Sidney Rigdon

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Sidney Rigdon

Sidney Rigdon (born February 19, 1793 in St. Clair , Pennsylvania , † July 14, 1876 in Friendship , New York ) was a clergyman and an important figure in Mormonism in the early years of the movement.

Baptist origin

Sidney was the fourth child of the farmer William Rigdon and his wife Nancy. Sidney sought to become a Baptist minister of her own volition and became the "apprentice" of Reverend Andrew Clark. In March 1819 he received his preaching license and moved to Ohio, where he preached with Adamson Bentley and whose sister he married Phoebe Brook in June 1820. In 1822 he returned to Pittsburgh and took over the pastorate at the First Baptist Church on the recommendation of Alexander Campbell .

After lengthy discussions with Campbell, both Rigdon and Bentley joined his restoration movement in 1821. This movement sought to unite the church as the union of all Christians in a single body, which is structured on the model of the church in the New Testament. As a result, Rigdon lost his post as a minister and for the next several years worked as a tanner during the week and preached in Campbell's Sunday movement. In 1826 he accepted an offer to pastor a more liberal Baptist church in Mentor, Ohio. At that time, some later prominent members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were members of his ward.

As a Latter-day Saint

When Sidney Rigdon learned of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith's Restoration of the original Church of Jesus Christ , he willingly accepted the new faith, as it reflected his belief in a need to restore the original New Testament Church. Hundreds of members of his parish joined him. When Rigdon visited Joseph Smith in December 1830, the latter immediately called him to be the spokesman for the young Church. Rigdon served as scribe in revising the Bible in Smith's inspired translation .

On March 18, 1833, Rigdon was installed as first counselor to Joseph Smith on the Church's highest governing body, the First Presidency . Its importance in the early Church is demonstrated, for example, by repeated mentions in the Doctrine and Covenants .

Rigdon played a key role in important Church operations at that time: building the Kirtland Temple , founding and operating the Kirtland Safety Society , a church-owned bank that collapsed in 1837, like many other banks in the border region. In 1839 Rigdon was imprisoned with Joseph Smith in Liberty Prison for some time. After the Latter-day Saints were driven from Missouri and settled in Nauvoo , Smith and Rigdon’s relationship deteriorated and Smith wanted to dismiss him as his counselor, but Church members opposed it.

After the murder of Joseph Smith

Following the assassination of Joseph Smith on June 27, 1844, Sidney Rigdon argued on the succession issue that he should be the first and at that time only counselor to Joseph Smith to lead the Church until the son of Joseph Smith, Joseph III, who would be of age to take over the leadership of the Church as an inheritance from his father. This opposed Brigham Young , who believed that as President of the Quorum of the Twelve he should lead the Church. With the vast majority of the members, Brigham Young prevailed. Rigdon did not want to give up his claim and was expelled from the Church on September 8, 1844.

Rigdon gathered a few followers and ran his own church in Pennsylvania, which got smaller and smaller due to quarrels and eventually became the reservoir of most Mormon factions of the time, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , which was until a few years ago direct descendants of Joseph Smith were in charge. The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonites) is a smaller group that to this day hold on to Rigdon and the persons consecrated by him as the sole leader .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Times and Seasons May 1, 1843. p. 177 in a 1986 reprint of Independence Press, ISBN 0-8309-0467-0
  2. ^ Deseret Morning News, 2007 Church Almanac, p. 55
  3. ↑ See Guide to the Scriptures, keyword Rigdon, Sidney in the triple combination, also in the Internet edition of the Holy Scriptures
  4. ↑ see R. McKay White, Kirtland Safety Society: The Myths, the Facts and the Good Name of the Prophet (PDF; 220 kB)
  5. ^ Deseret Morning News, 2007 Church Almanac, p. 55
personal data
SURNAME Rigdon, Sidney
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American clergyman and Mormon figure
DATE OF BIRTH February 19, 1793
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Clair, Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH July 14, 1876
Place of death Friendship (New York)