[Footnote A: I Kings xxii, 7-14]
How different, too, from the spirit of Brigham Young who shortly after being chosen President of the church wrote:
As the Lord's will is my will all the time—as He dictates so will
I perform. If He don't guide the ship, we'll go down in the
whirlpool.[A]
[Footnote A: Letter to Orson Spencer, Jan. 23rd. 1848, Mill. Star,
Vol. X, p. 115.]
What a contrast also between his "I-pledge-myself-to-promulgate-no- doctrine-that-shall-not-be-approved-by-you" position of the son of the great prophet, and the position in which the Almighty God of heaven placed his father. The prophet Joseph's position may be learned from the following revelation given the very day the church was organized:
Behold there shall be a record kept among you, and in it thou shalt be called a seer, a translator, a prophet, an apostle of Jesus Christ, an elder of the church, through the will of God the Father and the grace of your Lord Jesus Christ. . . . Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me. For his words ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith; for by doing these things the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good and his name's glory.[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., sec. xxi.]
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so is this position given to the prophet Joseph by the Lord higher than that assumed by his son, who claims to be his successor, and yet stands pledged to promulgate no doctrine that shall not be approved by his associates! What manner of prophet is this?
Following Mr. Smith's acceptance of the church at the hands of Mr. Gurley, he was ordained to the office of President of the high priesthood and President of the church by William Marks, Zenas H. Gurley, Samuel Powers and W. W. Blair. Mr. Marks was president of the Nauvoo stake of Zion at the death of the prophet, and the other three gentlemen were "apostles" in the Reorganized church.[A]
[Footnote A: The Successor, (Josephite pamphlet,) pp. 10, II, also The Saint's Herald, Vol XXXIX, No. 24. p. 375.]