Introduction

In the conference center at BYU there is a hallway adorned with portraits of the presidents of the church. The portraits include key developments from each president's tenure. President Lee's portrait includes a big book that says, “PRIESTHOOD CORRELATION.” President G. Smith's portrait has a Boy Scout medal. Gordon B. Hinckley's portrait has the Huntsman jet on it and a satellite dish. President Monson's has a printing press and some pigeons. The first painting, that of the prophet Joseph Smith, features only a portrayal of the gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated.

Perhaps the artist did not think the Doctrine and Covenants was not significant. Or the many visitations of heavenly beings to Joseph. Or the revelation that informed us that God once was a man. Or the revelation of the three kingdoms. I can completely understand that, for someone like David O. McKay, the lack of significant developments during his tenure would necessitate a space occupier like a picture of his childhood home. I would expect the opposite problem with Joseph, that of not having enough space and needing to be selective. But one thing? God said that Joseph Smith was his spokesman to our generation. He was and is a really big deal.

Joseph was appointed to hold the keys of this dispensation. The Lord told him:

Therefore, thou art blessed from henceforth that bear the keys of the kingdom given unto you; which kingdom is coming forth for the last time. Verily I say unto you, the keys of this kingdom shall never be taken from you, while thou art in the world, neither in the world to come; (D&C 90:2-3.)

God told Joseph that his keys would not be taken from him until the Second Coming.

...rebel not against my servant Joseph; for verily I say unto you, I am with him, and my hand shall be over him; and the keys which I have given unto him...shall not be taken from him till I come. (D&C 112:15.)

God said that our dispensation would receive his word through Joseph: “But this generation shall have my word through you;” (D&C 5:11.)

God gave the church a very singular commandment regarding Joseph, telling them to treat his words as God's own.

Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith. (D&C 21:4-5.)

This was an exceedingly rare thing for God to say. There are no scriptures that indicate he's ever said it to anyone else. God also said that Joseph was the only one appointed to receive commandments and revelations for the church:

But, behold, verily, verily, I say unto thee, no one shall be appointed to receive commandments and revelations in this church excepting my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., for he receiveth them even as Moses. (D&C 28:2)

God told the church officers that it was Joseph's words that they should preach: “my servants, whom I shall call and ordain...shall go forth with my words that are given through you.” (D&C 5:11.)

Every promise listed here was made to Joseph. It was not made to the office of the president of the church, and it was not promised to the successors of Joseph. Perhaps knowing this would be the case, God instructed that “there is none other appointed unto you to receive commandments and revelations” except Joseph Smith and those appointed “through him,” and that “ye receive not the teachings of any that shall come before you as revelations or commandments.” (D&C 43:1-7.) In spite of the clarity of these verses, modern Mormonism allocates what God said to Joseph to all other presidents of the church.¹ It is important to note that we have no record of God doing so.

In a revelation recorded in D&C 124, the Lord said:

I give unto you my servant Joseph to be a presiding elder over all my church, to be a translator, a revelator, a seer, and prophet. I give unto him for counselors my servant Sidney Rigdon and my servant William Law, that these may constitute a quorum and First Presidency, to receive the oracles for the whole church. I give unto you my servant Brigham Young to be a president over the Twelve traveling council; Which Twelve hold the keys to open up the authority of my kingdom upon the four corners of the earth, and after that to send my word to every creature.

The prerogative of Joseph (by name) and his counselors (appointed by name) was to receive oracles² —answers from God to questions pertaining to the whole church. The prerogative of the twelve, designed as an independent and equal quorum and not a subordinate feeder pool for the First Presidency, was not to receive answers to questions, but to preach the gospel outside of the stakes of Zion.³ To Joseph, oracles were revelations, not revelators.⁴ Joseph was told that through him the oracles would be given to the church:

Therefore, thou art blessed from henceforth that bear the keys of the kingdom given unto you; which kingdom is coming forth for the last time. Verily I say unto you, the keys of this kingdom shall never be taken from you, while thou art in the world, neither in the world to come; Nevertheless, through you shall the oracles be given to another, yea, even unto the church. And all they who receive the oracles of God, let them beware how they hold them lest they are accounted as a light thing, and are brought under condemnation thereby, and stumble and fall when the storms descend, and the winds blow, and the rains descend, and beat upon their house. (D&C 90:2-5.)

Importantly, Joseph was told that the answers God had provided through him to questions regarding doctrine and church administration would be passed on, not the ability to receive oracles. This distinction is critical to understanding the importance of what God provided through Joseph.

Joseph’s dispensation was a body of oracles, not a perpetual process to receive oracles. An understanding of that fact places an inexpressible importance on the revelations Joseph received. Inasmuch as we ignore, misinterpret, or replace the oracles given by Joseph, we cut ourselves off from the kingdom of God and the blessings offered through the restoration.

What Constitutes the Kingdom of God Whare there is a Prophet a priest or a righteous man unto whom God gives his oracles there is the Kingdom of God, & whare the oracles of God are not there the Kingdom of God is not...The plea of many in this day is that we have no right to receive revelations, But if we do not get revelations we do not have the oracles of God & if they have not the oracles of God they are not the people of God But say you what will become of the world or the various professors of religion who do not believe in revelation & the oracles of God as Continued to the Church in all ages of the world when he has a people on earth I Tell you in the name of Jesus Christ they will be damned & when you get into the eternal world you will find it to be so they cannot escape the damnation of hell (Words of Joseph Smith, 22 Jan 1843, original spelling.)

The issue of succession is too complex to address here. Suffice it to say that Brigham Young’s succession victory over Sidney Rigdon at the hand of a majority public vote should not be viewed in the same light as the appointments that were made to the First Presidency during Joseph’s life. Every single one of the ten appointments to the First Presidency in Joseph’s life were made through explicit written commandment from God. The same applies for appointments to the Twelve. In none of the many appointments to the First Presidency during Joseph’s life did God select a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. The Quorum of the Twelve was not treated as a feeder pool for the First Presidency. Apostles had special jurisdiction limited to areas where stakes had not been organized. Their authority was equal (but separate) to that of a Stake President’s (see D&C 107).

It is rather odd that a God who thought it necessary to vocally enumerate each member of these quorums from heaven would suddenly make two radical changes: First, to the order of their appointment, as the Quorum of the Twelve was selected to lead the church by self-suggestion and a majority vote of the church; Second, to fill the office of the presidency of the high priesthood with members of a lower priesthood office—that of apostle—without an ordination to the higher office (Brigham Young was never ordained to be president of the church).⁵

Brigham Young did not preside as the president of the church, but as the president of the quorum of the Twelve, the office which continues to preside over the church today, a role it has never been given in revelation. Prior to and up to Joseph’s death, the Twelve had no priesthood authority within any organized stake of the church.⁶ They could not organize a new stake, nor ordain anyone within an organized stake. They did not have the authority to call any stake presidents, any stake patriarch, the presiding patriarch, or even replacements to their quorum. Yet, somehow, they considered themselves to possess the authority to do all this and more at the moment of Joseph’s death.

Knowing all this, does an apostle (even one sitting as church president) have the authority to receive revelation that supersedes that received by Joseph Smith, a President of the High Priesthood ordained by God’s commandment? Joseph Smith said,

I will inform you that it is contrary to the economy of God for any member of the church, or any one, to receive instruction for those in authority, higher than themselves, therefore you will see the impropriety of giving heed to them: but if any have a vision or a visitation from a heavenly messenger, it must be for their own benefit and instruction, for the fundamental principles, government, and doctrine of the church is vested in the keys of the kingdom. (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 1:338.)

Joseph Fielding Smith wrote that no man, no matter his office, has the authority to teach doctrines that conflict with Joseph’s revelations:

When prophets write and speak on the principles of the gospel, they should have the guidance of the Spirit. If they do, then all that they say will be in harmony with the revealed word. If they are in harmony then we know that they have not spoken presumptuously. Should a man speak or write, and what he says is in conflict with the standards which are accepted, with the revelations the Lord has given, then we may reject what he has said, no matter who he is. (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:187.)

If we are to believe and listen to God’s instructions, Joseph’s teachings ought to hold preeminence in Mormonism. They ought to be considered of chief importance. God’s words through Joseph are to us. They ought to be studied. They ought to be heeded.