Revelation, 6 April 1830 [D&C 21]
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Source Note
Revelation, , Seneca Co., NY, to JS and , 6 Apr. 1830. Featured version, titled “17th. Commandment AD 1829 Ap[r]il 6 1830,” copied [ca. Mar. 1831] in Revelation Book 1, pp. 28–29; handwriting of ; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for Revelation Book 1.
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Historical Introduction
JS dictated this revelation at the home of in , New York, after the meeting at which the was organized. Such a meeting had been anticipated by JS and his followers for over a year, in part because JS’s revelations had foretold the establishment of a church. A March 1829 revelation to , for example, prophesied that a church would be established after three witnesses testified that they had seen the and after the words found on the plates were “sent forth.” Another JS revelation in spring 1829 confirmed that a church would be established, even as the texts translated from the gold plates prompted JS and to consider questions foundational to a church organization and described how Christ established his church in ancient America. By June, a revelation commanded Cowdery to “build up my church,” and he subsequently drafted a text, which he titled “A commandment from God unto Oliver how he should build up his Church & the manner thereof.” The document read as though it was intended for immediate implementation.JS, however, later reported that he was directed to delay the establishment of the Church of Christ. His history explained that a revelation “pointed out to us the precise day upon which, according to his will and commandment, we should proceed to organize his Church once again, here upon the earth.” Apparently once a separate June 1829 text, it was incorporated as part of “Articles and Covenants,” a foundational document outlining the governing beliefs, principles, and offices of the church. JS’s history described another divine communication, received that June at the home of in , New York, when the “word of the Lord” instructed JS and to wait to each other “untill, such times, as it should be practicable” to meet with all the believers who would vote “to accept us as spiritual teachers, or not.” JS and Cowdery were instructed that when the time came they should “then call out such men as the Spirit should dictate, and ordain them, and then attend to the laying on of hands for the .”Describing the fulfillment of those instructions, JS’s history explained that JS and his associates “met together for that purpose, at the house of . . . ” on 6 April 1830. Those who attended the meeting, the history further explained, “consented by an unanimous vote. I then laid my hands upon and ordained him an Elder . . . after which he ordained me also to the office of an Elder of said Church.” They then partook of the bread and wine and “then laid . . . hands on each individual member of the Church present that they might receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and be confirmed members of the Church of Christ.” Then, while the group was “yet together,” JS dictated the revelation featured below.It began, “Behold there Shall a Record be kept among you,” and affirmed that in that record JS would be known as a “ & Translater & Prop[h]et an of Jesus Christ an Elder of the Church.” The revelation instructed “ mine Apostle” to ordain JS. , who was at the meeting, wrote that “Joseph received a revelation that he should be the leader; that he should be ordained by Oliver Cowdery as ‘Prophet Seer and Revelator’ to the church, and that the church should receive his words as if from God’s own mouth.” When Cowdery was later asked, “To what did you ordain Joseph on the 6th of April, 1830?” he answered, “I ordained him to be a Prophet, Seer, &c., just as the revelation says.”Eyewitness accounts affirm the date and place this document was dictated; nevertheless, early documents indicate some confusion about both. In the heading to the text itself in Revelation Book 1, the earliest extant copy, and in the table of contents to that volume, dated the revelation to 1829. Later, that date was crossed out multiple times by , who subsequently inserted “April 1830,” after which John Whitmer inserted the number “6” to specify the date as 6 April. Whitmer may have originally written “1829” because the revelation was situated in Revelation Book 1 next to a revelation that does date from 1829. In any case, the text of the revelation supports Cowdery’s redaction by referring to the establishment of the church in the past tense.Even though this, the earliest extant version of the revelation, gives , New York, as the place of dictation, the earliest printed version changed the location to . The mistake seems to have been the result of confusion on the part of typesetter and printer in , Missouri, as he prepared this and other revelations for publication in the 1833 Book of Commandments. Phelps, who joined the church in June 1831 and therefore had no firsthand knowledge of the date or place of organization, added “6” to five short April 1830 revelations from Manchester and then followed them with this 6 April text—but he ignored the statement “given at Fayette Seneca County” on the manuscript and instead inserted Manchester to match the others for which he had supplied the same date. Although Phelps and others elsewhere repeated that the church was organized in Manchester, the earliest manuscript and later eyewitness accounts, as well as early financial and legal documents, confirm the correct location as Fayette Township.
Footnotes
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1
JS History, vol. A-1, 37; see also Anderson, “Who Were the Six?,” 44–45; and Porter, “Study of the Origins,” 374–386, appendix H.
Anderson, Richard Lloyd. “Who Were the Six Who Organized the Church on 6 April 1830?” Ensign, June 1980, 44–45.
Porter, Larry C. “A Study of the Origins of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the States of New York and Pennsylvania, 1816–1831.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1971. Also available as A Study of the Origins of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the States of New York and Pennsylvania, 1816–1831, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).
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2
See Revelation, Mar. 1829 [D&C 5:11–20] .
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3
Revelation, Spring 1829 [D&C 10:53].
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4
See, for example, Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 191–194, 574–576 [Mosiah 18; Moroni 2–6]; see also Oliver Cowdery, Norton, OH, to William W. Phelps, 7 Sept. 1834, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:15.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
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5
Revelation, June 1829–B [D&C 18:5]; “Articles of the Church of Christ,” June 1829.
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6
JS History, vol. A-1, 29; see also Historical Introduction to Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20].
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7
JS History, vol. A-1, 27.
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8
JS History, vol. A-1, 37. David Whitmer, one of the few attendees who wrote about the event, stated: “We attended to our business of organizing, according to the laws of the land, the church acknowledging us six elders as their ministers; besides, a few who had recently been baptized and not confirmed were confirmed on that day; some blessings were pronounced, and we partook of the Lord’s supper.” (Whitmer, Address to All Believers in Christ, 33.)
Whitmer, David. An Address to All Believers in Christ. Richmond, MO: By the author, 1887.
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9
JS History, vol. A-1, 37.
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10
Whitmer, Address to All Believers in Christ, 33.
Whitmer, David. An Address to All Believers in Christ. Richmond, MO: By the author, 1887.
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11
[William E. McLellin], “The Successor of Joseph the Seer,” Ensign of Liberty, Dec. 1847, 42.
Ensign of Liberty. Kirtland, OH. Mar. 1847–Aug. 1849.
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12
David Whitmer explained, “The reason why we met on that day was . . . that we should organize according to the laws of the land. On this account we met at my father’s house in Fayette, N. Y., on April 6, 1830.” Whitmer also referred to this revelation being given at that occasion. (Whitmer, Address to All Believers in Christ, 33; see also An Act to Provide for the Incorporation of Religious Societies [5 Apr. 1813], Laws of the State of New-York [1813], vol. 2, p. 214, sec. 3; see also JS History, vol. A-1, 37.)
Whitmer, David. An Address to All Believers in Christ. Richmond, MO: By the author, 1887.
Laws of the State of New-York, Revised and Passed at the Thirty-Sixth Session of the Legislature, With Marginal Notes and References. 2 Vols. Albany: H. C. Southwick and Company, 1813.
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14
For the historical background of the Book of Commandments, see its historical introduction.
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15
See Revelation Book 1, pp. 28–30; and Revelations, 6 Apr. 1830 and Apr. 1830–A through E, in Book of Commandments, 17–22 [D&C 21, 23].
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16
William W. Phelps, for example, stated in The Evening and the Morning Star that the church was established in Manchester.a A pamphlet by Orson Pratt published in 1840 likewise named Manchester, but in the 1848 edition of the pamphlet, Pratt changed the establishment location from Manchester to Fayette.b William E. McLellin is another who believed the organizational meeting took place in Manchester.c For other accounts pointing to a Manchester establishment, see JS, “Church History,” Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, 3:708; Smith, William Smith on Mormonism, 14; William H. Kelley, Interview of Benjamin Saunders, ca. Sept. 1884, in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 2:138–139; and “C. R. Stafford,” Naked Truths about Mormonism (Oakland, CA), Jan. 1888, 3.
(a“Prospects of the Church,” The Evening and the Morning Star, 1 Mar. 1833, [4]; see also “Communicated,” The Evening and the Morning Star, May 1834, 160. bPratt, Interesting Account, 23–24; Pratt, Remarkable Visions, 12. c[William E. McLellin], Editorial, Ensign of Liberty, Mar. 1847, 2.)The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
Pratt, Orson. Remarkable Visions. By Orson Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Liverpool: R. James, 1848.
Ensign of Liberty. Kirtland, OH. Mar. 1847–Aug. 1849.
Smith, William. William Smith on Mormonism. This Book Contains a True Account of the Origin of the Book of Mormon. A Sketch of the History, Experience, and Ministry of Elder William Smith. . . . Lamoni, IA: Herald Steam Book and Job Office, 1883.
Vogel, Dan, ed. Early Mormon Documents. 5 vols. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996–2003.
Naked Truths about Mormonism: Also a Journal for Important, Newly Apprehended Truths, and Miscellany. Oakland, CA. Jan. and Apr. 1888.
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17
The minutes of a meeting held 3 May 1834, approving a change in the name of the church, include an attestation that the church was originally organized 6 April 1830 in Fayette. JS and Oliver Cowdery both signed the minutes. The deed of purchase for church lands in Ohio likewise identified Fayette and was signed by Oliver Cowdery. (“Communicated,” The Evening and the Morning Star, May 1834, 160; Geauga Co., OH, Deed Records, 1795–1921, vol. 18, pp. 478–479, 5 May 1834, microfilm 20,237, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
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