Monday, June 27, 2022

Discussion of the Elijah/Elias Issue during the 1884 Kelley-Braden Debate

During a debate, Clark Braden (Church of Christ) argued that

 

The Mormon God was mistaken again. Joe, says Book of Doctrine and Covenants, page 112 that it was Elias who visited Zachariah the father of John. Luke says it was Gabriel. Luke was mistaken. Joe says that Elijah and Elias visited him at the dedication of the temple. The ignoramus did not know that the Elijah of the Old Testament, and the Elias of the New, was one and the same person. (Clark Braden in Public Discussion of the Issues Between the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and The Church of Christ [Disciples], Held in Kirtland, Ohio, Beginning February 12th, and Closing March 8th, 1884 [Lamoni, Iowa: The Herald Publishing House, 1913], 338)

 

Edmund Levi Kelley (RLDS) responded thusly:

 

He objects to the use of the name Elias and Elijah. Elias is the Greek for Elijah, (Hebrew), and Gabriel is the name assigned to Elijah as an angel; like it Abram to Abraham. Jacob’s to Israel; and to the apostles, Jesus assigned new names. There is no contradiction in the Book of Covenants in the use of the names Elias and Elijah. (Edmund Levi Kelley in ibid., 344)

 

Further Reading:


"Elias" as a "Forerunner" in LDS Scripture