Kirtland Temple Event


Queolby
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I am reading a lot of church history and I was wondering if anyone can
give me some additional information about the Kirtland temple
dedication where a 1000 people attended and where Joseph and Oliver
were behind the curtain and had visitations of the savior and some of
the prophets of old declaring all kinds of thing. 
Now my research says that there is not a lot of information about this
event. There is no record of what was said or happened after Oliver
and Joseph came out from behind the curtain or how wildly they shared
the experience. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places.
The account originally came from Warren Cowdery. The vision was not
included in editions of the Doctrine and Covenants published during
Joseph’s lifetime, and no manuscript copies exist save Warren
Cowdery’s and the one Willard Richards copied into Joseph’s
history for the Church newspaper in 1843. Joseph never mentioned the
event in his other writings. There is no evidence he told the Kirtland
Saints. Warren Cowdery reported additional visitors behind the veil
that day. Moses appeared, and then Elias, followed by Elijah. Each
personage presented “keys”—that is, the power and right to
perform certain acts on God’s behalf: Moses, to gather Israel;
Elias, for the gospel of Abraham; and Elijah for turning the hearts of
the fathers to the children and children to the fathers, in
fulfillment of a prophecy in Malachi. 
Now my question, there was a 1000 people who saw Joseph and Oliver go
behind the curtain, which means they saw them come out of the curtain.
are there any accounts by any of these 1000 congregants about this
event or what they witnessed? I find it hard to believe that there is
no personal account on this event and it makes some people think that
this event didn't happen.

Thanks guys!

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4 hours ago, Queolby said:

I am reading a lot of church history and I was wondering if anyone can
give me some additional information about the Kirtland temple
dedication where a 1000 people attended and where Joseph and Oliver
were behind the curtain and had visitations of the savior and some of
the prophets of old declaring all kinds of thing. 
Now my research says that there is not a lot of information about this
event. There is no record of what was said or happened after Oliver
and Joseph came out from behind the curtain or how wildly they shared
the experience. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places.
The account originally came from Warren Cowdery. The vision was not
included in editions of the Doctrine and Covenants published during
Joseph’s lifetime, and no manuscript copies exist save Warren
Cowdery’s and the one Willard Richards copied into Joseph’s
history for the Church newspaper in 1843. Joseph never mentioned the
event in his other writings. There is no evidence he told the Kirtland
Saints. Warren Cowdery reported additional visitors behind the veil
that day. Moses appeared, and then Elias, followed by Elijah. Each
personage presented “keys”—that is, the power and right to
perform certain acts on God’s behalf: Moses, to gather Israel;
Elias, for the gospel of Abraham; and Elijah for turning the hearts of
the fathers to the children and children to the fathers, in
fulfillment of a prophecy in Malachi. 
Now my question, there was a 1000 people who saw Joseph and Oliver go
behind the curtain, which means they saw them come out of the curtain.
are there any accounts by any of these 1000 congregants about this
event or what they witnessed? I find it hard to believe that there is
no personal account on this event and it makes some people think that
this event didn't happen.

Thanks guys!

Other than saying they saw Joseph and Oliver go behind the curtain, why should anyone expect that there would be accounts of Kirkland Temple attendees describing what took place behind the curtain when it’s clear the visions of the heavenly visitors that occurred on that day were meant only for Joseph and Oliver to see? If there were meant to be witnesses of what took place behind the curtain, there would have been no curtain in the first place. 

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I’m not aware of any direct third-party accounts; but I know one of modern apostate Denver Snuffer’s pet theories is that the visions behind the veil never happened.  I think Greg Smith’s two-part refutation of Snufferism as published in the Mormon Interpreter a couple years ago goes into this issue a bit, so it may be a helpful starting point for your question as well.

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I have a reason that works for me personally... but your mileage might vary.

There are multiple instances of God revealing things to his prophets... then God tells the prophet to seal up the records.  This allows the Lord to fulfill Amos 3:7 while not giving people things they are not ready to receive.

So Joseph Smith and Oliver go behind the curtain and no one else can see them.  They receive the revelation which is the Lords point for point answer/response to the Kirkland dedicatory prayer. Including the part were Israel begins to be redeemed.  Joseph and Oliver then dictate the events to their scribe Warren Cowdery because he was their scribe/secretary and that was his job/calling.

Then they drop it and no one knows anything about it until its brought to Brigham Young and he recognizes for what it is and has it published (aka it is the Lord's time for revealing it)

Now I will totally admit we have no record commanding that the Revelation be sealed up... That is a weakness of my line of reasoning.  But the revelation answers so many other questions about the changes the Church went through at that time in history and I even see it as fulfilling of at least two different prophecies.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

I’m not aware of any direct third-party accounts; but I know one of modern apostate Denver Snuffer’s pet theories is that the visions behind the veil never happened.  I think Greg Smith’s two-part refutation of Snufferism as published in the Mormon Interpreter a couple years ago goes into this issue a bit, so it may be a helpful starting point for your question as well.

This part? https://www.mormoninterpreter.com/passing-up-the-heavenly-gift-part-two-of-two/

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On 8/17/2018 at 9:14 PM, Queolby said:

Now my research says that there is not a lot of information about this event. There is no record of ...

I find it hard to believe that there is no personal account on this event and it makes some people think that this event didn't happen.

What research have you done?  Try this book of eyewitness accounts.

https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Smiths-Kirtland-Eyewitness-1996-08-03/dp/B01F81QGW6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1534874603&sr=8-2&keywords=joseph+smith's+kirtland+eyewitness+accounts&dpID=61e88cOaOlL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

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6 hours ago, Emmanuel Goldstein said:

Ugh, The experience of the coming of Christ to the Temple was during a Sunday meeting on 3 April 1836.

The dedication of the Temple happened on 27 March 1836. 

They were two different events. 

Jesus actually appeared in an LDS temple in 1836? I need links (church links please) to read all about this. WOW, all I can say is WOW, so excited to look at this.

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1 hour ago, VelvetShadow said:

Jesus actually appeared in an LDS temple in 1836? I need links (church links please) to read all about this. WOW, all I can say is WOW, so excited to look at this.

Scripture recording of events: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/110?lang=eng

If you want the more study manual version of things: https://www.lds.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-stories/chapter-40-visions-in-the-kirtland-temple-april-1836?lang=eng

Or a short live action video type thing: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-07-094-priesthood-keys-restored-in-kirtland-temple?lang=eng

If you want any more, just let us know and we will provide :)

 

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22 minutes ago, Jane_Doe said:

Scripture recording of events: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/110?lang=eng

If you want the more study manual version of things: https://www.lds.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-stories/chapter-40-visions-in-the-kirtland-temple-april-1836?lang=eng

Or a short live action video type thing: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-07-094-priesthood-keys-restored-in-kirtland-temple?lang=eng

If you want any more, just let us know and we will provide :)

 

Very very cool, thank you :)

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