Dr. Garrett Dirkmaat (38:47)
Our family to learn these articles. All right. We're memorizing the articles of faith. Your son's like, why all of a sudden, dad? You'll know. Because I need. The next time an apostle comes and it happens to be the day that you're called to a priesthood office. I need this, son. I need this. I need this for me. Anyway, it's a really good example of how having a contemporary record helps solidify the things. Now you even have some direct quotes there. Now, even though you have some direct quotes. If I were doing an L, Tom Perry Collected Papers, you know, if we were publishing the L Tom paper, L. Tom Papers, the L Tom Perry Papers collection, we wouldn't include your transcript of the few lines that you put in quotes here, even though they're very likely, very accurate and they are contemporary. Like you wrote them down at the time. Why? Well, because it's not the entirety of what he said. Now, maybe if there was enough, and maybe you were like, you know, you were copying it all on the fly, like you're some kind of court reporter and you're. You can type 700 words a minute, and that would be different. Right, but what would we do with that source? We would. Let's say that there was an official transcript or maybe he wrote in his journal or he included a copy of his talk in there. Then we would footnote that talk with the source that you have, you know, one of the. One of the members in attendance, you know, the, the ward, you know, building coordinator Richard, I don't know what you were at the time, you know, wrote in his journal that Elder Perry said, and that's how we do it. So you would be a footnoting source. You'd be a source that would let us provide some insight into the. The talk. But we wouldn't feature, you know, your, your what you wrote down as the talk. You can see the difference there. And so with Joseph Smith sources, we have this problem all the time because especially by the late Utah period, there are all kinds of people saying, I remember when Joseph said X. And in general, in fact, almost in total, that recollection is not a Joseph Smith. It's not a Joseph Smith document. Even if the person starts to say, Joseph said, and I quote, we don't take that as a Joseph Smith sermon. So I can tell Stephen, you know, since he's the only one listening now, or probably even he's given up. Cheers, Stephen. But that as someone who worked on Documents, Volume one, these earliest Joseph Smith documents, and that dividing point between the. The two volumes was right there. Our volume, Documents Volume One, went all the way to June of 1831. And the next Documents volume, which other scholars were working on, started in July of 1831. And what Phelps is claiming in this letter is that it was July 17, 1831, in Missouri, actually in the Indian Territory west of Missouri, that Joseph Smith received this revelation that would actually make it the earliest revelation that Joseph Smith received in Missouri. That that honor right now goes to Doctrine and Covenants, Section 57. Doctrine Covenant, Section 57 was received on July 20, 1831. So this source, and maybe we should read some of it because the email gave us part of it. Just, just part of it, though. But it's important to know you. You could, you could go into the church archives and, and see this, this document. It's Ms. 4583, if you're, if you're doing some church history library searches right now for it. And this is how it starts off. President Brigham Young, I have the pleasure of sending you. And then it says the substance, and it has the substance underlined three times as a point of emphasis. President Brigham Young, I have the pleasure of sending you the substance of a revelation by Joseph Smith Jr. Given over the boundary west of Jackson County, Missouri, on Sunday morning, July 17, 1831, when seven elders, including Joseph Smith Jr. Oliver Cowdery, W.W. phelps, Martin Harris, Joseph Ko, Ziba Peterson, and Joshua Lewis, united their hearts in prayer in a private place to inquire the Lord who should preach the first sermon to the remnants of the Lamanites and the Nephites and the people of that section that should assemble that day in Indian country to hear the gospel and the revelations according to the Book of Mormon. Among the company there being neither pen, ink or paper, Joseph remarked that the Lord could preserve his words as he had, as he had done till the time appointed and preceded. And now this point. He then begins to, even with verses, quote, or at least provide what appeared to be a quote of a revelation that Joseph Smith gave. And I mean, it's in revelation format. Like I said, he even has it versified. And for instance, it starts, verily, verily, saith the Lord, your redeemer even Jesus Christ, the light and the life of the world. You cannot discern with your natural eyes the designs and the purpose of your Lord and your God in bringing you thus far into the wilderness for a trial of your faith. And to be a special ministers to bear testimony of this. This work. Oh, sorry. Testimony of this land upon which the Zion of God shall be built up in the last days when it is redeemed. So that's that first verse that he's writing. So you notice he's writing this as if he does have a. I mean, he's even putting the verily, verily saith the Lord in there. Right. He's writing it as if this is a word for word transcript of the revelation that Joseph gave. Yet how do I know that it's not a word for word transcript? What are some of the textual clues that tell me that? Well, first he starts off by saying this is the substance of a revelation Joseph Smith gave. What's very interesting is there. Now this is going to come as a huge shock to those of you listening, but there are several anti Mormon websites. Yes, yes, I know they exist. And when they use this revelation as a means of trying to attack, you know, the discussion about polygamy and, and other aspects of this, they actually, several of them, I noticed, provide that. They cut that part out where I'm looking at the original document right now. Right, Richard, you can see it. I'd even told you, I mean, it's right there. President Brigham Young, I have the pleasure of sending you the substance. And again, the substance is underlined three times each word. The underline three times substance underlined of a revelation by Joseph. Well, that's a clue right away that this is not word for word transcription. Whatever I'm about to read is only the substance of what was spoken, meaning the gist of it, or this is just part of it. I mean, whatever. I mean, it's however, remembers. Now, again, that does not mean that there was no revelation, and it also does not mean that there was no. That it didn't even have some of the same topics in it. But what does it mean? Unlike other revelations that I know were recorded at the time, that I have records of at the time, I need to be incredibly careful, especially with the particular words, phrases and maybe even ideas that Phelps is now providing here. Maybe. Should we go on and read more of it? Yeah, I mean, why not? I mean, we've come, we've come. We've come this far. Yeah, verily. This is verse two of this Purported revelation. Verily. Inasmuch as you are united in calling upon my name to know the my will concerning who shall preach to the inhabitants that shall assemble this day to hear what new doctrine you have to teach them, you have done wisely, for so did the ancient prophets, even Enoch and Abraham and others. And therefore, it is my will that my servant Oliver Cowdery should open the meeting with prayer, that my servant W.W. phelps should preach the discourse, and that my servant Joseph Coe and Ziba Peterson should bear testimony, and that they shall, as they shall be moved upon by the Holy Spirit. This will be pleasing in the sight of your Lord.
