The Mormon Apocrypha

Last post, I shared some revelations received by Otto Fetting. This post does the same, but with the revelations of William A. Draves. Message 31 1 “Fear not, let peace be with you. Your prayers have been heard; God hears the prayers of His children; He knows your hearts before you ask. Some are pleading to Him in your behalf, and God has looked on you in favor. The year has been good to you. Blessings have been yours to enjoy. Yea, be humble before your God.  2 Truly God has used you as an instrument in His hands—by the power of that righteous Spirit He spoke through you. Many have obeyed His voice. Many have been made glad, and some have gone through sadness and will, before they will hear Him, but God will not fail the honest—those that seek Him diligently. Seek Him early while it is called today. Man is all selfishness unless he is filled with the Spirit of God.”  At this juncture the visitor raised his right arm and seemed to reach almost over me swaying his arm gently. I...

Unlike the other churches of the restoration, I have talked about so far, The Church of Christ with the Elijah Message was not created during the succession crisis, but instead in the 1920s. Despite this, it is the fourth largest Mormon denomination, with over 12,000 members. Otto Fetting was a member of the Church of Christ, Temple Lot. On February 4, 1927, Fetting claimed that John the Baptist gave him a message to give to the Church of Christ. The church was originally accepting of Otto's visions, even publishing them in their paper, The Zions Advocate. Soon however, Otto began receiving messages contrary to the Church of Christ's policies. Consequently, in 1929, Fetting was silenced. Fetting chose to withdraw from the church, bringing a large percentage of church of Christ members with him. Otto passed away in 1933, after claiming to have received multiple revelations by the angel. William A. Draves, a member of this church, claimed to have received revelations from the sam...

Last time, I posted some Old Testament passages from the Joseph Smith Translation if the Old Testament. Today, I want to post some passages from the New Testament. Matthew 3: 24-26  Jesus' youth and childhood are described.  24 And it came to pass that Jesus grew up with his brethren, and waxed strong, and waited upon the Lord for the time of his ministry to come.     25 And he served under his father, and he spake not as other men, neither could he be taught; for he needed not that any man should teach him.     26 And after many years, the hour of his ministry drew nigh. Matthew  7: 1- 37 Christ gives instruction to his Disciples 1  Now these are the words which Jesus taught his disciples that they should say unto the people.      2 Judge not  unrighteously, that ye be not judged: but judge righteous judgment.  3 For with what judgment ye shall judge, ye shall be judged; and with what me...

The Joseph Smith Translation, also known as the inspired version, is an interesting part of Latter-day Saint history. After translating the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith began his translation of the King James Bible in June 1830. In 1833, he believed it sufficiently finished to begin publication. Unfortunately, Joseph Smith did not live to see it published.  Following Smith's death, John Milton Bernhisel, a confidant of Brigham Young, asked Emma Smith for permission to use Joseph's translation in his own bible. Unfortunately, Bernhisel's bible had less than half of the corrections of the JST and was never published. When Jospeh Smith III became prophet of the RLDS Church, he began work on a bible based on his father notes, publishing it in 1867. The JST has not been canonized by the LDS church, with the exception of the Book of Moses, which contains Genesis 1-7 of the JST, and Joseph Smith Matthew, which contains Matthew 24 of the JST. Below are some sections from the Old Te...