Saturday, July 27, 2019

Lyle O. Wright on D&C 85:7



And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong, holding the scepter of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order the house of God, and to arrange by lot the inheritances of the saints whose names are found, and the names of their fathers, and of their children, enrolled in the book of the law of God; (D&C 85:7)

In a MA thesis on the origins of the Church of the Firstborn of the Fullness of Times, Lyle O. Wright wrote the following about D&C 85:7, a passage that has been abused by countless fundamentalist groups and false prophets thereof:


The Revocation of the Prophecy

The revelation contained in Section 85 was originally part of a letter written to W.W. Phelps (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, I, 227-229). The subject of the letter was the settling of Zion, in Missouri, and problems relative to that settlement. Edward Partridge was the man called by revelation to stand as bishop in the land of Zion, and the revelations calling him to that position had clearly stipulated that a major responsibility was for him to divine "the lands of the heritage of God unto his children." (Doctrine and Covenants 58:14, 17; also 57:7, 15). Note that this is to be also a primary mission of the One Mighty and Strong as specified in Doctrine and Covenants 85:7.

But Bishop Partridge had not been consistently faithful in his relationship to the church and to the Prophet. When the Prophet first visited in Missouri, "Bishop Partridge several times strenuously opposed the measures of the Prophet, and was sharply rebuked by the latter for his unbelief and hardness of heart." In August 1831, he was rebuked again, this time by the Lord in the revelation contained in Doctrine and Covenants 58:14-16.

There was an apparent adjustment of differences on the Prophet's next visit in April, 1832. However, the Bishop was soon again embroiled in "conditions of rebellion, jealousy, pride, unbelief, and hardness of heart" for which all the Saints in Zion were reprimanded by the Lord (Doctrine and Covenants 84:54, 58-76). It was when these conditions prevailed that the letter which included the revelation of Section 85 was written.

The "man who was called and appointed of God" to "divide unto the Saints their inheritance"--Edward Pat ridge--was at that time out of order, neglecting his own duty and putting "forth his hand to steady the ark"; hence he was warned of the judgment of God impending and the prediction was made that another "one mighty and strong," would be sent of God to take his place to have his bishopric--one having the spirit and power of that high office resting upon him, by which he would have power to "set in order the house of God and arrange by lot the inheritance of the Saints"; in other words, one who would do the work that Bishop Edward Partridge had been appointed to do but had failed to accomplish.

Bishop Partridge partially repented after the admonition and reproof in Doctrine and Covenants 85, and his repentance seems to have been thorough and final after the chastening by their enemies in 1833 and the Lord's explanation for that, in Doctrine and Covenants 101:1-9. From then on, "in the midst of troublous times in Missouri, Edward Partridge acted a most noble and self-sacrificing part, and bore many indignities with the greatest patience." By 1835, the Lord was able to say, in a revelation to Joseph Smith, that he was well pleased with Edward Partridge (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, I, 302-303).

Certainly in the face of this plain statement of the Lord that the sins of Edward Partridge were forgiven him, we do not feel that this sad and early death was the fulfillment of the threatened judgment of the revelation, but that he was the man so threatened in that revelation there can be no question; not only on account of what is here set forth, but also because Orson Pratt, one familiar with Edward Partridge, and an active participant in all these historical matters, publically declared from the pulpit in Salt Lake City, about the time of the death of President Young, that the man referred to in the passage of the revelation in question, was Bishop Edward Partridge. Of the facts of his statement there can be no doubt; at the time he was the historian of the Church as well as a member of quorum of the apostles.

Thus, it is established that the thread in Doctrine and Covenants 85:8 was directed at Edward Partridge. Since the entire letter was concerned with the affairs of Zion in Missouri, it seems that the person promised in Doctrine and Covenants 85:7 was to be someone selected to take Bishop Partridge's place, if he continued in his rebellious attitude and failed to set the house of God in order through proper handling of the division of inheritances and other necessary business. But, since the Bishop did change, "who shall say that his repentance, his sacrifices, his sufferings and faithfulness, did not procure for him a mitigation of the severe judgment decreed against him in the revelation contained in the eighty-fifth section of the Doctrine and Covenants"?

An example of such a revocation of the decree of God is given in the instance of Hezekiah, King of Israel, who, when appointed by the Lord to die, prayed to God and was granted an additional fifteen years of life (2 Kings 20:1-6).

It could be added that allowance was made for such possibilities in the revelations to Joseph Smith:

Wherefore, I, the Lord, command and revoke, as it seemeth me good; and all this to be answered upon the hands of the rebellious, saith the Lord. (Doctrine and Covenants, 56:4)

I command and men obey not; I revoke and they receive not the blessing. (Doctrine and Covenants 58:32) (Lyle O. Wright, Origins and Development of the Church of the Firstborn of the Fullness of Times [MA Thesis; Brigham Young University, 1963], 46-48; cf. pp. 27-50 for a discussion of the many claimants to being the “one mighty and strong”)