And now, Oliver Cowdery, I speak unto you and also unto David
Whitmer, by the way of commandment; for behold, I command all men
everywhere to repent, and I speak unto you, even as unto Paul mine
Apostle, _for you are called even with that same calling with
which he was called_.[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. Sec. xviii.]
This revelation is the one which informed these men that Twelve
Apostles would be called and foretold that Oliver Cowdery and David
Whitmer would be appointed to select them. From the above quotation it
is evident that Oliver and David had received the apostleship at that
time, and, of course, Joseph had received it also.[A] This revelation,
let it be remembered, was given in June, 1829, ten months before the
organization of the church in April, 1830. And it was by virtue and
power of that apostleship which holds the keys of the Melchisedek
priesthood, that the church of Christ was organized; elders, high
priests, seventies, and apostles ordained; high councils and stakes of
Zion organized; and the whole church of Christ set in order. It was
not the lesser ordaining the higher--as claimed by Josephite
writers--that is not the order in the church, nor the manner in which
the church was organized on the 6th of April, 1830. It is true that
Joseph and Oliver ordained each other elders "of the church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints," on the day the church was organized; but
they did not do that by virtue of the Aaronic priesthood which had
been conferred upon them, but by virtue of the apostleship they had
received. Joseph and Oliver had just been accepted by their brethren
to be the presiding elders in the church, and proceeded to ordain each
other to that office.[B] Whereupon Josephite writers rush to the
conclusion that by virtue of their ordination to the lesser
priesthood, they proceeded to ordain each other elders in the higher
or Melchisedek priesthood, and that that "eldership ordained high
priests, and apostles," and that the "high priesthood," thus brought
into existence, "by commandment ordained the President of the high
priesthood--the highest office in the church." That is the order of
things by which the Josephite reorganization was brought into
existence; that is, the lesser ordaining the greater! This argument in
support of their proceeding commits them forever to that position,
they cannot escape it, and it damns their organization beyond all hope
of redemption; for nothing can be clearer than the self-evident
proposition that a man cannot give that which he does not possess.
Besides the contention is straight against the statement of the
prophet Joseph himself as to how we in this generation came by the
priesthood, even as published in Josephite works:--
[Footnote A: While in this revelation which refers to Oliver and David
as apostles, Joseph is not called an apostle, yet we know he was such
for in the revelation which commanded that the church be organized on
the 6th of April, 1830, it is said: "Which commandments were given to
Jesus Christ, to be the first elder of this church; and to Oliver
Cowdery, who was called of God an apostle of Jesus Christ, to be the
second elder of the church, and ordained under his hand."--Doc. and
Cov., sec. xx, 2, 3.]
[Footnote B: His. Joseph Smith, Mill. Star, Vol. XIV (Supplement), p.
26.]
"The Savior, Moses, and Elias gave the keys of the priesthood to
Peter, James and John on the mount, when they were transfigured
before him. . . . How have we come at the Priesthood in the last
days? It came down in regular succession. Peter, James and John
had it given to them, and they gave it to others"--presumably
referring to himself and Oliver Cowdery.[A]
[Footnote A: Life of Joseph the Prophet, Josephite edition, p. 493.]
There is no similarity between the organization of the church of
Christ on the 6th of April, 1830, and the alleged reorganization in
1853. The first was organized by men holding the keys of the holy
Melchisedek priesthood--the apostleship--which possesses the power to
organize the church, ordain all the officers therein and set all
things pertaining to it in order. But the "reorganization" is
accomplished by men of very questionable standing and authority as to
their priesthood; and apparently conscious of the inadequacy of even
the priesthood they claim to have possessed to perform the task before
them--virtually the organization of the church of Christ--they fly to
the untenable position, as false in philosophy as it is in fact, that
the lesser can ordain the greater, until that greater thus created can
ordain a still greater, even the greatest of all! Investigated, then,
"in the rigid character of the facts in the first organization," the
"reorganization" is found strewn along the sharp-edged rocks of
absurdity; and the conviction is forced upon the mind of the
investigator that Mr. Smith was not ordained to be "President of the
church" by those holding legal authority.
Josephites lay much stress upon the following passage in one of the
revelations:
I say unto you that ye have received a commandment for a law unto
my church through him whom I have appointed unto you to receive
commandments and revelations from my hand. And this ye shall know
assuredly, that there is none other appointed unto you to receive
commandments and revelations until he be taken, if he abide in me.
But verily, verily, I say unto you, that none else shall be
appointed unto this gift except it be through him, for if it be
taken from him, he shall not have power, except to appoint another
in his stead; and this shall be a law unto you, that ye receive
not the teachings of any that shall come before you as revelations
and commandments; and this I give unto you that you may not be
deceived, that you may know that they are not of me. For verily I
say unto you, that he that is ordained of me, shall come in at the
gate and be ordained, as I have told you before, to teach those
revelations which you have received, and shall receive through him
whom I have appointed.[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. sec. xliii.]
Josephites insist that this revelation provides that the successor of
the prophet Joseph must be appointed by him. Following is their
reasoning upon the passage:
We find in a former commandment, given February, 1831, . . . these
very pertinent and instructive words in respect to _how_ and _by
whom_ the successor of Joseph the Seer would be selected and
appointed. It says: "But verily, verily, I say unto you, that none
else shall be appointed unto this gift [of revelator, seer,
prophet, etc., for the church, to receive 'commandments and
revelations' for a 'law' unto the church--Ed] except it be through
him [Joseph the Seer];" and it then adds that even if the Lord
should take that "gift" from Joseph, he shall not have power
_except_ to appoint another in his stead; so that in any event the
successor in the office of chief presiding seer, prophet and
revelator to the church (which always carries with it the
presidency of the church and its priesthood), must be selected and
appointed through and by the predecessor--Joseph the Seer.[A]
[Footnote A: _The Saints' Herald_, Vol. XXXIX, p. 358, the words in
italics are all the Josephite writer's.]
The circumstances under which the revelation above quoted was given
are these: There came to the church at Kirtland in 1831 a woman making
great pretentions to the power of revealing laws and commandments to
the church; and some of the saints were much perplexed to know in what
light to regard her and her alleged revelations. Joseph, to set their
minds at rest, inquired of the Lord and received the revelation from
which the passage under consideration is taken.[A] The revelation read
in the light of these facts means simply this: First the Lord gives
the saints to understand that He has appointed Joseph Smith, the
prophet, to receive revelations as laws and commandments for His
church and no one else but him, until he should be taken from the
earth, provided he remained faithful to the Lord; second, in the event
of the prophet Joseph not being faithful, even then he shall still
have power to ordain some one else to take his place; third, the one
who succeeds to the position of the prophet Joseph, must come in at
the gate, and be ordained as the Lord had before instructed the
church--that is, he must be accepted by the church, and be ordained by
the direction of a general conference.[B]
[Footnote A: Hist. of Joseph, _Mill. Star_, Vol. XIV, p. 60,
supplement.]
[Footnote B: The revelation teaching that none but Joseph should be
the law-giver to the church until he be taken from the earth if he
remained faithful, etc., was given February, 1831, but before this the
Lord had made it the law of the church that "no person is to be
ordained to any office in this church, where there is a regularly
organized branch of the same, without the vote of that church. . . .
Every president of the high priesthood (or presiding elder) . . . is
to be ordained by the direction of a high council or general
conference."--(Rev. given April, 1830, Doc. and Cov. sec. xx.) The
"president of the high priesthood" is also the President of the
church, hence the foregoing law applies to the President as well as
other officers of the church--he must be sustained by the church and
if he is not, he cannot act in that position.]
The information thus given officially to the church was calculated to
preserve the saints from following unauthorized "law-givers." Through
it they learned that Joseph, if he remained faithful, would be the
law-giver to Israel; if he transgressed he should retain sufficient of
the power of revelation to designate whom the Lord would have to
succeed him; and in that or any other event the man who becomes
President must come in at the gate and be ordained as described in one
of the laws of the church previously given. There was surely no need
after this that any should be deceived. But to argue from what is set
down in this revelation that the only possible way for a successor "in
any event," to be appointed to the church was through Joseph Smith the
prophet, is clearly an error; for the only provision made in this
revelation for him to appoint his successor is in the event of his own
transgression; and I affirm that Joseph Smith was faithful to God and
the church up to the day of his death. Never in his life was he more
faithful, more favored by God, or more powerful, or fruitful in
revelation or intelligence than in the closing year of his life. He
was God's mouthpiece to the church of Christ on earth to the very
moment that he sealed his testimony with his blood at Carthage,
Illinois.
Having received premonitions of his approaching fate, he desired that
his brother Hyrum who had shared his toils, dangers and
responsibilities, and who under all circumstances however trying had
been true and just and merciful--he desired that this brother should
succeed him in leading the church. It so happened, however, in the
providences of God that Hyrum fell a martyr before Joseph; and
therefore the man whom the prophet desired to succeed him, as well as
himself, were taken from the earth. So that notwithstanding the fact
that Joseph desired Hyrum to succeed to the Presidency, and had
appointed him to that place, both himself and the one he appointed
being taken away by the hand of death--the question confronts us just
as it would have done had Joseph never intimated that he wanted Hyrum
to succeed him. And I now ask, in the absence of both Joseph and
Hyrum, where was the authority lodged to lead the church and carry on
the work of God? Was the church disorganized? Had God been so
shortsighted, so unlike himself, as to establish his church in such a
manner that at the death of two of his servants it crumbled to pieces?
Can it be that God, with whom all things are as present, had not
foreseen this fate which overtook his servants Joseph and Hyrum, and
failed to provide for such an emergency? O, charge not the Lord with
such lack of wisdom, or his church with such imperfection in its
organization!