The Supremacy that Controls Punishment Historically, Latter-day Saints have found it difficult to live under two supreme powers competing to control their behavior. One is politics (secular); the other religious (the Church). Both rely on punishment to control, and both claim to supersede wisdom, truth, and justice. Both claim ultimate authority. What is the latest thinking about these two punitive institutions? A delegate at the 1787 Philadelphia Convention argued that a community needed one and only one supreme authority with the capacity to punish. Is there only one supreme authority for Latter-day Saints?

Claude J. Burtenshaw, Richard Cummings