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Church History Matters
162 - D&C 115-117 CFM - Trusting God When The Future Is Unclear - E42 October 13-19
01:25:38
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- [00:00]
A
Something really important is going to happen here. This could be the place where people first learned about the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
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B
The Latter Day Saints interpret Daniel 7 different than any other Christian that I've ever seen.
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A
It's a site of prophecy and where prophecy will be fulfilled. Look at the sources, look at the evidence, and then make your decisions.
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B
Hello, Casey.
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A
Hi, Scott.
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B
We've got six amazing sections of the Doctrine and Covenants to cover this week. We're thinking we'll break it up. 115 to 117 Episode 1118 to 120 Catch on the next episode. They'll come out this week as well.
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A
These are all Revelations received in Far west with one exception, 116, which was received in Adam on Diamond. These are all later additions to the Doctrine and Covenants. If I'm remembering correctly, this is Brigham Young and orson Pratt in 1876 adding these sections in. And they're all relatively short. But some of them are among the most consequential revelations in the entire Doctrine and Covenants. Like, you got the name of the church, the return of the Ancient of days, the law of tithing. There's just a lot of big stuff going on here that still affects us in the Church today.
- [01:04]
B
Yeah, hugely consequential. So let's get into it. Section 115. What's going on here, Casey? Let's drop our first C here, the context with section 115.
- [01:20]
A
So like we mentioned last time, the Far West Revelations really start in section 113 and section 114. But this is kind of the main one that talks about Far west itself. And just to give you the background here, you'll remember the Saints were evicted from Jackson county in 1833, and most of them wind up as living as refugees in Clay county or in the surrounding areas. Then on August 8, 1836, church leaders purchased a site in Caldwell county to be the new home for the Latter Day Saints in Missouri. And this site eventually becomes the city of Far West.
- [01:53]
B
Caldwell county was actually designated by the legislature of Missouri as like the place where the Mormons could settle. Right. Like that was the designated box. We want you guys to stay in the box in Caldwell County.
- [02:06]
A
You can't have your land back. But this was where they were supposed to live. And this is right before some conflicts. At least one factor in was they wanted to settle in other places outside of Caldwell county, like Davies county, where Adam on diamond is, and Ray county and a few other places like that.
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B
That'll create some conflict with those who thought they were supposed to stay inside their Caldwell box, won't it? But more to come on that later.
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A
That'll go along with sections 121 to 120, which we'll cover next week. So Far west actually grows significantly. They drop plans for the city. They're going to build a temple here. If they follow the design, it would have looked a lot like the Kirtland Temple. And adding to it, Joseph Smith arrives in far west on March 14, 1838, officially making far west church headquarters. So Kirtland is gone. It's fallen into apostasy. When Joseph Smith gets here, he takes up residence, which makes it the headquarters of the church. Church leaders are gonna build a school. They plan to build storehouses to facilitate the law of consecration. They begin printing a new church periodical called the Elders Journal. And they start to get ready for an influx of refugees that are gonna follow Joseph Smith there from Kirtland, Ohio. And that's another thing that raises the tension with the Missourians is all these Kirtland saints show up, which swells the Latter Day Saint population, which again makes the Missourians uncomfortable.
- [03:30]
B
And that group of Kirtland who migrate together too Far west is sometimes referred to as Kirtland Camp, which is kind of cool. We're familiar with Zion's Camp, but here's a little lesser, well known camp of church members. I think it was like 500 or so church members in Kirtland Camp, which is kind of fun.
- [03:48]
A
There is an unpublished revelation that's not in the Doctrine and covenants that's received January 12, 1838, that commanded the first presidency to. These are the words, take their families as soon as it is practicable and a door is opened for them and. And move on to the west as fast as the way is made plain before their faces. And the revelation also commanded the presidency to let all your faithful friends arise with their families also and get out of this place, meaning Kirtland, and gather themselves together unto Zion. So they're not coming here on a whim. They're coming here because the lord commanded them.
- [04:23]
B
January, 1838. Joseph and Sidney are still in Kirtland when this revelation was received. Right. So this is the impetus to leave and to bring all your friends with you, if you can.
- [04:32]
A
Yeah, for everybody to leave Kirtland. So section 115 is received about a month after Joseph Smith comes to Missouri. It's copied into the scripture book we talked about with section 113. And it's given the following revelation given in far west, April 26, 1838, making known the will of God concerning the building up of this place and the Lord's house, etc. It seems like the revelation was copied into the scripture book around the same time it was received. It's first added to the Doctrine and Covenants, like we mentioned, in 1876 under the direction of Brigham Young. So Brigham Young wants this canonized. Orson Pratt is doing kind of an overhaul of the doctrine covenants, and it's one of the revelations that gets added in.
- [05:13]
B
Interesting. So you mentioned that there are unpublished revelations and then there's, of course, the canonized revelations. But some of these canonized revelations used to be what we would call unpublished revelations. And so it's interesting to see. Yeah. Which ones make the cut, which ones don't make the cut. That was a call of Brigham Young and Orson Pratt during that time.
- [05:32]
A
Yeah. I think if you look through the Joseph Smith papers, there's, I think, nine uncanonized revelations that Joseph Smith received. And again, this doesn't happen at random. Committees go through them and decide whether or not they're going to be canonized. This one, section 115, was a big candidate for canonization because it does a number of important things. Among them, present the full proper name of the church for the first time in this dispensation. This is a big deal.
- [06:00]
B
Well, let's get into it. Okay. Second C. Here. The content of section 115 begins like this. Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph Smith Jr. And also my servant Sidney Rigdon, and also my servant Hyrum Smith, and your counselors who are and shall be appointed hereafter. So, attention, the first presidency. But then verse two, also unto you my servant Edward Partridge, and his counselors, the presiding bishopric, and also unto my faithful servants who are of the high council of my church and in Zion, for thus it shall be called. And unto all the elders and people of my church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints scattered abroad in all the world. Oh, he just dropped the name. Then he says this, speaking of that name, verse 4. For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This is 1838. The church is eight years old. And by this point, it's kind of interesting to note that the church has gone through a couple official names. Like in 1829, 1830, they called themselves Church of Christ. Probably the most official spot. You can see that. Like if you go check out section 20, verse 1, it says this phrase, it opens the rise of the Church of Christ in these last days. It's in the printing of the Book of Commandments. It just says, you know, the Book of Commandments of the Church of Christ. And this seems to be based on the book of Mormon. Third Nephi 26:27, when Jesus says, how do you know it's my church unless you call it by my name? So that was the logic that they brought forth in the naming of the church, Church of Christ, apparently not by revelation to begin with, just following what the Book of Mormon said. Now, what's interesting is at that time, in the early 1830s, lots of Protestant churches used the name Church of Christ. Even restoration movements like Alexander Campbell's Disciples of Christ, they claimed similar titles. So one of the challenges that that presented was it didn't distinguish this church from other Protestant churches very well. That led to some confusion, that led to criticism, even some legal ambiguities. And so that caused church leaders in 1834 to recommend an official name change, actually, which is interesting. So there's a had a conference of elders. Here's all the fascinating backstory in the conference of elders. May 3, 1834, Sidney Rigdon actually moves to adopt a new name. And the new name was the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Joseph Smith moderated this, and when it was put to the committee, it passed unanimously. Oliver Cowdery said this was pleasing because the name Church of Christ was too common and too confusing. So if you go today, if you go to the Kirtland Temple, for instance, and you look up on the Kirtland Temple, you'll see right on the facade of the temple, it says, built by the Church of the Latter Day Saints. That's it. If you look in the early Doctrine and Covenants, it says the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. And so this was like official. It wasn't a nickname. This was like official in 1834. So why did they do that? Because of the emphasis on the name Saints. Saints was good. Saints would be distinguishing, and saints would be biblical. Like in the New Testament, the term Christian or Christians only shows up three times. But you know what word shows up over 60 times to talk about the followers of Jesus? It's saints over 60 times. And so this calling us the Church of the Latter Day Saints, church leaders thought in 1834 would connect us more clearly to the biblical saints. And the idea of the latter days had this connection of, you know, a, preparing for the millennial reign of Jesus, and B, this is the modern version of the biblical people. Basically, that was. That was the idea. And it hopefully would take attention away from people calling us Mormons or Mormonites and start calling us the Church of the Latter Day Saints. So that's why they did it. Uh, we have the minutes. We can see that. Uh, it's great. In 1835, they start to, like, kind of overlap those two a little bit. Like, even in the Doctrine and Covenants, like, the title page says Church of the Latter Day Saints, but when you get to section five, the header says the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints. Uh, so we're trying to still keep the name of Christ in there. And things really reached a fever pitch in the Kirtland apostasy time period when accusations were hurled at Joseph Smith and church leaders for taking the name of Christ out of the church with this 1834 name change, right? They were saying, like, what are you doing? Like, the Book of Mormon says, how do you know it's my. It's my church if it's not called by my name? So you got to have the name Jesus in there. And so actually, some of the dissenters of the church in Kirtland will start their own group and call themselves the Church of Christ, going back to the original name anyway. So all that was kind of in the background here. And so in far west, in the aftermath of all that, the Lord says, let's get it clear, for thus shall my church be called in the latter days, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, preserving both the name of Jesus and this identification with the Saints of old being the modern counterpart who's preparing for the millennial reign of Jesus. So all that is accomplished right there in those couple verses, which is pretty cool.
- [11:05]
A
And again, we could keep going about refinements to the name, which happened several times throughout the 19th century. For instance, in 1851, the church is officially incorporated under the provisional state of Deseret at that time. And they adjust the spelling so that it's a lowercase d with a dash in front of it. And then this becomes standardized in Scripture. That's not until the 1921 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. And some people have argued, and I don't have any problem with this, that it was a legal necessity again, that they refined the name of the church because they needed an official name in land holding contracts for government recognition. Some people have pointed towards the British influence. There's a lot of British Latter Day Saints that are influencing the church at this point. And it was Kind of British styled to use that. And another big factor was that they needed to distinguish themselves from splinter groups. So by the 1850s, there were groups that had chosen not to follow Brigham Young, and they were using the name the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but with different spelling. Like, a couple years ago, I wrote a book with a bunch of scholars from our church and Community of Christ, and there was so much wrangling over is it going to be a capital D in Latter Day, or a lowercase D with a hyphen? And we had to do some serious, like, therapy, I guess, until we'd worked all that out. But that was a big deal to them.
- [12:32]
B
If anyone wants to, like, nerd out a lot more about this, there's an excellent article in BYU Studies called the History of the Name of the Savior's Church and a Collaborative and Revelatory Process. Very cool, actually, written by my friend Shane Goodwin. Really great guy, thoughtful scholar. Yeah, great article. Go check it out if you want to do a deeper dive into some of the stuff we've just touched on. And I'll point out one more thing that's kind of interesting. Like, he. He highlights that Even after Section 115 was given, sometimes Joseph will revert to calling it the 1834 name. He'll call it the Church of Latter Day Saints at Quincy, Illinois. But then you go to his office in. In Nauvoo, and it says president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, capitalizing all caps, Jesus and Ladder, but everything else is lowercase. It's kind of fun.
- [13:19]
A
Anyway, I've seen changes happen in my own lifetime, not with the name of the church, but like the logo of the church. I think most of our listeners are familiar that this seems to be something that was a priority for Russell M. Nelson when he became president of the church in 2018, one of the first things he did was strongly emphasize the correct name of the church. In fact, an official statement given on August 16, 2018, which was, oh, about eight months after he became president of the church, he becomes president of the church in January. He said, the Lord has impressed upon my mind the importance of the name he has revealed for his church. Even the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we have work before us to bring ourselves in harmony with his will. October 2018. He gives a really strong address where he tries to answer critics that are saying we're like, rebranding the church, that we don't want to be called the Mormon Church anymore. Have campaigns like I'm a Mormon, he said this. It is not a name change. It is not rebranding. It is not cosmetic. It is not a whim, and it is not inconsequential. Instead, it is a correction. It is the command of the Lord. The name of the church is not negotiable. So this seems like something that bothered President Nilsen. And I will say, as someone that writes on church topics and speaks on them, it was a bit of an adjustment. We were members of the Mormon History Association. I published an article in Mormon Historical Studies. We had to adjust all those things. But I'm grateful for it. Like, honestly, it reminds me of when I was a missionary, and they had just barely changed the church logo from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints all the same size to the logo where it's like the Church of. And then Jesus Christ is really big, and then Latter Day Saints. I remember I was one of the first missionaries wearing that badge. And I walked into a bike shop and a guy walked up and looked at my badge and said, how you doing, Jesus? Like, it was so big. He thought it was my name. And I thought, yeah, that's. That's a good conversation starter at least. So I'm glad they did it.
- [15:23]
B
It's funny, like, when you hear people say Mormon, there's like a whoo. There's a little chill in the air now. So I think that's evidence that it's. It has sunk in. President Nelson's message has been heard and adjustments have been made. And I think, overall, it's a net. It's a net gain.
- [15:40]
A
It does protect us, too. J.B. haas, our friend, told me a story once that in the 1960s, there was a riot going on on a campus in Washington. And the rioters were running around saying, where's the Mormon Church? We want to burn it down. And the people at the Institute of Religion there actually came out and said, sorry, this is the Institute for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And they were like, oh, okay. Went on. On their rampage. Let's pick it up in verse 5. Verily I say unto you all, arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations, and that the gathering together upon the land of Zion and upon her stakes may be for a defense and for a refuge from the storm and from wrath, when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth. So knowing the calamities that are going to happen in the last days, the Lord identifies the land of Zion and her stakes. That's in verse six, which are found throughout the world as two places of refug for the safety of the saints. And even though the Lord had promised that Zion will not be moved out of her place, that was in section 101. For nearly two centuries, the gathering of Israel has centered around creating stakes in every land where the saints are at. Even amid growing instability in the world. The stakes of Zion are designed to serve as a refuge from the storm. In fact, President Nielsen commented on this too. I think he must really like this section of the Doctrine and Covenants. He said the stakes of Zion are a refuge from the storm because they're led by those who hold priesthood authority. As you continue to follow the counsel of those whom the Lord has authorized to guide you, you will feel greater safety. And President Nelson also pointed out that the Temple, the house of the Lord, is a place of security unlike any other. There your families are sealed for eternity. Simply said, a place of security is anywhere you can feel the presence of the Holy Ghost and be guided by him. So this is broadening the idea too, of what Zion is, Zion and her stakes, and really sets up the models that we use today to try and describe church growth that we're going to try and organize. A branch becomes a ward, becomes several war comes a stake. And those stakes are places of refuge and safety in the latter days.
- [17:45]
B
Yeah. And I think you can sense that subtle expansion of the concept of Zion right here in this. In this text. Right when he's calling Far west the land of Zion. Like we know that's been a designation specifically for independence. Right. For the Jackson county area. And now here in this Revelation, we're already expanding this idea of Zion to be. To include those up north in northern Missouri as well. So we're going to see that. Watch that with Joseph Smith's lifetime, this is going to continue to expand, expand. This is just one of those indicators. Now, verse seven, the Lord says, let the city Far west be a holy and consecrated land unto me, and it shall be called most holy, for the ground upon which thou standest is holy. Therefore I command you to build a house unto me for the gathering together of my saints that they may worship me. Now, there's various amounts of speculation. Casey, before we talk about the Temple, we should talk about the speculations about verse seven. Some have speculated that the ground upon which thou standest is holy. This line about Far west here in verse seven is a reference to something ancient that had happened there. There are some sketchy sources that suggest that that's the land where Cain killed Abel, maybe the land of the first martyr. I say sketchy because I'm trying to remember where that source is from, but it's not directly from Joseph Smith. But there is some speculation that Joseph had taught stuff like that. Edward Stevenson had said that he had heard Joseph Smith say. So secondhand account here that the Garden of Eden was in Jackson county, the center place of Zion and so that now far west, which is north of that was, you know, something related to the Old Testament sacred stuff, maybe the possibly the place where Cain killed Abel. Again that speculation enters into the church here, the blood of the first martyr was spilled here, etc. How much stock to put into that and those sources? I don't know. Should we be careful here as we're thinking about pinning down ancient Old Testament sites in this area? Especially Based on verse 7 here it's.
- [19:49]
A
Clear that the early saints believed in a sacred geography surrounding Missouri. And you know, I believe in it too to a certain extent. I do believe that the Garden of Eden was located in Independence, Missouri. Now that said, if I receive evidence to the contrary or I run into someone who doesn't believe that, but I'm okay. I don't think that that's an essential teaching. It's more of an esoteric teaching that can be really meaningful. Like I love taking people to Independence or Adam on diamond and saying, hey, there might be ancient history here, this might be the place where Adam and Eve were cast out and Adam on Diamond is the place where they lived their life. But again that's not set in stone. Especially if we're just relying on canonized scripture. The history that happened there in Joseph Smith's day is enough to make it a special place in my book. And some of places, especially Adam on Diamond have a future role that's going to be a big deal too. So it's one of those things. Where do I believe it? Yeah, personally I do. But I wouldn't dispute the faithfulness of somebody that doesn't believe in that. And I don't think it's a requirement to be a card carrying Latter Day Saint that you believe that the Garden of Eden is independence or Far west is where Cain and Abel happened or anything like that.
- [21:01]
B
I think that's really fair. I think there's allowance for a wide spectrum of belief on that. This is not a temple recommend question. It's not an article of faith.
- [21:09]
A
I love the people out there and I love how faithful they are. So I, I think that influences me at least a little bit is I, I Just get a good feeling when I'm there. And I. I love Far west and. And love the saints out there, but the place has a special feeling. Like, before I knew anybody out in that area, I still thought the area was special.
- [21:29]
B
I love it. Okay, let me. Let me swing back to. Let me swing back to verse eight, then, because this is really important. Really important. The Lord says, therefore I command you to build a house unto me. Talk about something that would make that land holy right for the gathering together of my saints that they may worship me. And he goes on, let there be a beginning of this work and a foundation and a preparatory work this following summer. And he gives a day. He says, let the beginning be made on the fourth day of July next. And from that time forth, let my people labor diligently to build a house unto my name. This would be the next temple. This would be after the Kirtland temple, the next temple built. And he says, in one year from this day, let them recommence laying the foundation of my house. What day is this? April 26, 1838. So the Lord is saying, a year from now. And then verse 12. Thus let them from that time forth labor diligently until it shall be finished, from the cornerstone thereof unto the top thereof, until there shall not anything remain that is not finished. Then verse 13. He says, verily I say unto you, let not my servant Joseph, neither my servant Sidney, neither my servant Hyrum get in debt anymore for the building of a house unto my name. The Kirtland temple that was justified here. He does not want them to get into debt for this. And then he says, verse 14. But let a house be built unto my name according to the pattern which I will show unto them. Ah, so this sounds like it's going to be a new temple pattern, not the Kirtland temple. The exterior sketches that we've seen look like the Kirtland temple. But it sounds like there's going to be new stuff happening in this. And I think you and I feel comfortable speculating that had they finished the Far West Temple, which, spoiler alert, they do not, had they finished it, it probably would have been a temple like Nauvoo in terms of ordinances and that kind of stuff. Right? That's the new pattern, since now the keys had been restored in the Kirtland temple. Now we're ready for the next phase of temple building. So lots of. I think this is really important. This is one of the last temples. We call it one of the last temples of Missouri. But the Lord is talking about some really important things here that unfortunately never came to pass because of the persecution that's about to break upon them.
- [23:37]
A
It seems like the Lord was pleased with the construction of the Kirtland Temple, but he also asked the First Presidency to be more careful in incurring debt. Obvious reasons. The major debt contributed to the downfall of Kirtland. That gave ammunition to the enemies of the Saints. And in Far west, it's hinting at a financial reorganization, which, spoiler alert, is coming in section 119, where they're going to set it up. So the other thing that we maybe haven't mentioned is this is going to be the first temple built after the appearance of the Savior, Moses, Elias, and Elijah. So they've got keys now that they didn't have when they built the Kirtland Temple, which might suggest that they were going to do something different. And they do something different when they get to Nauvoo. That's the next temple that's constructed. So it's likely that if everything had gone according to plan, and as you mentioned, it didn't, Far west would have been the place where ordinances for both the living and the dead were put into place and things like endowments and sealings are first administered. But it's not to be. And it has to do with the history of what happens at Far west and in the surrounding areas in the months following this Revelation.
- [24:47]
B
Yeah, very good. Can we go back to verse 10 for a second? Casey, I want to ask you a question about this. The Lord says, let the beginning be made on the 4th day of July next. That would be 4th of July, 1838. The Saints do do a big kickoff on this day. Yes. This is Independence Day. There's a parade. There's some speeches that are given. And I want you to talk about Sidney Rigdon's speech that he gives on this day and what influence that actually has, because I think it's important to the history of this time period.
- [25:14]
A
Yeah. So we've got to put on our historian hats for a second here. They do have a big celebration on the 4th of July, and they do lay the cornerstones. This is the way Joseph Smith describes it in his history. He said July 4th was spent in celebrating the Declaration of the Independence of the United States of America. And also the Saints making a declaration of independence from all mobs and persecutions that have been afflicted upon them from time to time until they could bear it no longer, having been driven by ruthless mobs and enemies of truth from Their homes, their property confiscated, their lives exposed, and they're all jeopardized by such barbarous conduct. And in laying the cornerstones of the house of the Lord, agreeably to the commandment of the Lord given unto us on April 26, 1838. He's referring to section 115. So Joseph Smith uses sort of the classier terms to say we're declaring our independence from mobs and persecutions. However, Sidney Rigdon gives a speech that kind of get the saints in trouble. It's known as the Salt Sermon. The text is taken from Matthew 5:13, that famous text that says, ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt hath lost its savor, wherewith it shall be good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under the foot of men. And apparently, from what we know, the speech started out as a discourse on religious freedom. However, towards the end of the address, Sidney kind of takes on a darker tone. And we don't have the exact text of the Salt Sermon, but Sidney was a really powerful orator. People often would note that he could move people to tears. And Sidney was quoted as saying the following. That mob that comes to disturb us, it shall be between us and them a war of extermination.
- [27:00]
B
He's the first person to use extermination.
- [27:03]
A
Yeah, there is. There is an infamous extermination order issued by Governor Lilburn L. Boggs that was lifted in the 1970s. But, yeah, Sidney is the first person to use the word extermination. And he's elevating the violent rhetoric that's kind of going on. Not only inflamed passions among the Saints, but it kind of increases hostility among the non Latter Day Saints in the area. And particularly when he says, salt that has lost its savor shall be trampled underfoot. A lot of dissenters in the church, people that were still struggling because of Kirtland and other reasons, some that had been excommunicated but were still living among them, took this as a direct threat to them. For instance, Jedediah Grant, six years after the Salt Sermon was given, said that he believed the Salt Sermon seriously increased danger to the saints of Missouri. This is the way Jed Grant said it. And Jedediah Grant is the father of Heber J. Grant. He's a member of the First Presidency. He says the oration was the main auxiliary that fanned into a flame the burning wrath of a mobocratic portion of the Missourians. They now had an excuse. Their former threats were renewed and soon executed and we were then all made accountable for the acts of one man. Brigham Young also agreed with this, saying Elder Rigdon was the prime cause of our troubles in Missouri by his 4th of July orations. So both general had Jedediah Grant and Brigham Young look back and say, oh, this speech was a bad idea. It started to rile up the dissenters among the Saints and also give the Missourians an excuse to launch another round of persecutions, which unfortunately is going to be worse than the previous persecutions that happened in 1833.
- [28:47]
B
So when the Lord says, let the beginning of this work and the foundation of this work of growing the city of Far west and the beginning of the temple, let that be made on the fourth day of July next. Like, I just wince a little, Casey. When I read verse 10, I'm like, Ooh, that's not, I don't think that's what the Lord had in mind. Sidney. You took it a little further than he had in mind. And that led to all kinds of trouble. In fact, some church members become so overzealous in their desire to like resist persecution in Far west that they form this like clandestine society known as the, the Danites. The Danites, from what we know about them, they sought to sort of intimidate church dissenters and enemies of the church in Missouri. Some went as far as confiscating or even destroying property. In fact, let me, let me quote a little bit from the church history topics on the Danites. It says this, quote, historians generally concur that Joseph Smith approved of the Danites, but that he probably was not briefed on all their plans and likely did not sanction the full range of their activities. The Danites existed for only five months from June through October 1838 and were only ever active in two counties in northwest Missouri. Though the existence of the Danites was short lived, it resulted in a long standing and much embellished myth about a secret society of Mormon vigilantes. So this idea that they declared independence from their enemies, from mobs, from persecution, led to this formation of this group that was basically kind of put in place to try to prevent that from happening. But it sounds like they went beyond the bounds for which they originally created. They started intimidating people and driving people out of Far west. And that's going to be part of what brings on the persecutions as well that we're going to talk about next week. But I don't know. Anything else you want to say about the Danites, Casey?
- [30:41]
A
The Danites are obviously controversial. I think if you look at it in context, their existence is a little bit more understandable because the Saints have been kicked out of Jackson County. They've been given no recompense for that. The Saints have just been effectively kicked out of Kirtland and given no recompense for that. And so it's understandable that their position is kind of like, you keep pushing us and keep pushing us, and eventually you're going to have to pay the consequence for what we do. I will say, too, we're not really sure where the name Danite comes from. Some people have associated it with the tribe of Dan. Samson's part of. Some people have talked about it being part of the Book of Daniel, like the establishment of the Kingdom of God. The common name for them, actually less threatening, was Daughter of Zion, which, again, isn't like a tough name for your vigilante gang, but apparently it was a reference to this passage from the Book of Micah in the Old Testament. The passage reads, arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion. For I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hooves brass, and thou shalt beat in pieces many people, and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth. That makes Daughter of Zion a little bit more threatening. So while this revelation is given and there's all this great promise of a new temple, a new city, a refuge for the Saints, storm clouds are gathering. And if we're being totally honest with ourselves, the Saints are responsible for the elevation of violent rhetoric that happens during this time. Not that the Missourians aren't to blame either. Like, there's plenty of blame to go around. And I tend to favor the Saints saying, we're not going to get pushed around anymore, that they're trying to basically tell the Missourians back off. But unfortunately it does result in some bad stuff.
- [32:34]
B
Now, phrases like liberty, jail and extermination order and Haun's Mill are going to start to be used in our history and become all too familiar episodes of darkness and suffering in our church's history. And so that all kind of grows. You can see some of the seeds right here starting to be planted. The Lord is not planting the seeds. It's a misapplication of the Lord's directions to begin on the 4th of July. This celebration and establishment of Far West. Unfortunately, the rhetoric took it in the wrong direction. Now, let's just wrap up the section. In verse 17 through 19, the Lord's says, and again, verily I say unto you, it is my will that the city of Far west should be built up speedily by the gathering of my Saints. And also that other places should be appointed for stakes in the regions round about as they shall be manifested unto my servant Joseph from time to time. For behold, I will be with him and I will sanctify him before the people. For unto him have I given the keys of this kingdom and ministry. Even so. Amen. One of those other places appointed for stakes in the regions roundabout is a place that we'll talk about in a moment with section 116, a place called Adamandai Amon. But there would be others as well had the Saints been able to stay here. But that wraps up the content of section 115. Let's head over to the controversies. All right, so Casey, let's go back to the name change of the Church. We gave several reasons, reasons why the name was changed. It was changed a couple times. We thought we walked through the history of that. But one of the more controversial reasons that sometimes is brought up is that church leaders changed the name of the church in 1838 to avoid paying legal debts. And they're trying to deflect the creditors of the United Firm. They're trying to, you know, avoid paying their debts. So is there any truth to that? Is that behind the name change of the Church?
- [34:29]
A
That's a theory that's been suggested by a few historians in the last couple years. I suppose it's possible, but really nobody that I'm aware of in the history of the Church really talks about that as the reason for the name change. It seems like the documents that we have all have to do with theological and I guess you would say public relation issues, where they have legitimate reasons, reasons to keep changing the name of the church. For instance, you brought up one. The name Church of Christ is being used by a lot of other churches. And then once they change it to the Church of Latter Day Saints, people that have read the Book of Mormon are going to be familiar with 3 Nephi 27 and know that that's not okay because the Church needs to be called after his name. And so, I mean, it's an interesting idea. It also seems like they did make a marked effort to pay their debts whenever they could as well. Some of these sections, like Section 117, actually attest to that, that they were appointing people and asking people to settle debts and arrange for the financial duties of the Church to be fulfilled. So I just think it's kind of weak sauce. And it seems like the Evidence points in a more compelling way towards these theological reasons for changing the name of the Church. If the Church changed its name legally during the Utah period, does that mean it. I mean, it's not inspired? No, not really. So I don't know how this affects things one way or the other. And it seems like we're going off circumstantial evidence to begin with. So there's not a strong consensus among historians if that was the reason. It seems like everything kind of points more towards these theological and public relational reasons to change the name of the Church.
- [36:11]
B
Yeah, I agree. I think that's a jaded take on a historical moment with very weak circumstantial evidence. It seems highly speculative. And I think you brought up the very best point, which is the revelations that follow this refute that. Section 117, especially 119. Like one of the burning questions that leads to the revelation that is going to talk about tithing is the question, like, how can we pay our debts? Like, how, Lord? How do you want us to get money in this church so that we could pay our debts? Like, Joseph had debts that were due that very day that that revelation comes and he's wanting to pay his debts. He's not trying to run from them. He's not hiding, he's not avoiding. And so, yeah, I think that's a jaded view on a historical moment that doesn't hold up under careful scrutiny.
- [36:58]
A
There's some compelling parallels between when President Nelson recently re emphasized the name of the Church, where people are saying the same thing like, oh, it's a public relations ploy because people hate Mormons or something like that. And President Nilsen is directly. No, it's not. I mean, the Church had a campaign called I'm a Mormon. President Nilsen has been giving talks about the proper name of the church for 20 some odd years before he became the President of the Church and made that an official directive. So, yeah, it kind of comes from a cynical, jaded place, like they have to do this. But in reality, there's stronger evidence for other reasons for doing it. And in President Nilsen's case, he just flat out said why he decided to do it. Look at the sources, look at the evidence, and then make your decisions. Okay, let's talk consequences with Section 15 then, Scott, what are the consequences?
- [37:50]
B
First off, we've got an official name of the Church in Revelation. For the first time in eight years of the Church's existence, the Lord has now made his will known. That's very consequential. Number two, the Lord commanded the building of the Far West Temple, the second temple of the church, third one to be commanded. Right. If we count Missouri with section 57 and other places in 84, so this would would have effectively been the second temple temple. It doesn't get built. But we see the Lord is already shifting the pattern. The pattern is not going to be the Kirtland pattern. The pattern is going to be a new pattern which we finally see come to fruition in Nauvoo. And that's the pattern that we know and are familiar with today with modern temples. Another subtle point I would, I would suggest is that section 115 affirms the First Presidency as the leaders of the entire church. I know that might sound a little odd to our ears today because it's like so obvious. They're like, of course. But when this revelation was received, there were only two stakes in the church. Right? There's the stake in Kirtland, now there's the stake in Far West. And the two stake presidencies of these two areas were seen as kind of roughly equal in authority. And remember, in the Kirtland apostasy there was this play to try to get the, the president of the church in Missouri to become the president of the church in Ohio too. That was David Whitmer. They were to trying to overthrow Joseph Smith and put David Whitmer in place. And what I think section 115 is effectively doing is showing that the, the first presidency holds the keys of the kingdom and are able to make these decisions about temples and about how the city is to be built up. Etc. Right. Verse one is, is addressed to the first presidency and then the bishopric, etc. So it kind of shows that hierarchy again and highlights that. I just point the pointed out to say this has been bumpy lately. Right. There's been church members that have been struggling with, you know, who's actually fully in charge. And so I think section 115 nicely and subtly but clearly affirms the presidency of the first president. Like that the leadership that they're in charge of the whole church as those who hold the keys.
- [39:52]
A
And you think section 107 would have cleared that up. Right. But what happened in Kirkland Kirtland during the apostasy does suggest there was still ambiguity over if the two presidencies in Kirtland and Missouri were equal or if David Whitmer, who was the stake president in Missouri could take Joseph Smith's place. And so this kind of seals the deal and it doesn't Seem like there's been serious questioning since then, with the possible exception of after Joseph Smith's death, some apostles arguing that they don't need a first presidency, which we did a whole series on. Go back and listen.
- [40:24]
B
So there you go. That's section 115. So, Casey, let's transition now to section 116. Let's drop our first C here. The context. This is a short little section. Is this the shortest section in the Doctrine and Covenants?
- [40:36]
A
The only one I could think of that gives it a run for its Money is section 13, which is also one verse, but I think it's a little bit longer.
- [40:42]
B
So what's going on here? What. What is section 116? What's going on? The background here.
- [40:52]
A
There's a whole bunch of context and a whole lot of consequences with this 1. So section 116 is an extract from an 1838 entry in Joseph Smith's scriptery book. We mentioned that earlier. Section 113, section 115 are tied to it. It wasn't added to the doctrine covenants until 1876, along with 26 other revelations. But here's the immediate context. Okay. In the spring of 1838, more and more Latter Day Saints are moving to Caldwell county, this designated area in northwest Missouri, for the settling place of the Saints and the new gathering place for the church, the new church headquarters. So during this time, church leaders identified between 40 and 50 locations north of church headquarters at Far west for possible settlement. And about a year earlier, Lyman White had traveled about 25 miles to the north of Far West Missouri and built a cabin and established a ferry on the grand river in Davies county at a place called Spring Hill. In mid May of 1838, Joseph Smith traveled up there with a company of church leaders to White's settlement at Spring Hill, and they laid out a plan for a city. Doctrine and Covenants 116 is in Joseph Smith's journal recorded on May 19, 1838. And here's the entire entry for the day. Okay, he writes, the next morning we struck our tents and marched and crossed grand river at the mouth of Honey Creek at a place called Nelson's Fair. Grand river is a large, beautiful, deep and rapid stream and will undoubtedly admit of steamboat and other watercraft, navigation. And at the mouth of Honey Creek is a splendid harbor for the safety of such crafts and also for landing freight. We next kept up the river mostly in the timber for 10 miles until we came to Colonel Lyman Weitz, who lives at the foot of Tower Hill, a name appropriated by President Smith in consequence of the remains of an old, old Nephiteish altar and tower where we camped for the Sabbath. In the after part of the day, President Smith, Rigdon and myself went to White's Ferry, about a half mile from this place up the river, for the purpose of selecting and laying claims to a city plot near Ferry in Davies County Township, Range 27, 28 and sections 25, 36, 31, 30, which is called Spring Hill, a name appropriated by the brother present, but afterwards named by the mouth of the Lord, Lord and was called Adam Ondi. Amen. Because, said he, it is the place where Adam shall come to visit his people, or the ancient of days shall sit, as spoken of by Daniel the Prophet. So this little excerpt in Joseph Smith Journal, they just cut out the last sentence or so there was printed as part of a multi volume history of the Church. And then Brigham Young and Orson Pratt extracted the revelatory part where he says it's called by the Lord. And then they put it in the 1876 edition of the Doctrine Covenant. So that's how it gets there. Let's talk about the content.
- [43:39]
B
I'm going to read the whole section right here. Quote Spring Hill is named by the Lord Adam on Diamond, because, said he, it is the place where Adam shall come to visit his people, or the ancient of days shall sit, as spoken of by Daniel the Prophet. The name Adam on Diamond was already in circulation among the saints by the time this section is received or this moment happens in fact, several years earlier when Joseph ordained his father to the office of patriarch of the Church. And part of that blessing is actually added in 1835 to the Doctrine and Covenants as part of Section 107. We're talking about verses 53 through 57. And in these verses, this is where we learn that Adam actually bestowed upon his posterity in this place called Adam on Diamond, his last blessing, and that the Lord appeared unto Adam's posterity there and pronounced Adam, Adam to be prince over the nations of the earth forever. And that's where Adam stood up, being full of the Holy Ghost and predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation. So that's 1835. That's when this word and this idea and this image of Adam in a. In a valley with his posterity blessing them, the Lord appearing, etc. Is first injected into the imagination of the Latter Day Saints. Now that same year, W.W. phelps as he's helping to prepare Section 107 for publication in the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. He latches onto those verses which fired his imagination and led him actually to produce a poem that later becomes one of our hymns, a favorite hymn on the topic Adamanti Amen. I won't sing the whole thing here, Casey, but let me just quote the first verse. Church members will be familiar with this. His poem goes on like this. The world was once a garden place with all her glories common and men did live a holy race and worship Jesus face to face in Adam on Diamond. And other verses go on to. They all end with the punchline Adam on Diamond, Adam on Dam. This was a favorite hymn of the saints. It was sung at the Kirtland temple dedication in 1836. My point in bringing all that up is to say that because of Phelps and his hymn, the idea of Adam on Diamond was already popularized in the mind of the saints. Okay, 1836. This is two years earlier than section 116, right? And so now here the Lord names Spring Hill Adam on Di Ammon and says, this is where the prophecy of Daniel 7 will take place. So that is really, really interesting because it brings up a question we're going to have to tackle in the contrast controversies, Casey. Is is Spring Hill being named after this place called Adam ondi Ammon, wherever it was, or is the Lord saying, this is the place where Adam blessed his posterity before he died? Let's bookmark that. Come back to that in a moment.
- [46:30]
A
I think it's really fascinating that the name Adam on Diamond and the song Adam on Diamond actually show up before they find Adam on Diamond. Like Adam on Diamond actually shows up as early as section 78. There's a reference in section 78 where verse 15 says, that you may come up unto the crown prepared for you, and be made rulers over many kingdoms, saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Zion, who hath established the foundations of Adam on Diamond. And this is right after that revelation on the pure language where they reveal that the name of God is Ammon. But then when they get to Missouri, they kind of catch up with the concepts and ideas and find the place that they call Adam on Diamond. Going back to the content here, when it says it refers to Daniel the prophet. This is a reference to Daniel in the Old Testament, 7, 9, 14, where Daniel makes this cryptic prophecy that a lot of people have puzzled over, puzzled till their puzzlers were sore. It says, this I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow. And the hair of his head was like pure wool, his throne was like a fiery flame, and his wheels, as behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of Days. And they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom that all people, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed. What does all that mean? And I think we know who the Son of Man is. That's showed up often enough in scriptures. But the Ancient of Days is a back and forth like most Christians, I think just assume that the Ancient of Days is God or Jesus Christ in trinitarian theology. That's interesting. And another wrinkle to the story. In an 1877 discourse, Orson Pratt, who's close with Joseph Smith, further discourses on the name Adam on diamond. He explained, we have then an understanding that it was the place where Adam dwelt. Perhaps you may be anxious to know what Ondi Amen means. He said, it means the place where Adam dwelt. Ammon signifies God. The whole term means the valley of God where Adam dwelt. And it is in the original language spoken by Adam as revealed to the prophet Joseph. So Orson Pratt definitely was familiar with that sample of pure language that's in the Revelation manuscript books between section 77 and section 78. And he says Joseph Smith taught, which I assuming he doesn't say, but comes from firsthand knowledge of Joseph Smith saying the name Adam on diamond means the valley of God where Adam dwelt.
- [49:17]
B
Let's come back to this idea of Daniel 7 and what that means, because the Lord is suggesting here that's really important that we should know that Daniel 7 is going to be fulfilled there. This is a prophecy, a very clear prophecy about the future. And Jesus was really big in his mortal ministry. On Daniel 7 he would talk about it. He would refer to himself, himself as the Son of Man. He infuriated the local leadership by referring to himself ambiguously as the Son of Man. Does that just mean human, or is he referring to the prophesied, a figure in Daniel 7? He liked to keep them guessing. In fact, one moment, like in Matthew 26, he actually quotes Daniel 7 at this moment where he's being tried, right? And the high priest comes to him and says, I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the cross, Christ the Son of God, or not. And Jesus says, thou hast said infuriating them again. And then he says, nevertheless, I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. Clear reference to daniel7 there. That's when the high priest rips his clothes and he says he's spoken blasphemy. What further need have we of witnesses? Behold, you have heard his blasphemous blasphemy. Why is it blasphemous to quote Daniel 7? Well, it's not unless you're referring to yourself as the Son of man who's going to fulfill Daniel 7. Ashu. So Jesus actually drew a lot of attention to Daniel 7. That's one example. Matthew 26:63,65. But this idea that at the end of time, the Son of man will come in the cloud of heaven to the ancient of days, who will be surrounded by 10,000 times 10,010 thousands of thousands. I mean, Casey, that's, That's fire the imagination of many members of our church, some of whom are apostles and have written about this. And I would now like to quote a couple of those. For instance, elder Bruce R. McConkey wrote an entire book called the Millennial Messiah, where he's trying to synthesize all of the prophecies about the millennium in one book. And it does a great job. It's like over 600 pages. It's, it's, it's intense. But here's one thing he says about Adam on diamond. So here's Elder McConkie's take on the fulfillment of Daniel 7 at this place. He says, quote, before the Lord Jesus descends openly and publicly in the clouds of glory attended by all the hosts of heaven, before any of his appearances, which taken together, comprise the second coming of the Son of God, there is to be a secret appearance to selected members of his church. He, she says he will come in private to his prophet and to the apostles then living. Those who have held keys and powers and authorities in all ages, from Adam to the present will also be present. And further, all the faithful members of the church then living, and all the faithful saints of all the ages past will be present. This is his 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands. He says it's. It's all the living and past faithful people continuing the quote. It will be the greatest congregation of faithful saints ever assembled on planet Earth. It will be a sacrament meeting. It will be a day of judgment for the faithful of all the ages. And it will take place in Davies County, Missouri, at a Place called Adam on Diamond. One more, just to throw it out there. This is Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, father in law to Elder McConkey. Actually, he said this, quote, this council in the valley of Adam on Diamond is to be of the greatest importance to this world. At that time, there will be a transfer of authority from the usurper and imposter Lucifer to the rightful king, Jesus Christ. He says, until this grand council is held, Satan shall hold rule in the nations of the earth. But at that time, thrones are to be cast down. Quoting Daniel 7 language. And man's rule shall come to an end. For it is decreed that the Lord shall make an end of all nations. Then shall he, the Son of Man, give the government to the saints of the Most High. He says, and that's part of the prophecy of Daniel 7, is that the king would then help give dominion to the saints, and the saints would serve him and rule and reign with him on the earth forever and ever. So there's two apostles, there's Elder McConkie and Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, formulating their understanding of what's going to happen. Whether it happens exactly like that or not, I don't know. But I really like those quotations and the pictures that they paint of the fulfillment of Daniel 7 in Adam on Diamond.
- [53:46]
A
And it definitely illustrates our belief that Adam on Diamond is going to be important in the future. I think that's the thing you can really pin down from section 116, is to say something really important is going to happen here and you feel it. Right?
- [54:00]
B
Right.
- [54:01]
A
Both of us have been to Adam on Diamond. We lead tours, and there's something unique and special about that place. It's just hard to quantify, really.
- [54:09]
B
I'll ask those who are on the tour, I'll say, what was your highlight? And like, oftentimes people will say Adam on Dayama. Sometimes it surprises me. It shouldn't surprise me anymore. But it's just this peaceful place and that's it. There's little trails. It's beautiful. It's just quiet and peaceful. And a lot of people will say, I loved that place.
- [54:25]
A
I took all the young men and young women from my word out, at least like Cross Continent Church history trip. And I think Adam on Diamond was the most cited place. And I also led an EFY session, special session that visited the church history sites in Missouri. And we had an uncommon number of young people say there's something really unique about this place. So it's a beautiful spot and it definitely looms large in our millennial Expectations. So a small verse, but an important one.
- [54:55]
B
Huge implications packed in a very tidy little verse. So exciting stuff. I alluded to it earlier, and it's this question. So we can see without question that the idea of Adam on Diamond was already in the air in the church in 1835, 36, 37, before section 116 was given. So is section 116 the Lord saying, this place is where Adam dwelt, this is the ancient of days? Or is the Lord naming this Spring Hill area after the place where Adam dwelt, wherever that happens to be, and just saying, like this is where Daniel 7 is going to be fulfilled? Is there any pointing backwards or is this section all just pointing forwards to the future?
- [55:45]
A
It's the same question you and I ask whenever we go to Adam on Diamond or take people there, which we love to do. Adam on Diamond, I want to clarify, would always be special because of the church history that happens there. But maybe not more significant than a place like DeWitt where there was also a Latter Day Saint settlement. It has that extra layer of a future prophecy is going to be fulfilled there according to section 116. But is it anciently the place where Adam and Eve lived, or is it named after that? And I'm comfortable with either option here. I'm just going to flat out say we don't know. Section 107 does say as follows, that Adam anciently gathered. Here's the wording in verses 53, 57, the residue of his posterity, who were righteous into the valley of Adam on Diamond and there bestowed upon him his last blessing. But since the revelation in section 107 only talks about the past of this place, it doesn't designate a place. And section 116, which is the other big Adam on Diamond Revelation. Revelation only talks about the future. It doesn't connect it to the past necessarily. So we might be making a leap here to say that it is. Now, I guess we're going to go back to what we talked about earlier. Like, what do you personally believe? And yeah, I personally believe it is the place where Adam and Eve lived. And if that's the case, that gives a greater significance because that might be the place where Moses 5 where an angel appears to Adam and Eve and teaches them about the atonement of Jesus Christ. Like one thing I'll say when I go to Adam on Diamond to people sometimes is this could be the place for what, where people first learned about the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And that alone makes it very special. And there are Contemporary statements from Joseph Smith where he says the same again, like a lot, only this one was canonized. And so I think we've got a little leeway on whether Joseph Smith was speaking prophetically or whether he was just speculating based on the land he saw. But yeah, I do lean towards saying Joseph Smith was accurate. And so this is the place where Adam and Eve lived.
- [57:46]
B
Are there quotes from Joseph Smith you're thinking of where he basically says this is the ancient place?
- [57:50]
A
Yeah, there's one quote where he actually says like, Adam and Eve traveled 75 miles to the northeast and settled that which again, if that's accurate, makes Adam on Diamond a place and independence a place anciently that Joseph Smith believed were the case. Also the though our testimony doesn't rest on Joseph Smith saying those things, if we go off what we've chosen to canonize in the Scripture. So Adam on Diamond's always going to be special. Whether it was special because of ancient events. I'm not totally sure I like what you're saying.
- [58:19]
B
Like, officially we get our doctrine from what's canonized and the canon is ambiguous as to the answer to that question. However, there are some extra canonical teachings or explanations or people writing down what they remember remember being said that suggests that early church leaders did believe that was the ancient place where Adam dwelt.
- [58:40]
A
Okay, well, two quotes here. These are both second hand. One comes from Abraham O. Smoot, who was a member of the survey team for Adam on Diamond and is quoted as having said he said the Smith was not present when Adam's altar. They found an altar there that they referred to informally as Adam's Altar. President Smoot said that he. He and Allison Ripley, while surveying the town meaning Adam on Diamond, which is about 22 miles from Jackson county, came across a stone wall in the midst of a dense forest of underbrush. The wall was 30ft long, 3ft thick and 4ft high. It was laid in mortar or cement. When Joseph visited the place and examined the wall, he said it was the remains of an altar built by Father Adam and upon which he offered sacrifices after he was driven from the Garden of Eden. He said that the Garden of Eden was located in Jackson County, Missouri. The whole town of Adam on Diamond was in the midst of thick and heavy forest of timber. And a place was named in honor of Adam's altar. The prophet explained that it was upon this altar where Adam blessed his sons and his posterity prior to his death. So secondhand source, but it makes it sound like Joseph Smith had connected the physical Location of Adam on diamond to where section 107's events take place. Then next one Heber C. Kimball. This is from the life of Heber C. Kimball. The prophet Joseph. Joseph called upon brother Brigham, myself and others saying, brethren, come, go along with me and I will show you something. He led us a short distance to a place where there were ruins of three altars built of stone, one above the other and one standing a little back of the other, like unto pulpits in the Kirtland Temple, representing the order of three grades of priesthood. There, said Joseph, is the place where Adam offered up sacrifice after he was cast out of the garden. The altar stood at the highest point on the bluff. I went and examined the place several times, times while I remain there. Secondhand sources. But it seems like these people are there and they're so specific that we don't have reason to doubt that Joseph Smith gave those explanations for where it was. And it seems like Joseph Smith had connected the physical Adam on Diamond that we know of today with the ancient place where Adam lived.
- [60:42]
B
No, I think those secondhand sources are very clear that Joseph made that connection. Thank you. That's very, very good. They are secondhand sources, but like you said, no reason to disbelieve, especially Heber Shekimbel. So the. The revelation itself does not designate that, but I think it's safe to say that that was the connection that the early saints made.
- [61:00]
A
Let's ask another question here. Who's the Ancient of days? Then section 116 does say Adam will appear, and then it says, the Ancient of Days shall appear to his people. We should clarify. Is Adam the Ancient of Days, or is this referring to somebody else? That Adam's there? What do you think?
- [61:15]
B
Yeah, there's a big discrepancy here between what Christians will typically read. Daniel 7 when it says the Ancient of Days, the Son of Man comes in the cloud of glory and comes before the Ancient of Days. Christians typically will read that to say, that's God the Father, like the Son of Man comes before God the Father. He's described as white and ancient and powerful. Joseph Smith gives a very different interpretation. He says that is Adam. On several occasions he said that Adam is the Ancient of Days. For instance, a little over a year later, in 1839, a discourse that was recorded by Willard Richards, he has the prophet saying this quote. When Daniel 7 speaks of the Ancient of Days, he means the oldest man, our Father, Adam. He will call his children together and hold a council with them to prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man, man. He, Adam is the father of the human family and presides over the spirits of all men. And all that have had the keys must stand before him in this grand council. This may take place before some of us leave this stage of action. Joseph speculated, which turned out not to be true, as we can see. But he continues, the Son of Man stands before him and there is given him glory and dominion. Adam delivers up his stewardship to Christ that which was delivered to him as holding the keys of the universe, but retains his standing as head of the human family. That is a rich and deep quotation. But the point is that Joseph Smith taught that Adam was the ancient of days. So Latter Day Saints interpret Daniel 7 different than any other Christian that I've ever seen. I've never seen a Christian interpreter interpret this to mean God the Father, but man, I like. I like Joseph Smith's a lot better. In fact, that makes so much more sense given the history of Adam on Diamond. It's almost like the future fulfillment of Daniel 7 is a mirror of the original gathering at Adam on Diamond three years before Adam died. Remember it said that Adam gathered together his righteous posterity and then the Lord appeared to them. That's the original thing. Sounds like that's going to happen again. Adam gathers his righteous posterity together, both the living and the dead and everyone who's ever lived to according, according to Elder McConkie. And then the Lord appears to them there and this then launches the kingdom of God in full force as we know it in the millennium where Jesus and the saints rule and reign together. And so, yeah, I feel like that fits the facts really, really well.
- [63:45]
A
It's kind of a chiasm, isn't it? Like the Lord appears to Adam and his posterity at the first and he appears to Adam and his posterity at the end. So it's a neat little idea and great symmetry. Okay, well, let's talk consequences for section 116. 1. There's some concrete millennial expectations for northern Missouri. And I've already mentioned I have an affinity for this place. I really love the place and the people. But I mean, we've got to be cautious with this. We don't want to go overboard and we don't know the timetable for fulfillment. The church owns a lot of property in this area and cares for it. A couple months ago I had a wonderful missionary from Adam Ondiamond take me and a few students on his razor, his side by side, whatever you want to call it, and just kind of drive us around the whole property, including the place where the settlement of Adam on Diamond actually was. And, you know, he spoke movingly of the counsel he'd been given by his mission leaders. And I should mention here, and this is probably well known, there's only two places in the church where where the prophet directly presides, and that's Adam on Diamond in Jerusalem. So that gives it significance. But he basically said, we're not turning all of Adam on Diamond into a church history site. Part of it you can go visit. And it is a church history site, but he said, we're beautifying it and we're preparing it for what is to come. So it's one of those unique places where the Kirtland Temple is a church history site. We talk about what happened there. You can take that angle for Adam on Diamond, whether you're to talking about anciently with Adam and Eve or whether you're talking about in Joseph Smith's time. But it seems like the real significance in this little spot in Missouri is the future. And it's a site of prophecy and where prophecy will be fulfilled, which makes it really unique among our church history sites. It's a special place.
- [65:42]
B
We talk about church history. This is church future. All right, so the last section we want to do in this particular episode is section 117. And this happens in July. July 8, 1838. Drop us into this one, Casey. What's going on? That brings about section 117.
- [66:04]
A
On Sunday, July 8, 1838, Joseph Smith actually receives five revelations concerning church leadership and finances. And four of these revelations now constitute section 117, 118, 119 and 120 of the doctrine and Covenants. There's another revelation given to W.W. phelps and Frederick G. Williams that's also received on July 8, but it was not canonized. It wasn't placed in the Doctrine and Covenants. All five revelations were dictated by Joseph Smith in a leadership meeting held before Sunday services that same day. So this is the first of a set, essentially, Doctrine and Covenants 1:17 is directed to William Martin Marks, Newell K. Whitney and Oliver Granger, and it deals with concerns in Kirtland, Ohio, following the departure of most of the leadership of the church from there. A few months earlier, William Marks had been directed to preside over the church in Kirtland and to serve as a financial agent for Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon to settle their remaining debts in the area. Newell K. Whitney had been serving as the bishop of the church in Kirtland and After settling their own affairs, Marks and Whitney were expected to relocate to Missouri, where the main body of the church was now found. Now, there's a third person mentioned, Oliver Granger, who's actually asked to stay behind in Ohio to act as an agent for the First Presidency in settling the remaining church business in the area. And it's included in a letter. So it was received. It was sent in a letter to Oliver Granger and William Marks and Newell K. Whitney. Commenting on the Revelation, the First Presidency told the two men, Marx and Whitney, by this you will understand the will of the Lord concerning you and will doubtless act to according. Accordingly, it would be wisdom for all the Saints that can come this summer to come and make an effort to do so as it will be better for them. So they're being asked to just gather, which is a big sacrifice, especially for Newell K. Whitney. He has a lot of business and Kirtlet's been his home for a while. So that's the Revelation. It's added into the 1876 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants along with all the revelations we've been talking about today.
- [68:05]
B
Okay, let's go to the content of section 117, starting in verse 1:1. Verily, thus saith the Lord unto my servant William Marks, and also unto my servant Newell K. Whitney. Let them settle up their business speedily and journey from the land of Kirtland before I, the Lord, send again the snows upon the earth. Let them awake and arise and come forth and not tarry, for I, the Lord command it. Therefore, if they tarry, it shall not be well with them. Let them repent of all their sins and of all their covetous desires. Before me me saith the Lord. For what is property unto me saith the Lord. So William Marks and Noel K. Whitney are both important leaders among the Saints in Ohio, right? Neither had departed, as you mentioned, with the Kirtland camp, which was again, that big group of Saints who are going to leave. July 6, 1838, leave Kirtland, travel the 900 plus miles to far west. The departure from Kirtland would come at a considerable sacrifice to all the Saints who relocate to Missouri. The reason why William Marks and Noel K. Whitney don't leave earlier is clear from section 117. The Lord pointedly asked these men right here in verse 4, what is property unto me? In other words, what's holding them back from gathering their property? Their property is holding them back. He. He calls out their covetous desires here, right? And so he's. He's counseling these men to make a sacrifice. He's asking them to give up their property for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to gather with the saints in Missouri and not to tarry, not to. Not to drag your feet in obeying this command, but to get up and to come right for new. Ok. Whitney, whose businesses were like the economic heart of the church in Ohio, you can see how following this counsel would come at a very high cost. But the Lord is asking for it. The Lord often asks hard things, right? He sometimes tests his disciples, requiring them to, I don't know, I'm thinking, like, go into the wilderness sometimes. Give up familiarity, give up comfort. The sacrifice he's asking of Whitney and Marx here is. I don't know if we could compare it to the sacrifice of Abraham or others. Lehi who've been asked to, like, leave comfort. Maybe Lehi is the best connection, isn't it? Leave your gold and your silver in the land of Jerusalem and take your family and flee. This is one of those moments, a modern moment like that in the life of William Marks and Newell K. Whitney.
- [70:20]
A
They're making a huge sacrifice and it's a difficult one, especially. Especially Neil K. Whitney's made his home there. He's been successful. I mean, if you go and visit Kirtland, you can still see that he was kind of the heart of the Kirtland community. But picking it up in verse 5, the Lord does have plans for their property, and this would be difficult too. He says, let the properties of Kirtland be turned out for debts, saith the Lord. Let them go, saith the Lord. And whatsoever remaineth, let it remain in your hands, saith the Lord. So they're being asked to salivate everything to cover the debts of the church. Then the Lord reassures them. For have I not the fowls of heaven, and also the fish of the sea and the beasts of the mountains? Have I not made the earth? Do I not hold the destinies of all the armies of the nations of the earth? Therefore will I not make solitary places to bud and to blossom and bring forth in abundance, saith the Lord. Is there not room enough on the mountains of Adam, on diamond, or on the plains of Olaha Shaniha, or the land where Adam dwelt, that you should covet that which is but the drop and neglect the more weighty matters? Therefore come up hither unto the land of my people, even Zion. And this fits into our earlier conversation here. First to the mountains of Adam and Imamon, the Plains of Olahash and Ihah. Both locations are listed alongside the land where Adam dwelt. We don't know the meaning of the words Olahashonihah, but we assume they're part of the Adamic language. The word Shanihah appears in the Book of Abraham, chapter 3, verse 13, as a word for the sun, and Olea as a word for the moon. So early commentators Yon M Sodal and Hyrum M. Smith speculated that Olaha might be a variant of Oleah. If so, the Plains of Olaha, Shaniha could be the planes of the moon and the sun. And Shanihah might also be a reference to Kurt Kirtland, since Shanihah was used as a code word for Kirtland in earlier versions of several revelations found in the Doctrine and Covenants. So either way, he's telling them, don't covet your property. We need to use it to pay church debts, and you need to gather with the saints in Missouri.
- [72:25]
B
Yeah, that's a very poetic way. Verses five through nine are a very poetic way to say, sacrifice your stuff and join us. Join us in Missouri. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So then verse 9, 10 picks up like this. It says, let my servant William Marks be faithful over a few things, and he shall be a ruler over many. Let him preside in the midst of my people in the city of Far west, and let him be blessed with the blessings of my people. Verse 11 is interesting too. He says, let my servant Newell K. Whitney be ashamed of the Nicoletine band and of all their secret abominations, and of all his littleness of soul before me, saith the Lord. Lord, and come up to the land of Adam on diamond and be a bishop unto my people, saith the Lord. Not in name, but in deed, saith the Lord. So the lord in verse 10 is inviting William Marks to come and preside there. He's also inviting Newell K. Whitney to come and preside, if not in name at least. Indeed, I guess, because this is the jurisdiction of Edward Partridge, the bishop. But let Newell K. Whitney come here and be bishop, like here to the people, but warns him of the Nicoletain Band and all their secret abominations in Kirtland. What might that be? Well, good question. He just drops that like we're supposed to know what that means. But it probably comes from the Book of Revelation, where there's this group called the Nicolaitans, who were an apostate group, who the Lord says, cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat Things sacrificed to idols to commit fornication. That's in Revelation 2:14. So this is likely like a biblical reference to the apology apostate members of the church who remain back in Kirtland. Right. He's making that, that, that connection. So earlier, Newell K. Whitney had been appointed as a bishop over the church. That's way back in section 72 in the Kirtland area. And so now he's commanded to come to Adam on Diamond and serve as a bishop there, if not in name at least. Indeed. And to forsake some of those people that maybe he's still friends with who are actually associated with the dissenters of the Church. The Lord is asking him to be ashamed of that group and to have no more to do with them. Cut your ties, come out here to Missouri and let's start afresh. Let's put you in a position of influence here and move forward. And Marx is to preside in the midst of God's people in Far west, probably alluding to a call to serve in the presidency of the Church in Far West. And Newell K. Whitney is also to come in and have his influence there too.
- [74:42]
A
Now, the last part of the revelation addresses Oliver Green Granger, and we'll talk about him in just a second. But here's the text again. I say unto you, I remember my servant Oliver Granger. Behold, verily I say unto him that his name shall be had in sacred remembrance from generation to generation, forever and ever, saith the Lord. Therefore let him contend earnestly for the redemption of the first presidency of my church, saith the Lord. And when he falls, he shall rise again, for his sacrifice shall be more sacred unto me than his increase, saith the Lord. Lord, therefore let him come up hither speedily unto the land of Zion, and in the due time he shall be made a merchant unto my name, saith the Lord, for the benefit of my people, therefore let no man despise my servant Oliver Granger, but let the blessings of my people be on him forever and ever and again. Verily I say unto you, let all my servants in the land of Kirtland remember the Lord their God and mine house also, to keep and preserve it holy, and to overthrow the money changers in mine own due time, since, saith the Lord, even so. Amen. These verses just completely flew over my head because William Marks and Newell K. Whitney go on to be quite well known in the church. William Marks is practically one of the founders of Community of Christ. Newell K. Whitney, his family is still influential in the church. Today, Orson F. Whitney was one of his descendants, but Oliver Granger, not so much. In fact, if you go to Kirtland, right next to the Kirtland Temple, there is a cemetery. And it takes a little searching, but you can find this little triangular headstone that's pockmarked, that really looks like it's seen better days. And the name Oliver Granger is on it. But the guy that was writing Oliver Granger actually ran out of space and put a really small R there. And the first couple times I went to Kirtland, this was like comedy, you know, for historians. Like, look at. They messed up on this headstone. And one time I was sitting there and we had a. It was for a historical association meeting. The guy that was giving us the tour was making a joke. And I looked over, and one of my mentors, Craig Osler, was just, like, furious, like, so mad that this guy was making light of Oliver Granger and just pointing out the error on his headstone and not saying anything about him. Oliver Granger is one of the unsung heroes of Churchill history. He's asked to stay behind. So where the Lord is telling William Marks and Newell K. Whitney to leave Kirtland, Oliver is being told, you got to stay, which is an incredibly hostile environment to live in. But the Lord tells him, I need you to contend earnestly for the redemption of the first presidency of my church. Referring to their debts. I need you to stay behind and arrange our affairs. Joseph Smith later wrote in his history, as I was driven away from Kirtland without the privilege of settling my business, I had previous to this, employed Colonel Oliver Granger as my agent to close all my affairs in the eastern states. And as I have been accused of running away, cheating my creditors, and as the church left Kirtland, Granger is asked to go back. So his job is to basically uphold the good name of the First Presidency and therefore the church. Church in the sight of everybody. So it was an interesting experience. Craig Osler took me aside afterwards and read some of these verses and said, gosh, I wish people would stop making that joke about his headstone. Because the Lord tells him how difficult this is going to be and even goes out of his way to use those beautiful phrases, his sacrifice shall be more than his increase. And then the Lord says this. Let no man despise my servant Oliver Granger. Let the blessings of the my people be upon him forever. He's one of those people that does amazing things and deserves a little bit more credit for what he does.
- [78:23]
B
Yeah, well, Said, and I remember President Packer standing up in general conference and talking about Oliver Granger. And he quoted verse 12 where he says, verily I say unto him that his name shall be had in sacred remembrance from generation to generation, forever and ever. And President Packer was there saying, essentially, let's remember this man to help fulfill verse 12. This is a prophecy that. Remember Oliver Granger, and let's hold his name in sacred remembrance.
- [78:50]
A
Whenever I go to Kirtland, like, no matter how hot it is or if it's, like, raining, we go to the headstone, and I take at least like, five minutes to just basically say, we are going to fulfill section 117 which says, his name shall be had in sacred remembrance. So. So that's me being cantankerous. I guess. I'm fine with people making fun of the headstone. That wasn't Oliver Granger's fault, but the Lord wants us to remember this guy.
- [79:19]
B
Yes. Perfect. Are there any controversies with this section?
- [79:27]
A
I can't think of anything. It seems pretty straightforward. Gather Oliver. Unfortunately, you have to stay and we'll talk a little bit bit about what happens to Oliver Granger. But that's more of a consequences section kind of thing.
- [79:38]
B
I like it. Yeah, I can't think of any controversies either. So on to the consequences. So both Newell K. Whitney and William Marks actually do gather to Missouri in the fall of 1838. The Lord said, come before it snows, remember? And so I believe they made that. That cut. So when they arrived in Missouri, they found the Saints in turmoil. Actually, many Saints were forced to abandon their own homes as such. Neither of these callings from the Lord were ever carried out. This is one of those that was disrupted again by the mob. And so does William Marks become a member of the Stake presidency in that area? He does not. Does Newell K. Whitney become a bishop in that area? He does not. However, William Marks will go on in Nauvoo to become a Stake president there, and Newell K. Whitney will be a bishop in Nauvoo. So the blessings are basically transferred from Far west to Nauvoo. Nauvoo. Because of the dirty, nasty, stinking mob. But we'll talk more about them next week. Following the expulsion in Missouri, the extermination order and all that, like Newell K. Whitney actually helps to relocate the Saints to Nauvoo. And as I said, he's going to serve as a bishop there. He'll serve as an alderman, a member of the council of 50, and a trustee in trust for the church following Joseph smith's death in October 1844. Newell K. Whitney is actually appointed to be what they called the first bishop, but today we would call the presiding bishop over the whole church. And he'll serve faithfully in that calling until his death in Salt Lake City in 1849. Meanwhile, William Marx, who is appointed as the stake president in Nauvoo, will also serve as a member of the Council of 50. But following Joseph Smith's death, he actually allies himself with Sidney Rigdon. And when Sidney Rigdon was rejected as the new leader of the church, Marx actually leaves Nauvoo. He'll wander through several different splinter movements over the next few years. He finally rejoins the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which is now the Community of Christ, and dies in Plano, Iowa, in 1872. In fact, he was influential in the creation of the Community of Christ, wasn't he?
- [81:33]
A
Yeah, he's one of the two people, along with Jason Briggs, who you could say sort of started the ball rolling, and then it really gains momentum when Joseph Smith III agrees to lead. Lead that church. So he's honored among them. And William Marks did a lot of good stuff. Like, honestly, I'm appreciative of what he did. I wish he would have come west with Brigham Young. Now, let me talk about Oliver Granger. Okay. Oliver Granger stays behind in Kirtland. He serves faithfully in his calling. He labors diligently to pay off his debts and to answer accusations against the leaders of the church who'd fled Kirtland. And in appreciation for his willingness to carry out this really tough job, the First Presidency wrote a letter of commendation to Granger in May 1839. And it reads, as we have always found President Oliver Granger to be a man of the most strict integrity and moral virtue, and in fine to be a man of God. We have had long experience and acquaintance with brother Granger. We have entrusted vast business concerns to him, which have been managed skillfully to the support of our characters and interests, interest as well as that of the church. The letter also contains a blessing for Granger, written in revelatory language, which the Lord declares, and again, verily, thus saith the Lord, I will lift up my servant Oliver and beget for him a great name on the earth and among my people, because of the integrity of his soul. Therefore let all my saints abound unto him with all liberality and long suffering, and it shall be a blessing on their head. Now, Oliver Granger stays in Kirtland until he passes away. But his name is still held in sacred remembrance to this day for upholding the integrity of the church and its leaders. And let me just add one more thing. I never made this connection, but last year I went to Nauvoo to film a video about the founding of the Relief Society. And I'd never made this connection before, but one of the most important figures in founding the Relief Society was a woman named Sarah, Sarah Granger Kimball. She's one of the people that first says, we need an organization for women so we can help build the temple. And that goes through several iterations and finally becomes the Relief Society. Sarah Granger is Oliver Granger's daughter. And so while her dad is back contending for the First Presidency, and I think he probably passed away by the time Relief Society was organized, she is organizing this group that is going to be so important to the role of Latter Day Saint women in the church. Church and in our work throughout the world. So I think that's one way that his name is held in honorable remembrance, too. But I also would like to think that you and me and every little visit we make to Kirtland, and every time we stop past his grave or read section 117, goes a little further towards doing what the Lord said would happen, that he would have a great name on earth and among my people. So, yeah, I'm a little touchy about Oliver Granger. That got passed on to me from Craig Oliver Gossler. But I appreciated, like, Craig's righteous indignation that day that we were standing in the Kirtland cemetery and he's passed it on to me, and now I pass it on to you. Don't get grouchy, but a little contending for Oliver Granger to be more well known, I think is. Is a good thing.
- [84:41]
B
Let's contend for the man who contended for the First Presidency. Like, that's a good guy. That is a good guy. Beautiful man. That totally wraps up up our first episode of section 115 to 117. So join us in our next episode for sections 118 through 120. Some pretty big revelations, some fun stories, very consequential revelations in terms of how we do things today as well.
- [85:06]
A
The mission of the 12, the law of Tithing. There's some big stuff to talk about, even if these are short sections. So join us for episode two with.
- [85:13]
B
Plenty of controversies too, I might add. So buckle up and we'll see you over there. Episode two.