that. �
Temple Lot Case, p. 291, 1892
1.
IF THE MANIFESTO WAS A REVELATION, we cannot build up Jackson
County:
"And Zion
CANNOT BE BUILT UP UNLESS it is by the principles of the law of the celestial
kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself." �
Doc. & Cov. 105:5
2.
Therefore, we cannot redeem Zion
prior to the Millennium unless celestial laws are being lived.
3.
Exaltation and the power of eternal lives is not possible because the law
has not been fully lived. Like Israel,
we must be living a lesser law that cannot exalt.
4.
Without plural marriage, the Saints "must be rejected as a body and
priesthood authority withdrawn" �
George Q. Cannon
5.
Without patriarchal marriage, the priesthood must be "out of our possession"
� B. Young, J.D. 10:273
6.
The Gospel is not here in its fulness �
Geo. Teasdale, J.D. 25:21
7.
JESUS WILL NEVER COME:
Orson Pratt:
Jesus WILL HAVE TO STAY A LONG TIME
IN THE HEAVENS, providing that monogamist principles are the only principles
that will be introduced. In fact HE NEVER CAN COME, for the scriptures say
that the heavens must retain him until all things are restored. �
Jour. of Disc., vol. 17, p. 221
8.
How can "seven women take hold of one man" as prophesied in Isaiah
4:1?
Joseph W. Musser:
The 1890 Manifesto released only
those of the Saints who did not have the faith, courage or fortitude to accept
and abide the law.
EXCERPT from Thomas J. Rosser letter, dated Aug. 4, 1956, missionary to
England
and Wales
during 1907 and 1908:
"...I then left for Treorachry,
Wales, my
birthplace, and labored there until May
23, 1908. Then I went back to Bristol,
my headquarters, to a conference, which was held Sunday, May 24, 1908. On Monday morning, the 25th, our Conference
Priesthood Meeting was held, which lasted four hours and a half. After the
preliminary exercises, Pres. Charles W. Penrose asked if any of the Brethren
had any questions on their minds, and if so, to present them now before he
delivered his message to us.
Up went my hand. "All right,"
he said. "President Penrose," I said, "I have heard much discussion
on the principle of plural marriage, some saying that it is withdrawn from
the earth and that the Manifesto was a revelation from God. Dear President,
what about this case?"
...Pres. Penrose then rose to his
feet, scratched the side of his head with his right hand for a moment or so,
then stretched out his right hand toward us and said, "Brethren, I will
answer that question, if you will keep it under your hats. I, Charles W. Penrose,
wrote the Manifesto with the assistance of Frank J. Cannon and John White.
It's no revelation from God, for I wrote it. Wilford Woodruff signed it to
beat the Devil at his own game. Brethren, how can God withdraw an everlasting
principle from the earth? He has not, and can not, and I testify to you as
a servant of God that this is true."
"The reason this statement
is given is because I have heard so much discussion as to whether or not the
Manifesto of 1890 is a revelation from God, and so I wish to relate here �
with the understanding given to us at the Bristol Conference by Charles W.
Penrose on May 25, 1908."
/s/ Thomas J. Rosser
Matthias F. Cowley:
Brother Penrose told me once in
the City of Mexico, that he had written the Manifesto, and it was gotten up
so that it did not mean anything, and President Smith had told me the same
thing. �
Trial Minutes, May 10, 1911,
Salt Lake
Temple, Minutes in Ch. Hist. Office
Joseph W. Musser:
It was expected the Manifesto would
pave the way to Statehood, when the Saints being in the majority, could make
their own laws, relative to their religious beliefs. But the Church accepted
its being voted out. Plural marriage, BEING A LAW OF THE PRIESTHOOD (D. &
C. 132:28, 58, 61), and the Priesthood presiding OVER the Church, the Manifesto
signed by the President of the Church and ratified by the members thereof,
DID AND COULD ONLY AFFECT THE CHURCH, the Priesthood as a separate and distinct
organization, carrying on as the Lord intended it should.
John Taylor:
God has given us a revelation in
regard to celestial marriage. I did not make it. He has told us certain things
pertaining to this matter, and they would like us TO TONE THAT PRINCIPLE DOWN
and change it and make it applicable to the views of the day. THIS WE CANNOT
DO; nor can we interfere with any of the commands of God to meet the persuasions
or behests of men. I cannot do it, and WILL NOT DO IT. �
Jour. of Disc., vol. 25, p. 309
Doctrine and Covenants:
Therefore, BE NOT AFRAID OF YOUR
ENEMIES, for I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove
you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death,
that you may be found worthy. For if ye will not abide in my covenant ye are
not worthy of me. � 98:14
HOW
BINDING WAS THE MANIFESTO ON THE PRIESTHOOD LEADERS?
Lorenzo Snow:
| Question: |
Well,
is it not a fact that it was a rule of the Church that if anybody
should undertake to follow a principle that was not accepted, and
was not accepted as a principle and true doctrine in the Church, that
THEY WOULD BE VIOLATORS OF A LAW OF THE CHURCH? |
| Answer: |
Yes
sir, BUT THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS to all law.
� Temple Lot Case,
March 1892; Most Holy Prin. 3, p. 245 |
Joseph F. Smith (Under question
by Congress in 1904):
| Chairman: |
"Do
you obey the law in having FIVE WIVES at the same time, and having
them bear you eleven children SINCE THE MANIFESTO of 1890?" |
| Smith: |
"Mr.
Chairman, I have not claimed that in that case I have obeyed the law
of the land. ...I DO NOT CLAIM SO, I have said that I prefer to STAND
MY CHANCES AGAINST THE LAW. ...And I wish to assert that the Church
HAS obeyed the law of the land, and that it as kept its pledges with
this Government; BUT I HAVE NOT, as an individual, I have taken that
chance myself."
� Smoot Investigation,
Vol.1, p. 99 et seq |
B. H. Roberts (Under question
by Congress in 1904):
| Chairman: |
"In
living in polygamous cohabitation you are LIVING IN DEFIANCE OF THE
MANIFESTO of 1890, are you not?" |
| Roberts: |
"Yes
sir. IN DEFIANCE OF THE ACTION OF THE CHURCH on that subject."
� Ibid., vol. 1, pp.
718-719 |
Heber J. Grant:
Plural marriage has been stopped,
BUT NOT BY THE LORD. � Ensign Ward, February 22, 1942
L. D. S. Biographical Encyclopedia (Regarding
Abraham Hunsaker):
When the law of celestial marriage
was first whispered to him he opposed it exclaiming, "It is of the devil,"
but God knew his heart and in open day a messenger from heaven with three
women clothed in white raiment stood before him several feet from the ground,
and addressed him thus: 'You never can receive a ful land complete salvation
in MY kingdom unless your garments are pure and you have THREE COUNSELORS
LIKE ME.' Thus he was convinced that principle was right and he subsequently
married fives wives, two of whom survived him, and he became the father of
50 children. � Vol. 3, p. 415
Discussion Between Chas. F. Zitting and Anthony
W. Ivins:
| Ivins: |
Don't
you know that a manifesto was passed in 1890 to do away with plural
marriage? |
| Zitting: |
I
answered that I was well acquainted with the manifesto and asked him
if it was a revelation from God. |
| Ivins: |
No,
I wish it was and then we would have something on which to handle
such men as you when you come up here. Do you know about the letter
President Smith sent out to the Presidents of Stakes in 1910? When
those instructions came out we put a stop to it all over the world.
Had you gone into plural marriage BEFORE those instructions came out,
I would have nothing to say, but now it is quite a different matter. |
| Zitting: |
Bro.
Ivins, do you mean to tell me that had I gone into plural marriage
BEFORE this letter came out, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ALRIGHT? |
| Ivins: |
YES,
as far as I am concerned personally. |
| Zitting: |
Very
well, Bro. Ivins, if you have no more respect than that for Pres.
Woodruff's manifesto, then what prevents me from showing the same
respect to this letter of instruction from Pres. Joseph F. Smith?
Neither one of them are revelations....
� November 2, 1928 |
Abraham H. Cannon:
John W. Taylor spoke in relation
to the MANIFESTO: "I do not know that that thing was right, though I
voted to sustain it, and will assist to maintain it; but among my father's
papers I found a REVELATION given him of the Lord, and which is now in my
possession, in which the Lord told him that the principle of plural marriage
WOULD NEVER BE OVERCOME. Pres. Taylor desired to have it suspended, but the
Lord would not permit it to be done."
At the close of John W's remarks
our meeting adjourned till tomorrow at ... o'clock. I closed with prayer.
�
Journal, Mar. 29, 1892
1.
We cannot have a "fulness of times" if any single ordinance or
principle has been "suspended."
2.
If the keys to plural marriage have been suspended since 1890, how can
keys be either held or passed on by someone who has not received the ordinance?
Orson Pratt:
Now I want to prophesy that all
men and women who oppose the revelation which god has given in relation to
Polygamy will find themselves in darkness; the Spirit of God will withdraw
from them the very moment of their opposition to that principle, until they
will finally go down to hell and be damned, if they do not repent...will be
damned if they do not receive it. FOR THE LORD HAS SAID SO. � Jour. of Disc., vol.
17, p. 225
Our divine mission at this time
is to prepare for the coming of Christ the Lord. That is the most important
individual mission that we have. It cannot be done without obedience to celestial
law � all of the law.
Lorenzo Snow:
None of the revelations of the prophets
either past or present have been repealed...The se revelations received by
our prophets and seers ARE ALL OF GOD, and WE CANNOT REPEAL OR DISANNUL THEM
without making God out a liar, and God cannot lie. �
Smoot Investigation, 1904, Vol. 1, p. 8
Samuel Wooley Taylor:
"The significance of this testimony
(Pres. John Taylor in the Rudger Clawson Trial, 1884) regarding the UNDERGROUND
ORGANIZATION for continuing the Principle has been either ignored or suppressed
by internal historians." � The Kingdom or Nothing,
pp. 309-310
TROUBLE
IN THE CHURCH
I Timothy 4:1-3:
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly,
THAT IN THE LATTER TIMES some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to
seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having
their consciences seared with a hot iron; FORBIDDING TO MARRY...
Isaiah 3:12:
Speaking of the latter days, "As
for MY PEOPLE, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O
MY people, THEY WHICH LEAD THEE cause thee to err, and destroy the way of
thy paths."
Isaiah 28:1, 7, 15:
"Woe to the crown of pride
of the drunkards of Ephraim, who glorious beauty is a fading flower, which
are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!"
"But they have also erred through
wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet
have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine..."
"Because ye have said, We have
MADE A COVENANT WITH DEATH, AND WITH HELL WE ARE AT AGREEMENT... (1890??)
for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves."
THE MANIFESTO IS A COVENANT WITH
DEATH AND AN AGREEMENT WITH HELL.
D. & C. 112:24-26:
"Behold, vengeance cometh speedily
upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day
of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as whirlwind
it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord.
"AND UPON MY HOUSE SHALL IT
BEGIN, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord; first among those
among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not
known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the
Lord."
Brigham Young:
Brethren, this Church will be led
onto the very brink of hell by the leaders of this people. Then God will raise
the one mighty and strong spoken of in the 85th Section of the Doctrine and
Covenants, to save and redeem THIS CHURCH. � Provo Bowery Conf.
1867
ISAIAH speaks of the "one
mighty and strong":
Isaiah 28:
Verse 2 �
Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail
and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing shall cast
down to the earth with the hand."
Verse 17 �
Judgment will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the
hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the
hiding place.
Verse 18 �
And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with
hell shall not stand...." (Sept. 1886)
D. & C. SECTION 85:7:
"And it shall come to pass
that I, the Lord God, WILL SEND ONE MIGHTY AND STRONG, holding the scepter
of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall
utter words, eternal words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth,
TO SET IN ORDER THE HOUSE OF GOD..."
WHY MUST ONE MIGHTY AND STRONG
COME TO SET THE LORD'S HOUSE IN ORDER � IF IT IS NOT OUT OF
ORDER?
John Taylor:
We are getting into such a condition
that if we were to meet the Lord, we could not look him in the face, and the
way we are going it will soon be impossible to tell what we do believe. �
Deseret News, March 9, 1889
Daniel 7:15-28:
Verse 21 �
"I beheld and the same horn MADE WAR WITH THE SAINTS, AND PREVAILED AGAINST
THEM;" (The horn from the ten horns represents the United States Government,
which did prevail.)
Verse 25 �
"And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall WEAR
OUT THE SAINTS of the most High, and think to CHANGE TIMES AND LAWS...."
Isaiah 24:5:
The earth also is defiled under
the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, CHANGED
THE ORDINANCE*, BROKEN THE EVERLASTING COVENANT.
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith said of that scripture:
"Are we not too much inclined
to blame the generations that are PAST for the breaking of the new and everlasting
covenant, and to think it is because of the great apostasy which followed...the
Apostles in primitive times...? Perhaps we should wake up to the realization
that it is because of the breaking of covenants, ESPECIALLY THE NEW AND EVERLASTING
COVENANT WHICH IS THE FULNESS OF THE GOSPEL that the world is to be consumed
by fire and few men left. Since this punishment is to come at the time of
the cleansing of the earth when Christ comes again, should not the Latter-day
Saints take heed unto themselves? WE have been given the new and everlasting
covenant, AND MANY AMONG US HAVE BROKEN IT." �
Deseret News, Oct. 17, 1936
(Latter-day Saints are the only
people that can possibly break the "New and Everlasting Covenant, which
is the FULNESS of the Gospel" because Latter-day Saints are the only
people on earth who have had it revealed to them.)
Joseph Smith:
*ORDINANCES instituted in the heavens
before the foundation of the world, in the Priesthood, for the salvation of
men, ARE NOT TO BE ALTERED OR CHANGED. All must be saved on the SAME principles.
...WHERE THERE IS NO CHANGE OF PRIESTHOOD, THERE IS NO CHANGE OF ORDINANCES.
� Doc. Hist. of the Church, vol. 5, pp. 423-424
Then how is Priesthood affected
if an Ordinance, and exalting Ordinance, is dropped �
voted out?
Third Nephi 16:
Verse 6 �
And blessed are the Gentiles (in this reference, US), because of their belief
in me, in and of the Holy Ghost, which witnesses unto them of me and of the
Father.
Verse 7 �
Behold, because of their belief in me, saith the Father, and because of the
unbelief of you, O house of Israel,
in the LATTER DAY shall the truth come unto the Gentiles, that the FULNESS
of these things shall be made known unto them.
Verse 10 �
...At that day when the Gentiles (US) shall sin against my gospel, and shall
be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations...(etc); and if
they shall do all those things, and SHALL REJECT THE FULNESS OF MY GOSPEL,
behold, saith the Father, I WILL BRING THE FULNESS OF MY GOSPEL FROM AMONG
THEM.
And what is the "FULNESS
of my gospel?"
Brigham Young says:
Hear it ye Elders of Israel and
mark it down in your log-book, THE FULNESS OF THE GOSPEL IS THE UNITED ORDER
AND PLURAL MARRIAGE.... � Sermon at Dedication of St. George Temple
Doctrine and Covenants:
And there are none that doeth good
except those who are ready to receive the FULNESS OF MY GOSPEL, which I have
sent forth unto this generation. � Section 35:12
CHURCH LEADERS CAN NEVER LEAD
PEOPLE ASTRAY?
Wilford Woodruff:
...But I will say this to my brethren
and sisters, in the name of Israel's
God; The Almighty will never permit me, nor any other President WHO HOLDS
THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, to lead you astray. � Des. Eve. News, Apr. 13, 1889
Brigham Young:
(Spoke of the one and only time
he doubted Joseph, concerning financial management): ...He was called of God;
God dictated him, and if He had a mind to leave him to himself and let him
commit an error, that was no business of mine. And it was not for me to question
it, if the Lord was disposed to LET JOSEPH LEAD THE PEOPLE ASTRAY... He did
not belong to the people but to the Lord, and was doing the work of the Lord,
and if He should suffer him TO LEAD THE PEOPLE ASTRAY, IT WOULD BE BECAUSE
THEY OUGHT TO BE LED ASTRAY. If He should suffer them to be chastised, and
some of them destroyed, it would be because they deserved it, or to accomplish
some righteous purpose. � Jour. of Disc., vol. 4, pp. 297-8
Brigham Young further in the same speech:
When people neglect their private
duties, SHOULD THEIR LEADERS LEAD THEM ASTRAY, they will go blindfolded, will
be subject to the devil, and be led captive at his will. �
Ibid., p. 298
Brigham Young:
How often it has been taught that
if you depend entirely upon the voice, judgment and sagacity of those appointed
to lead you, and neglect to enjoy the spirit for yourselves, how easily you
MAY BE LED INTO ERROR... � Ibid., vol. 9, p. 59
Book of Mormon:
...For God hath taken away his plainness
from them and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand,
BECAUSE THEY DESIRED IT. And because they desired it, God hath done it, that
they may stumble. � Jacob 4:14
D. & C. (to Joseph the Prophet):
...if thou art not aware, thou wilt
fall. And D. & C. 35:18 � ...if he abide in me,
and if not, another will I plant in his stead. �
Section 3:9
Brigham Young:
You say you wish to do right, and
please the Lord in all your actions; but were I to adopt an evil practice,
the greater portion of this community would follow it. �
Jour. of Disc., vol. 2, p. 125
Heber C. Kimball:
This Church has before it MANY CLOSE
PLACES, through which it will have to pass before the work of the Lord is
crowned with victory. To meet the DIFFICULTIES that are coming, it will be
necessary for you to have a knowledge of the truth of this work for yourselves;
the difficulties will be of such a character that the man or woman who does
not possess this PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OR WITNESS will fall.
That is the word of God to you people.
Remember these sayings, for many of you will live to see them fulfilled. The
time will come when no man or woman will be able to endure ON BORROWED LIGHT.
Each will have to be guided by the light within HIMSELF. �
Conf. Report, Apr. 1906, 74-77 (Stated in 1867)
Book of Mormon:
For behold, at that day shall he
rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger AGAINST
THAT WHICH IS GOOD. ...Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!
Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well! Yea, wo be unto him that saith: we
have received, and we need no more!
And in fine, wo unto all those who
tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God! ...wo be unto him that
shall say: we have received the word of God, and we need more of the word
of God, for we have enough! � 2 Nephi 28:20, 24-25,
27-29
Bible:
Thus saith the Lord concerning the
prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace;
�
Micah 3:5
THE
PROPHETS DENIED THE PRINCIPLE WOULD BE OVERTHROWN
Heber C. Kimball:
Plurality is a law which God established
for His elect before the world was formed, for a continuation of the seeds
forever. It would be as easy for the United
States to build a tower to remove the sun,
as to remove polygamy, or the Church and Kingdom
of God. �
Mill. Star, vol. 28, p. 190
WAS HE WRONG?
Heber C. Kimball:
You might as well deny Mormonism
and turn away from it as oppose the plurality of wives. Let the presidency
of this Church, and the 12 apostles, and all the authorities unite and say
with one voice that they will oppose that doctrine, and the whole of them
would be damned. What are you opposing it for? It is a principle that God
has revealed for the salvation of the human family. He revealed it to Joseph
the Prophet in this our dispensation; and that which He revealed HE DESIGNS
TO HAVE CARRIED OUT BY HIS PEOPLE. � Jour. of Disc., vol. 5, p. 203
Lorenzo Snow (1886 in jail):
God will NOT CHANGE HIS LAW OF CELESTIAL
MARRIAGE. But the man, the people, the nation, that oppose and fight against
this doctrine and the Church of
God will be overthrown. �
Hist. of Utah, Whitney, 3:471
THE MANIFESTO WAS A BIGGER FORCE
THAN GOD?
John Taylor:
Polygamy is a divine institution.
It has been handed down direct from God. The United
States CANNOT ABOLISH IT. No nation on earth
can prevent it, NOR ALL THE NATIONS ON THE EARTH COMBINED. I defy the United
States. I will obey God. �
S. L. Trib. 1/6/1880
BUT THEN THERE'S THE MANIFESTO.
Millennial Star:
The doctrine of polygamy with the
Mormons is not one of that kind that in the religious world is classed with
'non-essentials.' It is not an item of doctrine that can be yielded, and faith
in the system remain... Mormonism is that kind of religion the entire divinity
of which is invalidated, and its truth utterly rejected, the moment any one
of its leading principles is acknowledged to be false.... Polygamy was revealed
by God, or the entire fabric of their faith is false. To ask them to give
up such an item of belief, is to ask them to relinquish the whole, to acknowledge
their Priesthood a lie, their ordinances a deception, and all that they have
toiled for, lived for, bled for, prayed for, or hoped for, a miserable failure
and a waste of life. �
Vol. 5:27, October 1865
THEN WHO CAN REALLY BELIEVE POLYGAMY
WAS SO EASILY "SUSPENDED"?
Abraham H. Cannon:
As God lives, the principle WILL
NOT BE DRIVEN FROM THE EARTH. � Salt Lake Stake Conf.,
May 8, 1887
George Q. Cannon:
Those who make the attack perhaps
hope to drive the people of God to renounce the doctrine and promise not to
obey the revelation. Unless the Saints APOSTATIZE, such an action on their
part is IMPOSSIBLE. By doing so, they would deliberately shut the door of
the celestial glory in their own faces. ...To comply with the request of our
enemies would be to give up all hope of ever entering into the glory of God,
the Father, and Jesus Christ, the Son. ...So intimately interwoven is this
precious doctrine with the exaltation of men and women in the great hereafter
THAT IT CANNOT BE GIVEN UP WITHOUT GIVING UP AT THE SAME TIME ALL HOPE OF
IMMORTAL GLORY. � Juv. Instructor, May 1, 1885, Editorial
SECTION 101 of the D&C is
a parable about a nobleman, servants, watchtower. Joseph Smith is the servant
spoken of in verse 55, as shown in 103:21 and 105:16 and 90:16.
JOSEPH SMITH PARTIALLY SET THINGS IN ORDER when
he came to President John Taylor, resulting in the 1886 Revelation, which
was intended to keep the eternal principle of plural marriage alive and perpetuated,
as the prophets had said.
AN INDICATION OF THE WEAKNESS OF THE SAINTS:
Brigham Young:
Whereupon, the Prophet goes upon
the stand, and after preaching about everything else he think of in the world,
at last hints at the law of redemption, makes a bare hint at the Law of Sealing,
and it produced such a tremendous excitement that as soon as he had got his
dinner half eaten, he had to go back to the stand, and UNPREACH all that he
had preached, and left the people to guess at the matter. �
Jour. of Disc., vol. 2, p. 217, Mar.
18, 1855
**In 1891, shortly after signing the Manifesto,
the First Presidency and Apostles signed a Petition to the President of the
U.S.
for Amnesty:
"To be at peace with the government
and in harmony with their fellow citizens who are not of their faith, and
to share in the confidence of the Government and the people, our people HAVE
VOLUNTARILY PUT ASIDE SOMETHING WHICH ALL THEIR LIVES HAVE BELIEVED TO BE
A SACRED PRINCIPLE." � Contrib., vol. 13,
p. 197
(A Covenant with death and an
agreement with Hell.)
**Brigham Young warned earlier:
There is nothing which would so
soon weaken my hope and discourage me as to see this people in full fellowship
with the world, and receive no more persecution from them because they are
one with them. In such an event, we might bid farewell to the Holy Priesthood
WITH ALL ITS BLESSINGS, privileges, and aids to exaltations, principalities
and powers in the eternities of the Gods. � Jour. of Disc., vol.
10, p. 32
Brigham Young:
When we see the time when we can
willingly strike hands and have full fellowship with those who despise the
Kingdom of God, know ye then that the Priesthood of the Son of God IS OUT
OF YOUR POSSESSION. � Jour. of Disc., vol. 10, p. 273
(No wonder, then, that Pres.
Joseph F. Smith testified in the Smoot Case Vol 1:335-6, that he was living
in OPEN VIOLATION OF THE RULES OF THE CHURCH; as did Francis M. Lyman, B.
H. Roberts and others of the presiding brethren.)
Parley P. Pratt said if he were asked to give
up this principle "he would not give a fig for Mormonism." If one
principle can be given up, so can any part of it.
John Taylor:
If God has introduced something
for our glory and exaltation, we are NOT GOING TO HAVE THAT KICKED OVER by
any improper influence either inside or outside of the Church of the living
God. �
Ibid., vol. 25, p. 310
WERE THESE BRETHREN IN ERROR?
Deseret Eve. News
(Editorial):
Were the CHURCH TO DO THAT AS AN
ENTIRETY, God would reject the Saints as a body, the authority of the Priesthood
would be withdrawn...the Lord WOULD RAISE UP ANOTHER PEOPLE... �
April 23, 1885
George Q. Cannon:
The day will come when men's Priesthood
and authority will be called to question, and you will find out that there
will be hundreds who have NO PRIESTHOOD, but who believe they hold it, they
holding only an office in the Church. � Meeting at Draper shortly
before his death; Truth 3:153
John Taylor:
On Sept. 27, 1886, in an 8 hour
meeting, Pres. Taylor said: "I would be surprised of ten percent
of those who claim to hold the Melchizedek Priesthood will remain true and
faithful to the gospel at the time of the seventh president, and that there
would be thousands that think they hold the Priesthood at that time, but would
not have it properly conferred upon them."
What was it Brigham Young said?
Daniel H. Wells:
Many will doubtless make shipwreck
of their faith and will be led away into the allurements of sin into and by
forbidden paths; yet the Kingdom will not be taken from this people and be
given to another. BUT A PEOPLE WILL COME FORTH FROM AMONG US, who will be
zealous of good works, willing to do the bidding of the Lord, who will be
taught in His ways and who will walk in His paths. �
Deseret News, Nov. 10, 1876
Daniel H. Wells:
And if we as a people do not hold
ourselves on the alter ready to be used, He will pass on and get somebody
else; because He will get a people that will do it. I do not mean to say that
He will pass on and leave this people; no, there WILL COME UP FROM THE MIDST
OF THIS PEOPLE that people which has been talked about so much. �
Deseret News, Dec. 9, 1882
Orson F. Whitney:
Many of this people are perhaps
preparing themselves, by following after the world in its mad race...but I
KNOW THAT THERE IS A PEOPLE, IN THE HEART'S CORE OF THIS PEOPLE, that will
arise in their majesty in a day that is near at hand and push spiritual things
to the front, a people who will stand up for God, fearing not man nor what
man can do.... � Deseret Weekly, Aug. 11, 1889
Heber C. Kimball:
But the time will come when the
Lord will choose a people OUT OF THIS PEOPLE upon whom He will bestow His
choicest blessings. � Des. News, 11/9/1865
Heber C. Kimball:
Many of this people have broken
their covenants...by finding fault with the plurality of wives and trying
to sink it out of existence. But you cannot do that, for God will cut you
off AND RAISE UP ANOTHER PEOPLE that will carry out His purposes...no tongue
can express the suffering and affliction THIS PEOPLE will pass through if
they do not repent. � Jour. of Disc., vol. 4, p. 103
Millennial Star:
Before the great day of the Lord
shall come, and the day of righteousness and peace dawn upon this fair creation,
two potent cleansing processes shall be in active operation. The first of
these is the preparation of A CHOICE PEOPLE, purified by an application of
their lives as individuals and a community, of the principles of the Gospel
of peace. Such a body WILL EVOLVE FROM THOSE CALLED LATTER-DAY SAINTS, ...Out
of this community...will emanate the nucleus or foundation from which will
spring the righteous Millennial population of our globe. �
Vol. 42:584, 1880
(These Millennial people will
have had to be living ALL the restored laws �
the FULNESS.)
WHO ARE THEY?
FOUR REVELATIONS
1
8 8 0
REVELATION TO WILFORD WOODRUFF
Copied from the journal of Wilford
Woodruff, about 1908, by Joseph W. Musser, at the request of his father, A.
Milton Musser, then Assistant Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
The journal reads in part,
"On retiring to bed on the night of the 25th of January, 1880, I found
myself wrapt in vision, and the next morning the following revelation was
given to me of the Lord which I wrote at the time:"
Thus saith the Lord unto my servant,
Wilford Woodruff, I have heard thy prayer and will answer thy petition. I
will make known unto thee my will concerning the nations who encumber the
land of promise and also concerning Zion
and her inhabitants.
I have already revealed my will
concerning this nation through the mouth of my servant Joseph, who sealed
his testimony with his own blood, which testimony has been in force upon all
the world from the hour of his death.
What I the Lord have revealed in
that testament and decreed upon this nation and upon all the nations of the
earth, shall be fulfilled, saith the Lord of hosts. I the Lord have spoken
and will be obeyed. My purposes shall be fulfilled upon this nation and no
power shall stay My Hand. The hour is at the door when My wrath and indignation
will be poured out upon the wicked of the nations.
Their murders, blasphemies, lying,
whoredoms and abominations have come up before my face and before the heavens,
and the wrath of my indignation is full.
I have decreed plagues to go forth
and waste my enemies, and not many years hence they shall not be left to pollute
my heritage.
The devil is ruling over his kingdom
and my spirit has no place in hearts of the rulers of this nation, and the
devil stirs them up to defy my power and to make war upon my Saints. Therefore,
let mine Apostles and mine Elders who are faithful obey my commandments which
are already written for their profit and guidance.
Thus saith the Lord unto My servant,
John Taylor, and My servant Wilford Woodruff, and My servant, Orson Pratt,
and to all the residue of mine Apostles; Have you not gone forth in My name
without purse or scrip and declared the Gospel of life and salvation unto
this nation and the nations of the earth and warned them of the judgments
which are to come as you have been moved upon by the power of the Holy ghost
and the inspiration of the Lord.
You have done this year by year
for a whole generation, as men count time. THEREFORE YOUR GARMENTS ARE CLEAN
OF THE BLOOD OF THIS GENERATION AND ESPECIALLY THIS NATION.
Therefore, as I have said in a former
commandment, so I the Lord say again unto My Apostles: Go ye alone by yourselves,
whether in heat or in cold and cleanse your feet in water, pure water, it
matters not whether it be by running streams, or in your closets; but leave
these testimonies before the Lord and the heavenly hosts; and when you have
done all this, then gather yourselves together in your Holy places and clothe
yourselves with robes of the Holy Priesthood and there offer up your prayers
according to my Holy Law.
Let him who presides be mouth and
kneel at the Holy altar, and there let mine Apostles bring all these testimonies
before my face and before the heavenly hosts and before the justified spirits
made perfect. And thus saith the Lord unto you, Mine Apostles, when you bring
these testimonies before me, let them be presented by name as far as the Spirit
shall present them unto you: The Presidents of the United States, the Supreme
Court, the Cabinet, the Senate and Houses of Congress of the United States,
the Governors of the States and Territories, the judges and others sent unto
you, and all men and persons who have taken any part in persecuting you or
bringing distress upon you or your families, or who have sought your lives,
or sought to hinder you from keeping my commandments or from enjoying the
rights which the constitutional laws of the land guarantee unto you.
And what I the Lord say unto you,
Mine Apostles, I also say unto my servants � the Seventies, the
High Priests, the Elders, the Priests and all my servants who are pure in
heart and who have borne testimony unto the nations. Let them go forth and
cleanse their feet in pure water and bear testimony of it unto their Father
who is in Heaven.
And then, saith the Lord unto mine
Apostles and mine Elders, when ye do these things with purity of heart, I
the Lord will hear your prayers and am bound by oath and covenant to defend
you and fight your battles.
Nevertheless, let no man be afraid
to lay down his life for my sake, for he that layeth down his life for my
sake shall find it again and have eternal life.
The nation is ripened in iniquity
and the cup of the wrath of mine indignation is full and I will not stay my
hand in judgments upon this nation or the nations of the earth.
I have decreed wars and judgments
upon the wicked and my wrath and indignation are about to be poured out upon
them and the wicked and rebellious shall know that I am God.
As I the Lord have spoken so will
I fulfill. I will spare none who remain in Babylon,
but I will burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts. As I the Lord have suffered,
so will I put all enemies under my feet. For I the Lord utter my word and
it shall be obeyed.
And the day of wrath and indignation
shall come upon the wicked.
AND I SAY AGAIN, WOE UNTO THAT NATION
OR HOUSE OR PEOPLE WHO SEEK TO HINDER MY PEOPLE FROM OBEYING THE PATRIARCHAL
LAW OF ABRAHAM, WHICH LEADETH TO CELESTIAL GLORY, WHICH HAS BEEN REVEALED
UNTO MY SAINTS THROUGH THE MOUTH OF MY SERVANT JOSEPH, FOR WHOSOEVER DOETH
THESE THINGS SHALL BE DAMNED, SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS, AND SHALL BE BROKEN
UP AND WASTED AWAY FROM UNDER HEAVEN BY THE JUDGMENTS WHICH I HAVE SENT FORTH,
AND WHICH SHALL NOT RETURN UNTO ME VOID.
And thus, with the sword and by
bloodshed, and with famine and plagues and earthquakes and the thunder of
heaven and the vivid lightnings shall this nation and the nations of the earth
be made to feel the chastening hand of an Almighty God until they are broken
up and destroyed and wasted away from under heaven, and no power can stay
my hand. Therefore, let the wicked tremble; let them that blaspheme my name
hold their lips, for destruction will swiftly overtake them.
All that I the Lord have spoken
through the mouths of my Prophets and Apostles since the world began, concerning
the last dispensation and fulness of times, concerning my Church, which has
been called out of the wilderness of darkness and error, concerning the Zion
and Kingdom of God and concerning Babylon the great, and what I have spoken
through the mouth of my servant Joseph shall all be fulfilled.
And though the heaven and the earth
pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall be fulfilled, saith the
Lord.
These revelations and testimonies
are before you. Let my Saints search the Word of the Lord and treasure up
wisdom and be prepared for that which is to come.
As I have decreed, so shall my judgments
begin at THE HOUSE OF GOD.
There are those in my Church who
have a name among you, who are adulterers and adulteresses, and those who
blaspheme my name and those who love and make a lie, and those who revel and
drink with the drunken.
If they do not speedily repent of
this wickedness and abomination, they should be severed from the ordinances
of my house, saith the Lord.
There are many who have need to
repent, whose hearts are set upon the things of this world, who aspire to
the honors of men and do not honor the Priesthood, nor seek to build up the
Kingdom of God as they should. Neither do they learn and comprehend:
That the rights of the Priesthood
are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven and that the powers of
heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.
Such should repent and turn unto
the Lord, and seek for the Holy Spirit to guide them.
Judgments will begin upon my house,
and from thence will they go forth unto the world and the wicked cannot escape.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for
my blessings await them in this life and eternal life in the world to come.
Thus saith the Lord unto you, my
servant and Apostles who dwell in the flesh, Fear ye not your enemies. Let
not your hearts be troubled. I am in your midst. I am your advocate with the
Father. I have given mine angels charge concerning you. Mine eyes are upon
you and the eyes of your Heavenly Father and the Heavenly Hosts and all justified
spirits made perfect are watching over you. Your works are manifest before
the face of my servants of the Apostles whom I have taken unto myself.
The veil is taken from off their
faces and they know your works. They await your coming when you have finished
your testimony in the flesh. Therefore, be ye faithful until I come. My coming
is at the door.
Call upon the Lord in mighty prayer;
ask and you shall receive. Whenever you are agreed as touching anything and
ask the Father in my name, it shall be given unto you. Seek diligently to
build up Zion and to magnify your
high callings and your enemies shall not prevail over you. Zion
shall not be moved out of her place. Zion
shall prevail against her enemies.
My people shall not be hindered
in the building of my temples unto my Holy Name, if they will hearken unto
my voice and do as I command them.
The blood of my servants Joseph
and Hyrum and of mine Apostles and Elders which has been shed for the Word
of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ cries from the ground for vengeance
upon the nation which has shed their blood. But their blood shall speedily
be avenged and shall cease to cry unto me, for the hour of God's judgment
is fully come and shall be poured out without measure upon the wicked.
But hearken and hear, O ye Apostles,
Elders and people of my Church, to the Word of the Lord concerning you, that
for all the blessings that I will pour out upon you and the inhabitants of
Zion and the judgments and destruction upon the wicked, I will be inquired
of by you to ask the Father in my name to do and to perform these things for
you as I told all the House of Israel by my servant Moses, that they should
ask at my hand for all those blessings which I the Lord have promised unto
Israel in the latter days.
And as I the Lord ordained mine
Apostles who were with me in my ministry and promised them that they should
sit upon twelve thrones, judging the Twelve Tribes of Israel, so I say unto
you mine Apostles, who I have raised up in these last days that I have ordained
you to bear record of my name, and of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles
first, and then to the House of Israel. I have also ordained you to sit upon
thrones and judge the Gentiles and all the inhabitants of earth unto whom
you have borne testimony of my name in the day and generation in which you
live. Therefore, how great is your calling and responsibility before me. Therefore,
gird up the loins of your minds and magnify your calling in the fear of God,
and prepare ye for the coming of the Son of Man, which is nigh at the door.
No man knoweth the day nor the hour,
but the signs of both heaven and earth indicate his coming, as promised by
the mouths of my disciples; the fig tree is leafing and the hour is nigh.
Therefore, prepare yourselves, O ye Saints of the Most High God, with oil
in your lamps for blessed is watcheth for the coming of the Son of Man.
I the Lord have raised up unto you
my servant John Taylor to preside over you and to be a lawgiver unto my Church.
He has mingled his blood with that of the martyred Prophets. Nevertheless,
while I have taken my servants Joseph and Hyrum unto myself, I have preserved
my servant John Taylor for a wise purpose in me.
I have also taken many others of
the Apostles unto myself, for I take whom I take, and preserve in life whom
I will preserve, according to the counsel of mine own will.
And while my servant John Taylor
is your President, I wish to ask the rest of my servants of the Apostles the
question, ALTHOUGH YOU HAVE ONE TO PRESIDE OVER YOUR QUORUM, WHICH IS THE
ORDER OF GOD IN ALL GENERATIONS, DO NOT YOU, ALL OF YOU, HOLD THE APOSTLESHIP,
WHICH IS THE HIGHEST AUTHORITY EVER GIVEN TO MEN ON EARTH? YOU DO. THEREFORE
YOU HOLD IN COMMON THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM
OF GOD IN ALL THE WORLD.
You each of you have the power to
unlock the veil of eternity and hold converse with God the Father, and His
Son Jesus Christ and to have the ministrations of angels. It is your right,
privilege and duty to inquire of the Lord as to His mind and will concerning
yourselves and the inhabitants of Zion
and their interests.
And whenever any one of you receives
the word of the Lord, let it be written and presented in your councils and
whatever by united consent you deem wisdom to be presented unto the people,
let it be presented by the President, my servant John Taylor, as the word
of the Lord. In this way you will uphold him and strengthen his hands, as
all the burden should not lie upon one man.
For thus saith the Lord, all mine
Apostles should be full of the Holy Ghost, of inspiration and revelation to
know the mind and will of God and be prepared for that which is to come. Therefore
let mine Apostles keep my commandments and obey my voice and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against you.
Fear not, for lo, I am with you
until I come, and I come quickly. Even so, Amen.
*
* * * *
The 1880 Revelation was sustained
by the Church leaders, as follows: Elder Franklin D. Richards, Church Historian
and a member of the Quorum of Twelve, in writing the life of Wilford Woodruff
states:
"During the period of the extreme and unrelenting prosecutions
under the anti-polygamy acts of Congress, President Woodruff spent much of
the time among the churches in Arizona and southern Utah. On January 26, 1880,
having retired for some days in the mountains fasting and in prayer, he obtained
important revelations from the Lord concerning the work of the Twelve Apostles
and events which would happen affecting both the Church and the nation. These
were submitted to President John Taylor and the Council of the Apostles and
were accepted by them as profitable for doctrine, for comfort, for light as
to the future and for encouragement in the work of the ministry." �
Imp. Era, Vol. 1, p. 874
1
8 8 2
REVELATION TO JOHN TAYLOR
This revelation was published
in some of the early European editions of the Doctrine and Covenants, also
in the Life of John Taylor by Roberts. It never appeared in the Utah editions
of the D. & C.
Let my servants GEORGE TEASDALE
and HEBER J. GRANT be appointed to fill vacancies in the Twelve, that you
may be fully organized and prepared for the labors devolving upon you, for
you have a great work to perform, and then proceed to fill up the presiding
quorum of Seventies, and assist in organizing that body of my Priesthood who
are your co-laborers in the ministry.
YOU MAY APPOINT SEYMOUR B. YOUNG
TO FILL UP THE VACANCY IN THE PRESIDING QUORUM OF SEVENTIES, IF HE WILL CONFORM
TO MY LAW: FOR IT IS NOT MEET THAT MEN WHO WILL NOT ABIDE MY LAW SHALL PRESIDE
OVER MY PRIESTHOOD; and then proceed forthwith and call to your aid any assistance
that you may require from among the Seventies to assist you in your labors
in introducing and maintaining the Gospel among the Lamanites throughout the
land. And then let High Priests be selected, under the direction of the First
Presidency, to preside over the various organizations that shall exist among
this people; that those who receive the Gospel may be taught in the doctrines
of my Church and in the ordinances and laws thereof, and also in things pertaining
to my Zion and my Kingdom, saith the Lord, that they may be one with you in
my Church and Kingdom.
Let the Presidency of the Church
be one in all things; and let the Twelve be one in all things; and let them
all be one with me as I am one with the Father. And let the High Priests organize
themselves and purify themselves, and prepare themselves for this labor, and
for all other labors that they may called upon to fulfill.
And let the Presidents of Stakes
also purify themselves, and the priesthood and people of the Stakes over which
they preside, and organize the priesthood in their various stakes according
to my law, in all the various departments thereof, in the High Councils, in
the Elders' quorums, and in the Bishops and their councils, and in the quorums
of Priests, Teachers, and Deacons, that every quorum may be fully organized
according to the order of my Church; and, then let them inquire into the standing
and fellowship of all that hold my Holy Priesthood in their several stakes;
and if they find those that are unworthy let them remove them, except they
repent; for My Priesthood, whom I have called and whom I have sustained and
honored, shall honor me and obey My laws, and the laws of My Holy Priesthood,
or they shall not be considered worthy to hold My Priesthood, saith the Lord.
And let My Priesthood humble themselves
before me, and seek not their own will but my will; for if my Priesthood,
whom I have chosen and called, and endowed with the spirit and gifts of their
several callings, and with the powers thereof, do not acknowledge me I will
not acknowledge them, saith the Lord; for I will be honored and obeyed by
My Priesthood.
And then, I call upon my Priesthood
and upon all My people, to repent of all their sins and shortcomings, of their
covetousness and pride and self-will; and of all their iniquities wherein
they sin against me; and to seek with all humility to fulfill my law, as my
Priesthood, my Saints, and my people; and I call upon the heads of families
to put their houses in order according to the Law of God, and attend to the
various duties and responsibilities associated therewith, and to purify themselves
before me, and to purge out iniquity from their households.
And I will bless and be with you,
saith the Lord, and ye shall gather together in your holy places wherein ye
assemble to call upon me, and ye shall ask for such things as are right, and
I will hear your prayers and my spirit and power shall be with you and my
blessings shall rest upon you, upon your families, your dwellings and your
households, upon your flocks and herds and fields, your orchards and vineyards,
and upon all that pertains to you; and you shall be my people and I will be
your God; and your enemies shall not have dominion over you, for I will preserve
you and confound them, saith the Lord, and they shall not have power nor dominion
over you; for my words shall go forth, and my work shall be accomplished,
and my Zion shall be established, and my rule and my power and my dominion
shall prevail among my people, and all nations shall yet acknowledge Me. Even
so, Amen.
*
* * * *
The following items pertaining
to the reception and consideration of the 1882 (October) Revelation, were
copied by Elder Musser from the Wilford Woodruff Journals:
October 13, 1882. We met in council
at President Taylor's office. We heard the revelation read in which George
Teasdale and Heber J. Grant were called to fill the vacancies in the Quorum
of Twelve Apostles, and Seymour B. Young to fill the vacancy in the First
Presidency of the Seventies. (See Mess. of First Pres., vol. 2, p. 348)
October 14, 1882. We held a meeting
with the Presidency, Twelve Apostles and the Presidents of Stakes. Remarks
were made by President Taylor. Then the revelation was read. George Q. Cannon
spoke to us and said, "How can we teach the people any law or principle
that we do not keep ourselves?"
Joseph F. Smith spoke upon several
subjects upon the Patriarchal Order of Marriage.
*
* * * *
1
8 8 6
REVELATION TO JOHN TAYLOR
MY SON JOHN: You have asked me concerning
the New and Everlasting Covenant and how far it is binding upon my people;
thus saith the Lord:
All commandments that I give must
be obeyed by those calling themselves by my name, unless they are revoked
by me or by my authority, and HOW CAN I REVOKE AN EVERLASTING COVENANT: for
I the Lord am everlasting and my everlasting covenants cannot be abrogated,
nor done away with, but they stand forever.
Have I not given my word in great
plainness on the subject? Yet have not great numbers of my people been negligent
in the observance of my laws and the keeping of my commandments, and yet have
I borne with them these many years; and this because of their weakness, because
of the perilous times, and FURTHERMORE, IT IS MORE PLEASING UNTO ME THAT MEN
SHOULD USE THEIR FREE AGENCY IN REGARDS TO THESE MATTERS. Nevertheless, I
the Lord do not change and my word and my covenants and my law do not.
And as I have heretofore said by
my servant Joseph: All those who would enter into my glory MUST AND SHALL
OBEY MY LAW. And have I not commanded men that if they were Abraham's seed
and would enter into my glory, they must do the works of Abraham?
I HAVE NOT REVOKED THIS LAW, NOR
WILL I, for it is everlasting, and those who will enter into my glory MUST
OBEY THE CONDITIONS THEREOF; Even so, Amen.
*
* * * *
The 1886 Revelation has been
called into question by the Church statement of June 17, 1933, as signed by
Pres. Heber J. Grant, A. W. Ivins and J. Reuben Clark:
"It is alleged that on September
26-27, 1886, President John Taylor received a revelation from the Lord, the
purported text of which is given in publications circulated apparently by
or at the instance of this same organization (the so-called Fundamentalists)
"As to this pretended revelation
it should be said that the archives of the Church contain no such revelation;
the archives contain no such record of any such revelation, nor any evidence
justifying a belief that any such revelation was ever given. From the personal
knowledge of some of us, from the uniform and common recollection of the presiding
quorums of the Church, from the absence in the Church archives of any evidence
whatsoever justifying any belief that such revelation was given, we are justified
in affirming that no such revelation exists."
HOWEVER...
The 1886 Revelation must have been removed from
the archives before such a quieting statement could have been issued. Consider
the following:
Anthony W. Ivins, in a letter dated February
10, 1934, admitted finding the original copy of this 1886 revelation and said
it was written in pencil and contained only a few paragraphs, and had no signature.
That's a lot of description for never having
seen it.
Melvin J. Ballard stated in a letter dated December
31, 1934,
"The PRETENDED revelation of
President John Taylor never had his signature added to it but was written
in the form of a revelation and undoubtedly was in his handwriting."
·
The word "pretended" ought to hurt Pres. Taylor's feelings.
·
If it didn't exist, how could he describe it?
·
Have recipients been in the habit of signing revelations?
B. H. Roberts, while Assistant
Historian of the Church stated to friends that he had seen, on more than one
occasion, the original copy of the 1886 revelation and knew that it was in
the Church archives; and in his opinion it was genuine.
A certain brother wrote to Anthony W. Ivins and
asked if the 1886 Revelation to John Taylor did exist, if it was a true revelation.
President Ivins wrote a letter back in which he said, "I have gone to
the Church archives and I have seen this document. It is in Pres. Taylor's
own handwriting and is only a few paragraphs, with no signature."
President Ivins also substantiated the fact that
he had married the mother of the recipient of that letter, to his father 13
years AFTER the Manifesto and had performed dozens of such with the knowledge
and consent of the Presidents of the Church.
President Ivins' son showed his father's diary
and record of marriages to him and to others, in which that very record is
found, as well as those of many, many others. All AFTER the Manifesto.
Melvin J. Ballard said on December 31, 1934,
in a letter to Eslie D. Jenson: "The PRETENDED revelation to President
John Taylor never had his signature added to it but was written in the form
of a revelation, and undoubtedly was in his handwriting; nevertheless, it
was never submitted...to his own associates in the Presidency and the Twelve
nor to the Church and consequently does not bind the Church in any sense."
However, in the Douglas Todd, Sr. journal, under
date of September 1, 1934:
"After reading some expressions
in a letter ascribed to A. W. Ivins in which the 1886 revelation is referred
to as an unsigned scrap pf paper...a so-called revelation...the words of man
which were never submitted to the people of the Church and are not binding,
etc., I went up and talked to my sister Nellie E. Taylor, plural wife of John
W. Taylor, to learn what she knew about it. She says John W. referred to the
circumstances on several occasions and told how his father was in hiding at
the home of John Wooley at Centerville the night it was received...
"When Pres. Taylor received
this revelation at the home of John W. Wooley at Centerville, he sent a messenger
to Salt Lake asking those of the Presidency and Twelve who were there to meet
him at Centerville. As extreme caution had to be observed to keep from betraying
the whereabouts of Pres. Taylor to the officers who were hunting him, George
F. Gibbs secured a sheep wagon and took them up in the evening...the revelation
WAS SUBMITTED AND RECEIVED.
"John W. Taylor was asked to
stand guard in the front room and was not with them, but understood that the
purpose of the meeting was to receive this revelation. TO HAVE PRESENTED THIS
REVELATION IN OPEN CONFERENCE IN TIMES LIKE THOSE IN 1886 WOULD HAVE BEEN
FATAL. A copy in Pres. Taylor's handwriting was taken to the Salt Lake Temple
and when danger of raiding and confiscation increased, it with other sacred
record was turned over to William Salmon to be placed somewhere to be safe.
This revelation was delivered to John W. Taylor and for a time it was in the
custody of Rodney Badger in a deposit box at the Utah National Bank but was
finally returned to John W. Taylor. Some time before his death, John W. was
in business and Ellen Sanberg was his secretary. He married her as his sixth
wife. After his death in 1916, Ellen took possession of the document. She
went to work for L. N. Stohl at the beneficial Life and he got the document
and made photographic copies of it. Soon after this, Nellie Taylor said one
night after his death, John W. came to her in a dream with a troubled look
on his face and it was made known to her that he was concerned about this
revelation �
the one given to John Taylor. Nellie went to Mill Creek and Ellen reluctantly
surrendered it. Nellie took it to Frank Y. Taylor and asked that he deliver
it to the Church historian. Frank delayed and some inquiry was made about
it. Nellie again saw him about it and Frank decided to surrender it but instead
of taking it the historian's office he took it to Pres. Grant and asked him
if it was genuine and in the handwriting of his father. Pres. Grant said it
was. Bro. Taylor asked how he could get around it. "I am not going to
try to get around it," replied Pres. Grant.
Douglas Todd further records in his diary: "This revelation could
not be presented to the Church when it was received, and by the time it could
be presented, we had already acted in a way opposite to its injunctions, so
it was not presented to the members in conference at all, but that does not
change the revelation."
IT REMAINS BINDING UPON THE PRIESTHOOD.
* * * * *
TESTIMONY OF LORIN
C. WOOLEY
on the 1886 Revelation
September 22, 1929
Present: Lorin C. Wooley, Daniel R. Bateman, John Y. Barlow,
J. Leslie Broadbent, and J. W. Musser. Prayer offered by John Y. Barlow.
Lorin C. Wooley:
While the brethren were at the Carlisle
residence (in Murray) in May or June of 1886, letters began to come in to
President John Taylor from such men as John Sharp, Horace Eldredge, William
Jennings, John T. Cain, Abraham Hatch, President Cluff and many other leading
men from all over the Church, asking the leaders to do something, as the Gentiles
were talking of confiscating their property in connection with the property
of the Church.
These letters not only came from
those who were living in the plural marriage relation, but also from prominent
men who were presiding in various offices in the Church who were not living
in that relation. They all urged that something be done to satisfy the Gentiles
so that their property would not be confiscated.
George Q. Cannon, on his own initiative,
selected a committee comprising himself, Hyrum B. Clawson, Franklin S. Richards,
John T. Cain and James Jack to get up a statement or manifesto that would
meet the objections urged by the brethren above named. They met from time
to time to discuss the situation. From the White home, where President Taylor
and companions stopped, after leaving the Carlisle home, they came out to
Father's. George Q. Cannon would go and consult with the brethren of the committee,
I taking him back and forth each day.
I had just got back from a three
days' trip, during most of which time I had been in the saddle, and being
greatly fatigued, I had retired to rest.
Between one and two o'clock P.M.
Brother Bateman came and woke me up and asked me to be at my father's home,
where a manifesto was to be discussed. I went there and found there were congregated
Samuel Bateman, Charles C. Wilkins, L. John Nuttall, Charles Birrell, George
Q. Cannon, Franklin S. Richards and Hyrum B. Clawson.
We discussed the proposed Manifesto
at length, but we were unable to become united in the discussion. Finally
George Q. Cannon suggested that President Taylor take up the matter with the
Lord and decide the same the next day.
Brothers Clawson and Richards were
taken back to Salt Lake. That evening I was called to act as guard during
the first part of the night, notwithstanding the fact that I was greatly fatigued
on account of the three days' trip I had just completed.
The brethren retired to bed soon
after nine o'clock. The sleeping rooms were inspected by the guard as was
the custom. President Taylor's room had no outside door. The windows were
heavily screened.
Some time after the brethren retired
and while I was reading the Doctrine and Covenants, I was suddenly attracted
to a light appearing under the door leading to President Taylor's room, and
was at once startled to hear the voices of men talking there. There were three
distinct voices. I was bewildered because it was my duty to keep people out
of that room and evidently someone had entered without my knowing it. I made
a hasty examination and found the door leading to the room bolted as usual.
I then examined the outside of the house and found all the window screens
intact. While examining the last window, and feeling greatly agitated, a voice
spoke to me saying, "Can't you feel the Spirit? Why should you worry?"
At this I returned to my post and
continued to hear the voices in the room. They were so audible that although
I did not see the parties I could place their positions in the room from the
sound of their voices. The three voices continued until about midnight, when
one of them left, and the other two continued. One of them I recognized as
President John Taylor's voice. I called Charles Birrell and we both sat up
until eight o'clock the next morning.
When President Taylor came out of
his room about eight o'clock of the morning of September 27, 1886, we could
scarcely look at him on account of the brightness of his personage.
He stated, "Brethren, I have
had a very pleasant conversation with Brother Joseph (Joseph Smith)."
I said, "Boss, who is the man that was there until midnight?" He
asked, "What do you know about it, Lorin?" I told him all about
my experience. He said, "Brother Lorin, that WAS YOUR LORD."
We had no breakfast, but assembled
ourselves in a meeting. I forget who opened the meeting. I was called to offer
the benediction. I think my father, John W. Woolley, offered the opening prayer.
There were present at the meeting, in addition to Pres. Taylor, George Q.
Cannon, L. John Nuttall, John W. Woolley, Samuel Bateman, Charles Wilkins,
Charles Birrell, Daniel R. Bateman, Bishop Samuel Sedden, George Earl, my
mother, Julia E. Woolley, my sister, Amy Woolley, and myself. The meeting
was held from about 9 o'clock in the morning until 5 in the afternoon, without
intermission, being about eight hours in all.
President Taylor called the meeting
to order. He had the Manifesto, that had been prepared under the direction
of George Q. Cannon, read over again. He then put each person under covenant
that he or she would defend the principle of Celestial or plural marriage,
and that they would consecrate their lives, liberty and property to this end,
and that they personally would sustain and uphold that principle.
By that time we were all filled
with the Holy Ghost. President Taylor and those present occupied about three
hours up to this time. After placing us under covenant, he placed his finger
on the document, his person rising from the floor about a foot or eighteen
inches, and with countenance animated by the Spirit of the Lord, and raising
his right hand to the square, he said, "Sign that document �
never! I would suffer my right hand to be severed from my body first. Sanction
it �
never! I would suffer my tongue to be torn from its roots in my mouth before
I would sanction it."
After that we talked for about an
hour and then sat down and wrote the revelation which was given him by the
Lord upon the question of Plural Marriage. Then he talked to us for some time,
and said, "Some of you will be handled and ostracized and cast out from
the Church by your brethren because of your faithfulness and integrity to
this principle, and some of you may have to surrender your lives because of
the same, but woe, woe, unto those who shall bring these trouble upon you."
(Three of us were handled and ostracized for supporting and sustaining this
principle. There are only three left who were at the meeting mentioned �
Daniel R. Bateman, George Earl and myself. So far as I know those of them
who have passed away all stood firm to the covenants entered into from that
day to the day of their deaths.)
After the meeting referred to, President
Taylor had L. John Nuttall write five copies of the revelation. HE CALLED
FIVE OF US TOGETHER: SAMUEL BATEMAN, CHARLES H. WILKINS, GEORGE Q. CANNON,
JOHN W. WOOLLEY, AND MYSELF.
HE THEN SET US APART AND PLACED
US UNDER COVENANT that while we lived we would see to it that no year passed
by without children being born in the principle of plural marriage. We were
given authority to ordain others if necessary to carry this work on, they
in turn to be given authority to ordain others when necessary, under the direction
of the worthy senior (by ordination), so that there should be no cessation
in the work. He then gave each of us a copy of the revelation.
I am the only one of the five now
living, and so far as I know all five of the brethren remained true and faithful
to the covenants they entered into, and to the responsibilities placed upon
them at that time.
During the eight hours we were together
and while President Taylor was talking to us, he frequently arose and stood
above the floor, and his countenance and being were so enveloped by light
and glory that it was difficult for us to look upon him.
He stated that the document, referring
to the Manifesto, was from the lower regions. He stated that many of the things
he had told us we would forget and they would be taken from us, but that they
would return to us in due time as needed, and from this fact we would know
that the same was from the Lord. This has been literally fulfilled. Many of
the things I forgot, but they are coming to me gradually, and those things
that come to me are as clear as the day on which they were given.
President Taylor said that the time
would come when MANY OF THE SAINTS WOULD APOSTATIZE BECAUSE OF THIS PRINCIPLE.
He said, "One-half of this people would apostatize over the principle
for which we are now in hiding; yea, and one-half of the other half,"
(rising off the floor while making the statement). He also said the day will
come when a document similar to that (Manifesto) then under consideration
would be adopted by the Church, following which "APOSTASY AND WHOREDOM
would be rampant in the Church."
He said that in the time of the
seventh president of this Church, the Church would go into bondage both temporally
and spiritually and in that day (the day of bondage) the One Mighty and Strong
spoken of in the 85th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants would come.
Among other things stated by President
Taylor on this occasion was this, "I would be surprised if ten percent
of those who claim to hold the Melchizedek Priesthood will remain true and
faithful to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, at the time of the seventh
president, and that there would be thousands that think they hold the Priesthood
at that time, but would not have it properly conferred upon them."
John Taylor set the five mentioned
apart and gave them authority to perform marriage ceremonies, and also to
set others apart to do the same thing as long as they remained upon the earth;
and while doing so, THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH STOOD BY DIRECTING THE PROCEEDINGS.
Two of us had not met the Prophet Joseph Smith in his mortal lifetime and
we �
Charles H. Wilkins and myself � were introduced to
him and shook hands with him.
(Signed) Lorin C. Woolley
9/22/1929
Daniel R. Bateman, being present while the above experience
was related by Brother Woolley, testified as follows:
"I was privileged to be at
the meeting of September 27, 1886, spoken of by Brother Woolley, I myself
acting as one of the guards for the brethren during those exciting times.
The proceedings of the meeting as related by Brother Woolley, are correct
in every detail. I was not present when the five spoken of by Brother Woolley
were set apart for special work, but have on different occasions heard the
details of the same related by Brother Lorin C. Woolley and John W. Woolley,
and from all the circumstances with which I am familiar, I firmly believe
the testimony of these two brethren to be true."
President George Q. Cannon told
Joseph W. Musser that President John Taylor had taken steps in his day to
see that the principle of plural marriage was perpetuated, doubtless referring
to this meeting.
And why not? He was there.
*
* * * *
Joseph F. Smith:
The revelation in Section 107 of
the D&C, verses 1, 5, 6, 7, 21, clearly points out that the Priesthood
is a general authority or qualification, with certain offices or authorities
appended thereto. Consequently the conferring of the Priesthood should precede
and accompany ordination to office, unless it be possessed by previous bestowal
and ordination. Surely a man cannot posses an appendage to the Priesthood
without possessing that Priesthood itself, which he cannot obtain unless it
be authoritatively conferred upon him. � Imp. Era, vol. 4, p.
394, 1901
The Change made official in the
Church was established after this manner:
Heber J. Grant (7th President):
Ordaining to the Melchizedek Priesthood:
Calling the candidate by name; � by (or in) the authority
of the holy priesthood and by the laying on of hands, I (or we) ordain you
an Elder (or whatever the office may be) in the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, and confer upon you all the rights, powers, and authority
pertaining to this office and calling in the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood,
in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, Amen. �
April 26, 1921; Missionary's Handbook, p. 139, 1944
Charles W. Penrose:
We have made a mistake in our ordinations;
we have been conferring the Priesthood and it ought not to be done. �
Quarterly Conference, Provo; The Kingdom of God, D. R. Peay, P. 26
In 1957, President McKay changed
the wording in conferring Priesthood back to the original manner.
1957 Pres. McKay
1921 Pres. Grant
36 years
conferring only offices
1 8 8 9
REVELATION TO WILFORD WOODRUFF
Copied from the Journal of Wilford Woodruff and dated
November 24, 1889:
"Attended a meeting with the
lawyers at the Gardo (house) in the evening. They wanted me to make some concession
to the court upon polygamy and other points, and I spent several hours alone
and inquired of the Lord and received the following revelation:
Thus saith the Lord to my servant
Wilford. I, the Lord, have heard thy prayers and thy request, and will answer
thee by the voice of my spirit.
Thus saith the Lord unto my servants
the Presidency of my Church, who hold the keys of the Kingdom of God on the
earth. I the Lord hold the destiny of this nation, and the destiny of all
other nations of the earth, in mine own hands, and all that I have revealed
and promised and decreed concerning the generation in which you live shall
come to pass, and no power shall stay my hand.
LET NOT MY SERVANTS WHO ARE CALLED
TO THE PRESIDENCY OF MY CHURCH DENY MY WORD OR MY LAW, WHICH CONCERNS THE
SALVATION OF THE CHILDREN OF MEN. Let them pray for the Holy Spirit which
shall be given them to guide them in their acts. PLACE NOT YOURSELVES IN JEOPARDY
TO YOUR ENEMIES BY PROMISE. YOUR ENEMIES SEEK YOUR DESTRUCTION AND THE DESTRUCTION
OF MY PEOPLE. If the Saints will hearken unto my voice, and the counsel of
my servants, the wicked shall not prevail.
Let my servants who officiate as
your counselors before the courts make their pleading as they are moved upon
by the Holy Spirit, without any further pledges from the Priesthood.
I, the Lord, will hold the courts,
with the officers of government and the nation responsible for their acts
towards the inhabitants of Zion.
I, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the
world, am in your midst. I am your advocate with the Father. Fear not, little
flock, it your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Fear not the
wicked and ungodly. Search the scriptures, for they are they which testify
of me; also those revelations which I have given to my servant Joseph, and
to all my servants since the world began, which are recorded in the record
of divine truth.
Those revelations contain the judgments
of God which are to be poured out upon all nations under the heavens, which
include Great Babylon. These judgments are at the door. They will be fulfilled
as God lives. Leave judgment with me, it is mine, saith the Lord. Watch the
signs of the times and they will show the fulfillment of the words of the
Lord. Let my servants call upon the Lord in mighty prayer, retain the Holy
Ghost as your constant companion and act as you are moved upon by the Spirit,
and all will be well with you.
The wicked are fast ripening in
iniquity, and they will be cut off by the judgments of God. Great events await
you and this generation and are nigh at your doors. Awake! O, Israel, and
have faith in God and His promises and He will not forsake you. I, the Lord,
will deliver my Saints from the dominion of the wicked in mine own due time
and way.
I CANNOT DENY MY WORD, neither in
blessings nor judgments. Therefore let mine anointed gird up their loins,
watch and be sober, and keep my commandments. Pray always and faint not. Exercise
faith in the Lord and in the promises of God; be valiant in the testimony
of Jesus Christ.
The eyes of the Lord and the Heavenly
Hosts are watching over you and your acts. Therefore be faithful until I come.
I come quickly to reward every man, according to the deeds done in the body.
Even so, Amen.
*
* * * *
From the Journal of Apostle Abraham H. Cannon:
"During our meeting A REVELATION
WAS READ which Pres. Woodruff received Sunday evening Nov. 24th. Propositions
had been made for the Church to make some concessions to the Courts in regard
to its principles. Both of Pres. Woodruff's counselors refused to advise him
as to the course he should pursue, and he therefore laid the matter before
the Lord. The answer came quick and strong. The word of the Lord was for us
not to yield one particle of that which he had revealed and established. He
had done and would continue to care for His work and those of the Saints who
were faithful... We are promised redemption and deliverance if... The whole
revelation was filled with words of the greatest encouragement and comfort,
and my heart was filled with joy and peace during the entire reading. It sets
all doubts at rest concerning the course to pursue..." �
From photostat of original writing, Vol. XI, p. 214, Dec. 19, 1889
*
* * * *
All four of these revelations
were given AFTER the Supreme Court, in the Reynolds case, declared the anti-polygamy
law was constitutional. DID GOD FORGET THE SUPREME COURT HAD SPOKEN?
These four additional revelations clearly sustain
the living of plural marriage as a MUST to the Latter-day Saints. They were
not faithful to the will of the Lord.
President Wilford Woodruff once said:
"Joseph Smith continued visiting
myself and others up to a certain time, and then it stopped." �
Stake Conference, Ogden, October 19, 1896, Des. Weekly News, Vol. 53, No.
21
WHY?
A Stake President, some years
after the Manifesto asked John Henry Smith, a member of the First Presidency
of the Church, "Brother Smith, why don't you brethren put this question
of plural marriage up to the Lord and have it settled once and for all?"
President Smith answered, "We have put it up to the Lord, but He will
not answer us upon the question."
Another Stake President, claiming membership
in the Heber J. Grant prayer circle, meeting in the Temple, stated that upon
one occasion President Grant came to his circle meeting with tears in his
eyes, saying, "Brethren, I have fasted and prayed most earnestly to the
Lord for certain information, but He will not answer me;" and on several
occasions President Grant said, "The heavens were as brass over him."
AN INCONSISTENCY:
Heber J. Grant:
No matter what restrictions we may
be placed under by men, our only consistent course is to keep the commandments
of God. (Cites instances of the Three Hebrews.) If we are living in the light
of the Gospel, we have a testimony of the truth, and we have but ONE choice,
that is to abide in the law of God no matter as to the consequences... When
people know they are right it is wrong for them to forego their honest convictions
BY YIELDING THEIR JUDGMENT TO THAT OF THE MAJORITY. � Des. News, April 6,
1885
Heber J. Grant:
I am a law breaker; so is Bishop
Whitney; so is B. H. Roberts; my wives have brought me only daughters. I propose
to marry until I get wives who will bring me sons. �
Sept. 8, 1899, AFTER THE MANIFESTO, Salt lake Tribune
LATER....NOVEMBER 27, 1928:
Heber J. Grant:
"None could point to anyone
who had entered this principle since its official prohibition WHO WAS A PRIDE
TO ANY COMMUNITY, and that the same could be said of their children. I shall
REJOICE when the government officials put a few of these (polygamists) in
the County Jail or the State Penitentiary." � Letter reprinted in
Truth Magazine, Vol. 11:32
In 1935, at President Grant's
request, Hugh B. Brown drafted a law changing "Unlawful Cohabitation"
from a simple misdemeanor with a maximum jail sentence of six months, to a
FELONY, the latter bearing a five year jail sentence.
This law was fathered in the legislature by Lyle
B. Nicholes, an officer in the Mormon Church, and enacted by Mormon vote.
It was guided through the legislative hopper by a committee comprising General
Authorities of the Church. It was signed by Governor Henry H. Blood, a Mormon
Stake President, and later President of the California Mission.
It is a matter of record in the court files that
men were appointed by the Church leaders to gather evidence to be used by
the prosecution in cases against the men.
Under the law, Abraham, Jesus Christ, Joseph
Smith and President Grant himself, had lived feloniously, for they were ALL
guilty of living in plural marriage. God, himself, was guilty, for His Son
Jesus Christ was born of a plural wife.
As to President Grant's statement, those arrested
were in the County Jail on May 13, 1945, awaiting transfer to the penitentiary.
On the 14th of May, President Grant passed away, one day after seeing his
wish about the polygamists (of which he was very much one) come true.
B. H. Roberts:
Therefore, I conclude that since
God did approve of the plural marriage custom of the ancient patriarchs, prophets,
and kings of Israel, it is not at all to be wondered at that, in the dispensation
of the fulness of times, in which he has promised a restitution of all things,
that God should again establish that system of marriage. And the fact of God's
approval of plural marriage in ancient times is a complete defence of the
righteousness of the marriage system introduced by revelation through the
Prophet Joseph Smith.
Joseph Smith received a commandment
from the Lord to introduce that order of marriage into the Church, and on
the strength of that revelation, and not by reason of anything that is written
in the Jewish scriptures, the Latter-day Saints practice plural marriage.
Polygamy is not adultery, for were
it so considered, then Abraham, Jacob, and the prophets who practiced it would
not be allowed an inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, and if polygamy is
not adultery, then it can not be classed as a sin at all. It appears to the
writer that Modern Christians must either learn to tolerate polygamy or give
up forever the glorious hope of resting in Abraham's bosom. That which he
approves, must be not only not bad, but positively good, pure, and holy. �
Imp. Era, May 1898
Finally, the word of the Lord:
How can I revoke an everlasting
covenant, for I the Lord am everlasting, and my everlasting covenants cannot
be abrogated nor done away with, but they stand forever... I, the Lord, do
not change, and my WORD AND MY COVENANT AND MY LAW DO NOT.
I HAVE NOT REVOKED THIS LAW, NOR WILL I, for it is everlasting,
and those who enter into my glory MUST obey the conditions thereof. � 1886 Revelation to President John Taylor