Source Report Card
Chapter 31: "Hang by a Thread" and "A Test, a TEST": What's Actually Under Them
| Source | Who | When | Chain | Rung | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D&C 101:80 | Scripture | 1833 | 1st-hand | 1 | A+ |
| Kimball "test" sermon, JD 4:138-145 | Heber C. Kimball (then First Counselor in the First Presidency; reported by G. D. Watt) | Dec 21, 1856 | 2nd-hand | 4 | C |
| Brigham Young, JD 2:182 (his own words, "Mormon Elders") | Brigham Young (then Church President; reported by G. D. Watt) | Feb 18, 1855 | 2nd-hand | 4 | C |
| Coray cleaned-up copy ("brink of ruin," "Staff") | Joseph Smith via Martha Jane Coray | Sermon c. July 19, 1840; copied fall 1843 to 1850s | 3rd-hand | 4 | C for near-ruin (Pratt has it too); D for the "staff" wording (this copy only) |
| Coray rough notes ("trembling," no Constitution line) | Joseph Smith via Martha Jane Coray | c. July 19, 1840 (possibly a later copy) | 2nd-hand (possibly a later copy) | 4 | C (assumes same-day notes) |
| Parley P. Pratt letter ("single hair"), in Orson Pratt's copy to George A. Smith | Parley P. Pratt (then Quorum of the Twelve) reporting Joseph | Fall 1840; copy Jan 21, 1841 | 3rd-hand | 4 | C (predates Coray's cleaned-up copy) |
| John Nicholson, "borrowed light" (Whitney 1888) | John Nicholson recalling Kimball (then First Counselor); printed by Orson F. Whitney (then a Salt Lake bishop) | Sermon 1867, printed 1888 | 3rd-hand | 5 | C (second hearer, self-hedged) |
| Brigham Young, JD 7:15 ("single thread," as Joseph's) | Brigham Young (then Church President) recalling Joseph | July 4, 1854 | 3rd-hand | 4 | D |
| Later memories of Joseph (Jedediah M. Grant 1855, Orson Hyde 1858 "I do not recollect," Eliza R. Snow 1871, Burgess) | Grant (then Second Counselor, First Presidency); Hyde (then President of the Twelve); Snow (then leading the Relief Societies); Burgess (a member) | 1855 to later | 3rd-hand | 4-5 | D |
| Edward Stevenson, "great sieve" (Whitney 1888) | Edward Stevenson (no general calling yet) recalling Kimball (then First Counselor) | 1856, printed 1888 | 3rd-hand | 5 | D |
| Amanda H. Wilcox account ("yellow dog"), read by J. Golden Kimball, Conference Report Oct 1930 | Amanda H. Wilcox recalling Kimball (then First Counselor); read by J. Golden Kimball (then First Council of the Seventy) | Claimed May 1868; this version written after 1893; read 1930 | 3rd-hand | 5 | F (down a step: written after what it predicts) |
| Political neutrality statement, Church Newsroom | The Church | Current | 1st-hand | 2 | A |
| Ezra Taft Benson, "Our Divine Constitution" | Ezra Taft Benson (then Church President) | Oct 1987 | 1st-hand | 3 | A |
| Dallin H. Oaks, "Defending Our Divinely Inspired Constitution" | Dallin H. Oaks (then First Counselor in the First Presidency; now Church President) | Apr 2021 | 1st-hand | 3 | A |
| Quentin L. Cook, "Be True to God and His Work" | Quentin L. Cook (then and now Quorum of the Twelve) | Oct 2022 | 1st-hand | 3 | A (the teaching; wording chain still C) |