The Lost Patriarchal Order and the Apostolic Coup
Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 2:58 am
This thread is addressed primarily to consig, but others are welcome to contribute their wisdom and historical knowledge.
In 1979, the last Patriarch to the Church, Eldred G. Smith, was put on emeritus status and no replacement was called. Thus ended a high and holy office in the priesthood, which belonged to the Smith family by birthright. The Presiding Patriarch was once thought to be one of the highest priesthood offices, ranking above the apostles and possessing both presiding authority and sealing power. Its first latter-day occupant was Joseph Smith, Sr., who was ordained in 1833, and its second occupant was Hyrum, the brother of the Prophet.
After the assassination of Joseph and Hyrum, William Smith, the black sheep of the Smith, Sr. family, arranged with Young to be installed in Hyrum's place. Thus began the protracted decline of the office, which was eventually wholly subordinated to the apostles and demoted in the hierarchy. It did not help that Heber J. Grant insisted on placing his own choice of candidate in against the opposition of the Q12, or that when he succeeded in filling the office he called a gay men in an age of intolerance. By the time Eldred G. Smith came into the office, too much damage had been done, and he lacked diplomacy with the other leaders at crucial times.
Would it be implausible to suggest that the office of the Presiding Patriarch was feared because of the shadow of Smith charisma that stood independent of and above the apostles? In the end the apostles could not tolerate the competition, so they abolished the office altogether.
The loss, as Quinn pointed out, was something even Brigham would not have allowed, claiming as he did that the full church organization was required for the church to prevail. He mentioned the Patriarchate specifically.
Also intriguing are Joseph's statements and revelations on the subject. The patriarchal order was one of the three orders of the priesthood, in his vision, along with the Melchizedek and Aaronic. The saints were to have learned more about in when the Nauvoo Temple was completed. Some have argued that it is the priesthood held by endowed and sealed couples, who could preside in their homes without the constant intervention of apostolic authority.
One begins to see why it is that the apostles have been, as an institution, psychologically insecure for so long. Founded to oversee missionary work, they usurped control over everything in the Church, and in doing so either appropriated or stamped out anything that might challenge their rule. Correlation is the demiurgic offspring of this illicit authority. The only thing that might counterbalance their tyranny is the endowed members of the Church who constitute a latent order of the priesthood. That order is the key to women's priesthood and much else that bogs the LDS Church down.
In 1979, the last Patriarch to the Church, Eldred G. Smith, was put on emeritus status and no replacement was called. Thus ended a high and holy office in the priesthood, which belonged to the Smith family by birthright. The Presiding Patriarch was once thought to be one of the highest priesthood offices, ranking above the apostles and possessing both presiding authority and sealing power. Its first latter-day occupant was Joseph Smith, Sr., who was ordained in 1833, and its second occupant was Hyrum, the brother of the Prophet.
After the assassination of Joseph and Hyrum, William Smith, the black sheep of the Smith, Sr. family, arranged with Young to be installed in Hyrum's place. Thus began the protracted decline of the office, which was eventually wholly subordinated to the apostles and demoted in the hierarchy. It did not help that Heber J. Grant insisted on placing his own choice of candidate in against the opposition of the Q12, or that when he succeeded in filling the office he called a gay men in an age of intolerance. By the time Eldred G. Smith came into the office, too much damage had been done, and he lacked diplomacy with the other leaders at crucial times.
Would it be implausible to suggest that the office of the Presiding Patriarch was feared because of the shadow of Smith charisma that stood independent of and above the apostles? In the end the apostles could not tolerate the competition, so they abolished the office altogether.
The loss, as Quinn pointed out, was something even Brigham would not have allowed, claiming as he did that the full church organization was required for the church to prevail. He mentioned the Patriarchate specifically.
Also intriguing are Joseph's statements and revelations on the subject. The patriarchal order was one of the three orders of the priesthood, in his vision, along with the Melchizedek and Aaronic. The saints were to have learned more about in when the Nauvoo Temple was completed. Some have argued that it is the priesthood held by endowed and sealed couples, who could preside in their homes without the constant intervention of apostolic authority.
One begins to see why it is that the apostles have been, as an institution, psychologically insecure for so long. Founded to oversee missionary work, they usurped control over everything in the Church, and in doing so either appropriated or stamped out anything that might challenge their rule. Correlation is the demiurgic offspring of this illicit authority. The only thing that might counterbalance their tyranny is the endowed members of the Church who constitute a latent order of the priesthood. That order is the key to women's priesthood and much else that bogs the LDS Church down.
