Fear God (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

FEAR GOD

Revelation 14: 7 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. 8And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 8And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 9And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 12Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.14For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Universality and Cosmology

ANALYZING UNDERLYING IMPETUSES AS REFLECTED IN HISTORY (1840's-present)
Religion Civil Rights Science and Technology Space Forms of government Wars and conflicts
Crimes against humanity Literature Entertainment

Universitarianism reflected in religions, military, and politics. (1800's) III

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Brigham Young

Brigham Young

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Brigham Young

Brigham Young c. 1870
Born Brigham Young
June 1, 1801(1801-06-01)
Whitingham, Vermont
Died August 29, 1877 (aged 76)
Salt Lake City, Utah Territory
Cause of death Ruptured appendix
Resting place Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Title Governor of Utah Territory
Church President
Children 56
Signature
Website
brighamyoung.org

LDS Church President
Ordained December 27, 1847 (aged 46)
Predecessor Joseph Smith, Jr.
Successor John Taylor
LDS Church Apostle
Called by Three Witnesses
Ordained February 14, 1835 (aged 33)
Reason for ordination Initial organization of Quorum of the Twelve
End of term August 29, 1877 (aged 76)
Reason for end of term Death
Reorganization at end of term No apostles immediately ordained[1]

LDS Church General Authority
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Called by Three Witnesses
Start of term February 14, 1835 (aged 33)
End of term December 27, 1847 (aged 46)
End reason Became President of the Church
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Start of term April 14, 1840 (aged 38)
End of term December 27, 1847 (aged 46)
End reason Became President of the Church
President of the Church
Start of term December 27, 1847 (aged 46)
End of term August 29, 1877 (aged 76)
End reason Death
Brigham Young (pronounced /ˈbrɪɡəm/; June 1, 1801 – August 29, 1877) was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until his death and was the founder of Salt Lake City and the first governor of Utah Territory, United States. Brigham Young University was named in his honor.
Young had a variety of nicknames, among the most popular being "American Moses,"[2] (alternatively the "Modern Moses" or the "Mormon Moses")[3] because, like the Biblical figure, Young led his followers, the Mormon pioneers, in an exodus through a desert, to what they saw as a promised land. Young was dubbed by his followers the "Lion of the Lord" for his bold personality, and was also commonly called "Brother Brigham" by Latter-day Saints. Young was a polygamist and was involved in controversies regarding black people and the Priesthood, the Utah War, and the Mountain Meadows massacre.

Contents

[show]

[edit] Early life until Joseph Smith's successor

Young was born to a farming family in Whitingham, Vermont and worked as a travelling carpenter and blacksmith, among other trades.[4] Young first married in 1824 to Miriam Angeline Works. Though he had converted to the Methodist faith in 1823, Young was drawn to Mormonism after reading the Book of Mormon shortly after its publication in 1830. He officially joined the new church in 1832 and traveled to Upper Canada as a missionary. After his first wife died in 1832, Young joined many Mormons in establishing a community in Kirtland, Ohio. Young was ordained a member of the original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1835, and he assumed a leadership role within that organization in taking Mormonism to the United Kingdom and organizing the exodus of Latter Day Saints from Missouri in 1838.
While in jail awaiting trial for alleged treason charges, Joseph Smith, president of the church, was killed by an armed mob in 1844. Several claimants to the role of church President emerged during the succession crisis that ensued. Before a large meeting convened to discuss the succession in Nauvoo, Illinois, Sidney Rigdon, the senior surviving member of the church's First Presidency, argued there could be no successor to the deceased prophet and that he should be made the "Protector" of the church.[5] Young opposed this reasoning and motion. Smith had earlier recorded a revelation which stated the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were "equal in authority and power" to the First Presidency,[6] so Young claimed that the leadership of the church fell to the Twelve Apostles.[7] Many of Young's followers would later reminisce that while Young spoke to the congregation, he looked or sounded similar to Joseph Smith, to which they attributed the power of God.[8] For many in attendance at this meeting, this occurrence was accepted as a sign Young was to lead the church as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Young was ordained President of the Church in December 1847, more than two and a half years after Smith's death. Rigdon became the president of a separate church organization based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and other potential successors emerged to lead what became other denominations of the movement.

[edit] Governor of Utah Territory

As colonizer and founder of Salt Lake City, Young was appointed the territory's first governor and superintendent of American Indian affairs by President Millard Fillmore. During his time as governor, Young directed the establishment of settlements throughout Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, and parts of southern Colorado and northern Mexico. Under his direction the pioneers built roads and bridges, forts, irrigation projects, and established public welfare, organized a militia, and pacified the Native Americans. Young organized the first legislature and established Fillmore as the territory's first capital. In 1856 he organized an efficient mail service. In 1858 he stepped down to his successor Alfred Cumming.
Brigham Young (seated near the middle, wearing a tall beaver hat) and an exploring party camped at the Colorado River in 1870

[edit] Church Presidency

[edit] Initial actions as church president

After three years of leading the church as the President of the Quorum of the Twelve, in 1847 Young reorganized a new First Presidency and was declared president of the church on December 27, 1847. Repeated conflict led Young to relocate his group of Latter-day Saints to a territory in what is now Utah, then part of Mexico. Young organized the journey that would take the faithful to Winter Quarters, Nebraska, in 1846 , then to the Salt Lake Valley. Young arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847, a date now recognized as Pioneer Day in Utah.

[edit] Polygamy

Mormonism and polygamy
The wives and children of Joseph F. Smith, nephew of Joseph Smith Jr., circa 1900.

The LDS church under Brigham Young is perhaps best known for its practice of polygamy. Most historians think (and have documented) that polygamy among Latter Day Saints was taught and practiced by Joseph Smith, Young's predecessor. Adherents to some other Latter Day Saint denominations believe that polygamy originated under Brigham Young's leadership of the church.[citation needed] In 1853, Young made the church's first official statement on the subject after the church had arrived in Utah. He spoke about the issue nine years after the purported original revelation of Joseph Smith, and five years after the Mormon Exodus to Utah following Smith's death in Illinois.

[edit] Family life

Caricature of Mormon leader Brigham Young's wives
Young was a polygamist, marrying a total of 55 wives, 54 of them after he converted to become a Latter Day Saint.[9] The policy was difficult for many in the church. Young stated that upon being taught about plural marriage, "It was the first time in my life that I desired the grave."[10] By the time of his death, Young had 56 children by 16 of his wives; 46 of his children reached adulthood.[11]
Sources have varied on the number of Young's wives, due to differences in what scholars have considered to be a "wife".[9] There were 55 women that Young was sealed to during his lifetime. While the majority of the sealings were "for eternity", some were "for time only". Researchers believe that not all of the 55 marriages were conjugal.[9] Young did not live with a number of his wives or publicly hold them out as wives, which has led to confusion on the number and identities.[9] This is in part due to the complexity of how wives were identified in the Mormon society at the time. If a woman was married and her husband died, she often married another man in proxy of her former husband. All of her resulting children were considered fathered by her late husband. For a time women had themselves "sealed" to men without the men knowing about it.
Of Young's 55 wives, 21 had never been married before; 16 were widows; six were divorced; six had living husbands; and the marital status of six others are unknown.[9]
In 1856, Young built the Lion House to accommodate his sizable family. This building remains a Salt Lake City landmark, together with the Beehive House, another Brigham Young family home. A contemporary of Young wrote: "It was amusing to walk by Brigham Young's big house, a long rambling building with innumerable doors. Each wife has an establishment of her own, consisting of parlor, bedroom, and a front door, the key of which she keeps in her pocket."[12]
At the time of Young's death, 19 of his wives had predeceased him, he was divorced from ten, and 23 survived him. The status of four was unknown.[9] In his will, Young shared his estate with the 16 surviving wives who had lived with him; the six surviving non-conjugal wives were not mentioned in the will.[9]
Grave marker of Brigham Young

[edit] Circumstances leading to banning the priesthood from black members

Brigham Young is generally credited with having been responsible for revoking the priesthood and temple blessings from black members of the LDS Church, who had been treated equally in this respect under Joseph Smith's presidency.[13]
During the Mormon flight from Illinois towards Utah in 1847, Brigham Young received a letter informing him of an inter-racial marriage by the son of a prominent black member, Walker Lewis. The letter was written by William Ivers Appleby, a Mormon elder, who desired to know if interracial marriage was an acceptable practice. Appleby sent the letter to Young at Winter Quarters, Nebraska, but Young was actually in Utah, and therefore did not receive Appleby's missive until December 1, 1847, when he returned to Winter Quarters. Quite coincidentally, Appleby himself arrived in Winter Quarters on December 2. Young read Appleby's letter and then had him personally report to Young and the eight apostles who were then in Nebraska.[14] In 1863, Young reported that he said, "Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so" (Journal of Discourses, vol. 10, p. 110).[15]
After settling in Utah in 1848, Brigham Young announced a priesthood ban which prohibited all men of black African descent from holding the priesthood.[13] In connection, Mormons of African descent could not participate in Mormon temple rites such as the Endowment or sealing. These racial restrictions remained in place until 1978, when the policy was rescinded by President of the Church Spencer W. Kimball.[16]

[edit] Conflict with U.S. government

Shortly after the arrival of Young's pioneers, the new Mormon colonies were incorporated into the United States through Mexican Cession, Young petitioned the U.S. Congress to create the State of Deseret. The Compromise of 1850 instead carved out Utah Territory, and Young was installed as governor. As governor and church president, Young directed both religious and economic matters. He encouraged independence and self-sufficiency. Many cities and towns in Utah, and some in neighboring states, were founded under Young's direction. Young's leadership style has been viewed as autocratic.[17]
When federal officials received reports of widespread and systematic obstruction of federal officials in Utah (most notably judges), U.S. President James Buchanan decided to install a non-Mormon governor. Buchanan accepted the reports of the judges without any further investigation, and the new non-sectarian governor was accompanied by troops sent to garrison forts in the new territory. The troops passed by the bloody Kansas–Missouri war without intervening in it, as it was not open warfare and only isolated sporadic incidents. When Young received word that federal troops were headed to Utah with his replacement, he called out his militia to ambush the federal column. During the defense of Deseret, now called the Utah War, Young held the U.S. Army at bay for a winter by taking their cattle and burning supply wagons. The Mormon forces were largely successful thanks to Lot Smith. Young made plans to burn Salt Lake City and move his followers to Mexico, but at the last minute he relented and agreed to step down as governor. He later received a pardon from Buchanan. Relations between Young and future governors and U.S. Presidents were mixed.

[edit] Mountain Meadows massacre

Statue of Young overlooking Brigham Young University
A controversial issue is the extent of Young's involvement in the Mountain Meadows massacre,[18] which took place in Washington County in 1857. Leonard J. Arrington reports that Brigham Young received a rider at his office on the same day. When he learned what was contemplated by the members of the Mormon Church in Parowan and Cedar City, he sent back a letter that the Fancher party be allowed to pass through the territory unmolested.[19] Young's letter supposedly arrived two days too late, on September 13, 1857. As governor, Young had promised the federal government he would protect immigrants passing through Utah Territory. But he had also allegedly told local Native American leaders that they had his permission to steal cattle from these wagon trains.[citation needed] Over 120 men, women and children were killed by the Mormons and their Native American allies. It is clear that local Mormons were the principal perpetrators. United States Army officer James Henry Carleton was sent to investigate the massacre and was convinced that the Mormons were the perpetrators. Only children survived, the murdered members of the wagon train (known as the Fancher Party) were left unburied, and the surviving children were cared for by local Mormon families. The remains of about forty people were found and buried and Carleton had a large cross made from local trees, the transverse beam bearing the engraving, "Vengeance Is Mine, Saith The Lord: I Will Repay" and erected a cairn of rocks at the site. A large slab of granite was put up on which he had the following words engraved: "HERE 120 MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WERE MASSACRED IN COLD BLOOD EARLY IN SEPTEMBER, 1857. THEY WERE FROM ARKANSAS." For two years the monument stood as a warning to those travelling the Spanish Trail through Mountain Meadow. Some claim that, In 1861, Young brought an entourage to Mountain Meadows and had the cairn and cross destroyed, while exclaiming, "Vengeance is mine and I have taken a little".[20] However, others claim it was torn down and then re-built in 1864 by the U.S. military[21]

[edit] Other notable actions

Young organized the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and in 1850 founded the University of Deseret, which is now the University of Utah. In 1875, just two years before his death, he founded Brigham Young Academy, which later became Brigham Young University. In 1950, the state of Utah donated a marble statue of Young to the National Statuary Hall Collection at the United States Capitol.[22]

[edit] Death

Before his death in Salt Lake City at 4:00pm on August 29, 1877,[23] Young was suffering from "cholera morbus and inflammation of the bowels".[24] It is believed that he died of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix.[11] On September 2, 1877, Young's funeral was held in the Tabernacle with an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 people in attendance.[25]

[edit] Works

[edit] Reference in literature

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle based his first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, on Mormon history, mentioning Young by name. When asked to comment on the story, which had "provoked the animosity of the Mormon faithful", Conan Doyle noted, "all I said about the Danite Band and the murders is historical so I cannot withdraw that though it is likely that in a work of fiction it is stated more luridly than in a work of history." However, Doyle's daughter stated that "You know father would be the first to admit that his first Sherlock Holmes novel was full of errors about the Mormons." [26]
Florence Claxton's graphic novel The Adventures of a Woman in Search of her Rights (1872), satirises a would-be emancipated woman whose failure to establish an independent career results in her marriage to Brigham Young before she wakes to discover she's been dreaming.
Mark Twain devoted a chapter and much of an appendix to Brigham Young in his book Roughing It.

[edit] Notable descendants

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ A year after Young's death, Orson Hyde died and Moses Thatcher was ordained an apostle. The First Presidency was not reorganized until 1880-10-10, after which Francis M. Lyman and John Henry Smith were ordained. Orson Pratt died in 1881, and the Quorum of the Twelve did not have twelve members again until 1882-10-16, when George Teasdale and Heber J. Grant were ordained.
  2. ^ Newsroom — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  3. ^ Trails of Hope: Overland Diaries and Letters, 1846–1869 - Maps: Their Use by Overlanders
  4. ^ Sheret, John G.: Brigham Young: Carpenter and Cabinet Maker
  5. ^ Roberts, B. H. (ed.) History of the Church, vol. 7, ch. XVIII.
  6. ^ Doctrine and Covenants 107:23-24.
  7. ^ Roberts, B. H. (ed.) History of the Church, vol. 7, ch. XIX.
  8. ^ Harper 1996; Lynne Watkins Jorgensen, "The Mantle of the Prophet Joseph Smith Passes to Brother Brigham: One Hundred Twenty-one Testimonies of a Collective Spiritual Witness" in John W. Welch (ed.), 2005. Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations, 1820-1844, Provo, Utah: BYU Press, pp. 374-480; Eugene English, "George Laub Nauvoo Diary," BYU Studies, 18 [Winter 1978]: 167 ("Now when President Young arose to address the congregation his voice was the voice of Bro[ther] Joseph and his face appeared as Joseph's face & should I have not seen his face but heard his voice I should have declared that it was Joseph"); William Burton Diary, May 1845. LDS Church Archives ("But their [Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith's] places were filed by others much better than I once supposed they could have been, the spirit of Joseph appeared to rest upon Brigham"); Benjamin F. Johnson, My Life's Review [Independence, 1928], p. 103-104 ("But as soon as he spoke I jumped upon my feet, for in every possible degree it was Joseph's voice, and his person, in look, attitude, dress and appearance; [it] was Joseph himself, personified and I knew in a moment the spirit and mantle of Joseph was upon him"); Life Story of Mosiah Hancock, p. 23, BYU Library ("Although only a boy, I saw the mantle of the Prophet Joseph rest upon Brigham Young; and he arose lion-like to the occasion and led the people forth"); Wilford Woodruff, Deseret News, March 15, 1892 ("If I had not seen him with my own eyes, there is no one that could have convinced me that it was not Joseph Smith"); George Q. Cannon, Juvenile Instructor, 22 [29 October 1870]: 174-175 ("When Brigham Young spoke it was with the voice of Joseph himself; and not only was it the voice of Joseph which was heard, but it seemed in the eyes of the people as though it was the every person of Joseph which stood before them").
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Jeffrey Odgen Johnson, “Determining and Defining ‘Wife’ — The Brigham Young Households”, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, vol. 20, no. 3 (Fall 1987), pp. 57-70.
  10. ^ "Polygamy and the Church: A History". The Mormons: People & Events. WGBH Educational Foundation. 2007-04-30. http://www.pbs.org/mormons/peopleevents/e_polygamy.html. Retrieved 2007-05-29. 
  11. ^ a b "Brigham Young Biography". Brigham Young University. http://unicomm.byu.edu/about/brigham.aspx?. Retrieved 2010-10-04. 
  12. ^ DeHegermann-Lindencrone, Lillie. "The Sunny Side of Diplomatic Life, 1875–1912". Project Gutenberg. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13955/13955-h/13955-h.htm. Retrieved 2006-07-18. 
  13. ^ a b Bush, Jr, Lester E; Armand L. Mauss (1984). Neither White nor Black: Mormon Scholars Confront the Race Issue in a Universal Church. Midvale, Utah: Signature Books. pp. 54–65, 70. ISBN 978-0941214223. http://www.signaturebookslibrary.org/neither/neither3.htm#Chapter3. 
  14. ^ Lewis, Elder Q. Walker (2006). "An example for his more whiter brethren to follow". John Whitmer Historical Association Journal. http://people.ucsc.edu/~odonovan/elder_walker_lewis.html#_ftnref110.  Information obtain threw a letter in the LDS Church Archives titled “William I. Appleby to Brigham Young”, May 31, 1847
  15. ^ [1]
  16. ^ [2]
  17. ^ "Brigham Young", MSN Encarta. Archived 2009-10-31.
  18. ^ Eakin, Emily (2002-10-12). "Reopening a Mormon Murder Mystery; New Accusations That Brigham Young Himself Ordered an 1857 Massacre of Pioneers". New York Times: p. Section B, Page 9, Column 2. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10E17F6395E0C718DDDA90994DA404482&showabstract=1. 
  19. ^ Brigham Young to Isaac C. Haight, Sept. 10, 1857, Letterpress Copybook 3:827–28, Brigham Young Office Files, LDS Church Archives
  20. ^ Sally Denton (2003). American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 1857 (New York: Vintage Books, ISBN 0375726365) p. 210.
  21. ^ "Mountain Meadows Monument, Salt Lake Tribune, May 27, 1874.
  22. ^ Brigham Young
  23. ^ "Death of Brigham Young", The New York Times, August 30, 1877.
  24. ^ "Brigham Young's Health", The New York Times, August 29, 1877.
  25. ^ "Brigham Young's Funeral", The New York Times, September 3, 1877.
  26. ^ Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle impressed by Mormons
  27. ^ a b c Jenson, Andrew. Biographical Encyclopedia of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book and A. Jenson Historical Co., 1901–1936) 1:42, 121, & 518
  28. ^ a b Gates, Susa Young Gates; Leah D. Widtsoe (1930). Life Story of Brigham Young. New York: Macmillan. pp. 388. ISBN 0836958861. 
  29. ^ a b Cracroft, R. Paul. "Susa Young Gates: Her Life and Literary Work." Master's thesis, University of Utah, 1951.
  30. ^ Reviews for Mahonri Young: His Life and Art
  31. ^ "Who Is Orson Scott Card?". Hatrack River. Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. 2009. http://www.hatrack.com/osc/about-more.shtml. Retrieved 25 August 2009.  paragraph 9
  32. ^ Reeve, W. Paul; Utah History to Go! (February 1995). "Captain Richard W. Young and Spanish-American War". History Blazer. State of Utah. http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/statehood_and_the_progressive_era/captainrichardwyoungandspanish-americanwar.html. Retrieved 25 August 2009.  paragraph 2
  33. ^ Tanner, Sandra; Jerald Tanner. "About Us". Utah Lighthouse Ministry. http://www.utlm.org/navaboutus.htm. Retrieved 25 August 2009.  paragraph 3
  34. ^ "Steve Young Profile". espn.go.com. 1999-09-27. http://static.espn.go.com/nfl/profiles/profile/0128.html. Retrieved 2009-03-12. 
  35. ^ "The Pulitzer Murder Case", The Virtual Dime Museum, 2008-05-29, accessed 2009-04-30 paragraph 5

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Political offices
Preceded by
None
Governor of Utah Territory
1850–1858
Succeeded by
Alfred Cumming
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titles
Preceded by
Joseph Smith, Jr.
President of the LDS Church
December 27, 1847 – August 29, 1877
Succeeded by
John Taylor
Preceded by
Thomas B. Marsh
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
March 17, 1839 – December 27, 1847
Succeeded by
Orson Hyde
Preceded by
David W. Patten
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
February 14, 1835 – December 27, 1847
Succeeded by
Heber C. Kimball

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