42. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. xli.
43. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lxviii.
44. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cvii: 15.
45. Ibid, verse 20.
46. Ibid, verse 68.
47. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lvii:17.
48. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lviii: 15; 18. Ibid, sec. cvii: 72-75.
49. There are bishops holding different positions: Bishop Partridge was a general bishop over the land of Zion; while Bishop Whitney was a general bishop over the church in Kirtland, Ohio, and also over the eastern churches until afterwards appointed as presiding bishop. * * * There are also ward bishops, whose duties are confined to their several wards. * * * There are also bishops' agents such as Sidney Gilbert [he was Bishop Partridge's agent in Zion, Missouri], and others.—Items on Priesthood by the late President John Taylor.
50. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lxviii: 17, 18.
51. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lxviii: 20.
52. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lxviii: 21.
53. And inasmuch as a president of the high priesthood shall transgress, he shall be had in remembrance before the common council of the church, who shall be assisted by twelve counselors of the high priesthood; and their decision upon his head shall be an end of controversy concerning him. (Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cvii: 82, 83).
54. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lxviii: 19.
55. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lxviii: 22-24.
56. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lxxxiv: 112.
57. I think a careful reading of sec. lxviii of the Doctrine and Covenants, will justify this conclusion—that not only the office of presiding bishop of the church should be filled by the first-born of the sons of Aaron, but that the traveling and local bishops also, so far as can be, should be chosen from among the first born of the sons of Aaron. The following passage seems especially clear on the question: "There remaineth hereafter, in the due time of the Lord, other bishops to be set apart unto the church, to minister even according to the first; wherefore they shall be high priests who are worthy, and they shall be appointed by the first presidency of the Melchisedek priesthood, except they be descendants of Aaron, and if they be literal descendants of Aaron they have a legal right to the bishopric, if they are the first-born among the sons of Aaron." Sec. lxviii: 14-16.
58. Book of Ether, ch. xiii, and III Nephi, ch. xx.
59. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. xlv.
60. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lii.
61. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lvii.
62. Acts iv: 32.
63. The branch of the Church in this part of the Lord's vineyard [Kirtland], which had increased to nearly one hundred members, were striving to do the will of God so far as they knew it, though some had strange notions, and false spirits had crept in among them. With a little caution and some wisdom, I soon assisted the brethren and sisters to overcome them. The plan of "common stock," which had existed in what was called "the family," whose members generally had embraced the everlasting gospel, was readily abandoned for the more perfect law of the Lord, and the false spirits were easily discerned and rejected by the light of revelation.—Joseph Smith.—Millennial Star Supplement to vol. xiv, p. 56.
64. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. xli.
65. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. xlii.
66. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. xlii: 30,32.
67. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. xlii: 32.
68. In the very revelations in which the first instructions on the subject of consecration and stewardship are given the Lord says: "Let all thy garments be plain and their beauty the beauty of the work of thine own hands. * * * Thou shalt not be idle, for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer." (Doc. and Cov., sec. xliii: 40,42). In a subsequent revelation, referring to the inhabitants of Zion who were living under this law of consecration, the Lord said: "And the inhabitants of Zion, also, shall remember their labors, inasmuch as they are appointed to labor in all faithfulness, for the idler shall be had in remembrance before the Lord." (Doc. and Cov., sec. lxviii: 30).
69. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. civ: 54,57.
70. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lxii: 2,8.
71. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. civ.
72. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. li: 4, 5.
73. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. xlii: 33, 35.
74. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. civ: 70, 77.
75. "All children have claim upon their parents for their maintenance until they are of age. After that they have claim upon the church, or in other words, upon the Lord's store-house, if their parents have not wherewith to give them inheritances. And the store-house shall be kept by the consecrations of the church, and widows and orphans shall be provided for as also the poor." (Doc. and Cov., sec. lxxxiii: 4, 6.)
76. Sec. xlii: 53;54. And you are to be equal, or in other words, you are to have equal claims on the properties for the benefit of managing the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and needs inasmuch as his wants are just. (Doc. and Cov., sec. lxxxii: 17.)
77. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. li: 10, 13, also verse 18, which says the law laid down in verses 10, 13, shall be an example to all churches.
78. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cv: 1, 5, also sec. lviii: 35, 36.
79. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. xlii: 39.
80. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. li: 3.
81. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. civ: 15-17.
82. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cxix.
83. For a detailed account of this event and the causes leading up to it, see the author's work on the "Missouri Persecutions."
84. Doc. and Cov., sec. ciii.
85. Daniel Dunklin, governor of Missouri, agreed to call out the militia of the state and re-instate the exiles on their lands; but he claimed that he had no authority to keep a force under arms to protect them after they were restored. Hence the coming of Zion's camp to so strengthen the brethren that they could hold their own against the mob when once placed back in their homes.
86. Missouri Persecutions.
87. Doc. and Cov., sec. cv. The revelation was given on Fishing river, Missouri.
88. The corner stones of the Kirtland temple were laid on the 23rd of July, 1833.
89. Doc. and Cov., sec. cii:22.
90. Doc. and Cov., sec. cvii: 23-33.
91. Doc. and Cov., sec. cii: 30-32, also sec. cvii: 32.
92. Doc. and Cov., sec. cii: 26, 27.
93. Their names were Lyman E. Johnson, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, David W. Patten, Luke S. Johnson, Wm. E. McLellin, John F. Boynton, Wm. B. Smith, Parley P. Pratt, Thomas B. Marsh, Orson Pratt.
94. Doc. and Cov., sec. cvii.
95. The circumstances under which this revelation (contained in section cvii, Doc. and Cov.) was given are highly interesting; they are as follows: On the afternoon of the 28th of March the twelve met in council and had a time of general confession. "On reviewing our past course," writes Orson Hyde and Wm. E. McLellin, clerks of the meeting, "we are satisfied, and feel to confess also, that we have not realized the importance of our calling, to that degree that we ought; we have been light minded and vain, and in many things done wrong—wrong. For all these things we have asked the forgiveness of our Heavenly Father, and wherein we have grieved or wounded the feelings of the presidency, we ask their forgiveness. The time when we are about to separate is near, and when we shall meet again, God only knows; we therefore feel to ask of him whom we have acknowledged to be our prophet and seer, that he inquire of God for us and obtain a revelation (if consistent) that we may look upon it when we are separated, that our hearts may be comforted. Our worthiness has not inspired us to make this request, but our unworthiness. We have unitedly asked God our Heavenly Father to grant unto us through his seer, a revelation of his mind and will concerning our duty the coming season, even a great revelation that will enlarge our hearts comfort us in adversity and brighten our hopes amidst the power of darkness." (Mill. Star, vol. xv, p. 245.) The revelation which was given in answer to this request is one of the most splendid contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.
96. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. i: 38.
97. Doctrine and Covenants sec. cxxi:36.
98. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cxxi: 41-44. These views from the revelations of the Lord to Joseph Smith are in strict accord with the teachings of Jesus Christ to the twelve apostles among the Jews. To them he said: "Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great, exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you; but whosoever will be great among you let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant; even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Matt. xx: 25-28.) Peter, it would seem remembered the spirit of these instructions, as years afterwards we have him saying to those set to govern the churches: "Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples unto the flock." (I Peter v: 2, 3.)
99. This it appears is the view Joseph Smith took of the subject. Replying to a question of Judge Stephen A. Douglas, how he governed so easily so large a people as the Saints were at Nauvoo, the prophet replied, "I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves."
100. In answering the question: was the priesthood of Melchisedek taken away when Moses died, the Prophet Joseph said: "All priesthood is Melchisedek, but there are different portions or degrees of it. The portion which brought Moses to speak with God face to face was taken away; but that which brought the ministry of angels remained." (Hist. Joseph Smith. See also Doc. and Cov., sec. cxii: 4, 5.)
101. The reasons for calling this division the Melchisedek priesthood are given in note 3, section ii of part iv.
102. The reason for calling the second division the Aaronic Priesthood is because it was a priesthood conferred upon Aaron, the brother of Moses, and his sons after him. It is a division of the priesthood which belongs of right to the house of Aaron. (See Doc. and Cov. sec. cvii: 13, 14.)
103. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cvii: 18-19.
104. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cvii: 20.
105. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cvii: 21
106. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cvii: 65-66.
107. Ibid, verses 91, 92.
108. It must be remembered by the student that apostles are also high priests. In fact the apostleship circumscribes all priesthood, hence it happens that some men who have not been directly ordained high priests, but who were apostles, have acted in the quorum of the first presidency of the church. Brigham Young did so.
109. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cvii: 22.
110. Ibid, verse 91.
111. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cvii: 23, 24, 32, 39, 58.
112. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cvii:34.
113. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cvii: 25, 26.
114. Up to the present date—1902—there have been one hundred and forty-three quorums of seventies organized. The Prophet Joseph Smith said that this choosing of seventies was to go on—if the labor in the vineyard required it—"even until there are one hundred and forty and four thousand thus set apart for the ministry."—Hist. Joseph Smith under date May 2, 1835.
115. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cvii.
116. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cvii: 38.
117. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cvii: 27, 28.
118. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cvii: 39, 41.
119. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cxxiv: 91, 93.
120. Ibid, verse 124.
121. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cxxiv: 133-136.
122. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lxxxiv, verse 29.
123. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cvii: 11.
124. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cvii: 89.
125. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. cxxiv: 137.
126. Doc. and Covenants, sec. cvii: 89, 90. Ibid, sec. cxxiv: 140. For further information on duties of elders see sec. ii, part iv, of this work.
127. See sec. iii, part iv.
128. See sec. ii, part iv, under caption Priests for explanation of their duties and powers.
129. For explanation of the duties and powers of Teachers see caption Teachers, sec. ii, part iv.
130. For explanation of their duties see caption Deacons, sec. ii, part iv.
131. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lxxxiv: 30.
132. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. lxxxiv: 29.
133. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. xx: 38, 59.
134. See caption High Priests this section.
135. See caption Elders this section.
136. See Bishopric, sec. iii, part iv.
137. See caption Of the Duties of Officers, Priests, Teachers, Deacons.
138. When the difficulty arises in a regularly organized ward the most suitable persons to engage in such business would be the teachers of the respective parties.
139. See on this method of settling difficulties Matt. xviii: 15, 17. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. xlii: 88-91. Book of Mormon, III Nephi, xii: 23,25.
140. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. iv: 8.
141. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. clv: 9.
142. See Section ii, Part IV, paragraphs 8, 9.
143. Guizot's Hist. Civilization.
144. Remarks of Disraeli on the formation of government in his Vindication of the English Constitution.
145. That is Part IV of this work.
146. Besides the classic, there was an English department that included a course in common and higher mathematics, geography, English grammar, reading and writing. Hebrew was taught by Professor Seixas, a Jew, and the elders made considerable progress in that language. These items are interesting as showing that "Mormonism" is not and was not even in the beginning of its career, opposed to education as many have claimed.
147. The prayer will be found in the Doc. and Cov. sec. cix. It was given by revelation to the prophet.
148. The shout of hosanna consists in the whole congregation shouting with all the strength of their voices—accompanying it with the waving of handkerchiefs—these words: Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna! TO GOD AND THE LAMB! AMEN! AMEN! AMEN! Those who have witnessed this shout of praise and gladness to God by a large congregation of saints, will never forget the power and heavenly influence that accompany it.
149. For the foregoing account of spiritual manifestations see Hist. Joseph Smith, Mill. Star, Vol. 15, pages 726-28.
150. Doc. and Cov. sec. cx.
151. Doc. and Cov. sec. cx.
152. Mal. iv: 5, 6.
153. Doc. and Cov. sec. cx.
154. See pages 371-97.
155. Book of Mormon, III Nephi xv: 12-20.
156. Book of Mormon, III Nephi xvi: 1-5.
157. II Esdras xiii.
158. Compare with Isaiah xi: 15, 16.
159. See prophecies quoted p. 368-9.
160. I do not state this date definitely because authorities differ in respect to it; some fixing it at 588, another at 590, and still others as in the text. The difference which is not material, arose no doubt from some giving the date at which the king of Babylon began his siege and others when it ended.
161. Fifty-six, according to some historians.
162. See Part I, p. 27.
163. Matt. xxiv: 2.
164. Deut. xxviii:15-68. The student should read this passage in Deuteronomy. It is without exception the most terrible warning and prophecy on record. Yet terrible as it is, it hath all overtaken Israel.
165. Amos ix: 9.
166. Jeremiah xxxi:10-12. See also verses 7, 8, 9.
167. Jeremiah xvi:14, 15.
168. See the verses preceding this quotation for an explanation of the time of this occurrence, Isaiah xi:1-10. This is one of the passages quoted to Joseph Smith by the angel Moroni, who said also that "it was about to be fulfilled." See Pearl of Great Price, p. 90.
169. Isaiah xi:10-12, 16.
170. Jeremiah iii:15-19.
171. Book of Mormon II Nephi x:7, 8. See also I Nephi x:14, II Nephi vi:8-11, and also Book of Jacob v. This last reference especially should be studied.
172. Doc. and Cov., sec. cxxxiii:25-35.
173. Doc. and Cov., sec. cxxxiii:32.
174. See page 321, this work.
175. See p. 321.
176. For the particulars of the persecution which resulted in the banishment of the Saints from that land, the student is referred to the author's work on the Missouri Persecutions.
177. Isaiah ii:23.
178. Jeremiah iii:14, 15.
179. Rev. xviii:4-8.
180. Eccl. xi.
181. The revelation was given March, 1830; Doc. and Cov. sec. xix.
182. Mark xvi:16.
183. The so-called early fathers of the church, Justin Martyr, Clement, of Alexandria, Tertullian and Cyprian, all taught that the fire of hell is a real material flame, and that the wicked were punished in it eternally. Augustine in the fifth century stated the same doctrine with great emphasis and argued against those who sought to modify it. (See Augustine's City of God. Part II, book xx, and xxi).Thomas Aquinas (A-kwi-nas) of the mediaeval school of theologians, rising head and shoulders above divines of his day, teaches in his Summa Theologia, that the fire of hell is of the same nature as ordinary fire, though with different properties; that the place of punishment though not definitely known is probably under the earth. He also taught that there was no redemption for those once damned, their punishment is to be eternal. Coming to more modern times, we read in the Westminster Confession of Faith—adopted in the seventeenth century by the Puritan party in England—the following on the subject (ch. xxxiii): "The wicked who know not God, and obey not the Gospel of Jesus Christ shall be cast into eternal torment and be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power." Question twenty-nine of the larger catechism and the answer to it are as follows: "What are the punishments of sin in the world to come. Ans. The punishments of sin in the world to come are everlasting separation from the comfortable presence of God, and most grievous torment in soul and body, without intermission, in hell fire forever." The Westminster Confession and the large catechism are still the standards of the Presbyterian churches. Indeed the above expresses the orthodox Christian faith from the second and third centuries until the present time.
184. I Peter iii:18-21.
185. I Peter iv:6.
186. I Cor. xv:29.
187. Doc. and Cov. sec. cxxvii and cxxviii.
188. Rom. ii:6-12; I Cor. iii:8; II Cor. v:10; Rev. ii:23; xx:12.
189. St. John xiv:1-3.
190. An exception must be made in the case of the Roman Catholic Church. Catholics do not believe that all Christians at death go immediately into heaven, but on the contrary "believe that a Christian who dies after the guilt and everlasting punishment of mortal sins have been forgiven him, but who, either from want of opportunity or through his negligence, has not discharged the debt of temporal punishment due to his sin, will have to discharge that debt to the justice of God in purgatory." "Purgatory is a state of suffering after this life, in which those souls are for a time detained, which depart this life after their deadly sins have been remitted as to the stain and guilt, and as to the everlasting pain that was due to them; but which souls have on account of those sins still some temporal punishment to pay; as also those souls which leave this world guilty only of venial [pardonable] sins. In purgatory these souls are purified and rendered fit to enter into heaven, where nothing defiled enters." The quotations in the above are from Catholic Belief, by Bruno, D. D. of the Catholic church. As all works of the Catholic church accessible to me have nothing on the different degrees of glory, I conclude that Catholic teaching is that they who attain unto heaven are all equal in glory.
191. I Kings viii:27.
192. II Cor. xii:2-4.
193. I Cor. xv:40-42.
194. The circumstances under which the revelation was given are these: The Prophet Joseph and Sidney Rigdon were engaged in revising the Jewish scriptures. When they came to St. John, ch. v:29—speaking of the resurrection of the dead, concerning those that should hear the voice of the Son of Man and come forth, instead of reading in the text of our common English Bibles—"And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation," the following was given to them by the Spirit: "And shall come forth they who have done good in the resurrection of the just, and they who have done evil in the resurrection of the unjust." This reading of the passage caused them to marvel as it was given to them by inspiration; and while they pondered on this thing the Spirit of God enveloped them, and they saw the Lord Jesus Christ and those different glories which men will inherit, an account of which is given in the text. The vision is recorded in Doc. and Cov., sec. lxxvi.
195. "Servants of God, but not Gods nor the sons of God," remarks Apostle Orson Pratt in his foot note on the passage from which this is condensed. Doc. and Cov. sec. lxxvi:112.
196. Doc. and Cov., sec. cxxxi:1.
197. Doc. and Cov., sec. lxxvi.
198. Those desiring to verify the statements of the text will consult with care Heb. vi:4-8 and Doc. and Cov., sec. lxxvi:25-48.
199. It may sound like sacrilege in modern ears to speak of man becoming as God. Yet why should it be so considered? Man is the offspring of God, he is of the same race, and hath within him—undeveloped, it is true—the faculties and attributes of his Father. He hath also before him an eternity of time in which to develop both the faculties of the mind and the attributes of the soul—why should it be accounted a strange thing that at last the child shall arrive at the same exaltation and partake of the same intelligence and glory with his Father? If Jesus Christ, "being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God" (Philippians ii:6), why should it be thought blasphemous to teach that man by faith and righteousness in following the counsels of God shall at last become like him, and share in his power and glory, being a God, even a son of God? I grant you the height from our present position looks tremendous; yet it is not impossible of attainment, since we have eternity in which to work. Stand by the cradle of a new-born babe and contemplate it. Within that little body of organized pulp—with eyes incapable of distinguishing objects; legs unable to bear the weight of its body—without the power of locomotion; hands over whose movements it hath no control; ears that hear but cannot distinguish sounds; a tongue that cannot speak—yet within that little helpless tabernacle what powers lie dormant! Within that germ in the cradle are latent powers which only require time for their unfolding to astonish the world. From it may come the man of profound learning who shall add something by his own wisdom to the sum total of human knowledge. Perhaps from that germ shall come a profound historian, a poet or eloquent orator to sway the reason and passions of men, and guide them to better and purer things than they have yet known. Or a statesman may be there in embryo; a man whose wisdom shall guide the destiny of the state, or perhaps with God-like power rule the world. If from such a germ as this in the cradle may come such an unfolding of power as we see in the highest and noblest manhood, may it not be, that taking that highest and noblest manhood as the germ, that from it may come, under the guiding hand of our Father in heaven, a still more wonderful unfolding, until the germ of highest and noblest manhood shall develop into a God! The distance between the noblest man and the position of a God is greater than that between the infant in the cradle and the highest development of manhood; but if so, there is a longer time—eternity—in which to arrive at the result; and a God and heavenly influences instead of the human parent and earthly means to bring to pass the necessary development.—Roberts.
200. Millennial Star, vol. xiv, p. 114.
201. On the 12th of July, 1843, at the request of Hyrum Smith, the revelation as now contained in the book of Doctrine and Covenants, was written from the dictation of the Prophet Joseph, by Elder William Clayton, at that time the Prophet's scribe. The same day a copy of the revelation was made for Bishop Newel K. Whitney by Joseph C. Kingsbury. Emma Smith, the first wife of the Prophet, obtaining the revelation as first written out by William Clayton, in a moment of jealousy destroyed it. Bishop Whitney's copy, however, was preserved and from it the revelation, now in the Doctrine and Covenants, was printed. It will be observed by the student from the revelation itself that the principle of plural marriage was known and practiced before the writing of the revelation on the 12th of July.
202. For a full account of this terrible tragedy the student is referred to the Life of Joseph Smith by Geo. Q. Cannon, ch. lxvi; and the Life of John Taylor, ch. xiii, xiv, xv.
203. Heb. ix:16, 17.
204. The subject of "Succession in the Presidency of the Church," is a subject of deep importance, and those who desire to enter minutely into the consideration of it should consult the author's work of that title, a book of 120 pages.
205. President Brigham Young was born in Whitingham, Windham county, Vermont, June 1, 1801. He was baptized into the Church April 14th, 1832, and immediately afterwards ordained an elder.
206. The first anti-polygamy law was approved July 1st, 1862.
207. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."—Amendments to the Constitution, Article I.
208. Acts i:9-11.
209. Matt. xvi:27.
210. I Thess. iv:14-17.
211. II Thess. i:7-10.
212. Luke xii:40. II Peter iii:10. Doc. and Cov., sec. xlix:6-7.
213. Doc. and Cov., sec. lxxxviii:78-92.
214. Doc. and Cov., sec. lxv.
215. Ibid.