LDS Priesthood Unveiled Appendix 1motivated unanimous decisions on most matters—especially if Joseph made the
proposition. Allowing the members to govern themselves was a vital part of the instructions
given to Joseph to comply with the mandate to suffer the people to have what they desired.
Joseph became very adroit at giving the people what they wanted. Any time there
was a discussion among the leaders of the Church about any topic that they could not figure
out on their own, they would go to Joseph for an answer. Each time they inquired, he gave
them what they desired. Joseph Smith’s writings on various topics concerning the
priesthood and other sundry topics could fill volumes.^193 He became a master at presenting
things in a religious tone that seemed to follow consistently with the Bible, but he hardly
ever mentioned the Book of Mormon in his explanations.
In most instances, Joseph protected the purity of the Book of Mormon, which he called,
“the most correct book of any on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would
get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”^194 In the explanations
and “revelations” that Joseph was forced to give the people throughout his tenure, he would
not contradict himself by quoting the Book of Mormon. He gave them what they wanted, not
what would “get [them] nearer to God.”
The new converts of the Church knew the Bible. They knew its language, its prose,
and accepted it as the first and greatest revelation from God. Joseph patterned all of his
revelations and explanations as closely as he could to biblical rhetoric.
One of Joseph’s revelatory masterpieces was placed in the appendix of the 1835
Doctrine and Covenants. It was given on November 3, 1831 and outlined specifically “many
things which the Elders desired to know relative to preaching the Gospel to the
inhabitants of the earth, and concerning the gathering.”^195 The reason why it was placed in
the appendix was because it made NO MENTION OF THE PRIESTHOOD. It was hard
to believe that the “everlasting gospel...shall be preached unto every nation, and kindred,
and tongue, and people”^196 without priesthood authority. But thus it was in 1831.
However, the people desired something different by 1835.^197
The elders of the Church could not see the true Christ if he were standing right in
front of them! Joseph knew this and in one of his many revelations, he said this specifically:
I saw the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb, who are now upon the earth, who
hold the keys of this last ministry, in foreign lands, standing together in a
circle, much fatigued, with their clothes tattered and feet swollen, with their
eyes cast downward, and Jesus standing in their midst, and they did not
behold Him. The Savior looked upon them and wept.^198The later LDS Church under Brigham Young used Joseph’s writings that benefited
them and supported their desires. They only added the parts of Joseph’s revelations to
their “doctrine” that would not make them look bad. The current edition of the Doctrine
and Covenants, section 137, is taken from Joseph’s original “vision,”^199 but excludes the
above part where the Twelve Apostles had “their eyes cast downward” where they could
“not behold [the Savior].”
The Savior had good reason to weep and “groan within himself because of the
wickedness of the people.”^200 The greatest of their desired stumbling blocks was priesthoods and
the power and authority associated with these priesthoods that the early leaders of the Church
had invented in their hearts. “God” had given them the revelations to support their desires.