In these Infant Days of the Church
Historical Background for Doctrine and Covenants 63
What is the historical background for Doctrine and Covenants 63?
In their Doctrine and Covenants Commentary, Smith and Sjodahl introduce this section as follows:
The Prophet Joseph Smith and his companions arrived in Kirtland on August 27th, 1831, having traveled by stage from St. Louis. The building up of Zion and the gathering of the Saints were now the most important objects in view. Wherefore the Prophet humbly asked the Lord for further information on those subjects. Then he received this Revelation, in which the Lord (1) calls for the attention of the Saints to His Word (1-5); (2) warns the wicked (6-21); (3) commands the Saints to gather (22-31); (4) gives an important reason for gathering (32-37), and (5) some special directions (38-47); (6) promises blessings (48-54); (7) warns Sidney Rigdon (55-56); (8) directs that ministers be ordained (57-58); and (9) closes with warnings and a promise (59-66). (p. 373)
In his book A Joseph Smith Chronology, J. Christopher Conkling gives a brief introduction to this same section:
Aug. 9-27, 1831
Joseph, Sidney, and Oliver travel back to Kirtland. At this time in Kirtland, the Saints want to receive the word of the Lord upon every subject, and therefore Joseph prays about the gathering and the purchasing of lands; he receives D&C 63. (p. 26)
Regarding this section, in their book Joseph Smith and the Doctrine and Covenants, Milton V. Backman, Jr. and Richard O. Cowan observe that
Joseph Smith returned to Kirtland to find interest in Zion running high. In August 1831, the Lord declared that his Saints should “assemble themselves together unto the land of Zion” (D&C 63:24). (pp. 60-61)
In his book The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Lyndon W. Cook sheds more light on this section:
Date. August 1831 (30 August 1831).
Place. Kirtland, Geauga County, Ohio.
Historical Note. Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Oliver Cowdery arrived in Kirtland, Ohio, from Missouri on 27 August 1831. The following day Oliver was ordained to the High Priesthood. Two days later section 63 was received. Items contained in this revelation was well as in section 64 (received on 11 September 1831) reflect the uneasy spirit of some of the members of the Church in Kirtland at the time. Joseph’s absence from Kirtland during the summer of 1831 left the Mormon community without adequate leadership. This, combined with the dissatisfaction of some of the elders who went to Missouri with the Prophet, resulted in the apostasy of a number of Saints. Although the dissension appears not to have been widespread, by October 1831 it was being referred to as “the falling away” at Kirtland. The Prophet’s preface to this revelation, written several years later, did not comment on the dissension, but focused on the high interest in gathering to Missouri. He notes, “I enquired of the Lord for further information upon the gathering of the saints and the purchase of the land and other matters.
The “other matters” referred to by the Prophet were mentioned in the revelations: (1) Titus Billings was to dispose of property over which he had responsibility, (2) Newel K. Whitney was to retain his store and be ordained an agent for the Church, (3) Oliver Cowdery and Newel K. Whitney were to visit the churches, “expoinding the scriptures and commandments, and obtaining moneys” to buy land in Missouri, (4) Sidney Rigdon was to rewrite a description of the land of Zion, the first draft having been unacceptable, and (5) Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were to “seek a home.”
Pursuant to the above instructions, Titus Billings made arrangements regarding his property and left for Missouri in the spring of 1832. Newel K. Whitney and Oliver Cowdery visited the churches in the Western Reserve in the fall of 1831 to obtain donations from Church members. Sidney Rigdon wrote another “epistle and subscription.” This epistle, not part of the published history of the Church, is included below in its entirety. During the fall of 1831 Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon made arrangements to move to Hiram, Ohio, where they remained for nearly a year, the Prophet’s family staying at the John Johnson home.
Publication Note. Section 63 was first published in the Evening and Morning Star (February 1833) and was included as chapter 64 in the Book of Commandments in 1833. (pp. 98-99, 102)
Cook also includes a lengthy letter from Sidney Rigdon to the Saints in Kirtland, and biographical information about Titus Billings and Newel Kimball Whitney. Rigdon’s letter is noteworthy, and I commend it to your attention because he describes the Lord’s purposes for the gathering and for the Center Place of Zion in unmistakably clear terms. Independence is the Center Place and it was and will be the place of refuge for the Saints in these the last days. It is a great letter that sheds much light on how the early Saints felt and thought about the land of Zion.
Bruce R. McConkie introduces this section as follows:
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Kirtland, Ohio, August 30, 1831. The Prophet, Sidney Rigdon, and Oliver Cowdery had arrived in Kirtland on August 27 from their visit to Missouri. Joseph Smith’s history describes this revelation: “In these infant days of the Church, there was a great anxiety to obtain the word of the Lord upon every subject that in any way concerned our salvation; and as the land of Zion was now the most important temporal object in view, I enquired of the Lord for further information upon the gathering of the Saints, and the purchase of the land, and other matters.”
This is a good summary of the historical background for D&C 63, which section we will study in more detail in the following post.