Think not, my young friends, that you can spend the prime and vigour of your days in the vanities and pleasures of life, and in your more advanced years store your minds with wisdom and knowledge; but let your youthful energies now be devoted to the acquisition of literary and scientific knowledge, that when you arrive to manly strength, dignity, and wisdom, you may call into immediate requisition the fruits of your youthful labours and toil.

Orson Hyde

6:373

It is all working just right. Our enemies, whether white or red, can only go so far; none can get beyond the control of the Almighty. They may take the wings of the morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the earth, and he is there; or if they make their bed in hell, behold he is there. They cannot get from under his jurisdiction, unless they go beyond the bounds of time and space. All things are confined in space, and are under the jurisdiction and control of the Almighty; and if he cannot find them in one place, he will in another.

Orson Hyde

6:337-38

Orson Hyde

6:152

Orson Hyde

6:150-51

I will venture to say that no publication has ever been issued against this work, only for the purpose of getting gain. Men have not been inspired to oppose it for the sake of the souls of men, but to save their craft, their salary, their party, their honour, and their credit in the sight of men. The system of truth revealed through Joseph Smith is not clothed in language so eloquent as this literary generation would desire. As a general thing, you know, a real polished scoundrel wears the finest cloth—the most fashionable garb, that he may be looked upon as an honest man by those who judge from outward appearances and not righteous judgment. The truth is not always clothed in the nicest style, or according to the ideas of this world; but the Lord sends it forth in the shape of a stone of stumbling and rock of offence. He is not pleased to conform to the views of this generation. They have got to take salvation just as he offers it to them, or else take damnation: they can have their choice.

Orson Hyde

6:56

We read a man’s character and feelings by his actions.

Orson Hyde

5:356

We look forward to the day when the Son of Man shall come in his glory as the greatest event and most sublime display of power and glory that were ever beheld by mortal eye; and it is requisite that we should be prepared for that scene. We shall be prepared, if we listen to the Spirit of the Lord as it is manifesting itself, and so continue to do during our probation here; for the Son of Man shall be revealed in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel. The Prophet asks the question, “Who can dwell with devouring fire or with everlasting burnings?” He answers and says, He that has clean hands and a pure heart; he can dwell with devouring fire.

We are to be operated upon by the Holy Ghost, and undergo such a material change by its power that we can abide the day of burning in which the Son of God will be revealed with the same comfort that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did in the fiery furnace. They were cast into that devouring element and moved as pleasantly and as agreeably as the fish moves in the sea, its native element. When that day comes, it will be made to appear who is pure; for it will bear upon every individual; and those who are not right and pure will be devoured and destroyed. If we are faithful, we can abide that day and feel that we are wrapped in nothing more than in a blaze of glory, because we shall be prepared for it. But if we do not live our religion, we shall be consumed in that day; and it will be a day that no creature can dodge. Hypocrisy and deceit will then be no shield. Pure and unadulterated goodness alone will enable us to stand in that day. We shall then know who possesses the qualifications of Saints, and who does not; and we shall have to be tested, and that strongly, compared with that to which we are now subjected. The two will be so different, so widely apart from each other, that we cannot now imagine the difference.

Orson Hyde

5:355

It appears that the Lord will open the way wherever he requires his Saints to go, however dark and hedged up it may seem. Yet, when the time comes for us to take one step, the way will open; and it is not likely that we can see the final issue or the result of our journey at first. If we could see the end, there would be no trial of our faith; but all the time we must walk by faith, and not by sight.

5:280

Orson Hyde

5:138

When we see the beautiful dove flying through the air, a pleasing sensation is produced in us by its graceful movements, because the Holy Spirit was once sent in that form. Again, we look at the serpent, and another feeling is produced—a fear—a chill—a horror. So every creature, beast and bird, man and woman, has a spirit peculiar to its own organization; and no organization is entirely, independent of the Spirit of God; for all have some intelligence. Were the spirits and temperaments all alike, the same instructions would serve for all. But as it is, every man must receive his portion of meat in due season. And the word must be rightly divided —giving to every man his portion that is adapted to his organization and temperament, that he may thereby be saved.

Man is composed of matter and spirit; and the Spirit of God operates upon and tempers man’s organization according to his faith and good works. Some are tempered very highly. Such not only carry a keen edge, but are susceptible of a high polish. Others are of low temper, because of a low, dull, and sluggish disposition and character, which they have indulged, and consequently formed. They are not a very smooth or sweet cutting tool. They have not sought to cultivate their temperament by seeking and courting the Spirit of God as they should.

Yet these may be guilty of no out-breaking sin. They keep within the pale of the law, pay their tithing, and keep along, and are considered good, peaceable, and honorable citizens. They despise to steal, are willing to labour, and pursue an even, straightforward course. Still, we cannot look upon them as being tempered by the Holy Spirit to the extent of their privilege. Yet they work righteousness as far as they work at all. These persons are fond of going to meeting, and are often heard to say, “What a good sermon we have had!”

This is all right, if you did have a good sermon. They will ask you a thousand and one questions in order to draw out something to satisfy their eager desire for knowledge and understanding, not hardly recollecting their privilege to ask of God and receive for themselves. But there is no crime in this. Still, one can hardly refrain from thinking, when he sees his neighbor begging and borrowing bread, how much more commendable it would be in him to apply himself to labour and produce thereby bread from the soil by his own exertion.

Orson Hyde

5:70

Is this the case with us? Have we thoroughly learned the lessons that have been given us, and reduced them to practice? There is nothing better calculated to imprint upon the mind any science or theory than to reduce it to practice and really act upon it. Then we see its force and bearing; and while engaged in the practical part, it stamps indelibly upon our minds, never to be forgotten, the principles we have imbibed.

If we have practiced upon the lessons and teachings we have received, we know that they will stand by us; but if we have merely heard them, and not entered into the practical duties thereof, they will die in our memory, never having been incorporated in our organization, and we become like the man beholding his natural face in the glass, and straightway goeth away and forgetteth what manner of man he is.

I might explain to you all about the art of printing; yet, with all the knowledge that my explanation could give you respecting this important art, who of you that is not a compositor can take my sermon and go into an office and set it up? “Practice makes perfect.” If we learn righteous principles and practice them, they have power to change our natures in conformity with themselves. They become a part and parcel of ourselves, bringing us into an alliance with them that knows no separation. Hence we become a righteous people; and, if we continue, we not only strive, but shall be able to enter in.

Each of you can recollect acting upon certain things taught you in the days of your childhood. They are as fresh in your recollection now as they were in the day you acted upon them. Therefore, let us ever act upon true and righteous principles, and they will remain with us, and we shall become righteous in our natures; and if we never act upon an evil principle, we shall forget all the evil we ever knew, and God will forget it also; and our natures will never be evil inclined.

Orson Hyde

5:68

Orson Hyde

5:17

Orson Hyde

5:16

Orson Hyde

5:16

How Joseph Smith created an illegal bank and stole thousands of dollars

While it is common knowledge that Joseph Smith founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, few know of his attempt to found a bank in Kirtland, Ohio. This important event in Mormon history was reportedly done because of a revelation that Joseph Smith received. The following excerpt is from Mormonism – Shadow or Reality? page 531:

Warren Parrish, who had been an officer in the bank and had apostatized from the Church, made this statement: “I have listened to him [i.e. Smith] with feelings of no ordinary kind, when he declared that the AUDIBLE VOICE OF GOD, INSTRUCTED HIM TO ESTABLISH A BANKING-ANTI BANKING INSTITUTION, who like Aaron’s rod SHALL SWALLOW UP ALL OTHER BANKS (the Bank of Monroe excepted,) and grow and flourish and spread from the rivers to the ends of the earth, and survive when all others should be laid in ruins.” (Painesville Republican, February 22, 1838, as quoted in Conflict at Kirtland, page 297)

Wilford Woodruff, who remained true to the Church and became the fourth President, confirmed the fact that Joseph Smith claimed to have a revelation concerning the bank. Under the date of January 6, 1837, he recorded the following in his journal: “I also herd [sic] President Joseph Smith, jr., declare in the presence of F. Williams, D. Whitmer, S. Smith, W. Parrish, and others in the Deposit office that HE HAD RECEIVED THAT MORNING THE WORD OF THE LORD UPON THE SUBJECT OF THE KIRTLAND SAFETY SOCIETY. He was alone in a room by himself and he had not only [heard] the voice of the Spirit upon the Subject but even an AUDIBLE VOICE. He did not tell us at that time what the Lord said upon the subject but remarked that if we would give heed to the commandments the Lord had given this morning all would be well.” (“Wilford Woodruff’s Journal,” January 6, 1837, as quoted in Conflict at Kirtland, page 296)

A brief account of the failed bank is told in Mormon Enigma:

“Construction of the temple had temporarily boosted the economy of Kirtland, but after the dedication the economy declined as poor converts arrived in ever increasing numbers. The old settlers attempted to keep them out of Kirtland by economic pressures, but the Mormon population increased twentyfold while the landholdings only quadrupled. In November 1836 Joseph and other church leaders drew up articles for a bank to provide capital for investments. It was a desperate gamble. Oliver Cowdery went to Philadelphia for plates to print bank notes, and Orson Hyde went to the legislature in Columbus with a petition for a bank license. It was refused. Oliver returned with plates for the Kirtland Safety Society Bank, but Orson Hyde came back without a charter. The plates were so expensive that they printed some specie anyway, writing in “Anti” before the word “Bank” and “ing” after it. The notes read, “Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company,” and the paper passed as legal tender from a joint-stock company. At first the money circulated wildly. When merchants and businessmen who were more sophisticated than the Mormons began to redeem their notes, Joseph could see that a run would ruin the bank. After one month he and Sidney Rigdon resigned as officers but the bank failed. This affected Joseph’s status.

People who were convinced that Joseph had intended a swindle at the outset attacked him verbally and threatened him physically. This disruption forced Joseph to leave the city frequently….

In April 1837 Joseph went into hiding without seeing Emma before he left. (Mormon Enigma, pp. 62)

Fawn Brodie details this about the demise of the Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company:

“If the bank needed a final blow to shatter what little prestige it still held among the faithful, it received it when Warren Parrish resigned as cashier, left the church, and began openly to describe the banking methods of the prophet. Parrish was later accused of absconding with $25,000, but if he took the sum it must have been in WORTHLESS BANK NOTES, since that amount of specie in the vaults would have saved the bank, at least during Joseph’s term as cashier.” (No Man Knows My History, page 198)

“The toppling of the Kirtland bank loosed a hornets’ nest. Creditors swarmed in upon Joseph armed with threats and warrants. He was terribly in debt. There is no way of knowing exactly how much he and his leading elders had borrowed, since the loyal Mormons left no itemized account of their own claims. But the local non-Mormon creditors whom he could not repay brought a series of suits against the prophet which the Geauga county court duly recorded. These records tell a story of trouble that would have demolished the prestige and broken the spirit of a lesser man.

“Thirteen suits were brought against him between June 1837 and April 1839, to collect sums totaling nearly $25,000. The damages asked amounted to almost $35,000. He was arrested seven times in four months, and his followers managed heroically to raise the $38,428 required for bail. Of the thirteen suits only six were settled out of court-about $12,000 out of the $25,000. In the other seven the creditors either were awarded damages or won them by default.

“Joseph had many additional debts that never resulted in court action. Some years later he compiled a list of still outstanding Kirtland loans, which amounted to more than $33,000. If one adds to these the two great loans of $30,000 and $60,000 borrowed in New York and Buffalo in 1836, it would seem that the Mormon leaders owed to non-Mormon individuals and firms well over $150,000.” (No Man Knows My History, pp. 199-202)

Was Joseph Smith to blame for the failure of the bank or “anti-bank” as it was called? Robert Kent Fielding stated the following:

“It was natural that blame for the entire situation should be charged against the Prophet. They had gathered to Kirtland at his command; the idea of purchasing housing lots in the great subdivision scheme had his full support; he had inferred that the bank would not only succeed, but would one day be the most powerful institution of its kind….the Church populace was genuinely disillusioned when the bank failed. It was difficult for them to comprehend that a man who claimed to have divine revelation in religious matters could fail so miserably in economic affairs…. No amount of shifting of blame could obscure the fact that a prophet had failed in a grand project…. As the Sheriff appeared ever more regularly with summons and as the fortunes and anticipations of one after another of the leaders faced the humiliating prospect of publicly acknowledged incompetence and bankruptcy, the discipline and sense of responsibility, which are the heart of all organizations, broke completely and plunged Mormondom into ecclesiastical anarchy.” (“The Growth of the Mormon Church in Kirtland, Ohio,” typed copy, pp. 233, 234, 237 & 238, as it appears in Mormonism – Shadow or Reality? pp. 533)

In a thesis written at Brigham Young University, Gary Dean Guthrie stated:

“The State legislature refused the Kirtland Safety Society its charter upon which the name of the bank was changed to Kirtland Anti-Banking Society….Joseph and Sidney Rigdon were tried in court for violating the law, were found guilty and fined $1,000. They appealed on the grounds that the institution was an association and not a bank; the plea was never ruled upon as the bank suspended payments and closed its doors. Other lawsuits followed….

“During the summer of 1837, Joseph spent much of his time away from Kirtland to avoid these lawsuits…. Apostles Luke S. Johnson, Lyman E. Johnson, and John F. Boynton were rejected and disfellowshipped.. “The blame of the bank failure fell heavily on Joseph. He had issued a formal invitation to his followers to take stock in the venture and the institution had been organized outside the law. Heber C. Kimball later was to comment that at this moment, ‘there were not twenty persons on earth that would declare that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.’ Six of the apostles came out in open rebellion….Joseph first established the bank by revelation and then had to later admit that because of poor management and other internal and external conditions the project was a failure.” (“Joseph Smith As An Administrator,” M.A. thesis, Brigham Young University, May 1969, pp. 80, 81, 82, 85, 86 and 88, as it appears in Mormonism – Shadow or Reality? pp. 533)

For more information on the Kirtland Bank see the UTLM book The Mormon Kingdom, Vol. 1 pp. 11-20.

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Most Mormons know a little about the Kirtland bank but of course, church-published material spins the issue to make Joseph Smith come out looking completely innocent of any wrongdoing. What the church doesn’t tell you is that:

When Smith & friends applied for a state bank charter, they were turned down. Smith had already had bank note printing plates made which read “Kirtland Safety Society.” After their charter was rejected, Smith ordered the notes to be issued anyway, but they were stamped to read “Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Co.”, so as to skirt the lack of bank charter.

After the bank and the Kirtland community failed, several former bank executives (all Mormons) testified that Smith and Rigdon had placed a chest filled with junk in their bank’s vault, with a thin layer of silver coins on top, to serve as the bank’s “capital.”

Half of the original twelve apostles, and more than half of the total church membership, left the church because of the Kirtland failure.

In the midst of the troubles, Smith sought to escape them by going on a five-week “mission trip” to Canada. Upon his return, he found that half of his church members had “rallied around a young girl who claimed to be a seeress by virtue of a black stone in which she could read the future. David Whitmer, Martin Harris, and Oliver Cowdery, whose faith in seer stones had not diminished when Joseph stopped using them, pledged her their loyalty, and F.G. Williams, Joseph’s First Counselor, became her scribe.” (No Man Knows My History, p. 205.) (This tells us a lot about the mental states of the “witnesses” to the alleged golden plates.)

Upon being charged with bank fraud, Smith and Rigdon were forced to flee Kirtland on horseback at night to escape mobs who wanted to avenge their financial losses.

http://www.mormoncurtain.com/topic_kirtlandbank.html

We generally speak of the restoration of the gospel in the past tense. We refer frequently to the spring of 1820 and to April 6, 1830. Article of Faith 9, however, encourages us to take a more expansive view. That “He will yet reveal many great and important things” signifies an ongoing restoration and one which continues today. June 8, 1978, thirty years ago today, the date when the priesthood was extended to all worthy males, and the blessings of the temple to all worthy members of the church, “without regard for race or color,” is a date that ought to hold a place next to those early dates of the 1800s when we speak of the restoration of the gospel. For without the full blessings of the restoration extended to every worthy member, the restoration of the gospel remains an incomplete one. Just as those important early dates of church history give us the chance to reflect upon the first vision and the founding of the church, so does today allow us the chance to reflect back upon our history and the current state of race relations within the church.

I was born in 1984, six years after the revelation, and therefore have never lived in a time when the priesthood was restricted on the basis of race. As such, while I was growing up, it was not something that I often thought about or discussed on a regular basis. That changed when I began my missionary service in South Chicago, where I was offered frequent opportunities to discuss the topic of the priesthood ban. On a number of occasions I met people whose only knowledge of the Mormons was that they had denied priesthood authority because of race. These were, without exception, difficult conversations.

Part of the difficulty was that it had quickly become apparent to me that there were more good questions than good answers. There are statements made and actions taken by individuals and the church which appear to contradict previous statements and actions. As we commemorate this important day, we have a responsibility to reflect upon our history and acknowledge any incongruities that exist, in order that we may as individuals, congregations, and as a church become a more Zion-like and a more Christ-like people.

History and Elijah Abel

(Many of the following historical facts were taken from John Dehlin’s interview with Darius Gray and Margaret Young.) If we go back the time of Joseph Smith, we are immediately met with our first series of incongruities. During the prophet’s lifetime, the church invited all free people of color to join and participate in their community. Among those who joined the church in that period were a small number of African-American men who were baptized and ordained to the priesthood. The most well known of these is a man by the name of Elijah Abel, who was baptized in 1832, ordained an Elder on March 3, 1836 (according to one source by Joseph Smith Jr. himself), and in December of that same year was ordained to the office of the Seventy. Brother Abel served the church faithfully throughout his life. He served three missions and helped to build temples in Kirtland, Nauvoo, and Salt Lake City. He received the temple ordinance of the washing and anointing while at Kirtland.

Church leaders were aware of Abel’s race; however, it was not seen as a problem with regard to the priesthood until the Utah period. In 1853, his request for the endowment was denied by Brigham Young. Then in 1879, the first conflict with Abel actually holding the priesthood arose when Zebedee Coltrin claimed that in 1834 Joseph Smith Jr. had received a revelation that blacks could not receive the priesthood and that when Joseph learned of Abel’s race, he had been dropped from the office of Seventy. Coltrin’s claims were challenged at that time by then-apostle Joseph F. Smith who produced ordination certificates verifying Abel’s continued status as a priesthood holder. His claims are also rebuffed by the fact that Coltrin himself had ordained Abel to the office of Seventy — two years after he claimed that Joseph had received the revelation restricting the priesthood. Elijah Abel was again denied in his request for the endowment in 1880 by the Quorum of the Twelve. However, in 1883 Brother Abel was still on record as a Seventy and in 1884 served his third and final mission for the church. He died in December of that same year. In 1895, eleven years after Abel’s death, he was again discussed by the Quorum of the Twelve and Joseph F. Smith again refuted claims that he had ever been dropped from the Seventy. Twelve years later in 1908, for reasons that appear nowhere in written history, Joseph F. Smith reversed his position and claimed that Joseph Smith himself had voided Abel’s ordination.

Elijah Abel’s history reveals a number of inconsistencies: from the conflict between Brother Coltrin’s actions in 1836 and his claims in 1879, to Joseph F. Smith’s change of position in 1908, to Abel receiving temple ordinances in Kirtland but not in Salt Lake. One thing that his history clearly establishes is that throughout this early period of the church any established policy regarding priesthood restriction was unclear even among church leadership.

There are a number of other important developments that take place over this same period of time. In 1844, Joseph Smith was running for President of the United States on an anti-slavery platform which sought to end slavery in the U.S. by 1850. In 1845, Orson Hyde was the first in the church to speculate on record that blacks were a “cursed lineage” because of actions in the pre-existence. However, two years after Hyde’s statement, Brigham Young stated, “It’s nothing to do with the blood for one blood has God made all flesh” and then added, referring to Walker Lewis (another African-American who held the priesthood in the early period of the church), that “we have one of the best Elders, an African in Lowell [Massachusetts].” This statement lies in stark contrast to a number of statements made by Brigham Young later in his life. Finaly, in 1852, slavery was given legal recognition in the Territory of Deseret. This appears as somewhat of mixed bag of historical facts, but shows that within the church, just as in society as a whole, there were various different opinions on the subject of race relations.

While the restriction of priesthood appears to have evolved gradually, by 1949 the First Presidency had affirmed that it was a “direct commandment from the Lord” (Neither White nor Black: Mormon Scholars Confront the Race Issue in a Universal Church, eds. Lester E. Bush Jr. and Armand L. Mauss, [Midvale, UT: Signature Books, 1984], pg. 221). However, throughout the 1960s and 1970s, while the civil rights movement was taking place in the U.S., there continued to be differing opinions on whether priesthood restriction was doctrine or policy or practice. Over this long period the general authorities of the church earnestly researched the policy and prayed for guidance on this matter. On June 1, 1978, the revelation that the priesthood and temple blessings would be made available without regard for race or color came as President Spencer W. Kimball prayed with the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve in the Salt Lake Temple. The revelation was announced in a general letter dated June 8, 1978.

Moving Forward

Today we still have with us a large number of quotations logged away in the Journal of Discourses, old conference talks, and books such as Mormon Doctrine (and now carefully archived by a quick Google search), which at best reflect views towards race that are representative of the time in which they were given, but express attitudes that are, nonetheless, racially prejudiced, at times bitterly so, and which still cause pain to many within the church and outside the church. What are we to with such statements? As we continue to move forward as a church it is important to keep two thoughts in mind:

The first is from a talk given by Elder Bruce R. McConkie two months after the revelation on the priesthood (“All Are Alike Unto God”). McConkie said on that occasion:

Forget everything that I have said, or what President Brigham Young or President George Q. Cannon or whomsoever has said in days past that is contrary to the present revelation. We spoke with a limited understanding and without the light and knowledge that now has come into the world. We get our truth and our light line upon line and precept upon precept. We have now had added a new flood of intelligence and light on this particular subject, and it erases all the darkness and all the views and all the thoughts of the past. They don’t matter any more.

The second thought to keep in mind is from an interview with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (from the recent PBS documentary The Mormons), regarding the folklore that developed within the church regarding the priesthood restriction:

Some of the folklore that you must be referring to are suggestions that there were decisions made in the pre-mortal councils where someone had not been as decisive in their loyalty to a Gospel plan or the procedures on earth or what was to unfold in mortality, and that therefore that opportunity and mortality was compromised….

One clear-cut position is that [such] folklore must never be perpetuated…. I have to concede to my earlier colleagues…. They, I’m sure, in their own way, were doing the best they knew to give shape to [the policy], to give context for it, to give even history to it. All I can say is however well intended the explanations were, I think almost all of them were inadequate and/or wrong…. We simply do not know why that practice, that policy, that doctrine was in place.

Elder Holland describes our responsibility to not perpetuate these false explanations as the “least…of our current responsibilities on that topic.” President Gordon B. Hinckley went further in explaining our responsibilities with regard to race relations in the Priesthood Session of the April 2006 General Conference (“The Need for Greater Kindness”):

Racial strife still lifts its ugly head. I am advised that even right here among us there is some of this. I cannot understand how it can be. It seemed to me that we all rejoiced in the 1978 revelation given President Kimball….

I remind you that no [one] who makes disparaging remarks concerning those of another race can consider [themselves] a true disciple of Christ. Nor can [they] consider [themselves] to be in harmony with the teachings of the Church of Christ.

The way forward for us as individuals, congregations, and as a church, has been made clear. We must follow the example of Christ. It was he who spoke of a good Samaritan who set aside generations of ethnic conflict to show compassion to a Jewish man left for dead. It was Christ who taught that the second great commandment was to “love thy neighbor as thyself,” and then offered us his example by sitting down to eat with “publicans and sinners” and having compassion on Roman centurions. It was he who finally gave up his life for all and now “denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female” (2 Nephi 26:33). It is my prayer that we may follow the example of Christ by showing love and compassion to all of our brothers and sisters regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, or any other characteristic which might prevent us from doing so.

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