Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Joseph Smith and Imputation

Discourse, March 7, 1844 , as reported by Willard Richards:


I <Joseph> presented to the meeting the proceedings of O[rsamus] F Bostwick. & the Lawyers &c.— for the people to speak out. say whether such men should be. tolerated. and supported in our midst.— and from this time I design to bring such characters before the committee of the whole.— and if these things cannot be put a stop to. I will give them in to the hands of the mob—— the hands of the officers of the <city> fauter [falter]. and are palsied— <y the conduct of such men.>


There is another I will speak about he is a mormon.— a certain man. who lived here before we came here. the two first lette[r]s of his name is are Hiram Kimball—— when the city had passd an ordnanc [ordinance] to tax steam boats. He goes and tells th[e] captains of the steam boats that he owned the landing. and they need need not to pax [pay] tax— and I am determnd to use up such men if they will not stop their oppositi[o]n If this is not true. Let him come forward & throw of[f] the inputation [imputation].— when they people appeal to carthage I will appeal to this people— the highest court— I despise the La[w]yers who ha[n]g on these law suits.—


This shows that Joseph did know the term/concept of "imputation," and it is significant he never used it in his revelations or translations.

Further Reading: