Item Detail
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29239
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0
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0
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English
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The Unsure Word of Prophecy : Spiritual Gifts as Communal Endeavor in Early Mormon Society
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Journal of Mormon History
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January 2018
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44
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1
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Champaign, IL
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University of Illinois Press; Mormon History Association
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50-73
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"In the summer of 1837, in a small Mormon congregation in Jackson County, Missouri, fifteen-year-old Calvin Reed shared a vision regarding Henry Jackson, a recent Mormon convert and member of the community. Jackson had embarked on a preaching mission some time before but hadn't been heard from in recent months. In his vision, Reed saw Jackson preaching to the souls of the dead. There is no record of Reed's interpretation, but Aaron Lyon, a high priest in the community, expanded the vision. Lyon declared by prophetic inspiration that Henry Jackson was dead and that he had been appointed to marry Jackson's wife, Sarah. The community had mixed reactions to this second prophetic pronouncement. Some questioned his claims of divine inspiration and others (including Sarah Jackson) eventually believed that Lyon's words carried the weight of authority. Doubts were settled when Henry Jackson arrived home in November. When he learned that his "widow" and Aaron Lyon were engaged to be married, Jackson brought charges against Lyon in a Church court. As a result, the High Council revoked Lyon's priesthood license, and he disappeared from Mormon history." [From the text]