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Date:         Wed, 8 Apr 1992 22:31:00 EST
From:         The Nuzz <V063KC44@UBVMS.BITNET>
Subject:      Revelations?

Doug Gould writes...

[... ...]

dg> Our belief in modern revelation is the one unique feature of The Church of
dg> Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, or Mormon) that distinguishes us
dg> from all other Christian denominations.  We believe all that the Lord has
dg> revealed to His chosen prophets in times past, and we welcome all that He
dg> now reveals in these latter days.  And we believe He will yet reveal many
dg> great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God here on earth.

     This raises a few questions.

     If the President of the Church receives revelations, why hasn't there
     been any additions to the canon of scripture from any of the later
     Presidents? Why has the ranks of the revelators been closed since 1847?
     Especially since the Church now has in its possession the original
     papyri to complete the Book of Abraham?

     If the answer to this question is that the ``revelations'' consist of
     the teachings of the General Authorities (especially at conferences),
     why then do the current leaders of the Church repudiate the concepts of
     Adam-god, individual blood atonement, and rebaptism of the membership,
     and ignore the many false prophecies given in the last century by the
     (then) General Authorities?

                             +         +         +

     Although the Mormon Church claims to be led by revelation, Joseph F.
     Smith, the sixth President of the Mormon Church, testified as follows in
     the Reed Smoot Investigation:

     Senator Dubois: Have you ever received any revelations from God, which
                     has been submitted by you and the apostles to the body
                     of the church in their semiannual conference, which
                     revelation has been sustained by that conference,
                     through the upholding of their hands?

     Mr. Smith:      Since when?

     Senator Dubois: Since you became President of the of the Church.

     Mr. Smith:      No, sir; none whatsoever.

     Senator Dubois: Have you ever received any individual revelations
                     yourself, since you became President of the church under
                     your own definition, even, of a revelation?

     Mr. Smith:      I cannot say that I have.

     Senator Dubois: Can you say that you have not?

     Mr. Smith:      No; I cannot say that I have not.

     Senator Dubois: Then you do not know whether you have received any such
                     revelation as you have described or whether you have
                     not?

     Mr. Smith:      Well, I can say this: That if I live as I should in the
                     line of my duties, I am susceptible, I think, of the
                     impressions of the Spirit of the Lord upon my mind at
                     any time, just as any good Methodist or any other church
                     member might be. And so far as that is concerned, I say
                     yes; I have had impressions of the Spirit upon my mind
                     very frequently, but they are not in the sense of
                     revelations. (_Reed Smoot Case_, vol. 1, pages 483-484)

     On page 99 of the same volume, Joseph Smith stated: ``I have never
     pretended to not do I profess to have received revelations.'' From this
     it is plain to see that just because a man is ordained a ``Prophet,
     Seer, and Revelator,'' it does not necessarily mean that he is. If
     Joseph F. Smith was only as susceptible to the impressions of the Spirit
     of the Lord as ``any good Methodist,'' then why should his word be
     trusted above that of a good Methodist?

                             +         +         +

     On April 3, 1976, the Church Section of the _Deseret News_ reported:
     ``Two revelations received by former Presidents of the Church, were
     accepted as scripture Saturday afternoon, April 3, by a vote of the
     church membership...

     ``The new scriptures, which will be arranged in verses as part of the
     Pearl of Great Price, include the account of the prophet Joseph Smith's
     vision of the Celestial Kingdom received Jan. 21, 1836...''

     It was later decided that these revelations should be added to the
     _Doctrine and Covenants_. In any case, after these two revelations were
     canonized by the Mormon Church, Michael Marquardt, a student of Church
     history, discovered that the one concerning Joseph Smith's vision of the
     Celestial Kingdom had been altered. Mr. Marquardt found that this
     revelation was recorded in Joseph Smith's own diary under the date of
     January 21, 1836, and read as follows:

          ``The heavens were opened upon us and I beheld the celestial
          Kingdom of God,...I saw father Adam and Abraham and Michael and my
          father and mother, my brother Alvin...'' (_Joseph Smith's 1835-36
          Diary_, January 21, 1836; printed by Modern Microfilm Co.)

     When the Mormon leaders printed this revelation they deleted the words
     ``AND MICHAEL'' without any indication. It reads as follows in the new
     edition of the _Doctrine and Covenants_:

          ``The heavens were opened upon us, and I beheld the celestial
          kingdom of God,...I saw Father Adam and Abraham; and my mother and
          father; my brother Alvin,...'' (_Doctrine and Covenants_, 1981,
          Section 137, verses 1,5)

     At first glance the deletion of the words, ``and Michael'' does not
     appear to be too important. In Mormon theology, however, a serious
     problem is created by the statement, ``I saw father Adam and Abraham and
     Michael.'' According to Joseph Smith's other revelations, Adam is
     Michael. Mormon leaders must have been aware that this would create a
     problem in Mormon theology, and therefore they deleted the words, ``and
     Michael'' from the revelation.

     This change was apparently made sometime while the Church was under
     Brigham Young's leadership. The fact that the change was made after
     Joseph Smith's death is evident from Mr. Marquardt's research. He found
     that the revelation was copied into the handwritten manuscript of the
     _History of the Church_ (Book B-1, p. 695), with the words, ``and
     Michael'' still included. Mr. Marquardt also found that the words were
     in the duplicate copy of the ``Manuscript History,'' (Book B-2, p. 618).
     This is significant because Mormon leaders did not even start the
     duplicate copy until almost a year *after* Joseph Smith's death (see
     _Brigham Young University Studies_, Summer 1971, p. 469). This would
     mean that the change had to have been made *after* Smith's death. By the
     time the revelation was published in the _Deseret News_, September 4,
     1852, the words, ``and Michael'' had been deleted. Thus it appears that
     the current Mormon leaders have canonized a falsified revelation.

     With regard to the vision of the Celestial Kingdom, it is also
     interesting to note that the Mormon leaders have only canonized the
     first part of the vision. Over 200 words that appear in Joseph Smith's
     diary are not included. ( the _History of the Church_ 2:380-81 also
     bears witness to this fact.) Among the words missing from the canonized
     revelation, we find the following:

          ``...I also beheld Elder McLellin in the South, standing upon a
          hill surrounded with a vast multitude preaching to them and a lame
          man standing before him supported by his crutches, he threw them
          down at his word and leaped as a heart, by the mighty power of
          God...''

     It would probably prove to be embarrassing if the Mormon leaders
     canonized this prophecy about McLellin, because the _History of the
     Church_ informs us that he was ``Excommunicated from the Church at Far
     West. Thence forward he took an active part in the persecution of the
     Saints in Missouri, and at one time expressed a desire to do violence to
     the person of Joseph Smith,...Subsequently he attempted what he called a
     reorganization of the church,...'' (Vol. 3, pp. 31-32)

     In the same revelation Joseph Smith claimed that he ``saw the 12
     apostles of the Lamb who are now upon the earth who hold the keys of
     this last ministry in foreign lands standing together in a circle...and
     I finally saw the 12 in the celestial Kingdom of God...''

     In the Bible, Jesus predicted that the Apostle Judas would fall; Joseph
     Smith, however, seemed to be oblivious to what was about to happen to
     his Apostles. At least half of them apparently died out of the church
     (see _Essentials in Church History_, 1942, pp 663-665). Since Apostles
     William E. McLellin and William Smith (Joseph Smith's own brother)
     tried very hard to destroy the Mormon Church, we wonder how Joseph Smith
     could have seen ``the 12 in the celestial kingdom of God.'' In any case,
     the present-day leaders of the Mormon Church did not seem to feel that
     it would be wise to canonize this part of the revelation.
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