The Mormon Apocrypha

I wanted to share a sermon delivered by Joseph F Smith and recorded in the 23rd volume of the Journal of Discourses about the resurrection of Christ and the world. We are called mortal beings because in us are the seeds of death, but in reality, we are immortal beings because there is also within us the germ of eternal life.  Man  is a dual being, composed of the spirit which gives life, force, intelligence and capacity to  man , and the body which is the tenement of the spirit and is suited to its form, adapted to its necessities, and acts in harmony with and to its utmost capacity yields obedience to the will of the spirit. The two combined constitute the soul. The body is dependent upon the spirit, and the spirit during its natural occupancy of the body is subject to the laws which apply to and govern it in the mortal state. In this natural body are the seeds of weakness and decay, which, when fully ripened or untimely plucked up, in the language of scripture, is calle...

  The belief that man can become God is one of the most unique doctrines in latter day saint Theology. Within the pages of the eighth volume of the Journal of Discourses is a sermon that goes in depth on this controversial belief. Created by John Taylor, it discusses how men are "as a God in embryo." I am always pleased to hear brother Joseph Young speak, because, as the Indian says, “he talks good talk;” and I always like to hear people talk good talk, and things that are calculated to make one feel pleasant and comfortable. A passage of Scripture which he quoted attracted my attention. It is one of the sayings of David— “ What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? ” In one point of view, man appears very poor, weak, and imbecile, and very insignificant: in another point of view, he appears wise, intelligent, strong, honorable, and exalted. It is just in the way that you look at a man that you are led to form your opinions concerni...

Reed Smoot was born on 1862, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He attended public schools and the University of Utah, and graduated from Brigham Young Academy (Now Brigham Young University), in 1879. He served a mission in England and got married to Alpha M. Eldredge on Sept. 17, 1884. With Alpha, he fathered six children. He was engaged in several businesses across the Salt Lake Valley before becoming an apostle in 1900. In 1902, he was elected to the Senate. This started four years of battle in the senate, over him being an apostle, the Church's policy over plural marriage over other concerns that became known as the Reed Smoot hearings. In 1907, he was finally allowed to be a U.S. Senator, serving until 1933. After he lost reelection in 1932, he moved back to Salt Lake City. He passed away on Feb. 9, 1941, in Florida. He was quite an influential figure in the early twentieth century church. Repurposed below is his talk from the October 1933 General Conference, about how we are Gods liter...

Perhaps the most famous General Conference sermon ever given was the King Follett Discourse. This was one of Joseph Smith's last sermons, given a few months before his death in Carthage Jail. The sermon was delivered in Navuuo Illinois, on April 7, 1844, shortly after the passing of King Follett, a close friend to Joseph Smith. Within the discourse, Smith discussed many controversial ideas, such as God was once a man, and men can become like God. It is considered to be the apex of Joseph Smith's religious teachings by many, including B.H. Roberts. King Follett discourse Because the wind blows very hard, it will hardly be possible for me to make you all hear unless I have your profound attention. I approach a matter of the greatest importance and the most solemn of any that can occupy our attention--that is, the subject of the dead. I have been requested to speak by friends and relatives of Brother Follett, who was crushed to death in a well; and inasmuch as there are a great ma...