Doctrine and Covenants 112
Historical Context
Doctrine and Covenants 112 is a revelation given to Thomas B. Marsh, the original president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in this dispensation. It was given at a time of growing dissent over Joseph Smith’s leadership in Kirtland, Ohio. Marsh, along with David W. Patten and William Smith, journeyed from Far West, Missouri, to Kirtland to address concerns among members of the Twelve. When Marsh and his party arrived in Kirtland, they found that Joseph Smith and the First Presidency had sent Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde, two other members of the Twelve, to cross the Atlantic and open Great Britain to the preaching of the gospel. Marsh believed it was his responsibility to direct the Twelve in taking the gospel to other nations and may have been frustrated over the decision to send missionaries to England without first consulting him.
Contrary to Marsh’s expectations, a month earlier Joseph Smith had felt inspired to call Heber C. Kimball on a mission to England. Kimball later wrote, “On Sunday, the 4th day of June, 1837, the Prophet Joseph Smith came to me, while I was seated in the front of the stand, above the sacrament table, on the Melchizedek side of the Temple, in Kirtland, and whispering to me, said, ‘Brother Heber, the Spirit of the Lord has whispered to me: ‘Let my servant Heber go to England and proclaim my Gospel, and open the door of salvation to that nation.’” Part of the revelation in Doctrine and Covenants 112 addresses the relationship of the Twelve and the First Presidency in their work in the Church.
The revelation also speaks of the growing dissention in the Church in Kirtland. In late 1836 the Prophet and other Church leaders launched the Kirtland Safety Society, a Church-owned financial institution that they hoped would alleviate some of the financial anxieties of the Saints. Instead, a perfect storm of organized opposition, inexperience, mismanagement, and a nationwide financial panic led to the failure of the Safety Society in just a few months. Financial losses and other concerns led to discord among the members of the Twelve; John F. Boynton, Luke and Lyman Johnson, and even Parley P. Pratt spoke out against Joseph Smith. Vilate Kimball recognized the validity of some of the concerns of the dissenters but questioned their methods. She wrote to her husband, Heber, “Now after all that I have said about this dissenting party, there is some of them, that I love, and have great feeling, and pity for them; I know they have been tried to the very quick; and what greaves me the most of all is, that many things which they tell, I have no doubt but what are too true. Still I do not think they are justifiable in the course they have taken.”
During these difficult circumstances, Doctrine and Covenants 112 was received. It was originally written down by Thomas B. Marsh himself, though this copy has been lost. The revelation was considered so important that it was hand copied by several members of the Twelve, including Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff. It was first included in the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants.
See “Historical Introduction,” Revelation, 23 July 1837 [D&C 112].
Verse-by-Verse Commentary
D&C 112:1–10
1 Verily thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Thomas: I have heard thy prayers; and thine alms have come up as a memorial before me, in behalf of those, thy brethren, who were chosen to bear testimony of my name and to send it abroad among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, and ordained through the instrumentality of my servants.
2 Verily I say unto you, there have been some few things in thine heart and with thee with which I, the Lord, was not well pleased.
3 Nevertheless, inasmuch as thou hast abased thyself thou shalt be exalted; therefore, all thy sins are forgiven thee.
4 Let thy heart be of good cheer before my face; and thou shalt bear record of my name, not only unto the Gentiles, but also unto the Jews; and thou shalt send forth my word unto the ends of the earth.
5 Contend thou, therefore, morning by morning; and day after day let thy warning voice go forth; and when the night cometh let not the inhabitants of the earth slumber, because of thy speech.
6 Let thy habitation be known in Zion, and remove not thy house; for I, the Lord, have a great work for thee to do, in publishing my name among the children of men.
7 Therefore, gird up thy loins for the work. Let thy feet be shod also, for thou art chosen, and thy path lieth among the mountains, and among many nations.
8 And by thy word many high ones shall be brought low, and by thy word many low ones shall be exalted.
9 Thy voice shall be a rebuke unto the transgressor; and at thy rebuke let the tongue of the slanderer cease its perverseness.
10 Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.
Thomas B. Marsh was the original president of the Quorum of the Twelve in this dispensation. If he had remained in this position, it is likely that he would have succeeded Joseph Smith as the President of Church. Had this happened, his name would likely be as well known among the Saints as Brigham Young’s is today. However, Elder Marsh’s gradual slide into apostasy is best captured in the Lord’s plea to him: “Be thou humble” (D&C 112:10). The Lord had earlier counseled him to “be patient in afflictions, revile not against those that revile” (D&C 31:9). After Joseph received Doctrine and Covenants 112, Marsh took his instructions from the Lord seriously. Heber C. Kimball later remembered that Marsh read the revelation to him and Brigham Young, remembering, “In it God told him what to do, and that was to sustain brother Joseph and to believe that what Brother Joseph said was true.”
In the months following, Marsh did make a genuine effort to increase unity in his quorum and support the Prophet. However, a series of events eventually led to his estrangement from the Church. Among the most well-known stories linked to his apostasy was the “cream strippings” incident, which took place in August or September 1838 in Far West, Missouri. According to the story, Marsh’s wife, Elizabeth, became embroiled in a controversy with Lucinda Harris, the wife of George W. Harris. The two women had an agreement to share milk from their cows for making cheese. Lucinda accused Elizabeth Marsh of keeping the cream strippings, considered the best part of the milk, for herself. The argument was mediated by a series of Church officials, with Marsh even appealing to the First Presidency, who sustained earlier rulings that Elizabeth was in the wrong. Thomas Marsh was so infuriated that he was said to have stated “that he would sustain the character of his wife, even if he had to go to hell for it.” Though Marsh’s apostasy is more complicated than the result of this one situation, his pride is evident in the statements connected to this well-known story.
Shortly after this incident, Marsh left Far West with his family and began speaking out publicly against the Church. At the time the Saints were in the midst of a rising series of conflicts with other settlers in northern Missouri. Marsh swore out an affidavit against the Church leaders, in which he accused them of instigating violence, saying that “all the Mormons who refused to take up arms, if necessary in difficulties with the citizens, should be shot or otherwise put to death,” and charging that “no Mormon dissenter should leave Caldwell [County] alive.” The accusations made by Thomas Marsh contributed to the horrific persecutions suffered by the Church in Missouri in 1838–39, including the incarceration of Joseph Smith and other Church leaders in Liberty Jail. After making these accusations, Marsh became estranged from the Church for nearly twenty years.
D&C 112:11–15
11 I know thy heart, and have heard thy prayers concerning thy brethren. Be not partial towards them in love above many others, but let thy love be for them as for thyself; and let thy love abound unto all men, and unto all who love my name.
12 And pray for thy brethren of the Twelve. Admonish them sharply for my name’s sake, and let them be admonished for all their sins, and be ye faithful before me unto my name.
13 And after their temptations, and much tribulation, behold, I, the Lord, will feel after them, and if they harden not their hearts, and stiffen not their necks against me, they shall be converted, and I will heal them.
14 Now, I say unto you, and what I say unto you, I say unto all the Twelve: Arise and gird up your loins, take up your cross, follow me, and feed my sheep.
15 Exalt not yourselves; rebel not against my servant Joseph; for verily I say unto you, I am with him, and my hand shall be over him; and the keys which I have given unto him, and also to youward, shall not be taken from him till I come.
The contention and strife which infected the Church during 1837 came not only from Thomas B. Marsh but also from many other leaders of the Church, particularly the Quorum of the Twelve. To combat these feelings, the Lord asked Marsh, as president of the Twelve, to admonish the other Apostles for their sins and to help them find the proper path to repentance (D&C 112:12–13). During this time, Apostle Parley P. Pratt, one of the most stalwart missionaries of the Church, was beset with a series of tragedies, including the death of his wife, Thankful. Overwhelmed by grief and upset over financial losses suffered in relation to the Kirtland Safety Society, Pratt openly criticized Joseph Smith. Pratt later wrote, “There were jarrings and discords in the Church at Kirtland, and many fell away and became enemies and apostates. There were also envyings, lyings, strifes and divisions, which caused much trouble and sorrow. By such spirits I was also accused, misrepresented and abused. And at one time, I also was overcome by the same spirit in a great measure, and it seemed as if the very powers of darkness which war against the Saints were let loose upon me.”
During this time of darkness, Pratt was pulled back from the brink of apostasy by a young British convert he brought into the Church several months earlier, John Taylor. When Taylor arrived in Kirtland, he was surprised when Parley began to criticize Joseph Smith. John Taylor spoke to Parley, saying:
I am surprised to hear you speak so, Brother Parley. Before you left Canada you bore a strong testimony to Joseph Smith being a Prophet of God, and to the truth of the work he has inaugurated; and you said you knew these things by revelation, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. You gave to me a strict charge to the effect that though you or an angel from heaven was to declare anything else I was not to believe it. Now Brother Parley, it is not man that I am following, but the Lord. The principles you taught me led me to Him, and I now have the same testimony that you then rejoiced in. If the work was true six months ago, it is true today; if Joseph Smith was then a prophet, he is now a prophet.
Brought to repentance by John’s words, Pratt sought forgiveness from the Prophet. “I went to brother Joseph Smith in tears, and, with a broken heart and contrite spirit, confessed wherein I had erred in spirit, murmured, or done or said amiss,” Parley wrote years later. “He [Joseph] frankly forgave me, prayed for me and blessed me. Thus, by experience, I learned more fully to discern and to contrast the two spirits, and to resist the one and cleave to the other. And, being tempted in all points, even as others, I learned how to bear with, and excuse, and succor those who are tempted.”
D&C 112:16–20
16 Verily I say unto you, my servant Thomas, thou art the man whom I have chosen to hold the keys of my kingdom, as pertaining to the Twelve, abroad among all nations—
17 That thou mayest be my servant to unlock the door of the kingdom in all places where my servant Joseph, and my servant Sidney, and my servant Hyrum, cannot come;
18 For on them have I laid the burden of all the churches for a little season.
19 Wherefore, whithersoever they shall send you, go ye, and I will be with you; and in whatsoever place ye shall proclaim my name an effectual door shall be opened unto you, that they may receive my word.
20 Whosoever receiveth my word receiveth me, and whosoever receiveth me, receiveth those, the First Presidency, whom I have sent, whom I have made counselors for my name’s sake unto you.
After addressing the growing discontent in the Quorum of the Twelve, the Lord affirms Thomas B. Marsh’s role as the leader of the Quorum and his status as a holder of the keys of the kingdom, with the responsibility to direct the work of his quorum (D&C 112:16). But the Lord also affirmed that the Quorum—and all organizations in the Church—acts under the direction of the First Presidency, who in turn act under the Lord’s direct supervision (D&C 112:20). This clarification is an important addition to the outline of Quorum responsibilities given earlier in Doctrine and Covenant 107, which said that the First Presidency and the Twelve were equal in authority and power (D&C 107:24). Doctrine and Covenants 112 affirms that revelation to the Church comes to the First Presidency and that the Twelve serve under their direction (D&C 112:20; 107:33).
As President of the Twelve, Thomas Marsh was expected to direct his quorum. But the First Presidency also had the right to receive revelation, as in the case with Heber C. Kimball and the other missionaries sent to Great Britain, on how the Apostles could best carry out their work.
D&C 112:21–29
21 And again, I say unto you, that whosoever ye shall send in my name, by the voice of your brethren, the Twelve, duly recommended and authorized by you, shall have power to open the door of my kingdom unto any nation whithersoever ye shall send them—
22 Inasmuch as they shall humble themselves before me, and abide in my word, and hearken to the voice of my Spirit.
23 Verily, verily, I say unto you, darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face.
24 Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord.
25 And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord;
26 First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord.
27 Therefore, see to it that ye trouble not yourselves concerning the affairs of my church in this place, saith the Lord.
28 But purify your hearts before me; and then go ye into all the world, and preach my gospel unto every creature who has not received it;
29 And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not, and is not baptized, shall be damned.
The Lord in verses 21–29 addresses the severity of the apostasy occurring in Kirtland and specifically warns against those who “have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house” (D&C 112:26). Only a few weeks after this revelation was given, Warren Parrish, a former scribe to the Prophet, led a group of apostates in an attack on the Kirtland Temple, fulfilling the Lord’s earlier words. Other apostates sought to sustain David Whitmer, the president of the Missouri Stake of the Church, as a replacement for Joseph Smith. When these apostates attempted to sustain David Whitmer as Church President in a meeting, Brigham Young “rose up, and in a plain and forcible manner told them that Joseph was a Prophet, and [that Brigham] knew it, and they might rail and slander him as much as they pleased, they could not destroy the appointment of the Prophet of God, they could only destroy their own authority, cut the thread that bound them to the Prophet and to God and sink themselves to hell.”
Brigham recalled, “This meeting was broken up without the apostates being able to unite on any decided measures of opposition. This was a crisis when earth and hell seemed leagued to overthrow the Prophet and Church of God. The knees of many of the strongest men in the Church faltered. During this siege of darkness I stood close by Joseph, and with all the wisdom and power God bestowed upon me, put forth my utmost energies to sustain the servant of God and unite the quorums of the Church.”
D&C 112:30–34
30 For unto you, the Twelve, and those, the First Presidency, who are appointed with you to be your counselors and your leaders, is the power of this priesthood given, for the last days and for the last time, in the which is the dispensation of the fulness of times,
31 Which power you hold, in connection with all those who have received a dispensation at any time from the beginning of the creation;
32 For verily I say unto you, the keys of the dispensation, which ye have received, have come down from the fathers, and last of all, being sent down from heaven unto you.
33 Verily I say unto you, behold how great is your calling. Cleanse your hearts and your garments, lest the blood of this generation be required at your hands.
34 Be faithful until I come, for I come quickly; and my reward is with me to recompense every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega. Amen.
Doctrine and Covenants 112 ends with a plea for the Twelve to accept the leadership of the First Presidency as their “counselors and leaders” (D&C 112:30). It is difficult to properly document how severe the apostasy became in Kirtland before Joseph Smith and the remaining faithful members of the Church were forced to leave. By one estimate, two or three hundred Church members apostatized, representing 10 to 15 percent of the total membership in Kirtland. The toll was even higher among the General Authorities of the Church. Almost one-third of the General Authorities were excommunicated, disfellowshipped, or removed from their callings during this apostasy. This included the witnesses of the Book of Mormon (Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris), four Apostles (John F. Boynton, Lyman E. Johnson, Luke S. Johnson, and William E. McLellin), and one member of the First Presidency (Frederick G. Williams).
Almost half of those who were excommunicated, disfellowshipped, or removed from the records of the Church later came back to the Church. Some, like David Whitmer, Lyman E. Johnson, and William E. McLellin, never returned. Thomas B. Marsh spent twenty years outside the Church but returned in 1857 after the death of his wife and suffering from ill health. Addressing the cause of his own apostasy, Marsh declared, “I became jealous of the Prophet, and then I saw double, and overlooked everything that was right, and spent all my time in looking for the evil; and then, when the Devil began to lead me, it was easy for the carnal mind to rise up, which is anger, jealousy, and wrath. I could feel it within me; I felt angry and wrathful; and the Spirit of the Lord being gone, as the Scriptures say, I was blinded, . . . I got mad, and I wanted everybody else to be mad.”
After Thomas B. Marsh expressed his desire to rejoin the Church, Brigham Young asked for a vote from the congregation accepting Brother Marsh back into full fellowship among the Saints. Not a single person raised a hand in opposition.
Footnotes
