Transition from the New York era to the Kirtland era

I've noticed several important things going on recently -- that all seem to be converging into a new era for the church
  • After the translation of the Book of Mormon and organization of the church, the Lamanite mission was set up -- the thought at the time being that the Lamanite decedents would convert in mass to the church (mission of the church as understood by Joseph Smith)
  • In conjunction with the Lamanite mission, the missionaries were to search for location of Zion, where a holy city would be built
  • The  conversion of primitivist Sydney Rigdon and much of his communal congregation in Kirtland occurs while the Lamanite missionaries are en route to their mission.  This, of course, alters the previous course of the church in significant ways
  • The eastern boundary of Zion is declared to be at Kirtland. Rather than settling only in the newly identified Zion in Missouri, New York church members are directed to settle at either the eastern edge of Zion at Kirtland, or the center of Zion in Missouri
  • An infusion of power, or "endowment" of spiritual power is promised to occur in Kirtland.  This "endowment" will 1st take the form of the "high" priesthood, then as an empowerment at the dedication of the Kirtland temple.  In Nauvoo this concept will evolve further into the endowment current in temples today.
I'm sure there is a lot more light to shed on this point in history -- but this is what I see going on at this important transition point from the New York era to the Kirtland era.

1 comment:

  1. I don't have any comments on this post, except to say that I've enjoyed reading through the entries on the blog. I don't have a lot of knowledge of early church history, so this is good to see it chronologically, and with contemporary events.

    I was talking to a friend of mine about how it could be that the First Vision didn't get written down until YEARS after the event (and that it read quite differently then) and he said that it wasn't the defining thing back then - the Book of Mormon was what it was all about. Nowadays, though, it seems like the First Vision is really the crux.

    Perspective is key. =)

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