Thomas Bullock

The Joseph Smith Papers' notes on this text

Reproduced from the Joseph Smith Papers. They are that project's editorial work, not this edition's; the ones beginning TEXT: are where its editors flag a reading of the manuscript as uncertain, and those are the uncertainty this edition records.

1. 1TEXT: Possibly “inspr.”. William Clayton’s account renders this passage as “the inspirati[o]n of A[lmighty] God.”textual
2. 2See Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 119 [2 Nephi 33:1].scripture
3. 3See Revelation 8:3–4.scripture
4. 4See James 5:16.scripture
5. 5The Times and Seasons account renders this word as “consequently.”times and seasons
6. 6See 1 Corinthians 2:9–11; and Third Lecture on Faith, in Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 ed., 36–37.scripture
7. 7See John 17:3.scripture
8. 8The Times and Seasons account renders this passage as “if I should be the man to comprehend God, and explain or convey the principles to your hearts.”times and seasons
9. 9See Psalm 31:18.scripture
10. 10In a meeting held on Sunday, 24 March 1844, JS publicly exposed a reported plot to kill him and his family members. (Discourse, 24 Mar. 1844–A; JS, Journal, 24 Mar. 1844; see also Abiathar Williams, Affidavit, Hancock Co., IL, 27 Mar. 1844, and Merinus G. Eaton, Affidavit, Hancock Co., IL, 27 Mar. 1844, in Nauvoo Neighbor, 17 Apr. 1844, [2].)other
11. 11TEXT: Possibly “servt.”, although JS’s scriptural allusion suggests that the word should have been rendered as “scribe”. (See Matthew 7:28–29; and Mark 1:22.)textual
12. 12In April 1843, JS taught that when the Savior “shall appear we shall see him as he is. we shall see that he is a man like ourselves.” He explained that the idea of “the father and the Son” dwelling “in a mans heart is an old Sectarian notion. and is not correct.” Instead, “the Father has a body of flesh & bones as tangible as mans the Son also.” (Instruction, 2 Apr. 1843 [D&C 130:1, 3, 22]; see also 1 John 3:2.)scripture
13. 13See Genesis 1:26–27; 5:1; and Old Testament Revision 1, pp. 4, 11 [Moses 2:26–27; 6:8–9].scripture
14. 14TEXT: Possibly “Comd.”.textual
15. 15See Genesis 3:8–12, 17–19; and Old Testament Revision 1, p. 7 [Moses 4:14–18, 23–25].scripture
16. 16See Third Lecture on Faith, in Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 ed., 36; and Fourth Lecture on Faith, in Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 ed., 44.other
17. 17The Times and Seasons account renders this passage as “I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined that God was God from all eternity” (italics added).times and seasons
18. 18In 1842 JS taught that “the God & father of our Lord Jesus Christ was once the same as the Son or Holy Ghost bothaving [both having] redeemed a world became the eternal God of that world he had a son Jesus Christ who redeemed this earth the same as his father had a world which made them equal & the Holy Ghost would do the same in his turn & so would all the Saints who inherited a Celestial glory so their would be Gods many & Lords many.” (Discourse, 30 Jan. 1842.)other
19. 19See 1 Thessalonians 4:16; and Revelation, Sept. 1830–A [D&C 29:26].scripture
20. 20See John 5:19–21, 26; 10:17–18; and Discourse, 11 June 1843–A.scripture
21. 21In August 1843, JS taught, “What was the design of the almighty in making man, it was to exalt him to be as God, the scripture says ye are Gods and it cannot be broken, heirs of God and joint heirs I with Jesus Christ equal with him possesing all power &c.” (Discourse, 27 Aug. 1843; see also Psalm 82:6; Isaiah 41:23; John 10:34; Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:58]; Revelation, 12 July 1843 [D&C 132:19–20]; and Discourse, 13 Aug. 1843–A.)scripture
22. 22See Revelation 1:6; 5:10; and Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:56].scripture
23. 23See John 1:16; and Revelation, 6 May 1833 [D&C 93:12–13, 20].scripture
24. 24Wilford Woodruff’s account renders this passage as “And you have got to learn how to make yourselves God, king and priest, by going from a small capacity to a great capacity to the resurrection of the dead, to dwelling in everlasting burnings.”other
25. 25The Times and Seasons account renders this passage as “to know, that although the earthly tabernacle shall be dissolved” (italics added).times and seasons
26. 26See Romans 8:17.scripture
27. 27See Revelation 21:7; Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:59]; Revelation, 1 Mar. 1832 [D&C 78:22]; and Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:38].scripture
28. 28See John 5:19.scripture
29. 29See Philippians 2:12; and Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 522 [Mormon 9:27].scripture
30. 30See 1 Corinthians 15:24; and Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:107].scripture
31. 31Genesis 1:1. JS’s commentary on the Hebrew in Genesis 1:1 seems to have been influenced by a combination of insights he gleaned from his Hebrew studies with Joshua Seixas in early 1836, Hebrew resources he acquired during his studies, and his own thinking on the possibilities of various Hebrew words and phrases. (See Grey, “Joseph Smith’s Study of Hebrew in Kirtland,” 264, 272; JS, Journal, 20 Nov. 1835; 26 Jan. 1836; 29 Mar. 1836; and JS, Discourse, 16 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL; see also August Hahn, Biblia Hebraica [New York: Carl Tauchnitz, 1834]; Moses Stuart, Grammar of the Hebrew Language [Andover, MA: Flagg and Gould, 1831]; Josiah W. Gibbs, Manual Hebrew and English Lexicon [New Haven, CT: Hezekiah Howe, 1832]; Joshua Seixas, Manual Hebrew Grammar for the Use of Beginners [Andover, MA: Gould and Newman, 1834]; and Supplement to J. Seixas’ Manual Hebrew Grammar [New York: West and Trow, 1836].)scripture
32. 32Berasheeth or Bereshit is a construct clause traditionally translated in Genesis 1:1 as “in the beginning.” In his interpretation of this clause, JS removed its first letter (baith/bet, a preposition that can mean “in” or “by”) and its final two letters (-eet/-it), which Seixas identified as a grammatical “termination,” leaving the remaining core of the word, resh or rosh, which means “head.” (Seixas, Manual Hebrew Grammar, 12, 15, 21.)scripture
33. 33The full logic of this statement is best reflected in the Times and Seasons account, which renders this passage as “Berosheit. I want to analyze the word; baith, in, by, through, in, and every thing else. Rosh, the head. Sheit, gramatical termination. When the inspired man wrote it, he did not put the baith there. A man, a Jew without any authority, thought it too bad to begin to talk about the head. It read first, ‘The head one of the Gods brought forth the Gods,’ that is the true meaning of the words. Baurau, signifies to bring forth.” In this reconstructed passage, JS explained the way in which he reinterpreted the first word of Genesis 1:1 (Berasheeth/Bereshit) as “the head,” meaning one of the Gods; retranslated the verb of this sentence (baurau/bara) from the traditional “to create” to the less conventional “to bring forth”; and shifted the plural noun Elōheem/Elohim (“Gods”) from acting as the sentence’s subject to serving as its direct object. Thus, JS reworked the first portion of Genesis 1:1 (traditionally, “in the beginning God created”) to read “the head brought forth the Gods” in an attempt to demonstrate how the Hebrew version of this passage could be viewed as supporting his teachings on the nature of God and creation. For other examples of how JS or his associates interpreted Genesis 1:1, see JS, Discourse, 16 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL; and “The Living God,” Times and Seasons, 15 Feb. 1845, 6:808–809.times and seasons
34. 34TEXT: Possibly “K”.textual
35. 35See Book of Abraham Excerpt and Facsimile 2, 15 Mar. 1842 [Abraham 3:22–28; 4:26; 5:2].scripture
36. 36The Times and Seasons account renders this passage as “Some learned doctor might take a notion to say, the scriptures say thus and so, and are not to be altered” (italics added).times and seasons
37. 37Although Thomas Bullock’s account does not name the title of this book, the accounts of others confirm that it was a polyglot Bible. William Clayton called it “an old Book (N. T.) in the Hebrew. Latin German & Greek.” Wilford Woodruff recorded a dream in which he saw JS with “his old Hebrew and Jerman Bible.” William Goforth also mentioned this Bible in a letter published in the Nauvoo Neighbor, calling it “the oldest book in existence of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, whose leaves seen in a character of decay and as having been the figure whereon the spirit of God was first displayed.” JS’s polyglot Bible may have been a volume titled Novum Testamentum Harmonicum, which contained the text of the New Testament printed in parallel columns of Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and German, making it possible to compare the same passage in all four languages. (Woodruff, Journal, 19 Aug. 1844; William Goforth [Sissimus, pseud.], Nauvoo, IL, 10 Apr. 1844, Letter to the Editor, Nauvoo Neighbor, 1 May 1844, [2]; Novum Testamentum, Harmonicum . . . , edited by Elias Hutter [Nuremberg, Germany, 1602].)other
38. 38JS studied German with the assistance of Orson Hyde and Alexander Neibaur. On 22 March 1844, he was reading in German, apparently on his own. (JS, Journal, 22 Dec. 1842; JS, Journal, 18 and 22 Mar. 1844.)other
39. 39TEXT: Possibly “test[imony].” The Times and Seasons account renders this passage as “In the 21st verse of the 4th chapter of Mathew, it gives the word Jacob instead of James.”textual
40. 40TEXT: Possibly “wo[r]d” or “wo[ul]d”.textual
41. 41Creation ex nihilo, or the doctrine that God “created the universe out of nothing,” was a position long held by mainstream Christians, although it “was being called into question by scientists and churchmen alike, with the dawn of the nineteenth century.” (Givens, Wrestling the Angel, 53–54.)other
42. 42Baurau, or bara, is the Hebrew verb in Genesis 1:1 that is traditionally translated as “to create.” JS, however, drew upon less conventional translations of the verb—which could include “to form” or “to make”—to refute the notion of creation ex nihilo. (See Gibbs, Manual Hebrew and English Lexicon, 36.)scripture
43. 43JS had previously taught that the earth had been formed out of existing materials. (See Accounts of Meeting and Discourse, 5 Jan. 1841; and Book of Abraham Excerpt and Facsimile 2, 15 Mar. 1842 [Abraham 3:24; 4:1].)scripture
44. 44See Revelation, 6 May 1833 [D&C 93:33].scripture
45. 45The Times and Seasons account renders this passage as “I have another subject to dwell upon” (italics added).times and seasons
46. 46See Genesis 2:7; Old Testament Revision 1, p. 5 [Moses 3:7]; and Book of Abraham Excerpt and Facsimile 2, 15 Mar. 1842 [Abraham 5:7].scripture
47. 47The Times and Seasons account renders this passage as “hence when I talk to these mourners; what have they lost.” The Willard Richards and Wilford Woodruff versions clarify that “they” refers not to the “mourners” but to their recently departed “friends.”times and seasons
48. 48In 1843 JS taught that the “same sociality which exists amongst us here will exist among us there only it will be coupled with eternal glory which we do not enjoy now.” (Instruction, 2 Apr. 1843 [D&C 130:2].)scripture
49. 49The Times and Seasons account renders this passage as “suppose you cut it in two” (italics added).times and seasons
50. 50In 1841 JS taught that “that which has a beginning will surely have an end.” Instructing his audience to consider a ring, he continued, “It is without beginning or end; cut it for a beginning place, and at the same time you have an ending place.” Later he concluded that “if the soul of man had a beginning it will surely have an end.” (Accounts of Meeting and Discourse, 5 Jan. 1841.)other
51. 51The doctrine of annihilation, as understood in Christian theology, argues that “human beings may pass or be put out of existence altogether”—as opposed to living out a postmortal eternity of rewards or punishments in heaven or hell. JS also referenced the idea of annihilation in a 13 August 1843 discourse. (Pinnock, “Annihilationism,” 462; Discourse, 13 Aug. 1843–A.)other
52. 52See Book of Abraham Excerpt and Facsimile 2, 15 Mar. 1842 [Abraham 3:19, 22–23]; Revelation, 6 May 1833 [D&C 93:29]; Discourse, between ca. 26 June and ca. 4 Aug. 1839–A; and Discourse, 5 Feb. 1840.scripture
53. 53See Book of Abraham Excerpt and Facsimile 2, 15 Mar. 1842 [Abraham 3:23–26].scripture
54. 54The Times and Seasons account renders this passage as “God reveals them to us in view of no eternal dissolution of the body” (italics added).times and seasons
55. 55See Hebrews 11:40; and Letter to the Church, 7 Sept. 1842 [D&C 128:15].scripture
56. 56See Malachi 4:5–6. Wilford Woodruff’s account fleshes out this reference, noting that “it is necessary that the seals are in our hands to seal our children & our dead for the folness of the dispensation of times.” JS’s journal entry for 3 April 1836 notes that JS and Oliver Cowdery experienced a vision of Elijah appearing to them in the House of the Lord in Kirtland, Ohio, announcing the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy and conveying to them “the Keys of this dispensation.” JS had taught about Elijah and the sealing power in several recent discourses. (Visions, 3 Apr. 1836 [D&C 110:13–16]; JS, Journal, 3 Apr. 1836; see also, for example, Discourse, 13 Aug. 1843–A; Discourse, 21 Jan. 1844; and Discourse, 10 Mar. 1844.)scripture
57. 57See Matthew 12:31.scripture
58. 58The Times and Seasons account renders this passage as “A man can not commit the unpardonable sin after the dissolution of the body.”times and seasons
59. 59Wilford Woodruff’s account renders this passage as “He cannot be damned through all eternity, their is a possibility for his escape in a little time.”other
60. 60The Times and Seasons account renders this passage as “Knowledge saves a man, and in the world of spirits a man cannot be exalted but by knowledge; so long as a man will not give heed to the commandments, he must abide without salvation.”times and seasons
61. 61See Revelation 21:8; Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 316 [Alma 36:12–16, 21]; and Revelation, ca. Summer 1829 [D&C 19:15].scripture
62. 62See Old Testament Revision 1, p. 6 [Moses 4:2]; and Book of Abraham Excerpt and Facsimile 2, 15 Mar. 1842 [Abraham 3:27].scripture
63. 63The Times and Seasons account renders this passage as “The contention in heaven was, Jesus said there would be certain souls that would not be saved.”times and seasons
64. 64See Old Testament Revision 1, p. 6 [Moses 4:1].scripture
65. 65See Revelation 12:7–9; Old Testament Revision 1, p. 6 [Moses 4:3]; and Book of Abraham Excerpt and Facsimile 2, 15 Mar. 1842 [Abraham 3:28].scripture
66. 66An 1832 revelation described those who have committed this sin as “having denied the holy ghost after having received it and having denied the only begoten son of the fathe[r] crucifying him unto themselves and putting him to an open shame.” A revelation recorded in 1843 specified that “the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which Shall not be forgiven in the world nor out of the world, is in that ye Commit murder, wherein ye Shed innocent blood and assent unto my death, after ye have received my new and Everlasting covenant.” (Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:31–39]; Revelation, 12 July 1843 [D&C 132:27]; see also Matthew 12:31–32; Hebrews 6:4–6; Minutes and Discourse, 1–5 Oct. 1841; and Discourse, 10 Mar. 1844.)scripture
67. 67See Matthew 12:34; and Luke 6:45.scripture
68. 68See John 14:2.scripture
69. 69See 1 Corinthians 15:41; and Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:70–71, 78, 81, 96–98].scripture
70. 70See Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:70].scripture
71. 71See Isaiah 33:14; Hebrews 12:29; and Instruction, 2 Apr. 1843 [D&C 130:7].scripture
72. 72In 1843 William Clayton asked JS “wether children who die in infancy will grow.” JS answered they would not but that “we shall receive them precisely in the same state as they died ie no larger. They will have as much intelligence as we shall but shall always remain separate and single. They will have no increase. Children who are born dead will have full grown bodies being made up by the resurrection.” (Clayton, Journal, 18 May 1843.)other
73. 73See John 3:5.scripture
74. 74On 6 April 1830, the Church of Christ was officially established at a meeting at Peter Whitmer Sr.’s home in Fayette Township, New York. Prior to JS’s 7 April 1844 discourse, Sidney Rigdon spoke three times during the conference on the history of the church and the kingdom of God. (See Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 6–9 Apr. 1844, 1–3, 5–12.)other
75. 75See Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:7–8; Luke 3:16; and John 1:33.scripture
76. 76Alexander Campbell (1788–1866) left his association with Regular Baptists to promote, with several other Christian reformers, the restoration of primitive Christianity through adherence to New Testament teachings and practices. Campbell’s followers and supporters came to be known as Disciples of Christ or, less formally, Campbellites. In January 1832, Campbell’s movement merged with a similar movement led by Barton Stone, whose followers—many of whom were former Presbyterians—referred to themselves simply as Christians. (See Hayden, Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, chap. 1; McAllister and Tucker, Journey in Faith, 26–28; and Foster et al., Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, 713–716.)other
77. 77Campbell taught that a person received the Holy Spirit after being baptized by immersion and that no additional ordinance was necessary. He explained, “As children, after their natural birth, inhale the spirit or air of this world; so the new born babes, or the regenerated, as soon as born of the water, receive the Spirit which pervades the kingdom into which they are born.” (Alexander Campbell to [Robert] Semple, in Millennial Harbinger, 2 Aug. 1830, 357–358; see also Benson, Alexander Campbell and Joseph Smith, 176.)other
78. 78See Ephesians 4:4–6.scripture
79. 79The Times and Seasons account renders this passage as “I have the truth and am at the defiance of the world to contradict me, if they can” (italics added).times and seasons
80. 80See Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:38–39].scripture
81. 81See Matthew 12:31–32; and Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:34–39].scripture
82. 82See John 5:29; Revelation 20:10; and Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 79 [2 Nephi 9:16].scripture
83. 83See Isaiah 33:14.scripture
84. 84See Proverbs 9:8.scripture
85. 85TEXT: Possibly “bearing”.textual
86. 86“My aged friend” may be a reference to Sidney Rigdon, who had been a counselor to JS since 1832. He spoke before JS during the conference. It is also possible—if “hearing the test[imony]” is actually “bearing the test[imony]”—that JS was referring to King Follett. The Times and Seasons account, however, renders “friend” as “friends”: “I rejoice in bearing the testimony of my aged friends.” (See Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 6–9 Apr. 1844, 8–14.)times and seasons
87. 87See 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17; Revelation 20:12–13; Revelation, Sept. 1830–A [D&C 29:13]; Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831 [D&C 45:45]; Minutes and Prayer of Dedication, 27 Mar. 1836 [D&C 109:75]; Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 521 [Mormon 9:13–14]; Daniel 5:27; and Job 31:6.scripture