Episode 147: D&C 48 – Sections 65 and 66
We learn how to pray without learning many, if any, specifics of how to pray. William McLellin hands us a PRIME example to prove Joseph’s prophetic powers by asking for answers to five questions without telling Joseph what those questions were. Joseph gives the most vague of vague answers, Williams tells everyone his questions were answered, and we *never find out what the questions were*.
Listen to Bryce’s trilogy on Mark Hofmann here.
Foolish Virgins are explained here.
For Thine Is The Kingdom is a hymn found in the Baptist Hymnal 1991 #659
Drink count – 10, or a little over one beer
Read along with us at http://joelakuhn.com/dc-compare/
Support the show by becoming a Patron over at Patreon.com/MyBookofMormonPodcast
Drop me a line at comments@mybookofmormonpodcast.com
Podcastriarchal blessing: Bobby M.
Podcastriarchal music is Our Happy Life by Maps and Transit, edited for length
My Book of Mormon 
February 19, 2017 at 1:17 am
How about a small taste of seminary class…
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” is from Matthew 3:3, in which the gospel writer claims John the Baptist is the fulfilling of Isaiah 40:3. Whoever is speaking in D&C 65 is comparing Joseph Smith’s new church to John the Baptist, both of whom authoritatively declared the imminent arrival of Christ.
The “stone which is cut out of the mountains without hands” is a reference to Daniel chapter 2, and the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who saw a statue with a head of gold, chest of silver, belly of brass, legs of iron, and feet of clay. A stone cut from a mountain without hands then rolled into it and broke it all to pieces, and afterwards the stone itself grew to the size of a mountain. Daniel said the statue represented the increasingly inferior kingdoms of the world, and the stone was the kingdom of God which should destroy all earthly kingdoms, and then stand forever in their place.
I don’t know for sure whether the Christian church would consider themselves to be a fulfillment of this prophecy. I mean, the Catholic church did have a pretty good run for a while at overthrowing and dominating the kingdoms of Europe. But the LDS church believes that the Christian church, at some not clearly specified time between the death of the original apostles and its adoption of “abominable” creeds by its church councils, lost God’s approval and authority, and fell into a state of universal apostasy, i.e. “The Great Apostasy”.
The LDS church, then, believes itself to be the restored church, the stone cut out without hands, the kingdom of God “which shall never be destroyed” and “shall not be left to other people”. In my comments on the last episode, I mentioned that the church believes itself to be immune to apostasy from the top down, which would constitute another Great Apostasy, and this sort of verse helps explain how they justify that belief.
I’ve nothing much to say about D&C 66, but here’s a photo of our good friend William E. McLellin in his later years:
February 19, 2017 at 2:07 pm
Never stop listening to the show, man, because we need you and your brain. And now I know what I’m going to talk about in the comments section when we record on Wednesday!
February 23, 2017 at 11:35 pm
I found myself wondering what 5 questions William E. McLellin asked God and what were the answers he received via Joseph Smith in D&C 66. So I did an internet search and found this commentary which was written by Bruce Satterfield, a BYU Idaho religious instructor, concerning D&C 66:
“McClellin [McLellin] never listed what the five questions were [in his papers]. Perhaps the following are the questions:
1. How does this little church that I have just joined organized by Joseph Smith, fit into the religious world? (D&C 66:2)
2. What is my spiritual standing? (D&C 66:3)
3. What is my role in the Church? I have closed my school and settled my affairs in Illinois. What am I to do now? (D&C 66:5-8)
4. I have seen and personally experienced the power to heal by both Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Will I be able to have this power? (D&C 66:9)
5. How can I escape the temptation of adultery and other sins which have burdened me, especially since the recent death of my wife? (D&C 66: 9, 10, 12)”
Considering the time and circumstances I suppose these questions would be foremost in Elder McLellin’s mind, but I can think of other things that I would like to ask God if given the opportunity…5 is too short a list.