Leadership Crisis at Fayette

Kevin Hinckley Khinckley1@yahoo.com

Signs of the Times…

For Pat Downes, Ron Smith, et al

Summer, 1830

Joseph is living in Harmony (Translation) Oliver Cowdrey with his inlaws, the WhitmersTwo points of difficulty arise:

The editing of the Constitution of the Church (Section 20)

Hiram Page Incident

Joseph moves to Fayette and a conference is held at the Peter Whitmer home

D&C 28

1 Behold, I say unto thee, Oliver…

2 …no one shall be appointed to receive commandments and revelations in this church excepting my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., for he receiveth them even as Moses.

3 And thou shalt be obedient unto the things which I shall give unto him, even as Aaron, to declare faithfully the commandments and the revelations, with power and authority unto the church.

6 And thou shalt not command him who is at thy head, and at the head of the church;

11 And again, thou shalt take thy brother, Hiram Page, between him and thee alone, and tell him that those things which he hath written from that stone are not of me and that Satan deceiveth him;

Journal of Newell Knight

On my arrival [at Fayette] I found Brother Joseph in great distress of mind on account of Hyrum Page, who had managed to get up some dissension of feeling among the brethren by giving revelations concerning the government of the Church and other matters, which he claimed to have received through the medium of a stone he possessed. …

Even Oliver Cowdery and the Whitmer family had given heed to them,

although they were in contradiction to the New Testament and the revelations of these last days. Here was a chance for Satan to work among the little flock, and he sought by this means to accomplish what persecution failed to do.

Joseph was perplexed and scarcely knew how to meet this new exigency.

That night I occupied the same room that he did and the greater part of the night was spent in prayer and supplication. After much labor with these brethren they were convinced of their error, and confessed the same, renouncing the revelations as not being of God,

1913 First Presidency Message(Quoted by Harold B. Lee in 1972 Conference)

From the days of Hiram Page . . . at different periods there have been manifestations from delusive spirits to members of the Church. . . .

When visions, dreams, tongues, prophecy, impressions or an extraordinary gift of inspiration convey something out of harmony with the accepted revelations of the Church or contrary to the decisions of its constituted authorities, Latter-day Saints may know that it is not of God, no matter how plausible it may appear

They had forgotten earlier revelations

D&C 5:6 For hereafter you [Joseph] shall be ordained and go forth and deliver my words unto the children of men.

9 Behold, verily I say unto you, I have reserved those things which I have entrusted unto you, my servant Joseph, for a wise purpose in me, and it shall be made known unto future generations;

10 But this generation shall have my word through you;

Joseph Smith translated it into English in April 1829 by use of the Urim and Thummim. It is not clear from the Prophet's record whether he actually had the document, or saw it in vision, or was given the translation by inspiration without seeing the document.

Joseph Smith TranslationsRobert J. Matthews, BYU

The Book of Mormon Between 1828 and 1829 Reformed Egyptian

D&C Section 7John the Apostle

April 1829 Probably Aramaic or Greek

The JST June 1830 to 1833 English (Restoration)

The Book of Abraham July 1835 to March 1842 Egyptian

Scroll of Joseph December 1835 Egyptian

Oliver Cowdery reported in December 1835, that the work contained an account of the Creation, the Godhead, the Final Judgment, Enoch's pillar, and other things

Book Timeframe Language

What He revealed through Joseph Smith about Easter

Christian World

Jesus died and rose again

He died for us

We must believe in him

Latter-Day Saints

Jesus died and rose again

He died for us

We must believe in him

We will be resurrected too

We can be exalted

He visited the dead

He visited the Nephites

Question:Question:

What other doctrines or knowledge did Joseph Smith give to the world?

President Gordon B. Hinckley The Cornerstones of Our Faith

Absolutely basic to our faith is our testimony of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who under a divine plan was born in Bethlehem of Judea. … Nothing in all of human history equals the wonder, the splendor, the magnitude, or the fruits of the matchless life of the Son of God, who died for each of us. He is our Savior. He is our Redeemer… He is the chief cornerstone of the church which bears his name,

The second cornerstone is the first vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith…There had been nothing of comparable magnitude since the Son of God walked the earth in mortality. Without it as a foundation stone for our faith and organization, we have nothing. With it, we have everything

The third cornerstone is the Book of Mormon…The Book of Mormon is here. It must be explained. It can be explained only as the translator himself explained its origin. Hand in hand with the Bible, whose companion volume it is, it stands as another witness to a doubting generation that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. It is an unassailable cornerstone of our faith.

Cornerstone number four is the restoration to earth of priesthood power and authority…We have seen the sick healed, the lame made to walk, and the coming of light and knowledge and understanding to those who have been in darkness…These great God-given gifts are the unshakable cornerstones that anchor The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as the individual testimonies and convictions of its members

Faith: The Essence of True Religion, Page 12

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