| Joseph's first documented
allusion to conferral of office by an angel §.
Martin Harris has claimed that Joseph drank too much liquor and
wrestled various men during the translation of the Book of Mormon §.
Joseph relates conditions at the time he obtained the plates and acknowledges
transgressing §. Sidney charges Martin
with exalting himself above Joseph §. Martin admits his mind has been
darkened and promises to do better. |
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| Date |
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February 12, 1834 |
|
Kirtland council,
27–29 // MH-A, 424. |
| Location |
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Kirtland, Ohio. |
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| Description |
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… the high Priests
and Elders of the Church in Kirtland [met] at the house of bro. Joseph Smith
Jun. in Council for Church business. |
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| [Presiding] |
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[Joseph Smith] |
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| Clerk |
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Orson
Hyde |
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| Open |
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The council was organized,
and opened by bro. Joseph Smith Jr in prayer. |
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Joseph rises and says, |
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| Office
conferred by angel, God's voice, and voice of church |
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… I shall now endeavor to set forth before
this council, the dignity of the office which has been conferred upon
me by the ministering of the Angel of God, by his own voice and by the
voice of this Church. |
|
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| Order
in councils |
|
He speaks on "the
order in which a council ought to be conducted"—that counselors'
hearts should be pure, commenting that "we frequently, are so filled
with prejudice, or have a beam in our own eye, that we are not capable of
passing right decissions, &c." Anciently, no one was allowed "to
whisper, be weary, leave the room, or get uneasy in the least, until the
voice of the Lord, by revelation, or by the voice of the council by the
spirit was obtained." |
|
| 1827 conditions |
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[28] … Bro Joseph then went on to give us a relation of his situation
at the time he obtained the record, the persecution he met with &c. |
|
| Transgression |
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He
also told us of his transgression at the time he was translating the Book
of Mormon. |
|
Sentence omitted in MH-A, 424. |
| Will
rise above naysayers |
|
He also prophecied that he should stand and shine like the sun in the
firmament when his enemies and the gainsayers of his testimony should
be put down and cut off and their names blotted out from among men. |
|
| Sidney
charges Martin with smearing Joseph |
|
After
Joseph counsels the brethren, Sidney's charges against Martin
Harris are
considered. Martin told Esqr A. C. Russell that Joseph "drank too much
liquor when he was translating the Book of Mormon and that he wrestled with
many men and threw them &c." |
|
Levi Lewis testified thatt he saw Joseph "intoxicated at three different times while he was composing the Book of Mormon. ("Mormonism," Susquehanna Register and Northern Pennsylvanian, May 1, 1834. . |
| Exalting
himself above Joseph |
|
[Martin also] exalted
himself above bro. Joseph, in that he said bro. Joseph knew not the contents
of the book of Mormon until it was translated. Bro. Martin but that he
himself knew all about it before it was translated. |
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| Martin
promises to do better |
|
Bro. Martin said he did not tell
Esqr Russell that Joseph drank too much liquor while translating the book of Mormon, but this thing took place before the book of Mormon
was translated. |
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calculateingd: d written over ng |
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He also admits "that his mind was darkend and that
he had said many things inadvertently calculateingd to wound the feelings
of his brethren and promised to do better." |
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The council forgives
him—with "much good advice." |
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| Leonard
Rich transgressions |
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[29] … Brother
[Leonard] Rich was called in question
for transgressing the word of wisdom and for selling the revelations
at an extortionary price, while he was gone East with father Lions [Lyons]
which thing Bro. Rich confessed before the council and the council forgave
him upon his promising to do better and reform his life. |
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| Close |
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Prayer by Sidney Rigdon. |
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Minutes of February 17, 1834
Minutes of January 2, 1834
Ohio Minutes
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