This past Sunday, I taught a lesson on the martyrdom of Joseph Smith to the Gospel Doctrine class in my ward. Rather than use the manual, I created a timeline using the History of the Church, Volume 6, as my primary source. (I have added this timeline, and the related class resources I compiled, to the Downloads section of this site.)
In preparing this lesson, I learned more about some of the publishers of the Nauvoo Expositor. William Law, who had been the Second Counselor in the Presidency of the Church, and his brother Wilson were excommunicated on April 18, 1844. Interestingly, in the Expositor‘s only edition on June 7th, 1844, the publisher’s bear their testimony that the Church, including the Book of Mormon, is “verily true.” However, they qualified their statement by saying it was true “as originally taught by Joseph Smith.”
William Law angrily decided he could not accept two doctrines newly taught by Joseph Smith — the plurality of the Gods and plural marriage. He believed these were heresies. William Law had the right, of course, to make his own choices. But, when faced with new doctrines that challenged him, Law could have chosen to pray for help and understanding. He could have given the Prophet, whom he had worked with for years, the benefit of the doubt while examining his own feelings and reaction to the new ideas. Instead, William Law allowed himself to be taken over by a spirit of apostasy. He actively joined the enemies of Joseph Smith who, just two months later, killed the Prophet.
In making this choice, William Law placed his own opinions ahead of the teachings of a man he knew to be a Prophet of God. To rationalize this, Law claimed that the Prophet had fallen. William Law made himself the arbiter of what was true or false, right or wrong. He even briefly started a new church. Law contributed to the lies and hysteria that led to the murder of Joseph Smith.
In Capernaum, when Jesus taught that He was the bread of life, that He would lay down his life for them, and that He would overcome death, many of His followers said it was “an hard saying” and left him. The test of faith comes when things get confusing or difficult. Some simply leave the Church. Some leave but feel compelled to fight against those who still believe. Some work through the challenge and grow even stronger in their faith.
“Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.”
(John 6:67-68)
True thoughts.