In his MA thesis on the political Kingdom of God in LDS history, Klaus J. Hansen wrote that:
Still another aspirant to the mantle of the Prophet
Joseph who seemed to have had ideas of establishing the Kingdom of God was
Gladden Bishop. Bishop, who later made an unsuccessful attempt to convert the
Utah Saints to his point of view, attracted some of the Wisconsin Mormons to
his cause. According to one Mormon observer, Bishop claimed to be “the
personification of the Holy Ghost; . . . he has organized what he calls the
Kingdom of God, and it was the queerest performance I ever saw.” (Sarah Scott
to her mother Abigail Hall, March 31, 1848, as quoted in George F. Partridge
[ed.], “The Death of a Mormon Dictator. Letters of Massachusetts Mormons,
1843-1848.” The New England Quarterly, IX [1936], 614, in Klaus J.
Hansen, “The Theory and Practice of the Political Kingdom of
God in Mormon History, 1829-1890” [MA
Thesis; BYU, 1959], 125)
I found Gladden
Bishop’s claim to be “the personification of the Holy Ghost” to be rather
interesting. The full letter from Sarah Scott to Abigail Hall is reproduced
below (transcript found online here, pp.
66-67):
Burlington, Wisconsin,
March 31, 1848.
My Dear Mother:
I received your very welcome letter of February eighth
the second day of March, and it was a very acceptable birthday present. Your
letter and paper of July came duly to hand, and I know of no excuse for not
writing immediately, only being a daughter of yours.
Calvin is quite a large boy. Little Sis is lying
asleep in the cradle. We think of calling her Martha Sarah.
We have had only one letter from Martha since we left
Nauvoo, and that more than a year ago. We have heard that Mr. Haven and Martha
were at Council Bluffs and we sent them a letter there.
I should like to see you all and once more behold my
native land but I never have had any desire to go back to spend my days in old
Sutton. We have not decided whether we shall stay here this summer or not. I
had much rather live here than in Illinois. We have had good health all the
time, and money is much plentier. Nauvoo is a dreary looking place, I expect.
Have you seen the Epistle of the Twelve Apostles? If
you have not, you had ought to, that’s certain. It seems now “it mattereth not
what a man’s religious faith is; whether he be a Presbyterian, or a Methodist,
or a Baptist, or a Catholic, or a Mahommedan, or even Pagan or any thing else;
if he will bow the knee, and with his tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ,
and will support good and wholesome laws, we hail him as a brother.” That is
not much like the doctrine Joseph Smith taught in the beginning, I think. In
Elders’ Journal Volume 1 Number 8, page 92, question: Will everybody be damned
but the Mormons? Answer: “Yes, and a great portion of them unless they repent
and work righteousness.” This is what Joseph taught in 1838, Brigham’s
conscience has stretched so far lately that he will make a heaven of all sects
and parties. Wonderful change. Oh consistency and common sense where hast thou
fled?
Strang is no better than the twelve, for he has come
out and denied the Divinity of Jesus Christ and says he [Christ] was the
legitimate son of Joseph and Mary. And there has lately risen up another young scion
of Latter Day Saintism who claims to be the personification of the Holy Ghost;
he also is making some converts among the L. D. Saints; he is here figuring as
large as life. His name is Gladden Bishop; he has organized what he calls the
Kingdom of God, and it was the queerest performance I ever saw.
It is very evident that the L. D. Saints have
literally fulfilled the prediction of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, for it is
written: “In the last days perilous times shall come; men shall be heady,
high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God etc” and they are to
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing Spirits and doctrines of devils
speaking lies in hypocrisy etc., and false Christs and false prophets are
foretold; these have all made their appearance.
Now why this state of things among the L. D. S.? It is
easily accounted for when their course is once properly understood. In the year
1830, when the Church was organized, God gave it a specific characteristic name
eight times in one Revelation in the book of Commandments which was the Church
of Christ. By this they were known for four years until they began to work
wickedness and lost the Spirit of Christ; consequently they were ashamed to
wear his name. So in May, 1834, Joseph and the authorities of the Church met in
Conference in Kirtland, Ohio, and the first business of importance was to
change the name of the Church. Motioned, seconded, and carried: that this
Church be no longer known as the Church of Christ and that henceforth it shall
be called the Church of Latter Day Saints; no Jesus Christ in it for four years
after this. Thus they became another church by the unanimous voice of all her
leading men and have been led by false principles more or less ever since. What
does the Book of Mormon say on this subject? “If ye are called in any other
name save the name of Christ, ye shall be found on the left hand of God.”
April 22: I have been very busy and did not get my
letter finished, but I can’t afford to write another; so I send this. We had a
snow storm yesterday, but hardly enough to track a cat. Write as soon as you
get this.
Sarah Scott.
