What this early apostate revealed about the Book of Mormon
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- čas přidán 24. 06. 2024
- William McLellin was an early leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and also became an early apostate and critic of Church leadership. One might expect him to have also been a severe critic of the Book of Mormon, but the documents he left behind reveal quite a different story.
FOOTNOTES (Sorry that links aren't clickable yet. We will unlock that CZcams feature soon.)
- The full letter (transcript) from McLellin to Cobb can be found here, in “William E. McLellan’s Testimony of the Book of Mormon,” by Larry C. Porter (BYU Studies): tinyurl.com/4kv9wshr
- “‘The Testimony of Men’ William E. McLellin and the Book of Mormon Witnesses,” by Mitchell K. Schaefer (BYU Studies): tinyurl.com/y8uw7hxj
- Biography of William McLellin via Joseph Smith Papers: tinyurl.com/5f9urs83
- “The Ensign of Liberty, of the Church of Christ,” Jan. 1848 (containing an account of McLellin’s history in the Church): tinyurl.com/4wje47zp
- “Book of Mormon Evidence: William E. McLellin,” via Evidence Central: tinyurl.com/bdrbeny4
- “Why Did William E. McLellin Call the Book of Mormon the ‘Apple of My Eye’?” via Book of Mormon Central: tinyurl.com/3ucueezx
Suggested Reading:
- “The Journals of William E. McLellin 1831-1836,” edited by Jan Shipps and John W. Welch.
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I never wanted to mention this but here it goes. I left the church a few years ago. You are the reason why I returned recently. The day before I was going to mail my letter to the Church to remove my name I accidentally ran into saints unscripted. I watched several videos for several hours. A few days later I shredded the letter. Thank you again!! Saints unscripted saved my life in the church ⛪….
Thanks for sharing
Welcome back man! You belong here same as every body else does. Doubts are normal, just can't let em run wild.
That's wonderful to know 😊
Wow! I can’t say how much I love this!
Love this welcome back 🙏
I love William McClellin's testimony of the Book of Mormon. His response to James Cobb is one of my all-time favorite stories, and he preserves some of the best testimonies from the three and eight witnesses.
I just jumped over from your announcement of your new Keystone site. I'm excited that you are still sharing your insights and testimonies.
Thank you for being here!
“you might just as well fight against the Rocky Mountains” - powerful! Thanks for a great video! ❤
The people who left the church, but never denounced the Book of Mormon, always fascinated me. They couldn't stand church leadership or being a part of a struggling church, but even they, despite their bitterness, could never confidently say that the Book of Mormon was fake.
@@mattprater8828
Have you never read the whole passage...?
Sec 84
88 And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. 89 Whoso receiveth you receiveth me;....
If the church was under complete condemnation why would Jesus tell them "who receiveth you receiveth me"?
Following after your announcement from Saints Unscripted. Looking forward to more videos!!!
Great video. William McLellin is such a wild character. It is very bizarre to me how he asked the sheriff in Richmond Missouri for permission to fight Joseph Smith while Joseph was in prison. The sheriff originally agreed as long as they took off Joseph’s handcuffs. Joseph Smith even agreed to fight him, but then McLellin chickened out because he wanted to have a club and the sheriff wouldn’t let him do that because it wouldn’t be a fair fight. A part of me would have liked to see that fight between the prophet and former apostle, but maybe it was for the best Joseph didn’t beat up excommunicated members
Wow I have never heard this story. Sound about right, though haha. I wouldn't want to fight Joseph Smith, either.
This almost makes me want to attempt to return to the church.
Be careful, it might just change your life.
Do it! Being a fellow saint has its challenges, but we are to meet often and strengthen each other :) you’d be welcome!!
Anytime you are ready, we would love to have you back.
@@tooncesrubadue1123and your money
Your 1000th subscriber here 😊 glad to see this channel instantly monotizable
I did many quests to learn about this new channel's objective, and I'm glad to know that it still is in agreement with the gospel. Congratulations and more success!
Doing our best out here!
@@keystonelds the fruits of your labor are sweet ❣️
I'm not LDS but am a giant history nerd, especially American pioneer history, so of course a lot of LDS history is very interesting to me. Looking forward to more LDS church history videos!
Thanks for continuing the series here! I’m excited for all that is to come!
Too bad these early saints didn’t have access to the internet.
This is not a criticism of this video but a thought as a Latter Day Saint.-since the BofM is unique to our faith we tend to think how powerful it is when people leave the church but still retain a belief in the Book of Mormon . However, to many of these early apostates this is the equivalent of people who believe the Bible but change which church they go to. It makes sense that many of these converts received a divine witness of the BofM just like they feel about the Bible and they become upset over some new doctrine of the church or their leaders and therefore leave. Like many Christian’s they retain their religious beliefs and go elsewhere. Right now there are a growing number of people who have a strong witness of the Book of Mormon and Joseph smith but deny anything after. Give it enough time and we will see more Book of Mormon believing church’s that are not part of the official church. The only thing that will stop this is the timing of the 2nd coming.
This was a superb video and I'm now more well informed! Thank you!
No exmos here yet, this place is pure.
Lol 😂
For now 😢
@@lonyaofnevada I took a look at the comments now, they arrived, saying everything I imagined they would say 😢
Very interesting video! Congrats and best wishes on your new channel! I look forward to what’s in store.
I have to disagree on one thing. He didn't become disillusioned. When he left the church he became "illusioned." His illusion was that he stopped believing the truth.
Thanks for the great video.
I'm really excited for your new channel. I'm a big fan. Keep up the good work.
Awesome video
The Church doesn't X-Communicate anymore. They simply remove the name from records.
Thank you so much Sir for your new channel and its excellent presentations defending the truth claims of the Savior’s gospel. Looking forward to your other videos and content.
Very interesting video! The theme is simple: The BOM can be a true ancient record AND the church leveraging its teachings can be like all other human institutions (with their lips they do honor me, but their hearts are far from me).
Three examples of this video: McLellin, Page, David Whitmer. The BOM is the "keystone of religion" that sadly got minimalized to be the "keystone of JS's religion" embedded in the brand of this channel. Thanks in part to the ambitions and editorial contributions of OC and SR and others. With all such editorial licenses, the TRUE ancient record is still embedded within. And where did JS get such innovative content. Ay! There is the rub.
Personally, I would like vey much to see the unadulterated first text. Which I am certain JS protected very carefully. When he buried the "Manuscript" at the Nauvoo house and talked about it like a Bane, I honestly believe that was his reference to the "institution building" and the philosophies of men that followed. Emma likely hid these important papers under her dress crossing the frozen Mississippi. And likely, the main sinod (Brigham) house them under lock and key. The key data point was the interview with David Whitmer by the Brigham sinod regarding the purchase of the "printer's manuscript" where David was defending it was the "original" - they considered the 90-year old senile, but he was revealing the secret "blood oath agreement" to never reveal the truth of the first text. Cosmic humor to apply the Mahan oath's to something so sacred.
Thank you so much for your videos, these efforts to share the gospel online are a God sent!
Now we just need a cool intro video like we had for Faiths and Beliefs
You are the reason I left the church. You've pointed out hundreds of problems with the churchs history without any real answers.
Sorry to hear that, Mike. You've come to different conclusions regarding these questions than I have, but I wish you the best and hope you are able to find another church family where you feel more comfortable.
Mike don’t be ridiculous.
JK I'm still a faithful follower of the church. Everything is true.
very cool
I love the Book of Mormon, but found steadier ground and a stronger spirit in The Church of Jesus Christ based in Monongahela than in the LDS Church. I'm still grateful for the foundation i received growing up, and I still encourage friends struggling in the LDS Church to doubt their doubts first
I grew up very close to the Monogahela church. It's a very cool piece of history, and we love our Restorationist brothers.
Excited for the new channel, but this title is WAY to click-baity. I would prefer if the titles were more concrete.
Glad this is a new channel. I was sad the way SU was going when they had that women’s feminist episode.
Love your videos! But I wish you'd lose the voices and just let the narrator read the quotes. As for McLellan, sounds like he just had problems getting along with people. One question, though. When McLellan died, or since then, did the church leave him excommunicated, or was his temple work subsequently done? I know the church tends to be very compassionate, and in this case I'm pretty sure the church probably did do his work.
There are many things in the Church which aren't perfect. All Leaders are human. I have a testimony of the Restored church. I don't desire a testimony of any man as they can change.
No member should ask for any testimony of any leader. It's not Wise. If the Church was restored, then what men do is irrelevant.
The Church is a Covenant between the members and Christ & Father. Nothing else is that important.
I have enjoyed the stylometry things you guys have done for the Book of Mormon. Maybe you could do a similar one for Doctrine and Covenants, because stylometry is basically a doctrinal theme taught in section 67. The Lord basically challenged the more skeptical apostles to fabricate revelations to see if they could mimic Joseph’s prophetic voice of being Jesus’ mouthpiece. William McLellin allegedly accepted the challenge to contrive scripture and failed despite being a school teacher.
He had problem with the leadership. So...the book was never denounced, but the leadership was? So Mormon churches/organizations/leaders is what he had problems with?
Yeah. That sounds WAY better.
He also said he never heard of any priesthood restoration, Peter James or John.
Hey David
Well of course RYAN is here before the launch...
@@keystonelds I am everywhere. 😂
@@keystoneldsfor a smart guy you really r indoctrinated to believe this made up religion by someone who admired Muhammad's creation.
If his testimony of the BoM is well received, what are we to make of his concerns with Church leadership?
Nothing
It seems like he found the truth in the end.
Sweet
Hello algorithm! 👋
Huh. I thought I was gonna learn something. Sad =/
Nice
Not a cult!
What is the motive of this video?
I know many people that leave a particular religious organization, but continue to falsely believe that their teachings, doctrines, and scriptures are true.
William McLellin would be a shining example of this.
Examples like his are actually a pretty poor way to promote and build ones Faith.
Especially since it’s not even a holistic view of Mormon belief. Meaning, that William will never receive exaltation for his belief in the book of Mormon, because he was excommunicated.
One cannot draw nearer to God by believing in the precepts of the book of Mormon, because only temple going membership in the church will actually do that.
Gotta build on something. Just keep learning and asking God about everything else.
What is the motive of your comment? I personally believe salvation and exaltation are much simpler subjects to God than we mortals make of them, and yet more complex to our understanding than we often realize. In other words, I think you have some research to do about how God will judge us in the last day and the qualifications of salvation and exaltation. Righteous judgement is good but declaring what level of salvation or exaltation someone will or won’t be blessed with is up to God alone. While I agree this video could be more comprehensive and takes some liberties in limiting the info presented, it is by no means evil and has the intention and potential to do good. I usually watch these videos then do my own research, starting with FAIRLDS, if I want to learn more.
Really like the video without the comic asides.
How can a book be declared to be pure and sacred, which has been changed about 3,800 times since its original version. The early versions of the Book of Mormon contained no mention of the Mayas or Jesus preaching in Mesoamerica. It only described Jesus preaching in the Great Lakes region of North America., Smith only added what was initially a brief mention of the Mayas after Frederick Catherwood published a book about his exploration of the Yucatan Peninsula. The full version of the Nephite Thing took about 50 years of changes to the Book of Mormon.
Joseph Smith mentioned the Mayans in the Book of Mormon????
😂