D&C 49-50 Quotes and Notes

Historical Context

About fifteen miles from Kirtland, Ohio, where the body of the Church resided, was a community of Shaking Quakers, or Shakers.^[1]Today, the Shaker ideals and lifestyle live on in the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village of Maine. Brother Arnold Hadd in this interview, has shared his insights on their community of faith. “We like … Continue reading They were called Shaking Quakers because their dress resembled that of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, and because their system of worship included shaking and physical contortions.^[2]Historian Ken Burns notes that “At their height in 1840 more than six thousand believers lived in nineteen communal villages from New England to Ohio and Kentucky. Tales of their peaceful and … Continue reading One of their number, Leman Copley, joined the Church though he still held to some of his former beliefs which he persisted in teaching. In this revelation, given 7 May^[3]Many thanks to Jay for pointing out this out of date reference. This revelation was received in May rather than March. 1831, he along with Sidney Rigdon and Parley P. Pratt were directed to take the message of the Restoration to the Shakers. Some months previously, Elder Pratt had spent two days with them and left them seven copies of the Book of Mormon. This revelation, which Sidney Rigdon read in its entirety to the Shakers, was given so that the missionaries might respond by the spirit of revelation to the matters of particular interest to the Shakers. Those beliefs included the idea that Christ had already returned, doing so in the form of a woman, Ann Lee, who had died in 1784. They held that baptism and the Lord’s Supper ceased with the apostolic age, that there was no vicarious atonement, nor was there to be a bodily resurrection. The eating of pork was rejected, and some of their number rejected the eating of any meat at all. They also felt that a celibate life was superior to marriage and that having children reduced their standing with God.

Although this revelation (D&C 49) was rejected by the Shakers, its doctrinal announcements remain important. Also of importance is the pattern it established for missionary work. The elders did not engage the Shakers in a doctrinal debate over the peculiar tenets of their faith but invited them to hear the word of the Lord as it was given to them. It was then for them to choose whether they would accept that word as it came to them through a living prophet or reject it. Sadly, they rejected it.^[4]Joseph Fielding McConkie and Craig Ostler, Revelations of the Restoration, A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants and Other Modern Revelations, Deseret Book, 2000, p. 374-375.

Finding, Knowing, Understanding True Doctrine

In this podcast Bryce spent some time explaining that the doctrines of the Kingdom should not be difficult to find. Elder Neil L. Andersen put it this way, “There is an important principle that governs the doctrine of the Church. The doctrine is taught by all 15 members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. It is not hidden in an obscure paragraph of one talk. True principles are taught frequently and by many. Our doctrine is not difficult to find.^[5]Elder Neil L. Andersen, “Trial of Your Faith,” October Conference, 2012.

Elder Boyd K. Packer also spoke on this very subject when he stated the following:

What I say is based on these convictions: First: instruction vital to our salvation is not hidden in an obscure verse or phrase in the scriptures. To the contrary, essential truths are repeated over and over again. Second: every verse, whether oft-quoted or obscure, must be measured against other verses. There are complementary and tempering teachings in the scriptures which bring a balanced knowledge of truth. Next: there is a consistency in what the Lord says and what He does, that is evident in all creation. Nature can teach valuable lessons about spiritual and doctrinal matters. The Lord drew lessons from flowers and foxes, from seeds and salt, and sparrows and sunsets. Fourth: not all that God has said is in the Bible. Other scriptures—the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price—have equal validity, and they sustain one another. Fifth: while much must be taken on faith alone, there is individual revelation through which we may know the truth…What may be obscure in the scriptures can be made plain through the gift of the Holy Ghost. We can have as full an understanding of spiritual things as we are willing to earn.^[6]Elder Boyd K. Packer, “The Pattern of Our Parentage,” Ensign, Nov. 1984, 66.

Joseph Smith shared this thought on the Saints and their view of the Bible, “Q—Do you believe the Bible? A—If we do, we are the only people under heaven that does, for there are none of the religious sects of the day that do. Q—Wherein do you differ from other sects? A—In that we believe the Bible, and all other sects profess to believe their interpretations of the Bible, and their creeds.^[7]Joseph Smith, HC, 3:28; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 119.

False Doctrines Disguised as Truth

Among the Latter-day Saints, the preaching of false doctrines disguised as truths of the gospel, may be expected from people of two classes, and practically from these only; they are: First—The hopelessly ignorant, whose lack of intelligence is due to their indolence and sloth, who make but feeble effort, if indeed any at all, to better themselves by reading and study; those who are afflicted with a dread disease that may develop into an incurable malady—laziness. Second—The proud and self-vaunting ones, who read by the lamp of their own conceit; who interpret by rules of their own contriving; who have become a law unto themselves, and so pose as the sole judges of their own doings. More dangerously ignorant than the first. Beware of the lazy and the proud; their infection in each case is contagious; better for them and for all when they are compelled to display the yellow flag of warning, that the clean and uninfected may be protected.^[8]Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 373. Elder Maxwell put it this way, “Many in the world hold back from making the “leap of faith” because they have already jumped to some … Continue reading

Belief and Teaching not the Same

A member, at any given time, may not understand one point of doctrine or another, may have a misconception, or even believe something is true that in fact is false. There is not much danger in that. That is an inevitable part of learning the gospel. No member of the Church should be embarrassed at the need to repent of a false notion he might have believed. Such ideas are corrected as one grows in light and knowledge. It is not the belief in a false notion that is the problem, it is the teaching of it to others. In the Church we have the agency to believe whatever we want to believe about whatever we want to believe. But we are not authorized to teach it to others as truth.^[9]Elder Boyd K. Packer, “From Such Turn Away,” Ensign, May 1985, 35.

Otherwise he shall not prosper – D&C 49.4

The idea of prospering is something that is addressed repeatedly in the Hebrew Bible. As one commentator stated, “Indeed, behind the English word “prosper” in the King James Bible usually stands one of two Hebrew words, either צָלֵחַ tsalach or שָׂכַל  sakal, a word meaning to be prudent, have insight, to have comprehension, to have insight or cause to consider, or related to movement with ideas like to push forward, overtake, succeed, or advance, or to be skillful, wise, or prosperous.^[10]Book of Mormon Central, “What does it Mean to “Prosper in the Land”?, June 7, 2016. Note: saleach can mean “to go over or through (as a river), or to attack, to fall upon. … Continue reading

Till he descends … to put all enemies under his feet – D&C 49.6

Joseph Smith: “Salvation is nothing more nor less than to triumph over all our enemies and put them under our feet. And when we have power to put all enemies under our feet in this world, and a knowledge to triumph over all evil spirits in the world to come, then we are saved, as in the case of Jesus, who was to reign until He had put all enemies under His feet, and the last enemy was death.”^[11]Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 297.

Putting the enemies of God “under the feet” has to do with coronation rituals in the Ancient Near East. When the king (in Israel) was coronated, he “became Yahweh’s son,” adopted by Yahweh today. As Mowinckel has explained, “It is the election, the anointing and the installation which are viewed as an adoption. Thereby the king is, ideally speaking, world-ruler; and all other kings are his vassals, whose duty it is to pay him homage by ‘kissing his feet’—the usual sign of homage to the liege sovereign in the East.”^[12]Sigmund Mowinckel, Psalms in Israel’s Worship, Eerdmans, 2004. 1:65. He further explains that “when the king had mounted the throne, and received the ‘king’s homage,’ … Continue reading

The king, when inaugurated, placed his feet upon the ark and received a throne name.^[13]Even though this new king-name was reaffirmed each year, conferring it upon the king was more than symbolic, as Porter and Ricks explain: “The name change or new name marks a turning point in the … Continue reading The act of the king placing his feet upon the ark may sound strange to modern readers. Baker and Ricks^[14]Who Shall Ascend to the Hill of the Lord?, p. 408-409. explain:

The Ark of the Covenant had been the portable earthly throne of God while the Israelites had a portable temple, but when the Tabernacle was replaced by the Temple of Solomon, the Ark took on a slightly different role. When Solomon built his magnificent Temple, he also built, in its Holy of Holies, a new and wondrous throne. In the Temple the throne was a permanent fixture that sat between two huge cherubim. The Ark of the Covenant, still portable, and still representing God’s celestial throne, was placed in front of the throne and became an integral part of it.^[15]Chronicles 28:1-6; 2 Chronicles 9:1-20; Psalms 99:4-9, 132:2-18; Mowinckel, Psalms in Israel’s Worship, 1:7, 59, 117, 129, 176, 177; Johnson, Sacral Kingship, 20-21; Seow, Myth, … Continue reading

After Jehovah symbolically left the earthly temple to be enthroned in his Celestial one, the Ark of the Covenant no longer represented the presence of God, but now it represented God’s authority. As such, it became the footstool of the throne in the Holy of Holies. Nahum Sarna explains:

This conception of the sacred Ark of the Covenant as a footstool beneath the throne of God in the Holy of Holies seems strange to the Western mind. It becomes intelligible, however, if it is viewed within the context of the thought world of the ancient Near East. There, the throne and the footstool go together so that often they may form a single article of furniture. In many instances the footstool would be richly and symbolically decorated. So important were the two appurtenances of royalty that in Egypt, throne and footstool were frequently entombed together with the mummy of the pharaoh. The reason for their extraordinary status is that they evoked notions of majesty, exaltation, preeminence, sovereignty, and power. In the Israelite Tabernacle there was no actual throne, only the boxlike Ark with its tablets of stone inside it and its cherubim on top of it—an abiding reminder both of the invisible presence of the sovereign God and of His inescapable demands upon His people.

All this explains why the Ark was thought to assume a numinous aspect and to possess a dangerous potency. It constituted the understructure of the sacred space above it, space that was imbued with the extra-holiness radiated by the Divine Presence.^[16]Nahum M. Sarna, Exploring Exodus: The Origins of Biblical Israel, Schocken Press, 1996, 210-11.

No man knoweth – D&C 49.7

Holy men that ye know not of – D&C 49.8

This verse can be read in several ways. In a podcast a few years ago, scholar Terryl Givens Elder Marlin K. Jensen examined this verse in the context of D&C 10.50-55 and had some insightful commentary. Terryl responds to a great question by Elder Jensen at about the 32:00 mark. We read this from the transcript of his discussion:

Section 10 of the Doctrine and Covenants, beginning with about verse 52 where the Lord — and this is given in 1829, of course — speaks to Joseph Smith about His church. He’s referring to a church already in existence, so we have to ask “What Church is this?,” because he’s talking about the Restoration. He’s saying, “I’m not doing this to do away with my church and I don’t want my church to be panicked by what’s about to happen.” That’s the moment at which you become aware that Joseph really understood this idea of an invisible church that transcends any particular denominational category.

It’s my understanding based on that, based on the Lord’s reference to “holy men ye know not of” that he recognized that. The Doctrine and Covenants’ own description of the Church is “those who will repent and have Him to be their God.” I believe that we should and can — and I have — felt a part of this larger spiritual community.

That’s not to downplay the unique significance of the Restoration as the repository of saving keys and ordinances. The way I would put it is that I think Joseph Smith was suggesting that the Church (the institutional Church) is the portal of salvation. It’s not the reservoir of the righteous.

That’s helped me to open myself to being taught by some of the masters of the spiritual tradition and of the Julian of Norwich and the Edward Beecehers and the Gregory of Nazianzus. They’re sprinkled throughout history; these beautiful, beautiful souls who have so much to teach us about the consecrated life.^[17]Elder Marlin K. Jensen’s Exclusive Interview- A Disciple’s Plea for Openness and Inclusion, January 15, 2019.

Kevin Christensen put it this way:

Priesthood is a distinctive aspect of “this last kingdom,” but not everyone who serves God does so under formal priesthood direction via the church organization, or for that matter, is even known to the church members. In March of 1831, a revelation referred to “holy men that ye know not of” (See D&C 49:8).^[18]Kevin Christensen, “Image is Everything: Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 17 (2016): 99-150. In … Continue reading

Bruce R. McConkie interpreted D&C 49.8 this way:

During his mortal ministry Christ said, “Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom” (Matthew 16:28; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27). Commenting on this verse, Bruce R. McConkie said: “It is apparent that on a previous occasion, of which we have no present scriptural record, Jesus taught his disciples the truths about the doctrine of translation and promised that some of them would continue to live on earth until his Second Coming. John the Beloved is the only known one of these disciples who has continued to live without tasting death (John 21:20-24). Until the identity of any others is revealed, we have no way of knowing who they are or what mission they have been able to perform because of their translation.”^[19]Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 1:396-97.

Orson F. Whitney shared this insight:

The Lord needs such men on the outside of his Church, to help it along. They are among its auxiliaries, and can do more good for the cause where the Lord has placed them, than anywhere else. And the same is true of the priesthood and its auxiliaries inside the Church. Hence, some are drawn into the fold and receive a testimony of the Truth; while others remain unconverted—for the present; the beauties and glories of the gospel being veiled temporarily from their view, for a wise purpose. The Lord will open their eyes in his own due time. God is using more than one people for the accomplishment of his great and marvelous work. The Latter-day Saints cannot do it all. It is too vast, too arduous, for any one people.^[20]Orson F. Whitney, CR Apr. 1928, 59; See also Ensign, July 1972, 59.

Whoso forbiddeth to marry is not ordained of God – D&C 49.15

Paul in his epistle to Timothy identified “forbidding to marry” as a sign of apostasy and a doctrine of the devil (1 Timothy 4:3). Marriage, we are assured in this text, is ordained of God. In a proclamation to the world, issued in 1995, the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve asserted that “marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.”^[21]McConkie and Ostler, p. 377. See: “Family: A Proclamation to the World.”

Jacob shall flourish in the wilderness – D&C 49.24

The physical gathering alluded to is the assembling of the Latter-day Saints in the tops of the mountains in western America. There Zion shall flourish upon the hills and rejoice upon the mountains. The “wilderness” included areas that were colonized under the direction of Brigham Young. The day when the Lamanites shall blossom as the rose has scarcely commenced. They are only beginning to be the pure and delightsome people they will yet become.^[22]McConkie and Ostler, p. 377-378.

Jacob shall flourish (49.24)… Zion shall flourish (49.25)

Hugh Nibley had this to say about these verses:

But conscious imitation of the sufferings and wanderings of Israel and the Saints has never been in the Mormon program. They have never been imitators: they have not needed to be. Nothing is more striking in the history of the Latter-day Saints than the way in which they were constantly pushed and driven around entirely against their own will. It was not their idea to be driven from place to place, and wherever they settled they sought with all their might to establish a permanent order. But all along, God had other plans, and the whole history of the church is his doing. It is easy enough to say in retrospect that whatever happened was God’s will, but you can always tell the chosen people because in their case, “the Lord doeth nothing save he revealeth his will to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7), and all along, these people enjoyed prophetic guidance which, like the Children of Israel, they often failed to heed. In the case of Kirtland, Benjamin F. Johnson writes: “The Revelation in which God had given but five years of safety in Kirtland for the Saints . . . had been forgotten, and all appeared to feel that Kirtland was to become and remain a great center of business and religious interest for the future. But the Lord had other and greater purposes in view, one of which seemed to be to show us the weakness of human wisdom and folly of our idolatry, by bringing us to see our idols crumble in our hands.”^[23]Benjamin F. Johnson, My Life’s Review. Independence: Zion’s, 1947, 27. Happy is the man whom God correcteth! The people had no intention of fulfilling the five-year prophecy, but it was fulfilled to the letter.

As in Kirtland, so in Missouri and Nauvoo: the people built for permanence, tired of their wanderings and tribulations, while the Lord had other plans, plans which he had clearly announced by the voice of the Prophet. Away back in March, 1831, God had given to men a marvelous revelation setting forth the divine economy of the latter days. That revelation concludes with the announcement of three great historical events which must transpire before the Lord comes again: “But before the great day of the Lord shall come, Jacob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites shall blossom as the rose. Zion shall flourish upon the hills and rejoice upon the mountains, and shall be assembled together unto the place which I have appointed” (D&C 49.24-25). This is the language of prophecy, but there is nothing mystical or obscure about it. The members of the Christian church and those pretending to be so have at all times called themselves Israel, but not Jacob. That name is reserved for the Jews, and the consultation of a good Bible commentary will show that it is bound intimately to Palestine, whereas Israel refers to the people of the later covenant wherever they are: Israel kata pneuma, the earliest Christians called themselves, “spiritual Israel.” Jacob was Israel’s name before he wrestled with the Lord and received his new covenant. Jacob flourishing in the wilderness is the Jews prospering in their desert places, of that there has never been any doubt in the minds of Latter-day Saints. Nor can there be the slightest doubt what is meant by the Lamanites blossoming as the rose. We all know what the Lamanites are, and the familiar expression from Isaiah 35:1, that the desert shall rejoice and blossom, emphasizes not only a joyful but a totally paradoxical and unexpected event: the dead desert coming to life. Lastly, Zion has been from the very first the familiar code word, so to speak, designating the restored Church. And here we are told that “Zion shall flourish upon the hills and rejoice upon the mountains, and shall be assembled together unto the place which I have appointed.” Before the Church was a year old, the Lord announced that he had appointed a place of gathering upon the hills and the mountains. This could not possibly have been any place in the Middle West, and the Prophet knew it. There is ample indication that he knew all along that the Saints would not have rest in Jackson County, however determined they were to have it.^[24]Hugh Nibley, The World and the Prophets, chapter 27, A Prophetic Event, FARMS, 1987.

Jacob shall flourish (49.24)

One commentator made the following observation: “In less than 25 years, the actual development of Palestine, agriculturally, commercially and intellectually, is the marvel of history. The Jews in Palestine, as the Latter-day Saints in America, have, literally, turned a desert into a garden. They have brought money, knowledge, idealism, and the type of people settled there is the best human material available for the building up of a country. Of the 400,000 Jews in Palestine about 10,000 are said to be immigrants from America. They have contributed much, particularly through investments, toward development of the orange groves, shipping and commercial companies and industries.”^[25]George Reynolds and Janne M. Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, edited and arranged by Philip C. Reynolds, 7 vols. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1955-1961, 1: 400.

Lamanites shall blossom as the rose (49.24)

In 1980 Gene R. Cook made the following observation:

What a miracle to behold! Only in part of the Lamanite world, in Latin America alone, there are over 600,000 members of the Church, with 7,000 baptized nearly every month; 181 stakes at present with almost 2,400 congregations of Saints and 2,500 Latin missionaries serving; thousands and thousands of priesthood holders-Regional Representatives, mission presidents, patriarchs, bishops-faithful sisters, and faithful children of a powerful generation yet to come.^[26] Elder Gene R. Cook, “Miracles among the Lamanites,” Ensign, Nov. 1980, 67-68. At the end of 2019, this report showed that the church had 6.9 million members in the … Continue reading

D&C 50 Manifestations of Different Spirits

Historical Context

Joseph Smith gave this warning to the Saints, ‘Nothing is a greater injury to the children of men than to be under the influence of a false spirit when they think they have the Spirit of God.”^[27]The Joseph Smith Papers, Times and Seasons, 1 April 1842.

Could any one tell the length, breadth or height of a building without a rule? Test the quality of metals without a criterion, or point out the movements of the planetary systems, without a knowledge of astronomy? Certainly not; and if such ignorance as this is manifested about a spirit of this kind, who can describe an angel of light? If Satan should appear as one in glory, who can tell his color, his signs, his appearance, his glory, or what is the manner of his manifestation?”^[28]Ibid., See also: Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 202-4. In answer to this question, the Prophet said it could not be done without the priesthood and a knowledge of the laws by which spirits are governed; for as, no man knows the things of God but by the spirit of God, so no man knows the spirit of the devil and his power and influence buy by possessing intelligence which is more than human, and having unfolded through the medium of the Priesthood the mysterious operations of his devices…^[29]Ibid.

Parley Pratt shared his experience upon his return from the Shaker mission:

As I went forth among the different branches, some very strange spiritual operations were manifested, which were disgusting, rather than edifying. Some persons would seem to swoon away, and make unseemly gestures, and be drawn or disfigured in their countenances. Others would fall into ecstacies, and be drawn into contortions, cramp, fits, etc. Others would seem to have visions and revelations, which were not edifying, and which were not congenial to the doctrine and spirit of the gospel. In short, a false and lying spirit seemed to be creeping into the Church.

All these things were new and strange to me, and had originated in the Church during our absence, and previous to the arrival of President Joseph Smith from New York.

Feeling our weakness and inexperience, and lest we should err in judgment concerning these spiritual phenomena, myself, John Murdock, and several other Elders, went to Joseph Smith, and asked him to inquire of the Lord concerning these spirits or manifestations.

After we had joined in prayer in his translating room, he dictated in our presence the following revelation: [D&C 50] Each sentence was uttered slowly and very distinctly, and with a pause between each, sufficiently long for it to be recorded, by an ordinary writer, in long hand.^[30]Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, edited by his son, Parley P. Pratt. Deseret Book, 1985, 47-48.

John Whitmer shared this experience from this period in Church History:

Permit me, to say a few things, respecting the proceedings of some of those who were disciples…Some had visions and could not tell what they saw. Some would fancy to themselves that they had the sword of Laban, and would wield it as expert as a light dragoon, some would act like an Indian in the act of scalping, some would slide or scoot on the floor, with the rapidity of a serpent, which [represented] sailing in the boat to the Lamanites, preaching the gospel. And many other vain and foolish maneuvers, that are unmeaning, and unprofitable to mention. Thus the devil blinded the eyes of some good and honest disciples. I write these things to show how ignorant and undiscerning children are and how easy mankind is led astray notwithstanding the things of God that are written, concerning his kingdom.

These things grieved the servants of the Lord, and some conversed together on this subject, and others came in and we were at Joseph Smith Jr. the Seers, and made it a matter of consultation, for many would not turn from their folly, unless God would give a revelation, therefore, the Lord spoke to Joseph saying: (See D&C 50.)^[31]The Book of John Whitmer, typescript, Provo: BYU Archives and Manuscripts, chap. 6. See: The Joseph Smith Papers, John Whitmer History, typescript.

Many False Spirits – D&C 50.2-3

Hypocrites among you – D&C 50.7

The Greek meaning of the word hypocrite, a word that appears about 20 times in the New Testament, is ὑποκριτής, is a combination of two words, hupo and krites, under + judgement, and is a word that is used for those that played parts in Greek plays on stage. Greek actors were literally “under judgement” by those that viewed their performances. Figuratively this word was used to describe a pretender. This word can also mean “to judge or interpret from underneath,” a strange combination that makes more sense when we see that Greek actors on stage wore masks, so they interpreted how to portray the character they were performing while underneath their masks.^[32]Merriam-Webster, hypocrite. From ὑποκρίνομαι, a combination of ῠ̔πο- “under,” and κρίνω, “I separate” or arrange, investigate, or choose.

Spirits which ye could not understand – D&C 50.15

The early Church had many views about how the Holy Ghost operated in the lives of the followers of Jesus Christ that are not congruent with the gospel. Much instruction was necessary to protect the purity of the restored gospel from spiritual counterfeits common to the unsophisticated Christianity of the American frontier. Levi Hancock reported that in the winter of 1831, while he was busy preaching the gospel three young missionaries, Heman Basset, age sixteen (D&C 52:37); Edson Fuller, age twenty-one (D&C 52:28); and Burr Riggs, age twenty (D&C 75:17), purported to receive revelations and see angels and would fall down frothing at the mouth. “One of them who acted the worst was Burr Riggs, I have seen him jump up from the floor, strike his head against the joist in the Baldwins new house and swing some minutes, then fall like he was dead. After an hour or two he would come to, he would prophesy and tell what he had seen. At other times he appeared to be so honest and sincere I was led to believe all he said, but concluded that all could not be blessed and perhaps I was not as pure as those young men . . .

“Edson Fuller would fall and turn black in the face. Heman Bassett would behave like a baboon. He said he had a revelation he had received in Kirtland from the hand of an angel, he would read it and show pictures of a course of angels declared to be Gods, then would testify of the truth of the work and I believed it all, like a fool.

“I dare not come out against any thing that an Elder should say for fear I should speak against the Holy Ghost.”^[33]Autobiography of Levi Ward Hancock, 41. His great-grand daughter copied his journal, which can be accessed here.

The gospel must be taught with a dignity and decorum appropriate to the kingdom of heaven. To teach it in any other way, as this revelation states, is “not of God.” In like manner, an understanding of the gospel must be obtained according to that same Spirit. The testimony of the truths of heaven cannot be obtained nor nourished by any means other than the spirit of truth.^[34]McConkie and Ostler, p. 383.

That which does not edify is not of God – D&C 50.23

Anciently, the verb “to edify” meant to build sacred edifices such as temples. Through the years the word edify has come to describe the process of improving character or building spirituality. All that is of God edifies—that is, it lifts, builds, and improves; conversely, to edify is to eschew that which demeans, belittles, or excuses. To edify is to make the body and soul of man a holy tabernacle, a temple to God. If a doctrine does not offer the opportunity to reach, to build, or to improve, it is not of God.^[35]Ibid., p. 383.

Be ever on guard lest you be deceived by inspiration from an unworthy source. You can be given false spiritual messages. [1] There are counterfeit spirits just as there are counterfeit angels. Be careful lest you be deceived, for the devil may come disguised as an angel of light. [2] The spiritual part of us and the emotional part of us are so closely linked that it is possible to mistake an emotional impulse for something spiritual. We occasionally find people who receive what they assume to be spiritual promptings from God, when those promptings are either centered in the emotions or are from the adversary.^[36]Elder Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, Jan. 1983, 56.

Joseph Smith had much to say on the concept of revelation. On one occasion he taught:

A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon. Those things that were presented unto your mind by the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.^[37]Joseph Smith, HC, 3:381; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 151.

Continueth in God, receiveth more light, and that light growth brighter – D&C 50.24

Many in the religious world of our day profess to having been saved as a result of a particular religious experience. Their assumption is that because someone once stood in the light they will always stand in the light. This does not always prove to be the case. The greater flaw in such reasoning, however, is found in the assumption that whatever light they stood in constitutes the fulness of the light of heaven. Such an assumption would at best be foolish. Even then, to bask in gospel light is one thing; to follow the light of the gospel quite another. For those choosing to follow the light it becomes “brighter and brighter until the perfect day.” Thus salvation becomes a journey rather than an event. The journey requires us to advance from grace to grace and refuses us the right to say that any religious experience is of itself sufficient. It was Nephi who wisely warned that from them that say, “We have enough . . . shall be taken away even that which they have” (2 Nephi 28:30).^[38]Ibid., p. 383-384.

John Corrill and Joseph Wakefield– D&C 50.37-38

John Corrill

John Corrill, born Sep 17, 1794, was residing in Harpersville, Ohio, in 1830 when the missionaries to the Lamanites stopped at his home for a night’s lodging. He attended one of their meetings and heard members speaking in tongues: “I was obliged to acknowledge in my own mind, that the meeting had been inspired by some supernatural agency.” He was baptized in January 1831 and soon ordained an elder.^[39]Susan Easton Black, Who’s Who in the Doctrine and Covenants, Bookcraft, 1997, p. 69-72. See also: The Joseph Smith Papers. John Corrill, A Brief History of the Church of Latter-day Saints … Continue reading

One historian gives the following account of John’s life with the saints in Missouri:

John’s zeal for his newfound faith was made evident by the many converts he brought into the Church in New London, Ohio, amid bitter opposition. He had a willingness to serve, as shown by his acceptance of the calling of second counselor to Bishop Edward Partridge in Jackson County, Missouri, and the calling of president of the Independence branch. On 23 July 1833 he illustrated resolute determination when he and five other Saints offered themselves to the mob “as a ransom for the Church, expressing his [willing[ness] to be scourged or to die if that would appease the anger of the mob against the Saints.” The offer was not accepted.

One historian notes that in 1833, a consequence of gathering was the build-up of Mormon political power. By summer 1833, the Mormons, numbering nearly a thousand, were a third of the county’s population. Soon every office in the county would be at the disposal of the Mormons. John Corrill, a Mormon leader on the scene, saw “that if let alone they would in a short time become a majority, and, of course, rule the county.”^[40]Richard Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, Vintage Books, 2005.

Even his imprisonment in Jackson County by Judge Samuel Weston on a trumped-up charge was met with characteristic faith. During a mob attack he and other brethren had observed a man breaking into a store and demolishing property. Their complaint against the man was dismissed, but they were jailed based on false accusations. “Although [we] could not obtain a warrant against him for breaking open the store,” wrote John, “yet he had gotten one for us for catching him at it.”

After being expelled from Jackson County, John was recognized as a Church leader for the next five troubled years. His name is attached to nearly all correspondence passing between the Saints and Missouri governor Daniel Dunklin and other officials. He became one of the founders and surveyors of Far West, the keeper of the Lord’s storehouse, and a Church historian “to write and keep the Church history.”

Almost overnight the tenor of John’s faith faltered. In 1838 he became disillusioned with other Church leaders and penned, “I felt it was necessary for me to look out for my own safety.”^[41]The Joseph Smith Papers. John Corrill, A Brief History of the Church of Latter-day Saints (commonly called Mormons), Including an Account of Their Doctrine and Discipline, with the Reasons of … Continue reading

Much of Corrill’s dissent can be tracked to the Danites, a group of Latter-day Saints that sought retribution through violence for the wrongs the Saints had suffered in Missouri. Historian Richard Bushman reports the following:

Shortly after arriving in Far West, he (Oliver Cowdery) dictated the “Motto of the Church of Christ of Latterday Saints. ” Instead of sounding like scripture, the motto’s first line was “The Constitution of our country formed by the Fathers of Liberty.” Since the expulsion from Jackson County, Joseph had viewed the Constitution as a bulwark, though no authorities enforced its principles for the Mormons. His motto proclaimed, “Wo, to tyrants, Mobs, Aristocracy, Anarchy and Toryism,” republican words for the dark side, referring in one sweep to their enemies in Jackson, unsympathetic government officials, and the Kirtland dissenters. “Exalt the standard of Democracy! Down with that of Priestcraft, and let all the people say Amen!” he concluded the motto. The only scriptural note struck was a call for “Peace and good order in society Love to God and good will to man.”

This republican language would be heard again in June 1838 after the “Danites,” or “Daughters of Zion,” were organized. In the impassioned accounts of Mormon crimes written in the aftermath of the Mormon war in 1838, the later conflict that resulted in expulsion of Mormons from Missouri, the Danites figured as an example of religious power run amok. The Danites were said to be a secret society, several hundred strong, organized in June 1838, to drive out dissenters, using violence if necessary. “They ran into awful extremes,” John Corrill later said, “for it seemed that they felt justified, and thought it was the will of God to use any measures whatever, whether lawful or unlawful, to accomplish” their end. The leader of the Danites, Sampson Avard, described them as a seditious government within the lawful government, supporting the charge of treason brought against Joseph after the Mormon war.

In later court hearings, Joseph was held responsible for Danite excesses. Some historians depict the Danites as Joseph’s private army, dispatched at his command to expunge enemies of the Church. In contrast, many Mormons, both then and now, blame Avard for the Danites. Avard, an ambitious adventurer, it was said, formed a band of ruffians who harassed dissenters at his command rather than Joseph’s. Unfortunately, the secrecy of the organization and the obscurity of the records hinder efforts to distribute blame between the two. Was a vengeful Joseph the inspiration for the Danites, or was the band the work of the unscrupulous Avard?^[42]Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, chapter 19, p. 349-350.

Resentment against dissenters was already boiling when Avard arrived in June. Corrill said that “notwithstanding the dissenters had left the church, yet the old strife kept up.” The Far West defectors—particularly Cowdery, the Whitmers, and Phelps—were accused of stealing and counterfeiting, and bringing “vexatious lawsuits” to collect debts and question land titles. Reed Peck, a Mormon drawn unwillingly into the Danite movement and who left the Church by the end of 1838, said a secret meeting held in mid-June was called by Dimick Huntington and Jared Carter—not Avard—to decide how to expel the dissenters. Peck said someone proposed “to kill these men that they would not be capable of injuring the church.”^[43]Ibid., p. 350.

Corrill witnessed meetings where the Danites bound each other by oaths to engage in violence against their enemies. Corrill suspected that Avard spoke for Joseph and Rigdon, but admitted “how much he was assisted by the presidency I know not.” Later after many of the events associated with the Mormon War Corrill testified:

There was at this meeting a ceremony of introducing the officers of the society to the presidency, who pronounced blessings on each of them, as introduced, exhorting to faithfulness in their calling, and they should have blessings. After this, President Smith got up and made general remarks, about, in substance, as follows: relating the oppressions the society had suffered, and they wanted to be prepared for further events; but said he wished to do nothing unlawful, and, if the people would let him alone, they would preach the gospel and live in peace.^[44]Ibid., p. 352.

In the aftermath of the Missouri War, Corrill testified against Joseph Smith. The conflict, to him, was evidence that God was not with the Saints. He is reported as stating the following:

When I retrace our track, and view the doings of the church for six years past, I can see nothing that convinces me that God has been our leader; calculation after calculation has failed, and plan after plan has been overthrown, and our prophet seemed not to know the event till too late. If he said go up and prosper, still we did not prosper; but have labored and toiled, and waded through trials, difficulties, and temptations, of various kinds, in hope of deliverance. But no deliverance came.^[45]Ibid., p. 379.

John Corrill died in Adams County, Illinois in 1842 at the age of 48.^[46]The Joseph Smith Papers, John Corrill biography.

Joseph Wakefield

Shortly after this statement was made, Joseph Wakefield was called on a mission with Solomon Humphrey. On this mission they baptized George A. Smith, who would become the youngest apostle to be called in this dispensation. Thereafter, Wakefield became critical of the Prophet, having seen him leave his sacred studies and play with some children. Feeling that this was incompatible with the prophetic office, Wakefield left the Church.^[47]McConkie and Ostler, p. 386. See also: George A. Smith, in Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. (London: Latter-day Saints Book Depot, 1854-86), 7:112.

By 1834 Wakefield was attempting to defame Joseph Smith and prove the Book of Mormon was written by Solomon Spaulding. He was excommunicated accordingly. George A. Smith said his attacks on the Church led to mobocracy: “He afterwards headed a mob meeting, and took the lead in bringing about a persecution against the Saints in Kirtland and the regions round about.”^[48]Ibid. In the same sermon, Elder Smith gives another example. On a much smaller scale, in his talk of Wakefield, George A. Smith mentions another example of this kind of experience – where our … Continue reading

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