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Revelation, 23 February 1831 [D&C 42:74–93]
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February 23d 1831 the rules and regulations of the <Law>
Principles given to the church and its members in February 1831 revelations. In January 1831, a revelation promised the saints in New York that the law would be given after they gathered in Ohio. Once in Ohio, on 9 and 23 February 1831, JS dictated two revelations...
View GlossaryHow the Elders of the church of Christ are to act upon the points of the Law given by Jesus Christ to the Church in the presents of twelve Elders February 9th 1831 as agreed upon by Seven Elders Elders Feby 23d 1831 according to to the comman dment of God——1
An administrative and ecclesiastical office not associated with age. The Book of Mormon explained that elders ordained priests and teachers and administered “the flesh and blood of Christ unto the church.” The articles and covenants of the church directed...
View GlossaryThe Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...
View GlossaryThis paragraph and the one that follows are not found in any other early copy of this revelation. This introductory paragraph acknowledges the role church elders played on this date in helping JS define procedures for implementing the “points of the Law” dictated on 9 February. The elders acted in response to two previous revelations, one instructing them to “assemble yourselves to gether to agree upon my word,” and the other enjoining, “I give unto you a commandment that when ye are assembled yourselves together ye shall note with a Pen how to act . . . upon the points of my law . . . & thus it shall become a law unto you.” (Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:1–72]; Revelation, 4 Feb. 1831 [D&C 41:2]; Revelation, Feb. 1831–A [D&C 43:8–9].)
1th The first commandment in the law teaches that all the Elders shall go unto the regions westward and labour to build up Churches unto Christ wheresoever they shall <find> any to receive them and obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ except Joseph & Sidney [Rigdon] and Edward [Partridge] and Such as the Bishop Shall appoint to assist him in his duties according to the Law which we have received this commandment as far as it respects these Elders to be sent to the west is a special one for the time being incumbent on the present Elders who shall return when directed by the Holy Spirit——2
Generally, a divine mandate that church members were expected to obey; more specifically, a text dictated by JS in the first-person voice of deity that served to communicate knowledge and instruction to JS and his followers. Occasionally, other inspired texts...
View Glossary19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full Bio27 Aug. 1793–27 May 1840. Hatter. Born at Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. Moved to Painesville, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married Lydia Clisbee, 22 Aug. 1819, at Painesville. Initially a Universal Restorationist...
View Full BioAn ecclesiastical and priesthood office. JS appointed Edward Partridge as the first bishop in February 1831. Following this appointment, he functioned as the local leader of the church in Missouri. Later revelations described a bishop’s duties as receiving...
View Glossary27 Aug. 1793–27 May 1840. Hatter. Born at Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. Moved to Painesville, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married Lydia Clisbee, 22 Aug. 1819, at Painesville. Initially a Universal Restorationist...
View Full BioA right or privilege bestowed through the confirmation ordinance. Individuals were confirmed members of the church and received the gift of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands. The Book of Mormon explained that remission of sins requires not only...
View GlossaryCompare to the first part of Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:1–10].
2d Every person who belongeth to this church of Christ Shall observe all the Commandments [p. [6]]
On 22 February 1831, JS wrote to Martin Harris referencing the “Laws of the Church of Christ” that JS had dictated 9 February: “We have received the laws of the Kingdom since we came here and the Disciples in these parts have received them gladly.”1 The next day, 23 February, JS and seven elders met to determine “how the Elders of the church of Christ are to act upon the points of the Law,” and the following revelation was recorded. In providing detailed guidance on how to discipline serious transgressors of the moral law, the revelation significantly elaborated on the few lines offered on the subject in the church’s earlier “Articles and Covenants.”2
18 May 1783–10 July 1875. Farmer. Born at Easton, Albany Co., New York. Son of Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham. Moved with parents to area of Swift’s Landing (later in Palmyra), Ontario Co., New York, 1793. Married first his first cousin Lucy Harris at Palmyra...
View Full BioEarly members evidently saw the 23 February revelation as building upon the 9 February revelation, also known as “the Law,” by expanding on the guidelines it provided. After this revelation was dictated, “the Law” comprised eight sections in all, five received on 9 February and three on 23 February. Of the earliest extant copies of the Law, only the Symonds Rider copy, the version featured here, includes all eight sections; it separates the 9 February revelation from the 23 February revelation by including the date and an introductory heading between the fifth and sixth sections. The version found in Revelation Book 1 includes the first five sections, dictated 9 February, as well as a loose leaf containing only the eighth section, or final paragraph, of the 23 February dictation.3
Some later published versions also exclude the first two paragraphs of the 23 February revelation, possibly because those sections seem to summarize content found in the first five sections. Textually, only the eighth and final paragraph in this document employs the divine first-person, which is possibly the reason it was the only portion of the 23 February revelation to be copied into Revelation Book 1.
20 Nov. 1792–1 Aug. 1870. Farmer, teacher, minister. Born in Hartford, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joshua Ryder and Marilla. Moved to Hiram, Portage Co., Ohio, 6 Jan. 1814. Married Mahitable Loomis, 12 Nov. 1818, in Portage Co. Served as captain in Ohio ...
View Full BioRevelation Book 1, pp. 62–67. The Sidney Gilbert and Zebedee Coltrin manuscripts include only the first five parts. An early newspaper version includes only the first two parts. The Orson Hyde manuscript includes parts two through four as well as parts seven and eight. (Gilbert, Notebook, [13]–[23]; Coltrin, Diary, [11]–[18]; “Secret Bye Laws of the Mormonites,” Western Courier [Ravenna, OH], 1 Sept. 1831, [1]; Hyde and Smith, Notebook, [12]–[22]; see also Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:1–72].)
Comprehensive Works Cited
Hide Works Cited
Gilbert, Algernon Sidney. Notebook of Revelations, 1831–ca. 1833. Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL.
Coltrin, Zebedee. Diary, 1832–1833. Zebedee Coltrin, Diaries, 1832–1834. CHL.
Western Courier. Ravenna, OH. 1826–1833.
Hyde, Orson, and Samuel Smith. Notebook of Revelations, 1832. Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL.
Revelation, [Kirtland Township, OH], 23 Feb. 1831. Featured version, titled “the rules and regulations of the Law,” copied May 1831; handwriting of Symonds Rider; three pages; Revelations Collection, CHL.
Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...
More Info20 Nov. 1792–1 Aug. 1870. Farmer, teacher, minister. Born in Hartford, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joshua Ryder and Marilla. Moved to Hiram, Portage Co., Ohio, 6 Jan. 1814. Married Mahitable Loomis, 12 Nov. 1818, in Portage Co. Served as captain in Ohio ...
View Full BioEach of the two leaves, measuring 7½ × 6½–6¾ inches (19 × 17 cm), has a similar jagged cut on the left edge of the recto. Also running along the left edge of each recto are eight small holes, likely used for sewing the booklet together. Based on comparison of the cuts and tears of the pages, these pages, along with copies of Articles and Covenants, circa April 1830 [D&C 20], and Revelation, 9 February 1831 [D&C 42:1–72], were part of a notebook of at least sixteen leaves, likely created by Symonds Rider. It is unknown when these pages were removed from the notebook.
20 Nov. 1792–1 Aug. 1870. Farmer, teacher, minister. Born in Hartford, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joshua Ryder and Marilla. Moved to Hiram, Portage Co., Ohio, 6 Jan. 1814. Married Mahitable Loomis, 12 Nov. 1818, in Portage Co. Served as captain in Ohio ...
View Full BioThis revelation was copied on the same manuscript as Revelation, 9 February 1831 [D&C 42:1–72]. The copy may have been made 23 May 1831 or anytime in May 1831.1 According to a letter filed with this manuscript, this document, with several other manuscript revelations, was donated to the Church Historian’s Office in the early 1960s by a descendant of Symonds Rider. The rolled-up papers were discovered by the Rider family in 1958, having presumably been held by the family since Rider obtained them circa 1831.2
See Source Note for Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:1–72].
20 Nov. 1792–1 Aug. 1870. Farmer, teacher, minister. Born in Hartford, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joshua Ryder and Marilla. Moved to Hiram, Portage Co., Ohio, 6 Jan. 1814. Married Mahitable Loomis, 12 Nov. 1818, in Portage Co. Served as captain in Ohio ...
View Full Bio[Earl E. Olson], Note, [27 May 1964], in Revelations Collection, CHL; Faulring, “Examination of the 1829 ‘Articles of the Church of Christ’ in Relation to Section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants,” 87–88n70.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Hide Works Cited
Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL.
Faulring, Scott H. “An Examination of the 1829 ‘Articles of the Church of Christ’ in Relation to Section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants.” BYU Studies 43, no. 4 (2004): 57–91.
