Sethbag wrote:I've wondered about this, and haven't got available to me books that discuss it. Who can explain the background and what happened that lead to the High Council in Far West deposing David Whitmer, John Whitmer, and W.W. Phelps as the Stake Presidency on Jan. 26th 1838?
in my opinion the ever power hungry Sidney Rigdon wanted the Whitmers and Oliver Cowdry out of the way. I think he was the main mover behind all that happened to them as well as many of the reasons the Church had problems in Missouri.
Without Rigdon, there would have been no Church to start with, Jason.
LifeOnaPlate wrote:This is discussed very adequately in Bushman's Rough Stone Rolling.
Well, don't keep us in suspense. What does Bushman say was the reason?
Basically similar things; economic disagreements, feeling slighted or overlooked by Joseph Smith, temporal stuff, mostly. I'd have to get the book out if you wanted direct quotes, etc. Let me know.
One moment in annihilation's waste, one moment, of the well of life to taste- The stars are setting and the caravan starts for the dawn of nothing; Oh, make haste! -Omar Khayaam
I've got a copy of RSR I've been meaning to get back to. My wife took it for herself and started reading it once upon a time, but then stopped, and I think she lent it out to someone, I'm not sure. I haven't seen it for a long time. I'll find it and start reading it again.
It actually sounds like after the earlier troubles in Jackson County, with a couple more years under their belt the Missouri Mormon leaders (who were deposed) were doing reasonably well, and things had started settling down between the Missourians and the Mormons. The Lesueur book picks up the story with that kind of assessment.
Check out this short timeline:
January 12: Joseph Smith others (including Rigdon, I'm assuming) flee Kirtland, Ohio.
January 26: The Far West High Council, with two visiting apostles, rejects the Stake Presidency of David and John Whitmer, and W.W. Phelps.
Is any of this a coincidence? I'm having a hard time seeing that as such. The Missouri Stake Presidency, and I suppose Oliver Cowdery who had been made the 2nd Elder of the church originally, ruled the roost while Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were in Kirtland. With Smith and Rigdon fleeing Kirtland and coming to Missouri, they naturally would want to take over. And it's no coincidence that things really started to go downhill with the Missourians again after they did.
Mormonism ceased being a compelling topic for me when I finally came to terms with its transformation from a personality cult into a combination of a real estate company, a SuperPac, and Westboro Baptist Church. - Kishkumen
Sethbag wrote:I've wondered about this, and haven't got available to me books that discuss it. Who can explain the background and what happened that lead to the High Council in Far West deposing David Whitmer, John Whitmer, and W.W. Phelps as the Stake Presidency on Jan. 26th 1838?
in my opinion the ever power hungry Sidney Rigdon wanted the Whitmers and Oliver Cowdry out of the way. I think he was the main mover behind all that happened to them as well as many of the reasons the Church had problems in Missouri.
Without Rigdon, there would have been no Church to start with, Jason.
Oh horsepucky. Despite your pet theory Rigdon is not the founder of the LDS Church.
thestyleguy wrote:I think Phelps wrote "the spirt of god like a fire is burning" I heard he was excommunicated - not sure why they are singing his song then.
Better check out the rest of the story.
One moment in annihilation's waste, one moment, of the well of life to taste- The stars are setting and the caravan starts for the dawn of nothing; Oh, make haste! -Omar Khayaam