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Introduction
Joseph Smith's revelation texts carved out a complex system of ranks, off ices, jurisdictions, and judicial bodies that implicitly re- jected the feminization of Protestantism, while forwarding a selec- tive blend of biblical terminology, Book of Mormon-def ined praxis, and antebellum legalisms in organizing an exclusively male "priesthood" structure.1
The purpose of this paper is to examine some early Mormon revelation texts on priesthood, to begin to understand those texts in the context of their time and place, and to brief ly observe how those texts inf luenced later Mormonism.2 The textual founda- tions of Mormon liturgy are not just the seed of praxis, they also created doctrine, even if some of it was temporar y. Joseph Smith's narrative of angelic visits and handbook-like revelations system- atized and organized a hierarchy that gradually became self-sus- taining even through the shock wave of his own death. His apos- tolic successors took these durable texts and fading memories of early contexts to form an ever-evolv ing picture of governmental structure that paralleled reinterpretations of the purposes of that structure.3
The essential texts and innovations that outlined and gener- ated this evolution began with the 1830 Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ. This initial text was followed by the ordina- tion of a Church bishop in 1831. The nature of this off ice and those established in 1830 caused diff iculties in understanding their relative positioning in the hierarchy. A new off ice, high priest, was introduced in June 1831, and following it in November 1831, revelations provided the beginnings of a skeletal structure that limited the bishop in several ways and formally placed Joseph Smith in a super visory role. The revelation of November 11, 1831, went through some rev ision, and I present a possible proto- text for that pivotal revelation to help in understanding how reve- lations delivered early in 1832 further enriched this structure. The fall of 1832 saw revelation that opened a richer, if intermedi- ate, hierarchical structure. At the beginning of 1835, more off ices were added to the Church: the twelve apostles and the seventy. A revelation incorporating these off ices in the hierarchy appeared in April 1835....