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Instruction on Priesthood, between circa 1 March and circa 4 May 1835 [D&C 107]

Source Note

Instruction on Priesthood, , Geauga Co., OH, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835. Featured version titled “On Priesthood”; typeset ca. mid-May 1835; in Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 ed., pp. 82–89. For more complete source information, see the source note for Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 edition.

Historical Introduction

In early 1835, twelve men were called to serve as in the , and numerous were appointed as members of the . In March 1835, JS and the decided that because of “the many pressing requests from the eastern churches,” the apostles would conduct a series of in the eastern . These conferences were held “for the purpose of regulateing all things necessary” for the welfare of the of the church in those areas. It appears that sometime before the Twelve departed on 4 May 1835 to begin holding these conferences, JS presented them with this instruction, which outlined information about and church governance. The document indicated that there were two major divisions of priesthood in the church—the and the —and explained the responsibilities of the Twelve Apostles, the Seventy, , and other officers in the church. This instruction was apparently meant to aid the Twelve in their regulation of the eastern branches, while also providing detailed information about the responsibilities of priesthood officers. Like the earlier “Articles and Covenants” of the church, the instruction became an important document establishing significant doctrines on the governing bodies of the church and on the priesthood itself.
The Instruction on Priesthood compiled information from previous JS revelations. Much of the instruction came from a revelation JS had dictated in November 1831. According to some observers, JS dictated other parts of the instruction as an 1835 revelation. Some of the instruction also elaborated on ideas first presented in a September 1832 revelation, indicating that JS was gaining new understanding into concepts of priesthood and leadership. , who assisted in calling the Twelve and giving them their “charge” as apostles, was probably involved in the instruction’s preparation; later remembered JS spending “two hours laboring with Elder Cowdery to get him to write” what Young called a “Revelation on Priesthood”—probably this instruction. Indeed, when the instruction was published in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, it was designated as an instruction “On Priesthood.” Church members saw the instruction as coming from God. , for example, referred to the instruction as something “the Lord” had “bestow[ed] upon” the Saints through “Brother Joseph” and explained that the Twelve Apostles “praised the Lord” for its contents.
Exactly when in 1835 the instruction appeared in its complete form is unclear. Although it may have been prepared directly after the Twelve’s calling on 14 February 1835, it was probably presented in written form no earlier than 1 March. At a meeting of the Twelve on 27 February 1835, JS asked the apostles to discuss the question, “What importance is attached to the callings of these twelve apostles differrent from the other callings and offices of the chu[r]ch,” suggesting that he had not at that point instructed them on this matter. JS explained during this meeting that it was “all important that the twelve should understand the power and authority of the priesthoods, for without this knowledge they can do nothing to profit.” JS also proclaimed that the Twelve were “called to a travelling to preside over all the churches of the saints among the gentiles when there is no presidency established.” The Twelve were “to travel and preach among the until the Lord shall command them to go to the Jews.” They were also to hold “the keys of this ministry— to unlock the door of the kingdom of heaven unto all nations and preach the Gospel unto every creation.” Similar explanations appear in the featured instruction. In addition, the instruction contains detailed information about the office of Seventy, which was first instituted in the church at meetings held on 28 February and 1 March 1835. It is unlikely that the instruction was completed before this office was formally introduced into the church.
remembered that JS dictated the instruction on priesthood at a meeting of the Twelve one evening after the apostles had been called and most of them had been ordained. Kimball’s account places the meeting sometime before the first week of April 1835. A later JS history placed this dictation on 28 March 1835 and referenced a document recounting a meeting of the Twelve where, after a period of “general confession,” they made a written request that JS obtain for them a revelation of God’s “mind and will concerning our duty the coming season.” The history states that JS then dictated this instruction. However, this appears to be based on a misdating by the history’s compilers since the request to JS, which was copied into Minute Book 1, is dated 28 March 1836, not 1835. In fact, JS was not in , Ohio, on 28 March 1835. On that day, five members of the Twelve—, or , , , and —were with JS in Huntsburgh, Ohio, preaching and . Another five apostles were presumably in Kirtland. Huntsburgh is about seventeen miles from Kirtland, and according to McLellin’s diary, JS, and presumably the apostles with him, did not leave Huntsburgh until 30 March.
It is possible that JS formally presented the instruction to the Twelve on 26 April 1835. The minutes of a meeting held on that date state, “This day, pursuant to previous appointment, the Twelve Apostles and the Seventy (a part of whom had already been chosen,) assembled in the (altho’ unfinished.) with a numerous concourse of people in order to receive our charge and instructions from President Joseph Smith Jun relative to our mission and duties.” The minutes, however, do not provide more detail on the instruction JS gave. Another possibility is that the featured instruction was presented in a 28 April 1835 meeting of the Twelve. At that meeting, a motion was carried that each apostle “forgive one another every wrong that has existed among us,” which may have been the “general confession” mentioned in the later JS history. In any case, this instruction was likely given to the Twelve before they left on 4 May 1835, and it was certainly prepared by 26 May 1835, when sent his wife, , printed copies of “the Six first forms of the Doctrine and Covenants,” which included the instruction.
Although not covering all operations of church administration, the instruction captures information about the coordination of church governance between bishops, the , and newer offices such as the high council, the Twelve Apostles, and the Seventy. It also gives specific names for the two priesthoods in the church—Melchizedek for the higher priesthood and Aaronic for the lower—and explains why those two names were applied to these priesthoods. The instruction explains that the presidency of the high priesthood has the right to officiate in all offices of the church and further illuminates the role of the bishop in the church, explaining that the bishopric is the presidency of the Aaronic priesthood. Essentially, this document updated the Articles and Covenants and other revelations on church administration and codified the roles of the new offices.
No manuscript copies of the complete instruction are extant. The featured version was published in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, which was issued in September of that year. The volume includes two sections: one containing lectures on the doctrine of the church; and the other containing the church’s “Covenants and Commandments,” or JS’s revelations. This instruction is the third document in the “Covenants and Commandments” portion, directly following a revelatory preface and the foundational Articles and Covenants of the church. It is likely that at least some members of the Twelve took copies of the instruction with them to the eastern to use in their conferences. Minutes of a conference held in , New York, in May, for example, mention the Twelve providing “much explanation” about “the nature and principles of church government,” items that the instruction addresses. An August 1835 letter from church leaders to the Twelve also contains a reference that suggests the Twelve had an advanced copy of the published version of the instruction at that time.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes, Discourse, and Blessings, 14–15 Feb. 1835; Minutes and Blessings, 28 Feb.–1 Mar. 1835.

  2. [2]

    Orson Hyde and William E. McLellin, Kirtland, OH, 8 Mar. 1835, Letter to the Editor, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Mar. 1835, 1:90.

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  3. [3]

    Minutes, 12 Mar. 1835.

  4. [4]

    Minutes and Discourses, 27 Feb. 1835.

  5. [5]

    See Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107 (partial)].

  6. [6]

    See, for example, Kimball, “Journal and Record,” 54.

    Kimball, Heber C. “The Journal and Record of Heber Chase Kimball an Apostle of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” ca. 1842–1858. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 1.

  7. [7]

    Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84].

  8. [8]

    Minutes, Discourse, and Blessings, 14–15 Feb. 1835; Minutes and Blessings, 21 Feb. 1835.

  9. [9]

    School of the Prophets Provo Records, 15 Apr. 1868, 5–6.

    School of the Prophets Provo Records, 1868–1872. CHL.

  10. [10]

    Kimball, “Journal and Record,” 54.

    Kimball, Heber C. “The Journal and Record of Heber Chase Kimball an Apostle of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” ca. 1842–1858. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 1.

  11. [11]

    See Minutes, Discourse, and Blessings, 14–15 Feb. 1835.

  12. [12]

    Minutes and Discourses, 27 Feb. 1835.

  13. [13]

    Kimball, “Journal and Record,” 54.

    Kimball, Heber C. “The Journal and Record of Heber Chase Kimball an Apostle of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” ca. 1842–1858. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 1.

  14. [14]

    JS History, vol. B-1, 581–582.

    JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.

  15. [15]

    McLellin, Journal, 28–30 Mar. 1835; William E. McLellin, Huntsburgh, OH, to Oliver Cowdery, 16 Apr. 1835, in LDS Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1835, 1:102–103.

    McLellin, William E. Journal, July 1834–Apr. 1835. William E. McLellin, Papers, 1831–1836, 1877–1878. CHL. MS 13538, box 1, fd. 4. Also available as Jan Shipps and John W. Welch, eds., The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836 (Provo, UT: BYU Studies; Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994).

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  16. [16]

    Orson Pratt and Thomas B. Marsh had not yet arrived in Kirtland, but Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, Luke or Lyman Johnson, and William Smith were likely all there. (Partridge, Diary, 24 Apr. 1835; Pratt, Diary, 26 Apr. 1835; Minutes, 26 Apr. 1835.)

    Partridge, Edward. Diaries, 1818 and 1835–1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fds. 1–2.

    Pratt, Orson. Journal, 1833–1837. Orson Pratt, Autobiography and Journals, 1833–1847. CHL. MS 587, fds. 2–4.

  17. [17]

    McLellin, Journal, 30 Mar. 1835.

    McLellin, William E. Journal, July 1834–Apr. 1835. William E. McLellin, Papers, 1831–1836, 1877–1878. CHL. MS 13538, box 1, fd. 4. Also available as Jan Shipps and John W. Welch, eds., The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836 (Provo, UT: BYU Studies; Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994).

  18. [18]

    Minutes, 26 Apr. 1835.

  19. [19]

    Record of the Twelve, 28 Apr. 1835; JS History, vol. B-1, 581.

    Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Record / Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “A Record of the Transactions of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of the Latter Day Saints from the Time of Their Call to the Apostleship Which Was on the 14th Day of Feby. AD 1835,” Feb.–Aug. 1835. In Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–, vol. 2. CHL. CR 500 2.

    JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.

  20. [20]

    William W. Phelps, Kirtland, OH, to Sally Waterman Phelps, Liberty, MO, 26 May 1835, William W. Phelps, Papers, BYU.

    Phelps, William W. Papers, 1835–1865. BYU.

  21. [21]

    For example, the instruction does not say anything about the role of standing high councils in disciplinary proceedings, something outlined in the constitution of the Kirtland high council. (Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834 [D&C 102:2].)

  22. [22]

    Earlier revelations had associated Melchizedek with the higher priesthood and Aaron with the lesser priesthood. The Book of Mormon noted that Melchizedek was a high priest, and JS’s Bible revision explained that “Melchisedec was ordained a priest after the order of the Son of God.” JS and Sidney Rigdon’s account of a February 1832 vision of the afterlife explained that those in the highest kingdom of glory were “priests of the most high after the order of Melchesadeck which was after the order of Enoch which was after the order of the only begotten son.” A September 1832 revelation stated that Abraham received the higher priesthood from Melchizedek, whereas the lesser priesthood was given to Aaron and his seed. While at an April 1834 meeting, JS referred to the “priesthood of Aaron” as something distinct from the higher priesthood. When JS ordained Oliver Cowdery an assistant president in the presidency of the high priesthood, JS referred to the priesthood as being “after the order of Melchizedek.” (Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 260 [Alma 13:14]; New Testament Revision 2, p. 139 [second numbering] [Joseph Smith Translation, Hebrews 7:3]; Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:56–57]; Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:14, 18]; Minutes and Discourse, 21 Apr. 1834; Account of Meetings, Revelation, and Blessing, 5–6 Dec. 1834; see also Old Testament Revision 1, pp. 33–34 [Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 14:26–33].)

  23. [23]

    Manuscript copies of the portion of the instruction dictated in November 1831 do exist. (See, for example, Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B, in Revelation Book 1, pp. 122–123 [D&C 107:59–72]; and Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B, in Revelation Book 2, pp. 84–86 [D&C 107 (partial)].)

  24. [24]

    Historical Introduction to Doctrine and Covenants, 1835.

  25. [25]

    This consisted of seven theological lectures on faith given at the Elders School. (See Historical Introduction to First Theological Lecture on Faith, ca. Jan.–May 1835.)

  26. [26]

    Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830, in Doctrine and Covenants 2, 1835 ed. [D&C 20].

  27. [27]

    Record of the Twelve, 4–9 May 1835.

    Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Record / Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “A Record of the Transactions of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of the Latter Day Saints from the Time of Their Call to the Apostleship Which Was on the 14th Day of Feby. AD 1835,” Feb.–Aug. 1835. In Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–, vol. 2. CHL. CR 500 2.

  28. [28]

    Letter to Quorum of the Twelve, 4 Aug. 1835.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Instruction on Priesthood, between circa 1 March and circa 4 May 1835 [D&C 107]
Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 Doctrine and Covenants, 1844 History, 1838–1856, volume B-1 [1 September 1834–2 November 1838] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 82

SECTION III.
ON PRIESTHOOD.
1 There are, in the , two , namely: the , and the , including the Levitical priesthood. Why the first is called the Melchizedek priesthood, is because Melchizedek was such a great high priest: before his day it was called the holy priesthood, after the order of the Son of God; but out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name, they, the church, in ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek, or the Melchizedek priesthood.
2 All other authorities, or offices in the church are appendages to this priesthood; but there are two divisions, or grand heads—one is the Melchizedek priesthood, and the other is the Aaronic, or Levitical priesthood. [p. 82]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Instruction on Priesthood, between circa 1 March and circa 4 May 1835 [D&C 107]
ID #
5483
Total Pages
8
Print Volume Location
JSP, D4:308–321
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Footnotes

  1. [1]

    A September 1832 revelation had previously noted that there was a greater priesthood and a lesser priesthood. Similarly, in a history he prepared in summer 1832, JS wrote that he had received two different kinds of authority: one that allowed him “to adminster the letter of the Gospel,” and another that was “the high Priesthood after the holy order of the son of the living God.” (Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:19, 26]; JS History, ca. Summer 1832, 1.)

  2. [2]

    Other religious leaders around this time also posited the existence of different types of priesthood. Alexander Crawford, a Scottish minister living in Canada, believed that three priesthoods existed anciently: a patriarchal priesthood after the “order of Melchizedec,” an Aaronic priesthood, and a priesthood held by Jesus Christ. Alexander Campbell of the Disciples of Christ also believed that the tribe of Levi held one priesthood and that Aaron and his sons held a “high priesthood.” (Staker, Hearken, O Ye People, 148–151; Campbell, Delusions, 11.)

    Staker, Mark L. Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith’s Ohio Revelations. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2009.

    Campbell, Alexander. Delusions. An Analysis of the Book of Mormon; with an Examination of Its Internal and External Evidences, and a Refutation of Its Pretences to Divine Authority. Boston: Benjamin H. Greene, 1832.

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