One Man and the Apostolic Coup

[_grindael]

I think Joseph, with the Council of Fifty, was endeavoring to separate the Priesthood from earthly Kingship. David was king over Israel, but Samuel the Prophet would have held the sealing keys. Therefore Samuel could lead the church without the sealing keys because he was of the right lineage. They were also teaching the right to the Priesthood by literal descent. There was much going on in this period. This is why Young later preached that he had a right to the priesthood by literal descent.

Joseph taught about calling and election early in Nauvoo. It was something that would be given as a gift from God. What Joseph did, was invent the "sealing power" that made him God on earth. (He got the idea from an English convert Ann Booth, who had a vision of people being baptized in the spirit world. Joseph then claimed that they must be baptized here, and "sealed"). This got all of it rolling.

He could then confer the same promise that God would make on anyone, and he could "save" them, by way of an earthly ordinance and God would have to honor whatever he did. Joseph said that one must be "crafty" when using this power, seal all you can, and then one could claim what they "seal" in heaven and God could do nothing about it.

He then applied this sealing power to the marriage covenant. The rest as they say is history.

[Guest]

The Apostle Paul while speaking of the Fathers & the Ancients said that they without us could not be made perfect. There was a lack in his day & still will be to all eternity untill the Chain of that Priesthood is restored & evry spirit take a tabernacle that was fore ordained according to the dispensation of the will of God.

I am entitled to the Keys of the Priesthood according to linage & Blood. So is Brother H. C. Kimball & many others [ ] Have taken Kingly power & grades of the Priesthood. This we would have taught in the Temple if time had permitted. Joseph Smith was entitled to the Keys of the Priesthood according to Blood. Still He was the [p.132] fourth son. But when we get another Temple built then we will teach you concerning those things.

Suffice it to say that I will extend the Chain of the Pristhood back through the Apostolic dispensation to Father Adam just as soon as I can get a temple built. Jesus could have restored the order of the Pristhood in his day & brought in the Mil-lenium if the people would have harkened to his instructions but they rebelled & would not, & it was for this cause that Jesus told them that all the Blood that had Been shed from Righteous Abel down to Zechariah the Prophet should be required at there hands.

I have a request to make of my family & that is that they (esspecially old people) omit calling me their Father. Call me Brother Brigham. I shall feel better when you do for I do not consider that I am worthy of that Appelation. Father in the Priesthood implies the great head. The term would be proper to Father Adam. Jesus had reference to the same thing when He told his deciples not to call any man Father on earth for their Father was in heaven.

The seal of the covenant that I have been speaking off to day was what the Apostle saw previous to the destruction of the wicked when the Angel was commanded not to fear pour out the vials of wrath on the wicked untill the saints were sealed in their forehead & when this was done they all became Father Adams family.

Those that are Adopted into my family & take me for their Councellor if I Continue faithful I will preside over them throughout all Eternity. I will stand at their head, and Joseph will stand at the head of this Church & will be there President Prophet & God to the People in this dispensation. When we Locate I will settle my family down in the order & teach them there duty. They will then have to provide temporal Blessings for me instead of my boarding from 40 to 50 persons as I now do. I will administer in spiritual Blessings to them. I expect to live in the House of the Lord & recieve & [p.133] administer ordinances to my Brethren & for the dead all the year round. (Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff's Journal, Vol. 3, p. 131-132, Feb. 16, 1847)

One man on earth = God. Samuel H. Smith would have been entitled to the keys of the priesthood by blood. What is interesting is that they tried to groom William, but he was so arrogant and out of control they could no longer sanction what Joseph taught them about blood in respect to William Smith. They did try for a time and let go many things.

[_zeezrom]

I think Joseph, with the Council of Fifty, was endeavoring to separate the Priesthood from earthly Kingship.

I don't agree with this.

Joseph had previously been anointed a King and Priest in the Kingdom of God by religious rites associated with the fullness of the temple endowment, and was placed as a presiding authority over this body in his most exalted position within the kingdom of God (as a King and a Priest).

https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Morm ... l_of_Fifty

[_grindael]

FAIRMORMON?

I know Joseph had the priesthood and was ordained a king. But my argument is that they did not necessarily depend on each other. One could be King over Israel and not have the sealing power. Joseph taught in 1844:

Although David was a King he never did obtain the spirit & power of Elijah & the fulness of the Priesthood, & the priesthood that he received & the throne & kingdom of David is to be taken from him & given to another by the name of David in the last days, raised up out of his linage (Joseph's son David) Peter refered to the same subject on the day of pentecost, but the multitude did not get the endowment that Peter had but several days after the people asked what shall we do, Peter says I would ye had done it ignorantly speaking of crucifying the Lord &c He did not say to them repent & be baptized for the remission of your sins but he said repent therefore & be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, Acts iii, 19 this is the case with murderers they could not be baptized for the remission of sins for they had shed innocent Blood.

Again the doctrin or sealing power of Elijah is as follows if you have power to seal on earth & in heaven then we should be Crafty, the first thing you do go & seal on earth your sons & daughters unto yourself, & yourself unto your fathers in eternal glory, & go ahead and not go back, but use a little Craftiness & seal all you can; & when you get to heaven tell your father that what you seal on earth should be sealed in heaven I will walk through the gate of heaven and Claim what I seal & those that follow me & my Council The Lord once told me that what I asked for I should have...

[_Kishkumen]

I don't have anything useful to add to this thread other than to say that I had lunch with Andrew and his wife. He told me that he had the William Clayton journal writings in his possession, took notes from them, and later his notes were stolen. That's pretty sad.

That's awful!

[_Madison54]

Andrew F. Ehat

I don't have anything useful to add to this thread other than to say that I had lunch with Andrew and his wife. He told me that he had the William Clayton journal writings in his possession, took notes from them, and later his notes were stolen. That's pretty sad.

They were stolen by a member of a Mormon Bishopric.

"In doing research in LDS Church history, Andrew F. Ehat, . . . obtained permission to examine the restricted Nauvoo diaries of William Clayton and make notes. He gave a copy of his notes to BYU religion instructor Lyndon Cook, who kept them in his campus office. The notes were taken without permission and photocopied by . . . a member of a bishopric which uses Cook's office." (Seventh East Press, January 18, 1982)
http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no48.htm

[_Kishkumen]

I had assumed that a king and priest in the fullness of the priesthood was not the same as king of the Kingdom of God in the political kingdom sense. One was associated with the church and the House of Israel, while the latter had more to do with the Fifty and the political kingdom of God.

[_SteelHead]

I am entitled to the Keys of the Priesthood according to linage & Blood. So is Brother H. C. Kimball & many others

Isn't this related to the claims that many of the early brethren were direct descendants of Jesus?

[_RockSlider]

Andrew F. Ehat

I don't have anything useful to add to this thread other than to say that I had lunch with Andrew and his wife. He told me that he had the William Clayton journal writings in his possession, took notes from them, and later his notes were stolen. That's pretty sad.

So is Ehat still an active (orthodox?) Mormon?

[Guest]

I probably did not explain myself very well. Joseph encapsulated all of it. Prophet, Priest and King. Lawgiver. My comment about separation is exactly as you say, Kish, a separation of the political kingdom of God from the Priesthood, not that the Priesthood would not rule over it, but that one didn't necessarily have to have the Priesthood to be part of it. Therefore, Samuel could be appointed successor to Joseph, with the promise that he had the right to it by BLOOD. He didn't need to have the fullness of the Priesthood beforehand. David was king and did not have the fullness of the priesthood, and he was king before he transgressed, so he was raised to the leadership of all Israel without the fullness of the priesthood. The same could be applied to Samuel H. Smith. See Joseph's teachings on this from April 1844 in the Council of Fifty Minutes.