Hey, I’m Hannah and this is Firm Foundations.
Thanks for watching.
In this series we are learning how to discern
the truth about LDS history and doctrine.
In our past few videos we’ve learned about
the three Book of Mormon Witnesses.
Each of these men testified that they had
seen the gold plates of the Book of Mormon,
and testified of it’s truth and origin.
Despite lives of hardship and even excommunication,
each of these three men emphasized their testimony
of the truth and validity of the Book of Mormon
throughout their lives.
This episode, we’re going to discuss the
life story of William McLellin, an apostle
in during the early years of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints with a very
unique story.
William McLellan was a tall, eloquent teacher
and self-taught physician.
He came into contact with early LDS missionaries
Harvey Whitlock and David Whitmer in 1831.
The two men shared their testimonies, including
David Whitmer’s testimony of the Angel Moroni
and the origin of the Book of Mormon, this
compelled William to examine the LDS faith
and Joseph Smith for himself.
William began following the missionaries from
town to town.
He later met Hyrum Smith and quizzed him in-depth
about The Book of Mormon and later asked Hyrum
to baptize him.
William met Joseph Smith at a conference in
October and afterwards traveled with Joseph
to his home where he met Emma Smith and their
adopted twin babies.
At this point, while William had a strong
enough testimony to be baptized, he decided
to ask Joseph for a secret revelation, therefore
proving to himself beyond a shadow of a doubt
that Joseph Smith was a prophet with the gift
of revelation.
William later wrote that he prepared for this
revelation by asking the Lord five secret
questions, in his heart, and waiting to see
if Joseph could answer them without knowing
about the questions.
We have the revelation written in William’s
own hand, as Joseph dictated, and we also
have it copied into William’s journal the
evening after receiving the revelation.
This revelation is now included in the Doctrine
and Covenants, section 66.
Among other instructions, the Lord calls William
on a mission, blesses him with the gift of
healing, and counsels him to be patient in
his own times of illness.
William also received a warning against adultery,
which the Lord emphasizes as a temptation
he knew William has struggled with before.
Seven years later, William wrote down his
testimony of the accuracy and validity of
this revelation stating, “I now testify
in the fear of God that every question that
I had thus lodged in the ears of the Lord
were answered to my full and entire satisfaction
and I to this day consider it to me an evidence
which I cannot refute.
In the years between the revelation and William’s
written testimony, William served a mission
with Parley P. Pratt and served as one of
the twelve apostles.
However, things were not always easy or cordial
between William, Joseph, and the church.
William struggled with the sins of pride and
adultery.
Perhaps his prideful tendencies were due to
the fact that he was widely regarded as very
intelligent.
He frequently attempted different interpretations
of revelation than Joseph Smith.
When the Book of Commandments, the precursor
to The Doctrine and Covenants, was nearing
publication, some saints expressed apprehension
about the wording of some of the revelations
it contained.
Joseph Smith issued a revelation from God,
telling the saints to choose the wisest member
to attempt a reasonable facsimile.
William was nominated due to his educational
background, but failed to produce anything
comparable.
In 1838 William declared that he no longer
had confidence in the management of the church
and he was excommunicated.
However, he could not leave the church, nor
it’s leadership in peace.
William never recanted his belief in Joseph’s
prophetic ability, and perhaps because he
couldn’t reconcile a prophet of God with
Joseph, the man who had frequently and sometimes
publically called William to the floor for
his sins, including pride and, as foretold
in his revelation, adultery, William became
a violent opponent of Joseph and the church.
At one point, William broke into Joseph’s
house and ransacked it.
Once when Joseph was in jail, William went
to the sheriff and asked to whip Joseph.
The sheriff agreed on the condition that Joseph
be allowed to fight back.
Joseph welcomed the opportunity to face william,
as both men were tall, athletic alpha males
and Joseph was filled with frustration for
the pain and agony William was causing for
Emma and the other Saints that Joseph was
powerless to stop in jail.
William back-tracked, stating he would only
fight Joseph hand-to-hand if he could have
a club and Joseph couldn’t.
Joseph agreed but the sheriff refused to allow
a fight so uneven.
In the late 1980s, William re-emerged as a
character in early church history when rare
book collector, document-forger, and murder
Mark Hoffman spread the rumor that he had
in his possession the papers and journals
of William McLellin and that his documents
revealed damaging secrets about the LDS church.
In order to support his lavish lifestyle Hoffman
sold the collection, sight unseen to two different
collectors at once, and when they began to
press him for the documents, Hoffman constructed
bombs and killed two people in an attempt
to hide the fact that he had never seen the
McLellin papers and had forged many other
important documents.
Mark Hoffman is still in the Utah state prison
system, serving a life sentence for double
homicide and forgery.
Thanks to this publicity surge, the LDS church
archives reexamined their papers and discovered
that they had the McLellin papers in their
possession all along.
McLellin’s papers have all been scanned,
transcribed and preserved and can be viewed
and cross referenced on LDS.org or through
the Joseph Smith Papers Project.
So, what can we take away from William’s
life?
It is difficult for me to comprehend how,
on one hand, William knew, with absolute personal
certaintainy that a prophet, Joseph Smith,
was currently restoring the church of God
to the earth, and on the other hand, William
consistently insisted that he could better
interpret revelations than Joseph, and he
continued to commit sins he had been specifically
warned against in personal revelation.
This level of pride can seem incomprehensible
on the surface, but if we really take the
time to self-examine, I think we’ll find
that many of us, are just a few selfish decisions
from ending up in a similar situation.
William is an example of how far we can fall,
even when personal truths and facts all point
us in the opposite direction.
We are all invited to ask questions and seek
truth, finding out for ourselves if the gospel
is true.
However, knowing, may not be enough.
Humility is also vital.
So let’s keep asking questions, and stay
humble.
Thanks for joining us!
Firm Foundations is created by me, Hannah.
We are produced and funded by the More Good
Foundation, with special thanks in this episode
to Dr. Steve Harper and Rachel Grant.
Don’t forget to subscribe, and we’ll catch
you next time.
