Footnotes
Best, “Register of the Revelations Collection,” 19.
Best, Christy. “Register of the Revelations Collection in the Church Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” July 1983. CHL.
Footnotes
Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:30–36]; see also Revelation, 20 May 1831 [D&C 51:4–6]; and Questions and Answers, 8 May 1838. The Book of Mormon, which was translated a year before the church was organized, recounts that after the resurrected Christ visited people in the Americas, they “had all things common among them,” as did some members of Christ’s church in Jerusalem during New Testament times. (See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 507, 514 [3 Nephi 26:19; 4 Nephi 1:3]; and Acts 2:44; 4:32.)
See Cook, Joseph Smith and the Law of Consecration, 5–28.
Cook, Lyndon W. Joseph Smith and the Law of Consecration. Provo, UT: Grandin Book, 1985.
See Parkin, “Joseph Smith and the United Firm,” 4–66; “Joseph Smith Documents from April 1834 through September 1835”; Introduction to Part 5: 5 Oct. 1836–10 Apr. 1837; Introduction to Part 6: 20 Apr.–14 Sept. 1837; and Historical Introduction to Notes Receivable from Rigdon, Smith & Co., 22 May 1837.
Parkin, Max H. “Joseph Smith and the United Firm: The Growth and Decline of the Church’s First Master Plan of Business and Finance, Ohio and Missouri, 1832–1834.” BYU Studies 46, no. 3 (2007): 5–66.
“Editorial,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, June 1837, 3:522; see also Lepler, Many Panics of 1837, 1–7.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Lepler, Jessica M. The Many Panics of 1837: People, Politics and the Creation of a Transatlantic Financial Crisis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Newel K. Whitney et al., To the Saints Scattered Abroad, the Bishop and His Counselors of Kirtland Send Greeting [Kirtland, OH: ca. Sept. 1837], copy at CHL; see also Newel K. Whitney et al., Kirtland, OH, to “the Saints scattered abroad,” 18 Sept. 1837, in LDS Messenger and Advocate, Sept. 1837, 3:561–564.
To the Saints Scattered Abroad, the Bishop and His Counselors of Kirtland Send Greeting. [Kirtland, OH: 18 Sept. 1837]. CHL.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Revelation, 26 Apr. 1838 [D&C 115:8, 13]; see also Discourse, 6 Apr. 1837.
JS, Journal, 12 May 1838; see also Minute Book 2, 12 May 1838. Ebenezer Robinson, the clerk for the high council, recounted decades later when he was antagonistic toward JS that the high council approved an annual stipend of $1,100 for each member of the presidency, that when church members heard of the decision they “lifted their voices against it,” that the high council therefore revoked the decision, and that JS dictated the revelation on consecration and tithing “a few days after.” As these decisions were not documented in extant high council minutes, Robinson’s veracity regarding this episode is questionable. (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, Sept. 1889, 136–137; see also Minute Book 2, 24 May–6 July 1838.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
See Revelation, 8 July 1838–A [D&C 118].
See Historical Introduction to Revelation, 8 July 1838–A [D&C 118].
Corrill, Brief History, 46. Reed Peck wrote that “the business of consecration was immediately followed by the formation of four large firms,” implying the strategy for church finances shifted from private donations to cooperative labor. According to JS’s journal, agricultural firms were established in late August. JS, his counselors in the First Presidency, and the presidency’s scribe, George W. Robinson, reportedly visited Adam-ondi-Ahman about two days after the 8 July 1838 leadership meeting and probably shared the new revelations with church leaders there. Lyman Wight, a counselor in the stake presidency at Adam-ondi-Ahman, preached on the principle of consecration on 22 July. (Reed Peck, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, pp. 51–52, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA; JS, Journal, 20–21 Aug. 1838; JS History, vol. B-1, 804; Swartzell, Mormonism Exposed, 23–24.)
Peck, Reed. Letter, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
Swartzell, William. Mormonism Exposed, Being a Journal of a Residence in Missouri from the 28th of May to the 20th of August, 1838, Together with an Appendix, Containing the Revelation concerning the Golden Bible, with Numerous Extracts from the ‘Book of Covenants,’ &c., &c. Pekin, OH: By the author, 1840.
Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, 3 June 1855, 2:306–307.
Journal of Discourses. 26 vols. Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855–1886.
Robinson copied the 8 July revelations into JS’s journal as part of the entry for that day. This entry, which consists almost entirely of revelation transcripts, appears in a gap in regular journal keeping. Robinson apparently did not resume making regular journal entries until late July, indicating that he may not have copied the revelations into the journal before then.
Revelation, 8 July 1838–C, copies, Revelations Collection, CHL [D&C 119].
Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583.
Partridge’s two versions have a few variants. The variants in Partridge’s version featured here match the wording in the version Robinson copied into JS’s journal, which suggests that this wording represents the original transcript, whereas the wording in Partridge’s other version deviates somewhat from the original. This other version appears to be the source from which Whitney’s version was derived.
Property was apparently considered “surplus” if it could not be put to good use by the owner. In a council meeting held 26 July 1838, it was agreed that the First Presidency would “keep all their properties, that they can dispose of to their advantage and support, and the remainder be put into the hands of the Bishop or Bishops, agreeably to the commandments, and revelations.” Brigham Young later shared his understanding that church members were asked to donate property, such as land and cattle, that they could not “make use of to advantage.” (JS, Journal, 26 July 1838; Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, 3 June 1855, 2:306–307.)
Journal of Discourses. 26 vols. Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855–1886.
Partridge was appointed in 1831 to receive donations and administer church property in Missouri. (Revelation, 4 Feb. 1831 [D&C 41:9–10]; Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:31–34]; Revelation, 1 Aug. 1831 [D&C 58:14–17]; see also Minutes, 7 Nov. 1837.)
A revelation JS dictated in April 1838 directed that the Saints should construct a temple in Far West and that the First Presidency should not go into debt to fund the construction. JS and other church officers had ceremonially laid cornerstones for the temple four days prior to this revelation. (Revelation, 26 Apr. 1838 [D&C 115:13]; “Celebration of the 4th of July,” Elders’ Journal, Aug. 1838, 60.)
See Isaiah 28:16.
Hebrews 7:4 states that the Old Testament patriarch Abraham “gave the tenth of the spoils,” alluding to his donation of “tithes” to Melchizedek following the victory over Chedorlaomer. The Book of Mormon similarly states that Abraham “paid tithes of one-tenth part of all he possessed.” Similar to the covenant that Abraham’s grandson Jacob made with the Lord—“of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee”—JS and Oliver Cowdery signed a covenant in 1834 promising that if they were able to relieve themselves of their debts, they would “give a tenth, to be bestowed upon the poor in his church, or as he shall command.” (Genesis 14:17–20; 28:22; Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 260 [Alma 13:15]; JS, Journal, 29 Nov. 1834; see also Numbers 18:21–28.)
Edward Partridge, the bishop of Zion, was present on 8 July 1838 in the leadership meeting that was apparently the setting in which JS dictated this revelation. Two weeks later, Partridge wrote a letter to Newel K. Whitney, the bishop in Kirtland, in which Partridge explained that “the saints are required to give all their surplus property into the hands of the bishop of Zion, and after this first tithing they are to pay annually one tenth of all their interest. that is if a man is worth a $1000, the interest on that would be $60, and one/10. of the interest will be of course $6.— thus you see the plan.”a Six percent was a common interest rate at the time.b Both Ohio and Missouri statutes fixed interest rates at six percent if no other rate was agreed upon.c
(aEdward Partridge, Far West, MO, to Newel K. Whitney, Kirtland, OH, 24 July 1838, in Reynolds Cahoon, Far West, MO, to Newel K. Whitney, Kirtland, OH, 23 July 1838, CHL. bSee, for example, Burritt, Burritt’s Universal Multipliers for Computing Interest, 4. cAn Act Fixing the Rate of Interest [12 Jan. 1824], Statutes of Ohio, vol. 2, chap. 586, p. 1297, sec. 1; An Act Regulating Interest of Money [11 Dec. 1834], Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri [1835], p. 333, sec. 1.)Cahoon, Reynolds, and Edward Partridge. Letter, Far West, MO, to Newel K. Whitney, Kirtland Mills, OH, 23 and 24 July 1838. CHL.
Burritt, Elijah Hinsdale. Burritt’s Universal Multipliers for Computing Interest, Simple and Compound; Adapted to the Various Rates in the United States, on a New Plan; to Which Are Added, Tables of Annuities and Exchange. Hartford, CT: D. F. Robinson, 1830.
The Public Statutes at Large, of the State of Ohio: From the Close of Chase's Statutes, February, 1833, to the Present Time. Arranged in Chronological Order. With References to the Judicial Decisions Construing Those Statutes. And a Supplement, Containing All Laws Passed Prior to February, 1833, Which Are Now in Force. 4 vols. Edited by Maskell E. Curwen. Cincinnati: By the author, 1853–1861.
The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, Revised and Digested by the Eighth General Assembly during the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five. . . . St. Louis: Argus Office, 1835.
In the early 1830s, JS also dictated revelations regarding church members’ observance of God’s laws in the land of Zion. Three weeks prior to this 8 July 1838 revelation, prominent dissenters had been warned to leave the county. (Revelation, 1 Aug. 1831 [D&C 58:19]; Revelation, 11 Sept. 1831 [D&C 64:34–36]; Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:55–59]; Letter to William W. Phelps, 27 Nov. 1832 [D&C 85:9–11]; Letter to Oliver Cowdery et al., ca. 17 June 1838.)
JS previously dictated revelations stating that the Saints would be sanctified by living the laws of God. (Revelation, Feb. 1831–A [D&C 43:9]; Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:21, 34–35].)
This passage echoes the phrasing in Deuteronomy that refers to the law of Moses, which the Israelites were commanded to live by in their promised land. (Deuteronomy 12:1; see also Deuteronomy 16:12.)