Mr. TAYLER. You have already touched upon the subject
of revelation, and if you have anything further to say about it. I think this
would be as good a time as any, as to the method in which a revelation would be
as good a time as any, as to the method in which a revelation is received and
its binding or authoritative force upon the people.
Mr. SMITH. I will say this, Mr. Chairman, that no
revelation given through the head of the church ever becomes binding and
authoritative upon the members of the church until it has been presented to the
church and accepted by them.
Mr. WORTHINGTON. What do you mean by being presented
to the church?
Mr. SMITH. Presented in conference.
Mr. TAYLER. Do you mean by that that the church in
conference may say to you, Joseph F. Smith, the first president of the church,
“We deny that God has told you to tell us this?”
Mr. SMITH> They can say that if they choose.
Mr. TAYLER. They can say it?
Mr. SMITH. Yes, sir; they can. And it is not binding
upon them as members of the church until they accept it.
Mr. TAYLER. Until they accept it?
Mr. SMITH. Yes, sir.
MR. TAYLER. Were the revelations to Joseph Smith, jr.,
all submitted to the people?
Mr. SMITH. Yes, sir.
Senator OVERMAN. Does it require a majority to accept
or must it be the unanimous voice?
Mr. SMITH. A majority. Of course only those who accept
would be considered as in good standing in the church.
Mr. TAYLER. Exactly. Has any revelation made by God to
the first president of the church and presented by him and to the church ever
been rejected?
Mr. SMITH. I do not know that it has; not that I know
if.
Senator HOAR. That answer presents precisely the question
I put to you a little while ago. “Not that I know of,” you replied. Do you
know, as head of the church, what revelations to your predecessors are binding
upon the church?
Mr. SMITH. I know, as I have stated, that only those
revelations which are submitted to the church and accepted by the church are
binding upon them. That I know. (Proceedings Before the Committee on
Privileges and Elections of the United States Senate in the Matter of the
Protests Against the Right of Hon. Reed Smoot, a Senator from the State of
Utah, to Hold His Seat, 4 vols. [Washington, D.C.: Government Printing
Office, 1906), 1:96-97)
