Succession in the Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

In Short

This historical and polemical work systematically defends the legitimacy of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles’ succession following the 1844 martyrdom of Joseph Smith. By contrasting the organizational stability of the Salt Lake City-based Church with the emergence of various splinter groups—specifically the "Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints"—the text argues that divine authority remained with the apostolic quorum. It serves as both a manual for missionaries encountering competing claims and a record of the institutional self-conception during a pivotal era of the Church’s development.

The Story

The narrative begins with a moment of high tension and perceived crisis: the death of Joseph Smith, the founding prophet, leaving his followers in a state of sudden, leaderless uncertainty. The central conflict involves the question of who holds the "keys of the kingdom" and the right to direct the Church. The author posits that this power did not vanish with the prophet, nor was it meant to be inherited solely through lineage, but rather resided with the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The story progresses by categorizing the various figures who challenged this leadership. The author chronicles the rise and inevitable decline of several claimants, such as Sidney Rigdon, William Smith, and James J. Strang. Through a lens of firm disapproval, the text details how these men attempted to assert authority, only to see their movements fracture and dissolve. The author frames these failures as the fulfillment of a prophecy uttered by Brigham Young, who warned that any attempt to lead away a party from the established Church would result in failure and obscurity.

A significant portion of the work is dedicated to the "Josephite" movement, or the Reorganized Church. The author methodically addresses their foundational arguments, which centered on the claim that the presidency of the Church was an office meant to pass to the prophet’s eldest son, Joseph Smith III. The text dissects the theological justifications provided by the Reorganization, identifying what the author describes as "wresting the word of God" and "trickery" in their interpretation of past revelations. The argument emphasizes that legitimate authority is established through specific legal procedures and the sustaining vote of the body of the Church, not through birthright alone.

As the narrative concludes, the author pivots from institutional critique to a broader vision of the Church’s mission. He draws a direct line between the work of the original prophet—particularly his focus on temple-building and salvation for the dead—and the subsequent construction of temples in Utah. By pointing to these physical structures as tangible evidence of divine favor and continuity, the author asserts that the Quorum of the Twelve successfully carried forward the mantle of the prophet. The book ends with a firm declaration that the Church in Utah stands as the only legitimate continuation of the work started in 1830, dismissing all competing organizations as "spurious" institutions born of human ambition rather than divine decree.

How It Unfolds

Defining the crisis The text establishes the necessity of a central leader while maintaining that the keys of authority remained with the Church after the martyrdom. It posits that the Quorum of the Twelve was uniquely prepared to assume the administrative and spiritual burdens of the ministry.

The failure of the dissenters The author systematically reviews the splinter movements led by men like Sidney Rigdon and James J. Strang. He portrays these groups as short-lived organizations that lacked the divine sanction required to survive or grow.

Evaluating the Reorganization The core of the argument centers on the emergence of the "Josephite" Church in the 1850s and 60s. The author critiques their reliance on claims of lineage and their subsequent attempts to "reorganize" a church he argues was never disorganized.

The test of divine favor In the final stages, the author redirects the focus to the physical and spiritual fruits of the Salt Lake-based leadership. He highlights the completion of major temples as proof that the authority to perform sacred ordinances remained intact.

The People

Joseph Smith, the Martyr The foundational figure, whose death creates the power vacuum. The author presents him as a prophet whose authority and revelations were complete, leaving behind clear laws for succession that preclude the need for later "reorganization."

Brigham Young The central protagonist of the succession, portrayed as a man transfigured by the spirit of the prophet during a moment of crisis. The author relies heavily on his recorded speeches and prophecies to establish the legitimacy of the apostolic leadership.

Sidney Rigdon, James J. Strang, and William Smith These men represent the primary antagonists in the author’s historical account. They are characterized by their ambition and their failed attempts to build competing factions, with the author noting their eventual decline into obscurity as proof of their lack of divine calling.

Joseph Smith III The focal point of the "Josephite" claims. The author depicts him as a man whose leadership is based on a mistaken belief in hereditary right, and he treats his 1860 acceptance of the presidency of the Reorganized Church as a misstep based on faulty premises and human influence rather than heavenly directive.

In Its Own Voice

Regarding the necessity of the Church's survival through its appointed quorum, the author quotes a foundational revelation:

"The keys of this kingdom shall never be taken from you while thou art in the world, neither in the world to come; nevertheless, through you shall the oracles be given to another--even to the Church."

Discussing the inevitability of the dissenters' failures, the author cites Brigham Young’s warning:

"All that want to draw away a party from the church after them, let them do it if they can, but they will not prosper."

Questioning the legitimacy of the Reorganized Church's claims to revelation, the author writes:

"A cause which requires such a wresting of the word of God to wring a promise out of it that the eldest son of the prophet would succeed to the office of the President of the church after the death of his father--a cause which requires such a reading as is here thrust into the revelation in brackets, is desperate indeed!"

What It's Really About

At its heart, this book is an exploration of the mechanics of institutional legitimacy. It asks: how does a religious movement survive the death of its founder? The author is deeply concerned with the definition of "order" and "law" within a religious context. The underlying argument is that authority is not a personal possession to be passed down through family lines, but an institutional trust bound to specific priesthood quorums. The text grapples with the tension between individual charismatic claims and the necessity of bureaucratic and administrative continuity, ultimately arguing that the "true" path is the one that maintains the original organization and adheres to the established legal framework of the priesthood.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in the history of the American religious experience, particularly the complexities of the Latter-day Saint movement, will find this a dense and revealing primary source. It provides an unvarnished look at the internal conflicts that defined the nineteenth-century Mormon frontier. The prose is earnest, polemical, and occasionally sharp, reflecting the high stakes of the debates occurring in the 1890s.

Modern readers should be prepared for the author’s uncompromising stance; he writes not as a neutral historian, but as an active participant defending a specific ecclesiastical vision. The text includes significant amounts of period-appropriate legalistic argument and extensive transcriptions of journals and past revelations, which may feel laborious to some. However, for those seeking to understand the "why" behind the institutional fractures of this faith, the book offers a clear, if partisan, window into the logic of succession. It is a work of immense intellectual energy that captures a period when the very identity of the Church was being forged through debate and, ultimately, through the physical expansion of its mission into the American West. The tenacity of the author’s conviction remains the most striking element of the experience, offering a window into a mindset that viewed the preservation of the Church’s structural integrity as a sacred, life-defining duty.