The mainstream LDS Church response

Official Church Statement

In the “Official Statement” from the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, signed by Heber J. Grant, A.W. Ivins and J. Reuben Clark, Jr., “First Presidency,” the words are as follows:

“It is alleged that on September 26-27, 1886, President John Taylor received a revelation from the Lord, the purported text is given in publications circulated apparently by or at the instance of this organization (Fundamentalists).
“As to this pretended revelation it should be said that the archives of the Church contain no such a revelation; the archives contain no record of any such a revelation, nor any evidence justifying a belief that any such a revelation was ever given. From the personal knowledge of some of us, from the uniform and common recollection of the presiding quorums of the Church, from the absence in the Church archives of any evidence whatsoever justifying any belief that such a revelation was given, we are justified in affirming that no such a revelation exists.”

If the revelation to John Taylor was not then in the archives of the Church, it is because it had been taken out from the archives of the Church, in order to make the statement, for each of the brethren had been familiar with it and knew that it was in existence. These three men signed the false statement with full knowledge of its falsity and with the intent of deceiving the Saints. To make the deception more complete, A. W. Ivins, one of the signers to the false statement, wrote one of our California friends as follows:

“The latter purported revelation of John Taylor (of 1886) has no standing in the Church. I have searched carefully, and all that can be found is a piece of paper found among President Taylor’s effects after his death. It was written in pencil and only a few paragraphs, which has no signature at all. It was unknown to the Church until members of his own family claimed to have found it among his papers. It was never presented or discussed as a revelation by the presiding authorities of the Church.”

Then without any apparent thought of corroboration of this statement with facts, Apostle Melvin J. Ballard stumbles into a trap and leaves Brother Ivins out on a limb, as follows:

“The pretended revelation of John Taylor never had his signature added to it but was written in the form of a revelation and undoubtedly was in his handwriting.” (Marriage—Ballard-Jenson Correspondence, p. 17.)

Thus the revelation is confirmed by two independent statements made by two leading Church officials, each of whom tried to destroy it.

The late B. H. Roberts, while Assistant Historian of the Church, stated to friends that he had seen, on more than one occasion, the original copy of this 1886 revelation, and knew that it was in the Church archives; and in his opinion it was genuine.