The Papers
Browse the PapersDocumentsJournalsAdministrative RecordsRevelations and TranslationsHistoriesLegal RecordsFinancial RecordsOther Contemporary Papers
Reference
PeoplePlacesEventsGlossaryLegal GlossaryFinancial GlossaryCalendar of DocumentsWorks CitedFeatured TopicsLesson PlansRelated Publications
Media
VideosPhotographsIllustrationsChartsMapsPodcasts
News
Current NewsArchiveNewsletterSubscribeJSP Conferences
About
About the ProjectJoseph Smith and His PapersFAQAwardsEndorsementsReviewsEditorial MethodNote on TranscriptionsNote on Images of People and PlacesReferencing the ProjectCiting This WebsiteProject TeamContact Us
Published Volumes
  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Discourse, 23 July 1843, as Reported by Willard Richards

Source Note

JS, Discourse, [, Hancock Co., IL, 23 July 1843]. Featured version copied [ca. 23 July 1843] in JS, Journal, 1842–1844, bk. 3, pp. [11]–[17]; handwriting of . For more complete source information, see the source note for JS, Journal, 1842–1844.

Historical Introduction

During the afternoon of 23 July 1843, JS preached a discourse in , Illinois, on various subjects and clarified statements he had made on previous occasions. The sermon continued themes from a discourse JS delivered on 9 July on the differences between the and other Christian faiths, with JS declaring on both occasions that church members should love others and that they should receive truth regardless of the source.
The 23 July 1843 discourse also clarified comments JS made a week earlier that he “would not p[r]ophecy any more” and that his brother “should be the prophet.” The morning after JS made those remarks, some Saints expressed concerns over this announcement, believing JS was resigning his position as church . On 23 July, JS explained his previous comment in two ways: First, he stated that he was speaking “Ironically,” assuming that the Saints would understand his meaning, and that he was not actually denying he was a prophet but that he intended to stop “procla[i]ming myself such.” Second, JS stated that he could “adva[n]ce f[ro]m prophet to pri[e]st & then to King.” Whereas Christians historically used these titles to refer to the threefold office of Jesus Christ, JS suggested in the 23 July discourse that human beings could attain these titles in a progressive fashion and that by allowing Hyrum Smith to assume the role of “prophet,” JS could become a “priest.” In the remainder of the discourse, JS connected this discussion with the ministry of John the Baptist, whom he referred to as a “king” and “lawgiver.”
recorded an extensive account of this discourse in JS’s journal. Richards likely recorded rough notes from the discourse in a small booklet or loose sheets, which he later copied—with minimal polishing—in JS’s journal. and recorded shorter accounts in their journals. The polished language in the accounts by Burgess and Richards suggests that both inscribed their versions after the fact based on notes or perhaps memory. All three accounts are featured here.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Discourse, 9 July 1843.

  2. [2]

    Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, to Brigham Young, New York City, NY, 18–19 July 1843, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; see also Discourse, 16 July 1843.

    Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.

  3. [3]

    See Revelation 1:6. Prominent reformer John Calvin connected the titles, and the doctrine of the threefold office of Jesus Christ became important in Reformed and Lutheran theology. The phrase was also widely used in nineteenth-century American Protestant discourse. For instance, the popular hymn “I Know That My Redeemer Lives,” which was included in the church’s 1835 hymnal, states, “He lives my Prophet, Priest, and King.” Likewise, Presbyterian minister Ashbel Green explained that while certain Old Testament figures fulfilled two of the roles (“David was a king and a prophet”), only Christ fulfilled all three. (Dietrich Ritschl, “Office of Christ,” in Encyclopedia of Christianity, 3:820; Hymn 79, Collection of Sacred Hymns [1835], 107; Green, Lectures on the Shorter Catechism, 316; see also “The Council of Fifty in Nauvoo, Illinois.”)

    The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Edited by Erwin Fahlbusch, Jan Milič Lochman, John Mbiti, Jaroslav Pelikan, and Lukas Vischer. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. 5 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans; Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill, 1999–2008.

    Green, Ashbel. Lectures on the Shorter Catechism of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America Addressed to Youth. Vol. 1. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1841.

  4. [4]

    For more information on Willard Richards’s note-taking methods, see Historical Introduction to Discourse, 4 July 1843.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Discourse, 23 July 1843, as Reported by Willard Richards Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 3, 15 July 1843–29 February 1844 *Discourse, 23 July 1843, as Reported by Franklin D. Richards *Discourse, 23 July 1843, as Reported by James Burgess History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [15]

priest & king— & I will adva[n]ce f[ro]m prophet to pri[e]st & then to King not to the kingdoms of this earth but of the most high god.
If I should would there be a great many disappoitd [disappointed] in ?
Law & prop[h]ets. &c— suffereth violenc[e] & the viol[e]nt taketh it by force— heavens and earth shall pass away. &c says christ. he was the rock &c—— gave the law 30 Ex. 30.31.— and thou shalt anoint A[a]ron &c. last chap Ex 15.— and thou shalt anoint. them &c.— a tittle of law which must be fulfilled.— provend hereditary.— fixed on the head of aron— down to Zachariahe— the father of John.—— Zachariah had no child— <​had not​> god gave him a son? [p. [15]]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [15]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Discourse, 23 July 1843, as Reported by Willard Richards
ID #
1125
Total Pages
7
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:492–495
Handwriting on This Page
  • Willard Richards

Footnotes

  1. [7]

    To explain why he had assigned Hyrum Smith to the “office of prophet” in a discourse given on 16 July 1843, JS discussed the “order of Melchisedek,” named for the “king of Salem” and the “priest of the most high God” mentioned in Hebrews 7. Since the early 1830s, JS’s revelations and teachings emphasized the importance of the Melchizedek priesthood.a In 1842, JS introduced a small group of Latter-day Saints, including apostles Brigham Young and Willard Richards, to a priesthood ceremony—the “endowment”—that was later made available in the temple to all worthy Saints after the temple was completed. JS explained that the endowment was intended to prepare recipients to become as “K[ings] & P[ries]ts unto the most H[igh] G[od],” alluding to Melchizedek and to passages in the book of Revelation.b JS’s scribe Willard Richards—who was not present on 16 July for JS’s announcement that Hyrum Smith would become prophet—wrote in JS’s journal that Hyrum Smith would become prophet, so “that he [JS] might be (a priest).” Two days later, Richards summarized JS’s comments regarding Hyrum in a letter to Brigham Young. Richards clarified that JS “did not tell them he”—presumably meaning JS—“was going to be a priest now nor a King by and by.” In addition, on 27 August, JS stated that the order of Melchizedek “was not the power of a Prophet . . . only”; rather, it was the power “of King & Priest to God to open the windows of Heaven and pour out the peace & Law of endless Life to man.” JS suggested that the church had not yet experienced this power.c Hyrum Smith did not ultimately replace JS as prophet, but on 28 September 1843 JS was “anointed & ordd. [ordained] to the highest and holiest order of the priesthood,” and on 11 April 1844, JS was accepted as “Prophet, Priest & King” by the Council of Fifty, a theocratic organization JS had established in March 1844. JS explained that this office had “nothin[g] to do with temporal things” but was instead related to the kingdom of God.d

    (aDiscourse, 16 July 1843; Hebrews 7:1; Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:57]; Instruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835 [D&C 107:9]. bJS, Journal, 4–5 May 1842; Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 8 Apr. 1844, Clayton copy; Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 7:1; Revelation 1:6; 5:10; see also Historian’s Office, Brigham Young History Drafts, 69. cJS, Journal, 16 July 1843, underlining in original; Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, to Brigham Young, New York City, NY, 18–19 July 1843, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL; Richards, “Scriptural Items,” [26]; see also JS, Journal, 27 Aug. 1843. dJS, Journal, 28 Sept. 1843; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 11 Apr. 1844; Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 8 Apr. 1844, Clayton copy.)

    Historian’s Office. Brigham Young History Drafts, 1856–1858. CHL. CR 100 475, box 1, fd. 5.

    Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.

  2. [8]

    See Luke 16:16; and Matthew 11:13.

  3. [9]

    See Matthew 11:12.

  4. [10]

    See Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; and Luke 21:33.

  5. [11]

    See 1 Corinthians 10:4.

  6. [12]

    See Exodus 40:15.

  7. [13]

    TEXT: Possibly “little”.

  8. [14]

    See Matthew 5:18; and Luke 16:17.

© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of UseUpdated 2021-04-13Privacy NoticeUpdated 2021-04-06