The Unfolding Restoration Lesson 24: The Succession Crisis

In this video, Anthony walks us through the events and timeline of the succession question after the death of Joseph Smith.

[@mariannehunt5737]

So worthwhile to see the whole picture. I have a first hand account of the “mantle” falling on Brigham written by my third great grandmother, Eliza Ann Haven, who was a teenager at the time. My sons and grandsons who have served missions have loved reading her own words.

[@gusefulbeauty]

How wonderful you have that treasure! Is there any place we could read Eliza’s words, too?

[@mariannehunt5737]

@@gusefulbeauty If you send me your email, I can send you a copy. It's really short because she wrote it when she was in her nineties and it had happened when she was about 15.

[@raymorgan2780]

Soul Syrup Presentation! The Kingdom Rolls Forth- I Pray That Our Spiritual Cousins Will Again Join Us At The Ever Expanding Restoration, and Join The Millions That Will Know Brother Joseph Again!

[@davidk.sylvester1048]

Brother Sweat, I have seen all your Unfolding Restoration videos with my wife, and I am sure that many of the viewers are like us. We have watched them on our KZbin video App on our TVs. That never allows us to comment but I wanted to personally thank you for all that you have done to strengthen our faith and testimony in the Ongoing Restoration. I was wondering if there will be more of these Restoration videos as we move into the Old Testament in 2022 or if this series will end now? I look forward every week to all the things we are learning because of devoted and inspired teachers such as yourself. I just can't thank you enough!!

[@Mommang]

Amen to all of the comments above 👆🏻 !!

[@novawarren5089]

I love what he remembers after the deaths, because I love each one of our Prophets❤️❤️❤️

[@jenniferfiso42]

Thank you Brother Sweat for sharing your knowledge and scholarship with us throughout the year. I have learned and enjoyed every single one of them. Thank you

[@siumanspringer2014]

I’m so grateful for you to know the church history thoroughly and explain it with non-judgment. Honestly, whatever the Saints chose in the past did the best they knew how. I’m grateful for all organizations of the church to worship, honor and do Christ’s work. I love Emma who suffered so much but loved so much. I love Brigham Young who had proven and given his life to Christ and the church. We are so blessed to have a God who is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient to give us Temple to guide and help us become like Him. Thank you so much again. Love all your inspired lectures and help me become a better follower of Christ.

[@TheAnnchanpiano]

Excellent! I learned so much. Good supporting quotes.

[@elizabethwhipple314]

Fascinating thank you for doing this lesson. I learned a lot.

[@ruthboehmer8483]

Thank you for your inspired lessons. I have learned a lot from you this past year and am very grateful.

[@peterhook2258]

One very interesting historical feature the church had was "the council of fifty". The information associated with that council does much to clarify who was to lead the church. IMO why don't we know every single person's leadership claims in that council and who did each follow. That would be an interesting paper that I would read.

[@markdvorak9972]

Another great lecture! Thank you, Professor Sweat!

[@cristinerolfson3361]

Thank you for this series !

[@ZackBeck]

This was very well done and enjoyable. It made me ponder things a bit more and helped build my faith. Thank you!

[@renatemckendry104]

Thank you! ❤️🇨🇦

[@bsl5788]

Thank you for this outstanding presentation on an important aspect of our Church. We also appreciated your comments about other groups who believe in the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Our talks in Sacrament meeting this morning were on the second great commandment to love our neighbors . . . Your comments will help us to work on this commandment. We believe your presentations are inspired.

[@lorigreen4134]

Brilliant!

[@julielund3362]

Another great lesson. I have not missed one lesson. Thank You

[@Wh3nth3wick3drul3]

5 ¶ Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited

[@Mommang]

This was so helpful! Thank you for all this amazing information that before now has been a little confusing to me. I’ve really enjoyed all of your episodes.

[@kimhulbert8449]

Such a helpful explanation. Thank you Bro. Sweat.

[@novawarren5089]

Joseph Smith did talk much about to B.Youmg and say something about finishing the Temple and he wouldn't see it done, and something like take them West and continue

[@bearonaromp7473]

Excellent lecture Brother Sweat. I was a bit confused about the Apostolic Interregnum (1845-1850), but you clarified those years perfectly in mind. Could you talk to us about the "One Mighty and Strong"? I've heard it believed that he is Joseph Smith himself- but maybe you could share your insight.

[@mjp6274]

Thank you. Are you a professor at BYU? Love your videos and your knowledge. Thank you for sharing.

[@loveslife]

Is it true that Sidney Rigdon wanted to be the guardian of Joseph Smith III until he was old enough to lead the church?

[@alantomlinson5740]

Yes. Joseph Smith designated his son as his successor and most people in Nauvoo knew it, as on one ocassion it was done very publicly. Rigdon was proposing he would be the guardian until JSIII came of age. Indeed, the people voting for the Twelve to lead the church (not just Brigham) considered it an interim measure until JSIII was old enough. Emma refusing to come west created a problem for Brigham because he was concerned Joseph Smith's murderers would target JSIII, who was still living in Nauvoo, if they believed he would become the president of the church. This is why Brigham wouldn't discuss it much. However, I personally believe that had JSIII gone west when he became an adult (and he did consider it) he would have become president of the church.

[@estebanvasquezr1]

@@alantomlinson5740 he became president of the reorganized church. It's incredible that he was able to live in peace in the same Missouri where our historians said the people there were intolerant to the ideas of the Church.

[@bartquinn647]

Thank you for this excellent presentation. I've often wondered why presidencies are dissolved. You mentioned that Sydney Rigdon thought he still held the keys even though Joseph was now gone and he was therefore not a counselor to Joseph any more. But what revelation or scripture authorizes dissolving a presidency? Also, the first presidency was composed of Elders who were never ordained as apostles... for example, Sydney didn't find himself back in the Q12. If Hyrum was alive, would the presidency not have dissolved? Did Hyrum have all of the ordinances? It may be irrelevant because he died, but I find it relevant because if he was to succeed Joseph hypothetically, then the same principles of having all the ordinances would have applied to him as well right? Also, very interesting how the Q12 is the only quorum with a president but no counselors, and doesn't dissolve when the president dies. Makes it truly the foundational body of leadership in the church... which is interesting considering the first presidency is higher in authority. So many questions

[@alantomlinson5740]

Three times BY was referred to as the presiding High Priest. In fact, Brigham wasn't ordained a High Priest prior to becoming president of the church and for some time after, which was out of order and was therefore one of the criticisms levelled against him. JSIII was 11 when his father was killed, not 12 or 13 as stated. Just these two issues suggest the accuracy of this presentation is not what it should be.

[@alanfleming4828]

I will attempt to answer this as best as I can. When a man is ordained a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood he also by default holds the offices of Deacon and Teacher. The fact that he hasn't been ordained a Deacon or Teacher is not relevant. The ordaining to a higher office in the priesthood encompasses all the duties and responsibilities of offices lower in the priesthood order. So also, when someone has been ordained an Apostle he is also by default holds all the duties and responsibilities of a High Priest, Seventy, and Elder. A 'Presiding High Priest' is one who is a High Priest who presides over the Church at either a local or general level. It is a term used to signify his role ( i.e presiding) and his authority (i.e. high priest). A bishop, a stake president, an area authority are Presiding High Priests at a local level. In the current First Presidency, we have 3 Apostles, who because of their ordination are also, as previously explained, High Priests. The question is - Can one serve in the First Presidency without being an Apostle. My understanding is - Yes, the counselors can but not the President. Has this ever happened before? Thorpe B. Isaacson (October 28, 1965 - January 18, 1970) was a member of the First Presidency. He was a High Priest but was never ordained an Apostle. It is important here to also note that the President of the Church must hold the Keys of the Kingdom. Only an Apostle sustained as a member of the Twelve will be given those Keys. When he is set apart as President of the Church he can then as an Apostle exercise them and as President of the Church, he will also be the Presiding High Priest. A little explanation, we have two sets of keys for our family car, but only one can use their keys at any point in time to drive the car. When the President dies we have 14 Apostles who hold keys but only one is able to exercise and use those Keys to drive the Church. A side note - one can be ordained an Apostle but not be given the Keys or necessarily be made a member of the Twelve. This occurred with Jacob Hamblin and Alvin R. Dyer, both apostles, but neither was ever a member of the Twelve. As I understand they had a special mission or responsibility to perform and were given the authority of an apostle to accomplish it. Hope my understanding helps.

[@kenthknicket6500]

William Law is legitimately a hero of mine. Look him up, he was one of the most courageous Saints I've read about.

[@henochparks]

Law lied and was backed by pro slavers. Joseph Smith was anti slavery.

[@jonathonfloyd5757]

William Law was an adulterous liar who betrayed his wife, betrayed the Church, and was an active participant in the events that led to Joseph Smith's death. Courage is not a word that describes him.

[@kenthknicket6500]

​@@jonathonfloyd5757 "Active participant in the events that led to Joseph Smith's death" in that he exposed Joseph Smith's shenanigans publicly via his newspaper, the Nauvoo Expositor, which angered Joseph enough to order the destruction of because his grip on the lid containing his shenanigans was slipping. This was an attack on free speech and freedom of the press, and it rightly angered many. Law was an active participant in these events, yes, but only because of his definite courage to take on a charismatic, dangerous leader, who had thousands of followers where many of which were more than willing to do his dirty bidding, to expose things which he was privy to (he was in Joseph's first presidency) in his newspaper. He had no active role in Joseph Smith's decision to destroy the printing press, where that act is the key catalyst to the chain of events that led to Joseph being killed. Wasn't Joseph Smith exactly an "adulterous liar who betrayed his wife"? He was likely caught with Fanny Alger back in Kirtland, and manipulated many women (including children, which by the way was not normal for that time period, and even the average age of menarche in the 1840s was 16.5 years old and has been declining since to about 13 today and Joseph is known to have married Helen Mar Kimball "several months before her 15th birthday", so at that time she was most likely prepubescent, along with additional cases of polyandry, etc.). Emma was something like the 22nd woman Joseph was sealed to. Why? My point is, exposing someone who has a track record like Joseph Smith did should be celebrated, and it absolutely takes a lot of courage to oppose him and his passionate followers so directly and publicly, all within their stronghold. And now the church has been hiding billions upon billions upon billions upon billions of dollars in shell companies, buying at least 1.7 million acres of land across the country, investing in companies that contradict the morals they claim to hold (like Victoria Secret), do next to nothing to protect sexual assault victims, treat their own missionaries like cattle, implanting serious shame and guilt into children for anything at all of a sexual nature as they go through natural puberty, constantly change what is considered doctrine (blood atonement, adam-god theory, and the lifting of the priesthood ban come to mind - I thought God was supposed to be eternal and unchanging? At least its misogyny has remained consistent...) all while consistently throughout virtually the whole time since the founding there has been constant efforts to white-wash their own history since it's so obviously ridiculous and false. They were even duped by Mark Hofmann, who sold them forged documents the church leadership (Packer, Hinckley, etc.) thought were genuine artifacts of their early history. What happened to the power of discernment? If the prophet can't lead the members astray, why does God let them speak "as a man" when those words are clearly false? How is that not leading members astray? How can the contradictions to the teachings of Jesus himself be justified? How would Jesus not be in absolute disgust if he could see the current state of the church? To me, the church looks exactly how it would if it was false and corrupt. From before its founding until now, time and time again, over and over, it has proven itself as such. To go deeper than just this church, which relies directly on the events of the Tower of Babel, Noah's Flood, Adam and Eve, etc. to be literally and historically true, those are obvious, outright myths that have no basis whatsoever in reality and history. Why did God at least at some point require blood sacrifice to be appeased? WTF, seriously, that's so creepy. The real world, as it actually is, can be observed, and we can, through logic and reason, figure out profound truths and see amazing things in our universe as they are. Aren't discoveries of things like black holes and the expanding universe and facts we can discern about their properties so much more profound and fulfilling than some man in the 1800s saying something along the lines of Earth being ejected from Kolob's orbit 6 or 7 thousand years ago, and nope, can't be changed, it's eternal doctrine as I was told by God? These claims not only can be thoroughly debunked, but these guesses into the history of the earth and humanity are so weak and unsatisfying compared to the truths being discovered by people who actually deserve our respect and who follow the scientific method that has been clearly designed to always update theories when more observations are made, and indeed passionately welcome being proved wrong. Time and time again, this approach has been proven to be the best way we know of to learn and invent and save peoples' lives.

[@jordan-xe2yb]

@@kenthknicket6500you’re also a myth.

[@explorerofmind]

When Jesus died he left the 12 apostles in charge. That seems the obvious pattern.

[@Wh3nth3wick3drul3]

Tony, you are wrong, Doctrine and Covenants 35: 3 "Behold, verily, verily, I say unto my servant Sidney, I have looked upon thee and thy works. I have heard thy prayers, and prepared thee for a greater work. 4 Thou art blessed, for thou shalt do great things. Behold thou wast sent forth, even as John, to prepare the way before me, and before Elijah which should come, and thou knewest it not." And Doctrine and Covenants 90: "6 And again, verily I say unto thy brethren, Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams, their sins are forgiven them also, and they are accounted as equal with thee in holding the keys of this last kingdom". They should have followed Sydney Rigdon, but they chose to follow fleshy Brigham Young and so they got to go to an uninhabited salt land as Jeremiah 17: 5 taught.

[@charlesmendeley9823]

When investigators pray about the Book of Mormon, that still does not mean that the LDS church is true. It might be any of the dozen restoration churches.

[@ChaChaDancin]

If it’s a restoration, shouldn’t it be similar to the early Christian church? History shows that early Christianity and Mormonism are not similar. At all. Is that a problem?

[@jordan-xe2yb]

At all? 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@ChaChaDancin]

@@jordan-xe2yb I suppose they both talk about “Jesus”, and there are some superficial similarities. But the core theology is quite different, and they worship different deities. So yeah, not that similar, especially if you pay attention to the most important Mormon teachings that set Mormonism apart from Christian churches that are based on the “abominable” creeds. Like the nature of God, the purpose of Creation, eternal marriage, exaltation, and other Mormon temple rituals. 🤦‍♂️

[@CMZIEBARTH]

Yeah, they're the same thing.

[@ChaChaDancin]

@@CMZIEBARTH you may want to do some research into early Christianity. It isn’t hard to do.

[@CMZIEBARTH]

@@ChaChaDancin Have been doing so for years.

[@Wh3nth3wick3drul3]

You're teaching false information even from what the church teaches pertaining to Sydney Rigdon. Willard Richards was the one that didn't want to wait and Sydney Rigdon said that they should wait for the brethren. So, I don't know where you got your information. Parley P Pratt is also a Mason.