Wilford Woodruff Revelation Recorded In His Personal Journal - Flagstaff Az

[MDalby]

Does anyone know the Wilford Woodruff revelation that is being referenced in this article? Link?

http://www.deseretnews.com/top/152/2/John-Young-cabin-Flagstaff-Ariz-10-lesser-known-LDS-Church-sites-.html

[Tacenda]

I'm not sure if this has something to do with the revelation.

Excerpt from LDS.org...

http://www.lds.org/ensign/1993/07/wilford-woodruff-a-man-of-record

Something of President Woodruff’s tenacity is seen in an incident that occurred in 1879 while he was living in a remote area of Arizona, 165 miles from a post office. After a few days’ absence from home, he returned to find forty-one letters. Persuading the mail carrier to wait for him to answer his correspondence, he embarked on a writing marathon during which he produced thirty-six letters in three days and nights of almost uninterrupted writing. He said that he wrote “until my hand and arm became numb and brain ceased to act,” and he was forced to stay in bed in great pain for four days with what he called “bilious cramps.”⁶

Edited July 26, 2013 by Tacenda

[Nevo]

.

Edited October 1, 2014 by Nevo

[cinepro]

That revelation appears to be given to Wilford Woodruff when John Taylor was leading the Church as President of the Q12 (he wouldn't organize the First Presidency and become President of the Church until October of 1880).

That is really, really weird. How could a member of the Q12 receive a revelation directed to an apostle that is his senior?

[theplains]

That is really, really weird. How could a member of the Q12 receive a revelation directed to an apostle that is his senior?

According to page 129 of Gospel Principles, "We may receive revelations from God for

ourselves and our own callings, but never for the Church or its leaders. It is contrary to

the order of heaven for a person to receive revelation for someone over whom he or

she does not preside".

Regards,

Jim

[inquiringmind]

According to page 129 of Gospel Principles, "We may receive revelations from God for

ourselves and our own callings, but never for the Church or its leaders. It is contrary to

the order of heaven for a person to receive revelation for someone over whom he or

she does not preside".

Regards,

Jim

Does it say anything like that in D&C?

 

If it does, I think that would make it official doctrine, but than where did the revelation to Wilford Woodruff come from?

 

Is it really in his diary?

 

In his handwriting?

 

Could it be a forgery?

 

Could Susan Staker have just made it up?

[inquiringmind]

I was thinking of D&C 28.

 

Could the WW diary entry be made up or forged?

 

Who is Susan Staker?

 

Would she have access to WW's diary?

 

Can anyone look up what he wrote on Jan, 26, 1880?

[Nevo]

.

Edited October 1, 2014 by Nevo

[David T]

No, Woodruff's "Wilderness Revelation" wasn't forged by Susan Staker. Staker's book is an abridgement of the 5,400-page, nine-volume, typescript edition of Wilford Woodruff's journals published between 1983 and 1985 by Signature Books. Woodruff's "Wilderness Revelation" is recorded in volume 7, pp. 615–621. According to Woodruff, he also placed a copy of the revelation with the First Presidency. I only cited Staker's book because it is more readily available than the complete nine-volume version of Woodruff's journal, which is out of print.

 

That would be an awesome project for the Church Historians Press to make available following their completion of the Joseph Smith Papers Project! 

[theplains]

a] Does it say anything like that in D&C?

 

b] Is it really in his diary?  In his handwriting? Could it be a forgery?

 

c] Could Susan Staker have just made it up?

 

Regarding (a), no. There is no such thing written in the D&C that I could find. The

Gospel Principles manual did not provide the source for what I quoted from it.

 

Regarding (b), I don't know.  See cinepro's post.

 

Regarding ©. I don't know who she is.

 

Thanks,

Jim

[Calm]

The source in the older GP where they used stuff besides scripture stated:

 

"see Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3:203–4"

 

D&C 28 also teaches that only the prophet can receive revelation for the whole church:

 

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/28?lang=eng

 

D&C 46:22 and https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/1-cor/14.39?lang=eng#38 allow for individual prophecy/revelation.

[Calm]

That revelation appears to be given to Wilford Woodruff when John Taylor was leading the Church as President of the Q12 (he wouldn't organize the First Presidency and become President of the Church until October of 1880).

That is really, really weird. How could a member of the Q12 receive a revelation directed to an apostle that is his senior?

Perhaps the Lord felt the comments meant for the Apostles would be better received coming from one of their own?  Or perhaps this was a hint to John Taylor to establish the First Presidency which it was in the October of that year....as in perhaps JT asking himself why he didn't receive it as the prophet of the Church only to remember that as Head of the 12, he was prophet, but not the only one.

 

Would the other apostles have more or less equal authority for such things, though I would assume seniority has some affect on perceived authority?

Edited August 31, 2013 by calmoriah

[Calm]

Woodruff's biographer, Thomas G. Alexander, provides a brief discussion of the revelation here.

 

The link provides us with this:

 

 

 

January 26, 1880, found him at a sheepherders’ camp in the wilderness of the San Francisco Mountains east of Little Colorado. Surrounded by the harsh solitude of a high-country winter, he spent the day reading letters from relatives and friends and ruminating over a series of anti-Mormon lectures. He awoke “about Midnight,” full of the Spirit of the Lord, and received a revelation that he committed to paper the next day.

Several themes predominated in the wilderness revelation. The message emphasized the imminence of the apocalypse and Christ’s Second Coming, the judgments of God upon the nation, the divinity of plural marriage, the need for Saints to remain pure and blameless, the power of the Lord in protecting the Saints in building their temples, and the Lord’s approval of the labors of the Twelve.

Linking the imminent apocalypse to the Saints’ persecutors, the message identified those targeted for the Lord’s wrath. In a comprehensive list, the text named the president of the United States; members of the Supreme Court, the cabinet, the Senate and the House, the governors of several states and territories, judges, officials, and others. The revelation said the Lord would pour out his judgment upon “that Nation or House or people, who seek to hinder my People from obeying the Patriarchal Law of Abraham which leadeth to a Celestial Glory which has been revealed unto my Saints through the mouth of my servant Joseph.” Moreover, the revelation instructed Woodruff to call upon the Twelve to offer a testimony in innocence against those who had persecuted the Saints. The message called upon the Apostles to cleanse their feet with pure water as a witness to the Lord, to clothe themselves in “the Robes of the Holy Priesthood,” and to bear a testimony through prayer against 

their persecutors. The Church leaders gathered in a prayer circle on January 19, 1881, and did as they had been directed.

 

 

 

 

Woodruff was the President of the 12 once the First Presidency was reestablished later that year, it seems to me everything here was well within his role for him to receive.  And it was not to far in the future that the federal government was going to come down hard on the Saints....perhaps the 12 needed to know that more than just the President but also the Senior Apostle who was his successor were operating in a prophetic roles in order to be able to guide the Church well.  Woodruff being known as a man of visions must have helped acceptance of his visions that led to the Manifesto being established.

[CA Steve]

This phrase is interesting.

 

"obeying the Patriarchal Law of Abraham which leadeth to a Celestial Glory"

 

Any thoughts on what the Partiarchal Law of Abraham might be?

[Tacenda]

Weren't many leaders or members milleniests? I heard they thought the Second Coming was within 6 or 7 years. Maybe that was why W.W. was so determined to get everything in order also.

[ERayR]

Weren't many leaders or members milleniests? I heard they thought the Second Coming was within 6 or 7 years. Maybe that was why W.W. was so determined to get everything in order also.

 

Many think the Second Coming is still within 6 or 7 years.  Sooner of later that is going to be correct.

[Tacenda]

Many think the Second Coming is still within 6 or 7 years. Sooner of later that is going to be correct.

True, and how many thought the Second Coming was going to happen when the year 2000 rang in.

No, I think Pres. Woodruff thought it would happen because JS had prophesied/predicted that it would happen in 56 yrs back in the 1830's.

Edited August 31, 2013 by Tacenda

[The Nehor]

According to page 129 of Gospel Principles, "We may receive revelations from God for ourselves and our own callings, but never for the Church or its leaders. It is contrary to the order of heaven for a person to receive revelation for someone over whom he or she does not preside".Regards,Jim

I think there is an important distinction here. One can receive revelation if one is in a position to counsel the one who makes the final decision. When I was on the ward council I felt that I had received revelation that a program should be implemented. It definitely fell under the key of the Bishop. Nevertheless I got the revelation and presented the program to him. He agreed, made some suggestions, and it was implemented. John Doe the 2nd Assistant Hymnbook Coordinator would not receive that revelation as it would be outside his stewardship. If my revelation was counsel to the Twelve or the First Presidency I could know it was false.

There is nothing odd about an apostle receiving revelation and sharing it with the Quorum. To follow through with it or publish it officially the Apostle would need the support of the guy with the keys. If the guy with the keys shuts it down (or if the Bishop shot down my proposal) that is their purview.