Minutes and Discourse, , Medina Co., OH, 21 Apr. 1834. Featured version copied [between ca. late Apr. and 5 May 1834] in Minute Book 1, pp. 43–47; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 1.
Historical Introduction
On 21 April 1834, in , Ohio, JS presided over a of that focused on the necessity of redeeming . This conference had a clear millenarian theme, with sermons indicating that Jesus Christ’s second coming was near and that the inhabitants of the earth needed to repent and gather to Zion in order to be saved. JS and other participants explained that it was imperative for church members to assist the Saints who had been expelled from , Missouri, so Zion could be reclaimed and reoccupied. Such assistance could take two forms: volunteering to go with JS and others on an expedition to or donating money to provision those volunteers. Without such aid, JS stated, Zion would not be redeemed and all of the church would be “persecuted and destroyed in like manner.” JS’s journal notes that “some few volunteered to go to Zion, and others donated $66.37. for the benefit of the scattered breth[r]en in Zion.”
JS also spoke at the conference about some of the foundational events of the church, topics he rarely discussed in public, including the of the Book of Mormon and the “revelation” of both the , or the lesser priesthood, and the . His presentation of these topics largely followed the history he wrote in summer 1832. then spoke on the necessity of redeeming Zion, the construction of the in , Ohio, and the of power that would come after the house was built.
Before the conclusion of the conference, the participants conducted a trial of Thomas Tripp, a church member accused of improprieties with various women. After voting to exclude Tripp from the church, the meeting concluded with the blessing of children by JS and the administration of the . According to JS’s journal, the conference was “a glorious time.”
As clerk of the conference, kept the minutes. later copied the minutes into Minute Book 1.
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.)
those former revelations cannot be suited to our condition, because they were given to other people who were before us; but in the last days, God was to call a remnant, in which was to be deliverance, as well as in Jerusalem, and Zion. Now, if God should give no more revelations, where will we find Zion and this remnant? He said that the time was near when desolation was to cover the Earth, and then God would have a place of deliverance in his remnant, and in Zion, &c. He then gave a relation of obtaining and the Book of Mormon, the revelation of the , the organization of the in the year 1830, the revelation of the , and the gift of the Holy Spirit poured out upon the church, &c. Take away the book of Mormon, and the revelations, and where is our religion? We have none; for without a Zion and a place of deliverance, we must fall, because the time is near when the sun will be darkened, the moon turn to blood, the stars fall from heaven and the earth reel to and fro; then if this is the case, if we are not sanctified and to the places where God has appointed, our former professions and our great love for the bible, we must fall, we cannot stand, we cannot be saved; for God will gather out his saints from the and then comes desolation or destruction and none can escape except the pure in heart who are gathered, &c.
Bro. then addressed the upon certain items lying immediately before the brethren: He said, that on two points hang all the revelations which have ever been given, which are the two advents of the Messiah. The first one is past, and the second one is now just before us, and consequently those who desire a part in this era which the angels desired to look into, have to be assembled with the saints; for if they are not gathered, they must wail because of [p. 44]
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.
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.