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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 229

expression also, the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. Now men cannot have any possible grounds to say that this is figurative, or that it does not mean what it says; for he is now explaining what he had previously spoken in parables; and according to this language, the end of the world is the destruction of the wicked; the harvest and the end of the world have an allusion directly to the human family in the last days, instead of the earth, as many have imagined, and that which shall precede the coming of the Son of man, and the restitution of all things spoken of by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began; and the angels are to have something to do in this great work, for they are the reapers: as therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world; that is, as the servants of God go forth warning the nations, both priests and people, and as they harden their hearts and reject the light of the truth, these first being delivered over unto the buffetings of satan, and the law and the testimony being closed up, as it was with the Jews, they are left in darkness, and delivered over unto the day of burning: thus being bound up by their creeds and their bands made strong by their priests, are prepared for the fulfilment of the saying of the Savior: the Son of man shall send forth his angels, and gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
We understand, that the work of the together of the wheat into barns, or garners, is to take place while the tares are being bound over, and preparing for the day of burning: that after the day of burnings, the righteous shall shine forth like the sun, in the kingdom of their Father: who hath ears to hear let him hear.
But to illustrate more clearly upon this gathering, we have another parable. Again the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hid in a field, the which when a man hath found, he hideth and for joy thereof, goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field: for the work after this pattern, see the , selling all that they have and gathering themselves together unto a place that they may purchase for an , that they may be together and bear each other’s afflictions in the day of calamity.
Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. For the work of this example, see men travelling to find places for , and her or remnants, who when they find the place for Zion, or the pearl of great price; straitway sell all that they have and buy it.
Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind, which when it was full they drew to shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, and cast the bad away.— For the work of this pattern, behold the seed of Joseph, spreading forth the gospel net, upon the face of the earth, gathering of every kind, that the good may be saved in vessels prepared for that purpose, and the angels will take care of the bad: so shall it be at the end of the world, the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus saith unto them, have you understood all these things? they say unto him yea Lord: and we say yea Lord, and well might they say yea Lord, for these things are so plain and so glorious, that every Saint in the last days must respond with a hearty amen to them.
Then said he unto them, therefore every scribe which is instructed into the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a man that is an house holder; which bringeth forth out of his treasure things that are new and old.
For the work of this example, see the book of Mormon, coming forth out of the treasure of the heart; also the covenants given to the Latter Day Saints: also the translation of the bible: thus bringing forth out of the heart, things new and old: thus answering to three measures of meal, undergoing the purifying touch by a revelation of Jesus Christ, and the ministering of angels, who have already commenced this work in the last days, which will answer to the leaven which leavened the whole lump. Amen. [p. 229]
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Document Information

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. [33]

      See Matthew 13:38–39.

    2. [34]

      See Matthew 13:41–42.

    3. [35]

      See Matthew 13:44.

    4. [36]

      See Matthew 13:45–46.

    5. [37]

      See Matthew 13:47–48.

    6. [38]

      See Genesis 49:22.

    7. [39]

      See Matthew 13:51.

    8. [40]

      See Matthew 13:52.

    9. [41]

      See Matthew 12:35; and Luke 6:45.

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