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Discourse, between 11 June and 23 July 1843

Source Note

JS, Discourse, [, Hancock Co., IL, between 11 June and 23 July 1843]. Featured version copied [between 11 June 1843 and ca. 1848] in James Burgess, Journal and Notebook, Oct. 1841–Dec. 1848, verso, pp. [11]–[12]; handwriting of ; James Burgess, Journals, 1841–1848, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Discourse, 6 Apr. 1843–B, as Reported by James Burgess.

Historical Introduction

Sometime in June or July 1843, JS gave a discourse in , Illinois, explaining the belief that Deity is both embodied and omnipresent. Traditional Protestant doctrine stipulated that God was “without body, parts, or passions,” which supported a belief in divine omnipresence but challenged an understanding of divine embodiment. JS’s translations and revelations departed from this view. For example, JS’s 1830 revision of the Bible included a passage indicating that God created humans “in the image of his own body.” By the early 1840s, JS was explicitly teaching that God the Father had a body. In 1841, he was quoted as saying that “the Son Had a Tabernicle & so had the father.” On 2 April 1843, JS reportedly taught that “the Father has a body of flesh & bones as tangible as mans the Son also.” On the same occasion, he dismissed the idea that “the father and the Son dwells in a mans heart” as “an old Sectarian notion.” JS also taught that “the Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit” that could “descend upon” humans.
JS reaffirmed this doctrine of divine corporeality and omnipresence in the undated discourse of June or July 1843 that is featured here. According to church member , who inscribed an account of the discourse in his notebook, JS was responding to a “sectarian preist” who had asked JS about the church’s teachings regarding the embodiment of God. Burgess did not date the discourse, but he inscribed it between accounts of sermons JS gave on 11 June and on 23 July, apparently placing the discourse within this time frame. JS spoke publicly on multiple occasions during these months, and comparison with other extant accounts of discourses given during this period suggests two possible dates—11 June and 9 July 1843—for when JS could have made the comments written in Burgess’s notebook. In JS’s discourse on the morning of 11 June, he commented on the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost and critiqued the traditional Christian understanding of the Trinity; this may have led to comments on divine corporeality and omnipresence. On 9 July, JS answered questions posed by an unnamed—and possibly fictional—interlocutor in a fashion similar to that in the undated discourse recorded by Burgess. However, , who recorded detailed contemporaneous accounts of both the 11 June and 9 July discourses, did not include references to divine embodiment. Without additional evidence, the date JS delivered the discourse reported by Burgess remains uncertain.
’s inscription of the discourse in his notebook is fairly polished, which strongly suggests that he wrote the account after the fact, likely reconstructing it from memory or from notes he took at the time or both. He initially wrote the account in graphite but subsequently reinscribed the text in ink and erased the graphite.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Macpherson, Westminster Confession of Faith, 42, italics removed; see also Coke and Asbury, Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 9.

    Macpherson, John. The Westminster Confession of Faith. With Introduction and Notes. Handbooks for Bible Classes, edited by Marcus Dods and Alexander Whyte. Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, 1881.

    Coke, Thomas, and Francis Asbury. The Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in America. 10th ed. Philadelphia: Henry Tuckniss, 1798.

  2. [2]

    Old Testament Revision 1, p. 11 [Moses 6:9]; see also Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 528–529 [Ether 3:6–9, 16]; and Givens, Wrestling the Angel, chap. 11.

    Givens, Terryl L. Wrestling the Angel: The Foundations of Mormon Thought: Cosmos, God, Humanity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.

  3. [3]

    Account of Meeting and Discourses, ca. 9 Mar. 1841.

  4. [4]

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

  5. [5]

    See Discourse, 11 June 1843–A; and Discourse, 9 July 1843. JS’s discourses during these months—most of which occurred during Sunday meetings—were well documented. Two days after his 11 June 1843 discourse, JS left for Dixon, Illinois, and was away from the city until 30 June, when he spoke about his arrest and defended the Nauvoo Municipal Court’s habeas corpus powers. JS next spoke on 4 July, recounting the Latter-day Saints’ troubles with Missouri over the previous five years. He then spoke on 9 July, comparing the Saints’ beliefs with those of other Christian denominations. On 16 July, JS spoke in the morning about “enemies” in Nauvoo, and in the afternoon, he discussed eternal marriage and announced that Hyrum Smith would replace him as prophet. Finally, on 23 July, JS explained what he meant by designating Hyrum as prophet. (Historical Introduction to Affidavit, 24 June 1843; Discourse, 30 June 1843; Discourse, 4 July 1843; Discourse, 9 July 1843; JS, Journal, 16 July 1843; Discourse, 16 July 1843; Discourse, 23 July 1843.)

Page [12]

and the express image of his person.
Ques. What person[?] Gods person, Hebrews 1st chap 3 verse And through the atonement of Christ and the resurection and obediance of to the Gospel we shall again be conformed to the image of his Son Jesus Christ, then we shall have attained to the image glory and character of God. What part of God is omnipresent[?] read the 37 chap of Ezekel. It is the spirit of God which proceeds from him consequently God is in the four winds of Heaven and when man receives inteligence is it not by the spirit of God[?] [p. [12]]
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Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [12]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Discourse, between 11 June and 23 July 1843
ID #
13052
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:497–499
Handwriting on This Page
  • James Burgess

Footnotes

  1. [6]

    See Hebrews 1:3.

  2. [7]

    Ezekiel chapter 37 contains an account of the “spirit of the Lord” showing the prophet Ezekiel a vision of a “valley which was full of bones,” which represented scattered Israel. Ezekiel was told to say, “Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live,” symbolizing the gathering of Israel. (Ezekiel 37:1, 9; see also Daniel 7:2.)

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