Praise to the Man

Doctrine & Covenants Sections 134-136

Section 134• Mormonism has been dubbed the American religion but in the beginning it struck

its enemies as anything but. Direct revelations to a prophet in which Christ reserved to himself ultimate executive, legislative, and judicial power seemed undemocratic to the saints' neighbors. Moreover, controversial statements made in a church newspaper by editor William Phelps demanded that the church clarify its position relative to slavery.

• A general assembly of priesthood leaders convened in Kirtland, Ohio on 17 August 1835 to listen to Oliver Cowdery and Sidney Rigdon present the Doctrine and Covenants for their approval. Oliver introduced the book and its contents to the assembled councils, after which the priesthood leaders unanimously testified of their satisfaction with the work. Then Oliver Cowdery read the following statement, “Of Governments and Laws in General,” which is probably primarily if not exclusively the product of his mind and pen. The assembly "accepted and adopted" it for inclusion, and thus Section 134, though not a revelation, became canonized as part of the Doctrine and Covenants.

• Joseph was in Michigan when the general assembly made these decisions. He did not author Section 134 but he endorsed it in April 1836. The principles in Section 134 continue to guide the church's actions regarding political questions and controversies. The principles in verses 4-6 are more tersely expressed in Articles of Faith 11-12. While the church took a pragmatic position relative to slavery in Section 134, the Lord declared the doctrine of individual agency and repudiated slavery in Section 101:77-79.

Section 135 Origin• Unable to persuade government officials to redress the wrongs committed against the Latter-day Saints in

Missouri, Joseph Smith ran for president of the United States. His campaign platform circulated far and wide in the early months of 1844. Hundreds of campaigning missionaries stumped across the country.

• In Nauvoo, meanwhile, Joseph continued to offer the temple ordinances to a few select, prepared Saints and in March he gave the apostles the priesthood keys to perform the ordinances and a commission to carry on after his death.

• He also secretly practiced plural marriage. • Joseph’s growing political power ignited deep-seated resentment against him among non-Mormons, and a

faction of Saints resented the revelation on plural marriage. They published a dissenting paper, the Expositor, on June 7, that publicized Joseph’s private life. As Mayor, Joseph led the Nauvoo city council to a decision to destroy the press as a public nuisance. The act seemed despotic to antagonists inside and outside of Nauvoo and it gave Joseph’s enemies an opportunity to denounce and prosecute him.

• As a result, Illinois Governor Thomas Ford summoned Joseph to Carthage, the Hancock County seat, to answer charges of inciting a riot. Joseph appeared at the hearing and "entered into recognizance,” promising to appear for trial at the next term of the Hancock Circuit Court. But a conspiracy was afoot and before he could return to Nauvoo, Joseph and his brother Hyrum "were immediately arrested again on a charge of Treason against the state of Illinois.” On pretense they were “committed to Jail to await their examination," but lots of people knew they were jailed to facilitate their murders.

• There would be no trial, just a massacre. Governor Ford promised to protect them, but the militiamen he provided as protectors were themselves complicit with the lynch mob who gunned Joseph and Hyrum down in the heat of June 27. It was "a deliberate political assassination, committed or condoned by some of the leading citizens of Hancock County."

• Apostles John Taylor and Willard Richards were voluntarily with Joseph and Hyrum in jail that day. They survived as witnesses of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, the Prophet Joseph Smith who restored it, and of his brutal martyrdom. Their witness is declared in Section 135

Section 135 Outcomes• Section 135 emphasizes the enduring significance of Joseph Smith and his testimony. Joseph regarded himself

as “obscure,” a “boy of no consequence” (Joseph Smith-History 1:23), but at age seventeen he received from an angel named Moroni the improbable news that “my name should be had for good and evil among all nations” (Joseph Smith-History 1:33).

• In his own lifetime his name became known for good and evil in Nauvoo, in Illinois, the United States, and now globally. However unlikely, Moroni’s prophecy has been fulfilled. Bostonian Josiah Quincy visited Joseph shortly before he went to Carthage. Quincy wrote that Joseph Smith was “born in the lowest ranks of poverty” and came of age "without book-learning and with the homeliest of all human names," and that by the end of his shortened life he had become “a power on earth.”

• The remarkable thing about Joseph Smith, as Section 135 emphasizes, is what he did. Who else has brought forth the equivalent of the Book of Mormon or the Doctrine and Covenants? Who else restored the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ? “He left a fame and a name,” no matter how plain, “that cannot be slain” (D&C 135:3).

• Josiah Quincy, who was no fan of Joseph’s, nevertheless recognized his enduring significance. “Fanatics and imposters are living and dying every day,” Quincy wrote, “and their memory is buried with them; but the wonderful influence which this founder of a religion exerted and still exerts throws him into relief before us, not as a rogue to be criminated, but as a phenomenon to be explained. The most vital questions Americans are asking each other today have to do with this man and what he has left us.”

• He revealed the answers to the ultimate questions: Why am I here? Where did I come from? Where am I going? Is there purpose in life? What is the nature of the fall? Are individuals free agents or determined? What is the nature of the atonement? What about those who do not hear the gospel in mortality? And perhaps above all, what is the nature of God?

• If “I am so fortunate as to comprehend and explain” that, Joseph taught a few weeks before his violent death, then “never lift your voice against the servants of God again.” Joseph answered these questions as a witness. He had beheld angels, translated by the power of God, received visions and revelations. He knew God and Christ. He thus died as a testator—a witness—and Section 135 announces that a testator can be killed, but his testimony endures forever.

Section 136 Origin• Only one of the would-be successors to Joseph Smith understood

what was at stake. Only Brigham Young explained that no one could lead the Church without the keys of the holy priesthood. He described the twelve apostles as “an independent body who have the keys of the priesthood—the keys of the kingdom of God to deliver to all the world: this is true, so help me God. They stand next to Joseph, and are as the First Presidency of the Church.”

• Joseph had gathered most of the apostles three months before his death and said, “It may be that my enemies will kill me, and in case they should, and the keys and power which rest on me not be imparted to you, they will be lost from the earth; but if I can only succeed in placing them upon your heads, then let me fall a victim to murderous hands if God will suffer it, and I can go with all pleasure and satisfaction, knowing that my work is done, and the foundation laid on which the kingdom of God is to be reared in this dispensation of the fullness of times. Upon the shoulders of the Twelve must the responsibility of leading this church hence forth rest until you shall appoint others to succeed you. Your enemies cannot kill you all at once, and should any of you be killed, you can lay your hands upon others and fill up your quorum. Thus can this power and these keys be perpetuated in the Earth.” Joseph then began to talk about the “sore trials await you” as if foreshadowing his own imminent death. “After they have killed you,” he said, “they can harm you no more. Should you have to walk right into danger and the jaws of death, fear no evil; Jesus Christ has died before you.”

Section 136 Origin• Joseph and his brother Hyrum then confirmed the ordinations of each of

the apostles who were present and Joseph gave them a final charge. “I roll the burthen and responsibility of leading this church off from my shoulders on to yours,” he declared. “Now, round up your shoulders and stand under it like men; for the Lord is going to let me rest.”

• As president of the twelve apostles, Brigham Young explained these principles to the Saints on August 8, 1844. Many, including Martha Tuttle Gardner, received a confirming witness from the Lord. She testified that Brigham Young “told the people that although Joseph was dead, Joseph had left behind the keys of the Kingdom and had conferred the same power & authority that he himself possessed upon the Twelve Apostles and the Church would not be left without a leader and a guide. Truly the mantle of Joseph had fallen upon Brigham and he spoke with power even to the convincing of the Saints, assuring them they had nothing to worry about as all would be well if they would hearken to the Word of God & the council of his servants & keep his commandments.” Martha had written reverently of witnessing the capital P Prophet Joseph Smith and she now confidently transferred that designation to “the Prophet Brigham Young.” She wrote that he “had the Nauvoo Temple finished” and endowed her with power there early in 1845. Then, under Brigham’s leadership, she and many other Saints fled Nauvoo for peace and safety somewhere in the West.

• President Young led them across Iowa and they camped for the Winter on the banks of the Missouri River. There, in a January 1847 council meeting, the Prophet Brigham Young asked the Lord to reveal “the best manner of organizing companies for emigration.” He answered with Section 136 and “President Young commenced to give the Word and Will of God concerning the emigration of the Saints.” – Making Sense of the Doctrine & Covenants, Section 136.

Section 136 Outcomes• Section 136 resulted in the best organized and executed overland emigration in American history. “It

not only defined the authority of the exodus but also laid down a blueprint for action.” Even so, it may be more important for its other accomplishments. The Saints who followed Brigham Young, who were willing to see in him their capital P Prophet, did so at great personal sacrifice and tremendous faith. Section 136 rewarded them. It confirmed the correctness of their choice. Others had and some were still outspokenly contending against Brigham Young as Section 136 arrived. “For a people accustomed to prophetic utterances—but who had been driven out of their homes after seeing their leaders martyred and who were witnessing opposing claimants from all sides seeking to lead the Church—the very fact that God would speak again brought redemption and vindication.” Apostle Heber Kimball noted in his journal that Section 136 was the first revelation “penned since Joseph was killed. . . . The Lord has given it through the President for the good of this people as they are traveling to the west.” Jedediah Grant voiced what many Saints felt. “Since the death of Joseph, [I] have believe that the keys of revelation were in the Church. When I heard that [Section 136] read I felt a light and joy and satisfied that the Holy Ghost had dictated the words within.”

• For Saints who had covenanted to literally “walk in all the ordinances of the Lord” up and over the Rocky Mountains as outcasts opposed by all kinds of influences, Section 136 would sustain them in the heat of the day (4). Joseph was gone but the Prophet Brigham Young was just as much a Moses (D&C 28:3). – Making Sense of the Doctrine & Covenants, Section 136.