It is commonly accepted that women in early Mormonism were considered as having received the Melchizedek Priesthood through participation in temple rituals. It is also taken for granted that this understanding was lost over time. What hasn’t been explicitly discussed before is that this loss of understanding that women received priesthood through the temple rituals …
Speaker: Jacob Vidrine
Theological Development in Mormon Fundamentalism
This panel will explore “doctrinal formation” in a broader sense: where different fundamentalist ideas came from, and how different groups and individuals have interpreted, rejected, or altered doctrine based on their historical understanding, experiences, and beliefs. Lindsay Hansen Park, Jacob Vidrine, Cristina Rosetti, Kris Wray, Drew Ostler
Joseph, Brigham, and John, and the “King over Israel” Coronation
While it might be surprising to some, the first three LDS prophets were secretly anointed to an office described as the “Ruler over Israel” and the “Prophet, Priest, and King” over the Kingdom. In recent years, new sources about this ordinance have come to light, including a revelation in John Taylor’s own handwriting to be …
New Light on the nature of the Council of Fifty and Joseph Smith’s “Last Charge”
While traditionally understood to be a political organization, a variety of sources in the aftermath of the succession crisis indicate that the Council of Fifty was to be a new governing priesthood body—Kings and Priests—holding priesthood authority that “no tribunal in the church could control.” Though new evidence has come to light in the Nauvoo-era …