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Revelations printed in The Evening and the Morning Star, June 1832–June 1833

Articles and Covenants, circa April 1830 [D&C 20] Page 1 Articles and Covenants, circa April 1830 [D&C 20] Page 97 Revelation, 16 April 1830 [D&C 22] Page 1 Revelation, circa August 1830 [D&C 27] Page 6 Revelation, September 1830–A [D&C 29] Page 2 Revelation, 2 January 1831 [D&C 38] Page 5 Revelation, February 1831–A, excerpt [D&C 43:15–35] Page 2 Revelation, 9 and 23 February 1831, excerpt [D&C 42:11–77] Page 1 Revelation, 23 February 1831, excerpt [D&C 42:78–93] Page 2 Revelation, circa 7 March 1831, excerpt [D&C 45:1–67, 71] Page 2 Revelation, circa 8 March 1831–A [D&C 46] Page 1 Revelation, 7 May 1831 [D&C 49] Page 7 Revelation, 9 May 1831 [D&C 50] Page 1 Revelation, 7 August 1831 [D&C 59] Page 1 Revelation, 12 August 1831 [D&C 61] Page 5 Revelation, 30 August 1831, excerpt [D&C 63:1–64] Page 6 Revelation, 30 October 1831 [D&C 65] Page 2 Revelation, 1 November 1831–A [D&C 68] Page 3 Revelation, 1 November 1831–B [D&C 1] Page 6 Revelation, 3 November 1831 [D&C 133] Page 1 Revelation, 4 December 1831–A, B, C [D&C 72] Page 5 Vision, 16 February 1832 [D&C 76] Page 2 Revelation, 30 April 1832 [D&C 83] Page 6 Revelation, 27 and 28 December 1832, excerpt [D&C 88:117–126] Page 5 Revelation, 3 January 1833, [D&C 88:127–137] Page 6 June 1832 Issue Page 1 July 1832 Issue Page 1 August 1832 Issue Page 1 September 1832 Issue Page 2 October 1832 Issue Page 2 November 1832 Issue Page 7 December 1832 Issue Page 5 January 1833 Issue Page 5 February 1833 Issue Page 5 March 1833 Issue Page 6 May 1833 Issue Page 1 June 1833 Issue Page 97

Source Note

Revelations published in The Evening and the Morning Star (, MO), vol. 1, nos. 1–10 and 12, and vol. 2, no. 13; edited by . The copy used for this transcription is currently part of a bound volume held at CHL; includes marginalia, archival notations, stamps, and bookplates.
The initial issues of The Evening and the Morning Star present revelations prominently on the first or second page of the newspaper. Beginning with the November 1832 issue, however, revelations were placed near the end of each issue. Each issue comprises four leaves (eight pages) that measure 12½ × 9⅞ inches (32 × 25 cm). Each page is set in two columns.
The volume used for this transcription was donated to the Salt Lake Temple by Lycurgus A. Wilson on 8 September 1894, according to a bookplate on the inside front cover of the volume. It was transferred to the library of the Church Historian’s Office sometime before 1923.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “Library Record,” book no. 1239.

    “Library Record for the Listing or Cataloguing of Books.” Historian’s Office, Library Accession Records, ca. 1890–ca. 1930. CHL. CR 100 429.

Historical Introduction

Soon after his into the church in 1831, was instructed by revelation to relocate to , Missouri, “and be established as a printer unto the church.” , who had been previously appointed to work on church publications, was directed to assist him. In early 1832, Phelps and his associates in Independence began work on the church’s first newspaper, The Evening and the Morning Star. Because of the difficulty of getting paper and other supplies to Independence, however, months passed before the first issue of the newspaper was printed in June 1832.
The newspaper’s prospectus announced that it would, in part, “be devoted to the revelations of God as made known to his servants by the , at sundry times since the creation of man, but more especially in these last days.” Though a small number of JS’s revelations appeared first in non-Mormon newspapers elsewhere, the Star was the first official periodical of the church to print them. As the church’s only periodical at the time, the Star also published counsel to church members, local and world news, editorials, hymns, and letters from missionaries. The Star regularly published general announcements to missionaries serving throughout the country and letters from church members in other states, evidencing that its circulation reached well beyond .
The press owned by , which was operated under the direction of the , was the only press in and indeed the only press for roughly one hundred miles. Reading material was scarce on the frontier, and it is likely that the town’s non-Mormon residents read the Star in addition to the Upper Missouri Advertiser, the secular paper published on the same press. In July 1833, when religious and political tensions between the Mormons and their neighbors had already created a tinderbox environment, an article titled “Free People of Color” appeared in The Evening and the Morning Star, quoting from statutes respecting the immigration of free persons of African descent. Many Missourians, largely sympathetic to the practice of slavery, interpreted the article as an attempt to invite free black people to settle in Missouri and were outraged. Four days after the editors of The Evening and the Morning Star printed a broadside extra in an attempt to calm the situation by clarifying the message of the offending article, a and most of the sheets of the still-unfinished Book of Commandments.
The destruction of the caused a six-month hiatus in the publication of the Star. In September 1833, was established in , Ohio, for the purpose of printing church materials, and was sent to to purchase a printing press and type. Upon his return, Cowdery resumed printing the Star in Kirtland from January until September 1834. Beginning in October 1834, the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate succeeded the Star as the official church periodical.
Over the course of the Star’s fourteen-month run in , the paper printed nineteen full and seven partial revelation texts. Only two issues of the Missouri newspaper did not contain featured revelations: the April 1833 issue and the July 1833 issue, which was the final issue printed in Missouri. As in the Book of Commandments and the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants (1835), little, if any, introduction or commentary accompanied the featured revelations. In addition to publishing the revelations as stand-alone pieces, The Evening and the Morning Star often published articles that quoted from the revelations—both from those printed as featured documents in the paper and from those that had not been published therein. Well before the Book of Commandments was expected to be completed, the editors of the Star advised readers to “search the revelations which we publish,” an admonition that presumed that the Latter-day Saints had access to earlier issues. In fact, for Mormons in , as well as those scattered around the country, the Star became the most accessible source for JS’s revelatory texts.
The revelations published in The Evening and the Morning Star appear to have been selected for their importance. Many of the published revelations addressed topics relating to church government, such as the roles of specific church officers, the laws and commandments to be kept by church members, and the proper administration of the of the Lord’s Supper. Other published revelations announced newly received theological principles or looked forward to the second coming of Christ. Revelations that were given to specific individuals providing counsel or were not published. After the Star moved to , no revelations were included in the ten issues of the newspaper published there.
The table that follows lists each of the revelatory items printed in the Star and its reprint, along with its bibliographic information. See Revelations Printed in The Evening and the Morning Star for a side-by-side comparison of the revelations printed in the Star and its reprint.
Key to column titles
Vol:Issue:Volume and issue number
Star Print Date:Month in which the item was printed in The Evening and the Morning Star
Star Pages:Pages on which the item was printed in The Evening and the Morning Star
Reprint Print Date:Month in which the item was printed in Evening and Morning Star
Reprint Pages:Pages on which the item was printed in Evening and Morning Star
Date:Date of item, followed by section number in Doctrine and Covenants, 1981 edition, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Vol: IssueStar Print DateStar PagesReprint Print DateReprint PagesDate
1:1June 1832[1]Jan. 18352–410 Apr. 1830 [D&C 20]
1:1June 1832[1]–[2]16 Apr. 1830 [D&C 22]
1:1June 1832[2]Jan. 18355–6ca. 7 Mar. 1831 [D&C 45:1–67, 71]
1:2July 1832[1]Feb. 183530–319 and 23 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:11–77]
1:2July 1832[1]Feb. 183526–277 Aug. 1831 [D&C 59]
1:2July 1832[2]–[3]Feb. 183527–3016 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76]
1:3Aug. 1832[1]Mar. 183542–43ca. 8 Mar. 1831–A [D&C 46]
1:3Aug. 1832[1]Mar. 183543–449 May 1831 [D&C 50]
1:4Sept. 1832[2]Apr. 183560–62Sept. 1830–A [D&C 29]
1:4Sept. 1832[2]Apr. 18356230 Oct. 1831 [D&C 65]
1:5Oct. 1832[2]June 18357423 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:78-93]
1:5Oct. 1832[2]–[3]June 183574Feb. 1831–A [D&C 43:15–35]
1:5Oct. 1832[3]June 183573–741 Nov. 1831–A [D&C 68]
1:6Nov. 1832[7]Sept. 183593–947 May 1831 [D&C 49]
1:7Dec. 1832[5]Apr. 1836105–10612 Aug. 1831 [D&C 61]
1:7Dec. 1832[5]–[6]Apr. 1836106–1074 Dec. 1831 [D&C 72]
1:8Jan. 1833[5]–[6]Apr. 1836125–1262 Jan. 1831 [D&C 38]
1:8Jan. 1833[6]Apr. 183612630 Apr. 1832 [D&C 83]
1:9Feb. 1833[5]May 183613827–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:117–126]
1:9Feb. 1833[6]–[7]May 1836140–14130 Aug. 1831 [D&C 63:1–64]
1:10Mar. 1833[6]May 1836155ca. Aug. 1830 [D&C 27]
1:10Mar. 1833[6]May 1836155–1561 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 1]
1:10Mar. 1833[6]May 1836156–1573 Jan. 1833 [D&C 88:127–137]
1:12May 1833[1]–[2]June 1836177–1793 Nov. 1831 [D&C 133]
2:13June 183397–98June 1836193–19610 Apr. 1830 [D&C 20]

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Revelation, 20 July 1831, in Doctrine and Covenants 27:5, 1835 ed. [D&C 57:11, 13]; Revelation, 14 June 1831, in Doctrine and Covenants 68:2, 1835 ed. [D&C 55:4].

    Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).

  2. [2]

    William W. Phelps, The Evening and the Morning Star Prospectus, Evening and Morning Star, June 1832 (Jan. 1835), 1–2; Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:32.

    Evening and Morning Star. Edited reprint of The Evening and the Morning Star. Kirtland, OH. Jan. 1835–Oct. 1836.

    Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.

  3. [3]

    See, for example, Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830, and Revelations, 16 Apr. 1830 and ca. Aug. 1830, in “The Mormon Creed,” Painesville Telegraph, 19 Apr. 1831, [4] [D&C 20, 22, and 27:1–5, 14–15, 18]; Revelation, 7 Dec. 1830, in “Miscellaneous,” Painesville Telegraph, 17 Jan. 1832, [1] [D&C 35]; Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831, in “Secret Bye Laws of the Mormonites,” Painesville Telegraph, 13 Sept. 1831, [1] [D&C 42:1–69]; and Revelation, Sept. 1830–B, in Ezra Booth, “Mormonism—Nos. VIII–IX,” Ohio Star, 8 Dec. 1831, [1] [D&C 28].

    Painesville Telegraph. Painesville, OH. 1822–1986.

    Ohio Star. Ravenna. 1830–1854.

  4. [4]

    See, for example, Notice, The Evening and the Morning Star, Aug. 1832, [7]; “Letters,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Nov. 1832, [4]; “Extract” and “Letters,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Jan. 1833, [7]; and “Extracts of Letters from the Elders Abroad,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Feb. 1833, [5]–[6]. JS, in a November 1832 letter to Phelps, added ten new subscribers to the Star, nine from Guyandotte, Virginia (now West Virginia), and one from Wooster Township, Ohio. (JS, Kirtland, OH, to William W. Phelps, [Independence, MO], 27 Nov. 1832, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 1–4.)

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

    JS Letterbook 1 / Smith, Joseph. “Letter Book A,” 1832–1835. Joseph Smith Collection. CHL. MS 155, box 2, fd. 1.

  5. [5]

    Notice, The Evening and the Morning Star, June 1832, [6].

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  6. [6]

    The only known surviving copy of the Upper Missouri Advertiser—no. 3, dated 11 July 1832—is located at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA.

  7. [7]

    “Free People of Color,” The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1833, 109; “To His Excellency, Daniel Dunklin,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 114–115.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  8. [8]

    The Evening and the Morning Star, Extra, 16 July 1833, [1].

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  9. [9]

    “To the Honorable Men of the World,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Aug. 1832, [6].

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  10. [10]

    See, for example, Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830, in “The Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ,” The Evening and the Morning Star, June 1832, [1], and June 1833, 97–98 [D&C 20]; Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–A, in “A Revelation, Given November 1831,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Oct. 1832, [3] [D&C 68]; and Revelation, 4 Dec. 1831, in “A Revelation Given December 4, 1831,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1832, [5]–[6] [D&C 72].

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  11. [11]

    See, for example, Revelation, 9 and 23 Feb. 1831, in “Extract from the Laws for the Government of the Church of Christ” and “Items of Law for the Government of the Church of Christ,” The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1832, [1], and Oct. 1832, [2] [D&C 42:11–93].

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  12. [12]

    See, for example, Revelation, ca. Aug. 1830, in “Revelations,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Mar. 1833, [6] [D&C 27].

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  13. [13]

    See, for example, Vision, 16 Feb. 1832, in “A Vision,” The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1832, [2]–[3] [D&C 76].

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  14. [14]

    See, for example, excerpt of Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831, in “A Prophecy Given to the Church of Christ, March 7, 1831,” The Evening and the Morning Star, June 1832, [2] [D&C 45:1–67, 71].

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  15. [15]

    Revelations addressed to individuals were officially restricted “to the parties concerned” until they could be published in the Book of Commandments. (Minute Book 2, 30 Apr. 1832.)

    Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Revelation, 23 February 1831 [D&C 42:74–93]

Page [6]

pointed, and ordained unto this power: This is the will of the Lord your God, your Redeemer; even so: Amen
The word of the Lord, in addition to the which has been given, making known the duty of the , which has been unto the church in this part of the vineyard; which is verily this:
To keep the Lord’s ; to receive the funds of the church in this part of the vineyard; to take an account of the as before has been , and to administer to their wants, who shall pay for that which they receive, inasmuch as they have wherewith to pay; that this also may be to the good of the church, to the poor and needy:
And he who hath not wherewith to pay, an account shall be taken and handed over to the bishop in , who shall pay the debt out of that which the Lord shall put into his hands:
And the labors of the faithful who labor in spiritual things, in administering the gospel and the things of the kingdom, unto the church, and unto the world, shall answer the debt unto the bishop in Zion:
Thus it cometh out of the church, for according to the law, every man that cometh up to Zion, must lay all things before the bishop in Zion.
And now, verily I say unto you, that as every elder in this part of the vineyard, must give an account of his unto the bishop in this part of the vineyard, a cirtificate from the judge or bishop in this part of the vineyard, unto the bbishop in Zion, rendereth every man acceptable, and answereth all things, for an inheritance, and to be received as a wise steward, and as a faithful laborer; otherwise he shall not be accepted of the bishop in Zion.
And now, verily I say unto you, let every elder who shall give an account unto the bishop of the church, in this part of the vineyard, be recommended by the church or churches, in which he labors, that he may render himself and his accounts approved in all things.
And again, let my servants who are appointed as stewards over the of my church, have claim for assistance upon the bishop or bishops, in all things, that the revelations may be published, and go forth unto the ends of the earth, that they also may obtain funds which shall benefit the church, in all things; that they also may render themselves approved in all things and be accounted as wise stewards.
And now, behold this shall be an ensample for all the extensive branches of my church, in whatsoever land they shall be established. And now I make an end of my sayings: Amen.
A few words in addition to the laws of the kingdom, respecting the members of the church; they that are appointed by the Holy Spirit to go up unto Zion; and they who are privileged to go up unto Zion.
Let them carry up unto the bishop a certificate from three elders of the church, or a certificate from the bishop, otherwise he who shall go up unto the land of Zion, shall not be accounted as a wise steward. This also is an ensample: Amen. [p. [6]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Revelations printed in The Evening and the Morning Star, June 1832–June 1833
ID #
8164
Total Pages
22
Print Volume Location
JSP, R2:195–299
Handwriting on This Page
  • Willard Richards

Footnotes

  1. [20]

    Extra leading separates this portion of the revelation from the preceding portion.

  2. [21]

    Extra leading separates this portion of the revelation from the preceding portion.

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