Footnotes
For more information on the Saints’ expulsion from Jackson County, see “Joseph Smith Documents from February 1833 through March 1834.”
For information on JS’s financial concerns leading up to this conference, see Historical Introduction to Letter to Orson Hyde, 7 Apr. 1834.
JS, Journal, 21–22 Apr. 1834.
At an October 1831 conference, for example, Hyrum Smith suggested that JS explain “the coming forth of the book of Mormon,” but JS demurred, stating that “it was not intended to tell the world all the particulars of the coming forth of the book of Mormon.” (Minutes, 25–26 Oct. 1831.)
A September 1832 revelation explained that the lesser priesthood was “confirmed upon Aaron and his sons.” (Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:30].)
JS, Journal, 21–22 Apr. 1834.
Expressing a similar theme, the July 1832 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star states, “Notwithstanding that nearly all christendom doubt the propriety of receiving revelations for the government of the church of Christ in this age . . . yet we believe . . . that to every church in the past ages, which the Lord recognized to be his, he gave revelations wisely calculated to govern them in the peculiar situation and circumstances under which they were placed.” Likewise, in September 1832, the Star explained that “each prophet revealed what was expedient for his own time, and the people he spoke to. . . . The covenant with Noah was very different from the covenant with Abraham, and the last covenant with Israel . . . will undoubtedly be different from the creeds or articles of every church on earth, not established by immediate revelation from heaven.” (“The Elders in the Land of Zion to the Church of Christ Scattered Abroad,” The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1832, [5]; “The Old and New Revelations,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Sept. 1832, [5].)
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
See Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831 [D&C 45:42–44, 64–66].
In discussing “the revelation of the high priesthood,” JS may have been referring to a conference held in June 1831, where the high priesthood was conferred “for the first time, upon several of the elders.” Or he may have been referring to events noted in both his 1832 history and in a blessing given to Oliver Cowdery on 18 December 1833 (but not recorded until 1835). The preamble to the 1832 history mentions that at some previous time, “a confirmation and reception of the high Priesthood after the holy order of the son of the living God” occurred, but the narrative ends without providing any details. As recorded in 1835, the 1833 blessing explains that JS and Oliver Cowdery “receive[d] the holy priesthood under the hands of those who had been held in reserve for a long season, even those who received it under the hand of the Messiah while he should dwell in the flesh.” (JS History, vol. A-1, 118; JS History, ca. Summer 1832, 1; Blessing to Oliver Cowdery, 2 Oct. 1835.)
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.
See Revelation, 3 Nov. 1831 [D&C 133:49]; and Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:87].
See Revelation, 2 Aug. 1833–A [D&C 97:21–25]; and Revelation, 16–17 Dec. 1833 [D&C 101:17–18].
See 1 Peter 1:12.