The Law of Consecration

D&C 78, 82, 83, 85

Folklore

• The law of consecration was revealed as a specific practice early in church history

• The Saints could not live it• The Lord repealed, suspended, revoked the law

and gave instead the lower law of tithing• Someday, when the Lord says, the saints will live

the higher law of consecration again• Where is this in the Doctrine & Covenants?

The law of sacrifice and the law of consecration have not been done away with and are still in effect.

Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, 639

What IS Consecration?

• To consecrate is to sanctify or to make sacred.– 1. OED: "The action of rendering sacred; hallowing.“– 2. Webster's 1828: "To make or declare to be sacred,

by certain ceremonies or rites; to appropriate to sacred uses; to set apart, dedicate, or devote, to the service and worship of God. . .“

• A fundamental principle of the law of consecration is best expressed in a temple prayer, Psalm 24:1: "The earth is the Lord‘s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.“

What is NOT Consecration?

• “And many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime.” (Alma 30:17)

• “And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.” (Deuteronomy 8:17)

Why do we put it off?• What is there to stop me from

observing and keeping the law of consecration at this very day as I have already covenanted and promised to do without reservation?

• The express purpose of the law of consecration is the building up of Zion; it is God’s plan, and his alone, for doing that. We do not wait until Zion is here to observe it; it is rather the means of bringing us nearer to Zion.

• The Purpose of the Doctrine and Covenants, you will find, is to implement the Law of Consecration.

Three Pillars of Consecration

• Agency – We must choose willingly to participate

• Stewardship – We must take on our portion of the work

• Accountability – We must remain responsible for what we have been assigned

Agency

• Don’t condescend to very great particulars in taking inventories. . . . A man is bound by the law of the Church, to consecrate to the Bishop, before he can be considered a legal heir to the kingdom of Zion; and this, too, without constraint; and unless he does this, he cannot be acknowledged before the Lord on the Church Book. . . . Every man must be his own judge how much he should receive and how much he should suffer to remain in the hands of the Bishop.– Joseph Smith to Edward Partridge, June 25, 1833, History of the Church, 1:364-65.

Stewardship

• Bro. William--You say ‘my press, my types, &c.’ W[h]ere, our brethren ask, did you get them & how came they to be ‘yours’? No hardness, but a caution, for you know that it is We, not I, and all things are the Lord’s, and he opened the hearts of his Church to furnish these things, or we should not have been privileged with using them.– Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, 338-39, cross ref. Deuteronomy 8:18

AccountabilityWhile I dictate this letter, I fancy to myself that you are saying or

thinking something similar to these words: ‘. . . . What shall become of those who are essaying to come up unto Zion, in order to keep the commandments of God, and yet receive not their inheritance by consecration, by order of deed from the Bishop . . . agreeably to the law. . .’ . . . I will proceed to answer your question . . . It is contrary to the will and commandment of God [D&C 42] that those who receive not their inheritance by consecration, agreeable to his law, which he has given, that he may tithe his people, to prepare them against the day of vengeance and burning, should have their names enrolled with the people of God. Neither is their genealogy to be kept, or to be had where it may be found on any of the records or history of the church. Their names shall not be found, neither the names of their fathers, nor the names of the children written in the book of the law of God, saith the Lord of Hosts.– Joseph to William Phelps, Nov 27, 1832 (D&C 85:3-5)

History of Law of Consecration

• D&C 38 told them to go to “the Ohio,” where they would learn “the law”

• D&C 42 provided the grounding principles• Practiced briefly in both Kirtland and Missouri• Problems arose immediately

D&C 78

• Deals primarily with the Lord’s assets, especially the building of Zion and publishing the Book of Commandments

• Primary purpose is to show how to use a profitable mercantile store to finance Church endeavors

• Manuscript volume spoke of “an organization of the literary and mercantile establishments of my church”

• Published revelation said “an organization of my people”

Centrality of CharityNo matter how positively we are

perceived in the eyes of the world — should we fail in this great core commandment to 'succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees,' or turn our hearts from those who suffer and mourn, we are under condemnation and cannot please the Lord, and the jubilant hope of our hearts will ever be distant.

-Bishop Burton

D&C 82• Joseph later wrote that a week after the tar and feathering,

he “started for Missouri in company with Newel K. Whitney, Peter Whitmer, and Jesse Gause to fulfill the revelation [D&C 78].”

• The visit eased tension between Kirtland and Missouri.• Joseph’s history wrote that in these meetings, “difficulty or

hardness which had exited between Bishop Partridge and Elder Rigdon was amicably settled, and when we came together in the afternoon all hearts seemed to rejoice, and I received the following Revelation given April, 1832, shewing the order given to Enoch and the Church in his day.”

Results

• United Firm organized the very next day• The firm made lots of progress for a year, but

then persecution set them back• Finally dissolved in 1834• But did that mean the end of the Law of

Consecration?

The PrincipleIt was my endeavor to so

organize the church, that the brethren might eventually be independent of every incumbrance beneath the celestial Kingdom, by bonds and covenants of mutual friendship, and mutual love.

D&C 83

• Few days after section 82• Visited various settlements in MO• Concerned over the families of missionaries

D&C 85

• Letter from Joseph Smith to William Phelps on November 27, 1832

• Trying to handle the flow of migration• Joseph discerned by “the still small voice” and

wrote the revealed answers

It is contrary to the will and commandment of God [D&C 42, 51, 70] that those who receive not their inheritance by consecration, agreeable to his law, which he has given, that he may tithe his people, to prepare them against the day of vengeance and burning, should have their names enrolled with the people of God. Neither is their genealogy to be kept, or to be had where it may be found on any of the records or history of the church. Their names shall not be found, neither the names of their fathers, nor the names of the children written in the book of the law of God, saith the Lord of Hosts. D&C 85:3-5

D&C 85:7

Perhaps no other passage in the revelations of the Lord, in this dispensation, has given rise to so much speculation as this one. Also, it has been used by vain and foolish men to bolster up their vagaries of speculation, and in some cases their pretensions to great power and high positions they were to attain in the Church. First Presidency, 1905

D&C 85:7• Edward Partridge?• “I the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong,

holding the scepter of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order the house of God, and to arrange by lot the inheritances of the saints whose names are found, and the names of their fathers, and of their children, enrolled in the book of the law of God.”

D&C 85:8

“While that man, who was called of God and appointed, that putteth forth his hand to steady the ark of God, shall fall by the shaft of death like as a tree that is smitten by the vivid shaft of lightning.”

D&C 85:7

Brother Joseph says, that the item in his letter that says, that the man that is called &c. and puts forth his hand to steady the ark of God, does not mean that any one had at the time, but it was given for a caution to those in high standing to beware, lest they, should fall by the shaft of death as the Lord had said.

Oliver Cowdery to John Whitmer, Jan 1, 1834, Cowdery Letterbook 15, Huntington Library

“It is a duty…”

• Revelation required a history and general church record

• The same day this revelation was received, Joseph purchased his first journal

• In 1841, they created “The Book of the Law of the Lord”

The Original Manuscript

• What stands out? Did it give you a new perspective?

When we consecrate our property to the Lord it is to administer to the wants of the poor and needy, for this is the law of God. . . . Now for a man to consecrate his property, wife and children, to the Lord, is nothing more nor less than to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the widow and fatherless, the sick and afflicted, and do all he can to administer to their relief in their afflictions, and for him and his house to serve the Lord. In order to do this, he and all his house must be virtuous, and must shun the very appearance of evil.– Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 127

• In pondering and pursuing consecration, understandably we tremble inwardly at what may be required. Yet the Lord has said consolingly, “My grace is sufficient for you” (D&C 17:8). Do we really believe Him? He has also promised to make weak things strong (Ether 12:27). Are we really willing to submit to that process? Yet if we desire fulness, we cannot hold back part!– Elder Neal A. Maxwell, April Conference, 2002

• Be it known that I Willford Woodruff do freely covenant with my God that I freely consecrate and dedicate myself together with all my properties and affects unto the Lord for the purpose of assisting in building up his kingdom even Zion on the earth that I may keep his law and lay all things before the bishop of his Church that I may be a lawful heir to the Kingdom of God even the Celestial Kingdom– Willford Woodruff Journal, December 31, 1834