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Letter to the Elders of the Church, 30 November–1 December 1835

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Geauga Co., OH, to “the Elders of the Church of the Latter Day Saints,” [30 Nov.–1 Dec. 1835]. Featured version published in “To the Elders of the Church of the Latter Day Saints,” Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, Dec. 1835, 2:225–230. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Oliver Cowdery, Dec. 1834.

Historical Introduction

This letter to the of the church was the last in a three-part series of open letters published in the September, November, and December 1835 issues of the church’s newspaper, the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. In this installment, written on 30 November and 1 December 1835, JS focused on biblical parables found in Matthew 13, on and the Holy Ghost, and on the establishment of the kingdom of heaven. He also wrote on the of Israel, a subject he discussed in the two previous letters in the series.
JS’s remarks included a strident response to the recent and ongoing opposition from , , , and others. Campbell, Howe, and Hurlbut had repeatedly employed the power of print media to assail JS and the . Campbell led a sizable religious following known formally as the Disciples of Christ and informally as Campbellites. Soon after and many other former Campbellites in northeastern converted to the Mormon faith in late 1830, Campbell used his newspaper, the Millennial Harbinger, and a printed pamphlet titled Delusions: An Analysis of the Book of Mormon to disparage JS. In his writings, Campbell attacked the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and labeled JS an impostor. In September 1834, after “perusing Mr. A. Campbell’s ‘Millennial Harbinger,’” JS wrote a letter to that emphasized the difference in approach between himself and the combative Disciple of Christ leader; he further stated his expectation to see “truth triumph over error” when such men cry “delusion, deception, and false prophets.”
JS’s letter featured here also dismissed the claims of and . The Painesville Telegraph, previously edited and published by Howe, had earlier reprinted some of ’s anti-Mormon polemics and included other articles and editorials belittling the church. But Howe’s book—Mormonism Unvailed, published in late 1834—attacked the reputation of JS and his role in founding the church more personally, partly through negative affidavits about JS and his family gathered by Hurlbut in . In 1833, Orris Clapp and other citizens of , Ohio, employed Hurlbut to collect information about the Smith family and the origin of the Book of Mormon. While doing so, Hurlbut developed a new theory about the Book of Mormon: , not JS, had produced it, and he had done so by plagiarizing an earlier manuscript written by Solomon Spalding. Hearing rumors of a lost “romance,” or novel, Hurlbut collected statements from Spalding’s acquaintances that described the contents of the manuscript. He also claimed that he found the manuscript in Otsego County, New York, and that it contained a story that paralleled the Book of Mormon narrative. Hurlbut supposedly delivered the manuscript to Howe, who chose not to publish the manuscript but instead used Mormonism Unvailed to introduce the Spalding theory and publish many of the affidavits Hurlbut collected about the Smith family and the Book of Mormon.
JS may also have been reacting to attacks published even more recently. In a review of Mormonism Unvailed printed in the January 1835 issue of the Millennial Harbinger, wrote, “No man, not already duped, who has the half of five grains of common sense, can read this narrative of Mormonism without being converted to the belief that Joseph Smith and his colleagues in the plot are a band of the most unprincipled deceivers that ever disgraced any age or nation, and that his followers are a set of superlative fanatics.”
JS’s letter was printed in the December issue of the Messenger and Advocate, which is the only known surviving version. With no original version extant, it is not clear whether JS or his scribe penned this letter. JS’s journal notes that he “spent the day in writing” for the Messenger and Advocate on both 30 November and 1 December. If JS followed the procedure that produced his extensive diary entries during this period, he would have dictated to or otherwise worked with Parrish to compose the letter before submitting it to the editor, , for publication.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Letter to the Elders of the Church, 2 Oct. 1835; and Letter to the Elders of the Church, 16 Nov. 1835.

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 30 Nov. and 1 Dec. 1835.

  3. [3]

    “Delusions,” Millennial Harbinger, 7 Feb. 1831, 85–95; Alexander Campbell, Delusions (Boston: Benjamin H. Greene, 1832). The Millennial Harbinger, a publication of the Disciples of Christ, was printed from 1830 to 1870 in Bethany, Virginia. Campbell first attacked JS personally by calling him ignorant, stupid, illiterate, and a false messiah. Campbell also analyzed the Book of Mormon, emphasizing that he considered it internally inconsistent. For more on Campbell, see Hughes, “From Primitive Church to Civil Religion,” 87–103.

    Millennial Harbinger. Bethany, VA. Jan. 1830–Dec. 1870.

    Campbell, Alexander. Delusions. An Analysis of the Book of Mormon; with an Examination of Its Internal and External Evidences, and a Refutation of Its Pretences to Divine Authority. Boston: Benjamin H. Greene, 1832.

    Hughes, Richard T. “From Primitive Church to Civil Religion: The Millennial Odyssey of Alexander Campbell.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 44, no. 1 (Mar. 1976): 87–103.

  4. [4]

    See “Christendom in Its Dotage,” Millennial Harbinger, Aug. 1834, 374.

    Millennial Harbinger. Bethany, VA. Jan. 1830–Dec. 1870.

  5. [5]

    Letter to Oliver Cowdery, 24 Sept. 1834.

  6. [6]

    For instance, Campbell’s Delusions was reprinted in the 8 and 15 March 1831 issues of the Telegraph. Oliver Cowdery responded to Campbell in his own article printed in the Messenger and Advocate. (“Delusions,” Painesville [OH] Telegraph, 8 Mar. 1831, [1]–[2]; “Internal Evidences,” Painesville Telegraph, 15 Mar. 1831, [1]–[2]; see also Letter to Oliver Cowdery, 24 Sept. 1834; Oliver Cowdery, “Delusion,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Mar. 1835, 1:90–93.)

    Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  7. [7]

    Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, OH: By the author, 1834); see also “Mormonism Unvailed,” Painesville (OH) Telegraph, 28 Nov. 1834, [3]. Hurlbut’s theory would have required collusion between JS and Sidney Rigdon in the 1820s, but the two did not meet until Rigdon traveled to New York to meet JS in December 1830. Rigdon encountered the Book of Mormon and was baptized just prior to meeting JS. (See Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 12 Nov. 1830; Revelation, 7 Dec. 1830 [D&C 35]; and Pratt, Autobiography, 31–32, 49–50.)

    Howe, Eber D. Mormonism Unvailed: Or, A Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion, from Its Rise to the Present Time. With Sketches of the Characters of Its Propagators, and a Full Detail of the Manner in Which the Famous Golden Bible Was Brought before the World. To Which Are Added, Inquiries into the Probability That the Historical Part of the Said Bible Was Written by One Solomon Spalding, More Than Twenty Years Ago, and by Him Intended to Have Been Published as a Romance. Painesville, OH: By the author, 1834.

    Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.

    Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.

  8. [8]

    When the Spalding manuscript was later rediscovered and published, it bore little resemblance to the Book of Mormon. (See Jackson, Manuscript Found, vii–xxviii.)

    Jackson, Kent P., ed. Manuscript Found: The Complete Original “Spaulding Manuscript.” Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1996.

  9. [9]

    Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 278–290; Winchester, Plain Facts, 8–9; Eber D. Howe, Statement, 8 Apr. 1885, Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954, Chicago History Museum; for more information on Hurlbut, see “Joseph Smith Documents from February 1833 through March 1834.”

    Howe, Eber D. Mormonism Unvailed: Or, A Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion, from Its Rise to the Present Time. With Sketches of the Characters of Its Propagators, and a Full Detail of the Manner in Which the Famous Golden Bible Was Brought before the World. To Which Are Added, Inquiries into the Probability That the Historical Part of the Said Bible Was Written by One Solomon Spalding, More Than Twenty Years Ago, and by Him Intended to Have Been Published as a Romance. Painesville, OH: By the author, 1834.

    Winchester, Benjamin. Plain Facts, Shewing the Origin of the Spaulding Story, concerning the Manuscript Found, and Its Being Transformed into the Book of Mormon; with a Short History of Dr. P. Hulbert, the Author of the Said Story . . . Re-published by George J. Adams, Minister of the Gospel, Bedford, England. To Which Is Added, a Letter from Elder S. Rigdon, Also, One from Elder O. Hyde, on the Above Subject. Bedford, England: C. B. Merry, 1841.

    Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954. Chicago History Museum.

  10. [10]

    “Mormonism Unveiled,” Millennial Harbinger, Jan. 1835, 44–45, italics in original.

    Millennial Harbinger. Bethany, VA. Jan. 1830–Dec. 1870.

  11. [11]

    JS, Journal, 30 Nov. and 1 Dec. 1835.

Page [225]

To the of the .
I have shown unto you, in my last, that there are two Jerusalems spoken of in holy writ, in a manner I think satisfactorily to your minds: At any rate I have given my views upon the subject. I shall now proceed to make some remarks from the sayings of the Savior, recorded in the 13th chapter of his gospel according to St Matthew, which in my mind affords us as clear an understanding, upon the important subject of the , as any thing recorded in the bible. At the time the Savior spoke these beautiful sayings and parables, contained in the chapter above quoted, we find him seated in a ship, on the account of the multitude that pressed upon him to hear his words, and he commenced teaching them by saying: “Behold a sower went forth to sow, and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up; some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprang up because they had no deepness of earth, and when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had not root they withered away; and some fell among thorns and the thorns sprang up and choked them; but other, fell into good ground and brought forth fruit, some an hundred fold, some sixty fold, some thirty fold: who hath ears to hear let him hear. And the disciples came and said unto him, why speakest thou unto them in parables, (I would remark here, that the “them,” made use of, in this interrogation, is a personal pronoun and refers to the multitude,) he answered and said unto them, (that is the disciples,) it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but unto them (that is unbelievers) it is not given, for whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath not, shall be taken away, even that he hath.”
We understand from this saying, that those who had previously been looking for a Messiah to come, according to the testimony of the Prophets, and were then, at that time, looking for a Messiah, but had not sufficient light on the account of their unbelief, to discern him to be their Savior; and he being the true Messiah, consequently they must be disappointed and lose even all the knowledge, or have taken away from them, all the light, understanding and faith, which they had upon this subject: therefore he that will not receive the greater light, must have taken away from him, all the light which he hath. And if the light which is in you, become darkness, behold how great is that darkness? Therefore says the Savior, speak I unto them in parables, because they, seeing, see not; and hearing, they hear not; neither do they understand: and in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith: by hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see and not perceive.
Now we discover, that the very reasons assigned by this prophet, why they would not receive the Messiah, was, because they did or would not understand; and seeing they did not perceive: for this people’s heart is waxed gross; their ears are dull of hearing; their eyes they have closed, lest at any time, they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and should be converted and I should heal them.
But what saith he to his disciples: Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear; for verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
We again make a remark here, for we find that the very principles upon which the disciples were accounted blessed, was because they were permitted to see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and the condemnation which rested upon the multitude, which received not his saying, was because they were not willing to see with their eyes and hear with their ears; not because they could not and were not privileged to see, and hear, but because their hearts were full of iniquity and abomi [p. [225]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to the Elders of the Church, 30 November–1 December 1835
ID #
287
Total Pages
6
Print Volume Location
JSP, D5:89–100
Handwriting on This Page

    Footnotes

    1. [1]

      See Letter to the Elders of the Church, 16 Nov. 1835.

    2. [2]

      See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 501 [3 Nephi 21:23–24].

    3. [3]

      Matthew 13:3–12. In the weeks before he wrote this epistle, JS studied and taught basic English grammar. (See JS, Journal, 4 and 11 Nov. 1835.)

    4. [4]

      See Matthew 13:12.

    5. [5]

      See Matthew 6:23.

    6. [6]

      See Matthew 13:14; see also Isaiah 6:9; and Jeremiah 5:21.

    7. [7]

      See Matthew 13:13–15.

    8. [8]

      See Matthew 13:16–17.

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