I read D. Michael Quinn's "Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power" only a few months ago. I was blown away by the concept of "retroactive revelation". I had no idea.

The Joseph Smith Paper's project makes it so simple to see for yourself.

Go to this website to see the corresponding locations for the original revelation, the 1833 Book of Commandments and later versions of the D&C.

http://josephsmithpapers.org/back/corresponding-section-numbers-in-editions-of-the-doctrine-and-covenants

Using this chart you can track the evolution of the "revelations".

Most disturbing to me was JSJ going back and inserting the stories of Priesthood restoration into the canon. (The visits of John the Baptist and Peter,James and John.) But it is easy to see for yourself using only LDS websites.

I pulled out my D&C, looked in the index, and found various sections listed under "priesthood". I then went to the chart and looked up the previous versions of that section. The original hand written revelation pops up if you click on the link in the first column, the 1833 Book of Commandments version can be seen here:

http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/book-of-commandments-1833

Sections 1 (edit: oops! I meant section 2) and 13 weren't revelations but were taken from the Joseph Smith history from years later. The priesthood restoration stories aren't even in section 13 but in the introduction.

Section 27 was truly amazing. Most of the section is about the priesthood and it was just tacked onto an old revelation about sacramental wine.

Stunning. If the restoration of the priesthood was just "edited" in years later . . .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2013 10:33AM by crom.

People often talk about how many changes there have been to the original edition of the Book of Mormon. But, in my mind, the real problems are found when you compare the original Book of Commandments with the today's Doctrine and Covenants. Absolutely devastating to the church's claims--any clear, rational mind will reject Mormonism after evaluating this evidence. The "revelations" and later edits/additions with regard to priesthood restoration are some of the most damning.

The biggest problem with priesthood in tscc is JS couldn't "restore" what wasn't lost: http://catholicexchange.com/the-order-of-melchizedek/

Same for the apostolic keys.

I loved that one Christian guy in the famous clip who asked the Mormon missionary, "When was there ever a time since Jesus lived that he had no followers?"

The missionary could not answer the question, because there was no period in which Jesus had no followers. Therefore, there was never a need for "restoration."

If Mormons believe their own Book of Mormon story and the same story in the New Testament, there were three/ or one of Jesus' disciples that were blessed by him not to taste death before his second coming. If these disciples truly never died and had been given the priesthood by Jesus, then that means the priesthood never left the Earth. Now, granted I don't believe any of this, but this is another nail in that coffin. Again, an instance of no need for a restoration. Too bad Mormons can't get their story straight from the get go. And they love to claim it is such a simple and logical gospel. Maybe to a mad man.

Spot on and thanks for sharing! I think it can be argued that the priesthood-related changes to the revelations rank as one of the top issues proving Joseph Smith was a fraud. It is truly sad that the voice of the dissenters from Joseph Smith's day have been silenced and marginalized as "bitter apostates". Why did an apostle like William E. McLellin leave the Church? What was David Whitmer's biggest complaint? Good grief! Just look at what some of these "bitter apostates" had to say and then look into it. It reminds me of how members are told of the lies and bitterness published in the Nauvoo Expositor, but almost none have ever bothered to read its contents.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2013 12:42PM by facsimile3.