God, not man, being the source of the exercising of the Spiritual Gifts

The early Latter-day Saints believed strongly in exercising gifts of the Spirit but insisted on attributing the power to God rather than to human ability. In 1838 JS presented this viewpoint as an answer to a commonly asked question: “Can they [the Latter-day Saints] raise the dead. Answer. No, nor any other people that now lives or ever did live. But God can raise the dead through man, as an instrument.” JS followed this with a closely related question and answer: “What signs to Jo Smith give of his divine mission. Answer. The signs which God is pleased to let him give: according as his wisdom thinks best: in order that he may judge the world agreably to his own plan.” (Questions and Answers, 8 May 1838, in JSP, D6:142.) (The Joseph Smith Papers, Documents volume 7: September 1839-January 1841, eds. Matthew C. Godfrey; Spencer W. McBride; Alex D. Smith; Christopher James Blythe [Salt Lake City: The Church Historian’s Press, 2018], 179 n. 315)