Within Mormonism, the priesthood authority to act in God's name was said by its founder, Joseph Smith, to have been removed from the primitive Christian church through a Great Apostasy, which Mormons believe occurred due to the deaths of the original apostles. Mormons maintain that this apostasy was prophesied of within the Bible to occur prior to the Second Coming of Jesus and was therefore in keeping with God's plan for mankind. Smith claimed that the priesthood authority was restored to him from angelic beings—John the Baptist and the apostles Peter, James, and John. Some Christians have argued that a complete apostasy of the Christian church is impossible, because Christ is perfect. The Mormon belief is that Jesus, as Jehovah, also guided the Old Testament prophets and their followers, but that there are biblical descriptions of many apostasies amongst them, evidencing that Jehovah, who was perfect, did not intercede to prevent mankind from using agency and corrupting the true teachings and practices established through the prophets. Most Christians believe that the canon of scripture is closed. Mormons believe in an open canon of scripture and accept the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price as scripture. Mormons also recognize a living prophet who has the authority to propose additions to the scriptural canon.
Political structure in early Mormonism
Early Mormonism established community legal structures as essentially theocracies. Joseph Smith and his successor, Brigham Young, presided over The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as prophet, President of the Church, and spiritual king until Christ's assumption of world kingship at his Second Coming. U.S. President Millard Fillmore appointed Young governor of the Territory of Utah, and there was minimal effective separation between church and state until 1858. Young envisioned a Mormon state spanning from the Salt Lake Valley to the Pacific Ocean; he sent church leaders to establish colonies far and wide. These colonies were governed by Mormon officials under Young's mandate to enforce "God's law" by "lay the ax at the root of the tree of sin and iniquity," while preserving individual rights. Despite the distance to these outlying colonies, local Mormon leaders received frequent visits from church headquarters, and were under Young's direct doctrinal and political control. Mormons were taught to obey the orders of their priesthood leaders, as long as they coincided with the church's religious principles. Young's view of theocratic enforcement included a death penalty. However, there are no documented cases showing that capital punishment was ever used by the Mormons. Mormon leaders taught the doctrine of blood atonement, in which Mormon "covenant breakers" could in theory gain their exaltation in heaven by having "their blood spilt upon the ground, that the smoke thereof might ascend to heaven as an offering for their sins." More clearly stated, this doctrine holds that capital punishment is required to atone for murder. Commentator Thomas G. Alexander argues that most violent speech by Mormon leaders was rhetorical in nature and that statistical studies were needed to determine whether frontier Utah was more violent in reality than surrounding regions. Referring to the frequent Mormon declarations that there were fewer deeds of violence in Utah than in other pioneer settlements of equal population, the Salt Lake Tribune of January 25, 1876, stated: "It is estimated that no less than 600 murders have been committed by the Mormons, in nearly every case at the instigation of their priestly leaders, during the occupation of the territory. Giving a mean average of 50,000 persons professing that faith in Utah, we have a murder committed every year to every 2500 of population. The same ratio of crime extended to the population of the United States would give 16,000 murders every year." Whatever the case, there is evidence that occasionally local church leaders took the rhetoric of such doctrines seriously as they contemplated sanctionable applications of violence. According to rumors and accusations, Brigham Young sometimes enforced "God's law" through a secret cadre of avenging Danites. The truth of these rumors is debated by historians. While there existed active vigilante organizations in Utah who referred to themselves as "Danites", they may have been acting independently.
