Word o’ God

JD 1:133, Brigham Young, April 6, 1853Perhaps it may make some of you stumble, were I to ask you a question - Does a man’s being a Prophet in this Church prove that he shall be the President of it? I answer, no! A man may be a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, and it may have nothing to do with his being the President of the Church. Suffice it to say, that Joseph was the President of the Church, as long as he lived: the people chose to have it so. He always filled that responsible station, by the voice of the people. Can you find any revelation appointing him the President of the Church? The keys of the Priesthood were committed to Joseph, to build up the Kingdom of God on the earth, and were not to be taken from him in time or in eternity; but when he was called to preside over the Church, it was by the voice of the people; though he held the keys of the Priesthood, independent of their voice.

JD 1:108 - p.109, Brigham Young, May 8, 1853

If you want to know what to do with a thief that you may find stealing, I say kill him on the spot, and never suffer him to commit another iniquity. That is what I expect I shall do, though never, in the days of my life, have I hurt a man with the palm of my hand. I never have hurt any person any other way except with this unruly member, my tongue. Notwithstanding this, if I caught a man stealing on my premises I should be very apt to send him straight home, and that is what I wish every man to do, to put a stop to that abominable practice in the midst of this people.  I know this appears hard, and throws a cold chill over our revered traditions received by early education. I had a great many such feeling to contend with myself, and was as much of a sectarian in my notions as any other man, and as mild, perhaps, in my natural disposition, but I have trained myself to measure things by the line of justice, to estimate them by the rule of equity and truth, and not by the false tradition of the fathers, or the sympathies of the natural mind. If you will cause all those whom you know to be thieves, to be placed in a line before the mouth of one of our largest cannon, well loaded with chain shot, I will prove by my works whether I can mete out justice to such persons, or not. I would consider it just as much my duty to do that, as to baptize a man for the remission of sins. That is a short discourse on thieves, I acknowledge, but I tell you the truth as it is in my heart.

Apostle Apostate:  WWJD?

JD 4:31 - p.32, Brigham Young, August 17, 1856The moment a person decides to leave this people, he is cut off from every object that is durable for time and eternity, and I have told you the reason why. Everything that is opposed to God and His Son Jesus Christ, to the celestial kingdom and to celestial laws, those celestial laws and beings will hold warfare with, until every particle of the opposite is turned back to its native element, though it should take millions and millions of ages to accomplish it. Christ will never cease the warfare, until he destroys death and him that hath the power of it. Every possession and object of affection will be taken from those who forsake the truth, and their identity and existence will eventually cease. “That is strange doctrine.” No matter, they have not an object which they can place their hands or affections upon, but what will vanish and pass away. That is the course and will be the tendency of every man and woman, when they decided to leave this kingdom. 

JD 9:150, Brigham Young, January 12, 1862No matter how many deny their God and their religion, God is the same, his holy religion is the same, and all the truth is the same. There is no plan, no device, no possible way in which we can get rid of “Mormonism,” only by taking the downward road which leads to hell, until spiritually and temporally the whole organized being is dissolved and the particles thereof have returned again to native elements. We read in the Scriptures of the second death not having power over certain ones. The first death is the separation of the spirit from the body; the second death is, as I have stated, the dissolution of the organized particles which compose the spirit, and their return to their native element. The wicked spirit will have to endure the wrath of the Almighty, until it has paid the uttermost farthing where the “worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.” Every debt that has been contracted by it must be cancelled.

JD 5:22, Heber C. Kimball, April 6, 1857

I would not be afraid to promise a man who is sixty years of age, if he will take the counsel of brother Brigham and his brethren, that he will renew his age. I have noticed that a man who has but one wife, and is inclined to that doctrine, soon begins to wither and dry up, while a man who goes into plurality looks fresh, young, and sprightly. Why is this? Because God loves that man, and because he honours His work and word.  Some of you may not believe this; but I not only believe it - I also know it. For a man of God to be confined to one woman is small business; for it is as much as we can do now to keep up under the burdens we have to carry; and I do not know what we should do if we had only one wife apiece.

Apostle Apostate: Oh yea it was not a sexual thing, oh and I have read it is estimated that in the 1800’s the average was about 20% more Men to women.

JD 5:109, George Albert Smith, August 2, 1857

Men and women are as apt to be tenacious as the old lady was down in the country, where men have but one wife. She got quarrelling with her husband, and called him “cracklouse.” He told her that if she called him that any more, he would drown her. She repeated it again, and he took and put her in the river, then took her out, and she said, “Cracklouse!” So he put her in again, and held her down awhile, till she was almost gone. Then he took her out again, and she could hardly speak, but finally she made out to say, “C-r-a-c-k-l-o-u-s-e!” He was determined to use her up; so he put her down, and held her under till she was dead; but she came up with her finger nails clenched, or rather in the position required for cracking a louse. So, you see, she stuck to it to the last moment.  So it is with our Uncle Sam - our dear, infirm, old uncle; although he has got very rich, and has got several millions of money in the Treasury that he scarcely knows what to do with, he wants to expend some of it in bringing us to the standard of virtue and righteousness according to their notions. To this end he is sending out 2,500 troops, with ministers and schoolmasters to regulate things in Utah. Notwithstanding all this, he may possibly find some instances where people may be as determined and stern in their notions as the old lady was of whom I have been speaking.

JD 5:211, Brigham Young, September 6th, 1857

When brother Thomas thought of returning to the Church, the plurality of wives troubled him a good deal.  Look at him. Do you think it need to? I do not; for I doubt whether he could get one wife. Why it should have troubled an infirm old man like him is not for me to say. He read brother Orson Pratt’s work upon that subject, and discovered that the doctrine was beautiful, consistent, and exalting, and that the kingdom could not be perfect without it. Neither can it be perfect without a great many things that the people do not yet understand, though they will come in the own due time of the Lord.

Apostle Apostate: I feel sorry for those girls, they were probably 14 -15 yrs old!

JD 2:165, Joseph Smith, June 20, 1843But before I will bear this unhallowed persecution any longer - before I will be dragged away again, among my enemies for trial, I will spill the last drop of blood in my veins, and will see all my enemies IN HELL! To bear it any longer would be a sin, and I will not bear it any longer. Shall we bear it any longer? [One universal “No!” ran through all the vast assembly, like a loud peal of thunder.]

JD 2:183, Brigham Young, February 18, 1855As I have already stated, the President of the United States should be a perfect pattern for all the people to walk after; so also should the Vice-President, the members of the Cabinet, and of Congress, the Governors of States and Territories, and in fine, all the officers in the Government, be patterns for the people to imitate. But what do you find among the leaders of the people? Almost everything but an upright example.

JD 5:27, Heber C. Kimball, July 12, 1857Brother Brigham Young holds those keys; and brother Heber C. Kimball, and Daniel H. Wells, and others, hold those keys in connection with brother Brigham; and not one soul of you has any keys or power of salvation only what is in us; and that is one thing for you to learn. Those keys and powers were on Joseph Smith when he was in the flesh; and before he departed, he laid his hands on brother Brigham, and brother Heber, and others, and conferred the keys of salvation upon them; and we are here, in the last dispensation of the kingdom of God that pertains to every man and woman on earth, in hell, and in the spirit world; and the redemption of not one individual soul will be obtained upon any other principle.

JD 7:130, Erastus Snow, September 18, 1859

I think if those who keep the shop, who hang out the sign, who gather the poison by the pailful, and keep it to retail out by the dimes’ worth, want that occupation in time, they ought also to have it in eternity, and sell it to Pharaoh and his hosts in hell. I am ashamed of all such Elders. They excuse themselves by saying, “People will have the liquor; and if I don’t sell it, somebody else will; and I might as well have the money as anybody else.” They might as well say, There is a herd of cattle, horses, or mules on the range that will be stolen, and I might as well steal them as anybody else.  The principles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not countenance such conduct.

Apostle Apostate:  Drinking “the poison” was still very common in 1859, BY even had a permit to brew.   Perhaps he was upset that they did not have his label on tap!