Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Jennifer Reeder on Emma Smith's Tasks in D&C 25

Commenting on the tasks outlined for Emma to perform in D&C 25, Jennifer Reeder wrote that:

 

These were unusual tasks—expounding, exhorting, and hymn selecting—for a woman of Emma’s time. In expounding, she was by definition tasked to “explain, to lay open the meaning, to clear of obscurity, to interpret,” while in exhorting, she was to “encourage, to embolden, to cheer, to advise, to excite or to give strength, spirit or courage” (An American Dictionary of the English Language, ed. Noah Webster [New York: S. Converse, 1828], s.vv. “exhort,” “expound.”). The Lord also instructed Emma that her “time shall be Given to writing & to Learning” (Revelation, July 1839-C [D&C 25:8]”. While living in Kirtland, Ohio, she sent hymns to William W. Phelps in Independence, Missouri, who printed them in The Evening and the Morning Star, a newspaper distributed somewhat widely among the Saints. A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints was published in Kirtland in time for the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in early 1836 (While the copyright year is 1835, most likely the book was typeset for the press that year and then actually printed in 1836. (See Michael Hicks, Mormonism and Music: A History [Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2003], 20)). Though she did not write the hymns, Emma’s selection certainly preached doctrine and cheered and encouraged the Saints, both collectively and individually, through worship. The Lord told Emma in 1830, “My Soul delighteth in the song of the heart yea the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me & it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads” (Revelation, July 1830-C [D&C 25:12]). When Joseph dedicated the temple, Emma’s hymns united the Saints in worship and great spiritual manifestations.

 

A second way in which Emma expounded scripture and exhorted the Church was through the Relief Society. On March 17, 1842, twenty women gathered on the second floor of the red brick store in Nauvoo and were organized by the Prophet Joseph “after the pattern, or order, of the priesthood,” or “according to the ancient Priesthood” (“First Organisation,” n.d., cal. July 1880, Relief Society Record, 1880-92, p. 5, CHL; “Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book,” Mar. 31, 1842, p. 22). The women elected Emma as president, and Joseph read from 2 John to teach that Emma was an “Elect lady . . . elected to preside.” HE explained that she had been ordained in July 1830, at the time of her revelation., “to expound the scriptures to all; and to teach the female part of the community” (“Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book,” Mar. 17, 1842, pp. 8-9). Sarah Kimball, present at the first Relief Society meeting, recalled that Joseph taught the women, “I have desired to organise the Sisters in the order of the Priesthood . . . The organization of the Church of Christ was never perfect until the women were organised” (Sarah M. Kimball, Reminiscence, Mar. 17, 1882, The First Fifty Years of Relief Society). Emma led the women in providing relief to the poor and saving sols, as instructed by Joseph (“Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book,” June 9, 1842, p. 63). (Jennifer Reeder, “Emma, Joseph, and the Revelation ‘Unto All,’” in R. Eric Smith, Matthew C. Godfrey, and Matthew J. Grow, eds., Know Brother Joseph: New Perspectives on Joseph Smith’s Life and Character  [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2021], 53-58, here, pp. 55-56)