The Potter's Clay

No longer out of print!

This pamphlet was originally prepared as part of a larger work that remains unpublished so by popular demand, I'm releasing the original pamphlet (with a few small alterations and notes) for your review. While not quite ready for academic scrutiny or publication, this preliminary work represents every single discourse Heber C. Kimball gave on the Potter's Clay. Heber C. Kimball claimed that Joseph Smith approved his interpretation of the parable of the potter found in Jeremiah.

While largely acclaimed by fundamentalist Mormons as proof that both Joseph Smith and the early brethren supported the doctrine of multiple mortal probations or reincarnation or baby resurrection or reprobation as it has alternately been described and defined, when looked at without the lens of Brigham Young (who unabashedly correlated this teaching to multiple probations), it is possible to interpret these discourses as addresses on the gathering, obedience to the prophet, or other topics. From a broader context, that view ignores a mountain of statements documenting the early brethren taught plural probation, progression between kingdoms, and similar doctrines.

However, it does throw into question Kimball's statement that Joseph approved his interpretation of the parable in Jeremiah. Did Joseph understand that Kimball was teaching about plural probations or could he possibly have misunderstood Kimball's discourse and believed it was about the gathering or some other doctrine? Now, with all of these discourses in one spot, you can decide for yourself.