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Did Sidney Rigdon Influence the Priesthood Restoration?

“Other churches at the time—including ones with which many early Church members were familiar—taught about the priesthood. The Disciples of Christ, from which many early members of the Church converted, for example, had developed its own priesthood doctrines, influenced by Alexander Crawford, a Scottish minister living in Canada. In 1827, Crawford had delineated the existence of three distinct priesthoods: a patriarchal priesthood (which he also called a priesthood after the “order of Melchisedec”), an Aaronical priesthood (originally held by Aaron)... Alexander Campbell and the Disciples of Christ were influenced by Crawford’s ideas...” - Matthew C. Godfrey “A Culmination of Learning: D&C and the Doctrine of the Priesthood” 2012, Exploring the Text of the Doctrine and Covenants, Religious Studies Center, BYU | wasmormon.org

The modern LDS Church presents the restoration of priesthood authority—first the Aaronic Priesthood by John the Baptist on May 15, 1829, and then the Melchizedek Priesthood by Peter, James, and John—as pivotal, well-documented events in church history. However, early sources and the timeline of doctrinal development tell a much murkier story, one that raises serious …

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Priesthood Restoration Apologetics = Retrofitting and Narrative Engineering

“A surprisingly large number of early church documents impressively record crucial details about the restoration of both the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priestboods.” “Details regarding the restoration of the Aaronic priesthood including John the Baptist's role in that event were seldom if ever shared prior to 1832” “The written record regarding the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood is less complete.” - Brian Q. Cannon, Priesthood Restoration Documents, BYU Studies, Volume 35, Number 4 (1995-1996) | wasmormon.org

A BYU Studies article, Priesthood Restoration Documents (BYU Studies, Volume 35, Number 4, 1996), attempts to compile and legitimize the historical claims surrounding the restoration of the priesthood in Mormonism. While the compilation appears scholarly on the surface, the conclusion it draws is apologetic rather than academic. The piece says one thing, but the data …

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Retrofitting the Priesthood Restoration into the Doctrine and Covenants Revelation

“Some of the revelations as they are now in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants have been changed and added to... When the Book of Commandments was printed, Joseph and the church received it as being printed correctly. This I know. In the winter of 1834 they saw that some of the revelations in the Book of Commandments had to be changed, because the heads of the church had gone too far, and had done things in which they had already gone ahead of some of the former revelations. So the book of Doctrine and Covenants was printed in 1835, and some of the revelations changed and added to.” - David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ, 1887 | wasmormon.org

The church narrative states the priesthood was restored to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry in 1829. There are a few Revelations used to tell this narrative. There are problems with these priesthood restoration claims, and specifically these revelations, they aren’t contemporary to the stories, and the few that are the closest, have been changed. Doctrine …

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