Ep 203: D&C 99 – Sections 125 and 126
Build up a city on the Iowa side of the river, possibly so that Joseph can escape jurisdiction in Illinois by hopping over the border from Nauvoo to Montrose. Brigham Young has returned from his mission overseas and brought an influx of believers from England. Plural marriage is full-on happening, and it’s not always incredibly full of consent.
Patron Bonus: “I do Mormonism for fun” is one heck of a conversation!
Read along with us at https://comparedandc.com/
My Book of Mormon 
April 22, 2018 at 5:07 pm
Re: Bryce’s comment that removing sections from the D&C by the Community of Christ is historical revisionism.
“No. No, no no no no.” (This was me talking to the computer when Bryce said that.)
The purpose of the D&C is not to serve as a historical document.
Like the LDS Church, the Community of Christ views its D&C as a compendium of revelations by which the church governs itself.
Also like the LDS Church, they have the Law of Common Consent. But unlike the LDS Church, they actually practice it.
CoC only removes sections with the approval of its members. This approval is part of their revelatory process—a “revelation” is not a revelation for the church no matter who delivers it *unless* the church accepts it as one. The prophet can speak or write down what he thinks is a revelation, but it is not canon without common consent.
A lot of stuff in early editions of the D&C was put in there without approval by a world/general conference—i.e., without common consent. Over the years, CoC conferences have removed many of those sections. Others have been affirmed as canon through the conference process, and those sections have stayed as part of their D&C.
Removing sections does not mean the CoC denies they ever existed or that they are part of the church’s history. It is not denying that Joseph Smith ever said stupid shit. It’s part of their ongoing revelatory process, which is a lot more active than the LDS one (as you’ll see when comparing later sections of the LDS D&C and the CoC D&C).
April 22, 2018 at 8:54 pm
Thank you for the education! I know nothing about this specific aspect of CofC and find it extremely helpful.
April 27, 2018 at 3:08 am
I’m no expert either but I read and listen to podcasts a lot. A family friend wrote a book about the CoC when I was a kid, which is how I first learned about it. And I occasionally listen to a CoC podcast called Project Zion with the catchy tagline “The Restoration, Caffeinated.” It’s geared toward ex/post-Mormons who are still interested in being Restoration (Book of Mormon/Joseph Smith) Christians; you could probably start listening to it after the next few sections without getting too spoiled.
And of course, I listen to everything that John Hamer ever says. Have you met him yet?
But I still haven’t been inside an actual CoC church even though there’s one in biking distance from my place … Sundays are tough 🙂
April 27, 2018 at 3:25 pm
I haven’t. Yet! Bryce and I discussed your comment when we recorded on Wednesday. It’ll go up the first episode in May.
September 10, 2019 at 9:46 am
I was gonna leave a snarky comment about something in the first half of the show, but then I got the… let’s call it a radio play, and everything flew out and was replaced by revulsion.