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...

The Book of the Law of the Lord is too long to reproduce the entire book, so I will leave off this journey by posting the second chapter.   Chapter 2 The True God   1a The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob is our God; this is His name forever, and this is His memorial unto all generations.   1b He created the heavens and the earth, and all things that are in them are the workmanship of His hands.   1c He created man in his own image, that he might have dominion over the earth, and over the beasts of the field, and over the fowls of the air, and over the fishes of the sea.   2a ¶ Man, being in the likeness of God's person, they all recognize him as their Lord, and fear Him as a God.   2b And notwithstanding his degeneracy, he has retained so much of the divine likeness; that beasts, birds, and fishes, fear him, and his power is over them as a mighty one.   2c It is diminished as he has departed from the like...

James Strang   James Jesse Strang was born on March 21, 1813, in New York. He was baptized into the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on February 25, 1844. Later that year, Joseph Smith was murdered. There was a succession crisis discussing who was going to be the next prophet of the church. During that crisis, Strang claimed to have a letter from Joseph Smith saying he was to become the next prophet. He also found some small plates in Voree, Wisconsin and claimed to have translated them. He was also said to have translated a portion of the brass plates, publishing this translation as the book of the law of the Lord in 1851. Thousands of Saints followed Strang. They were first located in Voree, Wisconsin, but later moved to Beaver Island, Michigan. On Beaver Island, he was coronated as king of the church. He was also elected to the government of Michigan in 1852 and 1854.  In 1856, some disaffected members of Strang's church shot him, killing him. Soon after, all th...

After Joseph Smiths death, many churches spung up from his church. Most went to Utah with Brigham Young, many went up to Wisconsin and Michigan to follow James Strang, and some joined the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints. But within rural Illinois, there were a collection of congregations not affiliated with any group. In the spring of 1853, the congregations joined together, vowing to continue the original teachings of the church. In 1863, the were officially organized as a single church, under the leadership of Granville Hendrick. Hendrick was ordained as a prophet, seer and revelator, though he later distanced himself from the term as he thought it was unscriptural. They soon relocated to Independence, Missouri and bought the land Joseph Smith prophesied at temple would be built on known as the temple lot. Today, there they are still in Independence, and still own the Temple Lot, despite getting into a lawsuit with the RLDS Church. Temple Lot Plaque The Church...