Doctrine and Covenants 13 | |
1 UPON you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness. | 1 2 The Pearl of Great Price, JS-H 1:71 says Joseph and Oliver ordained each other to the Aaronic Priesthood, but it never mentions an ordination to any office in that priesthood. Also note that it isn't until Joseph receives revelation in 1843 that they learn how to distinguish between angels of God and the devil himself (D&C 129:1-9). How would they know if an angel as mentioned in section 13 was from God or not? 1 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [now admits](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/topics/restoration-of-the-aaronic-priesthood?lang=eng) that there was no historical record of the restoration of the Aaronic priesthood through angelic visitations until 1834 (5 years after it occurred). Why was there such a long delay in writing down this experience?
Even though this event purportedly occured in May 1829, there was no account of it included in the [1833 Book of Commandments](https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/book-of-commandments-1833/1) or the [1835 Doctrine and Covenants](https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/doctrine-and-covenants-1835/1). It was not referred to (at least not in any distinguishable detail) in writing until [Oliver Cowdery's 1834 letter](https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/51) which was then published on [pg. 15](https://archive.org/details/latterdaysaintsm01unse/page/14/mode/2up) of the Messenger and Advocate vol. 1, no. 1 – October 1834.
Note that the 1834 account omits the angel's name being John the Baptist, which detail was first mentioned in D&C 27:7-8 (which revelation was modified for the [1835 Doctrine and Covenants](https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/doctrine-and-covenants-1835/188)). The text of this section (D&C 13) comes from the 1838 account (see JS-H 1:68-69 and [manuscript volume A-1](https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-a-1-23-december-1805-30-august-1834/23)) which was finally included in the [1844 Doctrine and Covenants](https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/doctrine-and-covenants-1844/1). |