. . . the first edition of the Book
of the Law instituted animal sacrifice as an integral part of the newly
instituted King’s Day feast celebrated each July 8 in memory of Strang’s
coronation. It commanded each man “to offer a clean beast, or a clean flow,
according to his household.” (The Book of the Law 40:6) There would be a
specially selected male priesthood to perform these rites. Women could serve as
priests in the roles of “singers and musicians, and assistants in the
ceremonies, but they shall not kill sacrifices.” (The Book of the Law 32:7) The
1856 second edition added a chapter on sacrifices that seemed to expand on
passages concerning sacrifices in Deuteronomy 15, including a classification of
offering types—“a sacrifice for sinofferings, and for tresspassofferings, and
for memorials, and for peaceofferings, and for thankofferings”—as well as
directives on the quality of the offering: “firstling of male or female,
without deformity or blemish” and “of the choice of thy fields.” (The Book of
the Law 8:1) The Book of the Law also allowed for other sacrifices—“whatsoever
is used for bread for man.” (The Book of the Law 8:4)
Strang’s assassination in 1856,
and the Saints’ subsequent exodus from Beaver Island, put an end to much of these
innovations. There was no longer a need for animal sacrifices or King’s Days.
There was no king nor other royal officers. And at least for a time, there was
no dominion for the Kingdom. (Christine Elyse Blythe and Christopher James
Blythe, “Strangite Scripture,” in Open Canon: Scriptures of the Latter Day
Tradition, ed. Christine Elyse Blythe, Christopher James Blythe, and Jay
Burton [Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2022], 188-89)
