Brother Joseph?

[Guest]

Something interesting is how people refer to Joseph Smith as Brother Joseph. Now we call our prophets President and last name. We don't call him President Smith like we say President Monson or Elder Holland. Is Brother Joseph what Joseph Smith wanted to be called? I noticed we also refer to apostles by their middle initial now too unlike Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, and Wilford Woodruff. 

[LeSellers]

On 7/18/2016 at 8:44 PM, Zarahemla said:

Something interesting is how people refer to Joseph Smith as Brother Joseph. Now we call our prophets President and last name. We don't call him President Smith like we say President Monson or Elder Holland. Is Brother Joseph what Joseph Smith wanted to be called?

He was "Brother Joseph" in his day. Brother Brigham was also called "Brother Brigham" (sometimes "Brother Young" or "President Young"). But, as the Church grew, and people were less likely to have actually met, and spoken to, the prophet in the street, the terms of familiarity gradually fell into disuse and more formal titles used in their stead.

On 7/18/2016 at 8:44 PM, Zarahemla said:

I noticed we also refer to apostles by their middle initial now too unlike Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, and Wilford Woodruff. 

Ezra Taft Benson had the same name as his grandfather, Ezra T. Benson. Joseph Fielding Smith shared his name with his father, Joseph F. Smith. The use of middle initials (or first initials) started as a way to distinguish between (or among) authorities with the same (or very nearly the same) name.  It's grown, I suspect, to make all of them more-or-less  equal.

Lehi

Edited July 19, 2016 by LeSellers