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Discourse, 11 June 1843–A, as Reported by Willard Richards

Source Note

JS, Discourse, [, Hancock Co., IL, 11 June 1843]. Featured version copied [ca. 11 June 1843] in JS, Journal, 1842–1844, bk. 2, pp. [240]–[251]; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS, Journal, 1842–1844.

Historical Introduction

On 11 June 1843 in the unfinished in , Illinois, JS preached a discourse urging the Saints to complete the sacred edifice so that they could perform salvific therein, including proxy for the dead. Since the early 1830s, many of JS’s revelations and teachings had emphasized the imperative for the Saints to to and its in order to build temples. An 1841 revelation designated Nauvoo as a “corner stone of Zion” where the Saints would build a temple, or a house “for the Most High to dwell.” By 1843, construction of the temple in Nauvoo had been ongoing for over two years, and when the building season began in April, the walls of the temple measured “4. to 12 feet above the floor.” The Nauvoo Neighbor reported in June 1843 that “the Temple is improving fast; the stones of that building begin to rise tier above tier; and it already begins to present a stately and noble appearance.”
The Neighbor stated that “a large concourse of people assembled at the ” on 11 June 1843 to hear JS’s discourse and noted that “the floor, as well as the walls, were literally covered with people.” Employing a common preaching technique, JS framed the discourse as an analysis and elaboration of Jesus’s teachings in Matthew 23:37: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” JS explained that the Saints’ salvation depended on gathering together and completing the temple—which was not progressing as quickly as he desired.
JS’s scribe inscribed an account of the discourse in JS’s journal. Richards presumably took rough notes on loose sheets of paper, which he later copied—with minimal polishing—into the journal. and recorded additional accounts of the discourse. also inscribed an undated discourse that parallels language in Woodruff’s account regarding the rejection of prophets by JS’s contemporaries. The polished nature of the accounts by Woodruff, Franklin D. Richards, and Burgess suggests that each was expanding contemporaneous notes or drawing from memory or both. Annotation that appears in Willard Richards’s version of the minutes is not repeated in corresponding locations in the other featured versions. All four versions are featured here.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57]; Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:119]; Letter to William W. Phelps, 11 Jan. 1833; and Revelation, 26 Apr. 1838 [D&C 115].

  2. [2]

    Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:2, 27].

  3. [3]

    JS, Journal, 6 Apr. 1843.

  4. [4]

    News Item, Nauvoo Neighbor, 14 June 1843, [2].

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  5. [5]

    News Item, Nauvoo Neighbor, 14 June 1843, [2].

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  6. [6]

    Designing a sermon around a passage of scripture rather than a topic was referred to among Christian preachers as expository preaching. (Sturtevant, Preacher’s Manual, 1:68; Stowe, “On Expository Preaching,” 384.)

    Sturtevant, S. T. The Preacher’s Manual; or, Lectures on Preaching. . . . 2nd ed. 2 vols. London: Richard Baynes, 1834.

    Stowe, Calvin Ellis. “On Expository Preaching and the Principles Which Should Guide Us in the Exposition of Scripture.” Biblical Repository and Quarterly Observer 5, no. 18 (Apr. 1835): 384–402.

  7. [7]

    For more information on Richards’s note-taking methodology, see Historical Introduction to Discourse, 4 July 1843.

  8. [8]

    Burgess’'s account is not dated, but it, along with another undated account of a discourse that follows it in his journal, was placed between accounts of JS’s discourses than can be securely dated 21 May and 23 July 1843. For a discussion of the known discourses JS delivered between these dates, see Historical Introduction to Discourse, between 11 June and 23 July 1843.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Discourse, 11 June 1843–A, as Reported by Willard Richards Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 2, 10 March 1843–14 July 1843 *Discourse, 11 June 1843–A, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff *Discourse, 11 June 1843–A, as Reported by Franklin D. Richards Discourse, 11 June 1843–A, as Reported by Eliza R. Snow *Discourse, 11 June 1843–A, as Reported by James Burgess History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [245]

as with the jews . . . — . . . It always has been when a man was sent of good [God] with the . & he began to preach the fulness of the gospel. that was thut [thrust] out by his fri[e]nds.—— and they are ready to but[c]her him if he teach things which th[e]y had imagind to be wrong.— Jesus was crucifi[e]d upon this principle—
I will turn linguist. ma[n]y things in the bible. whi[c]h do not. as th[e]y now stand. accord with the revelati[o]n of th[e] holy Gho[s]t to me.—
Par[a]dise. “this day thou sha[l]t be with me in paradise.[”] Paradise. Modern word.— dont answer to the original word used by Jesus.— [p. [245]]
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Source Note

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Page [245]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Discourse, 11 June 1843–A, as Reported by Willard Richards
ID #
1090
Total Pages
12
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:380–385
Handwriting on This Page
  • Willard Richards

Footnotes

  1. [11]

    See Luke 23:43. Wilford Woodruff’s account of the discourse clarifies that JS was addressing the etymology of the word translated as paradise in the New Testament. According to Methodist minister Adam Clarke’s nineteenth-century Bible commentary, which JS was known to consult, “the word paradise is not Greek, but is of Asiatic origin. In Arabic and Persian it signifies a garden, a vineyard, and also the place of the blessed.” (Clarke, New Testament, 1:470, italics in original; see also Wayment and Wilson-Lemmon, “Recovered Resource,” 262–284.)

    Clarke, Adam. The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Text Carefully Printed from the Most Correct Copies of the Present Authorised Version, Including the Marginal Readings and Parallel Texts. . . . Vol. 1. New York: J. Emory and B. Waugh, 1831.

    Wayment, Thomas A., and Haley Wilson-Lemmon. “A Recovered Resource: The Use of Adam Clarke’s Bible Commentary in Joseph Smith’s Bible Translation.” In Producing Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith’s Translation Projects in the Development of Mormon Christianity, edited by Michael Hubbard MacKay, Mark Ashurst-McGee, and Brian M. Hauglid, 262–284. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2020.

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