Re: Breaking Free (Off Topic)

2009-6-19 00:52:00

To Larry Kennon:

The prediction you mention was attributed to John Taylor, third president of the church and good friend of Joseph Smith, who was with him when he was assassinated.

Lorin C. Wooley, who was a body guard for John Taylor recalled an address he gave after receiving a manifestation of the Christ and Joseph Smith. Brother Wooley said: "He (John Taylor) said that in the time of the seventh president of this church, the Church would go into bondage both temporally and spiritually and that in that day the one mighty and strong spoken of in the eighty-fifth section of the Doctrine and Covenants would come." ("A Leaf In Review, Page 235)

This reference is rejected as spurious by the church but widely accepted by fundamentalists.

Joseph did make several statements showing concern about future leaders in the church. Here is one of the most powerful quotes in my book "Eternal Lives":

"You have faithfully performed your duty, in preserving the lives of the people as well as mine. You shall be called the first Elders of this church....And your mission will be to the nations of the earth to preach the gospel, and you will gather many people to the fastness of the Rocky Mountains, and many of those who will come in under your ministry because of their learning will seek for position and they will gain eminence over you, and you will walk in low places unnoticed. Yet you will know all that transpires in your midst. Those who are your friends are my friends AND I PROMISE YOU WHEN I COME AGAIN I WILL LEAD YOU FORTH, so that where I am you shall be with me." (Life Story Of Wandles Mace, By Himself; Pages 131-132)