Saturday, February 1, 2025

2025 improvements - JSP on OC's letters

In 2025, Latter-day Saints are studying Church history in Come Follow Me curriculum.

This post is one of a series of suggestions for improvement in the Joseph Smith Papers (JSP). 

JSP provides an Editorial Note (an introduction) to Oliver Cowdery's eight essays on Church history, published as letters in the Messenger and Advocate. The current Note is mostly correct, but both incomplete and somewhat misleading. For example, the Note refers to the "vision he and JS had of John the Baptist," but Oliver describes it as a personal, physical visit ("the angel of God came down clothed with glory") which they saw and heard, and received the Priesthood "under his hand."  

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/48

Readers may wonder why the Note minimizes the significance of Cowdery's history. Perhaps this is because some Church historians minimize the significance of President Cowdery's formal, published history. I've heard some complain that Oliver didn't mention the First Vision, for example. But obviously that was a choice of Joseph Smith, not Oliver Cowdery. After all, Joseph helped Oliver with the letters. At some points Oliver explains that he used Joseph's own words, that Joseph wasn't able to provide more details, etc. For whatever reason, Joseph didn't want to include the First Vision, but that omission does not diminish the significance of this history and the details Oliver provided, some of which are found nowhere else, probably because they didn't need to be reiterated given the ubiquitous availability of Oliver's history during Joseph's lifetime.

Those interested in Church history realize that it is impossible to understand the early members of the Church, both in the United States and in England, without being familiar with the Cowdery history, which was republished in the major Church publications so everyone could have them. 

For these and other reasons, I suggest that JSP improve the Editorial Note as indicated below.

Original in left column, my comments in red in the right column

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/48

 

Editorial Note

The following section includes transcripts of eight letters Oliver Cowdery wrote in 1834 and 1835 regarding JS’s visions of an angel and his discovery of the gold plates of the Book of Mormon.

Editorial Note

The following section includes transcripts of eight letters Oliver Cowdery wrote in 1834 and 1835 regarding the “rise of this church, in this last time,” including the translation of the Book of Mormon, the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood, the visit of Moroni and the discovery of the gold plates of the Book of Mormon in the hill Cumorah. He assured readers “that it shall be founded upon facts.”

 

On 29 October 1835 JS described the letters as part of “a history of my life” https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/12

 

JS approved the later republication of the letters in Benjamin Winchester’s Gospel Reflector (1841) and the Times and Seasons (1842). The letters were republished in the Millennial Star (1841) and The Prophet (1844), as well as the Improvement Era (1899). They were also compiled in a booklet in England that sold thousands of copies (1842).

Cowdery addressed the letters to William W. Phelps and published them as a series in the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate between October 1834 and October 1835. The titles and formatting employed in this history are similar to those in the published series of articles, indicating that the Cowdery letters were copied into the history from the Messenger and Advocate, not from a manuscript version of the letters. Frederick G. Williams could have begun the transcription in JS’s history as early as 6 December 1834, the date of Cowdery’s last historical entry in the preceding section of the history. However, Cowdery probably gave the history to Williams around 2 October 1835, when he gave Williams JS’s journal. On 29 October 1835, JS retrieved the history from Williams and delivered it to Warren Parrish, who continued copying the Cowdery letters. It is likely that Parrish finished copying the letters by early April 1836, when he gave JS’s journal (and presumably the 1834–1836 history along with it) to Warren Cowdery.25

Cowdery addressed the letters to William W. Phelps and published them as a series in the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate between October 1834 and October 1835. The titles and formatting employed in this history are similar to those in the published series of articles, indicating that the Cowdery letters were copied into the history from the Messenger and Advocate, not from a manuscript version of the letters. Frederick G. Williams could have begun the transcription in JS’s history as early as 6 December 1834, the date of Cowdery’s last historical entry in the preceding section of the history. However, Cowdery probably gave the history to Williams around 2 October 1835, when he gave Williams JS’s journal. On 29 October 1835, JS retrieved the history from Williams and delivered it to Warren Parrish, who continued copying the Cowdery letters. It is likely that Parrish finished copying the letters by early April 1836, when he gave JS’s journal (and presumably the 1834–1836 history along with it) to Warren Cowdery.25

In the first letter, Oliver Cowdery recounted his experiences with JS beginning when the two first met in April 1829. The letter includes an account of the vision he and JS had of John the Baptist, who gave them the authority to baptize.

In the first letter, Oliver Cowdery recounted his experiences with JS beginning when the two first met in April 1829. It includes Cowdery’s account of the translation of the Book of Mormon with the Urim and Thummim that is a note to JS-History 1:71. The letter includes an account of the visit of John the Baptist, who gave them the authority to baptize.

After composing this letter, but before its publication, Cowdery developed a new history-writing plan: he decided that in subsequent letters he would relate the “full history of the rise of the church,” beginning with JS’s early life and visions. As editor of the Messenger and Advocate, Cowdery prefaced the published version of the first letter with an explanation (also transcribed into the history) of the new plan. Although he had no firsthand knowledge of church history prior to April 1829, Cowdery assured his readers that “our brother J. Smith Jr. has offered to assist us. Indeed, there are many items connected with the fore part of this subject that render his labor indispensible.” Some passages in the ensuing narrative seem to have been related to Cowdery by JS, since Cowdery recounts events in which only JS participated.

 

After composing this letter, but before its publication, Cowdery developed a new history-writing plan: he decided that in subsequent letters he would relate the “full history of the rise of the church,” beginning with JS’s early life and visions. As editor of the Messenger and Advocate, Cowdery prefaced the published version of the first letter with an explanation (also transcribed into the history) of the new plan. Although he had no firsthand knowledge of church history prior to April 1829, Cowdery assured his readers that “our brother J. Smith Jr. has offered to assist us. Indeed, there are many items connected with the fore part of this subject that render his labor indispensible.” Some passages in the ensuing narrative seem to have been related to Cowdery by JS, since Cowdery recounts events in which only JS participated.

For example, when describing Moroni’s visit, Cowdery writes that Joseph prayed and “hours passed unnumbered—how many or how few I know not, neither is he able to inform me; but supposes it must have been eleven or twelve, and perhaps later…”

When Joseph went to the hill Cumorah, Cowdery writes “And to use his own words it seemed as though two invisible powers were influencing or striving to influence his mind…”

Cowdery composed the letters to inform the Latter-day Saints of the history of their church, but he also wrote for the non-Mormon public. Employing florid romantic language, frequent scriptural allusions, and much dramatic detail, he clearly intended to present a rhetorically impressive account of early Mormon history. He placed the rise of the church in a dispensational framework, characterizing the time between the end of the New Testament and JS’s early visions as a period of universal apostasy. He included the revivalism of various denominations during the Second Great Awakening, which JS experienced in his youth, as an example of the doctrinal confusion and social disharmony present in Christendom. Throughout the series of letters, he defended JS’s character and that of the Smith family, and his explicitly apologetic statements include apparent allusions to both Alexander Campbell’s Delusions (1832) and Eber Howe’s Mormonism Unvailed (1834).

 

Cowdery composed the letters to inform the Latter-day Saints of the history of their church, but he also wrote for the non-Mormon public. Employing florid romantic language, frequent scriptural allusions, and much dramatic detail, he clearly intended to present a rhetorically impressive account of early Mormon history. He placed the rise of the church in a dispensational framework, characterizing the time between the end of the New Testament and JS’s early visions as a period of universal apostasy. He included the revivalism of various denominations during the Second Great Awakening, which JS experienced in his youth, as an example of the doctrinal confusion and social disharmony present in Christendom. Throughout the series of letters, he defended JS’s character and that of the Smith family, and his explicitly apologetic statements include apparent allusions to both Alexander Campbell’s Delusions (1832) and Eber Howe’s Mormonism Unvailed (1834). Apparently to rebut Howe’s claim that the Book of Mormon was a retelling of Solomon Spalding’s fictional Lost Manuscript, Cowdery described the hill in New York where Joseph found the plates and another ridge a mile west, declaring “the fact, that here, between these hills, the entire power and national strength of both the Jaredites and Nephites were destroyed.” Cowdery also described in detail the “manner in which the plates were deposited.”

 

Beginning in the third letter, Cowdery provided the most extensive account of the origins of the Book of Mormon published up to that time. He related JS’s initial visions of the angel Moroni and, using biblical prophecies, elaborated on the angel’s message concerning the gathering of Israel in the last days in preparation for the Millennium. Cowdery continued his narrative up to, but did not include, JS’s receiving the gold plates in September 1827.

 

Beginning in the third letter, Cowdery provided the most extensive account of the origins of the Book of Mormon published up to that time. He related JS’s initial visions of the angel Moroni and, using biblical prophecies, elaborated on the angel’s message concerning the gathering of Israel in the last days in preparation for the Millennium. He related Moroni’s instruction that “the record was written and deposited not far from” JS’s home and that it was JS’s “privilege, if obedient to the commandments of the Lord, to obtain and translate the same by the means of the Urim and Thummim, which were deposited for that purpose with the record.”

Cowdery continued his narrative up to, but did not include, JS’s receiving the gold plates in September 1827.

The transcription of the Oliver Cowdery letters into JS’s history was evidently conceived in terms of the entire series, not as a piecemeal copying of the individual letters. As noted above, Cowdery probably gave the “large journal” containing the history begun in 1834 to Williams in October 1835, the month of the Messenger and Advocate issue in which his final installment was published.26 By the time Williams received the history, Cowdery may have already written the final letter; he had at least conceived of it as the final installment in his series. With the serialized Cowdery letters complete or nearing completion, the new history kept in the “large journal” could serve as a repository—more permanent than unbound newspapers—for a copied compilation of the entire series.

The transcription of the Oliver Cowdery letters into JS’s history was evidently conceived in terms of the entire series, not as a piecemeal copying of the individual letters. As noted above, Cowdery probably gave the “large journal” containing the history begun in 1834 to Williams in October 1835, the month of the Messenger and Advocate issue in which his final installment was published.26 By the time Williams received the history, Cowdery may have already written the final letter; he had at least conceived of it as the final installment in his series. With the serialized Cowdery letters complete or nearing completion, the new history kept in the “large journal” could serve as a repository—more permanent than unbound newspapers—for a copied compilation of the entire series.

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

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2025 improvements - JSP on Urim and Thummim

In 2025, Latter-day Saints are studying Church history in Come Follow Me curriculum. Here are some suggestions for improvement in the Joseph...