Your Sunday Brunch Special: Doctrine and Covenants Section 137A.

You may be interested to know that D&C 137A has been on the books for some time. However, to see it requires that you hold up D&C 137 of your officially printed scriptures so that the light of the full moon shines behind the page. On September 22. Viking Runes will appear. Sorry, the digital version is missing this feature. I came across it by accident as you may imagine, while lying in my hammock on such an evening, enjoying one of those last mild evenings. Imagine too, my shock.

1 The visions of hell were opened upon me, and I beheld the kingdom of Satan, and the darkness thereof.

2 I saw the black gate through which the heirs of that kingdom will enter, which was like unto a deep crevasse of glacial ice;

3 Also Lucifer and his right hand man, Cain, the latter having a body, lorded over his master in devilish paradox.

4 And I saw my apostolic brother William;

5 And marveled how it was that he had obtained an inheritance of darkness, seeing that he has not yet departed this life and is yet one of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb.

4 Then came the voice of the Lord unto me, saying: All who have died, who would have rejected a perfect witness of the truth if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the kingdom of darkness, yea, sons of Perdition;

5 Also all that shall die henceforth, who would have rejected the truth after having received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom;

6 For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.

Yes, I finally got my chance.

Yes, I finally got my chance.


–signed, William E. McLellin

I think the theological implications are of interest, though the provenance remains obscure. In light of this and its more familiar cousin, perhaps we should cut that Methodist piece of work from the hymnbook. Yes, I’m talking hymn 240.

Comments

  1. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a blog post that has made less sense to me.

  2. Bryan H. says:

    During my mission I came across a book written by a 70 of what was then called the RLDS church. He cited D&C 137 as the basis for rejecting vicarious temple work also.

  3. Dan, someone had to achieve that supernal status. I’m glad it was three Williams. Or four if you count old Occam.

  4. Bryan H, if you happen to recall more detail, I’d be interested.

  5. Wow! This was hilarious — very fun. Thanks for the entertainment. This was the perfect next installment in your D&C series. I’ve always wondered what McLellin had received as a “revelation” in his attempt to do a better job at it than Joseph Smith.* This should appear in that eccentric little volume of “Unpublished Revelations” that used to be in greater circulation before the internet made such gnostic aspirations to secret knowledge untenable.

    * “William E. McLellin, as the wisest man in his own estimation, having more learning than sense, endeavored to write a commandment like unto one of the least of the Lord’s, but failed; it was an awful responsibility to write in the name of the Lord. The elders and all present that witnessed this vain attempt of a man to imitate the language of Jesus Christ, renewed their faith in the truth of the commandments and revelations which the Lord had given to the Church through my instrumentality; and the elders signified a willingness to bear testimony of their truth to all the world.” (http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/Mcllelin.html)

  6. Dan, see D&C 67 plus the quote from History of the Church 1:226 quoted above in my comment #5. And combine that with WVS’s current D&C source series and very dry sense of humor and then this post makes perfect sense.

  7. Frank Pellett says:

    Wow, Roger Miller wrote a song for the hymnal -and- “You can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd” ? Who’d have thunk it.

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