Joseph Smith Biography

(Grace) #1

Without Disclosing My True Identity


(^4) TSP, 82:66–77.
(^5) “[A]nd none are required to tamely and blindly submit to a man because he has a portion
of the Priesthood. We have heard men who hold the Priesthood remark, that they would do
anything they were told to do by those who presided over them, if they knew it was wrong: but such
obedience as this is worse than folly to us; it is slavery in the extreme; and the man who would
thus willingly degrade himself, should not claim a rank among intelligent beings, until he turns
from his folly. A man of God...would despise the idea. ...Others, in the extreme exercise of their
almighty authority, have taught that such obedience was necessary, and that no matter what the
Saints were told to do by their Presidents, they should do it without asking any questions. When
Elders of Israel will so far indulge in these extreme notions of obedience, as to teach them to the
people, it is generally because they have it in their hearts to do wrong themselves.” (“Priesthood,”
Millennial Star 14 [Nov. 13, 1852]: 594–5.)
(^6) Lavina Fielding Anderson recounts the history of Lucy’s biography: “The project, which
began in the winter of 1844–5, ended almost exactly a year later with the creation of two finished
manuscripts (in addition to the rough draft). One of the finished manuscripts stayed in Nauvoo with
Lucy and eventually came into possession of Orson Pratt, an LDS apostle, who took it with him to
England and published it in 1853. It generated considerable controversy; and Brigham Young, twelve
years after the fact, ordered the Saints to deliver up their copies to be destroyed. A “corrected”
edition was published, but not until 1901–03, first serially by the Improvement Era and then as a
compilation. This project was authorized by Young’s third successor, Lorenzo Snow, and
implemented by his fourth, who also happened to be Lucy’s grandson, Joseph F. Smith. Meanwhile,
the second finished copy had gone to Utah where it now reposes in the Historian’s Office.”
(Anderson, Lucy’s Book, 68.)
(^7) 1 Timothy 4:1–2.
(^8) DHC, 7:242–3, emphasis added.
(^9) DHC, 1:1.
(^10) 2 Timothy 4:3–4.
(^11) DHC, 7:236–42.
(^12) DHC, 7:236.
(^13) DHC, 7:231-42.
(^14) D&C, 129:8.
(^15) TSP, 35:47–8.
(^16) (37–c. 100 AD/CE) Also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu, and Titus Flavius Josephus. His
works include Jewish Antiquities, The Jewish Wars, and Against Apion, and have been published together,
along with extracts from a discourse given by him, in William Whiston, trans., The New Complete Works
of Josephus: Revised and Expanded Edition (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1999), or Whiston, Complete Works of
Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVIII, Chapter III, p. 379. (This can be read at, “The
Works of Flavius Josephus,” 2011, Bible Study Tools, 17 Dec. 2011
http://www.biblestudytools.com/history/flavius-josephus/antiquities-jews/book-18/chapter-3.html.)
(^17) The earliest extant manuscripts date to the 10th and 11th centuries. See “Josephus Mail
and Frequently Asked Questions–What are the oldest manuscripts we have of Josephus’
works?” The Flavius Josephus Home Page, 2010, 4 Dec. 2010
http://www.josephus.org/FlJosephus2/MailAndFAQ.htm#manuscripts.
(^18) See Whiston, The New Complete Works of Josephus, 590.
(^19) As one scholar points out, the earliest manuscript for this statement dates to the 11th
century, and made by a Christian monk (See Louis H. Feldman and Gōhei Hata, Josephus, the Bible, and
History [Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1989], 431.)
(^20) John 4:44.
(^21) “A prophet hath no honour in his own country.” (See John 4:44.) Stated in another way, a
prophet is rejected (“hath no honour,” is not accepted) by those he is sent to (his own country). See

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