The Council of Fifty as a Priesthood Body
Published on Monday, October 19, 2021 at 1:30 PM
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The Council of Fifty was the last organization established by Joseph Smith before his death. This “literal Kingdom of God” was viewed by its members as being an organization to enact the further fulfillment of the verse in the Lord’s Prayer “thy kingdom come, [that] thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.” The Council of Fifty was seen as a temporal Theocracy fulfillment of Daniel chapters 2 and 7, wherein the God of Heaven in the last days would establish a Kingdom that would break into pieces and consume all the other kingdoms of this world.
Yet, due to the secretive nature of the Council of Fifty, the lack of detailed minutes of the body in Joseph Smith’s lifetime, and the fact that only a portion of the Council of Fifty minutes have been released, there are still many questions about the full scope and authority of this body. What was the Council of Fifty’s connection to the Priesthood? Was the Council and the priesthood brethren of it intended to hold Ecclesiastical Authority above the priesthood quorums of the Church?
Complicating matters, after Joseph Smith’s death some members of the Council of Fifty described it as a priesthood body, with authority to preside over the Church and temporal affairs of the Kingdom of God, while others made statements denying the Council of Fifty held priesthood authority. Which view was more accurate?
This then becomes the purpose of this issue of One Eternal Round, to comprehensively analyze both the arguments for and against the Council of Fifty being a priesthood body, looking at the totality of the evidence to try to understand the full picture of what Joseph Smith and other Council of Fifty members believed about the literal Kingdom of God.
This issue of One Eternal Round can be discussed over at the One Eternal Round Facebook Group!