LDS Doctrine and Covenants Critique
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The Doctrine and Covenants
SECTION 81
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at
Hiram, Ohio, March 15, 1832. Frederick G. Williams is called to be a
high priest and a counselor in the Presidency of the High Priesthood.
The historical records show that when this revelation was received in
March 1832, it called Jesse Gause to the office of counselor to Joseph
Smith in the Presidency. However, when he failed to continue in a
manner consistent with this appointment, the call was subsequently
transferred to Frederick G. Williams. The revelation (dated March 1832)
should be regarded as a step toward the formal organization of the
First Presidency, specifically calling for the office of counselor in
that body and explaining the dignity of the appointment. Brother Gause
served for a time but was excommunicated from the Church in December
1832. Brother Williams was ordained to the specified office on March
18, 1833.
1–2, The keys of the kingdom are always held by the First Presidency;
3–7, If Frederick G. Williams is faithful in his ministry, he will have
eternal life.
1 Verily, verily, I say unto you my servant Frederick G. Williams:
Listen to the voice of him who speaketh, to the word of the Lord your
God, and hearken to the calling wherewith you are called, even to be a
high priest in my church, and a counselor unto my servant Joseph Smith,
Jun.;
Note: Frederick Williams realized Joseph Smith was a fraud but loved power.
On July 20, 1832, Williams was appointed scribe to Joseph Smith and
joined the church's First Presidency the next year. He was a member of
the committee appointed to publish the Doctrine and Covenants, a
portion of the church's canon, as well as the church's first hymnal
from 1835, compiled by Smith's wife, Emma, under the auspices of F.G.
Williams & Co. In 1837, Williams was elected a justice of the peace
in Kirtland, appointed an officer in the Kirtland Safety Society,
released from the First Presidency, and moved to Far West, Caldwell,
County, Missouri. Although there is no record of an excommunication,
Williams was rebaptized in August 1838. He was excommunicated in
absentia in March 1839 by proceedings in Nauvoo, Illinois, while Joseph
Smith was in Liberty Jail, Missouri. Williams was at Liberty Jail to
see Joseph Smith about the time he was excommunicated. Williams was
restored to fellowship at a church conference presided over by Smith in
April 1840. Williams died of a pulmonary hemorrhage at Quincy, Illinois
in October 1842.
2 Unto whom I have given the keys of the kingdom, which belong always unto the Presidency of the High Priesthood:
Note: The New Covenant eliminated the office of high 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. Hebrews
8:1-6
3 Therefore, verily I acknowledge him and will bless him, and also
thee, inasmuch as thou art faithful in counsel, in the office which I
have appointed unto you, in prayer always, vocally and in thy heart, in
public and in private, also in thy ministry in proclaiming the gospel
in the land of the living, and among thy brethren.
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
4 And in doing these things thou wilt do the greatest good unto thy
fellow beings, and wilt promote the glory of him who is your Lord.
Note: Believers will glory in God through Jesus Christ.
Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the
preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery
kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the
prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the
commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith— to God,
alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Romans 16:25-27
5 Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed
unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and
strengthen the feeble knees. 6 And if thou art faithful unto the end
thou shalt have a crown of immortality, and eternal life in the
mansions which I have prepared in the house of my Father. 7 Behold, and
lo, these are the words of Alpha and Omega, even Jesus Christ. Amen.
Note: Jesus Christ did not speak to Frederick Williams or Joseph Smith.
I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom
and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos
for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the
Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a
trumpet, saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the
Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven
churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to
Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” Then I turned
to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven
golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like
the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded
about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like
wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet
were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the
sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His
mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the
sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as
dead. Revelation 1:9-17