![FairMormon Logo](https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021_fair_logo_primary.png)
FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Passing the Heavenly Gift/Source of authority of Brigham Young and the apostles after Joseph's death | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Passing the Heavenly Gift/Source of authority of Brigham Young and the apostles after Joseph's death | ||
|H=Response to ''Passing the Heavenly Gift'': Claims regarding source of Brigham Young and apostles' authority after Joseph Smith's death | |H=Response to ''Passing the Heavenly Gift'': Claims regarding source of Brigham Young and apostles' authority after Joseph Smith's death | ||
− | |S= | + | |S=Portions of this wiki response are based upon {{GLS-Paper-Snuffer-0}} The text here may have been expanded, reworded, or corrected given the nature of a wiki project. References in brackets like this: (xx) refer to page numbers in {{CriticalWork:Snuffer:Passing_the_Heavenly_Gift}} |
|L1= | |L1= | ||
|T=''Passing the Heavenly Gift'' | |T=''Passing the Heavenly Gift'' | ||
Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
|>=[[../Joseph_received_sealing_powers_in_1829|Did Joseph receive sealing powers as early as 1829?]] | |>=[[../Joseph_received_sealing_powers_in_1829|Did Joseph receive sealing powers as early as 1829?]] | ||
}} | }} | ||
+ | <onlyinclude> | ||
+ | {{H2 | ||
+ | |L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Passing the Heavenly Gift/Source of authority of Brigham Young and the apostles after Joseph's death | ||
+ | |H=Response to ''Passing the Heavenly Gift'': Claims regarding source of Brigham Young and apostles' authority after Joseph Smith's death | ||
+ | |L1=An incomplete and misleading citation | ||
+ | |L2=Earlier claims made by Brigham Young and the Twelve | ||
+ | }} | ||
+ | </onlyinclude> | ||
− | == | + | ==Snuffer's views on the source of the authority of Brigham Young and the apostles after Joseph’s death<ref name="GLS-source">Portions of this wiki response are based upon {{GLS-Paper-Snuffer-0}} The text here may have been expanded, reworded, or corrected given the nature of a wiki project. References in brackets like this: (xx) refer to page numbers in {{CriticalWork:Snuffer:Passing_the_Heavenly_Gift}}</ref>== |
Snuffer writes of the apostolic succession: | Snuffer writes of the apostolic succession: | ||
Line 18: | Line 26: | ||
Snuffer then delivers his killing stroke: “This explanation is misleading because Brigham Young was not ordained an Apostle by Joseph Smith” (87). A few pages later, he writes that “Brigham Young’s claim to have received the sealing power when he was ordained an Apostle is completely dependent on the Three Witnesses’ ordination in 1835. That ordination came a year prior to the 1836 visit of Elijah” (91). | Snuffer then delivers his killing stroke: “This explanation is misleading because Brigham Young was not ordained an Apostle by Joseph Smith” (87). A few pages later, he writes that “Brigham Young’s claim to have received the sealing power when he was ordained an Apostle is completely dependent on the Three Witnesses’ ordination in 1835. That ordination came a year prior to the 1836 visit of Elijah” (91). | ||
− | + | ==An incomplete and misleading citation== | |
Snuffer, though, is putting words into Brigham’s mouth. Brigham did not say “Joseph ordained me an apostle,” nor did he say, “I received all these keys when I was ordained an apostle.” He says, rather, that Joseph got his authority from apostles, and that “Joseph gave” all the power and keys “unto me and my brethren (the Twelve).” Here again, Snuffer is only giving us part of the story. In the very same talk, Brigham explained: “We do not recieve all at once but we recieve grace for grace. When Brother Joseph received the Preisthood He did not recieve all at once, but He was A prophet Seer & Revelator before He recieved the fulness of the Priesthood & keys of the kingdom.”<ref>WWJ, 3:257 (15 August 1847), emphasis added. </ref> He goes on to say that after receiving the Aaronic priesthood, Joseph | Snuffer, though, is putting words into Brigham’s mouth. Brigham did not say “Joseph ordained me an apostle,” nor did he say, “I received all these keys when I was ordained an apostle.” He says, rather, that Joseph got his authority from apostles, and that “Joseph gave” all the power and keys “unto me and my brethren (the Twelve).” Here again, Snuffer is only giving us part of the story. In the very same talk, Brigham explained: “We do not recieve all at once but we recieve grace for grace. When Brother Joseph received the Preisthood He did not recieve all at once, but He was A prophet Seer & Revelator before He recieved the fulness of the Priesthood & keys of the kingdom.”<ref>WWJ, 3:257 (15 August 1847), emphasis added. </ref> He goes on to say that after receiving the Aaronic priesthood, Joseph | ||
Line 40: | Line 48: | ||
Still, 1847 was not Brigham’s or the apostles’ first articulation of their claim to possess the authority and power vouchsafed them by Joseph. (And, if ''PTHG'' viewed Brigham with even a hint of charity, he might be forgiven if his initial reaction at Joseph’s death was a sudden confusion—the New Testament apostles were much slower to grasp the implications of Jesus’ pre-crucifixion teachings.) | Still, 1847 was not Brigham’s or the apostles’ first articulation of their claim to possess the authority and power vouchsafed them by Joseph. (And, if ''PTHG'' viewed Brigham with even a hint of charity, he might be forgiven if his initial reaction at Joseph’s death was a sudden confusion—the New Testament apostles were much slower to grasp the implications of Jesus’ pre-crucifixion teachings.) | ||
− | + | ==Earlier claims made by Brigham Young and the Twelve== | |
In public discourse in 1843, Brigham Young made it clear that the government of the Church rested upon “the prophet” and “the Twelve”: | In public discourse in 1843, Brigham Young made it clear that the government of the Church rested upon “the prophet” and “the Twelve”: | ||
Summary: Portions of this wiki response are based upon Gregory L. Smith, "Passing Up The Heavenly Gift Part 1 Part 2," Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship7(2103): 181–341. The text here may have been expanded, reworded, or corrected given the nature of a wiki project. References in brackets like this: (xx) refer to page numbers in Denver C. Snuffer, Jr., Passing the Heavenly Gift (Salt Lake City: Mill Creek Press, 2011).
Brigham Young and apostles not witnesses of Christ? | A FAIR Analysis of: 'Passing the Heavenly Gift', a work by author: Denver C. Snuffer
|
Did Joseph receive sealing powers as early as 1829? |
Jump to details:
Snuffer writes of the apostolic succession:
Snuffer then delivers his killing stroke: “This explanation is misleading because Brigham Young was not ordained an Apostle by Joseph Smith” (87). A few pages later, he writes that “Brigham Young’s claim to have received the sealing power when he was ordained an Apostle is completely dependent on the Three Witnesses’ ordination in 1835. That ordination came a year prior to the 1836 visit of Elijah” (91).
Snuffer, though, is putting words into Brigham’s mouth. Brigham did not say “Joseph ordained me an apostle,” nor did he say, “I received all these keys when I was ordained an apostle.” He says, rather, that Joseph got his authority from apostles, and that “Joseph gave” all the power and keys “unto me and my brethren (the Twelve).” Here again, Snuffer is only giving us part of the story. In the very same talk, Brigham explained: “We do not recieve all at once but we recieve grace for grace. When Brother Joseph received the Preisthood He did not recieve all at once, but He was A prophet Seer & Revelator before He recieved the fulness of the Priesthood & keys of the kingdom.”[3] He goes on to say that after receiving the Aaronic priesthood, Joseph
But, this is not all. Brigham then says that
Brigham has thus argued for a progression from Aaronic, to all Melchizedek keys and authority held by Peter, James, and John, and finally to the mission of Elijah. This may hint that Brigham knew of the basics of the Elijah visitation five years before the account from Joseph’s journal was published in 1852 (we will see below that Willard Richards had made a copy for the Manuscript History in 1843, and may well have informed Brigham of it, if Joseph did not do so during his instruction in the higher ordinances).[6]
This supposition is strengthened by Brigham’s concluding remarks, for he again invokes both Elijah and the keys associated with redemption of the dead: “A man that has embraced the gospel must [be?] some one who has the Priesthood & keys & power of Elijah & must attend to ordinances” for their kindred dead.[7]
It is, then, misleading for PTHG to pretend that Brigham lays claim to all priesthood keys and power from Joseph via his ordination by the Three Witnesses to the office of apostle. Brigham clearly understands this authority as something received in discrete steps, and one that ultimately encompasses Elijah’s power. His claim is simply that he got this power from Joseph, and that all such power rests with the apostles.
PTHG claims that
Still, 1847 was not Brigham’s or the apostles’ first articulation of their claim to possess the authority and power vouchsafed them by Joseph. (And, if PTHG viewed Brigham with even a hint of charity, he might be forgiven if his initial reaction at Joseph’s death was a sudden confusion—the New Testament apostles were much slower to grasp the implications of Jesus’ pre-crucifixion teachings.)
In public discourse in 1843, Brigham Young made it clear that the government of the Church rested upon “the prophet” and “the Twelve”:
Joseph was still alive, and did not rebuke or correct Brigham’s claim. Within less than two months of the martyrdom, members of the Twelve and other witnesses were reporting the same thing that Brigham claimed in PTHG’s truncated citation from 1847:
Heber C. Kimball likewise said that “When Jesus was upon the earth his time was spent in endowing the twelve apostles that they might do the things he had left undone and carry out his measures, and upon the same principle we carry out Joseph's measures.”[10] Wilford Woodruff wrote:
Again, the claim is clear that Brigham was faithful, and he was eventually ordained to all the keys by Joseph in conjunction with his receipt of the higher temple ordinances in Nauvoo. Woodruff would elsewhere write:
Orson Hyde said:
Still less than a year after Joseph’s death, Parley P. Pratt would explain:
Pratt clearly appeals to repeated meetings with Joseph in Nauvoo (i.e., well after their ordination to the apostleship) and to a deliberate bestowal of keys when Brigham was President of the Twelve (which he was not when first made an apostle).
Snuffer also ignores a vital document, which was likely prepared by the Twelve to articulate their leadership claim. (Snuffer relies heavily on D. Michael Quinn, and some have suggested that Quinn was unaware of this document —this may explain Snuffer’s silence concerning it.[15] ) The document was published in 2005,[16] and was written between September 1844 and March 1845, likely in the fall of 1844.[17]
Snuffer distorts the apostles’ claim and creates a straw man by writing that “if information in the endowment alone is sufficient to pass keys, then Mormon dissidents Jerald and Sandra Tanner, who have published the various endowment ordinances and versions would hold the keys” (111). This is extraordinarily obtuse—the Twelve did not claim that merely having received the endowment conferred keys. Rather, they claimed that they had received the endowment and all the higher ordinances and explicitly been given keys under the hands of Joseph and Hyrum. As one attendee later described the meeting, “‘the keys of power committed’ to the Twelve consisted of ‘Keys of Endowments to the Last Anointing & Sealing[,] Together with keys of Salvation for the Dead. with the eternity of the Marriage Covenent and the Powr of Endless Lives.’”[19] Brigham Young and the apostles’ claims to possess all the keys via ordination from Joseph appeared very early, and never wavered. PTHG’s hypothesis of a gradual evolution and solidification of claims about keys from Joseph simply does not match the accounts which predate Snuffer’s incomplete 1847 citation.
Notes
FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
We are a volunteer organization. We invite you to give back.
Donate Now