Empty Promise to Parents: Was Willard Richards reliable?

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Nimrod
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Empty Promise to Parents: Was Willard Richards reliable?

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History of the Church, Vol. 5, Ch. 28, p. 530 wrote:Sunday, August 13, 1843.—I went to the stand on Sunday morning, August 13, 1843, and preached on the death of Judge Higbee, a synopsis of which was reported by my clerk, Dr. Willard Richards.

The Prophet’s Remarks at the Funeral of Judge Higbee.

Brethren And Sisters, you will find these words in 2 Peter 3:10, 11:—”But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.”

I am not like other men. My mind is continually occupied with the business of the day, and I have to depend entirely upon the living God for every thing I say on such occasions as these.
* * *

Where has Judge Higbee gone?

Who is there that would not give all his goods to feed the poor, and pour out his gold and silver to the four winds, to go where Judge Higbee has gone?

That which hath been hid from before the foundation of the world is revealed to babes and sucklings in the last days.

The world is reserved unto burning in the last days. He shall send Elijah the prophet, and he shall reveal the covenants of the fathers in relation to the children, and the covenants of the children in relation to the fathers.

Four destroying angels holding power over the four quarters of the earth until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads, which signifies sealing the blessing upon their heads, meaning the everlasting covenant, thereby making their calling and election sure. When a seal is put upon the father and mother, it secures their posterity, so that they cannot be lost, but will be saved by virtue of the covenant of their father and mother.

To the mourners I would say—Do as the husband and the father would instruct you, and you shall be reunited.
Italics and underlining added.

There was another account by Martha Jane Knowlton Coray.
A measure of this sealing is to confirm upon their head in common with Elijah the doctrine of Election or the covenant with Abraham—which which when a Father & Mother of a family have entered into their children who have not transgressed are secured by the seal wherewith the Parents have been sealed—And this is the Oath of God unto our Father Abraham and this doctrine shall stand forever—

Mourners: I exhort you to do as your Father and husband would direct—be sealed by the by the servants of God—Eternal life is to know the only true God and his son Jesus without which there is no salvation When a father and mother of a family have [been sealed].
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper ... on-coray/5 Italics added.

Martha's version varies from Willard Richards' version in a regard that the current church leaders, like Bednar, prefer Martha's version over that of Willard Richars. Martha's CLARIFICATION
is more consistent doctrinally…the concept of unconditional salvation for disobedient children would contradict many foundational teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith…. [Church leaders] agree on the fact that parents who honor temple covenants are in a position to exert great spiritual influence over time on their children. Faithful members of the Church can find comfort in knowing that they can lay claim to the promises of divine guidance and power, through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and the privileges of the priesthood, in their efforts to help family members receive blessings of salvation and exaltation.
David A. Bednar, “Faithful Parents and Wayward Children: Sustaining Hope While Overcoming Misunderstanding,” Ensign, March
2014.

Of course, the current leaders prefer Martha's version despite Willard Richards then being a 'prophet, seer and revelator' himself. The current leaders don't want to let children decide for themselves how to live and not pay tithing, and yet obtain salvation. However, Joseph Smith was explaining at Judge Higbee's funeral the concept and importance of the relationships of fathers and mothers with their children and what import the sealings supposedly have in that regard. Martha's version renders the sealing useless. Wouldn't the children "who have not transgressed" obtain salvation on their own, because they didn't transgress? That renders the sealing in this context of children to be meaningless and as having no impact on the children's future.

Joseph Smith was exhorting the assembled about the importance of the sealing, and as apostle Willard Richards reported, Smith gave an explanation that gave the sealing some actual impact: "When a seal is put upon the father and mother, it secures their posterity, so that they cannot be lost, but will be saved by virtue of the covenant of their father and mother." Their posterity cannot be lost. Their posterity will be saved not by those children having themselves avoided transgression, but 'by virtue of the covenant of their father and mother.'

And in what context was it that Joseph Smith uttered whichever version of the import of the sealing of the parents with respect to their posterity? It was a funeral sermon, and earlier in Martha's recount of the speech, she wrote:
Malachi 4th ch Behold the daycometh that shall burn as an oven and all the proud and they that do wickedly Shall be as stulbble and they that cometh shall burn them up But although in the begining God created the Earth standing in the water and out of the water Still in the End it shall be burned and few men left—But before that God shall send unto them Elijah the prophet and he shall reveal unto them the covenants of the fathers with relation to the children and the covenants of the children in relation to the Fathers that they may have the priviledge of entering into the same in order to effect their mutual Salvation
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper ... on-coray/4 Apostle Willard Richards similarly, "The world is reserved unto burning in the last days. He shall send Elijah the prophet, and he shall reveal the covenants of the fathers in relation to the children, and the covenants of the children in relation to the fathers."

And, by the way, according to apostle Willard, Joseph Smith claimed that he had to "depend entirely upon the living God for every thing I say on such occasions as these." No room on such occasions for just speaking as a man.
Apologists try to shill an explanation to questioning members as though science and reason really explain and buttress their professed faith. It [sic] does not. By definition, faith is the antithesis of science and reason. Apologetics is a further deception by faith peddlers to keep power and influence.
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