Journal of Discourses, Volume 2

Journal of Discourses

by Brigham Young

The newly typeset, large-format Millennial Edition of the LDS classic.

Genres: Religion

376 pages, Hardcover

First published May 2, 2006

About the author

Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until his death. He was also the founder of Salt Lake City and the first governor of the Utah Territory, United States. Brigham Young University was named in his honor.

Young had a variety of nicknames, among the most popular being "American Moses," (alternatively the "Modern Moses" or the "Mormon Moses") because, like the Biblical figure, Young led his followers, the Mormon pioneers, in an exodus through a desert, to what they saw as a promised land. Young was also dubbed the "Lion of the Lord" for his bold personality, and was commonly called "Brother Brigham" by Latter-day Saints.

Reviews

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I have discovered why these volumes are not heavily read as a collection in the church. I have enjoyed reading the early leaders' opinions about various topics including polygamy and the Adam-God theory, but it is easy to see where many anti-Mormon authors get a lot of their fodder. Many of the quotes, when taken out of context, could seem a bit inflammatory. The discourses are anything but dull, and I love to contrast the General Conference talks back then to the ones of the last decade or two.

Perhaps my favorite part about this volume is that I am really starting to pick up the different personalities of the Brethren. I'm looking forward to reading the remaining 24 volumes but it is going to take some time. I've decided to create an index, as I have not found a good one yet for this series. I'm creating it through Word, so the index will have hyperlinks to the actual text when I'm all through.

[Stephen Cranney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Js of Ds are some of my favorite. Of course, there are always the controversial tidbits that have come to define them, but on the whole they portray a kind of theologically grand Mormonism. No small potato rites-of-passage hoop jumping here.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Orson Pratt has some good stuff.

[Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars for being historically important and interesting. The discourses (of which there are 56) vary in quality and length. All of the discourses are from the 1850s. There are many authors, including Brigham Young (who is generally the most entertaining), George A Smith, Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, Jedidiah Grant, and various Elders. The following list is nowhere near comprehensive. I do not take a stand either way if any of this doctrine is correct or not, I simply enjoy it from a historical perspective.

Some of the doctrinal curiosities contained in this volume:
-There is a plurality of worlds (pgs. 55, 59, 102, 103, 245, 263, 264, 341, 345, 368)
-There is more than one God (pgs. 58, 119, 122, 129, 130, 132, 146, 345, 346)
-Plurality of wives (pgs. 58, 84, 85, 88, 89, 117, 153, 283, 284)
-God has physical human body parts and needs (pgs. 64, 69, 337)
-Jesus had multiple wives and children (pgs. 80-83)
-God has a wife/has sex (pg. 117, 210, 239)
-African Americans are cursed (pg. 184)
-Blood Atonement (pg. 186)
-God can't do everything/there are sins that can't be forgiven (pgs. 211, 343, 372)
-Marriage is necessary for exaltation (pg. 216)

My favorite by far is the Brigham recounting a story told to him by Joseph Smith, and I summarize - If a pure Gentile firmly believes the Gospel and yields obedience to it, their Gentile blood will be cleansed out of them and replaced by the blood of Jacob, the shock of which is so great they'll go into fits. (pg. 269)

There are of course other interesting things, ranging from anti-Semitism to an obsession with spirit-rappings, to the conversion of the Native American "Lamanites", to the possibility of being a servant in the afterlife, etc.