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{{see also|Council of Fifty}}
{{see also|Council of Fifty}}
Within [[Mormonism]], the [[priesthood (Latter Day Saints)|priesthood]] authority to act in God's name was said by its founder, [[Joseph Smith]], to have been removed from the primitive Christian church through a [[Great Apostasy]], which Mormons believe occurred due to the deaths of the original apostles. Mormons maintain that this apostasy was prophesied of within the Bible to occur prior to the [[Second Coming of Jesus]] (see {{sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=2 Thessalonians|chapter=2|verse=3}}) and was therefore in keeping with God's plan for mankind. Smith claimed that the priesthood authority was restored to him from angelic beings—[[John the Baptist]] and the apostles [[Saint Peter|Peter]], [[James, son of Zebedee|James]], and [[John the Apostle|John]].
Within [[Mormonism]], '''authority''' typically refers to [[Priesthood (LDS Church)|priesthood]] authority, or the ability to act in God's name. According to its founder, [[Joseph Smith]], this authority had been removed from the primitive Christian church through a [[Great Apostasy]], which Mormons believe occurred due to the deaths of the original apostles. Mormons maintain that this apostasy was prophesied of within the Bible to occur prior to the [[Second Coming of Jesus]], and was therefore in keeping with God's plan for mankind. Smith said that the priesthood authority was restored to him from angelic beings—[[John the Baptist]] and the apostles [[Saint Peter|Peter]], [[James, son of Zebedee|James]], and [[John the Apostle|John]].<ref name="Prince">{{cite book |last1=Prince |first1=Gregory A |title=Having Authority: The Origins and Development of Priesthood During the Ministry of Joseph Smith |date=1993 |publisher=Herald Publishing House |location=Independence, Missouri}}</ref><ref name="Mackay">{{cite book |last1=MacKay |first1=Michael Hubbard |title=Prophetic authority: democratic hierarchy and the Mormon priesthood |date=2020 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |location=Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield |isbn=9780252084874}}</ref>


Priesthood authority was used as a foundation for early political structures in the [[Latter Day Saint movement]]. These included the [[Council of Fifty]] in [[Nauvoo, Illinois]], and the theocracy established in the [[State of Deseret]].
Some Christians have argued that a complete apostasy of the Christian church is impossible, because Christ is perfect. The Mormon belief is that Jesus, as [[Jehovah]], also guided the Old Testament prophets and their followers, but that there are biblical descriptions of many apostasies amongst them, evidencing that Jehovah, who was perfect, did not intercede to prevent mankind from using agency and corrupting the true teachings and practices established through the prophets.<ref>[[Joseph Fielding Smith]], ''Doctrines of Salvation'', vol. 3, pp. 265–71.</ref>


⚫
==Priesthood authority in early Mormonism==
Most Christians believe that the [[Biblical canon|canon]] of scripture is closed. Mormons believe in an open canon of scripture and accept the Bible, the [[Book of Mormon]], the [[Doctrine and Covenants]], and the [[Pearl of Great Price (Latter Day Saints)|Pearl of Great Price]] as scripture. Mormons also recognize a living [[prophet, seer, and revelator|prophet]] who has the authority to propose additions to the scriptural canon.
{{See also|Priesthood (Latter Day Saints)}}
Priesthood authority as it now known in the Latter Day Saint movement originated from the movement's founder, [[Joseph Smith]]. Some of the early movement's most important charismatic experiences were shared between Joseph Smith and [[Oliver Cowdery]], who joined the movement during the translation of the [[Book of Mormon]]. During the translation of the [[Golden Plates]], Smith and Cowdery determined that they needed to obtain priesthood authority, or the authority to act in God's name, which they believed had been lost from the earth during the [[Great Apostasy]]. According to an account by Cowdery in 1834, they went into the woods near [[Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania|Harmony]], [[Pennsylvania]] on May 15, 1829, were visited by an angel who gave them the "Holy Priesthood". In 1835, Smith and Cowdery stated that the angel was [[John the Baptist]], and that the "Holy Priesthood" was specifically the [[Aaronic priesthood (Latter Day Saints)|Priesthood of Aaron]]", which included the power to baptize. Today this area is maintained by the LDS Church as the [[Aaronic Priesthood Restoration Site]].{{cn|date=March 2024}}


Smith and Cowdery further elaborated for the 1835 publication of the [[Doctrine and Covenants]] that they were also later visited by [[Saint Peter|Peter]], [[Saint James the Great|James]], and [[John the Apostle|John]], who restored the "keys of your ministry" and the "keys of the kingdom". Neither Smith nor Cowdery ever gave a date for this visitation.{{cn|date=March 2024}}
⚫
==Political structure in early Mormonism==

==Political structures in Utah==
[[Image:Brigham Young.jpg|thumb|right|150px|'''[[Brigham Young]]'''<br />''[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|LDS Church]] [[President of the Church|president]],<br />first U.S. appointed governor of [[Utah Territory]],<br />regent of [[millennialism|pre-millennial]] "[[Kingdom of God]]"'']]
[[Image:Brigham Young.jpg|thumb|right|150px|'''[[Brigham Young]]'''<br />''[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|LDS Church]] [[President of the Church|president]],<br />first U.S. appointed governor of [[Utah Territory]],<br />regent of [[millennialism|pre-millennial]] "[[Kingdom of God]]"'']]


Early Mormonism established community legal structures as essentially [[theocracy|theocracies]] (''see'' [[theodemocracy]]). [[Joseph Smith]] and his successor, [[Brigham Young]], presided over [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) as prophet, [[President of the Church]], and spiritual king<ref>See, for example, minutes of meeting of Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 12 February 1849, p. 3 [LDS Archives], in {{Harvnb|Quinn|1997|p=238}}.</ref> until [[Christ]]'s assumption of [[Second Coming|world kingship at his Second Coming]].<!--
Early Mormonism established community legal structures as essentially [[theocracy|theocracies]] (''see'' [[theodemocracy]]). [[Joseph Smith]] and his successor, [[Brigham Young]], presided over [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) as prophet, [[President of the Church]], and spiritual king until Jesus Christ's [[Second Coming]].<!--


FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvnb|Melville|1960|pp=33–34}}; LDS D&C 65:2, 5–6; Joseph Smith, Jr. (1844), [[History of the Church (Joseph Smith)|History of the Church]] 6:290, 292; {{Harvnb|Young|1855|p=310}}; John Taylor (1853), JD 1:230; John D. Lee diary, 6 December 1848.</ref><!--
FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvnb|Melville|1960|pp=33–34}}; LDS D&C 65:2, 5–6; Joseph Smith, Jr. (1844), [[History of the Church (Joseph Smith)|History of the Church]] 6:290, 292; {{Harvnb|Young|1855|p=310}}; John Taylor (1853), JD 1:230; John D. Lee diary, 6 December 1848.</ref><!--
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FOOTNOTE--><ref name="JohnTaylor1857">John Taylor (1857), JD 5:266 ("We used to have a difference between Church and State, but it is all one now. Thank God."). Removed as governor during the [[Utah War]], Young yet retained a great deal of control until his death in 1877 {{Harvnb|Melville|1960|p=48}}.</ref>
FOOTNOTE--><ref name="JohnTaylor1857">John Taylor (1857), JD 5:266 ("We used to have a difference between Church and State, but it is all one now. Thank God."). Removed as governor during the [[Utah War]], Young yet retained a great deal of control until his death in 1877 {{Harvnb|Melville|1960|p=48}}.</ref>


Young envisioned a Mormon state<ref>Called "[[Deseret (Book of Mormon)|Deseret]]," a word used in the [[Book of Mormon]] meaning "honeybee".</ref> spanning from the [[Salt Lake Valley]] to the [[Pacific Ocean]];<ref>[[Milton R. Hunter|Hunter, Milton R.]] (2004), ''Brigham Young the Colonizer'', Kessinger Publishing, {{ISBN|1-4179-6846-X}}, 70 (citing Brigham Young, Latter-day Saint Journal History, October 27, 1850, Ms.).</ref> he sent church leaders to establish colonies far and wide. These colonies were governed by Mormon officials under Young's mandate to enforce "God's law" by "lay[ing] the ax at the root of the tree of sin and iniquity," while preserving individual rights.<ref>In 1856, Young said "the government of God, as administered here" may to some seem "despotic" because "[i]t lays the ax at the root of the tree of sin and iniquity; judgment is dealt out against the transgression of the law of God;" however, "does not [it] give every person his rights?" {{Harvnb|Young|1856b|p=256}}.</ref> Despite the distance to these outlying colonies, local Mormon leaders received frequent visits from church headquarters, and were under Young's direct doctrinal and political control.<ref>{{Harvnb|Quinn|2001|pp=143–45, 147}}.</ref> Mormons were taught to obey the orders of their [[Priesthood (LDS Church)|priesthood]] leaders, as long as they coincided with the church's religious principles.<!--
Young envisioned a Mormon state<ref>Called "[[Deseret (Book of Mormon)|Deseret]]," a word used in the [[Book of Mormon]] meaning "honeybee".</ref> spanning from the [[Salt Lake Valley]] to the [[Pacific Ocean]];<ref>[[Milton R. Hunter|Hunter, Milton R.]] (2004), ''Brigham Young the Colonizer'', Kessinger Publishing, {{ISBN|1-4179-6846-X}}, 70 (citing Brigham Young, Latter-day Saint Journal History, October 27, 1850, Ms.).</ref> he sent church leaders to establish colonies in various parts of the western United States. These colonies were governed by Mormon officials under Young's mandate to enforce "God's law" by "lay[ing] the ax at the root of the tree of sin and iniquity," while preserving individual rights.<ref>In 1856, Young said "the government of God, as administered here" may to some seem "despotic" because "[i]t lays the ax at the root of the tree of sin and iniquity; judgment is dealt out against the transgression of the law of God;" however, "does not [it] give every person his rights?" {{Harvnb|Young|1856b|p=256}}.</ref> Despite the distance to these outlying colonies, local Mormon leaders received frequent visits from church headquarters, and were under Young's direct doctrinal and political control.<ref>{{Harvnb|Quinn|2001|pp=143–45, 147}}.</ref> Mormons were taught to obey the orders of their [[Priesthood (LDS Church)|priesthood]] leaders, as long as they coincided with the church's religious principles.<!--


FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvnb|Lee|1877|p=235}}; {{Harvnb|Beadle|1870|p=495}} (describing what is said to be a portion of the Mormon [[Endowment (Latter Day Saints)|Endowment]] in which participants are commanded to "obey all orders of the priesthood, temporal and spiritual, in matters of life or death").</ref> Young's view of theocratic enforcement included a [[capital punishment|death penalty]].<!--
FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvnb|Lee|1877|p=235}}; {{Harvnb|Beadle|1870|p=495}} (describing what is said to be a portion of the Mormon [[Endowment (Latter Day Saints)|Endowment]] in which participants are commanded to "obey all orders of the priesthood, temporal and spiritual, in matters of life or death").</ref> Young's view of theocratic enforcement included a [[capital punishment|death penalty]].<!--
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--> However, there are no documented cases showing that capital punishment was ever used by the Mormons. Mormon leaders taught the doctrine of [[blood atonement]], in which Mormon "covenant breakers" could in theory gain their [[exaltation (Latter Day Saints)|exaltation]] in heaven by having "their blood spilt upon the ground, that the smoke thereof might ascend to heaven as an offering for their sins." More clearly stated, this doctrine holds that capital punishment is required to atone for murder.<!--
--> However, there are no documented cases showing that capital punishment was ever used by the Mormons. Mormon leaders taught the doctrine of [[blood atonement]], in which Mormon "covenant breakers" could in theory gain their [[exaltation (Latter Day Saints)|exaltation]] in heaven by having "their blood spilt upon the ground, that the smoke thereof might ascend to heaven as an offering for their sins." More clearly stated, this doctrine holds that capital punishment is required to atone for murder.<!--


--><ref>{{Harvnb|Young|1856d|p=53}}. Yet Mormon leaders stated that this practice was not yet "in full force" {{Harv|1857|pp=219–20}}, but the time was "not far distant" when Mormons would be sacrificed out of love to ensure their eternal reward ({{Harvnb|Young|1856b|pp=245–46}}; {{Harvnb|Kimball|1857a|p=174}}; {{Harvnb|Young|1857|p=219}}.)</ref>
--><ref>{{Harvnb|Young|1856d|p=53}}. Yet Mormon leaders stated that this practice was not yet "in full force" {{Harv|1857|pp=219–20}}, but the time was "not far distant" when Mormons would be sacrificed out of love to ensure their eternal reward ({{Harvnb|Young|1856b|pp=245–46}}; {{Harvnb|Kimball|1857a|p=174}}; {{Harvnb|Young|1857|p=219}}.)</ref> Local church leaders occasionally took the rhetoric of such doctrines seriously as they contemplated sanctionable applications of violence.<!--

Commentator [[Thomas G. Alexander]] argues that most violent speech by Mormon leaders was rhetorical in nature and that statistical studies were needed to determine whether frontier Utah was more violent in reality than surrounding regions.<ref>Thomas G. Alexander. [http://byustudies.byu.edu/Reviews/Pages/reviewdetail.aspx?reviewID=99 ''Review: Will Bagely. Blood of the Prophets''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071124041449/http://byustudies.byu.edu/Reviews/Pages/reviewdetail.aspx?reviewID=99 |date=2007-11-24 }}, BYU Studies Review (2003). Alexander referenced available statistics dealing with the period from 1882 to 1903, however it was estimations of violence from earlier (Mormon Reformation period) Utah compared with neighbors such as (Bleeding Kansas period) Kansas that Alexander said was needed.</ref> Referring to the frequent Mormon declarations that there were fewer deeds of violence in Utah than in other pioneer settlements of equal population, the ''[[Salt Lake Tribune]]'' of January 25, 1876, stated: "It is estimated that no less than 600 murders have been committed by the Mormons, in nearly every case at the instigation of their priestly leaders, during the occupation of the territory. Giving a mean average of 50,000 persons professing that faith in Utah, we have a murder committed every year to every 2500 of population. The same ratio of crime extended to the population of the United States would give 16,000 murders every year."<ref>[http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/slt2&CISOPTR=27691&REC=20 CONTENTdm Collection: Compound Object Viewer<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
Whatever the case, there is evidence that occasionally local church leaders took the rhetoric of such doctrines seriously as they contemplated sanctionable applications of violence.<!--


FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvnb|Quinn|1997|p=249}} (referring to a request [[Isaac C. Haight]] sent to Brigham Young asking permission to enforce blood atonement against an adulterous Mormon desirous to voluntarily submit for blood atonement &mdash; a request, however, that Young eventually denied.</ref>
FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvnb|Quinn|1997|p=249}} (referring to a request [[Isaac C. Haight]] sent to Brigham Young asking permission to enforce blood atonement against an adulterous Mormon desirous to voluntarily submit for blood atonement &mdash; a request, however, that Young eventually denied.</ref>
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--> The truth of these rumors is debated by historians. While there existed active [[vigilante]] organizations in Utah who referred to themselves as "Danites",<ref>{{Harvnb|Young|1857c|p=6}} (warning "mobocrats" that if they came to Utah, they would find "Danites").</ref> they may have been acting independently.<!--
--> The truth of these rumors is debated by historians. While there existed active [[vigilante]] organizations in Utah who referred to themselves as "Danites",<ref>{{Harvnb|Young|1857c|p=6}} (warning "mobocrats" that if they came to Utah, they would find "Danites").</ref> they may have been acting independently.<!--


FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvnb|Cannon|Knapp|1913|p=271}}.</ref><!--
FOOTNOTE--><ref>{{Harvnb|Cannon|Knapp|1913|p=271}}.</ref>

--> (For example, frontier Latter-day Saints [[Isaac C. Haight]] and William H. Dame were never Danites; however, Young's records indicate that in 1857 he authorized these two men to secretly execute two ex-convicts traveling through southern Utah along the California trail if they were caught stealing cattle. Dame replied to Young in a letter that "we try to live so when your finger crooks, we move."<ref>{{Harvnb|Parshall|2005|p=74}}.</ref> Haight and/or Dame might have been involved in the subsequent ambush of part of the convicts' party just south of Mountain Meadows.)<ref>{{Harvnb|Parshall|2005|p=79}}.</ref>


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
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| url=https://archive.org/details/lifeinutah00bead
| url=https://archive.org/details/lifeinutah00bead
}}.
}}.
* {{cite journal |last=Briggs |first=Robert H. |date=2006 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026160048/http://history.utah.gov/history_programs/utah_historic_quarterly/table_of_contents/documents/Fall2006.pdf |title=The Mountain Meadows Massacre: An Analytical Narrative Based on Participant Confessions |journal=Utah Historical Quarterly |volume=74 |number=4 |pages=313-333}}
* {{cite journal |last=Briggs |first=Robert H. |date=2006 |url=http://history.utah.gov/history_programs/utah_historic_quarterly/table_of_contents/documents/Fall2006.pdf |title=The Mountain Meadows Massacre: An Analytical Narrative Based on Participant Confessions |journal=Utah Historical Quarterly |volume=74  |number=4 |pages=313–333 |doi=10.2307/45062984 |jstor=45062984 |access-date=2018-02-05 |archive-date=2007-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026160048/http://history.utah.gov/history_programs/utah_historic_quarterly/table_of_contents/documents/Fall2006.pdf |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite book |last1=Cannon |first1=Frank J. |author1-link=Frank J. Cannon |first2=George L. |last2=Knapp |date=1913 |url=https://archive.org/details/brighamyoungandh003273mbp |title=Brigham Young and His Mormon Empire |location=New York |publisher=Fleming H. Revell}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cannon |first1=Frank J. |author1-link=Frank J. Cannon |first2=George L. |last2=Knapp |date=1913 |url=https://archive.org/details/brighamyoungandh003273mbp |title=Brigham Young and His Mormon Empire |location=New York |publisher=Fleming H. Revell }}
* {{cite journal |last=Fillmore |first=Millard |author-link=Millard Fillmore |date=September 26, 1850 |url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llej&fileName=008/llej008.db&recNum=253&itemLink=D?hlaw:5:./temp/~ammem_Pmtl::%230080255&linkText=1 |title=I nominate Brigham Young, of Utah, as governor of the Territory of Utah |editor=McCook, Anson G. |journal=Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America |volume=8 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=[[United States Government Printing Office|GPO]] 1887 |page=252}}
* {{cite journal |last=Fillmore |first=Millard |author-link=Millard Fillmore |date=September 26, 1850 |url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llej&fileName=008/llej008.db&recNum=253&itemLink=D?hlaw:5:./temp/~ammem_Pmtl::%230080255&linkText=1 |title=I nominate Brigham Young, of Utah, as governor of the Territory of Utah |editor=McCook, Anson G. |journal=Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America |volume=8 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=[[United States Government Printing Office|GPO]] 1887 |page=252 }}
*{{Citation
*{{Citation
| last = Kimball
|last = Kimball
| first = Heber C.
|first = Heber C.
| author-link = Heber C. Kimball
|author-link = Heber C. Kimball
| contribution = The Body of Christ-Parable of the Vine-A Wile Enthusiastic Spirit Not of God-The Saints Should Not Unwisely Expose Each Others' Follies
|contribution = The Body of Christ-Parable of the Vine-A Wile Enthusiastic Spirit Not of God-The Saints Should Not Unwisely Expose Each Others' Follies
| date = January 11, 1857a
|date = January 11, 1857a
| title = [[Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, His Two Counsellors, and the Twelve Apostles]]
|title = [[Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, His Two Counsellors, and the Twelve Apostles]]
| editor-last = Watt
|editor-last = Watt
| editor-first = G.D.
|editor-first = G.D.
| editor-link = George D. Watt
|editor-link = George D. Watt
| volume = 4
|volume = 4
| place = Liverpool
|place = Liverpool
| publisher = S.W. Richards
|publisher = S.W. Richards
| publication-date = 1857
|publication-date = 1857
| pages = 164–81
|pages = 164–81
| contribution-url = https://archive.org/stream/JoDV04/JoD_v04#page/n171/mode/2up
|contribution-url = https://archive.org/stream/JoDV04/JoD_v04#page/n171/mode/2up
}}.
}}.
* {{cite book |last=Lee |first=John D. |author-link=John D. Lee |date=1877 |editor=Bishop, William W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zmp2CKy6sv4C |title=Mormonism Unveiled; or the Life and Confessions of the Late Mormon Bishop, John D. Lee |location=St. Louis, Missouri |publisher=Bryan, Brand & Co.}}
* {{cite book |last=Lee |first=John D. |author-link=John D. Lee |date=1877 |editor=Bishop, William W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zmp2CKy6sv4C |title=Mormonism Unveiled; or the Life and Confessions of the Late Mormon Bishop, John D. Lee |location=St. Louis, Missouri |publisher=Bryan, Brand & Co. |isbn=978-0-608-38044-5 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Melville |first=J. Keith |date=1960 |title=Theory and Practice of Church and State During the Brigham Young Era |journal=[[BYU Studies]] |volume=3 |number=1 |pages=33–55 |url=https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/theory-and-practice-of-church-and-state-during-the-brigham-young-era/ }}
* {{cite journal |last=Melville |first=J. Keith |date=1960 |title=Theory and Practice of Church and State During the Brigham Young Era |journal=[[BYU Studies]] |volume=3 |number=1 |pages=33–55 |url=https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/theory-and-practice-of-church-and-state-during-the-brigham-young-era/ }}
* {{cite journal |last=Parshall |first=Ardis E. |author-link=Ardis E. Parshall |date=2005 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080819183728/http://history.utah.gov/history_programs/utah_historic_quarterly/table_of_contents/documents/Winter2005-v73-01.pdf |title='Pursue, Retake and Punish': The 1857 Santa Clara Ambush |journal=Utah Historical Quarterly |volume=73 |number=1 |pages=64-86}}
* {{cite journal |last=Parshall |first=Ardis E. |author-link=Ardis E. Parshall |date=2005 |url=http://history.utah.gov/history_programs/utah_historic_quarterly/table_of_contents/documents/Winter2005-v73-01.pdf |title='Pursue, Retake and Punish': The 1857 Santa Clara Ambush |journal=Utah Historical Quarterly |volume=73 |number=1 |pages=64–86 |doi=10.2307/45063638 |jstor=45063638 |access-date=2018-02-05 |archive-date=2008-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080819183728/http://history.utah.gov/history_programs/utah_historic_quarterly/table_of_contents/documents/Winter2005-v73-01.pdf |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite book |last=Quinn |first=D. Michael |author-link=D. Michael Quinn |date=1997 |title=[[The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power]] |location=Salt Lake City |publisher=[[Signature Books]] in association with Smith Research Associates |isbn=1-56085-060-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Quinn |first=D. Michael |author-link=D. Michael Quinn |date=1997 |title=[[The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power]] |location=Salt Lake City |publisher=[[Signature Books]] in association with Smith Research Associates |isbn=1-56085-060-4}}
* {{cite journal |last=Quinn |first=D. Michael |date=2001 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207001839/http://content.lib.utah.edu/u/?%2Fdialogue%2C27817 |title=LDS 'Headquarters Culture' and the Rest of Mormonism: Past and Present |journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought]] |volume=34 |number=3–4 |pages=135–64}}
* {{cite journal |last=Quinn |first=D. Michael |date=2001 |url=http://content.lib.utah.edu/u/?%2Fdialogue%2C27817 |title=LDS 'Headquarters Culture' and the Rest of Mormonism: Past and Present |journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought]] |volume=34  |number=3–4 |pages=135–64 |doi=10.2307/45226795 |jstor=45226795 |access-date=2018-02-05 |archive-date=2009-02-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207001839/http://content.lib.utah.edu/u/?%2Fdialogue%2C27817 |url-status=bot: unknown }}
*{{Citation
*{{Citation
| editor-last = Roberts
| editor-last = Roberts
Line 92: Line 91:
}}.
}}.
*{{Citation
*{{Citation
| last = Young
|last = Young
| first = Brigham
|first = Brigham
| author-link = Brigham Young
|author-link = Brigham Young
| contribution = Instructions to the Bishops—Men Judged According to their Knowledge—Organization of the Spirit and Body—Thought and Labor to be Blended Together
|contribution = Instructions to the Bishops—Men Judged According to their Knowledge—Organization of the Spirit and Body—Thought and Labor to be Blended Together
| date = March 16, 1856
|date = March 16, 1856
| title = Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, His Two Counsellors, the Twelve Apostles, and Others
|title = Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, His Two Counsellors, the Twelve Apostles, and Others
| editor-last = Watt
|editor-last = Watt
| editor-first = G.D.
|editor-first = G.D.
| volume = 3
|volume = 3
| place = Liverpool
|place = Liverpool
| publisher = Orson Pratt
|publisher = Orson Pratt
| pages = 243–49
|pages = 243–49
| publication-date = 1856
|publication-date = 1856
| contribution-url = https://archive.org/stream/JoDV03/JoD_v03#page/n249/mode/2up
|contribution-url = https://archive.org/stream/JoDV03/JoD_v03#page/n249/mode/2up
}}.
}}.
* {{cite journal |last=Young |first=Brigham |date=September 21, 1856 |url=https://archive.org/stream/JoDV04/JoD_v04#page/n51/mode/2up<!--alt link http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/JournalOfDiscourses3/id/9596/rec/4--> |title=The People of God Disciplined by Trials—Atonement by the Shedding of Blood—Our Heavenly Father—A Privilege Given to all the Married Sisters in Utah |editor=[[George D. Watt|Watt, G.D.]] |journal=[[Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, His Two Counsellors, and the Twelve Apostles]] |volume=4 |location=Liverpool |publisher=S.W. Richards |publication-date=1857 |pages=51–63}}
* {{cite journal |last=Young |first=Brigham |date=September 21, 1856 |url=https://archive.org/stream/JoDV04/JoD_v04#page/n51/mode/2up<!--alt link http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/JournalOfDiscourses3/id/9596/rec/4--> |title=The People of God Disciplined by Trials—Atonement by the Shedding of Blood—Our Heavenly Father—A Privilege Given to all the Married Sisters in Utah |editor=[[George D. Watt|Watt, G.D.]] |journal=[[Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, His Two Counsellors, and the Twelve Apostles]] |volume=4 |location=Liverpool |publisher=S.W. Richards |publication-date=1857 |pages=51–63 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Young |first=Brigham |date=July 5, 1857 |url=https://archive.org/stream/JoDV05/JoD_v05#page/n7/mode/2up<!--alt link (doesn't link to a specific page) http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/JournalOfDiscourses3,2375--> |title=True Happiness—Fruits of Not Following Counsel—Popular Prejudice Against the Mormons—The Coming Army—Punishment of Evildoers |editor=Calkin, Asa |journal=[[Journal of Discourses Delivered by President Brigham Young, His Two Counsellors, the Twelve Apostles, and Others]] |volume=5 |location=Liverpool |publisher=Asa Calkin |publication-date=1858 |pages=1–6}}
* {{cite journal |last=Young |first=Brigham |date=July 5, 1857 |url=https://archive.org/stream/JoDV05/JoD_v05#page/n7/mode/2up<!--alt link (doesn't link to a specific page) http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/JournalOfDiscourses3,2375--> |title=True Happiness—Fruits of Not Following Counsel—Popular Prejudice Against the Mormons—The Coming Army—Punishment of Evildoers |editor=Calkin, Asa |journal=[[Journal of Discourses Delivered by President Brigham Young, His Two Counsellors, the Twelve Apostles, and Others]] |volume=5 |location=Liverpool |publisher=Asa Calkin |publication-date=1858 |pages=1–6 }}

{{ref end}}
{{ref end}}


== External links ==
{{Portal|Latter-day Saints}}
{{Portal|Latter-day Saints}}
* [https://ssrn.com/abstract=1516550 "'The Living Oracles': Legal Interpretation and Mormon Thought"] by [[Nathan Oman]] (''[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought]]'')


{{Drafts moved from mainspace |date=April 2024}}
[[Category:Christian theology and politics]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint practices]]
[[Category:History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]
[[Category:Mormonism-related controversies]]
[[Category:Mormonism and violence]]
[[Category:Mormonism and politics]]

Latest revision as of 15:58, 12 April 2024

See also: Council of Fifty

Within Mormonism, authority typically refers to priesthood authority, or the ability to act in God's name. According to its founder, Joseph Smith, this authority had been removed from the primitive Christian church through a Great Apostasy, which Mormons believe occurred due to the deaths of the original apostles. Mormons maintain that this apostasy was prophesied of within the Bible to occur prior to the Second Coming of Jesus, and was therefore in keeping with God's plan for mankind. Smith said that the priesthood authority was restored to him from angelic beings—John the Baptist and the apostles Peter, James, and John.[1][2]

Priesthood authority was used as a foundation for early political structures in the Latter Day Saint movement. These included the Council of Fifty in Nauvoo, Illinois, and the theocracy established in the State of Deseret.

Priesthood authority in early Mormonism[edit]

See also: Priesthood (Latter Day Saints)

Priesthood authority as it now known in the Latter Day Saint movement originated from the movement's founder, Joseph Smith. Some of the early movement's most important charismatic experiences were shared between Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, who joined the movement during the translation of the Book of Mormon. During the translation of the Golden Plates, Smith and Cowdery determined that they needed to obtain priesthood authority, or the authority to act in God's name, which they believed had been lost from the earth during the Great Apostasy. According to an account by Cowdery in 1834, they went into the woods near Harmony, Pennsylvania on May 15, 1829, were visited by an angel who gave them the "Holy Priesthood". In 1835, Smith and Cowdery stated that the angel was John the Baptist, and that the "Holy Priesthood" was specifically the Priesthood of Aaron", which included the power to baptize. Today this area is maintained by the LDS Church as the Aaronic Priesthood Restoration Site.[citation needed]

Smith and Cowdery further elaborated for the 1835 publication of the Doctrine and Covenants that they were also later visited by Peter, James, and John, who restored the "keys of your ministry" and the "keys of the kingdom". Neither Smith nor Cowdery ever gave a date for this visitation.[citation needed]

Political structures in Utah[edit]

Brigham Young
LDS Church president,
first U.S. appointed governor of Utah Territory,
regent of pre-millennial "Kingdom of God"

Early Mormonism established community legal structures as essentially theocracies (see theodemocracy). Joseph Smith and his successor, Brigham Young, presided over the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) as prophet, President of the Church, and spiritual king until Jesus Christ's Second Coming.[3] U.S. President Millard Fillmore appointed Young governor of the Territory of Utah,[4] and there was minimal effective separation between church and state until 1858.[5]

Young envisioned a Mormon state[6] spanning from the Salt Lake Valley to the Pacific Ocean;[7] he sent church leaders to establish colonies in various parts of the western United States. These colonies were governed by Mormon officials under Young's mandate to enforce "God's law" by "lay[ing] the ax at the root of the tree of sin and iniquity," while preserving individual rights.[8] Despite the distance to these outlying colonies, local Mormon leaders received frequent visits from church headquarters, and were under Young's direct doctrinal and political control.[9] Mormons were taught to obey the orders of their priesthood leaders, as long as they coincided with the church's religious principles.[10] Young's view of theocratic enforcement included a death penalty.[11] However, there are no documented cases showing that capital punishment was ever used by the Mormons. Mormon leaders taught the doctrine of blood atonement, in which Mormon "covenant breakers" could in theory gain their exaltation in heaven by having "their blood spilt upon the ground, that the smoke thereof might ascend to heaven as an offering for their sins." More clearly stated, this doctrine holds that capital punishment is required to atone for murder.[12] Local church leaders occasionally took the rhetoric of such doctrines seriously as they contemplated sanctionable applications of violence.[13]

According to rumors and accusations, Brigham Young sometimes enforced "God's law" through a secret cadre of avenging Danites.[14] The truth of these rumors is debated by historians. While there existed active vigilante organizations in Utah who referred to themselves as "Danites",[15] they may have been acting independently.[16]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Prince, Gregory A (1993). Having Authority: The Origins and Development of Priesthood During the Ministry of Joseph Smith. Independence, Missouri: Herald Publishing House.
  2. ^ MacKay, Michael Hubbard (2020). Prophetic authority: democratic hierarchy and the Mormon priesthood. Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252084874.
  3. ^ Melville 1960, pp. 33–34; LDS D&C 65:2, 5–6; Joseph Smith, Jr. (1844), History of the Church 6:290, 292; Young 1855, p. 310; John Taylor (1853), JD 1:230; John D. Lee diary, 6 December 1848.
  4. ^ Fillmore 1850, p. 252
  5. ^ John Taylor (1857), JD 5:266 ("We used to have a difference between Church and State, but it is all one now. Thank God."). Removed as governor during the Utah War, Young yet retained a great deal of control until his death in 1877 Melville 1960, p. 48.
  6. ^ Called "Deseret," a word used in the Book of Mormon meaning "honeybee".
  7. ^ Hunter, Milton R. (2004), Brigham Young the Colonizer, Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 1-4179-6846-X, 70 (citing Brigham Young, Latter-day Saint Journal History, October 27, 1850, Ms.).
  8. ^ In 1856, Young said "the government of God, as administered here" may to some seem "despotic" because "[i]t lays the ax at the root of the tree of sin and iniquity; judgment is dealt out against the transgression of the law of God;" however, "does not [it] give every person his rights?" Young 1856b, p. 256.
  9. ^ Quinn 2001, pp. 143–45, 147.
  10. ^ Lee 1877, p. 235; Beadle 1870, p. 495 (describing what is said to be a portion of the Mormon Endowment in which participants are commanded to "obey all orders of the priesthood, temporal and spiritual, in matters of life or death").
  11. ^ On the Mormon Trail, Young threatened adherents who had stole wagon cover strings and rail timber with having their throats cut "when they get out of the settlements where his orders could be executed" Roberts 1932, p. 597. Young also gave orders that "when a man is found to be a thief,...cut his throat & thro' him in the River" (Diary of Thomas Bullock, 13 December 1846). In Utah, Young said "a theif [sic] should not live in the Valley, for he would cut off their heads or be the means of haveing [sic] it done as the Lord lived." (See the Diary of Mary Haskin Parker Richards, 16 April 1848). The preferred method of execution was by exsanguination or decapitation, the latter being "the law of God & it shall be executed." (See the diary of Willard Richards, 20 December 1846; Watson, Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1846-1847, p. 480.)
  12. ^ Young 1856d, p. 53. Yet Mormon leaders stated that this practice was not yet "in full force" (1857, pp. 219–20), but the time was "not far distant" when Mormons would be sacrificed out of love to ensure their eternal reward (Young 1856b, pp. 245–46; Kimball 1857a, p. 174; Young 1857, p. 219.)
  13. ^ Quinn 1997, p. 249 (referring to a request Isaac C. Haight sent to Brigham Young asking permission to enforce blood atonement against an adulterous Mormon desirous to voluntarily submit for blood atonement — a request, however, that Young eventually denied.
  14. ^ Briggs 2006, p. 320, n.26. The southern Utah pioneer and militia scout of the time John Chatterley later wrote that he had received threats from a "secret Committee, called ...'destroying angels'"
  15. ^ Young 1857c, p. 6 (warning "mobocrats" that if they came to Utah, they would find "Danites").
  16. ^ Cannon & Knapp 1913, p. 271.

References[edit]

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