Apostles, Apostates, and Apothecaries - George Adams

Intro Welcome to the Standard of Truth Podcast. In this podcast, Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat and Professor Richard LeDuc explore the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the life and teachings of Prophet Joseph Smith. They examine the original historical sources and provide context for events of the past. They approach the history of the Church with faith, expertise and humor.

Gerrit Hi, welcome to another episode of the Standard of Truth Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat, and I'm joined by my friend, Professor Richard LeDuc.

Richard Hello, Gerrit. In this week's episode, we're gonna answer a question from a listener about.

Gerrit Gangrenous antelopes.

Richard About an expansion on the Council of Fifty minutes, I do believe, I think that's.

Gerrit Oh, okay, yeah.

Richard I've prepared some things.

Gerrit Okay, well, Richard's ready to, he crossed lances with Janet last week, and now he's ready to lead out on his own.

Richard By the way, my wife supported everything that Janet had said and was on her side the entire time.

Gerrit Yeah, that was, I could have told you that before Janet emailed.

Richard So we have, so we'll get into that email in just a sec, the Phebe Draper Palmer Brown mailbag, but we got a, I got a text from one of Becky's friends, Janet, and she said, shout out to the guys on the podcast for the Phebe Draper Palmer Brown mailbag. Phoebe was married to my fifth great grandfather, Ebenezer Brown. So she loves to mention, it's very nice.

Gerrit Thanks for listening, Janet.

Richard Phebe Draper Palmer Brown mailbag reaching far and wide.

Gerrit Yes, I mean, from one end of the valley to the other, from just the upper Wasatch to the lower Wasatch.

Richard Friend of the show Damien, this is relative of him. So obviously, Janet and Damien are closer.

Gerrit Well, that means Phoebe has a lot of posterity here.

Richard Yeah, at least two.

Gerrit And at least the two we know of are active.

Richard You know what?

Gerrit What are the odds?

Richard Yeah, what a legacy.

Gerrit What are the odds?

Richard Yeah, what a legacy.

Gerrit You know what? Phoebe right now is like, at least two of my great, great, great grandkids made it.

Richard Yeah, she was, she was quite, we need to do, we did one episode several years ago, something like Unsung Heroes of the Restoration, or Little Known. She's got quite the story.

Gerrit Oh yeah, oh yeah.

Richard It's fairly incredible.

Gerrit She's great.

Richard So you also had one that you were gonna reference a message that you'd received.

Gerrit Oh, yeah, I was gonna say that I did receive an email from an old friend, Blake, talking about the podcast. Blake, I'm glad to hear from you. Glad to hear things are going well. Much of the email centered on the fact that Blake still remembers, well, being forced to be Russia when we played Axis and Allies in high school.

Richard There's a lot of, yeah, a lot of Shelly talk.

Gerrit Yeah, lots of Shelly talk. And...

Richard Shelly, Idaho.

Gerrit Shelly, Idaho, yes.

Richard Yeah, and not Shelly Thompson, who was also from Shelly.

Gerrit No, no. There's only four people from Shelly, Idaho, so it's very easy to tell.

Richard You, Blake, your mom.

Gerrit My mom. Even my brother's work from there. So a good shout out to him. You know, I had a friend who was listening to the Patrick Henry episode of our premium content who said that listening to the liberty or death speech when we went over that made him tear his shirt off and pull his car over to the side so that he could go find the closest British person to assault. So you know what? Premium content. You gotta look into that.

Richard You know, so Gerrit and I, I just took Gerrit to get some ice cream today, and we went to.

Gerrit I earned it.

Richard You did. You know what? You did such a good job.

Gerrit Yeah, he patted me on the head. He just bungled me into the car.

Richard I made him drive and then he paid for his own ice cream.

Gerrit It was great.

Richard So, we went to Brooker's Founding Flavors ice cream. They've got a couple locations down here in Utah County. And I have never seen anyone so excited for anything. You smiled at every flavor.

Gerrit Because every flavor had a great founding father story.

Richard What was your favorite one?

Gerrit Well, my favorite was the illustration of James Otis being beaten senseless by a British soldier, because that actually happened.

Richard Was it like James Otis peanut butter crunch?

Gerrit It was like James Otis something. I can't remember what it was, because it was a flavor I didn't like. Because I wanted to get it. But I mean, whatever it was, I can't remember what it was. Maybe something with toffee or something in it, so I don't like it. Or mint.

Richard I love chocolate mint ice cream. Gerrit hates it. Gerrit hates that. He hates onions.

Gerrit I hate onions. I hate mint chocolate ice cream. I hate anti-Mormonism. I hate Governor Ford. I hate-

Richard In that order though, by the way.

Gerrit No, John C.

Richard Bennett.

Gerrit I hate most. I hate John C. Bennett.

Richard Bennett.

Gerrit I hate most. I hate John C. Bennett.

Richard Bennett, then mint chocolate ice cream.

Gerrit Bennett, Philastus Hurlbut, Thomas Ford.

Richard Mint chocolate ice cream.

Gerrit William McClellan, then mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Richard Yeah, then onions, then Lil Burn Fogs.

Gerrit Then Lil Burn Fogs. No, no, I eat onions way more than a Lil Burn Fogs. It makes me sound like I'm an incredibly picky eater.

Richard No, those are the two things. Those are your two. So anyway, this place is great. And like with Jersey Mike's, not a sponsor of the show.

Gerrit No, would be horrified to know that we even mentioned it.

Richard Oh my gosh, yeah.

Gerrit I mean, it was incredibly delicious, but all the ice creams are named after founding fathers. And so James Otis, if you aren't signed up for the premium. Now we know that Janet is.

Richard Oh my gosh, yeah.

Gerrit I mean, it was incredibly delicious, but all the ice creams are named after founding fathers. And so James Otis, if you aren't signed up for the premium. Now we know that Janet is.

Richard She was.

Gerrit Well, she was until she listened to last week's episode. You know, one of the things that I was really proud of Richard, because while we were taping that episode, and it makes it sound like we are in some kind of professional studio. What year is this? We're using tape.

Richard Hey, play back the tape.

Gerrit No, I need you to, where's the eight millimeter? I need you to wind it back. And I got things on the mimeograph machine and we made copies. So, while we're trying to record last week, Richard is, he's trying to watch a college football game.

Richard Well, it was Georgia Tech Louisville.

Gerrit Yeah.

Richard That's how they pronounce it in Kentucky, Louisville.

Gerrit Yeah. Anyway, as we're watching it.

Richard Well, Gerrit's talking.

Gerrit Yes.

Richard I'm watching.

Gerrit But then I ask him offhandedly, what's the line on the game?

Richard Again, we'd like to refer you to President Hinckley's talk.

Gerrit President Hinckley's talk, please don't gamble. Richard, of course, is not a degenerate gambler, even though he plays one on TV.

Richard I play one on TV, that's right.

Gerrit He says, it's Louisville, seven and a half. So Louisville is picked to win by seven and a half points.

Richard Currently losing by five, by the way, at the time.

Gerrit Yeah. I ask Alexa what the line on the game is. Literally seven and a half points. And I don't know what was more impressive, how accurate he was on a game of two teams that were terrible last year.

Richard That I couldn't possibly care less about.

Gerrit That likely won't go to a bowl game this year. Like, you know, whoever wins that game, that'll be that and one game against, you know, Stamford that they put in the win column.

Richard We're so excited if Stamford to be in the ACC.

Gerrit No, no, Stamford. Oh, Stamford. No, not Stamford. Stamford.

Richard Oh, Stamford, yes.

Gerrit Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and, but if he was more excited about that or, you know, that he'd gotten it right, yeah.

Richard Well, and talk about a Bad Beats moment for people that took Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech fumbles the ball.

Gerrit They were dominating.

Richard They were dominating the entire game. They fumbled. Gerrit was talking about the reorganization of the Corms of the 70, as I was watching the game, and you had Georgia Tech fumbles, Louisville gets the ball back. They're up by one. Then they get a 74 yard rushing touchdown the next play, win by eight points, cover.

Gerrit Covered it, yeah.

Richard Good teams win, great teams cover.

Gerrit Yeah, and if there's anything on Standard of Truth podcast that brings the spirit into your home, that helps you understand more about the kingdom of God on earth, it's-

Richard It's good teams win, great teams cover.

Gerrit Yeah, and we want you to be a great member of the church. We don't want you to just show up to church. We want you to be the church.

Richard That's right, that's right. Well, so it was funny. I guessed on that number, and Gerrit thought that was very funny, as did I.

Gerrit You know, I thought your reaction was very funny. You were happier that you had guessed the line right than when your son was born.

Richard Well, we have four sons, so-

Gerrit Well, the one, you know the one.

Richard Yeah, right, yeah, well that one, I was happier on the pick.

Gerrit Yeah, I mean, I could see why.

Richard Yeah, I do say that. It's a joke that I make that my wife doesn't think is as funny when I'm really excited about something or I really love something, like the founding flavors ice cream. It's like, I love this ice cream more than, you know, the birth of two of my five children.

Gerrit And then she wants you to enumerate which one.

Richard All right, so to Brian's email. To the Phebe Draper Palmer Brown mailbag. This comes to us from Brian. Since I'm not a policeman nor one of your relatives.

Gerrit Oh, that's pretty awesome.

Richard And my name, and so we did receive an email from our favorite Idaho policeman.

Gerrit We have to keep him nameless. I mean, eventually people are gonna figure out who he is because there's only five policemen in Idaho, but he's one of them.

Richard Yes, he's our favorite. And he's the only one who listens. He's got a great email, but it's a little bit lengthy, so we'll have to get to it next.

Gerrit Look, we gotta keep him anticipating. I mean, he's single-handedly driving up the arrests of meth offenders in Idaho because just to have people in the back of his car to force them to listen to the podcast.

Richard Good police arrest, great police, make them listen to our podcast.

Gerrit Yeah, that's what we want him to know.

Richard And my name isn't Bill. I feel like I have to name- I feel like I have to name-drop to catch your attention. I was in BYU's first Nauvoo semester study program with Milt Bachman.

Gerrit Bachman.

Richard Oh, it's Bachman?

Gerrit Bachman, yes.

Richard Not Bachman? I was thinking of Bachman Turner Overdrive, you ain't seen nothing yet. Back in winter semester 94, Stephen Harper was also a student in that group. Brother Bachman was my neighbor after that, and I loved speaking with him about Joseph Smith. He could get really enthusiastic doing so. In fact, I think Gerrit is the only historian who ever comes close to speaking with the same energy as Brother Bachman when he's talking about the prophet.

Gerrit Oh, that's very kind.

Richard My wife and I have been listening since, have been listening since the Follow Him podcast and have been, and have listened to every episode, many of them several times. Well, thank you for getting our downloads up.

Gerrit Yeah, thank you.

Richard You know, what's interesting, Follow Him is mentioned a lot in the, in the emails that we receive. It's almost like it's a much better version of what this is. Yeah, more popular, more faith-provoking, fewer gambling references.

Gerrit Yeah, you don't ever hear them talk about what the line on the Georgia Tech game is from four weeks ago.

Richard I would give anything to have Hank Smith make a sports gambling joke.

Gerrit You know what? I'm gonna talk to him about it. I'm gonna let him know.

Richard Even better, John, by the way, I couldn't even see it.

Gerrit Maybe we can get maybe one of their producers to just dub that in.

Richard Well, so just even less, so also one thing that's never happened to me, and this happens to me in every Sunday meeting I ever attended, Sunday school for sure, and sacramenting as well. First, Councilor on our Stake Presidency spoke in our ward last week, mentioned the Follow Him podcast. Standard of Truth has never been mentioned in any context like that, I can't imagine. It's interesting. Follow him all the time.

Gerrit Yeah, it's almost like they're better than us.

Richard Interesting. Speaking of gangrenous antelope, the Standard of Truth podcast. My missionary daughter also loves them and helps her answer questions. We've introduced lots of people to your podcast. Well, thank you very much, Brian. That's very nice of you. Richard, we loved hearing that your family motto is don't embarrass the family. Ours is a line from Finding Nemo, good feeling gone. So, it's good.

Gerrit Probably there's a story behind that.

Richard About Lilburn Boggs' family history records. Well, you are joining the ranks of joining Brother Backman and Harper. I became a computer guy and worked for the church for a while. I knew a person in the family history department. Once I asked him about church's response to criticism about doing temple work for Holocaust victims, he explained that there is a growing list of historical figures for whom an individual needs to show that they are a descendant before performing temple work. He then continued with this example. Did you see in the news that Whitney Houston just died? A year from now, how many times do you think her name will be submitted for temple work by loving church members who are her fans, but not family? So we add her name to the list. If someone submits her information, they will be encouraged to work on their own lines. Of course, if they are direct descendants, the work will move forward. Family members have priority for family ordinances over fans.

Gerrit So that means there is a workaround, right? You just need to share the gospel with one of her kids, get them converted, but then also convince them to have you do the work. Yeah. Maybe it won't work.

Richard Well, maybe it will.

Gerrit Try to share the gospel with everybody. That's what I think.

Richard From Strangers to Bobby Brown.

Gerrit Well, I don't think Bobby Brown.

Richard Well, you never know.

Gerrit You never know. Okay, you never know.

Richard Do I actually have a question? You know how people frequently ask and ponder, if you could ask God one question, what would it be? Well, I frequently ponder what I would ask you guys. My question is from a historian's point of view, what is the difference between true, so true, and a breathy, so true? I don't know how breathy that was.

Gerrit That wasn't breathy enough. You were far more breathy when Georgia Tech fumbled that ball.

Richard I couldn't believe that. That was incredible. Actually, I love the insights you pointed out from the Council of Fifty. I have been taught that there were some struggle between the Council of Fifty and the Quorum of the Twelve about who should be in charge of the civil matter of moving the Saints west and that this was one of the questions behind the need for Section 136. Verse three clarifies that the Twelve were in charge. Could you give more insight on that? How long did the Council of Fifty persist after that? Was that just a Nauvoo thing? Thanks for sharing your laughter and testimonies, Brian. Thank you, Brian. Very nice.

Gerrit Yeah. I'm glad that you dropped enough names to get us to finally to read your email. It's actually a great question. I would say the Council of Fifty is one of the least understood aspects of Latter-day Saint history from that time period. For those of you whose eyes are glazing over right now, this is the reason why. But in part, it's because we don't really talk about it a lot. For a long time, we didn't talk about it because it was kind of a trivia answer. It was something that didn't seem to have a huge impact on the church currently. That was really important if what you were studying is how exactly did the church prepare for the exodus out of the United States. But also we didn't have access to the Minute Book. The Council of Fifty Minute Books were kept by William Clayton. And he was supposed to, at one point, destroy them because they didn't want them falling into enemy hands when they're being driven out of Nauvoo.

Gerrit Instead of destroying them, William Clayton buries them in his garden. And apparently William Clayton is as lax a gardener as I am, and they weren't destroyed completely, and he dug them back up and made copies of them. So we have them. But just now, look, we have, I think, several episodes on the Council of Fifty Minutes.

Richard Yeah, three or four episodes on the Council of Fifty Minutes. Well, there's a lot there.

Gerrit Yeah, there's a lot. There is a lot there. There's all kinds of cool teachings there. It is the newest major document that we have in the church because it's hundreds of pages long that were never previously published until they were published with the Joseph Smith Papers Project.

Richard It's kind of like our version of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Gerrit Right, it's the latter day saying Dead Sea Scrolls. It's, wait a minute, that says, you know, homeboy, you know, or whatever. But, so the question though is about the Council of Fifty's power. This really is a good question because the power in these councils starts to kind of run together. So you get these, this group of men in Nauvoo after 1842 and women who have all been endowed, right? They've all, Joseph's given them this early endowment. And they meet as a group of people, these people who've been endowed, as opposed to people who haven't been endowed. And so some people call this the quorum of the anointed. Right? That they're getting together and they're meeting. You have Joseph creating the Council of Fifty as well in early 1844.

Gerrit And its purpose is twofold to, first of all, help electioneer for Joseph Smith's presidential campaign, which again, we have another podcast on that. If you want to go back and listen to it, it's probably not very good, but it might be. There are parts of it that-

Richard Actually, that one was pretty good.

Gerrit Was it?

Richard That one was really, really-

Gerrit In the face of all other logic and reason.

Richard It was really interesting as you got, you know, there are so many things that you might not have thought of otherwise, and you contextualize the different platforms.

Gerrit There you go. Most of the stuff you do- At least Richard's downloading it.

Richard Well, I haven't listened to it. I remember the time we did it.

Gerrit You just had to put it on the web. Yeah. Well, so this group, this Council of Fifty group to electioneer for Joseph Smith, but also primarily to seek out a place for the Latter-day Saints to leave the United States and to go create the kingdom of God on earth, to go somewhere else where there was not an existing government or at least one that didn't have power over it, where they could live the gospel and prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus. So this council is made up of various people. It's actually made up of some non-members in the group. And Joseph wants to make particular mention that, look, this is preparing for the kingdom, for the coming of Jesus, and you don't have to be a Latter-day Saint to prepare for that. So there's actually three members of the Council of Fifty that aren't even Latter-day Saints. But all of the Quorum of the Twelve are also members of the Council of Fifty.

Gerrit So now you can start to see pretty quickly, well, what's a Council of Fifty responsibility? And what's a Quorum of the Twelve responsibility? And how easily are those things going to become meshed up in one another when you're talking about the same things? Guess what else the Quorum of the Twelve is working on? Getting the Saints ready to leave to go to outside of the United States. After Joseph Smith is murdered, this distinction becomes a little bit more difficult to make. You're thinking, well, how could it be more difficult to make? Well, because the head of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Brigham Young, is now the head of the Council of Fifty as well. He's the chairman, as they call him, of the Council of Fifty. And so, there are some things discussing the Movement West that take place in the Quorum of the Twelve Meetings, for which we have some minutes for.

Gerrit There are some things that take place in the Council of Fifty, and sometimes they overlap over one another. Joseph's death left this kind of vacuum in the Church that even though the vast majority of saints in Nauvoo follow the Quorum of the Twelve and nearly all of the apostles support Brigham Young as the rightful leader of the Church, there are other people who are going to claim authority come from other directions. And I think what you happen to be referencing, Brian, in particular, is the case of George Adams. So George Adams is not a founding member of the Quorum of the Council of Fifty. He's not an apostle, if you're wondering, wait a minute, is this guy also a member of the Quorum of the Twelve? Nope, he's not. He is a firebrand of sorts.

Gerrit He's actually a very interesting figure in early Church history. He's from New York City, gets baptized by Parley Pratt in 1840. And he is, on multiple occasions, will engage pastors of other faiths in public debates about the Church and appears to be quite the, the, the rhetorician. I mean, he appears to be able to even, there's even some non-Latter-day Saint sources that are, talk about how they're kind of embarrassed by the fact that this, this Mormon was able to put their, their guide of shame, you know, if you're going to talk about it, you got to talk about it better than that. So George Adams has a pretty dynamic personality, but he also has, he's also got a little bit of troubles. He is at least accused at one point of committing some various sins up to including adultery on a mission out in the East.

Gerrit Now he's going to eventually be absolved of those things.

Richard It seems like this is happening all the time.

Gerrit That everyone's committing adultery?

Richard Every time you talk about anybody ever going on a mission that isn't an apostle, I swear they're having, they're committing adultery out in the East.

Gerrit Well, I mean, you know, what are you going to do? You're on your mission.

Richard They're not in Wisconsin.

Gerrit Oh, oh, oh, so, oh yeah, that'd be way different than, yeah, so people are listening to them.

Richard So, so maybe it just seems like, but this seems like it's a, it's a problem that is fairly.

Gerrit See, I think you just recognize it as a problem more because I was thinking, I don't know, we sent lots of missionaries home from our mission.

Richard Yeah, it's not normal to commit adultery on your mission.

Gerrit So here's what I would say. It's not that so many people are committing adultery on their missions. It's that all of the ones who do also seem to want to go form their own church.

Richard I see. So there's more about them. There's more information because they're doing their own thing. They're not like going out and just planting the, you know, their acre in Quebec somewhere.

Gerrit Yeah, their one acre that they never enlarged in the course of 200 years. Anyway, so George Adams is, there is a little bit of like, hey, what's going on there? There is a little bit of, I mean, he needs to be called on the carpet. But by and large, he's seen as someone faithful to Joseph. He is particularly enamored, I think, by Orson Hyde's dedication of the Holy Land. And so he is going to, you know, he's going to really think about that. It's going to work on him for the course of time. Right before Joseph dies, Joseph is going to appoint him to go on a mission to Russia. OK, so we're going to send a missionary, get some missionaries there into Russia, right? But then Joseph dies and everyone, everyone is recalled. So at first, George Adams is going to support Brigham Young in Brigham Young's, that Brigham Young should be the leader of the church.

Gerrit Over the course of the next several months, once you get into early 1845, however, it becomes apparent that George Adams is looking for another horse to back, that he is gravitating different places. Now, one of the first people who gives us some indication that this isn't working out the right way is Wilfred Woodruff in late 1844 sends some letters home where he's like, hey, George Adams is telling people that he's the 13th apostle and that he's... So now there's just an extra apostle.

Richard He's Paul.

Gerrit He actually does call himself that.

Richard Get out of here.

Gerrit He does. Did you read this?

Richard Get out of here.

Gerrit He does. Did you read this?

Richard No, of course. I did no show prep.

Gerrit So you haven't read all of the Council of Fifty minutes and...

Richard No. No, I do no show prep. It's obvious. I don't even read these emails. This is why I read them so poorly.

Gerrit Yeah. Well, according to Becky, you don't have the ability to read.

Richard Well, according to Becky and also anyone that's listening to me, read them poorly.

Gerrit Do you think there are people listening that are like, I just wish hooked on phonics?

Richard Yeah, they're rooting for me. They're rooting for me to get it. They're like, hey, this is... You know what? You're going to do it this time.

Gerrit I feel like Janet's rooting for you to not get it. Michelle's mom, she's rooting for you.

Richard I don't know. I feel like Janet and I are really good friends now after I...

Gerrit I kind of want to go to lunch with her.

Richard I would love to go to lunch with Janet.

Gerrit I'd love to hear her give you the business.

Richard Her email was hilarious as she was giving me the business.

Gerrit We have to reiterate just how funny everybody is. I mean, our tour that we went with people from, it was... My sides hurt from laughing so much. And we had all kinds of humor. We had the in-your-face humor. We had the dry, the clay humor.

Richard Yeah, the Brothers Wilson humor was very...

Gerrit Oh, oh, yeah, the Brothers Wilson. That should be, it sounds like a nursery rhyme. Yeah, but that was pretty hilarious as they used PhD humor on us, but also tried to let us know that they had better PhDs than us, which they did. They're a lot better than we are. So it makes me excited about our tour that we're gonna be doing in...

Richard Actually, it might have already gone live by the time this podcast...

Gerrit If that tour's already gone live, it's gonna already have been sold out by the time this podcast comes out possible. We've had so many people contact us. We're doing two tours, one that's going to, starting in Baltimore, and going to Kirtland, so it's going through New York and all those places, and one that's starting in Jackson County, in Kansas City, going through the Missouri sites, and then going up to Nauvoo, and then back down through the Lincoln Library.

Richard So we should have the website updated with those tours in the next couple weeks if it's not there already.

Gerrit Yeah, if it's not already there. So if you're interested in joining us, it honestly was ridiculously fun. I mean, I'm kind of giddy just thinking about it because it was so fun. At any rate, what was I talking about? George Adams and his...

Richard I think you're talking about people signing up for the premium episodes.

Gerrit Oh yeah, we also need people to sign up for the premium episodes. I feel like...

Richard Anytime you ever ask me what we're talking about, I'm gonna talk about the tour or the premium content.

Gerrit I feel like you want this to be like the Ronco electric food dehydrator.

Richard Set it and forget it.

Gerrit That's what you want. You want us to be like, this is the perfect way to dry fruit. So Adams is apparently telling people, it was the fact that you guessed this. Yeah, you guessed it. He does. Wilford Woodruff says that he's calling himself Paul, that he's the 13th apostle. And that he's been appointed to be the spokesperson for Joseph Smith. So when these things get back to Nauvoo, it is a little troubling. And he's actually gonna be, he's gonna be dropped from the Council of Fifty. And then he's actually gonna be brought up on charges whether or not he's even going to be able to stay in the church. We have the minutes of one of those hearings from March of 1845. And I'm just gonna read some of them. So these are the, they're the Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes.

Gerrit Okay, so these are the minutes essentially of the court there. President Brigham Young then said that we want to take into consideration the case of brother George Adams who is now present. So Adams is there for this. I have objected to brother Adams' conduct and to the course that he has taken and shall tell them here first when brother Adams came home. I'm reading this in cursive.

Richard Oh my gosh. I cannot make out one word that is being said.

Gerrit Probably I should have made a typescript of this first. You want to talk about poor show prep? Okay, look, I did go pull up the original source of the Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes.

Richard Yeah, it's not bad.

Gerrit I just don't have the ability to read it, right? Anyway, so the Adams conduct as of the course that he had taken and shall tell them here. First, when Brother Adams came home last fall, I asked him if he had any money for the temple. He said that he had handed everything to William Smith. Since then, William Smith wrote and said that he had sent money and clothing by Brother Adams to the temple. So kind of like, ooh, talk about your all time backfires. Apparently, William Smith, they've been, because part of what they're doing on their missions is trying to collect money to complete the temple. They're gathering clothing, they're gathering money, and Adams shows up and they're like, oh hey, do you have stuff for the temple donation? Oh yeah, William has it all. But William Smith has already written a letter saying, hey, by now, George Adams should be there with the money that I set for the temple.

Gerrit So now, that's kind of a problem, right? So, not that William Smith is the greatest source. In fact, in about four months from now, he's gonna turn into the worst possible source. But right now, he's still engaged in trying to finish the temple. So since then, William Smith has wrote and said that he sent some money and some clothing by Brother Adams for the temple, we have not got it. I have also been told that Brother Adams has frequently read some kind of note before the people, which represents him as having been some great authority over everybody else. And also that he was appointed Joseph's spokesman. I've been told that Brother Adams says the church owes him something from 600 to $1,000 in money.

Richard Well, it sounds like you already skimmed up the top a little bit.

Gerrit Maybe that's what it was. It was like, well, I know I've borrowed $1,000. Well, I'll just not give him these 20 cents in temple receipts and then that'll do it. I've been told $600, $1,000. Now I want to know if Brother Adams can explain these things and whether he is satisfied to have the matter investigated before this council. Brother Adams then went on to explain to the council relative to the above charges. He denied having said that he was appointed Joseph's spokesman. He explained about the temple money and said that he was willing to meet any committee this council might appoint and settle the whole account with them. He also explained how the church owed him money. President Young then preferred some other charges relative to his conduct in the East to which, after many remarks on both sides, Adams pled guilty and begged for mercy.

Gerrit So it kind of seems like things are... They're looking up.

Richard Yeah, right. Well, he's repenting and...

Gerrit Yep, there you go.

Richard He's taking his vig. That's a gambling term, by the way. That's what the house gets to take the bet.

Gerrit Right.

Richard Similar here is what I assume he's doing.

Gerrit But you wouldn't ever gamble.

Richard No, I just know that that's what it's called.

Gerrit Right, in order to understand your adversary, you should study them. And sometimes you have to study them on the most minute details. You have to know everything about them.

Richard The vig.

Gerrit Yeah. Anyway, many remarks were made by the sundry individuals substantiating the charges preferred by President Young. Each one expressing a strong desire for Brother Adam's salvation. So the minutes of the meeting are like, everyone wants him to be saved. They want him to repent. They want him to change. So you can kind of sense the sense of love here. Now, I think some people might hear that and say, well, I'm not okay with Brigham Young speaking so directly to him. Well, this is a church court. And Brigham Young's telling him what charges have been levied against him. So I know that sometimes we think to ourselves, well, wouldn't it be better if you just danced around it? If Brigham was like, hey, so how's that money going for like the temple and stuff that you collected but then never gave to the church?

Gerrit I mean, you could do the passive aggressive Brigham, but the reality is he's being charged for it. And so you have to say what's actually going on.

Richard So there's something beautiful here though, where here as they're writing this, that they want for his, they want for him to come back. And in any good church council that you have, that's what you always want. That's what the Savior would want. That's what you're trying to reflect. And you had said here, I mean, when he was good, he was great. And they know him as that and want him to be back, the spokesman for Joseph.

Gerrit They're only, they don't want him to be that. There are only 50 people in the Council of Fifty, surprisingly, you know what I mean? So actually, there's technically 52, because they have one that's a recorder and one that's a secretary, but they attend every meeting anyway. But so it's not everybody who's invited to be in the Council of Fifty. They invite the people that they think are the most dynamic, the most able to push forward a cause of creating a kingdom of God on earth, a physical kingdom, an actual government, because they plan to move out of the United States to the middle of nowhere. Sorry for everyone who lives in Utah. And that there they'll establish a government that will be in operation when Jesus returns. And so yeah, they clearly want to be able to save George Adams. And in fact, they render this decision. After spending much time in investigation, President Young arose and said that he wanted Brother Adams to sit down and to write that he has done wrong and that he asked for forgiveness and that he is willing henceforth to listen to Council and to do right without incriminating anyone else.

Gerrit Also, that the proper authorities of this church are here and that he is with the Twelve and will be with them to bear off this kingdom. I want Brother Adams to write this freely and confess his iniquities. A man's confession will never do him hurt unless he turns round and does wrong again. So despite these many different charges that are preferred against him, I mean, we're talking embezzlement of church funds, claiming that he has more authority than the church, claiming to be an apostle when he was never ordained to be one, claiming that he has a note from Joseph naming him as a spokesperson. These are some pretty high crimes going on here as far as the church is concerned. And all Brigham Young wants him to do is just write it out and say, I shouldn't have done this, I shouldn't have done this, I shouldn't have done this. And so he actually makes the way back pretty easy.

Gerrit Now coinciding with that, of course, like I said, the Quorum of the Twelve and the Council of Fifty meetings, those are going on at roughly the same time. And so what happens? Well, at the Council of Fifty meetings that follow that hearing, now he hasn't been fully restored yet. He's still got to write his stuff out. He's got to return his homework. He's got to turn in his project on time.

Richard Not pay the money back, just say he took it. That's pretty sweet.

Gerrit You know what? It doesn't say that he-

Richard He didn't say restitution.

Gerrit No, he just said, I don't know, right out that you stole it from us, we'll give you the priesthood back. I don't know.

Richard I don't know what was going on. I got to tell you, I would love a disciplinary council from Brigham Young.

Gerrit Maybe not. Oh, no? There are times, you know. I mean-

Richard That is interesting, right?

Gerrit It's kind of a caricature that people have of Brigham Young. I mean, because all you ever hear is some kind of weird sound bite, or whatever some anti-Mormon wants you to hear, you don't know the man at all.

Richard But even the nickname Lion of the Lord, right? Like that.

Gerrit Yeah, but he's a lion of the Lord defending the church against its enemies.

Richard Sure, but the idea of him being.

Gerrit It makes people think that. But the reality is, Brigham's ever ready to forgive people who repent. He's always willing to forgive people. So, this question is then brought before the Council of Fifty because they're deciding whether or not they're gonna let him back into the church. But the Council of Fifty has to decide because they've dropped him from the Council of Fifty. And so now they have to have this conversation whether or not the Council's gonna take into consideration the case of Elder George Adams. He has been dropped by this Council. He was tried before the High Council last Saturday and he wants to be saved. I am well satisfied that he will not betray us and whether or not it would be the best for her to reconsider his case and if it is agreeable to have him reinstated. So again, here's Brigham Young taking him at his word.

Gerrit He says he's penitent, he says he wants to be saved. Yes, he's caused us a lot of problems, but I think we need to let him back. Now, not everybody feels the same way because a lot of people are really upset by some of this stuff this guy has done. Joseph Fielding, which kind of sounds like a pretty familiar name to some of you, and it should. Joseph Fielding will say that his feelings were very unfavorable towards Brother Adams. He has not seen Adams lately, but he's heard some very bad reports about him from a source which he thinks can be relied upon, Wilford Woodruff. So I mean, yeah, you can kind of, Wilford Woodruff could be relied on. Heber C. Kimball then responds and says that Brother Fielding's ideas are the effects of mere reports about a circumstance which Adams explained. And he went on and he related the circumstance. Counselor Bent, so Samuel Bent is actually, he's actually the president of the stake.

Gerrit He's the stake president. So he actually was presiding over this Nauvoo Stake High Council meeting. Now, of course, he surprisingly gives way to the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who's also there, but he is the one technically.

Richard So he's presiding and he's like, hey, so hey, you know, hey, Brigham, what do you think?

Gerrit Yeah, hey, man, hey. Anyway, Counselor Bent said that after hearing Elder Adams' remarks and confessions before the High Council last Saturday, which we just read, so now you've just heard them, he felt to forgive him. He feels like sustaining him as a member of this council. It is interesting, right, that the thing that everybody is most attuned to in late 1844 and early 1845 is apostasy of people rejecting that the keys are really with the Quorum of the Twelve. Someone claiming that they have more authority than the Quorum of the Twelve is a really big deal. And yet, you'll notice the people who are in the meeting, just like Richard said, their point isn't to condemn the guy. Having heard it all, he feels like we should sustain him as a member of this council, is what Ben says. Newell K.

Gerrit Whitney says, it's true that Elder Adams made some good promises, but he has not yet complied with the decision of President Young. So he hasn't written it out yet. He thinks it would be wisdom to wait until Brother Adams has complied with the decision. Well, look, he has to do this to repent. Why don't we like wait till he does it? And we'll all expect him to do it, and we hope that he'll do it. So let's just wait till then. So George A. Smith moved that we rescind the vote on Elder Adams' case and give the chairman the privilege of exercising his own judgment in the matter. Willard Richards had the same view with Newell K. Whitney, but he should agree to what the head had said. WW. Phelps said that he was of a mind of the others, that he would be better satisfied to wait a little while before we act on this case. We want to be merciful, in as much as Elder Adams wants to be saved, and we hold the powers of life and death, but he still thinks that we had best wait a little while.

Gerrit Newell K. Whitney said that he had no feelings towards Brother Adams, but the best kind, but he felt as though it would be best to wait until he complied with the decision. Joseph Fielding said to the same effect. Lucian Foster has a feeling of affection for Elder Adams. He was acquainted with him before Adams embraced the Gospel. So this is someone who knows Adams, he knows old Adams. He feels desirous to see him get all the good he can, and he believes Adam will never betray this council nor any member of it.

Richard So how many of these folks have been on the mercy side of these things as you're reading through it? Have any of these folks, I mean, experienced?

Gerrit Where they had to beg for some mercy? Well, you know, one of them. One of them's Debbie DeVille. I think it's probably okay.

Richard So as you're reading his comment, it seemed something that was sincere from his heart, where when you have felt that, those feelings of mercy.

Gerrit Well, look, you look at someone like Noel K. Whitney, I mean, he is, talk about a lion of the Lord. I mean, Noel K. Whitney, he puts that hand to the plow and he never looked back. But he also gets chastised by the Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith through when he does make poor decisions, right? So, I mean, the reality is there's, what level of chastisement are you talking about? Brigham Young has had to repent, but has he ever turned against the church? I mean, I think really you're looking more at WW. Phelps when you're looking at that area.

Richard That's what I'm saying. So when you read what he says, it seems like somebody that has been on the other side and has had mercy extended and seems quick to want to extend mercy himself.

Gerrit And he certainly did. You know what's interesting though? What was Joseph Fielding's initial impression? He was the one who said what? The first thing he said was, I don't feel good towards him at all. And I don't think we should let him back into this council. And after hearing the other people's testimony, Joseph Fielding changed his position. This is what he said originally. Joseph Fielding said his feelings were very unfavorable towards Brother Adams. He has not seen Adams lately, but he has heard some very bad reports about him, which from a source that he thinks can be wrong. So that's what he said initially. His first comment was, I don't feel good about him at all. I've heard all kinds of garbage about him. And then he hears these expressions of mercy from other people. And what does Joseph Fielding say? After Newell K. Whitney says that he had no feelings towards Brother Adams, but the best kind, but he's felt as though it would be the best to wait until he complied with the decision.

Gerrit So instead of Newell K. Whitney saying, look, I think it's fine to let him back in once he does what President Young told him he needs to do. He needs to write out what he did and say that he's sorry, and then we'll let him in. And at that point, Joseph Fielding says he agrees with Newell K. Whitney and WW. Phelps. So he went from this very hard position to hearing what the others were saying, and he softened quite considerably. He went from absolutely not to, okay, all right, if he confesses.

Richard But I think that's something that we can relate a little bit, right? As we hear things, as we feel the spirit, I can't help but to be softened on feelings.

Gerrit Well, I mean, I can tell you as a professor, I mean, when I talk, I say, oh, had the days been the days of our profits of old. I say things like, oh man, if I ever caught a student cheating, I would flunk them like crazy, you know what I mean? And then you catch them, and...

Richard And then they're super penitent.

Gerrit Yeah, and you just, now sometimes they're not penitent. Those are the easy ones.

Richard Those are the easy ones.

Gerrit There are times you catch people cheating who will say that they weren't cheating and then get mad at you for having caught them cheating, like literally will be yelling at you, how dare you accuse me of cheating as you hand up the paper that they printed off of Wikipedia and that it even still says Wikipedia on the paper that they printed and that they handed it as their paper. That's happened, you know? And then they're like, oh, you know, and then they suddenly become penitent when they realize they can't just yell and scream at you. But Foster's comment here at the end though, he says he has a feeling of affection for Elder Adams. It feels desirous to see him get all the good he can. He goes on to say that such men are scarce. Remember I told you, Adams has this like native ability. Such men are scarce and he would wish the council to try him again. He don't know, but Adams may be the means of getting us into difficulty again.

Gerrit He's not wise. Very. So remember, Foster's the only one who knows Adams from before he was a member of the church. And it's interesting that while he loves him, he's also speaking a little bit of truth here that, guys, I can't guarantee you if we let him back in that he's not going to go do stupid things again. Cause he does stupid things. I know him. He did stupid things before he was a Mormon. It's not surprising he does stupid things now that he's a Mormon, right? And so that kind of like little thing, he's not wise. Yeah, it's got a little thing. Well, in point of fact, the person who knew him best, you know, knew him better than Mercy did. They do want to grant him Mercy, but Adams never complies with what Brigham's asked him to do. And very shortly thereafter is going to leave and is going to claim that James Strang is the rightful leader of the church.

Gerrit And so he will then actually bounce around a lot of ways. And back to Brian's email, one of the things that Adams is going to claim is that the keys of the kingdom are actually held by the Council of Fifty. Adams is a member of the Council of Fifty, so he therefore has the same authority as Brigham Young. How much that plays into what's going on in D&C 136 certainly has something to do with it. Another person who's going to pull rank here is a guy by the name of Alpheus Cutler, who will later claim he has authority because he's a member of that high council. But the reality is, there are lots of reasons why the Lord is going to make it very clear that the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are the ones who are supposed to have this authority. Now, Adams, he's not the only member of his family. And as he pursues this James Strang plan and denounces the Quorum of the Twelve and claims that he has more authority than the Quorum of the Twelve, because he couldn't quite write that out, his brother, Elias Adams, not to be confused with a good brother in my former ward.

Gerrit I think he's no longer in that ward, though, because the ward shifted.

Richard Well, no, he's no longer in our stake. He's in a different state.

Gerrit Did he move or did just everything shift around?

Richard No, he was a bishop. I mean, he still currently is a bishop.

Gerrit There's no way he listens to the podcast.

Richard Oh, zero chance. No, he's a great guy.

Gerrit So you're saying that because he's a great guy, he doesn't listen?

Richard That's what I'm saying.

Gerrit Okay. I don't know what that's supposed to tell you, Janet.

Richard Well, she's not a guy. She's great.

Gerrit Oh, I see. It's very different. Eric, you're not a good guy, obviously.

Richard A great guy.

Gerrit You're a good guy. Well, he was trying to find British people to fight on the side of the road.

Richard Elias, he's a great guy, very sober-minded, great bishop.

Gerrit He was a great, great guy. Yeah. Well, his brother, Elias Adams, is going to write him a letter. And some of you might have people in your family who have left the church, and you try to, frankly, you generally just try to avoid it, because you don't want to be a jerk. You don't want to like, well, all right, let's have a blessing on the food. Hey Bill, you probably shouldn't pray since you don't believe in Jesus anymore. Let's have, I mean, Bill's an adulterer, Bill's an apostate. Bill is, he's rough.

Richard Yeah, he's a lot of things.

Gerrit Bill's had a lot of things happen with him. And so, you want to try to avoid it. Elias is going to try to be kind, but he cannot help himself. Look at how quickly he goes from the pleasantries to the business. Dear brother, I received yours. Now this letter is written February 18th, 1847. Okay, so this is being written from Iowa and it's being written to George Adams, who's now gone back to New York. He moved back to New York. Dear brother, I received yours of August 25th and I was happy to hear that you are well and that you was prospered in your crops.

Richard That's very nice. That's a good introduction.

Gerrit It's good. You know what? Thank you for writing. I'm so glad your crops are doing well. So good to hear that you're healthy. I was glad to hear from my old friends and that they were well. Ah, wonderful, outstanding. That's the first sentence. But I was sorry to see the changes that was wrought in your mind since I last saw you and the erroneous notions that you have imbibed of James Strang as claiming to be a successor to the martyred prophet, Joseph Smith. And as you wish to hear from me again, there is no greater pleasure I can take than the opportunity of vindicating the right of the legal claims of the Twelve in the government of the Kingdom of God on Earth. For being a strict observer of all the administrations and watching with a jealous eye even the very heart of the Church itself, I think I can best determine the claims and the legality or illegality of them.

Gerrit I will not only take the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, but also the history of the Church itself to determine this point, who shall preside. Look at Doctrine and Covenants, Section 2, paragraph 7. It says that every president is to be ordained by the High Council. He's quoting Section 2 from the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants. Remember, they're reordered in chronological order when they redo the Doctrine and Covenants in 1876. So Section 2 for them is our Section 20, if you're wondering.

Richard Oh no, I knew exactly what you meant.

Gerrit I appreciate you explaining it for everybody else. That was an aside for Eric.

Richard I love, so but the crops are still good?

Gerrit He got it, he's like, you know what? So good to hear from you. So glad that your crops are well.

Richard As George is reading this, he's like, as he's going down the ladder, I'm really glad he was happy about my crops.

Gerrit I think George was like, okay. He probably, I mean, Elias does not, he.

Richard I'm a big fan of Elias.

Gerrit He loves his brother.

Richard I'm a huge fan.

Gerrit He clearly loves his brother, but he will not.

Richard He will not. Joseph was a merciful man, but I will not.

Gerrit Anyway, he goes on to quote DNC, what our D&C 20 is. He says, it says every president is to be ordained by the High Council or General Conference. Was James Strang so ordained? No, but rejected. Were the 12 ordained by that direction? They were. Section three, paragraph 11.

Richard Boy, he's chapter and verse on this guy.

Gerrit Presiding high priests were chosen by the body upheld by the conference of the church. Was James Strang chosen and upheld in that way? No. And again, was he a high priest? No, nothing but an elder. Now, I don't know if that... Here I feel like Elias is...

Richard So elders are great, but you're not going to start your own church.

Gerrit Well, James Strang did.

Richard Right, but he ain't nothing but an elder.

Gerrit Well, it kind of goes against the, I'm just an elder talk. That was for a different reason. But obviously, no, nothing but an elder is exactly how he puts it. Just nothing but an elder. Again, making the point that only a high priest can lead the church. You can't just have someone, anyone who you want to lead it. That talk is from Elder Bruce R. McConkie in 1974, and then part of it's reprinted in January 2003. And he is not a fan of the idea of saying that you're only an elder. In fact, he says, when someone asks, what office do you hold in the church? What is your priest position? An answer comes, oh, I'm only an elder. Only an elder, this is all exclamation points. Only an elder? Only the title by which members of the council of the twelve is proud to be addressed?

Gerrit Only the title which orders the president of the church is designated by revelation as the first elder? Only the office to which millions of persons are ordained and the vicarious ordinances of the holy temple? Only an elder? Only the office which enables a man to enter into the new and everlasting covenant of marriage and to have his wife and children bound him with an everlasting tie? Only the office which prepares a man to be a natural patriarch to his posterity and to hold dominion in the house of Israel forever? Only the office for the receipt of the fullness of the blessings of the house of the Lord. Only the office which opens the door to eternal exaltation in the highest heaven of the celestial world where man becomes as God is? Only an elder. Only a person ordained to preach the gospel, build up the kingdom and perfect the saints. Every elder in the church holds as much priesthood as the president of the church. No apostle can or will rise higher in eternity than the faithful elder who lives the fullness of the gospel law.

Richard Beautiful by Bruce R. McConkie.

Gerrit Yeah, but that's not what Elias Adams has to say. Was he I, priest? No, nothing but an elder. I don't know Elias Adams, but I want him, well, I know another Elias Adams, just not the right one.

Richard Right.

Gerrit When he put his claims, again, you will find, so I get very, he's super legalistic here. I mean, he's quoting chapter and verse. He's saying, go check the receipts on X and you'll see. And again, this is his brother. Crops are fine.

Richard Well, he heard that they were good.

Gerrit Well, because George had written them and said, hey, crops came in okay. By the way, James Strang's the new prophet. And so anyway, the 12 form of quorum, equal and authority and power to the three presence previously mentioned. See also the same section, paragraph 31, which says one must be appointed to the high priesthood to preside. He shall be called president of the high priesthood of the church. Now, as I said before, Strang was not a high priest, but only an elder. Sorry, Elder McConkie. And his claims are untenable. And in paragraph 37 of the same section, you will find that if one, they didn't have verses back then. So you had to cite things by paragraph. And the paragraphs were very large. So it was much harder for you to do scripture chase. I mean, to find, actually, it's probably easier. Like, well, paragraph 18 contains what we'd had, like five verses in it. But anyway. Paragraph 37 of the same section, you'll find that if one of three presidents transgresses and he should be dealt with before the common council of the church, was therefore Joseph cut off by them?

Gerrit No. Was Brigham Young or the Twelve? No. Was James Strang ever acknowledged by them? No. And in the same paragraph says that their decision is an end of all controversy concerning him. Clearly setting forth that God has already established the correct and undeviating order from which he himself will not depart. And if James Strang or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel, let him be accursed.

Richard It's kind of fun to see that flipped on somebody. Not turned on us.

Gerrit Yeah, every time I heard that, it was from a pastor. But Joseph Smith had the appointing of one for the purpose of receiving commandments if he should be taken by death according to the section 14 paragraph, first and second. For if this gift of receiving commandments and revelations was taken from him, he should not have power save to appoint another in his stead. Now, did Joseph lose this gift? No. See section 85 paragraph, second. The keys of this kingdom shall never be taken from you, Joseph Smith, while thou art in the world, neither in the world to come. If you turn again to the 16th section, second paragraph, it speaks of a regularly established order. For verily I say unto you that he that is ordained in me shall come in at the gate and be ordained as I have told you before, teaching those revelations already received and shall receive through him whom I have appointed. From what I have already quoted, you will see that it amounts to this, that the appointment must be made by Joseph Smith of a president to succeed him and also that he must come in by the general voice of the church or the high council and that his ordination must be by an angel?

Gerrit No, but by Joseph Smith also. Of course, Strang was claiming an angel, that appeared to him. Joseph Smith also has all the gifts which he bestows upon the heads of the church. I think if you look at these things, you will find it is ridiculous for a man to assume that he has the appointment of prophet, seer, revelator or anything else by the hand of an angel or by anything else when God has established his kingdom and given an established order by which we must be governed. I'd like to send Elias Adams to all of the snuffers in the world today, right? All of the people that are following these various apostate groups that are all saying the same thing. Oh yeah, yeah, Joseph Smith was a prophet, and then like after that, there was like no more prophets, but luckily I'm the new prophet. That's basically what they're, I think that's a good paraphrase. That's in their literature. Yeah, I think that's safe.

Gerrit But Elias Adams is saying this very thing. I mean, he is saying, God already established a precedent whereby this authority gets transferred, and now you're just deciding that James Strang doesn't have to fall. Why did God give us all the precedent if he doesn't have to fall? God has a fixed plan and a purpose and a rule by which he's laid down that so plainly that it would be inconsistent with his nature to deviate from it. And you will find that the keys of the kingdom have all been given to Joseph by the administration of angels. And the greater Melchizedek Priesthood hold of the keys of the mysteries. Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power and the godliness is manifest. He goes on to quote again, more and more scriptures. This letter is so long, I'm not going to be able to read all of it, because he's really given him the business. I mean, he's reading him the riot act as he deploys the water candidates.

Gerrit Neither shall anything be appointed to any of this church that is contrary to the church covenants, for all things must be done in order and by common consent in the church. And to show that a greater power of godliness will be exhibited in the ordinances given to the church than any other course that could be pursued even by angels themselves in the government of this church. Goes on to quote some more things, but he says, Hippocrates shall be proved by them and they who are not apostles and prophets shall be known. I could quote a great deal more on this head, but I think I have perhaps stated enough to satisfy. Now I promise to say a little about church history. First, did Joseph appoint any to succeed him after his death while he was alive? He did. He imparted the keys of the kingdom, equaled with himself and Brigham Young was their president. After he had done this, he commissioned the 12 in the following language. On you, I have placed the burden of rolling off the kingdom to the nations of the earth and building up the kingdom and a great deal of more of the same import.

Gerrit If you would ask, is Brigham Young a prophet, seer and revelator of the church? I would say yes. So are the 12, and so are many others in this church. But Brigham is the president of the whole church. But do they get revelations? They do. But then why not publish them? They do. Brother Orson Pratt brought us a written revelation the other day, giving us a much important instruction relative to our journeying west at D&C 136. Exactly what was referenced in our question. See, we do get back to answering the questions.

Richard An hour later.

Gerrit Well, I mean...

Richard Well, I wasted everyone's time for about the first 15 minutes, so about 45 minutes later.

Gerrit I mean, a gangrenous antelope can only take you so far. I see that I'm filling up this letter, and I've been doing well since I've been here. Then he starts going like... So he has just read his brother the riot act and told him how wrong he is. And now he's like, I put in a grist smile since I've been here. How are you? And here's what's funny. So he tries to get back to being a brother, and he's like, I'll have to say something about my moving to Jane. I will close my epistle by saying that I pray my Heavenly Father that you will give the subject that consideration its importance demands, for I know that by following James Strang, you are following a false prophet, and you cannot get into celestial glory. You know, see you at the family reunion. Elias Adams is quite adamant, and if you follow him for any length of time, you will find that he is on a sandy foundation.

Gerrit But I hope better things and that you will be prepared to go with us by the time the grass grows. He still wants, he still wants George Adams to come back, come with us on the journey, and bring as many with you as you possibly can. I know that it will be for your salvation, and by doing so, you will be a savior of men. What I have said I know is agreeable to the doctrines of this church and the mind of the spirit. Write me as soon as you receive this. I remain as ever your affectionate brother, Elias. So that's maybe not as affectionate as it could have been.

Richard Well, I mean, he loves his brother. He wants him to come back. Yeah, he wants him to stop. And it seems like Elias, he would know his brother pretty well. He would know how his brother would likely respond. He wants to...

Gerrit I mean, he certainly made a good argument, and that's the kind of thing that would cause his brother to respond. Now, unfortunately, George Adams, in our apostates, apostles and apothecaries...

Richard Part two.

Gerrit Is that what you're going to call this?

Richard Sure. Yeah, we've got to get a part two in there eventually. I've been promising it for three months.

Gerrit Yeah, I mean, he wasn't an apostle, although he claimed he was one. Does that...

Richard Well, he's certainly an apostate, and I understand that he took a sugar tablet.

Gerrit Yeah, which is literally everybody. I know we've gone a long time and that you're all wishing this was already over. I know Richard is wishing that it was over.

Richard I am. But they can just stop it. I mean, they don't have to...

Gerrit Yeah, it's true. I mean, people are always like, oh, you can't make it too long or people get upset. I'm always thinking...

Richard Well, I do see some of these religious podcasts and they're like three hours and they do a deep dive into ecclesiasticals.

Gerrit So it's like, oh my gosh. It's people who are better than us.

Richard Well, yeah, they're certainly smarter. But I mean, at three hours, you're just like, I mean, come on, even the church is down to two. Let's go.

Gerrit So if they spend three hours on the liturgy of prayer in its history, about an hour and a half in, you're like...

Richard There was a podcast that was referenced by a couple of Catholic priests. It was actually pretty funny when they go through that. But they go like three, four hours on some.

Gerrit Well, so let me just tell you what happens with George Adams, because it's almost more fun. I know we're out of time, so I'm going to have to go brief. Or maybe I should just do it next time.

Richard You got another 45 minutes on this?

Gerrit No, I just figured that we'll start the podcast next time. I'll be like, hey, let me tell you about George Adams.

Richard You know what? Yeah, let's start.

Gerrit Cliffhanger. What happens with George Adams? Spoiler alert, you're never going to believe it, unless you go and look it up then. Then you probably will. But don't look it up, because then it'll spoil it.

Richard Yeah, we'll see you next week.

Gerrit Yeah, see you next week where we give you the exciting conclusion of George Adams, the Shadow Nose. Thank you so much for listening and for tolerating our quirkiness, but also hopefully people feel our devotion to the Gospel and they know that this is all done in love, because we want people to gain a stronger testimony. And we don't want anyone's brother to have to be writing a letter to you, letting you know, hey, glad the crops are in, stop worshiping a false prophet. Love, Elias Adams.

Intro Thank you for listening to the Standard of Truth podcast hosted by historian, Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat. If you know anybody that could benefit from the material in this episode, please share it with them. And for more resources, visit standardoftruth.com. Until next time.

Apostles, Apostates, and Apothecaries - George Adams

Chapters

Transcript

Quote board

Source shelf

Condemned to Repeat It (premium), Patrick Henry episode

Gordon B. Hinckley, April 2005 general conference talk on gambling

Follow Him podcast (Hank Smith and John Bytheway)

Council of Fifty minutes, kept by William Clayton (Joseph Smith Papers)

Wilford Woodruff letters, late 1844, on George Adams

Nauvoo Stake High Council minutes, March 1845, case of George Adams

Nauvoo Stake High Council minutes, March 1845, Adams's confession

Nauvoo Stake High Council minutes, March 1845, Brigham Young's decision

Council of Fifty minutes, 1845, on reinstating George Adams

Council of Fifty minutes, 1845, Lucian Foster on Adams

Elias Adams to George Adams, February 18, 1847

Doctrine and Covenants 20 (Section 2 in the 1835 edition)

Bruce R. McConkie, "Only an Elder" (1974, reprinted January 2003)

Doctrine and Covenants 136

Episode quiz

Which founding father's ice cream illustration delighted Gerrit most?

Fun with Numbers

From 1835 to 1974

Money said on air

Putting numbers to words

What this episode talks about more than usual

Names said most

Signature words

More from this episode

Claim check

Take it to class

Banter bin

The Phebe Draper Palmer Brown Mailbag

In General Conference

Go deeper

Apostles, Apostates, and Apothecaries - George Adams

Richard leads out

Condemned to Repeat It (premium), Patrick Henry episode

Gordon B. Hinckley, April 2005 general conference talk on gambling

Follow Him podcast (Hank Smith and John Bytheway)

Council of Fifty minutes, kept by William Clayton (Joseph Smith Papers)

Wilford Woodruff letters, late 1844, on George Adams

Nauvoo Stake High Council minutes, March 1845, case of George Adams

Nauvoo Stake High Council minutes, March 1845, Adams's confession

Nauvoo Stake High Council minutes, March 1845, Brigham Young's decision

Council of Fifty minutes, 1845, on reinstating George Adams

Council of Fifty minutes, 1845, Lucian Foster on Adams

Elias Adams to George Adams, February 18, 1847

Doctrine and Covenants 20 (Section 2 in the 1835 edition)

Bruce R. McConkie, "Only an Elder" (1974, reprinted January 2003)

Doctrine and Covenants 136

Which founding father's ice cream illustration delighted Gerrit most?

From 1835 to 1974

Money said on air

Putting numbers to words

What this episode talks about more than usual

Names said most

Signature words