[Footnote B: The Saints' Herald, Vol. XXXIX, p. 375.]
It has already been stated how seven Josephite apostles were called and ordained in our sketch of the rise of the Josephite church. Seven men were "called" to form a majority of the quorum of the twelve, by a "revelation" through H. H. Deam; but Messrs. Rogers and Blair were not in that number, hence they must have been "called" subsequently. But no matter when they were "called," if they held any apostolic authority, they held it by virtue of some ordination received at the hands of some one or more of the seven apostles, chosen through Mr. Deam's "revelation." Now, I affirm that among all those seven men who were "called" to form the majority of the quorum of the twelve, in the "Reorganization" not one of them held the apostleship; that they could not give what they did not possess; that therefore neither the seven men called to be apostles, in April, 1853, received the apostleship, nor any whom they subsequently ordained.
Further on I shall show that the church of Christ was not disorganized at the death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, nor at any other time since it was organized by the commandment of God, to Joseph the prophet, in 1830; and therefore, this "Reorganization" which began its existence in 1852-3 must have been a spurious institution, and, therefore, incapable of bestowing legitimate authority upon anyone.
The methods of argument by which the claims of the "Reorganization" are sustained must be noticed, for they are as erroneous as they are misleading. After the April conference of the "Reorganization" in 1853, a pamphlet was issued entitled "A word of consolation to the scattered Saints," in which a justification of the proceedings of said conference is attempted. In that pamphlet it is said:
In justification of the course then taken, and the principles involved on the question of authority, we have ever courted, and still court, investigation in the rigid character of the facts in the first organization.[A] Here they are: Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were ordained to the lesser priesthood by an angel; then by their authority, and a commandment, they on the 6th day of April, ordained each other Elders, and the eldership ordained high priests and apostles, and this high priesthood, ordained, by commandment, the president of the high priesthood, the highest office in the Church; so that the alleged lesser, ordaining the greater is common to both the first organization and the Reorganization alike. The same class of facts justify both, or condemn both.[B]
[Footnote A: Meaning the organization on the 6th of April, 1830.]
[Footnote B: Life of Joseph the Prophet, Josephite edition, p. 601.]
There is one important fact in the history of the organization of the church in 1830, which the authors of the above quoted pamphlet have overlooked. It is a fact, too, which destroys all likeness between the organization of the church and its alleged reorganization, and all the fine-spun theories about the lesser ordaining the greater. That overlooked fact is that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery held the apostleship on the 6th of April, 1830, and by its power, and not by the power of the Aaronic priesthood—as alleged by the Josephite writers—organized the church of Christ. In proof of this I submit the following:
When Joseph and Oliver were ordained to the Aaronic priesthood by John the Baptist, May 15th, 1829, they were informed by John that he operated under the direction of the apostles Peter, James and John, who held the keys of the Melchisedek priesthood, which, in due time, the heavenly messenger said, would be conferred upon them.[A] Here then is a promise made to them of the Melchisedek priesthood.
[Footnote A: Hist. Joseph Smith, Mill. Star, Vol. XIV, p. 15, supplement.]