Journal of Discourses

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The Journal of Discourses (often abbreviated J.D.) was a 26-volume collection of public sermons by early leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first editions of the Journal were published in England by George D. Watt, the stenographer of Brigham Young. Publication began in 1854, with the endorsement of the church's First Presidency,[1] and ended in 1886. The Journal is one of the richest sources of early Mormon theology and thinking. It includes 1,438 sermons given by 55 church leaders, including most numerously Brigham Young, John Taylor, Orson Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, and George Q. Cannon.

George D. Watt recorded the first four volumes of sermons himself, and he continued to contribute through volume twelve, but at least eleven other stenographers were involved. Brigham Young has by far the most sermons recorded in the Journal, with 390. It was said that:

Brigham Young secured stenographic reports of his addresses. As he traveled among the people, reporters accompanied him. All that he said was recorded. Practically all of these discourses (from December 16, 1851 to August 19, 1877) were published in the Journal of Discourses, which was widely distributed. The public utterances of few great historical figures have been so faithfully and fully preserved.[2]

Though never accepted as Mormon canon, the Journal was highly esteemed in its day. The preface to the 8th volume, written by apostle George Q. Cannon, stated, "The Journal of Discourses deservedly ranks as one of the standard works of the Church, and every rightminded Saint will certainly welcome with joy every Number as it comes forth from the press as an additional reflector of 'the light that shines from Zion's hill.'" Several other prefaces contain similar statements.

Today, however, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has distanced itself from the Journal and many of its teachings. Many of the doctrines expounded on in the Journal, such as blood atonement, the Adam-God theory, plural marriage, and the exclusionary Negro doctrine, have been disavowed by the modern church.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Journal of Discourses, preface to volume one
  2. ^ John A. Widtsoe, Discourses of Brigham Young (1925), Deseret Book Company, 1954 edition: ISBN 0-87747-066-9

[edit] External links

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