Commenting on the then-RLDS Church’s
insistence that the revelations of Joseph Smith supported their belief that the
presidency of the Church would be passed on through his descendants, beginning
with Joseph Smith III, Charles W. Penrose (1832-1925), a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, noted:
The chief
reliance, however, of the “Lineage” advocates is placed on the revelation given
January 19th, 1841:
“For this
anointing I have put upon his head, that his blessing shall also be put upon
the head of his posterity after him. And as I said unto Abraham concerning the
kindreds of the earth, even so I say unto my servant Joseph, in thee, and in
thy seed shall the kindred of the earth be blessed.” (Doc. & Cov. Sec.
124:57. 58)
In
quoting this isolated portion of that revelation without the context which
shows its true signification, they still further pervert the word of the Lord.
In the various publications issued for the purpose of making it appear that these
promises of the Lord had reference to the oldest son of the Prophet, the word “of
Priesthood, authority and calling” are placed in brackets after the words “his
blessing” in the revelation; also in brackets the words “first, eldest” after
the word “head” in the revelation, thus endeavoring to influence the reader and
warp his understanding.
This part
of the revelation of January 19, 1841, cannot be correctly understood without
reading verses 56 to 61. From these it will be perceived that the blessing put
upon the head of Joseph the Prophet and upon his posterity or “seed” after him,
was the privilege of having a place from generation to generation in the Nauvoo
House, to be built by subscriptions of stock as provided for in the revelation
from verses 56 to 112. The portion of the word of the Lord contained in those
verses relates solely to that theme—the building of “a house for the boarding
of strangers,” “a delightful habitation of man, a resting place for the weary
traveler that he might contemplate the glory of Zion.” It was not the remotest
application to Priesthood or Presidency or succession in anything, but the
right of Joseph the Prophet and his posterity to have place in that house. The
Lord gave a promise to Joseph Smith, as he did to Abraham concerning his seed: “In
thee and in thy seed shall the kindred of the earth be blessed,” and he adds “THEREFORE,
let my servant Joseph and his seed after him have place in that house from
generation to generation for ever and ever, saith the Lord.”
The
promise of God to Joseph the Prophet concerning his “seed,” it will be seen,
was simply the same that he made to Abraham. It was also made and has been made
to others who obtained the Priesthood. In Doc. & Cov. Sec. 110, which gives
an account of visions manifested in the Kirtland Temple, we read:
“After
this Elias appeared and committed the dispensation of the Gospel of Abraham,
saying that in us and our seed, all generations after us should
be blessed.”
Thus the
promise which the “Lineage” advocates contend belonged only to the son of
Joseph the Prophet, is one that belongs to the posterity of other servants of
God who are endowed with the authority and power of the Holy Priesthood. But it
must be remembered that no blessing pronounced upon such a servant of God can
be enjoyed by any of his posterity, except through their own faithfulness and
obedience to the commandments of God. Neither is it peculiar to the eldest of
the lineage except in the office of Patriarch, which has already been explained,
and in the line of the Aaronic Priesthood, as revealed in Doc. & Cov. Sec.
68 and in the law of Moses. The term “anointing,” on the head of Joseph, refers
to the manner of blessing by the holy anointing which is poured on the head of
the recipient. If any of his posterity prove worthy to receive that anointing
it will be placed on their head, as all blessings come either by anointing or
the laying on of hands are placed, even as Jacob of old put the blessing of his
son Joseph “on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.”
(Gen. 49:26; also 48:13-20.)
The notion
that a blessing put upon the head of a man’s posterity means simply upon his
oldest son is absurd on its face. If the words “the head of his posterity” mean
his oldest son what is meant by Joseph’s “head”? On such a rule it would mean
his father, of course, and thus Joseph the Seer himself would be left out
entirely. Careful investigation of the blessings that flowed to Abraham’s
posterity, to his “seed after him,” will show that they rarely were possessed
by the oldest son in the family descent; and it must not be forgotten that the
blessing on the head of Joseph the Prophet and on the head of his posterity was
similar in respect to descent to that of Abraham and his posterity, and of
other men whom God called and ordained in opening up his last dispensation and
promised to “their seed after them through all generations;” and, as has been
demonstrated, in none of these cases, ancient or modern, does the blessing or
anointing or promise have any reference to the right of Presidency. That is
another and entirely different matter and conferred in a different manner.
(Charles W. Penrose, Priesthood and Presidency; Claims of the “Reorganized”
Church Examined and Compared with Reason and Revelation [1898], 14-16)
I would also add Abraham 2:9, 11 where
"seed" is used as a synonym for those who participate in the same
priesthood, not biological lineage, as Abraham:
And I
will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make
thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed
after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood
unto all nations; . . . And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them
that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that
is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall
continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed,
or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even
with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of
life eternal.
On the topic of “Elias” in D&C
110, as quoted by Penrose above, see:
