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Discourse, 27 August 1843, as Reported by Willard Richards

Source Note

JS, Discourse, [, Hancock Co., IL, 27 Aug. 1843]. Featured version copied [ca. 27 Aug. 1843] in JS, Journal, 1842–1844, bk. 3, pp. [69]–[75]; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS, Journal, 1842–1844.

Historical Introduction

On the morning of Sunday, 27 August 1843, JS delivered a discourse in the near the site for the in , Illinois, on the different orders of the . He began the meeting by discussing a controversy surrounding ’s purported role in a conspiracy to deliver JS to authorities in . He then read chapter seven of the epistle to the Hebrews from the New Testament, which he had referenced in a discourse given a month earlier, before beginning his formal address.
Four accounts of the discourse are extant and are featured here. recorded an account of the discourse in a 27 August entry in JS’s journal. and each transcribed distinct versions of the discourse, Clayton into his journal under the date of 27 August and Richards into a notebook he titled “Scriptural Items.” also inscribed the discourse into a collection of sermons that he kept in the back of his journal.
According to ’s account, JS retranslated the word salem from Hebrews chapter 7 as “shalom,” meaning peace, and explicated the term before explaining the different orders or forms of the priesthood and connecting the highest form to his retranslation of the word. JS taught that there were three orders of priesthood in a hierarchy of power: the Levitical, or ; the Abrahamic, or patriarchal; and the , which culminated in a “fullness” of the priesthood. This teaching expanded the ’ understanding of priesthood authority from the simpler dichotomy of Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthood he had taught previously. In 1840, for example, JS taught, “There are two priesthoods spoken of in the scriptures, viz, the Melchisadeck and the Aaronic or Levitical Altho there are two priesthoods, yet the Melchisadeck priesthood comprehends the Aaronic or Levitical priesthood and is the Grand head and holds the hig[h]est Authority which pertains to the priesthood.”
The four different versions accentuate different aspects of JS’s discourse. ’s account reports that JS connected the Aaronic order of priesthood to the Law of Moses and the Abrahamic order of priesthood to and families. Clayton and both recorded that he taught that the highest order of priesthood—that of Melchizedek, the king of Salem—was not given by man and held the key to “endless lives.” According to Willard Richards’s and Franklin D. Richards’s accounts, JS insisted that sacrifice, such as Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac, was necessary to attain this highest order of priesthood and “the of the kingdom of an endless life.” states that JS also argued that sectarians did not lay claim to the highest priesthood, the same held by the king of Salem, and were therefore unable to save anyone.
Annotation that appears in ’s version of the discourse is not repeated in corresponding locations in the versions by Clayton, Franklin D. Richards, or Burgess.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Discourse, 23 July 1843.

  2. [2]

    See Hebrews 7:1–2.

  3. [3]

    Instruction on Priesthood, ca. 5 Oct. 1840.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Discourse, 27 August 1843, as Reported by Willard Richards Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 3, 15 July 1843–29 February 1844 *Discourse, 27 August 1843, as Reported by William Clayton *Discourse, 27 August 1843, as Reported by Franklin D. Richards *Discourse, 27 August 1843, as Reported by James Burgess History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [74]

without father &c. a which holds the pr[i]esthood by right from the Eternal Gods.— and not by des[c]ent from father and mother
2d Pri[e]sthood. authority f[i]nish that . and god will fill it with power.
3d Priesthood. Prest
Pri[e]sts made without an oath but the Pr[i]esthood of is by oath and cov[e]nant.
Holy Ghost.
jesus christ— men have to suffer that th[e]y might come up on Mt. Zion. [p. [74]]
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Page [74]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Discourse, 27 August 1843, as Reported by Willard Richards
ID #
1148
Total Pages
7
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:73–76
Handwriting on This Page
  • Willard Richards

Footnotes

  1. [16]

    See Hebrews 7:3; and Old Testament Revision 1, p. 34 [Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 14:28]; and Alma 13.

  2. [17]

    JS previously spoke on the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods but had not mentioned this third category of a patriarchal priesthood. Perhaps because of flaws in the accounts of the discourse, the precise distinctions between these three orders of the priesthood are unclear. In Franklin D. Richards’s account of this discourse, the patriarchal priesthood is connected to Abraham, who was the first patriarch. Abraham’s name in Hebrew means the eminent father of a multitude, and his order of the priesthood was here associated with marriage ordinances and family sealings. (Minutes and Discourse, 3–5 Oct. 1840; Instruction on Priesthood, ca. 5 Oct. 1840; Discourse, 13 Aug. 1843–A; Wilson, Elements of Hebrew Grammar, 285.)

    Wilson, Charles. Elements of Hebrew Grammar: To Which Is Prefixed, a Dissertation on the Two Modes of Reading, with or without Points. 4th ed. London: Ogles, Duncan, and Cochran, 1818.

  3. [18]

    The Nauvoo temple construction began with a ceremonial laying of the cornerstone on 6 April 1841. By fall 1842, workers had laid a temporary floor, and Saints held their first meeting inside the temple on 30 October. The walls were “4 to 12 feet above the floor” by April 1843, and John Taylor published a report that the temple was “improving fast; the stones of that building begin to rise tier above tier; and it already begins to present a stately and noble appearance.” (Historical Introduction to Benediction, 6 Apr. 1841; JS, Journal, 28 and 30 Oct. 1842; 6 Apr. 1843; John Taylor, Report, Nauvoo Neighbor, 14 June 1843, [2].)

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  4. [19]

    See Hebrews 7:21; and Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:38–39]. In a 6 August 1843 public discourse, Brigham Young addressed a congregation of three hundred Saints in Philadelphia and inquired of them “who had the Melchizedek priesthood.” Young continued: “if any in the Church had it he did not know it for any person to have the fulness of that priesthood must be a king & a Priest.” He elaborated further, “A person may have a portion of that Priesthood the same as Governors or Judges of England have power from the King to transact business but yet he is not the king of England A person may be anointed king & priest before they receive their kingdom.” (Woodruff, Journal, 4 and 6 Aug. 1843.)

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

  5. [20]

    According to Franklin D. Richards’s account of this discourse, JS taught that “the Holy Ghost is now in a state of Probation which if he should perform in righteousness he may pass through the same on a similar course of things that the son has.”

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