Discourse, 5 January 1841, as Reported by William Clayton
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Source Note
JS, Discourse, , Hancock Co., IL, 5 Jan. 1841. Featured version from report copied [1880] in L. John Nuttall, Notebook, pp. 4–8; handwriting of L. John Nuttall; L. John Nuttall, Papers, BYU. For more complete source information, see the source note for Discourse, Dec. 1840, as Reported by William Clayton.
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Historical Introduction
See Historical Introduction to Account of Meeting and Discourse, as Reported by William P. McIntire.
Document Transcript
Footnotes
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1
JS may have been familiar with a similar physical description of Paul in the pseudepigraphical Acts of Paul. According to that account, Paul was “of a low stature, bald (or shaved) on the head, crooked thighs, handsome legs, hollow-eyed; had a crooked nose; full of grace; for sometimes he had the countenance of an angel.” At some point while in Nauvoo, JS owned a copy of William Hone’s The Apocryphal New Testament, containing a translation of the Acts of Paul, which JS donated in early 1844 to the Nauvoo Library and Literary Institute. (Wayment, “Joseph Smith’s Description of Paul the Apostle,” 39–53; Acts of Paul, 1:7, in [Hone], Apocryphal New Testament, 100; Nauvoo Library and Literary Institute Record, [19].)
Wayment, Thomas A. “Joseph Smith’s Description of Paul the Apostle.” Mormon Historical Studies 13, nos. 1–2 (Spring and Fall 2012): 39–53.
[Hone, William]. The Apocryphal New Testament, Being All the Gospels, Epistles and Other Pieces Now Extant, Attributed in the First Four Centuries to Jesus Christ, His Apostles, and Their Companions and Not Included in the New Testament by Its Compilers. London: By the author, 1820.
Nauvoo Library and Literary Institute Record, Jan.–June 1844. CHL. MS 3431.
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2
Neither Clayton nor McIntire identified those in attendance for this discourse, but Bennett, who was living with the Smith family at the time, may have been present. Two weeks later, a revelation said of Bennett, whose efforts had recently helped secure the passage of a city charter for Nauvoo, “I have seen the work he hath done, which I accept, if he continue, and will crown him with blessings and great glory.” (JS, Store Daybook, 8 Dec. 1843, 92; Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:17]; Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)
JS’s Store Daybook, Jan. 1842–July 1842. CHL.
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3
Sometime between 1 March and 4 May 1835, JS prepared an instruction on the nature of the Melchizedek Priesthood, describing its relation to the “Aaronic” or “Levitical” lesser priesthood and to the offices within these divisions of priesthood. (Instruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835 [D&C 107].)
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4
See Exodus 33:11.
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5
A September 1832 revelation stated that after the children of Israel fell away, God “took Moses out of there midst and the holy Priesthood also, and the lesser Priesthood continued, which Priesthood holdeth the keys of the ministring of Angels.” (Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:25–26].)
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6
For some years, JS had taught the concept that all matter was eternal in nature. A May 1833 revelation stated that “the Elements are eternal,” and John Smith recorded in his 30 August 1840 journal entry that JS “continued his discourse on Eternal Judgement and the Eternal Duration of matter.” (Revelation, 6 May 1833 [D&C 93:33]; John Smith, Journal, 1840–1841, 30 Aug. 1840.)
Smith, John (1781-1854). Journal, 1833–1841. John Smith, Papers, 1833-1854. CHL. MS 1326, box 1, fd. 1.
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7
Genesis 1:2.
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8
The 1646 Westminster Assembly’s widely cited Confession of Faith stated that “there is but one only, living, and true God: who is infinite in Being and Perfection, a most pure Spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions.” (Humble Advice of the Assembly of Divines, Now by Authority of Parliament Sitting at Westminster, concerning a Confession of Faith, 5.)
The Humble Advice of the Assembly of Divines, Now by Authority of Parliament Sitting at Westminster, concerning a Confession of Faith: With the Quotations and Texts of Scripture Annexed. Presented by Them Lately to Both Houses of Parliament. Edinburgh: Evan Tyler, 1647.
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9
A 6 May 1833 revelation declared, “Man was also in the begining with God, inteligence or the Light of truth was not created or made.” Published by JS in 1842, the Book of Abraham explained that individual “intelligences,” or spirits, existed in the presence of God, the most intelligent of them all, before the creation of the world. (Revelation, 6 May 1833 [D&C 93:29]; “The Book of Abraham,” Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 3:720 [Abraham 3:19, 22–23]; see also Letter to Orson Hyde and John E. Page, 14 May 1840.)
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10
See Matthew 8:30–32.