The Papers
Browse the PapersDocumentsJournalsAdministrative RecordsRevelations and TranslationsHistoriesLegal RecordsFinancial RecordsOther Contemporary Papers
Reference
PeoplePlacesEventsGlossaryLegal GlossaryFinancial GlossaryCalendar of DocumentsWorks CitedFeatured TopicsLesson PlansRelated Publications
Media
VideosPhotographsIllustrationsChartsMapsPodcasts
News
Current NewsArchiveNewsletterSubscribeJSP Conferences
About
About the ProjectJoseph Smith and His PapersFAQAwardsEndorsementsReviewsEditorial MethodNote on TranscriptionsNote on Images of People and PlacesReferencing the ProjectCiting This WebsiteProject TeamContact Us
Published Volumes
  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Letter to the Church in Colesville, 2 December 1830

Source Note

JS and , Letter, , Seneca Co., NY, to “Dearly beloved in the Lord” [church members], [, NY], 2 Dec. 1830. Featured version copied [ca. 1871] in , History, 196–211; unidentified handwriting; private possession. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Newel Knight and the Church in Colesville, 28 August 1830.

Historical Introduction

This letter gives instructions to the church members in , New York, in general but also addresses JS’s brother in particular. At the time JS and wrote it, Hyrum and his wife, , were living in Colesville with and his wife, . Hyrum Smith and Newel Knight were engaged in preaching in the area. The letter included a copy of a recently received letter from , who reported on the great success he and his three missionary companions were experiencing in the area around , Ohio. The entire letter, including Cowdery’s communication, was eventually copied into Newel Knight’s autobiography.
This letter was apparently part of an ongoing correspondence, not all of which is extant, between JS and members of the church in . Like JS’s August 1830 letter to members in Colesville, it reflects a belief in an imminent Second Coming and cites international political conflict and natural catastrophes as evidence that “the prophecies of the Book of Mormon are fulfilling as fast as time can bring it about.”

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 12 Nov. 1830.

  2. [2]

    Letter to Newel Knight and the Church in Colesville, 28 Aug. 1830.

  3. [3]

    The apocalyptic content of the letter raises the possibility that it may also have been intended to prepare the Colesville branch for the forthcoming exodus of church members from New York to Ohio, declaring as it did that the “time is soon at hand that we shall have to flee whithersoever the Lord will, for safety.” The inclusion of Cowdery’s letter, with its encouraging commentary on the work in Kirtland, may have helped prepare members in Colesville to respond positively to the call to leave New York and remove to that distant location. However, no other evidence indicates that JS was contemplating a move to Ohio prior to the 30 December revelation. (See Revelation, 30 Dec. 1830 [D&C 37:2–3].)

Page 204

is at hand. Yea, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make strait his path. Who will shrink because of offences, for offences must come, but woe to them by whom they come, for the rock must fall on them and grind them to powder, for the fulness of the is come in, and woe will be unto them if they do not repent and be in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins, and come in at the strait gate [p. 204]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 204

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to the Church in Colesville, 2 December 1830
ID #
52
Total Pages
16
Print Volume Location
JSP, D1:214–219
Handwriting on This Page
  • Unidentified

Footnotes

  1. [17]

    See Zephaniah 1:7; Joel 1:15; and Isaiah 13:6.

  2. [18]

    In both the New Testament and the Book of Mormon, this phrase is attributed to John the Baptist. (Luke 3:4; Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 22 [1 Nephi 10:7–10].)

  3. [19]

    See Luke 17:1.

  4. [20]

    See Romans 11:25.

© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of UseUpdated 2021-04-13Privacy NoticeUpdated 2021-04-06