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Sections 121-123, cont. The Liberty Jail Letter

Sections 121-123, cont. The Liberty Jail Letter. Much Yet to Be Revealed

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Sections 121-123, cont. The Liberty Jail Letter

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  1. Sections 121-123, cont. The Liberty Jail Letter

  2. Much Yet to Be Revealed 121:26-28. God shall give unto you knowledge by his Holy Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, that has not been revealed since the world was until now; which our forefathers have awaited with anxious expectation to be revealed in the last times, which their minds were pointed to by the angels, as held in reserve for the fulness of their glory; a time to come in the which nothing shall be withheld…

  3. Many Gods – Abraham? • 121:28 A time to come in the which nothing shall be withheld, whether there be one God or many gods, they shall be manifest. • 121:32 …which was ordained in the midst of the Council of the Eternal God of all other gods before this world was…

  4. Class 23 – Sections 124-128 A New Vision of Temples

  5. Nauvoo’s Beginnings • The Saints leaving Missouri headed north and east into Illinois. • The residents of Quincy welcomed the Saints and helped provide for them • Joseph arrived in Quincy on April 22, 1839.

  6. Nauvoo’s Beginnings • The wisdom of gathering again was questioned. • “I cried Lord what will thou have me do? & the answer was to ‘build up a city & call my saints to this place.” • Two days after Joseph arrived, he advised them to move to Commerce and the land on the other side of the Mississippi in Iowa.

  7. Nauvoo’s Beginnings

  8. The Galland Tract • Isaac Galland offered 20,000 acres in Iowa at $2 per acre with nothing down and a payment of $2000 per year. • Part of the “Half-breed Tract,” land given to children of whites and Indians. The owners were allowed to sell it, but claims were hazy.

  9. The Galland Tract • Isaac Galland joined the Church while Joseph was in jail. • Most Saints avoided it because titles weren’t clear and Iowans didn’t seem too friendly. • The Saints defaulted on payment.

  10. The Galland Tract • In 1841 Galland took church funds east to make a payment on Nauvoo land, but he kept the money and left the church. • Later that year, Galland’s claim to title was not recognized by the courts and most of the Saints in Iowa left their lands.

  11. Commerce • On the “Des Moines Rapids” -- the Mississippi was not passable at certain seasons. • Joseph Smith bought out the town of Commerce and almost all of the lowland peninsula near the river. Payments would be $3000 per year over 20 years with large payments in the 10th and 20th year.

  12. Commerce • Payments for the land could not be kept. The owners, who lived in the east, were upset and threatened action. • No record of a settlement exists. It is likely that the owners gave up trying to collect the debt.

  13. Nauvoo The name of our city (Nauvoo), is of Hebrew origin, and signifies a beautiful situation, or place, carrying with it, also, the idea of rest; and is truly descriptive of this most delightful situation. -- Joseph Smith 1841

  14. Nauvoo’s Beginnings

  15. Nauvoo Charter • Granted December 1840 • Allowed Nauvoo to establish police, militia, courts, and a university

  16. The Mississippi River Downstream from Nauvoo

  17. Marshes Near the Mississippi

  18. View from the Bluff

  19. The Homestead

  20. New Faces • Assistant President • Oliver Cowdery demoted then excommunicated • Replaced by Hyrum Smith Jan. 1841 • John C. Bennett, Apr. 1841, excommunicated 1842

  21. New Faces • Patriarch • Joseph Smith, Sr. died Sept. 1840 • Replaced by Hyrum Smith Jan. 1841

  22. New Faces • First Presidency • Sidney Rigdon remained in his position -- often absent. • Frederick G. Williams was excommunicated in 1839 • Replaced by Hyrum Smith Nov. 1837 • Replaced by William Law Jan. 1841, excommunicated April 1844

  23. Quorum of the Twelve • Out: Thomas B. Marsh, David W. Patten, William E. M’Lellin, Luke Johnson, John F. Boynton, Lyman Johnson, (Orson Pratt) • In: John E. Page, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Willard Richards, Lyman Wight, Amasa Lyman

  24. Problems • In Nauvoo, Joseph could get off on writs of habeas corpus. • Joseph had to periodically go into hiding near Nauvoo to avoid arrest by Missouri officers. • John C. Bennett apostatized in 1842, wrote a book, History of the Saints, and called for a war on the Mormons. -- Bennett was an opportunist who tried to use the church for personal gain.

  25. Problems • Joseph Smith was in Washington from September 1839 to June 1840 petitioning President Van Buren and Congress for redress. The Saints became better known and respected, but no help could be obtained. • Joseph started taking more plural wives. Knowledge of the practice spread. Many brethren had a hard time accepting it. Orson Pratt left the church Aug. 1842-Jan. 1843.

  26. European Converts • The Twelve took the gospel to England in 1839 and found many converts there. The first European converts arrived in Nauvoo in 1840.

  27. Overview of Sections 124-128 • 124-126: 1841 revelations at Nauvoo • Section 126 is the last revelation to Joseph Smith in the D&C • 127-128: 1842 epistles to the Saints in Nauvoo

  28. Section 124 • Proclamation to the rulers of the earth. • Eventually written by Wilford Woodruff in 1845 • Hyrum Smith v.15. • John C. Bennett v.16-17 – How do we understand this in view of the fact that Bennett was a scoundrel from the start?

  29. Section 124 • Proclamation to the rulers of the earth. • Eventually written by Wilford Woodruff in 1845 • Hyrum Smith v.15. • John C. Bennett v.16-17 – How do we understand this in view of the fact that Bennett was a scoundrel from the start?

  30. The Nauvoo House • A boarding house for strangers • “ the weary traveler may find health and safety while he shall contemplate the word of the Lord” • “It shall be holy, or the Lord your God will not dwell therein.”

  31. The Nauvoo House

  32. The Nauvoo Temple • “Build a house to my name for the Most High to dwell therein.” • The Nauvoo Temple was built much like the Kirtland Temple, except it had a baptismal font in the basement. • It had lower and upper courts or assembly rooms and a third store with offices. No ordinance rooms were designed.

  33. The Nauvoo Temple • For anointings, washings, baptisms for the dead, solemn assemblies, memorials, sacrifices by the sons of Levi, oracles. • “that I may reveal mine ordinances therein”

  34. Commands Can Be Revoked 124:49 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.

  35. Joseph’s Posterity • 124:56-7 let my servant Joseph and his house have place therein, from generation to generation. For this anointing have I put upon his head, that his blessing shall also be put upon the head of his posterity after him. • What happened?

  36. Kirtland 124:56-7 I, the Lord, will build up Kirtland, but I, the Lord, have a scourge prepared for the inhabitants thereof.

  37. Sidney Rigdon 124:103 And again, verily I say unto you, if my servant Sidney will serve me and be counselor unto my servant Joseph, let him arise and come up and stand in the office of his calling, and humble himself before me.

  38. Sect. 125-126 • Zarahemla stake to be organized in Iowa. • Brigham Young to proclaim the gospel abroad and care for his family.

  39. Baptism for the Dead • Doctrine first taught in August 1840 • First performed in the Mississippi River • October 1841: Stop until they can be done in the temple • November 1841: First baptisms in the unfinished temple performed.

  40. The Doctrine of Baptism for the Dead • 1 Corinthians 15:29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? • What was the context? • What do we know about baptism for the dead in Christian tradition?

  41. Section 127 • Need to call a recorder. • What is recorded on earth is recorded in heaven. What is not recorded on earth is not recorded n heaven. • Why?

  42. Section 128 • How is the imagery of the grave appropriate for baptism? • v. 19-24 – a recounting of the heavens being opened in this dispensation. • Voice of the Lord in the Chamber of Father Whitmer: D&C 21.

  43. Mary Whitmer John C. Whitmer, 1888. "I have heard my grandmother (Mary Musselman Whitmer) say on several occasions that she was shown the plates of the Book of Mormon by a holy angel, whom she always called Brother Nephi. (She undoubtedly refers to Moroni, the angel who had the plates in charge.) It was at the time, she said, when the translation was going on at the house of the elder Peter Whitmer, her husband. Joseph Smith with his wife and Oliver Cowdery, whom David Whitmer a short time previous had brought up from Harmony, Pennsylvania, were all boarding with the Whitmers, and my grandmother in having so many

  44. Mary Whitmer extra persons to care for, besides her own large household, was often overloaded with work to such an extent that she felt it to be quite a burden. One evening, when (after having done her usual day's work in the house) she went to the barn to milk the cows, she met a stranger carrying something on his back that looked like a knapsack. At first she was a little afraid of him, but when he spoke to her in a kind, friendly tone and began to explain to her the nature of the work which was going on in her house, she was filled with inexpressible joy and satisfaction. He then untied his knapsack and showed her a bundle of plates, which

  45. Mary Whitmer in size and appearance corresponded with the description subsequently given by the witnesses to the Book of Mormon. This strange person turned the leaves of the book of plates over, leaf after leaf, and also showed her the engravings upon them; after which he told her to be patient and faithful in bearing her burden a little longer, promising that if she would do so, she should be blessed; and her reward would be sure, if she proved faithful to the end. The personage then suddenly vanished with the plates.

  46. The Endowment • There has been speculation that Joseph Smith copied Masonic rites for his own purposes as the endowment followed soon after a Masonic Lodge was established in Nauvoo. • There are clear similarities and clear differences. • As with many other things, Joseph was probably moved to ask the Lord by questions that arose as he advanced in the Masonic orders.

  47. The Masonic Hall

  48. The Masonic Hall

  49. The Endowment • The term “endowment” seems to originally implied an endowment of power associated with beholding the Lord. • In Nauvoo, the “endowment” came to mean the ritualistic entry into the presence of the Lord. • The endowment was first given on May 4, 1842 in the upper room of the Red Brick Store.

  50. The Red Brick Store

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