LDS Doctrine and Covenants Critique
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The Doctrine and Covenants
SECTION 106
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at
Kirtland, Ohio, November 25, 1834. This revelation is directed to
Warren A. Cowdery, an older brother of Oliver Cowdery.
1–3, Warren A. Cowdery is called as a local presiding officer; 4–5, The
Second Coming will not overtake the children of light as a thief; 6–8,
Great blessings follow faithful service in the Church.
1 It is my will that my servant Warren A. Cowdery should be appointed
and ordained a presiding high priest over my church, in the land of
Freedom and the regions round about;
Note: The New Covenant abolished the priesthood.
Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a
High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the
Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true
tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. For every high priest
is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore, it is
necessary that this One also have something to offer. For if He were on
earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the
gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the
heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to
make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things
according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” But now He has
obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of
a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if
that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been
sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold,
the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to
the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them
by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not
continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD. For
this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write
them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My
people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother,
saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them
to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember
no more.” In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first
obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to
vanish away. Hebrews 8
2 And should preach my everlasting gospel, and lift up his voice and
warn the people, not only in his own place, but in the adjoining
counties;
Note: The Christian Gospel is Jesus Christ.
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to
you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you
are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless
you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I
also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third
day according to the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
3 And devote his whole time to this high and holy calling, which I now
give unto him, seeking diligently the kingdom of heaven and its
righteousness, and all things necessary shall be added thereunto; for
the laborer is worthy of his hire.
Note: Warren Cowdery was eventually slandered after he left the church.
This poor pitiful beggar came to Kirtland a few years since with a
large family, nearly naked and destitute. It was really painful to see
this pious doctor's (for such he professed to be) rags flying when he
walked the streets. He was taken in by us in this pitiful condition and
we put him into the printing office and gave him enormous wages, not
because he could earn it, or because we needed his service, but merely
out of pity. We knew the man's incompetency all the time and his
ignorance and inability to fill any place in the literary world with
credit to himself or to his employers. But notwithstanding all this,
out of pure compassion, we gave him a place and afterwards hired him to
edit the paper in that place and gave him double as much as he could
have gotten anywhere else. The subscribers, many at least, complained
to us of his inability to edit the paper and there was much
dissatisfaction about it, but still we retained him in our employ,
merely that he might not have to be supported as a pauper.
4 And again, verily I say unto you, the coming of the Lord draweth
nigh, and it overtaketh the world as a thief in the night— 5 Therefore,
gird up your loins, that you may be the children of light, and that day
shall not overtake you as a thief.
Note: The Holy Bible was plagiarized.
Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But
know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the
thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be
broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming
at an hour you do not expect. Matthew 24:42-44
6 And again, verily I say unto you, there was joy in heaven when my
servant Warren bowed to my scepter, and separated himself from the
crafts of men; 7 Therefore, blessed is my servant Warren, for I will
have mercy on him; and, notwithstanding the vanity of his heart, I will
lift him up inasmuch as he will humble himself before me. 8 And I will
give him grace and assurance wherewith he may stand; and if he continue
to be a faithful witness and a light unto the church I have prepared a
crown for him in the mansions of my Father. Even so. Amen.
Note: The above and following is from the LDS publication Elders Journal, August 1838.
By our means, he got himself and family decently clothed and got
supplied with all the comforts of life, and it was nothing more nor
less than supporting himself and family as paupers, for his services
were actually not worth one cent to us, but on the contrary, was an
injury. The owners of the establishment could have done all the work
which he did themselves, just as well without him as with him. In
reality, it was a piece of pauperism. But now, reader, mark the sequel.
It is a fact of public notoriety that as soon as he found himself and
family in possession of decent apparel, he began to use all his
influence to our injury, both in his savings and doings. We have often
heard it remarked by slave holders that you should not make a negro
equal with you or he would try to walk over you. We have found the
saying verified in this pious doctor, for truly this niggardly spirit
manifested itself in all its meanness. Even in his writings (and they
were very mean at best) he threw out foul insinuations, which no man
who had one particle of noble feeling would have condescended to. But
such was the conduct of this master of meanness.