The Papers
Browse the PapersDocumentsJournalsAdministrative RecordsRevelations and TranslationsHistoriesLegal RecordsFinancial RecordsOther Contemporary Papers
Reference
PeoplePlacesEventsGlossaryLegal GlossaryFinancial GlossaryCalendar of DocumentsWorks CitedFeatured TopicsLesson PlansRelated Publications
Media
VideosPhotographsIllustrationsChartsMapsPodcasts
News
Current NewsArchiveNewsletterSubscribeJSP Conferences
About
About the ProjectJoseph Smith and His PapersFAQAwardsEndorsementsReviewsEditorial MethodNote on TranscriptionsNote on Images of People and PlacesReferencing the ProjectCiting This WebsiteProject TeamContact Us
Published Volumes
  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 
Interim Content

Discourse, 7 April 1844, as Reported by William Clayton

Source Note

JS, Discourse,
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL, 7 Apr. 1844; handwriting of
William Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

View Full Bio
; eight pages; General Church Minutes, CHL.
Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Discourse, 7 April 1844, as Reported by Thomas Bullock *Discourse, 7 April 1844, as Reported by William Clayton *Discourse, 7 April 1844, as Reported by Willard Richards Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 4, 1 March–22 June 1844 *Discourse, 7 April 1844, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff *Discourse, 7 April 1844, as Published in Times and Seasons History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 13

If I comprehend so that the spirit seal it upon you[r] hearts let every man and woman put his hand on his mouth & never say any thing against the man of God again but if I fail it becomes my duty to renounce all my pretensions to inspirati[o]ns &c and if I should do so should I not be as bad as all the rest of the world. not a man would not breath[e] anathema if they knew I was a false prophe[t] som[e] would take my life. If any man is authorised to take my life because I am a false teacher then upon th[e] sam[e] principle am <​I​> authorised to take the life of every false teache[r] and who would not be the sufferer— but no man is authorised to take away life in consequence of their religion all laws and government ought to tolerate whethe[r] right or wron[g] If I show that I have the truth of God & 99/100 are false teacher[s] while they pretend to hold the keys of God & go to killing them because &c would it not deluge the wo[r]ld in blood. Want you should all [k]now God— be familiar— If I can get you to know I can bring to him, & if as you will cease to persecute me I speak in authority— What kind of a being was God in the beginning. hear all ye ends of th[e] earth, I am going to prove it by the bible & the relati[o]n the human family sustains with God. 1st. God that sets enthroned is a man like one of yourselves— that is the great secret. If the vail was rent to day & the great god who holds this world in its sphere in its orbit— the planets— if you were to see him to day you would see him in all the person image very form of man. for Adam was created in the very fashion of God. Adam received instruction walked talked as one man with anothe[r]. In order to understand the subject of the ded for the consolation of thos[e] wh[o] mourn for the loss of their friends necessary they should understan[d] Going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined that God was God from all eternity. These are incompr[e]hensible to some but are the first principle of the gospel— to know that we may converse with him as one man with another & that he was once as one of us and was on a planet as Jesus was in the flesh [p. 13]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 13

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Discourse, 7 April 1844, as Reported by William Clayton
ID #
1319
Total Pages
8
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • William Clayton

© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of UseUpdated 2021-04-13Privacy NoticeUpdated 2021-04-06