Origin of the 'Reorganized' Church and the Question of Succession

by Joseph Fielding Smith

LINEAGE.

We will now consider this "law of lineage." From section 86, they quote to us as follows:

"Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you with whom the Priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers, for ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God; therefore your life and the Priesthood hath remained and must needs remain through you and your lineage, until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began."

But they fail to quote the eleventh and succeeding verse:

"Therefore, blessed are ye if ye continue in my goodness, a light unto the gentiles, and through the Priesthood, a savior unto my people Israel. The Lord hath said it, Amen."

But to whom was this revelation given? Was it to the Prophet Joseph Smith alone? Is this a promise that his seed shall inherit the Priesthood? Certainly not. This revelation was given December 6, 1832, to the Elders of the Church. Therefore, when members of the "Reorganization" declare that Joseph Smith was one of these Elders and must be included with his posterity in the promise, we meet their argument with the counter statement, that the promise was also to Hyrum Smith, to Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, George A. Smith, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, and a large number of other Elders who never have been identified with the "Reorganization," nor have their children, and to them this promise is as sure as to the seed of any others. We must not lose sight of the fact that no man can lay claim to salvation, nor to the Priesthood of God, simply because he had a faithful father. The inference in this eleventh verse is, that if they are not faithful, then they will not receive the fulfilment of the promise. The posterity of Joseph Smith, like the posterity of any other Elder of Israel, will stand or fall on their own foundation which they have builded. And if the sons of Joseph Smith refuse to keep the commandments, the blessings will pass them by; but God's work will continue until the consummation of all things.

Again they quote from section 112 as follows:

"For verily I say unto you, the keys of the dispensation which ye have received, have come down from the fathers; and last of all being sent down from heaven unto you."

This revelation was given to Thomas B. Marsh and the Apostles in July, 1837; and while it is true that the Priesthood which these men held did come down from the fathers, it was not from father to son, from generation to generation, in the flesh. For the Priesthood, as we know, was conferred on the heads of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery by Peter, James and John. Joseph Smith's grandfather did not hold the Priesthood nor his fathers before him for generations upon generations. So we must look at this in a broader sense than our friends are willing that we should do. What is meant by the Priesthood coming down from the fathers, and that it must needs remain through the lineage of the Elders of the Church? It means simply this, that the Priesthood has come down from those who held it in ancient days and has been conferred upon men in this day according to promise, because they are of the seed of Joseph of the tribe of Ephraim. For the Lord promised to bless the children of Ephraim in the latter days with His power. And when the Church was established it was with the promise that it was never again to be destroyed; therefore, it must needs be that the Priesthood remain through the lineage of the Elders of the Church. But it will be through those who are faithful, and not the unfaithful sons, and there is not one word in these passages that declares that the Presidency of the High Priesthood descends from father to son, and that it is the right of the son of Joseph Smith to succeed his father. Not one word!

They also quote section 110; to the effect that the generations were to be blessed through the seed of Joseph Smith. That passage is from a vision received by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, April 3, 1836, when they received the keys of various dispensations, and is as follows:

"After this, Elias appeared, and committed the dispensation of the Gospel of Abraham, saying, that in us, and our seed, all generations after us should be blessed."

Therefore they say that unless the sons of the Prophet Joseph Smith were in the true Church and held the Priesthood, this promise would fail. Not so, however. As I have said, if those sons are not faithful the realization of the promise will pass them by until some of the seed of Joseph Smith will stand up to receive the blessing. Furthermore, this promise was not made solely to Joseph Smith. Oliver Cowdery received the same blessing; but he left the Church and went into forbidden paths, and the promised blessing was taken from him and given to another. So it will be with the sons of Joseph the Prophet; if they repent not they shall not receive the blessing. The Lord has declared:

"Who am I, saith the Lord, that have promised and have not fulfilled? I command and a man obeys not, I revoke and they receive not the blessing."

I stated that this blessing that was given to Oliver Cowdery was taken from him and given to another. In the Doctrine and Covenants, section 124:94-95, this is found:

"And from this time forth I appoint unto him (that is Hyrum Smith) that he may be a prophet, and a seer, and a revelator unto my Church, as well as my servant Joseph.

"That he may act in concert also with my servant Joseph, and that he shall receive counsel from my servant Joseph, who shall show unto him the keys whereby he may ask and receive, and be crowned with the same blessing, and glory, and honor, and Priesthood, and gifts of the Priesthood, that once were put upon him that was my servant Oliver Cowdery."

Here the blessings of Oliver Cowdery are transferred to the head of Hyrum Smith, and, therefore, we can say with equal emphasis that in the seed of Hyrum Smith, as well as in the seed of Joseph Smith, all generations after him shall be blessed. For the Lord hath spoken it! Now, the seed of Hyrum Smith are not connected with the "Reorganization." However, in the words of another let me say:

"That the descendants of Joseph Smith, and those of Hyrum Smith, stand before God as do all other men, assured of honor or dishonor, exaltation or degradation, according to their individual works."

We are also referred to verses 56-58 of section 124, which, perhaps, is a passage on which they lay the greatest stress of all. I shall read beginning with the fifty-sixth verse, and ask you to follow me closely and I will read it as clearly as I possibly can:

"And now I say unto you, as pertaining to my boarding house which I have commanded you to build for the boarding of strangers, let it be built unto my name, and let my name be named upon it, and let my servant Joseph, and his house have place therein, from generation to generation;

"For this anointing have I put upon his head, that his blessing shall also be put upon the head of his posterity after him.

"And as I said unto Abraham concerning the kindreds of the earth, even so I say unto my servant Joseph, in thee and in thy seed shall the kindred of the earth be blessed."

You see it says, "this anointing have I put upon his head." What anointing does this refer to? Notice that it says, "as pertaining to my boarding house * * let my servant Joseph, and his house have place therein, from generation to generation." That is the anointing the term "this" refers to. It is the place in that boarding house, and has nothing to do with the Presidency of the Church. I have already shown to you that in the seed of Hyrum Smith as well as in the seed of Joseph Smith the generations after them were to be blessed; there is nothing in this promise indicating that the posterity of either of them shall have right to the Presidency of the Church.

But they say this blessing does not refer to the boarding house in which the Prophet Joseph paid stock for himself and generations after him; but that it refers to the blessing of his progenitors; that is, to the birthright which was given to Joseph—the right of the primogeniture. And considering this passage Heman C. Smith, in his "True Succession," has the following to say:

"Here then is the blessing given to Joseph to occupy in this position, and to discharge these duties and responsibilities. But some one objects that this is not called a 'blessing;' but is it not a blessing? However, to silence this caviling, we refer the reader to the blessing of Joseph Smith as pronounced by his father on the occasion of the ordination of the High Council. February 19, 1834, Joseph in his history says:

"'My father Joseph then laid his hands upon my head and said, "Joseph, I lay my hands upon thy head and pronounce the blessings of thy progenitors upon thee, that thou mayest hold the keys of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, until the coming of the Lord. Amen.'" (True Succession, p. 44).

Then he goes on to say that this is the blessing referred to in the revelation I have just quoted from, and that it was the blessing of the primogeniture. The birthright of the first born. But Mr. Heman C. Smith is too hasty. Invariably in quoting this blessing given to the Prophet by his father and which is found in the Times and Seasons, volume 6, pages 994-5, they tactfully refrain from quoting what immediately follows. I will quote it from the Times and Seasons:

"He also laid his hands upon the head of his son Samuel and said, 'Samuel, I lay my hands upon thy head, and pronounce the blessing of thy progenitors upon thee, that thou mayest remain a Priest of the Most High God, and like Samuel of old, hear His voice, saying, Samuel, Samuel. Amen.'

"John Johnson also, laid his hands upon the head of his son Luke and said, 'My Father in heaven, I ask thee to bless this my son, according to the blessings of his forefathers, that he may be strengthened in his ministry, according to his holy calling. Amen.'"

This proves to us that the blessing of the progenitors was not necessarily the blessing of the first born; nor was it the right to the Presidency of the Church; for Samuel received a blessing similar to that of his brother Joseph, and neither of them received the birthright in these blessings. I shall now show you that it was Hyrum Smith who received the blessing of the first born—the birthright—and it was not the Presidency of the Church either, for they are not the same. However, before I show this I want to read a paragraph from the history published by the "Reorganized" Church. This is volume 2, and is "written and compiled" by Joseph Smith and his assistant, Heman C. Smith, their historian. On pages 462-3 they give the dying blessings pronounced by Patriarch Joseph Smith on the heads of his children. They introduce this account in the following words:

"In connection with the fact that Joseph's and William's children are identified with the Reorganization, while Hyrum's and Samuel's are in Utah, it is interesting to note that the children of the two former were to be blessed after them, while the children of the two latter are not mentioned.

"The account of this deathbed scene and the blessings, as given by Lucy Smith, the mother of the Prophet and widow of the Patriarch, is as follows:"

Here is the blessing of Hyrum Smith:

"My son Hyrum, I seal upon your head your patriarchal blessing, which I placed upon your head before, for that shall be verified. In addition to this, I now give you my dying blessing, You shall have a season of peace, so that you shall have sufficient rest to accomplish the work which God has given you to do. You shall be as firm as the pillars of heaven unto the end of your days. I NOW SEAL UPON YOUR HEAD THE PATRIARCHAL POWER, and you shall bless the people. This is my dying blessing upon your head in the name of Jesus. Amen."

There is the birthright!

And now Joseph's blessing:

"Joseph, my son, you are called to a high and holy calling. You are even called to do the work of the Lord. Hold out faithful and you shall be blessed and your children after you. You shall even live to finish your work. At this Joseph cried out, weeping, 'Oh! my father, shall I?' 'Yes,' said his father, 'you shall live to lay out the plan of all the work which God has given you to do. This is my dying blessing on your head, in the name of Jesus. I also confirm your former blessing upon your head; for it shall be fulfilled. Even so. Amen."

On first thought it is a little strange that the children of Joseph the Prophet are to be blessed after him, while that promise is not in the blessing of Hyrum Smith. However, let us examine the blessing given to Hyrum Smith a little more closely. The first sentence reads: "My son Hyrum, I seal upon your head your patriarchal blessing, which I placed upon your head before, for that shall be verified. And what followed was in addition to that former blessing so there was no need of repeating what that former blessing contained; but it was to be verified. I have before me that former blessing. This is a patriarchal blessing given by Patriarch Joseph Smith on the head of his son Hyrum, December 9, 1834, in Kirtland, Ohio, and is recorded in Patriarch Joseph Smith's book of blessings on pages 1 and 2, and is in the handwriting of Oliver Cowdery. Here is a portion of it:

"Hyrum, thou art my oldest son whom the Lord has spared unto me. * * * * Behold thou art Hyrum, the Lord hath called thee by that name, and by that name He has blessed thee. Thou hast borne the burden and the heat of the day, thou hast toiled hard and labored much for the good of thy father's family; thou hast been a stay many times to them, and by thy diligence they have often been sustained. Thou hast loved thy father's family with a pure love, and hast greatly desired their salvation. Thou hast always stood by thy father, and reached forth the helping hand to lift him up when he was in affliction, and though he has been out of the way, thou hast never forsaken him nor laughed him to scorn; for all these kindnesses the Lord my God will bless thee."

I promised that I would prove to you that when the Patriarch blessed Joseph, his son, with the blessing of his progenitors, that it was not the birthright, but that that blessing was reserved for Hyrum. Here is the proof, or at least a portion of it. The blessing continues:

"I now ask my Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ, to BLESS THEE with the SAME BLESSING with which Jacob blessed his son Joseph, for thou art his true descendant, and thy posterity shall be numbered with the house of Ephraim, and with them thou shalt stand up to crown the tribes of Israel; when they come shouting to Zion. * * * *

"The Lord will multiply his choice blessings upon thee and thy seed after thee and thou with them shall have an inheritance in Zion, and they shall possess it from generation to generation, and thy name shall never be blotted out from among the just, for the righteous shall rise up, and also thy children after thee, and say thy memory is just, that thou wert a just man and perfect in thy day."

We see that Hyrum was blessed with the blessing of Joseph, and we learn from the fifth chapter of I Chronicles that through the transgression of Reuben, Joseph received the birthright, and he got it from his father Jacob. In the second verse we read:

"For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's."

Before we leave this chapter in Chronicles let me state that if Joseph received the birthright, and if the birthright and the Presidency of the Church were inseparable, then it should have been through Joseph that the Messiah should have come; but we learn that Judah prevailed above his brethren in this particular.

So you see Hyrum was blessed with Joseph's blessing, and in his dying blessing his father declared that it should be verified! I maintain that the birthright therefore was not the blessing of his progenitors that was given to Joseph, neither to Samuel Smith.

Our friends have solemnly informed us there was "no blessing to the children of Hyrum Smith." I desire to call your attention to a few expressions in the blessing which I have just read. The promise is here given that the posterity of Hyrum Smith shall be numbered with the house of Ephraim and shall stand up with their father to crown the tribes of Israel when they come shouting to Zion. Now, how can they crown the tribes of Israel unless they hold the Priesthood and are faithful men? Again, the promise is made to them that they shall have an inheritance in Zion and possess it from generation to generation, and their names never were to be blotted out. Now, how could this be unless they were members of the Church holding the Priesthood? For the faithless and unbelieving and the apostate was not to be numbered in Zion, but his name was to be blotted out. I think you will agree with me that these gentlemen in their preface to these blessings spoke rather hastily of the children of Hyrum Smith.

I have here another blessing. This was given by the Prophet Joseph to his brother Hyrum December 18, 1833, at Kirtland, and is also recorded in the handwriting of Oliver Cowdery and is on file in the Historian's office, Salt Lake City. This blessing shows to us that the Prophet Joseph Smith recognized the fact that his brother Hyrum had received the birthright. He says:

"Blessed of the Lord is my brother Hyrum, for the integrity of his heart; he shall be girt about with strength, and faithfulness shall be the strength of his loins; from generation to generation he shall be a shaft in the hands of his God to execute judgment upon His enemies."

I will pause here. We are told that faithfulness shall be the strength of his loins. This is a figure. We all understand what it means. It means that the children of Hyrum Smith shall be faithful and from generation to generation shall be a shaft in the hands of God to execute His judgments. That is what it means!

But the blessing continues:

"And he shall be hid by the hand of the Lord, that none of his secret parts shall be discovered unto his enemies unto his hurt. * * * He shall stand in the tracks of his father, and be numbered among those who hold the right of Patriarchal Priesthood, even the Evangelical Priesthood and power shall be upon him. His children shall be many and his posterity numerous, and they shall rise up and call him blessed."

Here we have the Prophet acknowledging that his brother Hyrum should receive the birthright, for it was the right of Patriarchal Priesthood, even the Evangelical Priesthood that was conferred upon the first born, and not the office of President of the Church.

We learn from the Doctrine and Covenants that there are two offices in the Church that descend from father to son. One is that of the Bishopric, for upon Aaron and his sons the Lord conferred this Priesthood (section 68:16-18). The other is that of the Evangelist. This we learn in section 107, but our friends misconstrue this section and try to make it appear that it is the Melchizedek Priesthood that is meant.^[2]

I will read it and you may judge for yourselves:

"It is the duty of the Twelve, in all large branches of the Church to ordain Evangelical ministers, as they shall be designated unto them by revelation.

"The order of this Priesthood was confirmed to be handed down from father to son, and rightly belongs to the literal descendants of the chosen seed, to whom the promises were made.

"This order was instituted in the days of Adam, and came down by lineage in the following manner," etc.

Now, Hyrum Smith obtained this birthright from his father. The Prophet Joseph Smith declared in his blessing upon the head of his brother Hyrum that it was his right to walk in the footsteps of his father. Let's see what the Lord says about this: In section 124, verse 91, we read:

"And again, verily I say unto you, let my servant William (Law) be appointed, ordained, and anointed, as a counselor unto my servant Joseph in the room of my servant Hyrum, that my servant Hyrum may take the office of Priesthood and Patriarch, which was appointed unto him by his father, by blessing and also BY RIGHT!"

The fact that the Lord has made two exceptions in the order of the Priesthood, and has so plainly indicated them proves beyond the need of controversy that the other offices do not so descend, for if they did, the Lord would not make special mention of these two. Another thing, if the first born son was to receive the office of Patriarch, that is sufficient proof that the Presidency of the High Priesthood did not so descend, for if it did one man must of necessity hold them both. Again we learn that this evangelical order came down from father to son and was instituted in the days of Adam. Let us see if the office of president has come down in that manner.

Reorganites sometimes quote to us the following from section 81, but for the life of me I do not understand why, since it destroys their position:

"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.

"Unto whom I have given the keys of the kingdom, which belongeth always unto the Presidency of the High Priesthood."

If the keys of the kingdom belongeth always to the Presidency of the High Priesthood, then Peter was President of the High Priesthood for the Lord conferred upon him the keys of the kingdom (Matt. 16:19), and he conferred them upon Joseph Smith (Doc. & Cov. 27 and 128 sections) even when we go back in ancient Israel we find Moses of the tribe of Levi ordaining Joshua the son of Nun as his successor,^[3] and not his own son; Joseph, son of Jacob, receiving the birthright, but his brother Levi receiving the Priesthood in Israel, and Judah the promise of the Messiah. Even in Book of Mormon times, Nephi was the younger brother of Sam, a faithful man, and Nephi ordained his brother Jacob, not his son. Alma who became the High Priest of the Nephite church was not a son of Mosiah who by right of birth became the king of the people. And thus we might go on. It is a peculiar law indeed when the Lord ignores it almost if not quite every time, and we may conclude that it is a man-made doctrine concocted to bolster up the claim of an aspiring set of men, not inspired of the Lord.