The following excerpts are from:
Benjamin Winchester, A History of the Priesthood From the Beginning of the World to the Present Time: Written in Defence of the Doctrine and Position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1843)
Definition of “Priesthood”
When I speak of the holy priesthood, I mean to be understood as speaking of a delegation from God, or a legation from heaven, which is an authority conferred upon individuals authorizing them to act in the name of the Lord, or to administer ordinances and transact such business as appertains in the kingdom of God; or in other words, the Lord does a part of His work by proxy, or employs righteous men as His agents, and the priesthood is the commission or power given to them, however, the reader is not to understand from this, that the priesthood is wholly restricted to this world; but to the contrary, it is a principle congenial with the works of God, and binds the hosts of heaven together, and authorizes the angels to act in the name of God throughout the boundless realms of light; and (as well be seen hereafter,) no one has a legal right to administer in the name of the Lord without authority. (p. 7)
Election is corporate, not individual, and is not immutable
Now the house of Israel were the elect people of God, and the kingdom by right belonged to them; but those at Jerusalem, (where the seat of government will be when the kingdom is restored to them,) as a nation rejected it when it was offered to them; therefore, according to the prediction of our Saviour, it was transmitted to the Gentiles. As soon as this was done, the Jews were given over to unbelief and to destruction; their city was soon destroyed, and they were carried captive into all nations; and ever since, they have been subject to almost perpetual tribulation. (pp. 45-46)
Indigenous “Others” in the Book of Mormon
In order to sustain the authenticity of this Book, I shall first prove that America was inhabited by a civilized nation more than a thousand years ago; secondly, that this people together with the Indians of the forest, were, and are, the progeny of Joseph . . . (p. 136, emphasis in bold added)
Against Preterism
Some contend that Christ came at the time Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman army, but this is most certainly a mistake, for whoever will carefully read John’s Revelation, which was written more than twenty years after the above destruction, will read of this notable event, and things connected with it, that we know, are yet in the future. Christ, speaking of His coming, said: “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Lu xxi, 27, 28). How striking the contrast—Christ said that at this time, “the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and that their hearts shall fail them for ear,” &c. John says at this time, the kings of the earth the captains, the great men, the rich, &c., shall call for the rocks of the mountains to all on them, and hide them from the presence of the Lamb. But on the other hand, the saints will rejoice, and hail the day or hour with gladness, knowing that the time of their redemption is at hand, therefore reader, how important it is, that we should be prepared for this awful, yet glorious day. (pp. 159-60)
