OCR Text |
Show Page 116 In this interlude, Orson turned once again to his mathematical and astronomical pursuits. On January 12, 1845, he spoke to an audience in the Nauvoo concert hall, advancing "an idea pertaining to the magnitude of the planetary system, illustrative of the enlargement of the Saints." More and more, Orson drew the connection between the visible order of the universe and the cycle of man's eternal development. The address followed one given by Heber Kimball on the subject of "increase and 30 expansion." The unspoken truce between the Mormons and their neighbors collapsed in January 1845, as recently elected legislators who resented the political power of the Mormons managed the repeal of the Nauvoo charter. Nauvoo, now without an official municipal government, came under the direct ad hoc administration of the priesthood leaders, who circumvented the state legislature by gaining control of the government of Hancock County. Many Latter-day Saints, alarmed by these developments, decided to get out of Nauvoo before a new conflagration. To these, Orson wrote: "Do you wish, dear brethren,to see the house of our God built up, adorned, and prepared according to the commandment ...do you wish to enter into its sacred courts and receive your washings and anointings, and the keys of knowledge and power? Do you desire the eternal seal of the priesthood placed upon your head...remember that there is but one way ...by hearkening to our counsel in all things." 31 Orson, along with the other leaders, was determined to stay put until Joseph's temple was completed - to abandon its construction even in the face of growing hostility around them would have subjected the Mormons 32 to "rejection"as a church"with your dead." The Twelve dared not run the spiritual risk of failure to complete the building and the ordinances of the "keys of the holy priesthood." Orson tried to clarify the implications of temple theology for the Saints - in April, he preached upon the plurality of gods and was called upon to read to the general |