Without Disclosing My True Identity
nothing to do with calling Brigham Young to an apostleship, nor did he ordain him to the
office of a high priest. Joseph’s hands never touched Brigham Young’s head. Brigham Young
had no right, power, or authority to ordain others to a priesthood that did not even exist.
Young’s own version of the priesthoods has been a far greater stumbling block to the people
than those Joseph suffered to be established. The biggest difference, however, is that Joseph
knew the priesthood was a stumbling block—Young didn’t have a clue!
According to the Book of Mormon record, Jesus, the Christ chose the twelve who were
to minister in the Western Hemisphere, in a matter of minutes. As mentioned above, it was
not until February 14, 1835, over 5 years after the legal organization of church, that Joseph
finally acquiesced to the members of the Church and gave them their first twelve apostles to
lead them. Joseph knew that there was no worthy man among them who could be called an
“apostle of Jesus Christ.” He knew that only the “voice of Christ” could extend such a
calling. But the people wanted their apostles; and they got what they wanted so that they
could continue to stumble. The people, in the pride of their hearts, wanted to proclaim to
the world that their church was just like the church Jesus organized in his day. Christ never
organized a church. And when the people wanted one, he “groaned within himself”
because he was “troubled because of the wickedness of the people.”^206
The Church of Christ
Eventually, because the people desired it, Jesus suffered his disciples in America to
provide a church for the people—not because he commanded it, but because they desired it!
Christ had finished telling the people all that he was commanded of the Father to tell them,
and then told the people that he had to go deliver the same message to his “other sheep.”^207
The people did not get it and sought for more things that they did not understand. It was not
until after Christ groaned within^208 and called the people wicked that he then remained
there and gave some instructions on establishing a church. Before this time, Christ never
mentioned the word “church.” And had the people let him go do what he wanted to do, and
had not caused him to “groan within” because of them, there would have been no organized
church at that time.
Nevertheless, his church was not a religion, but rather a group of people “who shall
believe and be baptized in my name...who do repent...hearken unto my words, and harden
not their hearts.” These people “were called the church of Christ.”^209
There is a clue given by Mormon that confirms there was no actual “church” or
religion, and that the term was used to denote a group of people who followed Christ,
rather than an organization consistent with modern religions. Mormon first writes that
the people were “called the church of Christ”;^210 then later, he writes that “there [were]
disputations among the people concerning” what they should call their church.^211 Hence,
from this, we can see that no “church” as we know them today was organized when
Christ was on the earth.
Early in the record, Nephi sees a vision of the modern-day world and comments that
“there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is
the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God
belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of
all the earth.”^212 Christ used the term “church” the same way it was used by Nephi. A
“church,” according to the way the term was used by Christ, is a collective consensus between