Revelation, circa August 1835 [D&C 27]
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Source Note
Revelation, , Susquehanna Co., PA, Sept. 1830; substantial revisions, , Geauga Co., OH, ca. Aug. 1835. Featured version typeset ca. Aug. 1835; in Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 ed., 179–181. For more complete source information, see the source note for Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 edition.
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Historical Introduction
In August and September 1830, JS dictated a revelation providing guidelines about the food and drink that were to be used in the administration of the . The revelation was recorded in Revelation Book 1, likely in 1831, and published, with minor edits, in the March 1833 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star and the 1833 Book of Commandments. The revelation was published again in the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants. The 1835 version, featured here, contains information not present in the earlier versions; in fact, less than one third of the 1835 text appears in the 1831 or 1833 texts. The additional information contains considerable detail about Jesus Christ one day partaking of sacramental wine with JS and various prophets and apostles from the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Also included is material emphasizing the transmission of priesthood —or the authority to govern and lead the church—to JS by biblical prophets, apostles, and patriarchs. In particular, the revelation outlines specific keys held by Elias and Elijah and references a visit by Peter, James, and John to JS and as . This is the first clear documentary reference to angelic visitations by Peter, James, and John and the first clear reference to their conferral of priesthood keys.The historical record is silent as to when or how the additional information in the 1835 version was originally recorded, though JS was undoubtedly involved. The absence of the content in the extant 1831 or 1833 versions suggests the extra information may have originated sometime thereafter. In addition, the 1835 version of the revelation identifies the archangel Michael as Adam and equates Adam with the ancient of days referred to in the Book of Daniel. Not until at least 1833 did church members appear to have identified Adam with Michael and the ancient of days. However, it is possible that JS dictated all of this information in 1830. JS’s history indicates that the “first paragraph” of the revelation, which represents most of the original revelation, was written down immediately in early August 1830 and the “remainder in the September following.” But if all of what appears in the 1835 version was originally dictated in 1830, it is unclear why the additional material was not included in the extant 1831 and 1833 versions.As published in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, the revelation contains much information about the conferral of keys, or authority, upon JS. Although some 1829 and 1830 revelations spoke of JS holding keys, they referred specifically to the keys to bring forth the Book of Mormon and other ancient records. In 1831 and 1832, revelations referred frequently to JS and others holding keys that allowed them to administer the church. For example, revelations indicated that JS held “the keys of the mysteries of the kingdom” and “the keys of the kingdom of God,” similar to “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” held by Peter in the New Testament. This 1835 version of the revelation expands on these concepts, specifying what keys had been given to JS and others, who had provided those keys, and, by inference, why the keys were necessary.The additions published in the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants consist of three intertextual insertions to the second paragraph of the original text. The locations of the insertions are indicated herein.
Footnotes
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1
See Historical Introduction to Revelation, ca. Aug. 1830 [D&C 27].
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2
Although the original revelation was dictated by JS in 1830, the earliest extant version is the 1831 copy in Revelation Book 1. For additional information concerning this version, see Source Note and Historical Introduction to Revelation, ca. Aug. 1830 [D&C 27].
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3
The minor edits included spelling, grammatical, and case changes. The most significant deviation between the 1831 manuscript version and the 1833 published version is the elimination of the contextual introduction from the latter. The preamble in the manuscript version, likely added by John Whitmer when copying the text into Revelation Book 1, reads, “A Revelation to the Church given at Harmony susquehann[a]h County State of Pennsylvania given to Joseph the Seer at a time that he went to purchase wine for Sacrament & he was stop[p]ed by an Angel & he spok[e] to him as follows Saying.” Two other versions were produced in 1831 but contain no significant changes from the version in Revelation Book 1. (Revelation, ca. Aug. 1830, in Revelation Book 1, p. 35 [D&C 27]; “A Commandment Given, September 4, 1830,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Mar. 1833, [6]; Revelation, ca. Aug. 1830, in Book of Commandments 28 [D&C 27:1–5]; Revelation, ca. Aug. 1830, in Partridge, Copies of Revelations; “The Mormon Creed,” Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 19 Apr. 1831, [4].)
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
Partridge, Edward. Copies of Revelations, ca. Dec. 1830–Spring 1831. CHL. MS 1133.
Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1831–1838.
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4
The date of Peter, James, and John’s visit is unknown, but sources indicate it occurred sometime after John the Baptist’s May 1829 visit to confer the lesser priesthood on JS and Oliver Cowdery. A later JS history indicates that John the Baptist acted under the direction of Peter, James, and John and promised they would later provide a higher, or additional, authority. In the preface to his 1832 history, JS indicated his intention to record his “reception” of both “the holy Priesthood” and “the high Priesthood,” neither of which the unfinished 1832 history addressed. Cowdery also noted receiving the Melchizedek, or “high and holy,” Priesthood in Patriarchal Blessing Book 1, but the featured text predates that entry by a month. (JS History, vol. A-1, 18, 27; JS History, ca. Summer 1832, 1; Patriarchal Blessings, 1:9; see also “Joseph Smith Documents Dating through June 1831.”)
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.
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5
In January 1834, Cowdery wrote a letter to John Whitmer in which he said that since coming to Kirtland, Ohio, in summer 1833, he had learned “that the Angel Michael is no less than our father Adam.” Sometime around spring 1835, JS prepared an Instruction on Priesthood that also contained information about Adam being “Michael, the Prince, the Archangel.” Similarly, in June 1835, William W. Phelps wrote in a letter to Cowdery that he understood that “Michael, the prince” was “our great father Adam,” something that he considered to be “new light.” Around September 1835, Cowdery recorded a December 1833 blessing that JS gave to Joseph Smith Sr. and also referred to Adam as “Michael, the Prince, the Arch angel,” and “the Ancient of Days,” language that was not used in the original version of the blessing as recorded in JS’s journal in 1833. (Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to John Whitmer, 1 Jan. 1834, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 15; Instruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835 [D&C 107:54]; “Letter No. 8,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, June 1835, 1:130; Blessing for Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith, between ca. 15 and 28 Sept. 1835.)
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
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6
JS History, vol. A-1, 51.
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
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7
For additional treatments of the 1831 and 1833 versions, see Revelation, ca. Aug. 1830 [D&C 27]; and Revelation, ca. Aug. 1830, in Book of Commandments 28 [D&C 27:1–5].
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8
Revelation, Apr. 1829–A [D&C 6:28]; Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28:7]; Revelation, 7 Dec. 1830 [D&C 35:17–18].
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9
Revelation, 11 Sept. 1831 [D&C 64:5].
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10
Revelation, 30 Oct. 1831 [D&C 65:2–6]; Revelation, 15 Mar. 1832 [D&C 81:1–2]; Matthew 16:19. In March 1833, Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams, JS’s counselors in the presidency of the high priesthood, were made “equal in holding the keys of the Kingdom” with JS. (Minutes, 18 Mar. 1833; see also Revelation, 8 Mar. 1833 [D&C 90:1–6].)
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