Succession Question for Theology/History Gurus

[tubaloth]

(7-1) The Lord Has Established the Order of Succession

[lucidluck]

This still leaves some questions as to the keys, but answers the hypothetical "what if the twelve" scenario.

"Suppose that Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G Williams
had been taken away or had apostatized, as one of them did
soon after the revelation I have referred to was given, and
there had been only Joseph Smith left of the First Presidency,
would he alone have had authority to set in order
the Kingdom of God on the earth? Yes. Again Suppose
that eleven of the Twelve had been taken away by the
power of the Adversary, that one Apostle has the same
power that Joseph had, and could preach, baptize, and set
in order the whole Kingdom of God upon the earth, as
much so as the Twelve, were they all together. Again * If
in the providence of God he should permit the enemy to
destroy these two first Quorums, and then destroy the
Quorum of the Seventy, all but one man, what is his po\ver?
It would be to go and preach, baptize, confirm, lay on
hands, ordain, set in order, build up, and establish the whole
Kingdom of God as it is now Suppose the enemy had
power to destroy all but one of the High Priests from the
face of the earth, what would that one possess in the power
of his Priesthood? He would have power and authority to
go and preach, baptize, confirm, ordain, and set in order the
Kingdom of God in all its perfection of the earth Could he
do this without revelation? No Could the Seventies? No.
Could the Twelve? No And we ask, could Joseph Smith
or the First Presidency do this without revelation?
N*o Not one of them could do such a work without revelation
direct from God I can go still further Whoever is
ordained to the office of an Elder to a certain degree possesses
the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood, and suppose
only one Elder should be left on the earth, could he go and
set in order the Kingdom of God ? Yes, by revelation" Brigham Young JD 9 88

[Hemidakota]

The answer is already been provided in the article.

[Mason]

Originally Posted by Just_A_Guy

...what was the purpose of the 1843/1844 meeting between Joseph and the 12 where he (apparently) specifically transferred keys to them that they (presumably) had not already held?

Council of Fifty. Of which Alma Dayer LeBaron was the last living member.

[Just_A_Guy]

Could you elucidate, Mason?

Wikipedia says that Alma Dayer LeBaron wasn't born until 1886; and I'm not aware that the meeting to which I refer included anyone besides the Q of 12.

[Elphaba]

Originally Posted by deseretgov

Well if you study the Succession Crisis you can see that it really wasn't clear right after Joseph Smith died. Most of the church followed James Strang rather than Brigham Young.

This is not accurate. The majority of Saints followed Brigham to Utah.

Strang's schism of the Church did grow into a significant following, but after his murder, it dissipated. However, there are still members of that schism today.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Elphaba

[Mason]

Originally Posted by Just_A_Guy

Could you elucidate, Mason?

Wikipedia says that Alma Dayer LeBaron wasn't born until 1886; and I'm not aware that the meeting to which I refer included anyone besides the Q of 12.

My apologies. I meant Benjamin F. Johnson, not his grandson Alma LeBaron.

[Snow]

Originally there was no clear understanding how succession should work. There were various possibilities and claims on succession: Hyrum, who was the Patriarch and Assistant President likely would have taken over if he was not killed. Since both Joseph and Hyrum were gone, who would take charge was a mystery. Potential candidates were:

Samuel Smith
Joseph Smith III
Sidney Rigdon
William Marks, President of the Nauvoo High Council
Brigham Young as the President of the Twelve
The Quorum of the Anointed
The Council of Fifty
etc.

Had Brigham Young not been the President of the Twelve and the dominant personality in the Church at the time, it is quite possible that someone else, other than the presiding apostle would have succeed Joseph.

When Brigham Young died, clear succession still had not been figured out. John Taylor didn't become president until 3 years after Brigham Young's death.

[Mason]

Originally Posted by Snow

Originally there was no clear understanding how succession should work. There were various possibilities and claims on succession: Hyrum, who was the Patriarch and Assistant President likely would have taken over if he was not killed. Since both Joseph and Hyrum were gone, who would take charge was a mystery. Potential candidates were:

Samuel Smith
Joseph Smith III
Sidney Rigdon
William Marks, President of the Nauvoo High Council
Brigham Young as the President of the Twelve
The Quorum of the Anointed
The Council of Fifty
etc.

Had Brigham Young not been the President of the Twelve and the dominant personality in the Church at the time, it is quite possible that someone else, other than the presiding apostle would have succeed Joseph.

When Brigham Young died, clear succession still had not been figured out. John Taylor didn't become president until 3 years after Brigham Young's death.

Some theorize that is the very reason why the Patriarch of the Church was dissolved in the late 70's; To tie up old loose ends, especially regarding lineal descendants of the Smith family.

[Snow]

Originally Posted by Mason

Some theorize that is the very reason why the Patriarch of the Church was dissolved in the late 70's; To tie up old loose ends, especially regarding lineal descendants of the Smith family.

I didn't know that.

Thanks