Where the LDS and FLDS parted ways

At the death of every prophet in this dispensation since Joseph Smith, there has been a general apostasy among the people, every single time. The next Prophet is always the man the Prophet DIRECTLY preceding him appoints through revelation. The Prophet is always very close to the Prophet.

When Joseph Smith ordained the twelve apostles, they were placed in seniority one to another from oldest to youngest. That made Thomas B Marsh the president of the twelve, David W Patten second, and Brigham Young third. Lyman Johnson, who was one of the youngest was ordained first, and Brigham Young was ordained second. Thomas B Marsh and Lyman Johnson apostatized before Joseph passed away, and David Patten was killed in Missouri. And when Joseph Smith was killed there were many who apostatized, who did not believe Brigham Young was the prophet and followed other men. Those men were not "taken down" by God. God allows men to lead people astray if they will, but God never will lead a good person astray.

Brigham Young was the Prophet from 1844 to 1877, thirty-three years. Through most of those years Wilford Woodruff was believed by many to be senior to John Taylor because he was older, and as Joseph originally placed them in seniority according to age, Wilford Woodruff believed it to be still true as well, even though John Taylor helped to ordain Wilford Woodruff. Prior to Brigham Young's passing he made it very clear that where he was not John Taylor presided.

Brigham Young passed away in 1877 and from that time Wilford Woodruff was not close to John Taylor. He was senior in age, as was Orson Pratt, because for many years he was believed to be senior in Priesthood authority. Although this was corrected by Brigham Young shortly before he passed away, Wilford Woodruff went to the Lord asking about being co-equal in authority with John Taylor, he wrote a supposed revelation to the church while John Taylor was still alive, and still the prophet over the people.

Wilford Woodruff wrote "Thus saith the Lord unto My servant John Taylor...", and then later wrote: "And while my servant John Taylor is your President, I wish to ask the rest of my servants of the Apostles the question, although you have one to preside over your Quorum, which is the order of God in all generations, do you not, all of you, hold the apostleship, which is the highest authority ever given to men on earth? You do. Therefore you hold in common the Keys of the Kingdom of God in all the world."

This was completely wrong, and out of order for him. The other two largest of the fundamentalist Mormon groups, the AUB and the Centennial Park people both hold on to this as a revelation, and it was a major reason they split from the FLDS. The AUB has it included in the Four Hidden Revelations.

In 1879, the George Reynolds decision in the Supreme Court made the anti-plural marriage laws binding. Overturning the First Amendment and attempting to stop the Celestial Law. This is shortly before Wilford Woodruff wrote his "revelation" to John Taylor.

A 1882 Revelation to John Taylor states clearly regarding the prerequisite to ordaining men to the High Priesthood: "if he will conform to my law; for it is not meet that men who will not abide my law shall preside over my priesthood"

The 1886 was not submitted to the church because the Prophet John Taylor was in hiding, he was already being hunted by many at the time. He had been in hiding for over a year when George Q Cannon brought him a manifesto to consider, and that is when the Lord gave the 1886 at the home of John W Woolley. John Taylor said he would rather his tongue severed from his mouth than to sanction a manifesto, and his arm removed before he would sign it.

John Taylor passed away in 1887 while still hiding. Many who were in the Mormon church wanted to have plural marriage done away because of the persecution, relatively few were committed to living the highest law and the government was taking all of the property of the church. Wilford Woodruff became the President of the church even though he was not close to the Prophet John Taylor, or ever attempted to see him while in hiding. He was the next in line by ordination, not by unity.

The 1890 Manifesto does not state that the Church will not perform or sanction plural marriage, but rather that they denied that they were doing so. The problem was that was not true, as there are many documented cases proving otherwise besides Wilford Woodruffs own marriage in 1897. Brigham Young Jr who would have succeeded Wilford Woodruff had he lived, and John W Taylor were apostles and married after that, among many others.

And thus we have record of the 1880 "revelation" to Wilford Woodruff declaring he was "co-head" of the church. "Hold the keys in common" was the wording he used. Wilford Woodruff DID lose his seniority, which REQUIRES unity and obedience to the Law and the Prophet. When you read the Bible, the story of Elisha holding the mantle of Elijah is very relevant in how you understand who the Prophet is. Also the story of David and Saul is relevant to the Woolley men, for after David was anointed King he would not "set on the Lords anointed" even though Saul had lost his way. That is how John Woolley and Lorin Woolley treated Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, and Joseph F Smith. Many men stayed in good standing in the church and married plural wives at this time without the President of the Church approving, but the Prophet was doing it. John and Lorin Woolley were given this authority in 1886, and when the Manifesto was read and sustained, those men who sustained it as a revelation lost their Priesthood authority.

John W Woolley was a very reserved man, and did not ever preach that he was the prophet, as he was very humble. And yet he continued to go to the LDS temple and worked there as the Temple Sealer (or the one who performed the wedding ceremonies) after the 1886 revelation. He, like David of Old did not "set on the Lords anointed" He was a close friend of Joseph F Smith, and they conferred together often, even after Joseph F Smith became president of the Church. He did not draw any attention to himself or speak in meetings or gather a separate people, he only continued to do what he was instructed by John Taylor after the 1886 revelation was given. And that was to perform weddings for those who wanted to live the Celestial law. After Joseph F Smith publicly announced the "second manifesto" he suffered quite a bit, for the other Apostles were going to depose him, John Woolley said he "sweat drops of blood", he then sanctioned plural weddings in secret up until his death. He performed the wedding of John W Woolley and his wife in 1910. It was not until Heber J Grant became President of the church that the church President began fighting the Celestial Law of Marriage in actual deed. Any who were devout up to that time could be married in the Celestial Law if they made the effort, as did John Y Barlow:

"I went on a mission, and while there I supposed this thing was all done away with. I came back and what did I see? I saw the President of our Stake -- and by the way, the President of our Stake was a brother to Brother [Heber J.]Grant -- and I saw two of his counselors, and all of them had taken plural wives. I thought to myself, "What is the matter here? There is something wrong somewhere. I am going to find out." So I commenced praying to God. I got the answer. I got it very, very plain. I might relate a little bit to you how it came about.
"I knew that this was going on, but who was doing it I didn't know. I was sure it was going on, for I had a brother that had gone into it, and Brother Thomas Steed and Walter and a great many others had gone into it, and I knew they were good men. So I got a chance. A young lady came to my home and was ready to go into it; so I went to Salt Lake to find out what to do. I approached half a dozen or more to find out what I should do. Finally, one said to me, "Think of the man that bore the strongest testimony you ever knew." I did. He lived out of town. I went to the depot and took the train to where he was. When I got there, he was standing at the depot waiting for me. I started to tell him what I wanted. He said, "Hold on, I will tell you what you want. I was out "Ward teaching" and God told me to come and meet you." I was going to tell him what I wanted, and he said, "I will tell you what you want." He explained to me the whole thing -- how it was and what they were doing. This is how I came to get in this work. Then after I found out it was right and could get it done, he said, "I will be downtown Thursday, or Tuesday, and I will take you to a man that can do it." He took me. I said, "How did you get your authority?" It was perfectly explained satisfactory to me. After he did it, he said, "Now, have your wife go get her endowments." So I went back, and she got a recommend and we all went to the temple. We fasted and prayed for three days, and the morning we went to the temple, I was called up first to stand in the prayer circle. I was called to take that woman through the veil. After that, I was patted on the shoulder and the brother said, "Be careful, Brother Barlow. I knew it the moment you stepped in here. God bless you. Be careful!" That was one of the greatest testimonies to me. Since then, I have had ever so many testimonies." (John Y Barlow 3/25/48)

God will not lead a righteous people astray, but He requires those who call themselves by His name to KNOW they are doing His will. He will send them tests, and requires them to make sure they are doing right no matter what. Those who were doing this during the 1880's and stayed with the doctrine of the Priesthood were no longer LDS after the passing of Joseph F Smith. The Church and any people who were just along for the ride and made no effort to sustain the Celestial Law were cut off from the authority of the Priesthood when the Church began excommunicating those who lived the Celestial Law. The Church authorities apostatized.

To search out and live the Priesthood law of marriage was available for everyone in the Church who would make the effort. All of the FLDS people now are descendants of, or are themselves those who seek after the Celestial Law. Not one marriage in the LDS Church is valid in the Celestial Kingdom, they must be performed by those who hold the Priesthood and live the Celestial Law. Many will be done for the righteous among the LDS and other people during the Millennium. God knows what He is doing, and He knows what we are doing, so we must know what we are doing is what HE wants us to be doing..