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Discourse, 8 April 1843, as Reported by William Clayton

Source Note

JS, Discourse, [, Hancock Co., IL, 8 Apr. 1843]. Featured version inscribed [8 Apr. 1843]; handwriting of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes notation, docket, redaction, and archival marking.
Bifolium measuring 12¼ × 7¾ inches (31 × 20 cm) and ruled with thirty-six horizontal gray lines. At the top of the recto of the first leaf, wrote one line of text that is apparently unrelated to JS’s discourse. Clayton inscribed the discourse in graphite. On the verso of the second leaf, he added mathematical notations that appear unconnected with the discourse. The document was folded twice for filing. A corner of the bifolium was torn off and reattached with cellophane tape.
A title, “Josephs Sermen”, was inscribed at the top of the recto of the first leaf by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. A docket was added by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. At a later date, likely in the twentieth century, an archivist added the date of the discourse in the upper right corner of the recto of the first leaf. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The title, docket, archival marking, and inclusion by 1973 in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Clayton wrote, “Tenor charms the ear—Bass the heart,” as well as “Marcellus Page.” Willard Richards, whose parallel account of the meeting is also featured here, did not include text corresponding to these notes, nor did he make any notes relating to music at this conference session.

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  3. [3]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  4. [4]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 8 April 1843 in , Illinois, during a special of the held from 6 to 9 April, JS preached a discourse on the meaning of the beasts from John’s vision in the New Testament book of Revelation. As an apocalyptic text, the book of Revelation used symbols such as beasts to depict the cosmic struggle between God and the devil as it unfolded in heaven, earth, and hell. Lacking an explicit explanation of the symbolism of the beasts in John’s vision, many Christians turned to the vision of Daniel in the Old Testament, which likewise used beasts as symbols, since an angel explicitly explained to Daniel that the beasts represented corrupt kingdoms on the earth. Applying this key, Christian interpreters concluded that the beasts, especially those mentioned in Revelation 13, similarly represented corrupt earthly kingdoms under the dominion of the devil. These interpreters subsequently developed many theories to identify the symbolic beasts with specific historical kingdoms, powerful institutions, or influential people.
Although JS reportedly had a strong personal interest in the book of Revelation as a youth, he evidently did not address the interpretation of the beasts publicly during the early years of the church. In an explanatory document written in March 1832, he answered questions regarding the book of Revelation, including a query about “the four beasts spoken of by John” in Revelation 4. Instead of adopting the traditional interpretation that the beasts represented corrupt kingdoms, JS responded that they were actually “four individual beasts which were shewn to John to represent the glory of the classes of beings in their destined order or sphere of creation in the enjoyment of their eternal felicity.” However, this document was not published during JS’s lifetime. In 1839, the explicitly instructed missionaries to avoid speculating about the meaning of the beasts and other mysteries and instead to focus their public preaching on “the first principles of the gospel.”
By early 1843, however, debates about millennial prophecies in the book of Revelation were unavoidable, primarily due to the excitement surrounding the teachings of Baptist preacher , who had predicted that Christ would return to the earth in 1843 or 1844. The beasts of Revelation became a point of local controversy in March 1843 when the tried Latter-day Saint missionary for teaching false doctrine. According to JS’s summary of Brown’s ideas, Brown adapted the traditional understanding that the beasts represented kingdoms and applied it to the fourth and fifth chapters of Revelation, which describe four heavenly beasts worshipping before the throne of God. Rather than interpreting these beasts as corrupt earthly kingdoms, Brown claimed that they represented the “kingdoms of God on the earth” as constituted during the times of biblical figures such as Adam, Enoch, Abraham, and Jesus. After Brown “acknowledged” the false doctrine charge, the trial moved to unrelated allegations.
The issue of the beasts was again raised on 2 April 1843, when JS visited church members in , Illinois. Reading from the fifth chapter of Revelation, he reaffirmed his 1832 statement that the beasts mentioned were actual creatures, adding that they possibly came from another planet. He concluded, referring to ’s teachings, that “God never made use of the figure of a beast to represent the kingdom of heaven.” JS also engaged in spirited debate with unnamed “young ” whom he hoped “would let such things alone.” Later that day, “several came in & expressd fear that [he] had come in contact with the old scripture,” evidently challenging his position that the vision of Daniel should not be used to interpret John’s vision in Revelation. JS again defended his position when speaking later that evening.
JS revisited the subject of the beasts on 8 April 1843, the third day of the church’s special conference in , noting the recent “division of sentiment amongst the E[lde]rs” over the meaning of the beasts and expressing his desire to settle the debate. He then proceeded to refute ’s position and to articulate his own view of the matter. It was a windy morning, and JS was concerned that he would not be able to speak above the wind for an extended period of time. He stopped preaching at 11:25 a.m., when his “lungs faild” and “the wind blew briskly.”
was appointed clerk of the conference and recorded JS’s discourse. The unevenness of Clayton’s notes suggests that he was writing as he heard JS speak. Another of JS’s scribes, , likewise took uneven notes, which he later copied into JS’s journal, likely with minimal polishing, as was his typical practice. Church member also made an account, the polished nature of which suggests that he reconstructed JS’s words after the fact from notes or from memory or both. All three versions are featured here. Annotation that appears in Clayton’s version of the discourse is not repeated in corresponding locations in the other featured versions.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Reflecting the prevailing methodology for interpreting biblical prophecy, nineteenth-century Bible scholar James Clarke explained that “what is meant by the term Beast in any one prophetic vision, the same species of thing must be represented by the same term whenever it is used in a similar way in any other part of the Sacred Oracles.” Clarke’s explanation was quoted approvingly by prominent Methodist Adam Clarke in his influential nineteenth-century Bible commentary, which JS was known to consult. (Clarke, Dissertation on the Dragon, 82, italics in original; Clarke, New Testament, 2:1035; see also Wayment and Wilson-Lemmon, “Recovered Resource,” 262–284.)

    Clarke, James E. Dissertation on the Dragon, Beast, and False-Prophet, of the Apocalypse; in Which the Number 666 Is Satisfactorily Explained. And Also a Full Illustration of Daniel’s Vision of the Ram and He-Goat. London: Printed for the author, 1814.

    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.

  2. [2]

    Pomeroy Tucker, a contemporary of JS who lived in the town where JS grew up, wrote that JS “frequently perused the Bible, becoming quite familiar with portions thereof. . . . The Prophecies and Revelations were his special forte.” (Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism, 17.)

    Tucker, Pomeroy. Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism: Biography of Its Founders and History of Its Church. New York: D. Appleton, 1867.

  3. [3]

    Answers to Questions, between ca. 4 and ca. 20 Mar. 1832 [D&C 77:2–4]. JS also reviewed the book of Revelation in his revision of the King James Bible in the early 1830s. He made no changes relevant to the beasts in chapters 4–6, although he did insert “in the likeness of the kingdoms of the earth” into John’s description of the beast in chapter 13. (New Testament Revision 2, pp. 150–151, 153 [second numbering] [Joseph Smith Translation, Revelation 4:6; 6:1; 13:1].)

  4. [4]

    “Proposed Sixth Gathering of the Book of Commandments.”

  5. [5]

    The Twelve warned the elders to “leave the further mysteries of the kingdom, till God shall tell you to preach them, which is not now.— The horns of the beast, the toes of the image, the frogs and the beast mentioned by John, are not going to save this generation.” (“To the Elders of the Church,” Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:13–14.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  6. [6]

    See Historical Introduction to Instruction, 2 Apr. 1843 [D&C 130]; Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 Apr. 1843; and Underwood, Millenarian World of Early Mormonism, chap. 7.

    Underwood, Grant. The Millenarian World of Early Mormonism. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993.

  7. [7]

    Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, 19 Mar. 1843. Pelatiah Brown had joined the church by the mid-1830s and served missions in the late 1830s and early 1840s. (Elder’s License for Pelatiah Brown, 1 June 1836, in Kirtland Elders’ Certificates, 128; Haight, Journal, [4], [6]; Nauvoo Ninth Ward High Priests Quorum, Minutes, 21 Jan. 1845, [15]; “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1842, 3:941.)

    Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, ca. 1839–ca. 1843. Fair copy. In Oliver Cowdery, Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL.

    Haight, Isaac Chauncey. Journal, 1852–1862. Photocopy. CHL. MS 1384.

    Nauvoo Ninth Ward. High Priests Minutes, Nov. 1844–Feb. 1845. CHL. LR 3501 21.

  8. [8]

    Brown was also charged with criticizing Daniel Shearer, which Brown denied. After deliberation, this charge was “not sustained” by the council. (Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, 19 Mar. 1843.)

    Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, ca. 1839–ca. 1843. Fair copy. In Oliver Cowdery, Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL.

  9. [9]

    Instruction, 2 Apr. 1843 [D&C 130].

  10. [10]

    JS, Journal, 8 Apr. 1843.

  11. [11]

    See Historical Introduction to Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 Apr. 1843.

  12. [12]

    See Historical Introduction to Discourse, 4 July 1843.

  13. [13]

    The recollective nature of Franklin D. Richards’s account of the discourse is further confirmed by the fact that he inscribed his accounts of JS’s comments at the April 1843 conference in reverse chronological order, beginning with the 8 April discourse, following it with JS’s 7 April response to Orson Pratt, and concluding with JS’s second discourse given on 6 April 1843. (See Richards, “Scriptural Items,” [15]–[17].)

    Richards, Franklin D. Scriptural Items, ca. 1841–1844. CHL. MS 4409.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Discourse, 8 April 1843, as Reported by William Clayton *Discourse, 8 April 1843, as Reported by Willard Richards Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 2, 10 March 1843–14 July 1843 *Discourse, 8 April 1843, as Reported by Franklin D. Richards History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [3]

John heard the words they said. God could understand every languag they talked— the beasts were intelligent being[s] giving glory. Darling religion says that the beasts represent kingdoms very well on the same principle the 24 Er represent beast— said the earth <​arg[ument]​> was flat as a pan-cake— calculate to overthrow the technicalities of the world. Again— there is no Rev. to prove (& we never can comprehend) without Rev.) if we spiritualise no authority) Ye of Israel hearken to my voice and when ye are sent into the world to preach repent ye for the k. of h is at hand— never meddle with the beasts & subjects you do not understand. when you go to dont say any thing about the beast the Lord read Rev. c 13 verse 2— they say the beast that received the wound was nebuchadnezer— What John saw in relation to this beast they have used the term Devil for dragon— it was a beast that John saw in heaven— what was shortly to come to pass. the beast was an actual b to which power was to be given an intelligent being in heaven— to have power given— John saw it had been wounded— All the world wondered after the b and if the beast was the world how could the world wonder after the beast— nebucha & constantine not excepted— it must have been a been [beast] that the human beings wondered after. When God gives power to a beast to destroy all will wonder. read verse 4— the inhabitants declared who is able to make war & they worshiped the dragon— some say it means the k’s of the [[world]] dont mean the k of the saints— suppose it means the k’s of the [[world]] what propriety is there in saying who is able to make war with myself— If these interpretations are true the book contradicts itself in almost every verse— but they are not true.
There is a mistranslation— the original word means the devil instead of the dragon— verse 9 ch 12— That old serpent called the devil every thing that we have not a key word to we will take it as it reads. The beasts were being[s] in h that were to have power I give this as a key to the Ers— [p. [3]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Discourse, 8 April 1843, as Reported by William Clayton
ID #
2004
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:185–190
Handwriting on This Page
  • William Clayton

Footnotes

  1. [16]

    According to Revelation 4:8, John heard the beasts “saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.”

  2. [17]

    Revelation chapter 4 describes twenty-four elders “clothed in white raiment” and wearing “crowns of gold.” The elders “cast their crowns before the throne” and said, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Willard Richards’s account of this discourse quotes JS as saying, “Darling religion, says, they meant something beside beast.— then the 24 elders must mean something else.” In 1832, JS indicated that they “were Elders who had been faithful in the work of the ministry and were dead who belonged to the Seven Churches and were then in the paradise of God.” (Revelation 4:4, 10–11; Answers to Questions, between ca. 4 and ca. 20 Mar. 1832 [D&C 77:5].)

  3. [18]

    In Willard Richards’s account of this discourse, JS continued by defending his use of this expression: “what do you use such flat & vulger expressions. for being a prophet? because the old women understa[n]d it, they make pancakes.— the whole argument is flat, & I dont know of any thing bette[r] to repr[e]sent.— the argument.”

  4. [19]

    See Matthew 3:2.

  5. [20]

    The previous day, Pelatiah Brown was appointed to “build up a church” in Palmyra, New York. (JS, Journal, 7 Apr. 1843; see also Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 Apr. 1843.)

  6. [21]

    Revelation 13:2–3 recounts that John saw a multiheaded beast rise out of the sea. Unlike the heavenly beasts of Revelation chapters 4 and 5, the beast of chapter 13 was given power by “the dragon.” John “saw one of his [the beast’s] heads as it were wounded to death,” but “his deadly wound was healed.” According to Willard Richards’s account of this discourse, JS referenced various interpretations of the beast, including “Nebuchadnezzar.— Constantine.— & the catholic . . . priests,” referring to the king of Babylon in the sixth century BC and the Roman emperor from the fourth century AD. (See Clarke, New Testament, 2:1037.)

    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.

  7. [22]

    According to Willard Richards’s account of this discourse, JS stated that “it was not to rep[res]ent beast on heaven— it was an angel in heaven. who has power in the last days to do a work.”

  8. [23]

    See Revelation 13:3.

  9. [24]

    TEXT: Expanded from the Taylor shorthand symbol for world.

  10. [25]

    TEXT: Expanded from the Taylor shorthand symbol for world.

  11. [26]

    Revelation chapter 12 describes the “war in heaven,” in which “Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; . . . And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan.” Although Clayton recorded JS as saying that the Greek word translated as “dragon” should have been rendered as “devil,” Willard Richards instead quoted JS as stating that “The Dragon.— we may interpret it.— & it is sometimes Apolyel.” Apollyon is the Greek word for “destroyer.” Revelation 9:11 refers to the “angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.” (Revelation 12:7, 9; Clarke, New Testament, 2:1022.)

    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.

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