Footnotes
For more on the Nauvoo lyceum, see Historical Introduction to Discourse, ca. 2 Feb. 1841.
McIntire, Notebook, [10].
McIntire, William Patterson. Notebook, 1840–1845. CHL. MS 1014.
This dating assumes a weekly meeting beginning on Tuesday, 5 January 1841. For more on the dating issues in McIntire’s notebook, see Historical Introduction to Discourse, ca. 2 Feb. 1841.
The confusion over when one received the gift of the Holy Ghost may have stemmed from the teaching in Latter-day Saint scripture that, before baptism, the Spirit can witness of the truth and prompt a person to be baptized. The Book of Mormon teaches that the “spirit of Christ is given to every man, that they may know good from evil,” and the book encourages readers to “ask God, the eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost; and by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things.” Despite the Book of Mormon’s references to the Spirit of Christ or the role of the Holy Ghost in testifying of truth to people, JS made a clear distinction between experiencing the influence of the Spirit and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, which came only after baptism. In an 1839 letter to Isaac Galland, JS taught that the “promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost, [was] predicated upon the baptism for the remission of sins.” (Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 561, 569 [Moroni 7:16; 10:3–4]; Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.)
Though McIntire recorded this scriptural reference as being from 2 Peter, JS is here referencing a quotation from Peter given in Acts 2:38.
William Law was appointed a counselor in the First Presidency in January 1841. (Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:126].)
See Hebrews 8:6; and 1 Timothy 2:5.
See Hebrews 10:15; and Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 118 [2 Nephi 31:18].
For more on the concept of the Godhead and corporeality, see Paulsen, “Early Christian Belief in a Corporeal Deity,” 105–116; see also Discourse, ca. 16 Feb. 1841.
Paulsen, David L. “Early Christian Belief in a Corporeal Deity: Origen and Augustine as Reluctant Witnesses.” Harvard Theological Review 83, no. 2 (Apr. 1990): 105–116.
JS’s first known usage of the term “Ahman” to refer to God appears in “Sample of Pure Language,” which was prepared in 1832. In that document, JS taught that the “pure” language is the language Adam and Eve spoke with God in the Garden of Eden. The document includes the question, “What is the name of God in pure Language,” to which JS responded, “Awmen.” The document further identified “the name of the Son of God” as “the Son Awmen.” JS explained that the meaning of “Awmen” was “the being which made all things in all its parts.” (Sample of Pure Language, between ca. 4 and ca. 20 Mar. 1832.)