Mormons: Was Brigham Young speaking figuratively or literally when he said this?

Question

"Suppose you found your brother in bed with your wife, an put a javelin through both of them, you would be justified, and they would atone for their sins, and be received into the kingdom of God. I would at once do so in such a case; and under such circumstances, I have no wife whom I love so well that I would not put a javelin through her heart, and I would do it with clean hands."
Author: Brigham Young
Source: Journal Of Discourses
Volume: 3
Page: 247

Sorry, Tonya. I'm actually not a former member.

I have studied with your congregations though.

Also: it doesn't matter if the "Journal of Discourses" is scripture or not, because anything said by a prophet or apostle "while he speaks in the name of the Lord" IS considered scripture.

In other words, the Journal of Discourses contains talks made by non-apostles (these are the minority) as well as prophets and apostles. In any case, all but about 10-12 of the discourses in the book are closed "IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, AMEN", meaning that as long as it was a prophet or apostle that gave the talk, it is as good as scripture.

Answer 1

That sounds like something Brother Brigham would say. You forgot to put here in R&S that he told Abraham Smoot to "Go to Provo or go to hell!"

Yeah, fornication and adultery are sins. Don't you believe this? It was probably figuratively though...most Mormon men who find that their women are boinking their brothers just sue for divorce...

You are obviously very educated and intelligent. Don't you have something more constructive to do with your brain than waste it on us demonic Mormons?

Answer 2

>>Also: it doesn't matter if the "Journal of Discourses" is scripture or not, because anything said by a prophet or apostle "while he speaks in the name of the Lord" IS considered scripture.

In other words, the Journal of Discourses contains talks made by non-apostles (these are the minority) as well as prophets and apostles. In any case, all but about 10-12 of the discourses in the book are closed "IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, AMEN", meaning that as long as it was a prophet or apostle that gave the talk, it is as good as scripture.<<

There you go, telling US what we beleive!

You can say this sort of thing all you want, but all it is is a straw man argument.

It's like this:

All (non-LDS) Christians say that the Bible is perfect, complete and infallible. That means that all (non-LDS) Christians WORSHIP the Bible.

And now you can tell me that you do NOT worship the Bible until you are blue in the face, but the fact remains, you all saythe Bible is perfect, etc., therefore you WORSHIP it.

Answer 3

Blood Atonement
So long as you read this in the context of the "Dan-ite" Doctrine of Blood Atonement, it does make sense; Thats why the Man Executed 20 years after the Mountain Meadows Massacre Told the Firing Squad to Aim at his heart.... he wanted the maximum amount of blood shed

The JOURNAL OF DISCOURSES is very significant in Overall Utah LDS beliefs; From at least 1910 onwards, there was significant widespread Documentary material available to support this; Even A MARVELOUS WORK AND A WONDER ( not Sure on the exact Title right now) by LeGrand Richards, as well as Parley Pratt, and the famous "As god once was ..." doctrine, and other citations, support the statement that The Journal of Discourses by Young was a KEY document ( over many volumes) in such a way as to by not merely formative, but integral to the structure of the Utah LDS Theology.
There is much more to support this, but here is not the place to launch into a re-statement of what many know already. Many "Mormons" do not know the history of their Church, not the full extent of their Theology.

"Blood Atonement" is practiced, just not officially sanctioned

Answer 4

I just asked a question a day or so ago that asked if the LDS Canon was closed. I was told by LDS people that no it isn't that the "teachings" of christ continue through instruction given to the church over the pulpit in Conference. Now you want to say these teaching aren't scripture.. You can't have it both ways which is it? You say the Canon is closed, Tonya, others say it can still be added to... Jim

Answer 5

On a personal note, I would find that he is speaking figuratively.

As for the the JoD being scripture you are correct. Here is something that was referred to me when I was answering another question regarding this same volume in the Journal of Discourses.

====================
Question:
How do Latter-day Saints define the idea of "scripture"?

Answer:
The corpus of Latter-day Saint scripture is substantially larger than the traditional Protestant or Catholic canon. It includes the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price, which are collectively referred to as the "standard works." Although "scripture" usually denotes written documents, in LDS sources it is also defined as "whatsoever [God's representatives] shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost" (D&C 68:2–4), which implies an acceptance of modern-day prophetic revelation as scripture. Latter-day Saints acknowledge that although the messages of scripture are divine in origin, those who receive, write, or translate the words are human. This clarifies why a Latter-day Saint tenet states that the Bible is accepted as the word of God "as far as it is translated correctly" (Articles of Faith 8), or why official clarifications and translations are occasionally made to the standard works. Latter-day Saints bind themselves by covenant to obey scripture, but they are also assured that important records will yet come to light. Importantly, Latter-day Saints understand that scriptures are a result of divine revelation to prophets and that individuals must study the scriptures and seek personal revelation in order to understand their immediate meaning and relevance.
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As you can see, it all boils down to personal study of the scriptures and personal revelation to understand such talks. There leaves a lot of room for personal interpretation

Thank you for this question, it builds my testimony towards the Church. Godbless =)

Answer 6

Since you are a former member, you should know that the Journal of Discourses is not considered scripture. Those that quote it as though we believe that it is scripture, are just proving that they know very little about our faith. You should also know that the most important source of scripture comes from the current prophet.

Answer 7

Shame on you.

The Journal of Discourses is an accurate account of speeches of the leadership after the Saints arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. The long, tedious journey strained the minds of those great men.

Brother Young said many things. Carefully re-read this utterance, and you'll sense the tremendous love he had in his heart, despite his mental deficiencies.

Ignore gospel truths and revelations when a new Prophet is ordained. This is what you were taught. If you don't, you can't run for President, due to bizarre beliefs.

MY PLEA: STOP HURTING THE CHURCH

According to Mormon belief, God is a schizophrenic sociopath who has no memory. He is also impotent, as He can't inspire the Brethren to not buy forged documents that embarrass the only true church.

Please stop exposing the church's sordid past, I beg of you. Go pick on another cult!

GOOGLE: Doctrine and Covenants, Section 132, Mark Hoffman forgeries.
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Answer 8

You refer to the concept of "blood atonement" which is not practiced by the LDS Church.

Answer 9

sounds pretty firm to me (literal) I bet his wife didn't even think of messing around. I wonder if that only went one way or did he have only one wife

Answer 10

Oh, my gosh!!! I learned about this at church not last Sunday but the Sunday after. But I know this but I can't remember!!!