Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: wcsa@iwtdr.att.com (Willard C Smith) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: When was Christ Born? Summary: A literal interpretation of D&C 20:1 ain't necessarily so Message-ID: Date: 13 Oct 89 06:51:13 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 34 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , eickmeye@girtab.usc.edu (Biff Henderson) writes: >Joseph Smith was divinely-instructed to legally incorporate the LDS Church >(under the laws of New York State) on Tuesday, April 6, 1830 (this is >found in LDS Scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 20:1, if my memory >serves me correctly). He was told that April 6th was the Lord's Day, but >it is not a Sunday. Thus, the interpretation of many LDS people is that >April 6 is the modern calendar's equivalent to the day of Jesus' birth. >Warning: I am not sure if this conclusion has ever been adopted officially >by the LDS Church. As a Mormon, I would like to respond to *this* view. This idea, that Christ was born on April 6, 1 A.D. is based on a very literal interpretation of D&C 20:1. This view has been *pushed* by several different LDS Church Leaders throughout time (ie. Joseph Fielding Smith, McConkie, Roberts, and Talmage), but has never been official accepted. In fact I can point out at least one major LDS Leader who disagreed with this interpretation. Joseph Fielding Smith's older brother, Hyrum, who was one of the youngest members of the twelve and the president of the quorum, wrote a commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants. In the original commentary, Hyrum openly disagreed with the literal interpretation of D&C 20:1 as setting the date of Christ's birth. Later, after his unfortunate and unexpected death, his younger brother altered the commentary to reflect the literal inter- pretation. Since my father has a first edition, I have been able to examine it for myself. My personal opinion, based on issues raised by Edersheim, is that Jesus was born 4 B.C. and died 28 A.D. -- 1100 E. Warrenville Rd., Naperville, IL Willard C. Smith (312) 979-0024 att!iwtdr!wcsa "It's life, Captain, but not as we know it."