Reviewing quotes by LDS Church leaders during the Utah Territorial years, one finds that “Zion” meant much more to them than just a spiritual ideal, it had a strong temporal element. For example, in 1861 Apostle Daniel H. Wells stated, “To build up Zion is a temporal labor; it does not consist simply in teaching: […]
Posts by John Taylor Wilford Woodruff:
131. Economic Unity, Wilford Woodruff, 1867
We are one of heart and mind, as it regards faith, repentance, baptism, or the first principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ; but the same unity must exist in our midst in all our temporal labors—in building temples, tabernacles, cities, towns, villages, canals, cultivating the earth, or any other labor, if we ever accomplish […]
130. What Building Zion Requires of Us, Wilford Woodruff, 1867
This little mustard seed here around this bowery, which has sprung up in the valleys of the mountains, has either got to grow and progress and become a great tree, in whose branches the fowls of the air can lodge, or it must stop growing altogether. We have either to build up Zion in its […]
127. Zion Prophesied, Wilford Woodruff, 1865
Said he, “Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.” What do you see, Isaiah, that should cause you to break forth in such language as this? I see what the Gods of eternity […]
ToZ #41 – Zion Is Not Just The LDS Church
Definitions Matter What we mean by the term “Zion” matters very much if we are to eventually build one as the Lord requires. One of the common meanings of the term “Zion” among the Saints is that Zion is the LDS Church. To these members, “building Zion” simply means doing the work of the Church. Unfortunately, […]
124. Economic Unity, George Q. Cannon, 1870
Now, as I have said, a moment’s reflection ought to satisfy everybody that this is the true course for us to pursue; that if we intend to build up the Zion of God and to become a great people, it is essential that we should concentrate our means in one channel; that we should sustain […]
123. What Building Zion Requires of Us, Wilford Woodruff, 1867
We can see that the people of the world are becoming more and more divided every day, and the evils resulting therefrom are everywhere apparent. We are called to build up Zion, and we cannot build it up unless we are united; and in that union we have got to carry out the commandments of […]
121. What Building Zion Requires of Us, Wilford Woodruff, 1867
This body of people, or church, has got to build up the Zion of God in the last days, and this work cannot be accomplished upon any other principle than that of our being united together as the heart of one man. – Wilford Woodruff, 4/7/1867
119. Zion Prophesied, Brigham Young, 1864
Here is our reporter, brother George D. Watt, the first man baptized in England by President Heber C. Kimball during his first mission to that land, is a witness that the gift of prophecy is enjoyed by this people. Soon after his baptism in England he prophesied that God would build up a Zion in […]
Thoughts on Zion #40 – Modern Israel Overcome by Babylon The Great
Over the last 16 installments, we have reviewed the history of the LDS Church’s efforts to build a real, live Zion society in the Territory of Utah. Much was accomplished in their 40 year effort to establish a Zion society based on cooperative free enterprise in the Rocky Mountain west. This effort was the direct […]
114. What Building Zion Requires of Us, Brigham Young, 1867
Take the people in the east, west, north, and south who have obeyed the gospel, and, so far as the spiritual gifts are concerned, they are all of one heart and one mind, but not one soul knows how to build up Zion. Not a man in all the realms and kingdoms that exist knows […]
112. What Building Zion Requires of Us, Brigham Young, 1867
And our mechanics [ie. tradesmen], do they labor for the express purpose of building up Zion and the kingdom of God? I am sorry to say that I think there are but very few into whose hearts it has entered, or whose thoughts are occupied in the least with such a principle; but it is, […]
111. Babylon and it’s Traditions, George A. Smith, 1861
The southern settlements were at first considered rather orderly, more so than some of those nearer this city, but in the spring of 1858, there was an influx from California of a large number of persons, who had gone there because they were not contented to live in this country, and who could not enjoy […]
104. What Building Zion Requires of Us, Brigham Young, 1867
Suppose we bring a few illustrations in regard to the present feelings and knowledge of the elders of Israel. We need not go back to Nauvoo or Kirtland, to find illustrations among our merchants, but take them as we find them here. If they enter upon their business without God in their thoughts, it is […]
President John Taylor’s Greatest Achievement – Zion’s Central Board of Trade
As mentioned last time, John Taylor wasted no time after the death of Brigham Young in working to unify the Saints economically in a Zion-like fashion. Young’s efforts had failed to successfully institute the United Order a second time among the members of the church generally. In 1879, Zion’s Central Board of Trade was established […]
101. What Building Zion Requires of Us, Brigham Young, 1867
[D]o you want to be useful? If you do, take a course to be so, for this will bring us to the point where we can build up Zion and be of one heart and of one mind, and it will lead us to do all that we do in the name, in the love, […]