In this episode, Skyler is joined by Dr. Ed Romine to review and respond to LDS President Russell M. Nelson’s April 2024 General Conference talk “Rejoice in the Gift of Priesthood Keys”.  

Correction/Clarification: I brought up the 1838 First Vision Account, and then made the comparative point with the other accounts in a way that wasn’t as clear as it should've been. More technically, I should have said JSH-1, which includes the First Vision account. The Elijah portion quoted, which was also placed in D&C 2 in 1876, comes from the “Moroni” visit of JSH-1 (notice: not Nephi), and, similarly, that portion is also a part that is not mentioned in the other accounts of Nephi/Moroni.

Moreover, the Sept. 23, 1823 Moroni-visit may more accurately be called the “First Vision” depending on how one argues the dating of what they now call the First Vision (wherein he claims to see God, the Father and Jesus Christ). If the dating is 1820, it would be prior to the Moroni visit in 1823, but would also have a social context that is anachronistic; if 1825, then the context of revival would be fitting, yet it would obviously date to after the Moroni visit.  

“Rejoice in the Gift of Priesthood Keys” by Russell M. Nelson 

News: RNS; SLTrib 

D&C 109; 110; 2; 77; BD: Elias; JSH-1 

“Why did Moses, Elias, and Elijah appear in the Kirtland Temple?” (Notice the footnotes on Elias) 

The Words of Joseph Smith, edited by Andrew Ehat and Lyndon Cook 

History of Church, edited by B.H. Roberts (vol.’s 2, 4, 5, 6) 

Joseph Smith: here and here 

Jesus the Christ by James Talmage 

Gospel Principles 

“Celestial Marriage” by Orson Pratt (August 29, 1852) 

“Elijah’s Latter-Day Mission” by Orson Pratt (August 28, 1859) 

“Discourse By President John Taylor” (October 21, 1877) 

“Discourse By President George Q. Cannon” (May 25, 1884) 

The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith by Lyndon Cook 

Visions, 3 April 1836 [D&C 110] (Warren Cowdery) 

“The Mormon Creed” by Orson Pratt 

Lectures on Faith  

An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins by Grant Palmer 

Power from on High: The Development of Mormon Priesthood by Gregory Prince 

Conflict in the Quorum by Gary Bergera 

Like A Fiery Meteor: The Life of Joseph F. Smith by Stephen Taysom 

“This Is My Doctrine”: The Development of Mormon Theology by Charles Harrell 

Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? by Sandra and Jerald Tanner 

Temple Made With Hands?; An Earnest Plea to Charismatics (Jason Wallace) 

“Doctrine and Covenants 110: From Vision to Canonization” by Trevor Anderson, MA Thesis 

Polygamy on the Pedernales: Lyman Wight’s Mormon Village in Antebellum Texas by Melvin Johnson 

“Wingfield Scott Watson and His Struggle to Preserve the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) After the Death of Its Founder” by Kyle Robert Beshears 

“God Has Made Us a Kingdom”: James Strang and the Midwest Mormons by Vickie Cleverley Speek 

The Kirtland Temple: Biography of a Shared Mormon Sacred Space by David J. Howlett 

NOTE (from an earlier episode): Who is Elias? What is the spirit of Elijah? Malachi's Prophecy and John's Fulfillment - 

Though in the Bible Elias and Elijah are the same person, with just a difference in the transliteration of the name - Joseph Smith claimed they were different people, and that they (both) appeared to him. In other words, Elias is simply the Greek form of the OT prophet Elijah's Hebrew name. They are the same person. Yet, according to Joseph Smith, they are two different people who both appeared to him. 

Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 335-338; D&C 110 

Why did Moses, Elias, and Elijah appear in the Kirtland Temple? (Notice the footnotes on Elias) 

Not only do LDS see the coming of Elijah as actually fulfilled in the Kirtland Temple (though some, including a Mormon prophet outside the LDS church, dispute this) - but they connect the "spirit of Elijah" to temple work (including vicarious rituals for the dead). One irony about this is that John (who is biblically associated with Elijah and the prophecy of Malachi) is born to parents of a priestly lineage (of Aaron) - and yet, one of the LDS distinctives is that the Aaronic priesthood is unable to do sealings, and thus, John would not have qualified in their system. 

The Malachi prophecy that the Bible teaches as fulfilled in John the Baptist preparing the way for The Lord features in a key place in Joseph Smith's story (JSH 1. 38-39, D&C 2:1-2); and the spirit of Elijah is described in ways linked to genealogy and temple work, such as: "Elijah would restore the sealing powers so families could be sealed together. He would also inspire people to be concerned about their ancestors and descendants." (here, here also here) 

Yet, Jesus says this prophecy of Elijah/Elias (who are one and the same) was fulfilled in John the Baptist. (Matt. 11. 13, 17.12-13). In fact, the prophecy - including the language about turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and vice versa (language of covenant, and covenant-faithfulness, in context) - is literally stated by the angel Gabriel to Zechariah in Luke 1:13-17 to be about the mission of John, specifically. 

Moreover, Luke's presentation of John the Baptist fulfilling prophecy in 3.4-5 is changed by Joseph Smith in order to make these verses about events associated with the second coming. (JST Luke 3, D&C 49.23) 

Even the utilization of the ministry of Elijah by Jesus in Luke 4 (where Jesus reads from Isaiah 61) is likewise obfuscated in Mormon teaching - since they have historically treated Isaiah 61 as about liberating spirits from spirit prison (also linked to their temple rituals). (here, D&C 128, D&C 138) Harrell states, relative to this, "Of course, in Mormonism it is more than hearing the gospel that delivers spirits from spirit prison." And "In current LDS discourse on salvation for the dead, Isaiah 61.1-2 is interpreted almost exclusively as having reference to the liberation of spirits from spirit prison, or hell, into paradise once the living perform saving ordinances on their behalf." (p.344) 

Mormonism and the Magic World View by D. Michael Quinn 

Temple Made With Hands? (Jason Wallace) 

"Most modern KJV's follow the revision made by Benjamin Blayney in 1769." (There was the original 1611, the 1612, 1613, 1616, 1629, 1638 - and then in 1769 Cambridge Edition of Benjamin Blayley; The King James Only Controversy by James White, pp. 124-126; also see p. 288, and footnote 13 on that page) On the LDS version of the KJV - "Leaders took steps in the early 1970s to produce their own edition of the KJV that would fill such desires, completing the effort in 1979...[Their] new Bible boasts seven major features distinguishing it from other editions of the KJV..." (Mormons and the Bible by Philip Barlow, pp. 227-228, also here) 

God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible by Adam Nicolson 

In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How it Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture by Alister McGrath