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The influence of Sidney Rigdon upon the theology of Mormonism

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The influence of Sidney Rigdon upon the theology of Mormonism

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Content THE INFLUENCE OF SIDNEY HIGDON UPON THE THEOLOGY OF
MORMONISM
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Graduate School of Religion
University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts
by
Joseph Welles White
June 19^7
UMI Number: EP65170
All rights reserved
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Disseriaiton ftiblisNng
UMI EP65170
Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author.
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This thesis, written by
JOSEPH WELLES WHITE
under the guidance of h.X.S.. Faculty Committee,
and approved by all its members, has been
presented to and accepted by the Council on
Graduate Study and Research in partial fulfill
ment of the requirements fo r the degree of
.M.4SÏER..0F...ARTS.
Secretary
D a te..
Faculty Committee
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE................ ' .............................. Vi
CHAPTER
I. JOSEPH SMITH AND THE BOOK OF MORMON..... 1
Early experiences of Smith ................... 2
Moroni visits Smith ......................... h
The beginning of the church........... 7
Summary of the Book of Mormon......... 10
Sidney Rigdon converted ..... ........... 14
The "Compiling Genius of Morraonism"......... 16
II. SIDNEY RIGDON— BAPTIST AND DISCIPLE ........... 19
Early life of Rigdon.................... 22
Rigdon: The popular preacher ............... 23
Rigdon influenced by Alexander Campbell . . . 25
The "Ancient Order of Things" ............... 28
The emergence of the Disciples......... 29
Questions regarding Rigdon’s conversion . . . 31
Chronology of Rigdon’s known activities . . . 33
III. APOSTASY AND RESTORATION . . '........... ^1
The great apostasy...................... ^1
Religious unrest in America ........... ^5
The Stonites............................. 48
iv
CHAPTER PAGE
IV. THE ANTECEDENTS OF THE DISCIPLES............... 53
' Alexander Campbell becomes the leader ......... 59
Union with the Baptists ..................... 6l
Walter Scott discovers the "Plan of
Salvation".................................. 62
V. THE BOOK OF MORMON A PRODUCT OF ITS TIMES .... 71
The Spaulding theory......................... 74
The Honolulu Manuscript ............... 79
Rigdon’s foreknowledge of the Book of
Mormon...................................... 80
Crudities in the Book of Mormon............... 83
Camp Meeting expressions..................... 85
VI. THE INSPIRED TRANSLATION AND THE DISCIPLES . . . 91
Widespread interest in Bible revision ........ 91
Alexander Campbell’s revision................. 94
Rigdon competes with Campbell ................. 96
VII. DISCIPLE AND MORMON DOCTRINES COMPARED ........ 105
The name of the Church..........................107
Names of followers............... 110
Creeds................................. Ill
The Kingdom of G o d ................. 112
The Everlasting Gospel ....................... 117
Faith............................................. 119
V
CHAPTER PAGE
Repentance ..................... 120
Obedience .................. ...... 122
Baptism .........................................123
The Holy Spirit and the miraculous.............. 125
Communism .......................................127
The Millennium............................. . . 123
Conclusion................... . 129
VIII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS..........................131
Summary ............................. I3I
Conclusions.......................................135
BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................... 137
PREFACE
The literature of Mormon!sm, pro and con, is vast.^
There are five noteworthy collections in the United States:
United States government publications at Washington; the
collection of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin
at Madison; the Berrian Collection, New York Public
Library;^ the Emma Hale Memorial Library at Independence,
Missouri (historical library of the Reorganized church);
and the archives of the Utah Mormons at Salt Lake City.
Professor I. Woodbridge Riley’s The Founder of
Mormonism gives a selected list of more than two hundred
works. Arbaugh*s Revelation in Mormonism offers a later
and more selective group of about the same number. George
Pepperdine College, while still very young, has assembled
in its library a respectable group of Mormoniana and is
alert for additional accessions. Because of its accessi
bility the facilities of the latter library, supplemented
by loans from Eastern collections, have served for the
preparation of this thesis.
b H. H. Bancroft, in his History of Utah lists more
than two thousand ’ ’authorities," all of which he avers he
consulted in the preparation of his work. Most of these
sources relate to Mormonism, rather than Utah per se.
2 This collection is particularly rich in rare early
publications of the Church and in first editions. The Library
Bulletin of March, 1909, is useful as a working bibliography.
vil
The very mass of available source material, most of
it polemic, much of it caustic, renders evaluation difficult.
Very few scientific works on Mormonism have been written.
Only one of these, Linn’s The Story of the Mormons, attempts
to cover the whole subject. Even this work is out of date
(first printed 1902), loosely organized and incomplete.
Relative to the origin of the Book of Mormon, the
Spaulding-Rigdon theory is based upon affidavits and state-"
ments first published in Howe’s Mormonism Unveiled in 1834.
Since that time, this reputed origin has been accepted by
nearly all non-Mormon writers.3 Charles A. Shook’s The
True Origin of the Book of Mormon^ reprints this and other
source material more fully than others. In addition,
Shook gives valuable new material. Consequently, reference
has usually been given to this book for this matter.
3 There have been three major exceptions: Davis
H. Bays, The Doctrines and Dogmas of Mormonism (St. Louis:
Christian Publishing Company, lS9777 459 pp.; I. Woodbridge
Riley, The Founder of Mormonism (New York: Dodd, Mead &
Company, 1902), 446 pp.; and W. F. Prince, ’ ’Psychological
Tests for the Authorship of the Book-of Mormon," American
Journal of Psychology. XXVIII, 373-89.
4 Charles A. Shook, The True Origin of the Book of
Mormon (Cincinnati: The Standard Publishing Company, 19Ï4),
1Ô7 pp. Shook has written two other invaluable books which
also are carefully documented: The True Origin of Mormon
Polygamy (Cincinnati: The Standard Publishing Company,
1914), 213 pp.; and, Cumorah Revisited (Cincinnati: The
Standard Publishing Company, 1910), ^9 pp. The latter
gives an exhaustive treatment of the Book of Mormon in the
light of American archaeology and ethnology.
viii
The latest Objective examination of Mormonism appears
in Arbaugh's Revelation in Mormonism. This book is ad
mirably scientific in its treatment. For a critical state
ment of the general sources reference should be made to
Linn’s Preface. A selected list of material used by the
present writer will be found in the Bibliography.
While this paper was in preparation, the first
objective biography of Joseph Smith has appeared.5 Mrs.
Brodie’s book is an exhaustive, critical study of not only
the previously available date, but of much new source
material which she uncovered. The book is a major contri
bution to the study of Smith, the first scientific study
of the prophet’s whole career.
A word needs to be added here regarding the use of
background material. Arbaugh well says:
Mormonism is today laying great stress on its cosmic
and anthropological philosophy, pressing doctrine
on the basis of its own appeal, and passing quickly
over the origin of the doctrine. To know Mormonism
one must know the origin of its ideas and attitudes.
In fact, such knowledge is itself a judgement, and
the present tendency in Mormonism makes such knowledge
essential. The fact that Mormonism is fantastic,
interesting, and available for study as no other re
ligion is, makes its study a pleasant task.6
5 Fawn N. Brodie, No Man Knows My History (New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1946), 4-^ plus ix pp. Mrs. Brodie was
excommunicated ^fter the publication of the book.
6 George B. Arbaugh, Revelation in Mormonism (Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press, 193^), P« v. '
ix
It is well that the task is pleasant, for it is difficult
to winnow the wheat from the chaff— pro or con.
In so far as the literature of the Disciples is
concerned, the task was to examine the beliefs and practices
of this group as they existed prior to and at the time
of the genesis of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
Day Saints. Happily, the Library of George Pepperdine
College is rich in first editions, periodicals, and rare
publications of Alexander Campbell, Barton W. Stone, Walter
Scott, and the many others who collaborated with, or pre
pared the way for them.
The term "Mormon" is used throughout this paper,
because it *is inoffensive to Mormons and is self-used,
while the full title is too cumbersome for constant
appearance. More difficulty is found with regard to the
other group involved in this treatment. The term
"Campbellites" is obnoxious to the body so denominated.
Both "Church of Christ" and "The Restoration Movement"
are unsatisfactory.as they involve terms occurring in
Mormon literature and hence are ambiguous. "Disciples of
Christ" appears to be the most practicable expression. As
used here, that term applies to Alexander Campbell and
his associates during the first half of the nineteenth
century.
X
It is not to be inferred from the treatment in this
thesis that Joseph Smith made little or no contribution
to Mormonism, Such a conclusion would be untenable. As
Smith gained in self-confidence, he increasingly èxercièedJ
his grovjing and undoubted talents. Mormons themselves have
obscured his ability, by an over-emphasis upon his lack
of education.
However, this paper is concerned with the contribution
of Sidney Rigdon. As may be noted from the citations, it
has long been suspected that Rigdon was an important factor
in the genesis of Mormonism. Superficial resemblances between
the theology of the Mormons and of the Disciples have frequent
ly been discussed by others. For pointing these out, the
writer can claim no originality. Whatever contribution has
been made, will chiefly be found in the demonstration of
certain unique parallels, which, it is believed, have not
been thus treated elsewhere. See especially, pages 62-70,
and chapters VI and VII.
For convenience, the following abbreviations are
used for standard material, to which reference is frequently
made :
B. M. , * Book of Mormon
C. B., The Christian Baptist
D. C., Doctrines and Covenants
I. V., Inspired Version
M. H., The Millennial Harbinger
CHAPTER I
JOSEPH SMITH AND THE BOOK OF MORMON
Early in I83O, at the little village of Palmyra,
New York, was published a small volume with the unpre
possessing title. The Book of Mormon.1 As early as the
fall of 1827, Joseph Smith had announced that in obedience
to the direction of an angel, he had dug up a book written
upon gold plates, wherein was revealed not only an account
of a race which formerly inhabited this continent, but the
"fulness of the everlasting gospel" which was to replace
the existing beliefs. Nevertheless the "Golden Bible"
did not sell well, even at $1.2 5 a volume.? Yet from this
^ Egbert B. Grandin, publisher of the Wayne Sentinel .
at Palmyra, was first approached by Joseph Smith, his
brother Hyrum, Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris and was
asked for an estimate of the cost of printing an edition
of three thousand copies. Harris, a prosperous farmer,
was to be security for the payment. Grandin thought the
scheme was fraudulent and attempted to dissuade Harris
from backing it. Thurlow Reed, publisher of the Anti-
Masonic Inquirer at Rochester, New York, was next sought.
After reading a few chapters, he refused to do the work,
and likewise tried to discourage Harris. At length, Elihu
F. Marshall, another Rochester publisher, made a specific
bid. Armed with this, the group returned to Grandin.
Citing the convenience to them of having the work done at
home, and showing that the book would be printed anyway,
they gained his assent. A contract was made to print and
bind five thousand copies for the sum of $3000, with Harris'
farm as security. Pomeroy Tucker, Origin. Rise and Progress
of Mormonism. (New York: I867), p. é2f.
2 Today, first editions bring from forty to fifty
dollars.
2
inauspicious beginning there sprang one of the two
distinctive religions indigenous to America, one which
was to be a major item of national interest for several
decades, and which today has a large and growing member
ship. 3 The following story summarizes the account which
Joseph Smith himself gave concerning the origin of the
book.4
EARLY EXPERIENCES OF SMITH
Joseph Smith was born December 23, 1805, at Sharon,
Vermont. When he was ten years of age, his parents moved
to Palmyra, New York, and four years later, to Manchester,
in the same county. Soon afterward, the community became
greatly excited over religion.5 Joseph was strongly
affected by the local tumult and leaned favorably toward the
3 According^ to the United States Government Census
of Religious Bodies (1936), the Mormons had a membership
of 889,250 and stood eleventh in rank among religious
bodies.
4 This "autobiography" started as a supplement to
Volume XIV of the Millennial Star and continued through
successive volumes to Volume XXIV. The earlier part was
"edited"- by Sidney Rigdon. After a temporary defection of
Rigdon, Smith continued the story in the form of a diary.
The differences between the earlier and later accounts
are illuminating.
5 Part, of course, of the "Second Awakening" which
led to the Great Revival of the West and Southwest.
Methodists, hut most of his family being Presbyterians,
he was torn by indecision.
While in this mental conflict, he happened to read
the scripture, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask.of
God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not;
and it shall be given him.The passage struck him with
force, till he finally concluded he should use it as a
formula to resolve his own difficulties.
Accordingly, on a beautiful day in the spring of
1820, he retired to the woods, and for the first time in
his life, prayed vocally. He had scarcely begun, when,
. . . immediately I was seized upon by some power
which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing
influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could
not speak. . Thick darkness gathered around me, and it .
seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to a
sudden destruction.7
Just when he was about to despair of freeing himself
from the control of "some actual being from the unseen
world," a shaft of dazzling light appeared above his head
and gradually descended upon him. Immediately, he was
8 James 1:5*
7 A psychologist says; "The visions, as they stand,
furnish evidences of epilepsy. . . . The psychiatric
definition of the epileptic fits the prophet to a dot."
I. Woodbridge Riley, The Founder of Mormonism (New York:
Dodd, Mead & Company, 1902), p. 72f; Cf. pp. 39-76, 345-366
for a detailed psychological study of the visions and
epileptic symptoms. Riley based his book on the assumption
that Smith really had the visions.
4
released and saw two indescribably glorious personages in
the air. One pointed to the other, saying, "This is my
Beloved Son, hear Him !"
Remembering the purpose of his prayer, Joseph asked
which sect he should join, but was warned to join none of
them for all of them were wrong. V/hen he came to himself
again, he found he was lying on his back, gazing upward.
For the next three and one-half years, nothing of
moment happened except the "severe persecution at the hands
of all classes of men, both religious and irreligious,"
to whom he told the story of the vision. However, denied
the help of church affiliation, yet having the curiosity
and gregariousness of adolescence, he "frequently fell
into many foolish errors," which ledihim into "divers
temptations, offensive in the sight of God."^
MORONI VISITS SMITH
Feeling condemned for these "imperfections," after
getting into bed on the night of September 21, I823, he
prayed to God for forgiveness of his sins and another
^ "Martin Harris one time said that, 'Brother
Joseph drank too much liquor while translating the Book of
Mormon’5 upon pressure from the church council, he modi
fied this charge to the assertion that 'this thing occurred
previously to the translating.'" Times and Seasons. VI,
992, quoted in Riley, o^. cit.. p. 66. It is doubtful
whether Harris knew much about Joseph prior to the trans
lation period.
5
manifestation of Himself. Whereupon, a brilliant light
filled the room and a personage stood in the air, beside
the bed.
Calling Joseph by name, and stating that his own
name was Moroni, the presence declared that God had a work
for Joseph to do. He asserted that a hidden book, written
upon gold plates, told of the former inhabitants of this
continent. In it, would be found "the fulnesss of the
everlasting Gospel" which the Savior had preached to these
people. Besides this, two stones in silver bows, called
Urim and Thummim, would enable their possessor to translate
the book.
The presence began quoting scripture, notably from
the fourth chapter of Malachi, but as Joseph notes, with
significant changes from the Authorized Version;
For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an
oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly,
shall burn as stubble; for they that come shall burn
them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave
them neither root nor branch.9
Behold I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by
the hand of Elijah the Prophet, before the coming of
the great and dreadful day of the L o r d . b O
^ Mai. 4:1. The A. V. reads (italics mine):
". . . shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall
burn them up. . ." Considering that Joseph had read the
Bible but little and confessedly was at this stage barely
literate, his recognition and memory of the variations in
this and the following verses, are remarkable, to say the
least.
Mai. 4:5. A. V.: "Behold I will send you Elijah
the prophet. . ."
And he shall plant in the hearts of the children
the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of
the children shall turn to their fathers; if it were
not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at
his coming.11
The messenger warned Joseph that he would be det-
stroyed if he exhibited the plates or the Urim and Thummim
to anyone other than those to whom he should be commanded
to show them. Thereafter, Moroni disappeared up "a conduit
open right up into heaven" and the room resumed its darkness.
While Joseph was meditating, the messenger appeared
a second time, and recounted the previous words verbatim,
with the additional information that great desolations
by famine, sword, and pestilence would be visited upon that
generation.
Still later, a third visit was made, adding a caution
that he would be tempted to secure the plates for the purpose
of getting rich. After the third ascension, Joseph heard
the cock crow and realized it was daybreak.
He found himself too exhausted to perform his
labors that day, so started home. When he tried to cross
the fence, he fell to the ground and lay unconscious.
11 Mai. 4:6. A. V.: "And he shall turn the heart
of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children
to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a
curse." Oddly enough, although in some other passages
the "Inspired Translation" of Joseph Smith makes arbitrary
changes to agree with revelations to him, in these verses
the reading is the same as the A. V. For a more extended
examination of Smith's version, see chapter VII, below.
7
In obedience to the instruction of Moroni, Joseph
repaired to a hill near Manchester and, not far from the
top,3with:a lever uncovered a stone box, the top of which
was partially visible above the g r o u n d ,12 Within the box,
were the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and an ancient
breastplate.^8
The messenger forbade the removal of the articles,
at the same time instructing him to return to the spot
annually for four years. He did as he was told, finally
acquiring the plates on September 22, 1827. He was
admonished to guard them carefully.
THE BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH
As soon as it was known that he had the
plates, strenuous efforts were made to take them from
12 In the early part of 1811, Joseph Smith, Senior's
"mind became much excited upon the subject of religion."
In a vision, he saw a box, but when he raised the lid,
"all manner of beasts . . . rose up on every side in the
most threatening manner." He dropped the box and fled
for his life. Lucy Mack Smith, Biographical Sketches of
Joseph Smith the Prophet, and his Progenitors for Many
Generations. (Plano, Illinois: The Reorganized Church of
Jesus Christ, L, D. S., 1880), p. Lucy Smith was the
prophet's mother.
13 In another account, Joseph declared that the box
also contained the sword of Laban and Lehi's "miraculous
directors"'(a sort of combination crystal ball and compass).
Cf. Doctrines and Covenants. (Salt Lake City: L. D. S.,
1923), 17:1. His mother alleged that she.saw the breastplate
"wrapped in a thin muslin handkerchief, so thin that I could
see the glistening metal." She adds that the plate was
worth "at least five hundred dollars." Lucy Smith, cit..
p. 113f.
8
him.l4 Rumor, falsehood and persecution became so intoler
able that he and his wife fled to Harmony, in northeastern
Pennsylvania.!^
Immediately he began copying the characters off the
plates, translating some of them by means of the Urim and
Thummim. In April, 1829, Oliver Cowdery, a schoolteacher
who had boarded at the home of Smith Senior during Joseph’s
absence, came to make inquiries. Two days later the Book
14 His mother relates that ^ the way home. for
greater safety, he left the road and went through the woods.
"As he was jumping over a log, a man sprang up from behind
it, and gave him a heavy blow with a gun. Joseph turned
around and knocked him down, then ran at the top of his
speed. About half a mile farther he was attacked again in
the same manner as before ; he knocked this man down in
like manner as the former, then ran on again; and before he
reached home he was assaulted the third time. [He came home]
speechless from fright and the fatigue of running." Lucy
Smith, 0£. cit., p. 111. Italics mine. Presumably, Joseph
had the plates under his arm all of this time. Estimates
of the weight of the plates range from fifty to two hundred
pounds.
15 In January of that year (1827), he* married Emma
Hale, at Harmony, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. He
had boarded at her father’s home, while employed by one
Josiah Stoal (or Stowel) to dig for a lost Spanish silver
mine. Mother Smith's history states that Stoal "came for
Joseph on account of having heard that he possessed certain
keys, by which he could discern things invisible to the
natural eye." In a footnote, the reprint by the Reorganized
Church defends divining rods. The Utah edition ("carefully
revised ^nd checked for accuracy"), substitutes "means" for
"keys," but wisely refrains from comment. Cf. Lucy Smith,
op. cit.. p. 96; Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith,
(Salt Lake City: Stevens & Wallis, 1924), p. 91f.
9
of Mormon began to take form, Joseph translating, and
Cowdery transcribing.l6
Sometime during the ensuing month, John the Baptist
appeared to Smith and Cowdery, and laying his hands upon
them, conferred the Priesthood of Aaron, In obedience
to the command of John, each baptised the other. Suddenly,
the Holy Ghost fell upon them, enlightening their minds
so that they might understand even the most mysterious
‘ passages of scriptures.
While the book was in the hands of the printers,
a meeting was held for the purpose of organizing the Church.
Accordingly, on April 6, I83O, the "Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints," composed of six members, Joseph
Smith, Hyrum Smith, Samuel H. Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Peter
Whitmer, and David Whitmer, had its formal beginning.17
16 Due to the loss of II6 pages, there was a ten
months lapse in the work of translation. Cf. George B.
Arbaugh, Revelation in Mormonism (Chicago: The University
of Chicago Press, 1932), p. 23, 39f, 117; Lucy Smith,
History of Joseph Smith, p. 124-136.
17 Hyrum Smith and Samuel H. Smith were brothers
of Joseph. Joseph had lived, board free, at the home of
Peter Whitmer since June, 1829. David Whitmer was a son
of Peter. David later declared that this was only a legal
organization, that three branches were in existence, at
Fayette, New York, at Manchester, New York, and at Colesville,
Pennsylvania. He states they had been baptizing and con
firming members for eight months; that several who had been
baptized were confirmed on that day. Of. David Whitmer,
An Address to All Believers in Christ. (Richmond, Missouri:
Elder David Whitmer, 1807), p. 33»
10
Thus ends Smith* s-account of the beginnings of Mormon
ism.1^
The title page of the first edition of the Book of
Mormon bears the inscription, The Book of Mormon; An account
written by the hand of Mormon, upon plates taken from the
plates of Nephl. Underneath the wordy description common
to books of the time, appears the words, "By Joseph Smith,
Junior, author and proprietor." Present-day editions sub
stitute for the latter, "Translated by Joseph Smith, Junior."
The first edition contains 588 duodecimo pages,
and in biblical semblance, is divided into fifteen books.
Later, Orson Pratt divided the chapters into verses, as
well as providing marginal references.
SUMMARY OF THE BOOK OF MORMON
Purportedly, the history was written on metallic
plates, and handed down from one writer to another. The
earliest account chronologically is found in the Book of
Ether-y.whichhstands fourteenth in order. Shortly after
the confusion of tongues,19 God commands the brother of
38 % have followed the narrative which is used for
missionary purposes by the Utah church, a 24 page booklet
entitled; Joseph Smith Tells His Own Story.
19 Gen. 11:1-9. Jared, his brother [sic many times],
and their friends, were spared from the confusion that
affected all others. Cf. B. M., Ether 1:34-37.
11
Jared [sic] to embark, with a party of thirty or more, in
eight peculiarly constructed arks in which they drifted
across the Atlantic. After 344 days, they landed on the
coast of North America. Their highly civilized descendants
spread over most of the continent, eventually splitting
into two warring nations. Fifteen hundred years after the
landing, their enmity culminated in a terrible war of
extermination, involving well-equipped armies of two million
soldiers each. With the exception of one man, both nations
were annihilated.
At about the time of this war, in the réign of
Zedekiah, King of J u d a h , 2 0 the families of Lehi and Ishmael
left Jerusalem, and after wandering in the Arabian Desert
for eight years, embarked in another oddly-built ship,
finally landing upon the west coast of South America. The
two families intermarried and multiplied rapidly. Like
their predecessors, they divided into two rival groups, called
respectively Nephites and Lamanites.
About one year after their arrival in South America,
a third party, led by a son of King Zedekiah, left Jerusalem,
landing somewhere near the Isthmus of Panama. Four hundred
years later, a wandering party of Nephites discovered them,
and eventually, the two nations became one. The Nephites
12
moved northward until they covered most of North America,
while the Lamanites spread out over all of South America.
Except for the Book of Ether, mentioned above,
the Book of Mormon purports to be the history of these
last two peoples. The Lamanites, given "a skin of blackness";21
became the ancestors of the American Indians.
Jesus the Christ appeared to them in person a few
days after his resurrection, and for forty days, preached,
performed astounding miracles,22 extended blessings far
greater than Israel ever enjoyed, and even ordained twelve
apostles. Soon the entire populace of North and South
America were converted and a two hundred year "millenium"
ensued. Nevertheless, history repeated itself and, with
prosperity, many apostatized.
These apostates revived the name Lamanites and at
length became so powerful that they completely destroyed
all of the righteous. Only the barbarous infidels remained
to be discovered by Columbus et al.
^3 2 Nephi 5:21. Many present-day Mormons suggest
the possibility that other ethnic groups may have migrated
later via the Bering Strait.
22 "8o great faith have I never seen among all the
Jews ; wherefore I could not show unto them so great miracles,
because of their unbelief. Verily I say unto you, there
are none of them that have seen so great things as ye have
seen; neither have they heard so great things as ye have
heard." 3 Nephi 19:35b, 36.
13
Howbelt, the prophet Mormon, who was commander in
chief of the Nephite forces, was able to collect all the
sacred records, then carefully abridging them,' engraved
them upon golden plates. These he gave, to his son Moroni,
who brought them down to date, then hid them in the hill
Cumorah, near Palmyra, New York. Fourteen hundred years
later, this same Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith, to direct
him to the finding and translation of the plates.
The Book of Mormon abounds with amazing miracles,
prophecies which are remarkably fulfilled, astounding
conversions, strange visions, and a multitude of sermons.
Yet so strange is the human heart, that the publication
of the book found the people of New York mostly indiffer
ent ,23 a few hostile, hardly any of them believers.
Smith began to learn that the way of a prophet,
like that of a transgressor, is hard. Without the consola
tion of honor from without, he experienced the penalty of
being "without honor" in his own house. His father-in-law
and entire family turned against him to the point that
"they would no longer promise us protection nor believe
23 Mormon and non-Mormon historians differ widely
on this point. Smith claimed that the community was
tremendously stirred even before the book appeared in
print and that strenuous efforts to steal the plates were
made. Cf. footnote l4, p. 8 above ; Lucy Smith, op. cit.,
p. 108. Non-Mormon writers think otherwise. Cf. Arbaugh,
OR Pit., p. 35f.
14
our doctrines."24 Opportunely, Emma received a revelation
through Joseph, reassuring her that, "Thou^needest not
fear, for thy husband shall support thee in the church,"
promising that "it shall be given thee, to make a selection
of sacred hymns . . . to be had in my church," but caution
ing her to "continue in the spirit of meekness, and beware
of pride. Let thy soul delight in thy husband, and the
glory which shall come upon him."25
SIDNEY RIGDON CONVERTED
Among the small band of converts was one Parley P.
Praipt, a tin peddler and lay preacher to rural Ohio con
gregations, lately associated with the Disciples. On a
trip to New York State, he was shown a copy of the Mormon
Bible and immediately accepted it. Straightway he received
a commission to proclaim the new Gospel, and, together with
Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, Jr., and Z, Peterson, travelled
directly to Mentor, Ohio, where they stayed a week in the
home of Sidney R i g d o n . 26 Rigdon had been a powerful Baptist
preacher, who after some conversations with Alexander
24 Joseph Smith and Heaman C. Smith, History of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Lamoni, Iowa:
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,
1908), p. 117.
2? D. C. 25:9, 11, 14.
Rigdon had previously converted Pratt to become
a Disciple.
15
Campbell, turned to the Disciples together with the vhole
congregation for which he preached.
In the autobiography of Smith it is related that
Rigdon's guests showed him the Book of Mormon, describing
.it in these words;
This being the first time he had ever heard of or
seen the Book of Mormon, he felt very much prejudiced
at the assertion [that it was a revelation] , and replied
that "he had one Bible which he believed was a revelation
from God, and with which he pretended to have some
acquaintance ; but with respect to the book they had
presented him, he must say lo^ had considerable doubt."
Upon which, they expressed a desire to investigate
the subject and argue the matter; but he replied,
"No, young gentlemen, you must not argue with me on
the subject. But I will read your book, and see what
claim it has upon my faith, and will endeavor to
ascertain whether it be a revelation from God or not,"
After some further conversation on the subject, they
expressed a desire to lay the subject before the people,
and requested the privilege of preaching in Elder
Rigdon's church, jW which he readily consented. The
appointment was accordingly published, and a large and
respectable congregation assembled, Oliver Cowdery
and Parley P. Pratt severally addressed the meeting.
At the conclusion Elder Rigdon arose and stated to the
congregation that the information they that evening
had received was of an extraordinary character, and
certainly demanded their most serious consideration;
and, as the apostle advised his brethren *to prove
all things and hold fast that which is good,’ so
he would exhort his brethren to do likewise, and give
the matter a careful investigation, and not turn
against it, without being fully convinced of its being
an imposition, lest they should possibly resist the 1 "
truth&y
27 Millenial Star. Vol. XIV, p, 4?, Italics mine.
The account is probably from the pen of Rigdon,
16
THE "COMPILING GENIUS OF MORMONISM"
Two days later Rigdon had another visitor, an angel,
and on the following Sunday, he and his wife were baptized
into the new faith. In the words of a Mormon writer:
Rigdon’s conversion caused a great deal of excite
ment in that section of the Western Reserve. Â hundred
years have passed since he became a Mormon; the Mormon
Church has enjoyed a healthy growth from that time
until the present, and its thousands of missionaries
during this long period of time have brought many
converts into their church who have far surpassed
Rigdon in wealth, training, native ability or strength
of character. But in the writer's opinion, Sidney
Rigdon ranks among the most important of all Mormon
converts.
To all of which this present writer would readily
agree, with further additions. It will be the purpose
of this paper to show that far from being a credulous convert
to Mormonism, that Rigdon had foreknowledge of the book
prior to its publication, if he did not actually have a
hand in its composition, and that the theology of early
Mormonism was the theology of Rigdon, not Smith. "The
voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of
Esau."29
Daryl Chase, Sidney Rigdon - Early Mormon.
Unpublished M. A. thesis. University of Chicago, 1931,
p. 73*
29 Gen. 27:22.
17
Even if Rigdon had no part in the writing of the
Mormon Bible, he had more to do with the organization and
doctrines of Mormonism than did Joseph Smith, At the time
of Rigdon's conversion, the church had been in existence
barely eight months, and had less than one hundred members.
The church was only loosely organized, with much of its
theology to be announced as the occasion required. Other
than the Book of Mormon. not a solitary book or even
pamphlet had been published.
With the exception of a few weeks, from the second
day after he met Smith, until the day of Joseph's death,
Rigdon was his official "spokesman."30 For a period of
thirteen years he was this and more. More than twenty-
five years later an ex-Mormon elder wrote;
The compiling genius of Mormonism was Sidney
Rigdon. Smith had boisterous impetuosity - but no
foresight. Polygamy was hot the result of his policy
but of his passions. Sidney gave point, direction,
and apparent consistency to the Mormon system of
theology. He invented its forms and the manner of its
arguments. . . . Had it not been for the accession of
these two men [Rigdon and Parley P. Pratt], Smith
would have been lost, and his schemes frustrated and
abandoned.31
30 Since it affects the question of succession,
Mormons consider it important.that shortly before his
death. Smith broke with Rigdon.
31 John Hyde, Jr., Mormonism; Its Leaders and
Designs (New York; W. P. Fetridge & Company, 1Ô57),
quoted in Linn, op. cit., p. 59. Linn does not give the
page reference and I have failed to find the quotation.
18
A statement of Whitmer is even more significant,
when he says:
Sidney Rigdon was the cause of almost all the errors
.which were introduced while he was in the church.
. . . In Kirtland, Ohio, in I83I, Rigdon would expound
the Old Testament scriptures of the Bible and Book of
Mormon (in his way) to Joseph, concerning the priest
hood, high priests, etc., and would persuade Brother
Joseph to inquire of the Lord about this doctrine and
that doctrine,* and of course a revelation would always
come just as they desired it.32
32 Whitmer, pp. cit.. p. 35* Italics mine. Whitmer
specifies this date and subject in an argument against
the priesthood, which was introduced in I83I. It is the
opinion of the present writer that this statement can be
given a much broader application than to doctrines which
Whitmer considered errors.
CHAPTER II
SIDNEY RIGDON--BAPTIST AND DISCIPLE
The names of Joseph Smith, the "founder," and
Brigham Young, the organizer of Mormonism, are known to
all— Mormon and non-Mormon alike. But except for special
students, few gentilesl are familiar with even the name of
one who was a member of the famous First Presidency,2
who indisputably was the right-hand man of Smith for
thirteen years, who on the ticket with Smith, was nomi
nated for vice-president of the United States, and who not
only everywhere left his mark upon the theology and organi
zation of Mormonism, but as this paper will attempt to
show, was Mormonism's guiding genius. Even among Mormons,
1 Mormons constantly use this term in reference to
all non-Mormons.
2 The others were Smith and one F. G. Williams, who
in 1839 was excommunicated. In 18^0, he was restored to
fellowship. He made little impress upon the church,*
apparently being selected to complete the resemblance to
the trinity. The History of the Church devotes only about
a page to his biography, stating that after his restoration,
"he practically dropped out of active life. . . . There
has been but little recorded concerning him, and so we will
not venture to give particulars." (p. 6^-lf.). He was so
unimportant that this official biography errs in giving
the dates of his expulsion and rebaptism. Smith said
that "[He] seeks with all his heart to magnify his
presidency in the Church of Christ, but fails in many
instances, in consequence of a want of confidence in
himself." ibid.. p. 6V1.
" -
20
the later apostasy of Rigdon has largely prevented a
recognition of the extent of his influence upon the church.3
To this day, no biography of Rigdon has been
published. His son wrote a partial biography, which, in
manuscript form, reposes in the archives of the church at
Salt Lake City. The greater part of this manuscript has
been used in the church histories. In 1931, an unpublished
thesis gave a fuller account of his life than had hitherto
been available.^ Figures of lesser importance are far
better known. A biography of Sidney Rigdon should be
written,
Joseph Smith seems a very live figure and Brigham
Young even more so. But the things written about Rigdon
do not bring him very close to us. He seems as colorless
as the basrelief of some Assyrian monarch.
3 This is particularly true of Mormon writers, con
scious of the problems, rather than of the rank and file.
^ Daryl Chase, "Sidney Rigdon— Early Mormon,"
unpublished M. A. Thesis, University of Chicago, 1931'
The thesis is a painstaking study, the best available
source at present, for details of Rigdon’s life. Although
Chase later came into the employ of the Utah church, as a
member of the college Institute staff of the Department of
Education, his subsequent actions have clearly demonstrated
his independence of judgment. He has been credited as
being the greatest living authority on the life of Joseph
Smith. It is the writer’s opinion that Chase's intense
admiration for Smith has made the thesis an apologetic
for the latter, rather than a sympathetic treatment of
the contributions of Rigdon to Mormonism.
21
Yet he could not have been lacking in what today
is called "personality." Associated successively with
Baptists, Disciples, and Mormons, he was a leader among
each. His influence was sufficient to turn an entire
congregation almost overnight from Baptist to Disciple.5
One who was not a great admirer, declared that his native
eloquence was unsurpassed among the group of early Mormons.^
The reasons for the paucity of source material are
not hard to find. Most of Higdon's writing was done in
other guises than under his own name.7 The oratory which
inflamed his follov/ers, has long ago been buried in the
graves of his listeners. He kept no journal or diary.
Surrounded in his declining years by those who curiously
prodded him for the "true story" of Mormonism, he grew
more and more close-mouthed, and died an embittered man.^
5 He failed to repeat this performance, in changing
from Disciple to Mormon.
^ Chase, op. cit.
7 -Chase's claim that Rigdon was a.public speaker,
not a writer, will not bear analysis,
8 After his death, in 1876 at Friendship, Allegheny
County, New York, the Standard of that city, said of him,
"citizen, stranger, and persistent reporter all alike failed
in eliciting any information. . . His library was small;
he left no manuscripts, and refused persistently to have a
picture of himself taken. It can only be said that he was
a compound of ability, versatility, honesty, duplicity,
and mystery." Quoted in W. A. Linn, The Story of the Mormons
(New York: The MacMillan Company, 1923), p. 319, f*
22
Added to his own reticence is the fact that three
different churches still consider him an apostate. Hence
there was little incentive for the historical student to
do the careful work of research. Most of the material
extant was written by those #10 abhorred him. The biographer
of Rigdon will have a difficult task.
EARLY LIFE OF RIGDON
• The name Rigdon is seldom met with today.
Apparently few persons of that name came from Europe and
the family or families that did emigrate were not prolific.
Sidney was the youngest son of William and Nancy Rigdon.
His ancestry on the paternal side was English, on the
maternal, Scotch and Irish. After the American Revolution,
the family settled at Piney Fork, Peter's Creek, St. Clair
Township, Alleghany County, Pennsylvania. There, on
February 19? 1793, was born their third son, the only one
known to fame.
Little is known of his youth except that he received
a "common English education." When Sidney was seventeen
his father died. Sidney remained on the farm until he was
twenty-six. This farm was located some fifteen miles south
of Pittsburg. While a boy, he was thrown from a horse
and with his foot caught in the stirrup, was dragged a
considerable distance. It is possible that he sustained
23
a brain contusion, which perhaps had some effect upon his
mental stability.
At the age of twenty-four he joined the Regular
Baptists and a year or so later decided to preach.
Accordingly, he left the farm to reside at the home of the
Reverend Andrew Clark, a Baptist minister, in Beaver
County. During the winter of I8I8-I9 he was granted a
license to preach.
The following spring, he moved to Warren, Trumbull
County, Ohio, to reside with a more noted Baptist preacher,
Adamson Bentley. A few months later he was ordained. On
June 12, 1820, he married Phoebe Brooks, sister-in-law of
Bentley.
RIGDON: THE POPULAR PREACHER
In short order, Rigdon became a very popular
preacher. His talents were somewhat above the average of
frontier preachers of the time. Rigdon*s.lack of formal
training was no handicap, for others had no more than he.
The frontier Baptist preachers of the period had little
taste and less opportunity for formal preparation for the
ministry. In fact, there was considerable antagonism toward
such.
The process of becoming a preacher was fairly simple.
As Sweet describes it:
24
When a 'brother' was impressed that God. had called
him to preach, he made it known to the church and if,
after the church had heard the trial sermon, it approved
of his 'gifts' a license was then given him to preach
in a small territory, as for instance within the bounds
of a single church. After further trial, if his 'gifts'
proved real, and he gave further evidence of usefulness
as a preacher he was then permitted to preach within
the bounds of the association. If, on the other hand,
his 'gifts' as a preacher did not seem to improve, he
was advised to make no further attempts to preach.9
The typical Baptist preacher rose up from the commu
nity in which he preached. Nearly always he was a farmer,
working all week and preaching on Sunday.
The effects of the Great Revival in the West had
not completely subsided and neither preacher nor audience
was likely to be calm for long. The meetings were frequent
ly, "characterized by wildest excitement. This was the
effect of the impassioned preaching, earnest exhortation,
loud prayers, and energetic singing.Rigdon's preaching
was not different in style than the others, but his
"extraordinary native eloquence soon made his name well
known.
^ William Warren Sweet, Religion on the American
Frontier; The Baptists (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1931) P* 39.
Catherine C, Cleveland, The Great Revival in the
West (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 19lé) p. 51.
11 Erret Gates, The Early Relation and Separation
of Baptists and Disciples (Chicago: The Christian Century
Company, 1904) p . 6l.
25
RIGDON INFLUENCED BY ALEXANDER CAMPBELL
At this period, Bentley and Rigdon heard with interest
of the ideas being advanced by Alexander Campbell. Not
waiting for Campbell to come to Ohio, they decided to visit
him to see what they might learn. As Campbell himself
described the visit:
In the summer of 1821, while sitting in my portico
after dinner, two gentlemen in the costume of clergymen,
as then technically called, appeared in my yard, ad
vancing to the house. The elder of them, on approaching
me, first introduced himself, saying, 'My name, sir,
is Adamson Bentley; this is Elder Sidney Rigdon, both
of Warren, Ohio.' On entering my house, and on being
introduced to my family, after some refreshment. Elder
Bentley said. 'Having just read your debate with Mr.
John Walkerl^ of our state of Ohio, with considerable
interest, and having been deputed by the Mahoning
Baptist Association last year to ordain some elders
and to set some churches in order, which brought us
within little more than a day's ride of you, we
concluded to make a special visit, to inquire of you
particularly on sundry matters of much interest to
us set forth in the debate, and would be glad, when
perfectly at your leisure, to have an opportunity to
do so.' ... .
After tea, in the evening, we commenced, and prolonged
our discourse until the next morning. . . . especially
the ancient order of things . . . engaged our attention.
On parting the next day, Sidney Rigdon, with all
apparent candor, said, if he had within the last year
12 This was one of the several notable debates in
which Campbell engaged. Walker, a Presbyterian minister,
had challenged the Baptists to procure a champion who would
debate with him. Campbell, at that time nominally a
Baptist, was the obvious choice. The questions discussed
were: the proper subjects of baptism, and the mode of
baptism.
26
taught and promulgated from the pulpit one error, he
had a thousand. At that time he was the great orator
of the Mahoning Association, though in authority with
the people second always to Adamson Bentley. I found
it expedient to caution them not to begin to pull
down anything they had builded until they had reviewed
again and again what they had heard; nor even then
rashly and without much consideration. Fearing they
might undo their influence with the people, I felt
constrained to restrain rather than to urge them on
in the work of reformation.13
In 1822, Rigdon was called to the pastorate of the
Baptist church in Pittsburg, at that period a small city.
However, the position carried considerably more prestige
than in the village of Warren. His ".peculiar style of
preaching" included not only an appeal to the "ancient
order of things," but also, communism, divine healings,
speaking in tongues, visions, revelations, and sundry
other items.1^ These latter he may have picked up from
a community of Shakers in Warren County. He more than
intimated that the doctrines popular with the Baptists were
not altogether in harmony with the scriptures.
These things alarmed the brethren. Accordingly,
at the annual meeting of the Association in 1824 he was
13 Millennial Harbinger. 1848, p. 523*
"Rigdon was a firm believer in revelations and
visions. He claimed to have had supernatural experiences
before he met the prophet. The revelation which is still
considered by Mormons to be outstanding, was given jointly
to Rigdon and the Prophet. After leaving the Mormon group
he still claimed to hear God's voice and enjoy the visita
tion of angels." Chase, cit. . p. 203.
27
tried, but withdrew before the termination of the trial.
For the next two years or so he remained in Pittsburg,
supporting by manual labor his wife and three children.
However, some of the brethren liked his "peculiar
preachings," so permission was obtained to hold meeting in
the court house. Here though still, like Campbell, a
Baptist, he unreservedly proclaimed the doctrines which
were "in accordance with the scriptures."
Alexander Campbell had never been a whole-hearted
Baptist, but had joined them as a matter of expediency.
Distressed by "diverse and opposite extremes and absurdities"
of religionists, he fondly believed that by preaching the "an
cient order of things," he could persuade men to abandon their
various sects and unite upon the common ground they held.^5
It was perfectly in harmony with his principles to
use his influence toward the appointment of Rigdon to the
Pittsburg church. Under the masterful direction of Campbell,
Rigdon, Bentley and Walter Scott, did their work so well
that "the majority of the Baptist churches of the Western
Reservel6 were permeated with the new teaching.
15 See Chapters III and IV below, for a more extended
discussion.
A tract of about 3?5^0,000 acres near Lake Erie,
reserved by the State of Connecticut at the time of the
cession of the Northwest Territory to the United States.
It is now the northeastern corner of the State of Ohio.
Gates, op. cit.. p. 93*
28
THE ANCIENT ORDER OF THINGS
The church at Brush Run, Pennsylvania, was the first
whole congregation to accept the "ancient order of things"
as a guide for its faith and practice. This body was formed
of members of various denominations, who at their union
fellowshiped with Baptist churches. The second and third
were at Wellsburg, Pennsylvania, and Pittsburg. The latter
was formed by a union of the church presided over by
Walter Scott and the Baptist church in charge of Rigdon,
in 1824.
Entire associations were permeated by the teachings
of those who at first called their work a "reformation,"
but later referred to it as a "restoration of primitive
Christianity." The movement was not confined to Baptists,
for the ranks were swelled by defections from all the
denominations. At Deerfield, Ohio, the entire Methodist
church came over to the "ancient order of things.
However, Campbell was over-optimistic in his belief
that the entire body of Baptists would lead the way toward
unity. Divisions arose in local churches and spread to
Associations, In 1829, the Beaver Association,' of Pennsylvania,
A. S. Hayden, Early History of the Disciples
in the Western Reserve (Cincinnati: Chase & Hall, 1075),
p. 311 ff.
29
adopted a series of resolutions against the Reformers.19
Encouraged by this action, other associations withdrew
fellowship from churches accepting the errors and corruptions
of Campbell and his associates. In many cases the true
Baptist churches were in the minority and it became a
matter of self-preservation. In April I83O, the majority
of the churches of North District Association were excluded
by the minority.In September of the same year the
Boone’s Creek Association eliminated six out of thirteen
churches.21
THE EMERGENCE OF THE DISCIPLES
The year I83O marks the turning point in the relations
between Baptists and Reformers. In that year, ten Associa
tions took some sort of action, leading to exclusion or
anathematization of the latter.22 Although as late as
18315 Thomas Campbell (father of Alexander) was received
into many Baptist pulpits, the end was at hand and the
Reformers bowed to the inevitable. On a trip to the East
^9 Robert Richardson, Memoirs of Alexander Campbell
(Cincinnati: Standard Publishing Company, 1897) II, 322.
20 Gates, op. cit.. p. 93*
Ibid., p. 93.
22 Ibid., p. 101.
30
in 1832, Alexander Campbell "was refused all the Baptist
meeting-houses in New York."^3
Since a separate entity necessitated an identifying
name for the Reformers, various names were suggested and
used at times. Hov/ever, seeking one which bore no sectarian
distinction, Campbell and those nearest him, preferred the
name "Disciples of Christ." For convenience, this term
will henceforth be used here.24
Thus when in October, I83O, the Mormon missionaries
visited Rigdon at Mentor, Ohio, the latter was preaching
for a church of Disciples. However, less than three months
previously he had had a passage at arms with Campbell.
Rigdon who was "clearly the most fanatical and literal
minded of the Disciples of Christ"argued that a community
of goods should be set up as in the early Jerusalem church.
Campbell, foreseeing the dangers of such a course, sternly
corrected this"erroi" before a crov/ded meeting at Austintown,
Ohio. On his way home, Rigdon bitterly stated that, "I
have done as much in this reformation as Campbell or Scott
and yet they get all the honor of it."26
23 Richardson, c^. cit., II, 392.
2^ Cf. Chapter IV, below, for fuller discussion.
^5 Fawn N. Brodie, No Man Knows My History (New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1946), p. 94.
Hayden, pp. cit., p. 299.
31
However, Rigdon did set up a small communistic
colony in Kirtland. It was here that the missionaries
were permitted to preach, not at Mentor. The feYi converts
that Rigdon drew from the Disciples to the Mormons, were
nearly all from the Kirtland group.
QUESTIONS REGARDING RIGDON‘S CONVERSION
Several points need to be kept in mind relative to
the "conversion" of Rigdon to Mormonism. First, Parley
P. Pratt, who headed the embassy to Mentor was himself a
disciple of Rigdon. Second, Pratt as a Disciple went on
a mission to New York State, passed through Palmyra and
became an easy convert of Smith’s. Third, Pratt and the
others started almost immediately on a mission to the
"Lamanites" (Indians), but proceeded directly to Mentor,
to call upon Rigdon. Fourth, Rigdon had prepared the people
for something startling which was to happen.
Rigdon, with pompous pretense, was travailing with
expectancy of some great event soon to be revealed to
the surprise and astonishment of mankind. Gifted with
very fine powers of mind, an imagination at once fer
tile, glowing and wild to extravagance, with tempera
ment tinged with sadness and bordering upon credulity,
he was prepared and preparing others for the voice of
some mysterious event soon to come.27
About three weeks after his conversion, Rigdon went
to Palmyra to visit Smith, taking along Edward Partridge,
27 Ibid., p. 209- Hayden wrote from first-hand
knowledge.
32
There may be considerable significance in the fact that
Partridge had made prior preparations.
January 19, I83O, another advertisement offers
'my valuable hatter stand for sale' and states that he
wished to quit the business. By September 28, I83O,
six weeks before the four missionaries appeared he
(i. e..Partridge) had sold it. It is possible and
may be probable that he was merely a pilgrim seeking
the truth.28
Partridge was a prosperous man, with cash in his
pockets. Such a man was valuable. He became the first
bishop in the church, while as for Rigdon, on December 7,
1830, two days after he arrived in Palmyra, he was honored
by receiving a joint revelation with Smith.
Behold, verily, verily, I say unto my servant Sidney,
I,have-looked upon thee and_thy works. I have heard
thy prayers, and prepared thee for a greater work.
Thou art blessed, for thou shalt do great things.
Behold thou wast sent forth, even as John, to prepare
the way before me. and before Elijah [Smith%"which
should come, and thou knewest it not. . . . ^Wherefore,
watch over him [[Smith] that his faith fail not. . . .
thou shalt write for him. . . tarry with him, and he
shall journey with yob. . . and thou shalt preach my
gospel and call on the holy prophets to prove his
words.29
Rigdon did tarry about two months, preaching and
receiving revelations. His knowledge of the Bible was of
immense help to the new cause. Nor was his experience with
the Disciples any hindrance.
Eva L. Pancoast, Mormons in Kirtland. unpublished
: . A. Thesis, Western Reserve University, 1929, P- 22.
29 D. C., 35: 3, h, 19, 20, 22, 23. Italics mine.
33
When Rigdon entered the Mormon church he did not
even need to discard his 'Campbellite' theology. He
could even retain the same phraseology and arguments
that he had been accustomed to using. The Mormons
were teaching faith, repentance, baptism by immersion
for the remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy
Ghost. The 'Restoration of the Ancient Gospel' was the
message of the first Mormon missionaries and has con-'
tinued to be the cardinal teaching of all the thousands
of Mormon missionaries that have journeyed about the
world since that time. By accepting Mormonism Rigdon
got rid of the restraining hand of Alexander Campbell;
he could move with greater freedom of speech, for the
Mormons did not limit their 'Restoration' ideas to the
New Testament as had been the case with Campbell.
Rigdon was always a great admirer of the Old Testament
and the ancient prophecies.30
Not only did Rigdon get "rid of the restraining hand
of Campbell," but it must have been a happy coincidence for
him that the very points in which Mormonism varied from
Disciple theology were those which Rigdon had vainly tried
to make a part of that theology.31 Perhaps the Disciples,
too, had a large measure of comfort, for since the Mormon
teachings were divinely authenticated. Disciples, too, had
divine sanction for their beliefs--as far as they went.
CHRONOLOGY OF HIGDON'S KNOWN ACTIVITIES
In any study of the life of Rigdon, consideration
must be given to the possibility of his relationship to the
Spaulding theory. This interesting hypothesis will be
30 Chase, op. cit.. p. 37-8. Italics mine.
31 Cf. post, p. 125 f.
34
dealt with later in connection with a discussion of the
origin of the Book of Mormon.32 For more than fifty years,
Mormon writers have declared the theory "dead." Never
theless, many scholarly writers continue to treat it as if
it were alive.
To refute any possibility of Rigdon's participation
in the Book of Mormon. the cla'im has been made that
limitations of time were insuperable. On this point,
Brodie asserts:
Rigdon's life between 1826 and 1829 has been carefully
documented from non-Mormon sources. It is clear from
the following chronology that he was a busy and success
ful preacher and one of the leading figures in the
Campbellite movement in Ohio. Until August I83O, when
he broke with Alexander Campbell over the question of
introducing communism into the Campbellite Church, he
was one of the four key men of that church.33 It
cannot be held that Rigdon rewrote the Spaulding manu
script before 1827, since the anti-Masonry permeating
the book clearly stemmed from the Morgan excitement
beginning late in 1826.34
Elder E. L. Kelley, of the Reorganized Church
prepared a list which covers the known movements of Rigdon
from November 2, I826, to November l4, I83O, 1, e., from
32 cf. post, p. 74 f.
33 Mormons have greatly overrated Rigdon's importance
among the Disciples. Rigdon assisted Adamson Bentley in
preparing the Mahoning Association, but despite his fervid
oratory, was secondary even in Ohio, to Bentley and Walter
Scott. Due to his erratic nature Disciple leaders were
dubious of him. Cf., Hayden, pp. cit.. p. I9I.
3^ Brodie, pp. cit., p. 430-1.
35
the beginning of the anti-Masonic excitement to Rigdon's
conversion. The chronology follows:35
YEAR MONTH DAY
1826 Nov. :2
1826 Dec.
13
1827
Jan.
1827
Feb.
1827
Mar.
1827
Apr.
1827
June
5
1827
June
7
1827
June
15
1827
July
3
1827
July 12
1827
July
19
1827
Aug. 10
1827
Aug.
23
1827
Oct.
9
1827
Oct. 20
1827
Oct.
27
1827
Nov. a .
1827
Dec. 6
1827
Dec. 12
1827
Dec.
13
182 8 Jan. 8
1828 Feb. 14
1828 Mar.
31
1828 Mar.
1828 Apr.
1828 May
,,
1828 June
EVENT
Marriage of Smith and Giles.
Above marriage recorded.
Held meeting at Mantua, 0.
Funeral of Hannah Tanner, Chester, 0.
(Gap of about one month.)
Held meeting at Mentor, 0.
Held meeting at Mentor, 0.
(Gap of possibly month and a half.)
Marriage of Freeman and Waterman.
Above marriage recorded.
Baptized Thomas Clapp at Mentor, 0.
Marriage of Gray and Kerr.
Above marriage recorded.
Marriage of Snow and Parker.
Above marriage recorded.
Met with Ministerial Asso., New Lisbon, 0.
(Gap of one month and seventeen days.)
Marriage of Sherman and Mathews.
At Ministerial Council, Warren, 0.
Marriage of Sherman and Mathews recorded.
Held meeting at New Lisbon, 0.
Marriage of Wait and Gunn.
Above marriage recorded.
Marriage of Cottrell and Olds.
Above marriage recorded.
Marriage of Herrington and Corning.
Above marriage recorded.
Instructed theological class. Mentor, 0.
Conducted revival at Kirtland, Oi.
Met Campbell at Shalersvllle.
Baptized H. H. Clapp, Mentor, 0.
35 A comparison of the list as given by Brodie, who
completely rejects the Spaulding theory, and Shook, who is
its ablest defender, shows the two lists to be identical.
Cf.; Brodie, pp. cit.. p. 431-2; Charles A. Shook, The True
Origin of the Book of Mormon (Cincinnati, Ohio; The
Standard Publishing Co., 1914), p. 138-146.
36
YEAR MONTH DAY EVENT
1828
(Gap of possibly two months.)
Aug. , .
At Association, Warren, 0.
Marriage of Dille and Kent. 1828 Sept.
7
1828 Sept. 18 Marriage of Corning and Wilson.
1828 Oct.
13
Above marriages recorded.
1829
(Gap of two months and a half.)
Jan. 1 Marriage of Churchill and Fosdick,
1829
Feb. 1 Marriage of Root and Tuttle.
1829
Feb. 12 Above marriages recorded.
1829
Mar. « , Meeting at Mentor, 0.
1829
Apr. 12 Meeting at Kirtland, 0.
1829
May . . Baptized Lyman Wight,
1829
(Gap of possibly one month and a half.)
July 1 Organized church at Perry, 0.
1829
Aug. # # Baptized Mrs. Lyman Wight.
1829
Aug.
13
Marriage of Strong and More.
1829
Sept. 14 Above marriage recorded.
1829
Sept. 14 Marriage of Atwater and Clapp.
1829
Sept. . • Held meeting at Mentor, Ohio.
1829
Oct. 1 Marriage of Roberts and Bates.
1829
Oct.
7 The last two marriages recorded.
1829
Oct. ., At Perry, 0.
1829
Nov. ., Held meeting at Wait Hill, 0.
1829
Dec.
31
Marriage of Chandler and Johnson.
1830 Jan. 12 Above marriage recorded.
1830
(Gap of possibly two months.)-
Mar.
• •
At Mentor, 0.
(Gap of two months.)
I830 June , ,
At Mentor, 0.
1830 July • . Held*meeting at Pleasant Valley, 0.
1830 Aug. . . Met Campbell at Austintown, 0.
4
(Gap of easily two and a half months.)
1830 Nov. Marriage of Wood and Cleaveland.
1830 Nov. 11 Above marriage recorded.
1830 Nov. 14 Rigdon baptized by Cowdery.
37
This list proves too much, for a comparison of the
admitted gaps with declarations of Joseph Smith becomes
highly interesting. An incident that could have occurred
at the time of the first gap is dated by Joseph's mother
as "not long subsequent to his return" from his marriage
in Pennsylvania (January, 1827). He failed to return from
a trip to nearby Manchester until late at night. Joseph
explained that the delay was caused by,
. . . the angel of the Lord. As I passed by the
hill of Cumorah, where the plates are, the angel met
me and said that I had not been engaged enough in the
work of the Lord; that the time had come for the record
to be brought forth; and that I must be up and doing
and set. myself about the things which God had commanded
me to do. But, father, give yourself no uneasiness
, . , for 1 know the course that I am Pursue, so
all will be well.3 ^
For the second.gap, no suggestion is offered, but
the third touches a vital date, for on September 22, 1827,
Smith claims that the angelic messenger finally delivered
the plates to him.37 At this period, Higdon's activities
are unaccounted for in Ohio for a full month and a half.
- One Lorenzo Saunders, who knew the Smith family
intimately, declared that he saw Sidney Rigdon at the Smith
36 Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith (Salt
Lake City, Utah: Stevens & Wallis, 1945), p. 100 f. Italics
mine.
37 Joseph Smith, Joseph Smith's Own Story (Independence,
Missouri: Zion's Printing and Publishing Company,[n. d.] ,
p. 12 f. In Mormon theology, angels are exalted men.
38
home in March, 1827, on the Palmyra road with Joseph, in
the fall of 1827, and again in the summer of 1828.38 if
it is not significant, at least it is curious, that these
dates can, without distortion, fit the first, third, and
fourth gaps.
In the latter part of June, I828, the wife of Martin
Harris stole the first II6 pages of the manuscript of the
Book of Mormon. For a time Smith was in despair, but in
July, a revelation was received which resolved his diffi
culties. 3 9lf Smith and Rigdon were collaborating, it would
have been essential for them to confer at this time. Here,
there is a gap of two months in Higdon's chronology.
Although the revelation stated that an abridged account
of the missing pages was available, the work of translation
was not resumed until the following winter— sufficient
time for Rigdon to replace the lost matter. Also, the next
gap— from October I3 to January l--was just before the
resumption of translation.
The next gap occurs from May to July, I829. On
"a certain day" in May, I829, the celebrated baptism of
Smith and Cowdery occurred. Later, Cowdery declared that
38 Shook, op. cit. , p. 132-135.
39 D. c., 3.
39
the voice of the angel did "most mysteriously resemble
the voice of Elder Sidney R i g d o n . " ^ 0
Another significant gap is one of two full months--
from March, I83O, to June, I83O. In April, I83O, there was
a long, detailed revelation regarding the organization of
the church.4l it is hardly likely that Joseph Smith could
have written this sort of thing at that period of his life.
For a man experienced in church organizational work— as
was Rigdon--it would have been relatively easy. Also, on
April 6, 1830, the church was organized. All of this was
well within the two month period.
During the last gap, there was an important three-day
conference of the young church, beginning September 26, I83O.
The gap extends from August until November l4, ten days
before the "conversion" of Rigdon. One wonders if Smith
and Rigdon made their final plans during this period.
Any one of these gaps allowed ample time for contacts
between Rigdon and Smith. Mentor, Ohio, and Palmyra, New
York, were 252 miles apart. At the rate of fifty miles a
day, the round trip could have been made in ten days. When
Rigdon left Kirtland in January, I838, he traveled sixty
^+0 Cf., post, p. 115.
D. C., 20.
l+o
miles in ten hour s. He was accustomed .to making long
trips on horseback; many such are recorded.^3
It is not contended that these gaps are positive
proof; that would be an argument from-silence. However, the
coincidences are striking, for they occur at the very times
at which Higdon's presence would be needed, if he were
directing Smith in the production of the Book of Mormon and
the organization of the church. When coupled with the
testimony of Higdon's foreknowledge of the Book of Mormon,
this evidence cannot be lightly thrown aside.
Cf., Joseph Fielding Smith, Essentials in Church
History (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Press, 1928),
p. 205.
^3 For a partial list, see: Shook, cit., p. 137.
Cf., post., p. 80 f.
CHAPTER III
APOSTASY AND RESTORATION
THE GREAT APOSTASY
As the basis for the need for a new revelation,
Mormon writers and missionaries lay heavy emphasis upon the
"Great Apostasy." The claim is made that v/ithout "warrant
of revelation," the form of baptism was changed from
immersion to affusion.1 This is said to be a destruction
of the symbolism of a burial.2 Also, it is charged that
the ordinance was misapplied by being administered to
infants.3 These and other practices,
. . . through changing the ordinances of the gospel;
by misapplying them in some cases, and adding pagan
rites to them in others; by dragging into the* service of
the church the ceremonies employed in heathen temples
in the worship of pagan gods; . . . by changing the form
and departing from the spirit of government in the church
as fixed by Jesus . . . brought to pass the apostasy
. . . the destruction of the Church of Christ on earth.^
Further, it is alleged that this apostasy "is not
the first time in the experience of men that the gospel has
been taken from among them," but that it had been introduced
1 B. H. Roberts, A New Witness For God (Salt Lake
City, Utah: George Q. Cannon & Sons Company, 1895), P* lOk-105'
2 Rom. 6:3-5.
3 Roberts, op. cit.. p. 106-107.
^ Ibid., p. 111-112.
^2
in "very ancient times" [ i. e. , to Adam, Enoch, Noah, etc.] ,
later to be removed because of transgression.5
This early retrogression proceeded to such a point,
they tell us, that:
Nothing remained but fragments of the gospel; here a
doctrine and there a principle, like single stones
fallen and rolled away from the ruined wall; but no
one able to tell where they belonged in the structure,
and so many of the stones missing that to reconstruct
the wall with what remains is out of the question.8
To be quite clear, these teachings refer to the
inadequacy of the New Testament itself, for it is said that:
"The fragmentary accounts of the gospel, as recorded by
some of the apostles, and their associates, is all that was
left to the world."7 These "fragments" have had some value,'
being "better than absolute darkness," but are as the light
of the moon or the stars, not the full sunlight of God’s
truth.8
Roberts declares that the Protestant argument that the
Reformers had removed the corruptions and restored the
gospel, needs no refutation, since:
5 Ibid., p. 123-124-.
6 Ibid., p. 125.
^ Loc. cit.
8 Ibid., p. 126.
^3
One need only say that the gospel having been taken
from the earth, and divine authority lost, the only way
for their restoration is through the re-opening of the
heavens and the committing of a new dispensation therof
to men. As this answers the argument, it is only necessary
to prove that Protestants admit the apostasy.9
In proof of this contention, Roberts points to the
muddled state of Protestantism, which, of course, is a
vulnerable point, for he reminds us that, "well nigh each
Doctor understood the Bible differently."10 Even if an
agreement could be had upon doctrines and ordinances, "where,
without further revelation," he asks, "is the divinely
authorized ministry to teach the gospel or administer its
ordinances?"11 The emphasis upon authority is the core of
the Mormon appeal.12
The above line of argument is followed to lay down
a thesis, which stated in one sentence is:
The Church of Christ was destroyed; there has been
an apostasy from the Christian religion so complete and
universal as to make necessary a New Dispensation of the
Gospel.13
Dependence upon reasoning is not the sole argument,
for it is asserted that:
9 Roberts, Loc. cit.
10 Ibid., p. 132.
11 Loc. cit.
12 Cf., post, p. 114 f:
13 Roberts, op. cit., p. v.
The Scriptures declare that the Gospel of Jesus
Christ . . . will be restored to the earth by a re
opening of the heavens, and giving a New Dispensation
thereof to the children of men.l^
The Mormons have added a novel element by insisting
upon the essentiality of a priesthood; assigning to it,
functions usually considered prophetic.15 "Priesthood is
power which God confers upon man, by which he becomes an
agent for God, authorized to act in his name."l& We are told
that priesthood was conferred upon Melchizedek, Abraham,
Moses, the apostles, and lastly, Joseph Smith.
To hold power delegated to one by Almighty God--to
have authority to speak and act in his name, and have it
of the same binding force as if the Diety himself spoke
or acted . . . is an awe-inspiring thing.1?
Mormons teach that only they are "divinely authorized
to preach the Gospel and re-establish the Church of Jesus
Christ on earth."18 All others have "failed miserably."19
Logically enough, Roberts, who has been quoted so frequently,
asked for a committee to read his manuscript, in order "to
guard against error or inaccuracy in doctrine."20
Roberts, loc. cit.
Certainly Rigdon's idea. Cf., ante., p. 18.
1^ Roberts, op. cit.. p. 18?.
37 Ibid., p. 188.
33 Ibid., p. V.
19 Ibid., p. 132.
Ibid., p. V.
^5
RELIGIOUS UNREST IN AMERICA
The latter part of the eighteenth century was a
period of religious unrest in America. After the Revolution,
churches suffered not only from apathy and coldness, but
a rapid decrease in membership which became alarming.
According to Cleveland, the chief contributing factors
were: the attention drawn by a bitter war to material
things; the influence of the free thought underlying the
French Revolution; the phenomenal emigration to the West;
the decreased supply of ministers, due to economic reasons;
and the somewhat violent adjustments consequent to the
breaking of political and religious ties with England.
The losses in the East were not offset by gains in
the West. In the new regions, scarcity of ministers, the
general poverty of the settlers, and extremely loose
conditions morally, left most of the newcomers unchurched.
What visible religion there was. East and West, was largely
lifeless and formal.
Partly as a spontaneous reaction from these conditions,
and partly due to the concern of religious leaders', what
some have called the second Great Awakening, had its
^3 Catherine C. Cleveland, The Great Revival in the
West (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 19lé), p. 30 f.
4JA
beginning. Starting with the students themselves in little
Hampden-Sidney College, in I786, it spread to nearby Washing
ton College. Both were in Virginia. Here were trained
many of the Presbyterian leaders of the next generation.
The enthusiasm spread to Yale, which became the fount of
the Congregational phase. Sweeping over the East, it
surged into the newer western states, where it reached
its climax in Kentucky. It was in this region that the
camp meeting originated. The most spectacular of all
was the great Cane Ridge camp meeting in Bourbon County,
in August, 1801. Barton W. Stone, of whom we shall hear
more later, was the Presbyterian minister most responsible
for this vast gathering. Thousands of all denominations
gathered, until the woods appeared to be alive with people.22
> However, this revivalism led to a narrow, bigoted
sectarianism which was unprecedented. Each denomination
strove mightily to build up its own forces at the expense
of others. It was an era of religious argument; dogmatism
was rife. What has been said of the seventeenth century,
could equally well be applied to this period;
The great initial movements by which the Christian
church advanced in the combination of the variety of
forces into harmonious operation, in every case gave
William Warren Sweet, Revivalism in America
(New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 19447, p. 119f.
46
way to reaction and decline, in which the various
forces separated themselves, and some particular one
prevailed.
. . . The Scriptures once more became the slaves
of dogmatic systems and ecclesiastical machinery, and
were reduced to the menial service of furnishing proof
texts to the forgone conclusions of polemic divines and
ecclesiastics.23
In nearly all of the denominations, men began to
see the need of a new reformation. James 0’Kelly of
Virginia, began to stir up trouble among the Methodists.
0’Kelly became dissatisfied with certain beliefs and
practices of the Methodist church. Finally he and his
associates withdrew from that body, to organize the
"Republican Methodists," The group began in opposition
to the power of the episcopate, but later discarded the
Discipline and decided to be governed solely by the New
Testament. O’Kelly’s biographer says of a general meeting
held in 179^, that.
Finally Reverend Rice Haggard stood up in the meeting
with'a copy.of the New Testament in his hand and said:
'Brethren, this is a sufficient rule of faith and
practice, and by it we are told that the disciples
were called Christians. and I move that henceforth
and forever the followers of Christ be known as Christians
simply.' The motion was unanimously adopted, since
which time they have had no other name for their
organization.24
23 Charles A. Briggs, Biblical Study (New York;
Charles Scribner's Sons, I89I), p. 371.
2^ W, E, McClenny, The Life of Reverend James 0'Kelly
(Raleigh, N. C.; Edwards & Broughton, I910), p. 114-115.
47
When the question of a creed came before them,
McClenny relates that, "Next a Reverend Mr. Rafferty, of
North Carolina, moved to take the Bible itself as their
only creed, and this, too, was carried, and has so remained
to this day."25
Altogether, the general meeting adopted five basic
principles, which were as follows:
1. The Lord Jesus Christ as the only Head of the
church. . *
2. The name Christian to the exclusion of all party
and sectarian names.
3. The Old and New Testaments as the only creed, and
a sufficient rule of faith and practice.
4. Christian character, the only test of church
fellowship and membership,
5. The right of private judgement, and liberty of
conscience, the privilege and duty of all.§8
Among the Baptists, Elias Smith was ordained a
minister, but later he adopted Universalism, which he soon
abandoned to search the Scriptures. With Abner Jones, he
left the fellowship of Baptists and organized a "Christian
Church."27
25 Ibid., p. 117.
26 Ibid., p. 121-2.
• 27 Homer Hailey, Attitudes and Consequences (Kansas
City, Mo.; Old Paths Book Club, 19^5)1 P* 42. 1^am
indebted to him for suggestion of source material which
otherwise I might have overlooked.
48
However, this was an inconsequential movement and
merely furnishes an indication of the tide in the direction
of primitive New Testament worship. The chief impetus in
the Baptist church was to come from without, when the
Presbyterian Campbells cast their lot with that body.
THE STONITES
More important was the movement led by Barton W,
Stone, who has been mentioned above.28 Stone, a licensed
Presbyterian preacher, was called to the church at Cane
Ridge, Kentucky. He tells in his autobiography that he
appeared before the Presbytery for ordination with con
siderable misgivings. Said he,
They [the Presbytery of Transylvania] asked me how
far I was willing to receive the confession. I told
them, as far as I saw it consistent with the word of
God. They concluded that was sufficient.29
Stone was a powerful preacher, capable of swaying
multitudes. His leadership in the spectacular Cane Ridge
meeting, which attracted a crowd variously estimated from
10,000 to 30,000, has already been mentioned. The intense
28 See p. 45.
29 John Rogers, The Biography of Elder Barton Warren
Stone (Cincinnati: J. A. & Ü. P. James, 1847), p. 50.
The first part of the book is autobiographical.
49
sectarianism which was to manifest itself two or three
decades later had not yet ripened. Stone himself says,
. . . It was judged by military men on the ground
that between twenty and thirty thousand persons were
assembled. Four or five preachers spoke at the same
time in different parts of the encampment without
confusion. The Methodist and Baptist preachers aided
in the work, and all appeared cordially united in it.
They were of one mind and soul: the salvation of
sinners was the one object. We all engaged in singing
the same songs, all united in prayer, all preached
the same things.30
Of Stone's reliability as a historian. Bacon comments.
The sober and cautious tone of this narrative
Lconcerning the Cane Ridge meeting ] will already
have impressed the reader. These are not the words
of a heated enthusiast, or a man weakly credulous.
We ^ . . may safely accept his testimony, amply
corroborated as it is, to facts which he has seen
and heard.31
Obviously this statement would apply to Stone the
man, as well as to Stone the writer. At the time of the
Great Revival Stone began to realize that he was not in
full sympathy with Presbyterians. About two years later,
he with four others withdrew from the Synod of Kentucky
and formed the Springfield Presbytery. This was done
without withdrawing from the Presbyterian church. Soon
30 Ibid.. p. 37-8.
3^ Leonard Woolsey Bacon, A History of American
Christianity (American Church History Series, Vol. XIII.
New York; The Christian Literature Co., 1897), p. 236.
50
thereafter, they published The Apology of the Springfield
Presbytery, of which Stone later says:
. . . In this book we stated our objections at
length to the Presbyterian Confession of Faith, and
against all authoritative confessions and creeds formed
• by fallible men. We expressed our total abandonment
of all authoritative creeds, but the Bible alone, as
the only rule of our faith and practice,32
This group soon realized that if they intended to
abandon everything "but the Bible alone," that there was
no more sanction for the Springfield Presbytery than for
the one they had recently quitted. Accordingly,.they de
cided to dissolve this body, and on June 28, l804, published
a curious document which they called "The Last Will and
Testament of the Springfield Presbytery." A few extracts
from the latter will suggest its nature;
Imprimis We will, that this body die, be dissolved,
and sink into union with the Body of Christ at large ;
for there is but one body, and one Spirit, even as
we are called in one hope of our calling.
Item We will. that our power of making laws for
the government of the church, and executing them by
delegated: authority, forever cease; that the people
may have free course to the Bible, and adopt the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
Item We will. that candidates for the gospel
ministry henceforth study the Holy Scriptures with
fervent prayer, and obtain license from God to preach
the simple Gospel. . . .
Itern We will, that the people henceforth take the
Bible as the only .sure guide to heaven. . . .
32 Rogers, op. cit., p. 49.
51
Item Finally, we will, that all our aister bodies
read their Bibles carefully, that they may see their
fate there determined, and prepare for death before it
is too late.33
After this dissolution, various problems confronted
them. Within a year,
. . .We took the name Christian— the name given to
the disciples by divine appointment first at Antioch.
We published a pamphlet on this name, written by
Elder Rice Haggard, who had lately united with us.3^
Also the question of baptism arose. Stone and
many of his associates concluded that immersion was necessary
and acted accordingly. However, Stone relates that,
The subject of baptism now engaged the attention
of the people very generally, and some, with myself,
began to conclude that it was ordained for the remission
of sins, and ought to be administered’ in the name of
Jesus to all believing penitents. . . . Into the spirit
of the doctrine I was never fully led, until it was
revived by Brother Alexander Campbell, some years
later.35
The movement spread rapidly through the new states
of the West. Without any concert, similar branches had
sprung from the Methodists, the Baptists and the Presbyteri
ans. All had the common aims of release from human creeds,
freedom of private judgment, the simplicity of primitive
33 Ibid., p. 51-3.
5 Ibid.. p. 50. This Is the same Haggard who was
associated with James 0'Kelly. See above, p. 46.
35 Ibid., p. 61.
52
Christianity, and dependence upon the Bible alone, as the
sole rule of faith and practice. They did what men do
not always do-— the logical thing--by uniting into one body,
known as the Christian Connection.36
Stone and Alexander Campbell first met in 1824,
and soon became firm friends. After much discussion, most
of the Christian Connection congregations merged with the
Disciples, beginning in I832. Since this paper is concerned
with the doctrines and attitudes of the Disciples at and
immediately before the time of Sidney Rigdon* s alleged
conversion, e. the few years prior to November l4, I83O,
it is necessary to study other personalities.
Our attention will now be directed to the group #iich
was the inheritor of these just studied. In the Disciples
we will find a synthesis of the O'Kellyites, the Smithites
and the Stoneites, plus significant contributions made by
Thomas Campbell, Alexander Campbell and Walter Scott. When
to the attitudes of the Disciples in I83O, are added the
vagaries of Sidney Rigdon, we have an explanation of the
origin of practically every early Mormon doctrine. We
shall find that from countless directions, fingers point
to Sidney Rigdon as the real father of Mormonism.
36 Robert Richardson, Memoirs of Alexander Campbell
(Cincinnati: Standard Publishing Company, lS97)> II, 198.
CHAPTER IV
THE ANTECEDENTS OF THE DISCIPLES
Thomas Campbell, who was of Scotch descent, was
born in Ireland in I763. His father had been a Roman
Catholic, but became a member of the Anglican church and
desired that his sons should "serve God according to act
of Parliament." Thomas was not satisfied with the formality
and ritualisni of the latter body, so in young manhood he
identified himself with the Anti-Burgher branch of the
Seceders wing of the Presbyterian church. Soon thereafter,
he entered the University of Glasgow in order to prepare
himself for the ministry.1
About 1798 he moved to Rich Hill (in Ireland) and
in addition to his pastoral duties, conducted an academy.
He became very friendly with the pastor of the Independent
church, the name by which the Congregationalists were
known in Ireland. The Independents believed in the right
of every individual to interpret the Scriptures for himself
and in the independence of local congregations. In addition
3 The primary sources for the lives of Thomas
Campbell and Alexander Campbell are: Alexander Campbell,
Memoirs of Elder Thomas Campbell (Cincinnati: H. S.
Bosworth, l8él), 319 pp.5 and, Robert Richardson, Memoirs
of Alexander Campbell (Cincinnati: Standard Publishing
Company, 1897), 2 vols., 1225 pp.
54
to this, their tolerant spirit, which was marked for the
times, greatly influenced Thomas Campbell, who was pro
foundly disturbed by the narrow, intolerant sectarianism
which was rife in Ireland at that time.
The double task of teaching and preaching so injured
the health of Thomas Campbell that his physician insisted
upon a complete change of climate. In 1807, he sailed for
America, leaving his son Alexander to carry on his work at
the academy. He presented his credentials to the Pres
byterian Synod in Philadelphia and was assigned to a group
of scattered churches in Washington County.
To his dismay, he found the churches in the new
country even more intolerant than those of Scotland and
Ireland. The widely scattered condition of the sparsely
settled region left many persons without any pastoral
oversight. Campbell found some Independents and members
of other Presbyterian branches who had known him in Ireland,
so he ministered to them as well as to his regular flocks.
Some of his brother ministers began to doubt his orthodoxy,
particularly when on a tour for the purpose of administer
ing the Lord's Supper, he found members of other Presbyterian
branches who had not communed for years and offered the
privilege of communion to them. Charges were brought
against him, which eventuated in a vote of the Presbytery
55
that he was deserving censure. On technical grounds of
irregularities in the proceedings, the Synod set aside the
censure but held that Mr'. Campbell's answer to the charges
was "highly equivocal upon great and important articles of
revealed religion" which led to the conclusion that he
held sentiments "very different . . . from the sentiments
held and professed by this church, and are sufficient
grounds to infer censure."2
In his letter of defense, Campbell had assured the
Synod that he would gladly abandon any unscriptural practice,
for he would not venture to "teach anything as a matter of
faith or duty but what is already expressly taught and
enjoined by Divine authority."3 Furthermore, he stated
that he rejected "as inadmissable and schismatic, the
introduction of human opinions and human inventions into
the faith and worship of the church.He asked whether
he deserved censure for, "simply acquiescing in what is
written, as-quite sufficient for every purpose of faith
and duty;"5 or whether he should be rejected because he
2 Richardson, cit. . I, 229.
3 Ibid.. I, 226.
^ Ibid., I, 227.
5 Loc.-clt.
56
would not bind upon himself or impose on others that for
which he could not produce a "thus saith the Lord."
Soon afterward, Thomas Campbell withdrew from the
Presbyterians and began to preach independently. His
answer to the Presbytery shows the pattern of his thinking
and directed his future course. His preaching now vigorously
condemned the sectarian spirit. But whereas before he had
merely sought the union of two branches of the Presbyterian
group, he now had a dream of the "end of partyism" by
uniting all religious denominations "upon the. Bible as the
only authorized rule of faith and practice," and the cessa
tion of "controversies about matters of mere opinion and
expediency."6
The fact that Campbell was censured for a tolerance
that he considered entirely scriptural led him to exalt
the authority of the Scriptures and to deprecate the au
thority of creeds. A considerable number of persons,
members of various denominations sympathized with his
position and looked to him for leadership.
As sentiment crystallized, a meeting was called at
the home of Abraham Altars, between Mt. Pleasant and
Washington, in western Pennsylvania. In a speech Campbell
dwelt upon the evils resulting from the divided state of
6 Ibid., I, 2 3 2 .
57
the Christian church and averred that this unhappy condition
was the result of pride in human opinions and speculations.
He insisted that all should abandon everything for which an
express warrant could not be found in the Scriptures. He
announced the rule that he considered the basis for such
action. "That rule, my highly respected hearers," he said
in conclusion, "is this, that WHERE THE SCRIPTURES SPEAK,
WE SPEAK; AND WHERE THE SCRIPTURES ARE SILENT,’WE ARE
SILENT."?
From this moment can be dated the beginning of what
has come to be known as the "Restoration Movement." The
rule stated by Thomas Campbell was eagerly accepted as a
basic principle. More than a century and a quarter later,
it is still the slogan of the brotherhood, the shibboleth
by which every religious teaching or "innovation" is
tested.
After some discussion of the slogan, a shrewd
Scotchman named Andrew Munro arose and said: "Mr. Campbell,
if we adopt that as a basis, then there is an end of
infant baptism." Campbell was somewhat taken aback— that
was more than he had bargained for, so he hastily replied:
"Of course, if infant baptism be not found in Scripture,
? Ibid., I, 2 3 6 .
58
we can have nothing to do with it." This incident fore
shadowed some of the difficulties they would have in
applying the announced principle.8
On the seventeenth of August, 1809, another meeting
was held, at which the group organized "The Christian
Association of Washington." A committee of twenty-one was
appointed to confer with Campbell. The outcome was the
Declaration and Address. written by Thomas Campbell,
approved by the committee and published on September seventh.
The Declaration and Address stated the aims and purpose of
the Association.9 A few of the more significant declarations
are as follows:
1. They did not consider themselves a church, but only
"voluntary advocates of church reformation."
2. Nothing should have a place in the faith or worship,
for which could not be found a "Thus saith the
Lord, either in express terms, or by approved
precedent."
3. Division among Christians is sinful and anti-
scriptural.
4. No creed but the New Testament should be bound
upon the church.
8
Ibid., I, 238.
9 The address can be found in full in Campbell,
op. cit.. p. 25-60.
3^ Loc. cit.
59
Mr. Campbell felt that if the church would magnify
the essential things and cease to wrangle over the unimpor
tant, that the differences would soon disappear and unity
would ensue.
Many bf the opinions which are now dividing the
church, had they been let alone, would have been long
since dead and gone; but the constant insisting upon
them as articles of faith and terms of salvation, have
so beaten them into the minds of men, that in many
instances, they would as soon deny the Bible itself
as give up one of those opinions.11
ALEXANDER CAMPBELL BECOMES THE LEADER
In Scotland, his son Alexander, having decided to
devote his life to the ministry, settled into a serious
study of the history of the church. In I808, the family
started out to join Thomas Campbell in America, but was
hindered by shipwreck. Alexander spent the next year in the
University of Glasgow, where the influence of the Independents
was sufficient to disturb his religious convictions. Again
the family set sail for the New World, reaching Washington,
Pennsylvania, in September, I809.
He informed his father that he could no longer
endure the narrowness of the Seceders, and in turn, was
strongly affected by listening to the recital of his father's
religious experiences in America. He felt that divine
11 Ibid., I, 70.
60
providence had pointed both in the same direction. The
proofs of the Declaration and Address were just off the
press. Alexander did the proofreading and found the
document a help in crystallizing his own convictions.
In 1810 a meeting-house was erected in the valley
of Brush Run, Pennsylvania, where many members of the
Association lived. In the summer of I8II, because of
continued hostility from without, the congregation reluc
tantly organized itself into an independent church.
Immediately the question of admission to membership arose.
Having been Presbyterians, none of the Campbells had been
immersed. Alexander concluded after a diligent study of
the scriptures that he had not been scripturally baptized.
So on June 12, 1812, Alexander and his wife, his father
and mother, his sister, and two other persons were baptized
upon a confession of their faith in Jesus as the Christ
the Son of God. Of this event, Jennings declares:
The importance of this baptismal seryice is hard
to overestimate. It reversed the position of father
and son. Up to June 12, 1812, the father had been
the leader. He had penned the Declaration and Address.
to whose principles the son had given allegiance; he
had led in the organization of the Brush Run church.
The son, however, was the first to recognize the place
of baptism, and from that time became the real leader.
He was the right man in the right place.12
12 Walter W. Jennings, Origin and Early History of
the Disciples of Christ (Cincinnati: Standard Publishing
Company, 191S), p. 137.
61
UNION WITH THE BAPTISTS
Hovæver, the reformers sav/ the danger of their independ
ent position, X, e., becoming another denomination. Their
changing attitude on the question of baptism attracted the
attention of Baptists. Also the two groups had somewhat
similar ideas regarding the authority of the Scriptures.
Baptists of all parties have, from the beginning,
persistently and consistently maintained the absolute
supremacy of the canonical Scriptures as a norm of
faith and practice. They have insisted on applying
the Scripture test positively and negatively to every
detail of doctrine and practice. It has never seemed
to them sufficient to show that a doctrine or practice,
made a matter of faith, is not contradictory of Scrip
ture ; it must be distinctly a matter of Scripture
precept or example to command their allegiance or
secure from them a recognition of its right to exist.13
Overtures for union began to issue from both sides.
As Campbell described the situation:
I had no idea of uniting with the Baptists, more
than with the Moravians or the mere Independents. I
had unfortunately formed a very unfavorable opinion of
the Baptist preachers as then introduced to my acquaint
ance as narrow, contracted, illiberal and uneducated
men. . . . They had but one, two, or, at the most,
three sermons, and these were either delivered in one
uniform style and order, or minced into one medley by
way of variety.1^
Campbell had greater' respect for the Baptist laity:
13 A. H. Newman, A History of the Baptist Churches
in the United States (American Church History Series, Vol. II.
New York! The Christian Literature Co., 1894), p. 1, 2.
Richardson, op. cit.. I, 438-9.
62
I confess, however, that I was better pleased with
the Baptist people than with any other community. They
read the Bible, and seemed to care for little else in
religion than 'conversion' and 'Bible doctrine.' They
often sent for us and pressed us to preach for them.
We visited some of their churches, and, on acquaintance,
liked the people more and the preachers less.T5
The upshot of the matter was that since the Redstone
Association had "pressed us to join," a willingness to
co-operate was expressed, "provided always that we should
be allowed to teach and preach whatever we learned from the
Holy Scriptures, regardless of any creed or formula in
Christendom."16 The union was affected, although it was
foredoomed to failure. Baptists and Disciples were alike
in many ways, but fundamentally different in others.
Eventually disruption came, as briefly sketched in the
previous chapter.
WALTER SCOTT DISCOVERS THE PLAN OF SALVATION
One other significant contribution- to Disciple
theology remains to be told. Walter Scott, who has pre
viously been mentioned, reached the, same general view as
Campbell, but by a different process. A schoolteacher,
Scott had pondered over his Bible until, step by step, he
came to conclusions similar to Campbell's. When his
minister (at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania) drowned, Scott leaped
15 Ibid., I, 440.
16 Ibid., I, 440-1.
63
at the opportunity to preach in the pulpit now vacant, and
under the limited restrictions of the time was permitted
to do so.17
Soon after Scott's arrival at Pittsburg, he met
Alexander Campbell and the two became firm friends. Campbell
had a great respect for Scott's opinions. The latter,
though sometimes eccentric in his methods, was a powerful
preacher. To illustrate his pcwer, it is related that
Campbell was in the audience on an occasion when Scott was
at his best. The former was usually very calm, self
controlled and characterized by logical thinking. Yet
Campbell became such an enthusiastic listener that "his
eyes flashed, his face glowed, and at last he shouted,
'Glory to God in the highest,'" an astounding thing for
him to do.^8
Calvinistic views were still prominent in the minds
of the Disciples. Baptism was largely looked upon as a
command, but as a command to be obeyed by those who were
already converted. In a debate with McCalla,T9 Campbell
had referred to baptism as a pledge of pardon, but this
37 Jennings, op. cit.. p. 99f.
Ibid., p. 105-6.
19 Debate on Christian Baptism (Buffaloe[ Va.] :
Campbell & Sala,* ÎH24), xiï,420 pp. MacCalla was a
Presbyterian.
64
was hardly more than a theoretical view. Scott, after
considerable study of the Scriptures, came to the conclusion
that baptism must precede pardon. Being of an analytical
turn of mind, he became engrossed in the consecutive order
of the various items in the gospel. He placed them thus :
1, faith; 2, repentance; 3, baptism; 4, remission of sins;
5, Holy Spirit.20
These steps became known as "the first principles
of the gospel," and are so denominated today, not only by
Disciples but by the Mormons. The matter seemed almost
like a new revelation to Scott. He boldly decided to preach
on this basis. Before a large audience, he developed his
theme around the query, "What shall we do?"21 Just as he
was closing the lengthy sermon, a stranger came into the
audience, and when Scott closed by quoting the words of .
Peter and inviting the auditors to come forward and be
baptized for the remission of sins, to everyone’s surprise,
the stranger responded. Scott was as startled as anyone
in the audience.22
However, he took the candidate's confession and then
baptized him. Still puzzled, he wrote to the individual.
20 Richardson, op. cit.. II, 208.
21 Acts. 2:37.
Richardson, og. cit.. II, 210-12.
65
asking him"to explain his reasons for presenting himself
for baptism. Among other things the reply stated:
I had read the second chapter of Acts, when I
expressed myself to my wife as follows: 'Oh this is the
gospel; this is the thing we wish— the remission of our
sins ! Oh that I could hear the gospel in these same
words as Peter preached it ! I hope I shall some day
hear it, and the first man I meet who will preach the
gospel thus, with him will I go.’ So, my brother, on
the day you saw me come into the meeting-house my
heart was open to receive the word of God, and when
you cried, 'The Scripture shall no longer be a sealed
book. God means what he says. Is there any man present
who will take God at his word and be baptized for the
remission of sins?!'— at that moment my feelings were -
such that I could have cried out, 'Glory to Godi I
have found the man, whom I have long sought for.' So
I entered the kingdom when I readily laid hold of the
hope set before me.23
Richardson refers to this letter as the satisfactory
solution of an enigma. The "practical restoration of the
design of baptism" was due not solely to the efforts of
the preacher. It demonstrated the power of God. The
preacher experimentally— almost unwittingly--broadcast the
seed which happened to fall upon good soil which God alone
had prepared.24
Scott was working upon virgin soil— at least in
modern times. The formula he had found ran counter to
23 Ibid.. II, 21^.
Ibid., II, 21^-1^.
66
preaching among the denominations.25 It also was in advance
of the teaching of the Disciples. Alexander Campbell himself
afterward said:
>
We can sympathize with those who have this doctrine
in their own creeds unregarded and unheeded in its
import and utility; for we exhibited it fully in our
debate with Mr, McCalla in 1823, without feeling its
great importance and without beginning to practice
upon its tendencies for some time afterward.26
However, when the reports reached Campbell, he
feared that Scott had been rashly precipitious. After a
consultation, it was decided that his father should visit
the Western Reserve and examine the state of affairs.
Thomas Campbell went and remained for some time, but,
2^ It still does. I believe that the Disciples
and the Mormons are the only major Protestant groups which
teach that faith is the simple belief of testimony, without
a direct operation of the Holy Spirit; and, that water
baptism precedes salvation. Most evangelical bodies believe
that "feeling is an evidence of pardon." Methodists teach
that salvation is "by faith only"; Baptists, that baptism
is a church ordinance to be applied to those already saved,
etc., etc.
Richardson, op. cit.. II, 217. E. , John
Wesley had declared that "Baptism administered to real
penitents, is both a means and seal of pardon. Nor did
God ordinarily in the primitive Church bestow this [pardon]
on any, unless through this means." Notes upon the New
Testament (New York; G. Lane & P. P. Sandford, 1B4i),
p"^ 3^0. Similar citations could be made from Calvin, the
Westminister Confession, the Thirty-nine Articles, etc.
However, these are largely theoretical and inoperative from
a practical point of view.
67
. . . saw at once that what he and-his son Alexander
had plainly taught was now reduced to practice; that the
simple primitive method of administering the gospel
was really restored.27
It did not take long for Scott's discovery to be
generally accepted-by the Disciples.. It was, and is,
considered the most significant contribution made to the
Restoration movement, after those made by the two Campbells.
Alexander Campbell freely admitted the debt. The following,
from his pen, is typical of subsequent teachings:
In the natural order of the evangelical economy,
.the items stand thus;— 1. Faith; 2. Reformation
[Repentance]; 3. Immersion; 4. ..Remission of sins;
5. Holy Spirit; and 6. Eternal L i f e . 28
Parallels in Mormon literature can be selected
almost at random, e. g., in reference to the events
recorded in the second chapter of Acts, Orson Pratt sets
forth that:
It will be perceived that the great congregation
of sinners to whom the apostles addressed themselves,
were required—
First,— To believe that Jesus Christ was the Son
of God,
Secondly,— To repent of their sins.
And, thirdly,— To be baptised in the name of Jesus
Christ.
27 Richardson, pp. pit., II, 218-19.
28 C. B., VI, 3, p. 486. (October 6, 1828)
68
And they were promised that, after attending to
these three things, they should receive, first A RE
MISSION OF THEIR SINS, and secondly, THE GIFT OF THE
HOLY GHOST.29
If the two last are numbered 4 and 5, they become
identidal with Campbell’s list. Number 6, of course is
inferred. Both Disciples and Mormons refer to these steps
as, "The first principles of the gospel" or "The plan of
salvation." Each group emphasizes and defines the terms
as identically as is possible, until the fifth step is
reached. The Mormon divergence there is exactly the posi
tion that Rigdon preahhed, even after he was united with
the Disciples.
This parallelism continues straight down the line
of early Mormon doctrines. This fact is demonstrable. It
also can be demonstrated that where Mormon doctrine did
deviate, that the deviations were those which constantly
kept Rigdon "in hot water" while he was with the Disciples,
The similarities apply to nomenclature and terminology in
a way that is truly remarkable, if some of the examples
had been recorded on golden plates buried in the hill
Cumorah for fourteen centuries.
True, every religious body calling itself Christian
has many points of similarity with every other such body.
29 Orson Pratt, A Series of Pamphlets (Liverpool
[Eng.]: R. James, 1851), No. 3, p. 2,
69
and perhaps an overwhelming number when compared to some
other group with which it has a known historical connection.
But there are no two bodies known to this writer, which
have such extraordinary likenesses--and just as striking
differences— yet have no historical kinship.
Furthermore, Scott had developed his outline of
"the first principles" in the fall of 1827, at Lisbon,
Ohio,30 He and Rigdon had been intimate since their first
meeting in I823. For a few months they had labored to
gether, when their churches in Pittsburgh united. In
1827, Rigdon was preaching for two congregations, at
Mentor, Ohio, about 4Ç miles from Lisbon, and at Mantua,
Ohio, only 30 DiUes'from Lisbon,
On the other hand, Joseph Smith admittedly did
not commence to translate the book of Mormon until April
12, 1828.31 It is indisputable that from that date until
the Book of Mormon appeared in print in I83O, no one other
than the Disciples was preaching "first principles,"
At this period the Disciples had not spread beyond
Virginia, western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky, None
of their ministers had preached in western New York. There
30 His first convert was baptized November 18, 1827.
Richardson, op. cit., II, 214.
31 Joseph Smith and Heaman C. Smith, History of the
Church (Lamoni, Iowa: The Reorganized Church, L. D. S.,
1908), p. 23.
70
is no record of Joseph Smith's meeting any preacher of the
Disciples, until he converted Parley P. Pratt after the
appearance of the Book of Mormon. Pratt was a disciple '
of Rigdon.
Unless Smith's story of a divine revelation is true,
the Book of Mormon must have had a Disciple background.
Rigdon is the only Disciple who can conceivably have furnished
this background. Even if Smith's account is credible, there
remains the incredible alternative, that Thomas Campbell,
Alexander Campbell, Barton W. Stone, Walter Scott, and
Sidney Rigdon stumbled upon every essential point of Mormon
doctrine— without benefit of revelation.
It remains to demonstrate the evidences of the not
only human, but localized origin of the Book of Mormon.
After which, the parallelism of the Book of Mormon and the
"Inspired Translation"32^ipH the teachings of the Disciples
and Rigdon will be exemplified. The parallel will make
its own argument.
32 Strictly speaking. Smith and Rigdon produced,
not a translation, but a version. Currently, the title is.
The Inspired Version. However, the first edition bears
the title: The Holy Scriptures, translated and corrected
by the Spirit of Revelation, by Joseph Smith, Jr., the
seer. In a conversation with a minor official of the
Reorganized Church in which I referred to the version,
I was gently corrected with: "Oh, you mean the 'Inspired
Translation.'"
CHAPTER V
THE BOOK MORMON A PRODUCT OF ITS TIMES
The attitude of the American public toward the
Book of Mormon has been curiously diverse. Probably no
other religious body has been as persistently active in
its missionary endeavors, as the Mormons have for more
than a century. Their ambassadors have proclaimed that
their sacred book is equal in value to the Bible, indeed
superior.1
During the nineteenth century it attracted several
hundred thousand immigrants to America. Today the Mormons
stand numerically several positions above such a well-
known group as Christian Scientists, for example.2 Yet
as Mrs. Brodie notes:
Scholars of American literary history have remained
persistently uninterested in the Book of Mormon. Their
indifference is the more surprising since the book is
one of the earliest examples of frontier fiction, the
first long Yankee narrative that owes nothing to English
literary fashions. Except for the borrowings from the
1 "We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as
far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the
Book of Mormon to be the word of God." The Articles of
Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,
article 8.
2 According to the U. S. Census report for 193^?
Mormons rank eleventh, Christian Scientists eighteenth.
72
King James Bible, its sources are absolutely Ameri
can.3
The populace at large has been almost as unconcerned.
Probably most Americans have heard of Joseph Smith and
Brigham Young. In the last century considerable excitement
was felt over Mormonism, but that was almost altogether
due to the Mormon practice of polygamy. Rare is the
gentile who has read the Book of Mormon. As a matter of
fact, it is claimed that most Mormons are not too familiar
with its contents:
Of the ’hundreds of thousands of witnesses to whom
God has revealed the truth of the Book of Mormon,’
he [Orson Pratt ] knows full well that comparatively
few indeed have ever read that book, know little or
nothing intelligently of its contents, and take little
interest in it.4
As has already been stated, the public reception
of the first edition of the Book of Mormon was disappointing.5
Practically every public reference to it was hostile. About
March 26, I83O, the Palmyra bookstore put the book on sale.
On April 2, the Rochester Daily Advertiser printed this
unflattering review:
3 Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History (New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1946), p. 6 7.
4 T. B. H. Stenhouse, The Rocky Mountain Saints
(New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1873), p. 533^
Stenhouse was for twenty-five years a Mormon elder and
missionary.
5 Cf. ante, p. 1.
73
BLASPHEMY— BOOK OF MORMON, ALIAS THE GOLDEN BIBLE
The Book of Mormon has been placed in our hands.
A viler imposition was never practiced. It is an evi
dence of fraud, blasphemy, and credulity, shocking both
to Christians and moralists. The author and proprietor
is Joseph Smith, Jr., a fellow who by some hocus pocus
acquired such influence over a wealthy farmer of
Wayne county that the latter mortgaged his farm for
$3,000, which he paid for printing and binding five
thousand copies of the blasphemous work.6
Perhaps the "author and proprietor" was not greatly
surprised by this review, and others like it, for the Book
of Mormon predicts that,
. . . many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible ! A
Bible I We have got a Bible and there cannot be
any more Bible.7
Anticipating disbelief of its claims, the first
edition of the Book of Mormon, and every edition thereafter,
contains 'iThe Testimony of Three Witnesses" and "The
Testimony of Eight Witnesses." The first three witnesses
(Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris) testified
that,
... an Angel of God came down from heaven, and he
brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and
saw the plates, and the engravings thereon.
The eight had to be content with the being shown
only by the "Author and Proprietor of this work" who.
^ Brodie, cit.. p. 82.
^ 2 Nephi 29:3.
74
; . • has shewn unto us the plates of which hath been
spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many
of the leaves as the said Smith has translated, we did
handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings
thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient
work, and of curious workmanship.8
Thomas Ford, Governor of Illinois, was intimately
acquainted with some of these men after they left the
church. He gives the following plausible description of
how the testimony was secured:
... He [Joseph Smith] assembled them in a room,
and produced a box, which he said contained the precious
treasure. The lid was opened; the witnesses peeped
into it, but making no discovery, for the box was empty,
they said, ’Brother Joseph, we do not see the plates.*
The prophet answered them, ’0 ye of little faith I
how long will God bear with this wicked and perverse
generation? Down on your knees, brethren, every one
of you, and pray God for the forgiveness of your sins,
and for a holy and living faith which cometh down
from heaven.’ The disciples dropped to their knees,
and began to pray in the fervency of their spirit,
supplicating God for more than two hours with fanatical
earnestness; at the end of which time,*looking again
into the box, they were now persuaded that they saw
the plates.9
THE SPAULDING THEORY
The first serious expose of the Book of Mormon
came from the pen of Alexander Campbell, in the Millennial
8 Of the eight witnesses, four were of the Whitmer
family, two were brothers of Smith, one was his father,
and the eighth was Hiram Page, a son-in-law of Peter
Whitmer, Sr.
9 Thomas Ford, History of Illinois (Chicago: 1854),
p. 2 5 7. Quoted in Brodie, op. cit.. p. 79, 80.
75
Harbinger. February 7, I83I. This was reprinted as a pamph
let in 18 3 2. However, in 1834, E, D. Howe published a
book called Mormonism Unvailed [sic], in which he presented
a theory of the origin of the Book of Mormon which has
been a bulwark of non-Mormon writers since that time*
Based upon numerous affidavits, the theory follows.
According to Howe, the real author of the Book
of Mormon was Solomon Spaulding, a Dartmouth graduate who
later became a Congregational (or Presbyterian) minister.
Losing his faith, he quit the ministry and entered secular
pursuits. Like many others, he became greatly interested
in Indian mounds. Around the year 1812, he started writing
"Manuscript Story— Conneaut Creek."
The account purports to have been written by one
Fabius, emperor Constantine’s secretary. The boat upon
which he had started for England, was blown by a great storm
to the coast of America. There is a tedious account of the
experiences of the group among the Indians.
According to his neighbors, Spaulding never completed
this story. Instead, he began a new story, written in the
The story is so important that an account can be
found in almost every book discussing Mormonism at any
length. An excellent critical summary can be found in
George B. Arbaugh, Revelation in Mormonism (Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press), x, 221 pp.
76
"scripture style" in order to increase its ancient flavor.
The origin of the Indians was explained. For their names,
peculiar names from the Bible were sought out. The manu
script was buried for centuries, until it was found under
a stone which was raised by "a lever.Because of the
method of its discovery, it is called the Manuscript Found*
Spaulding was proud of his work and frequently read
parts of it to his friends. Thinking that the story would
restore his financial stability, he went to Pittsburgh to
find a publisher. Robert Patterson, of the printing firm
of Patterson and Hopkins, thought he might publish the
book.12 However, due to financial difficulties, Spaulding
moved to Amity, Pennsylvania, leaving the manuscript at
the printing office. When he returned, the manuscript was
gone, suspicion for its loss being directed toward Sidney
Rigdon. Soon after this, Spaulding died, but told his
physician he believed Rigdon was guilty of the theft.13
The effect of the latter statement is worth recounting
The physician. Dr. Cephus Dodd, bought a copy of the Book
11 Cf. ante, p. 7-
12 Patterson was a minister.
13 Charles A. Shook, The True Origin of the Book
of Mormon (Cincinnati: The Standard Publishing Company,
191S77TT 119.
77
of Mormon, read it, then inscribed on a fly-leaf the
following:
This work, I am convinced by facts related to me
by my deceased patient, Solomon Spaulding, has been
made from writing of Spaulding, probably by Sidney
Rigdon, who was suspicioned by Spaulding with [sic]
purloining his manuscript from the publishing-house
to which he had taken it; and I am prepared to testify
that Spaulding told me his work was entitled, "The
Manuscript Found in the Wilds of Mormon; or Unearthed
Records of the Nephites." From his description of its
contents, I fully believe that this Book of Mormon
is mainly and wickedly copied from it.
June 6, 1831 Cephas Dodd. 1^
The reason Rigdon became a suspect was as follows:
He was born on a farm located not more than fifteen milesl?
from Pittsburg and lived there until he was twenty-six
years old (I8I8-I9) I t is claimed that Rigdon spent
considerable time in the printing office of Patterson and
Ibid., p. 120. Since the usual Mormon comment
upon unfavorable statements is to deny their validity on
the grounds of ignorance, failing memory, or venom; it
might be noted that Dodd was a physician and presumably
intelligent; was in a position to know the facts stated;
wrote the statement little more than a year after the
publication of the book; and presumably had no animus.
Arbaugh says it was about nine miles. Cf. op.
cit., p. 9.
16 Of. ante, p. 2 3. Yet, even as careful a writer
as Brodie states that "there is no evidence that Rigdon
ever lived in Pittsburgh until 1822, when he became pastor
of the First Baptist Church." Cf. Brodie, cit..
p. 428.
78
Hopkins.17 The Reverend John Winter, M. D., a member of
Rigdon*s congregation in Pittsburg, testified as follows:
In 1822 or 3, Rigdon took out of his desk in his
study a large MS. stating that it was a Bible romance
purporting to be a history of the American Indians.
That it was written by one Spaulding a Presbyterian
preacher whose health had failed and who had taken
it to the printers to see if it would pay to publish
it. And that he (Rigdon) had borrowed it from the
printer as a curiosity.lo
The Spaulding story has been told at considerable
length by numerous writers, Mormon and non-Mormon. Howe,
Braden, Linn, Arbaugh, and others cite a mass of supporting
affidavits. Mormon writers dispute the evidence on one
ground or another, but largely ignore it. Brodie, who
denies the story, says that the period was "an era of
affidavits." 19
Rigdon hotly denied the whole account, stating in
part:
If I were to say that I ever heard of the Reverend
Solomon Spaulding and his hopeful wife, until Dr. P.
Hurlbut wrote his lie about me, I should be a liar
17 Shook, op. cit., p. 117-1 8.
18 Braden-Kelly Debate (Lamoni, Iowa: The Herald
Publishing House, 1913), p. 42. The debate was held
Feb. 12-March 8, 1884.
^9 Op. cit., p. 419-4 3 3. Yet she cites a number of
other affidavits from the same book, relating to Joseph
Smith’s early life, saying that, these "affidavits can
hardly be dismissed by the objective student, particularly
since they throw considerable light on the writing of the
Book of Mormon." cit., p. 4lO.
79
like unto themselves. Why was not the testimony of
Mr. Patterson obtained to give force to this shameful
tale of lies? The only reason is, that he was not a
fit tool for them to work with. . . .20
THE HONOLULU MANUSCRIPT
In 1884, a Mr. N. L. Rice, who had bought Howe’s
printing establishment, and who subsequently moved to
Honolulu, Hawaii, accidentally discovered a manuscript in
his possession. The manuscript is now in the library of
Oberlin College, Ohio. Both of the Mormon churches have
copied and published it under the title, Manuscript Found.
The contents of the manuscript are unlike the Book of
Mormon. Mormon writers point out this fact and uniformly
refer to the Spaulding theory as being now finally "exploded"
and "disproved."
However, careful hon-Mormon writers continue to
accept the Spaulding theory, pointing out facts relative
to the Honolulu manuscript which Mormon writers completely
ignore.21 Only three major non-Mormon writers. Bays,
20 Boston Recorder, May 27, 1839, quoted in Brodie,
OP. cit., p. 427-8.
21 The best source for this point is the thorough
discussion found in Shook, pp. cit., p. 65-77*
80
Riley and'Prince, reject the theory.*22 Bays was an ex-
Mormon, and Riley and Prince, both of them psychologists,
were interested in a theory based upon a psychological
study of Joseph Smith.
RIGDON*S FOREKNOWLEDGE OF THE BOOK OF MORMON
Whether or not the Spaulding theory is correct, there
is one other piece of evidence connecting Rigdon with the
Book of Mormon, which is impressive. Walter Scott, on
January 22, l84l, at which time he was the editor of the
Evangelist, stated in that publication that Rigdon, "had
possessed himself of our analysis of the gospel and the
plea for obedience raised thereupon,"23 and appended a
letter from Adamson Bentley,24 relating in part:
You request that I should give you all the informa
tion I am in possession of respecting Mormonism. I
know that Sidney Rigdon told me there was a book
22 Chase lists six such, adding Bancroft, Stenhouse
and Werner. Cf. Daryl Chase, Sidney Rigdon— Early Mormon
(Unpublished M. A. Thesis, University of Chicago, 1931),
p. 178. Bancroft was decidedly pro-Mormon. A Mormon church
official declared that: "We furnished Mr. Bancroft with
his material." Cf. Linn, pp. cit.. p. viii. Stenhouse was
an apostate Mormon. Werner wrote a biography of Brigham
Young, in which he gives only brief attention to the
Spaulding theory. He assumes that the Honolulu Manuscript
is identical with the Manuscript Found.
23 e., Scott’s statement of "first principles."
Cf., ante, p. 64.
24- Higdon* s brother-in-law, who with Rigdon visited
Campbell. Cf., ante, p. 25.
81
coming out (the manuscript of which had been found
engraved on gold plates) as much as two years before
the Mormon book made its appearance in this country or
had been heard of by me.
Alexander Campbell published this in full, together
with his own comment, remarking among other things:
The conversation alluded to in brother Bentley’s
letter of l84l, was in my presence as well as in his,
and my recollection of it led me some two or three
years ago to interrogate brother Bentley touching his
recollections of it, which accorded with mine in every
particular, except the year in which it occurred— he
placing it in the summer of 1827— I, in the summer
of 1826— Rigdon at the time observing that in the plates
dug up in New York there was an account not only of the
Aborigines of this country; but also it was stated that
the Christian religion had been preached in this country
during the first century just as we were preaching it
on the Western Reserve. Now as the Book of Mormon
was being manufactured [fabricated]] at that time, for
the copy-right was taken out in June, 1829, two years
according to Elder Bentley, and three years according
to me, after said conversation, (and certainly it was
not less than two years,) ... 25
Coming from a man of the acknowledged integrity and pro
bity of Campbell— not to speak of Scott26 and Bentley— such
testimony would need strong evidence in order to be refuted.
So far as this writer is aware, no one has even attempted to
disprove it. Mormon writers are silent concerning it.27
25 M. H., 1844, p. 38-9. Italics miné.
26 Cf., ante., p. 49.
27 Even such a careful, conscientious writer as Brodie
omits any reference to it. Yet Mormon writers are familiar
with several other citations from the Millennial Harbinger.
It is possible that early references have been repeated,
without taking the trouble to check the files of the magazine
for additional material bearing on Mormonism.
82
There is other evidence that Rigdon had foreknowledge
of the Book of Mormon. Darwin Atwater, of whom Hayden says,
. . . the uniformity of his life, his undeviating de
votion, his high and consistent manliness and superiority
of judgment, gave him an undisputed pre-eminence in the
church . . . 2o
in a letter to Hayden had this to say of Rigdon:
. . . Soon after this, the great Mormon defection came
on us. Sidney Rigdon preached for us, and notwithstanding
his extravagantly wild freaks, he was held in high repute
by many. For a few months before his professed conversion
to Mormonism, it was noticed that his wild, extravagant
propensities had been more marked. That he knew before
of the coming of the book of Mormon is to me certain,
from what he said the first of his visits at my father’s,
some years before. He gave a wonderful description
of the mounds and other antiquities found in some
parts of America, and said that they must have been
made by the Aborigines. He said there was a book to be
published containing an account of those things. He
spoke of these in his eloquent, enthusiastic style, as
being a thing most extraordinary. Though a youth then,
I took him to task for expending so much enthusiasm
on such a subject, instead of things of the gospel. In
all my intercourse with him afterward he never spoke
of antiquities, or of the wonderful book that should
give account of them, till the book of Mormon really
was published. He must have thought I was not the
man to reveal that to.29
Dr. Storm Rosa, one of the leading physicians of
Ohio, in a letter to the Reverend John Hall of Astabula,
in 1841 wrote:
In the early part of the year I83O I was in company
with Sidney Rigdon, and rode with him on horseback
28 A. S. Hayden, Early History of the Disciples in
the Western Reserve (Cincinnati: Chase & Hall, 1875), p. 243.
29 Ibid.. p. 239-40.
83
for a few miles. ... He remarked to me that it was
time for a new religion to spring up; that mankind
were all right and ready for it. 30
Whether or not the Honolulu manuscript is the
Manuscript Found; whether or not Rigdon "borrowed" Spaulding’s
manuscript from Patterson's office; however he may have
communicated with Joseph Smith; it seems quite clear that
Rigdon had foreknowledge of the Book of Mormon. If he
had such advance information, it is incredible that the
theology of the Book of Mormon— and of early Mormonism—
is not predominantly the theology of Sidney Rigdon.
CRUDITIES IN THE BOOK OF MORMON
Aside from Higdon’s influence, the Book of Mormon
is filled with evidences that it was a product of the time
of its publication, in spite of its "ancient" language.
It abounds in localisms and the theological controversies
of the early nineteenth century, not to speak of gross
blunders. Some of the latter have been corrected in later
editions, but any edition of the book supplies ample material
for the purpose of dating it. The Golden Bible is a re
flection of contemporary culture. The first serious review
of the book declares that it contains:
30 Gleanings by the Way, p. 3 1 5. Quoted in Linn,
op. cit., p. 66.
84
. . . every error and almost every truth discussed in
New York for the last ten years. He decides all the
great controversies; infant baptism, ordination, the
trinity, regeneration, repentance, justification, the
fall of man ... 31
A few examples of egregious errors, quite possible
to one fluent in speech, but not too well trained as a
writer, will be of interest. Many of them are ludicrous.
Now, immediately when the judge had been murdered—
he being stabbed by his brother by a garb of secrecy,
and he fled, and the servants ran and told the people,
raising the cry of murder among them.32
A "garb of secrecy" must have been a very deadly
weapon I But an even more curious use of a garment occurs
when Moroni, having "rent his coat," then "took a piece
thereof, and wrote upon it," and "fastened it upon the
end of a pole thereof," after which, "he went forth among
the people, waving the rent of his garment in the air,
that all might see the writing which he had wrote upon the
rent."33
Later editions eliminate the second "thereof";
have Moroni waving the "rent part" of the garment; improve
the grammar by substituting "had written" for "had wrote";
and change the last phrase to "upon the rent part." This
type of redaction is indefensible in the case of the Book
31 Alexander Campbell, "Delusions," M. H., 11:93,
February I83I.
32 Helaman 9:6.
33 Alma 46:12, 19.
85
of Mormon, for the claim is made that, not merely the
original writings upon the gold plates, but the exact
translation was inspired and inerrant. In fact, if the
participants are to be believed, Joseph Smith did not make
a translation, but saw the already miraculously translated
words, which he then repeated to OliverCGowdery, who sat
upon the other side of a curtain. David Whitmer says that,
"all the credit is due to God," for:
Brother Joseph did not write a word of the Book
of Mormon; it was already written by holy men of God
who dwelt upon this land. God gave to Brother Joseph
the gift to see the sentences in English, when he
looked into the hat in which was placed the stone.34
Apparently, since all the responsibility is "due to
God," a theory of accommodation can be stretched to include
the ungrammaticisms of a backwoods preacher. To give one
further example of crudeness, we are told that, "There were
no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites,
nor any manner of ’ites.*"35
CAMP MEETING EXPRESSIONS
One familiar with the religious idiom of the preachers
of the time, will readily recognize numerous phrases, as
34 David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in
Christ (Richmond, Missouri: Elder David Whitmer, 18877,
p. 37. Most of the work of translation was done at the
Whitmer residence.
35 4 Nephi 17.
86
well as scenes incident to western revivalism, k few
typical camp-meeting expressions follow:
Encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.
The chains of hell which encircled them about were
loosed and their souls did expand, and they did sing
redeeming love.
brethren, if ye have experienced a change of
heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of re
deeming love.
For the arms of mercy are extended toward them.
Lay down the weapons of their rebellion.
Behold, your days of probation are past; ye have
procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is
everlastingly too late.
By the power of their words many were brought before
the altar of God, to call on his name, and confess
their sins. 36
Perhaps the most striking instance of the contemporary
nature of the Book of Mormon, has been given little attention.
It seems that one William Morgan, who lived in Batavia,
New York, was planning to publish a book disclosing the
secrets of Freemasonry. Batavia is about thirty miles
from Manchester— and the hill Cumorah. This news aroused
great commotion in the surrounding country. After Morgan
had been placed in the Canandaigua jail for debt, a band
of Masons were accused of forcibly removing him and carry
ing him across the river to the Canadian side.
3^ Cf. M. T. Lamt, The Mormons and Their Bible
(n. p.: The Griffith and Rowland Press, 1901?), p. 103.
87
Shortly afterwards, Morgan disappeared. No trace
of him was ever found and the popular belief was that Masons
had killed him. The rumors that followed, the publication
of Masonic and anti-Masonic claims, and the manipulations
of self-seeking politicians, all served to raise public
feeling to a fever heat. The matter became a national
issue to the extent that Democrats feared that Andrew
Jackson might lose the election, in as much as he was a
high-ranking Mason.37
When in October, 1827, an unrecognizable corpse was
washed up on the shore of Lake Ontario, many were certain
37 Cf. Arbaugh, cit., p. 51-3; and Brodie, op.
cit.. p. 63-6. The only adequate treatment is in S. H.
Goodwin’s, Mormonism and Masonry (Salt Lake City, Utah:
Grand Lodge F. & A. M. of Utah, 1925), 59 pp. and,
Additional Studies in Mormonism and Masonry (Salt Lake City,
Utah: n. n., 1932), 62 pp. Oddly enough, both Smith and
Rigdon became Masons later. March 15, 1842, a lodge was
instituted at Nauvoo, Illinois. In eleven months, its
membership increased so rapidly that six additional- lodges
were formed. During a period of less than six months,
there were 285 initiations, of which 256 were made Master
Masons. To members of the fraternity this increase is
phenomenal and could hardly have come about without un-
Masonic irregularities. By 1845, Nauvoo was the largest
city in Illinois and there was danger of there being more
Masons in that Mormon capitol than in the rest of the state.
On October 7, 1844, the Grand Lodge declared the members
of these lodges clandestine, thus terminating their connec
tion with Freemasonry. Today the church is hostile to all
secret orders. A recurring question asked by Mormons of
church officials is "Why was Joseph Smith a Mason?"
If the several exposes of the Temple Endowment
Ceremonies are correct— all of them are in practical
agreement— these ceremonies show evidence of having borrowed
from Masonic ritual.
88
it was Morgan’s body. Just before election day, hundreds
of thousands of people streamed into Batavia to view the
obsequies. 38
Altogether, the national excitement was not unlike
the Ku Klux scare of the 1920’s. When it is remembered
that the golden plates were finally obtained in September,
1827, and that the anti-Masonic excitement lasted for
several years, it is not surprising that the Book of Mormon
reflects the public attitude. The book includes ’ ’practically
every charge laid at the doors of Freemasons by their enemies
during the period."39
Inevitably, the numerous exposes of Masonry had
much to say about the fearful oaths which were supposed
to bind the fraternity. The words "secret combination"
— associated with crime and foul deeds— became the shibboleth
of anti-Masons. Accordingly the Book of Mormon relates that:
. . . satan stirreth up the children of men unto
secret combinations of murder and manner of secret
works of darkness.40
. . . the judgments of God did come upon these
workers of darkness and secret combinations.41
38 Brodie, op. cit.. p. 64.
39 Goodwin, Additional Studies, p. 22. The following
examples and many others are noted by him. Cf. p. 27-35*
2 Nephi 9:9.
^+1 Alma 3 7: 3 0.
89
And it shall come in a day when the blood of saints
shall cry unto the Lord, because of secret combinations
and the works' of darkness.^2
The terrible oaths which were supposed to obligate
Masons to commit murder, were not left unmentioned:
And now, my son, I command you that ye retain all
their oaths, and their cosrenants, and their agreements
in their secret abominations . . . their wickedness
and their murders and their abominations shall ye make
known unto them.^3
... He doth carry on his works of darkness and
secret murder, and doth hand down their plots, and
their oaths, and their covenants, and their plans of
awful wickedness, from generation to generation.
After the publication of alleged disclosures of
Masonic ritual, anti-Masons triumphantly announced that
the "secrets" were secret no longer. Hence, the Book of
Mormon boasts that, "their secret abominations have been
brought out of darkness and made known unto us."^5
Not only anti-Masonry, but the rivalry between the
denominations of the period is pictured:
And the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their
eyes, and have stumbled, because of the greatness of
their stumbling block, that they have built up many
churches; nevertheless, they put down the power and
^2 Mormon 8:27.
^3 Alma 37:27, 29
Helaman 6:30.
*<■5 Alma 37:26.
90
miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their
own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get
gain and grind upon the face of the poor. And there
are many churches built up which cause envyings, and
strifes, and malice.^6
Examples of the reflection of contemporary culture
could be cited ad nauseam, but the foregoing ^ould be
sufficiently indicative of the early nineteenth century
locale of the Book of Mormon, unless, indeed, history
literally repeats itself at intervals of fourteen centuries.
"*6 2 Nephl 26:20, 21.
CAHPTER VI
THE INSPIRED TRANSLATION AND THE DISCIPLES
So much attention has been centered upon the Book
of Mormon that most students have almost completely over
looked another Mormon production which is extremely sig
nificant, namely, the so-called. Inspired Translation.
While it bears the name of Joseph Smith as its revelator,
no one disputes that Sidney Rigdon had an important role
in its production. Failure to examine this volume would
be inexcusable in any attempt to uncover the part that
Rigdon played in laying the foundations of Mormon
theology.
WIDESPREAD INTEREST IN BIBLE REVISION
The nineteenth century was a period in which there
was a tremendous interest in the revision of the English
Bible. A number of useful tentative revisions appeared
during the century, culminating in the English Revision
of 18 8 1, and the American Standard Version of 1901. There
are many reasons why this era was a climactic one for
Bible revision.
An excellent basis for discussion is provided
by Sir Frederick Kenyon, to whom we owe so
92
much.l He divides the history of New Testament textual
criticism into six periods.2 The first, from A. D. 50
to A. D. 3 2 5, began with the composition of the New Testament
and ended with the acceptance of Christianity by Constantine.
Books circulated in manuscript form; under periodical
persecution, copies were subject to destruction; scholarship
and material resources of Christians were limited; and there
was little opportunity to secure a uniform text, by comparison
of copies produced in different parts of the world. All
textual problems were created in this period.
The second period extended to 1 5 1 6, in which year
appeared the first printed Greek New Testament. Every
copy of the New Testament produced during the period was
laboriously written by hand. This period of the trans
mission and multiplication of texts furnished the vast
number of copies with which textual critics have to deal.
The next period reached to 162^, or the year of
the publication of Elzlver* s first edition of the Greek
Testament. In this golden age of the English Bible, was
1 He has written several important books and his
was the guiding hand in the purchase by the British government
of the priceless Codex Binaiticus for a mere 100,000 pounds,
in 1 9 3 3.
^ Due to the comparatively few variant reading in
the Hebrew text. Old Testament revision is relatively
unimportant.
93
produced'the amazing succession of versions culminating
in the Authorized Version, which is the Textus Receptus
in an English dress. The Greek Textus Receptus, which
reigned supreme for nearly three hundred years, was establish
ed during this era.
The fourth period ended in I83I, with the appearance
in print of Lachmann*s Greek New Testament. In 1627, the
Codex Alexandrinus was brought from Constantinople to
England— the first of the great codices to come to the
knowledge of the world. Such great scholars as Walton,
Mill, Bengel, Griesback, and Scholz began the collection,
collation and description of hundreds of Greek manuscripts.
It was an interval in which material was accumulated for the
use of textual critics.
The fifth period terminated with the publication
of Westcott and Hort's Greek text, in I88I. The great
names are Lackmann, Tischendorf, and Tregelles. It is
largely through their efforts that scholars generally came
to realize the necessity for a revision of the Textus
Receptus. The labor done during this time, made possible
our modern versions.
The final period has not ended. It seems to be
characterized by intensive research and specialization.3
3 Cf., Sir Frederick Kenyon, Recent Developments in the
Textual Criticism of the Greek Bible (London: Oxford
University Press, 1933), P# 1-*+-
9^
ALEXANDER CAMPBELL*8 REVISION
At the close of Kenyon*s fourth period, considerable
material for the formation of an apparatus criticus, was
available for scholars. While Codex Vaticanus still lay
unknown in the Vatican Library, and Tischendorf had not
yet rescued Codex Sinaiticus from a waste-paper basket,
the noble Codex Alexandrinus was available for all.
Even the ordinary, backwoods preacher was beginning
to get fragmentary conceptions of the need for revision.
Of the more alert and scholarly individuals, many were
contributing in a small or large way toward the total effort.
Among this number was Alexander Campbell.
Campbell utilized the Four Gospels by Dr. George
Campbell, first published in Edinburgh in 1778; the Acts
and Revelation from Dr. Philip Doddridge's New Testament,
published in London in 1765; and the Epistles of Dr. James
McKnight originally published in London in 1795. He revised
all these and published the whole in 1826. His final
revision was issued in 1 8 3 2.^
^ Alexander Campbell, The Sacred Writings of the Apos
tles and Evangelists of Jesus Christ, commonly styled the New
Testament. Translated from the Original Greek, by Doctors
George Campbell, James MacKnight, and Philip Doddridge, with
Prefaces, Various Emendations, and an Appendix. Fourteenth
Edition [my copy] (Cincinnati: G. W. Rice, 1882), ^52, 86 pp.
I do not know how many editions have been published, but there
have been no changes since the third edition, (I832).
99
Accompanying notes, which are placed in the appendix,
show a high quality of scholarship. Considering the limited
apparatus critici available to Campbell, his version was
first rate work, and is still sold today under the title,
"Living Oracles." If it had not been for the prejudice
against Campbell because of religious controversies,5 his
New Testament would likely have been used widely. P. M.
Simms, the best authority on American Biibles says that,
"This was unquestionably the best New Testament in use at
that time."8
In a recent book, Dr. Goodspeed discusses 115
difficult New Testament passages. In each case, he gives
the King James reading, the Greek text, the earlier English
versions, the solutions offered by translators of the last
hundred years, and finally his own interpretation. Dr.
Goodspeed considered Campbell's translation the earliest
"representative private translation" which was "worth
while" to compare.7
5 Also, the translation of baptidzo as "immerse,"
naturally limited its use to immersionists.
^ P. Marion Simms, The Bible in America (New York;
Wilson-Erickson, 1936), p. 2^9#
7 Edgar J. Goodspeed, Problems of New Testament
Translation (Chicago; University of Chicago Press, 19^5),
p. V.
96
RIGDON COMPETES WITH CAMPBELL
There can be no doubt that Rigdon was jealous of
Campbell. His complaint after he failed in his attempt
to fasten communism upon the Disciples, that, "I have
done as much in this reformation as Campbell or Scott and
yet they get all the honor of it," has already been quoted.8
In the sketch of Rigdon in Smith's autobiography,
referring to Rigdon and Campbell, it is maintained that;
. . . After they had separated from the different
churches these gentlemen were on terms of the greatest
friendship, and frequently met together to discuss the
subject of religion, being yet undetermined respecting
the principles of the doctrine of Christ, or what course
to pursue. However, from this connection sprung up a
new church in the world, known by the name of * Campbell-
ites'; they call themselves 'Disciples.* The reason
why they were called Campbellites was in consequence of
Mr. Campbell's publishing the periodical above mentioned
[the Christian Baptist 1 and it being the means through
which they communicated their sentiments to the world.
Other than this, Mr. Campbell was no more the originator
of that sect than Elder Rigdon.9
Rigdon apparently never lost his animus, for in
an article in the Messenger and Advocate (Kirtland) of
June, 1 8 3 7, he said;
One thing has been done by the coming forth of the
Book of Mormon. It has puked the Campbellites
8 Cf. ante., p. 30.
9 Joseph Smith and Herman C. Smith, History of the
Church (Lamoni, Iowa; Reorganized church, L. D. S., 1905),
p. 1 3 2. Rigdon of course, wrote this. Cf. ante., p. 32.
97
effectually; no emltlc could have done half as well.
. . . The Book of Mormon has revealed the secrets
of Campbe111sm and unfolded the end of the system.10
Mormons had early hinted at the limitations of the
Bible; they believed it, "as far as it is translated
correctly."11 But the Book of Mormon declared that:
. . . Because I have spoken one word ye need not
suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not
yet finished. . .
Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need
not suppose that it contains all my words; neither
need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be
written.12
One of the most commonly quoted of all Mormon
statements follows:
For behold, they have taken away from the gospel
of the Lamb, many parts which are plain and most
precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have been
taken away; and all this have they done, that they might
pervert the right ways of the Lord; that they might
blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children
of men. Wherefore, thou seest that after the book*
hathgone forth through the hands of the great and
abominable church, that there are many plain and pre
cious things taken away from the book of the Lamb of
God; and after these plain and precious things were taken
away, it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles.13
1() William A. Linn, The Story of the Mormons (New York:
The MacMillan Company, 1902), p. 62.
11 Articles of Faith, article 8.
12 2 Nephl 29: 9, 10.
13 1 Nephi 2 6:26-2 9. This was written at a time when
much was being said relative to the variant readings of the
Greek manuscripts of the New Testament and the need for a
new translation. It is evident that the writer did not under-
stand the nature of the differences, nor, in view of the
multiplicity of manuscripts, the impossibility of secretly
"taking away" parts of the Bible.
98
The preface to the Inspired Version states that:
As concerning the manner of translation and correc
tion, it is evident, from the MSS. and the testimony
of those who were conversant with the facts, that it
was done by direct revelation from God.
It was begun in June, I83O, and was finished July
2, 1 833. . . .
The MSS. , at his [Smlth's] death, in 1844^, were
left in the hands of his widow, where they remained
until the spring of 1866, when they were delivered to
• . . a committee.
As has been stated, immediately after Rigdon first
came to the home of Smith, they received a joint revelation,
dated December, I83O, in which Rigdon was told:
And a commandment I give unto thee— that thou shalt
write for him; and the scriptures shall be given, even
as they are in mine own bosom, to the salvation of mine
own elect.1^
The task of translation was begun at once, although
at first it was done secretly. The manuscript is all in
the handwriting of Rigdon. 15 The first edition was published
by the Reorganized church, in I8 6 7.I6 In its catalog of
1^ D. C. 35:20.
Linn, op. cit., p. 6 9.
18 The Holy Scriptures translated and corrected by
the Spirit of Revelation by Joseph Smith, Jr., the Seer
[Plano, Illinois]: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints, I8 6 7). I have compared two copies in my possession,
the first edition and 1936 edition, but have found no evi
dence of change other than on the title page. Here, "the
Seer" is dropped, as well as the word, "translated."
99
publications, the Reorganized church stresses the value
of the Inspired Translation.17
The Utah church has steadfastly refused to print
the version on the grounds that it needed further revision;
and for the practical reason that it would make the work of
missionaries more difficult.
Since he [Smith ] was unable to find the necessary
time for the personal attention its publication would
require, we may not be too eager to accept the edition
that was later printed without his consent [he was
dead] or personal supervision.18
The same author states that:
... Our work as missionaries would be seriously
hampered if we used a special revised edition of the
Bible. We have so much new scripture to offer to the
world without having to revise the Bible to explain
our theology.19
However, there is no indication that the Utah church
denies the authenticity or inspiration of this version.
The present church historian states that;
The reason why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
Day Saints has not published the entire manuscript is
not due to any lack of confidence in the integrity of
17 However, in a personal conversation, the pastor of
the Reorganized Church in a large city, who had enthusiastically
praised this version, when asked if he used it in his pulpit,
replied that he used the King James version.
18 E. Cecil McGavin, Cumorah* s "Gold Bible" (Salt
Lake City,. Utah: The Deseret News Press, I9W ) , p. 227.
19 Ibid.. p. 228.
100
Joseph Smith, or doubt as to the correctness of the
numerous additions and changes which are not in the
Authorized Version of the Bible. The members of the
Church do accept fully all of these changes and additions
as having come by divine revelation to the Prophet
Joseph Smith. The reason that it has not been published
by the Church is due to the fact that this revision
was not completed.
For all practical purposes the missionaries of the
Church have found it advantageous to use the King James
translation, which is accepted by most Protestants.
, Nevertheless, many of the missionaries have called
attention to some of the passages revised by Joseph
Smith which give a plain and more reasonable rendition
over that of other translations.20
The Inspired Version is basically the Authorized
Version. Long passages, sometimes whole books, are not
altered at all. Most of the new work consists of additions
to verses, somewhat after the manner of the Jewish Targums,
or additional verses within a chapter. Many of the actual
revisions are of little consequence.
Most of the Old Testament changes occur in Genesis,
Isaiah and some of the Psalms. In the New Testament the
revisions are found chiefly in the Gospels and the Apoca
lypse. There are two purposeful corrections; in the
fifteenth chapter of Genesis, and the twenty-ninth chapter
of Isaiah. In the former, twelve verses, are added to the
end of the chapter, so that Joseph before his death predicts
that, "a choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of
20 Joseph Fielding Smith, in a personal letter dated
July 15, 1946.
101
thy loins," who would be greatly blessed, "and his name
shall be called Joseph, and it shall be after the name of
his father."21
In the same way, the twenty-ninth chapter of Isaiah
is expanded as follows:
11. And it shall come to pass, that the Lord God
shall bring forth unto you the words of a book; and
they shall be the words of them which have slumbered.
12. And behold, the book shall be sealed; and in
the book shall be a revelation from God, from the
beginning of the world to the ending thereof.
l4. But the book shall be delivered unto a man,
and he shall deliver the words of the book, which
are the words of those who have slumbered in the dust;
and he shall deliver these words unto another, but
the words that are sealed he shall not deliver, neither
shall he deliver the book.
Is it possible that in verse fourteen there is a
not too thinly-veiled hint of relationship of Rigdon and
Smith in the production of the Book of Mormon? A linking
of this verse with verse four of the celebrated joint
revelation is suggestive.22
Alexander Campbell, the champion of the immersionists,
was having gigantic debates over the question of baptism.
Not to be outdone, Rigdon has Adam hearing the gospel,
and in obedience to it, being baptized. In this version
21 Genesis 50:27, 33*
Cf. ante., p. 32.
102
there is no necessity for arguments over the meaning of
baptizo, for:
It came to pass, when the Lord had spoken with Adam
our father, that Adam cried unto the Lord, and he was
caught away by the Spirit of the Lord, and was carried
down into the water, and was laid under the water, and
was brought forth out of the water ; and thus was
baptized. 23
Even the lowliest reader, in reading this passage
should have no doubts regarding the mode of baptism. All
of this was, of course, as good Baptist doctrine as it was
Disciple, but the distinctive doctrine of the Disciples
was made plainer, and Walter Scott's terminology is antedated
by some thousands of years. Enoch preaches as follows:
And now, behold, I say unto you. This is the plan
salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine
Only Begotten, who shall come in the meridian of time.24
It is needless to cite other passages from the
Inspired Version, for the foregoing should be sufficient
to indicate that this version has the same background as
the Book of Mormon. Both show evidence of an ambition to
originate a new religion which, while embodying the
characteristic principles of the rapidly growing Disciples,
would add other features that seemed desirable to Rigdon.
^3 Genesis 6:67.
24 Genesis 6:65.
103
Evidently Rigdon intended that he should he Aaron
to Smith's Moses. In later years he said:
For the existence of that church there had to be a
revelator, one who received the word of the Lord; a
spokesman, one inspired of God to expound all revelation,
so that the church might all be of one faith. Without
these two men the Church of Latter-Day Saints could
not exist.25
Smith was to receive revelation; Rigdon was to be
the leader. For a while this distribution of office worked.
Revelations sustained it. As late as October, 1833,
Sidney was told that:
I will ordain you unto this calling, even to be
a spokesman unto my servant Joseph. . . . And I will
give unto thee power to be mighty in expounding all
scriptures, that thou mayest be a spokesman unto him,
and he shall be a revelator unto thee.26
On January 19, l84l, after there had been trouble
between the two men, there came this revelation:
And again, verily I say unto you, if my servant
Sidney will serve me and be counselor unto my servant
Joseph . . I and if he will . . . remain with my people,
behold. I, the Lord your God, will heal him that he
shall be healed: and he shall lift up his voice again
on the mountains, and be a spokesman before my face.27
But it was too late. Sidney had not taken the
measure of his man. Joseph was no longer a callow youth.
25 Personal letter, dated May 25, 1873, now in the
New York Public Library. Of. Linn, cit., p. 320.
26 D. C. 100:9-11.
27 D. C. 124:103-104.
104
but a man— a handsome, magnetic man. Perhaps he began to
believe that he was inspired. At any rate he believed in
himself. He knew his strength; he was the Prophet.
CHAPTER VII
DISCIPLE AND MORMON DOCTRINES COMPARED
Thus far, sufficient facts have been established
to demonstrate that both the Book of Mormon aiîd the
Inspired Translation are products of nineteenth century
culture. Striking resemblances between the Disciples of
Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
have been pointed out. The backgrounds for the "current
reformation" and for the task of Bible translation have
been shown.
However, similarities may be superficial. Surface
likenesses do not necessarily indicate kinship, or they may
merely be a part of the intricate 'overlapping of beliefs, which
makes the American religious pattern such a confusing one.
It is the purpose of this chapter to show conclusively
that the Mormon resemblance to the Disciples is significant
of a relationship that is historical and not merely con
temporary. Furthermore, that the agreements are not
isolated counterparts, but deliberate imitations.
To accomplish this aim, a systematic— though
necessarily brief— examination will be made of every impor
tant doctrine, practice or attitude of the two groups.
In each case, the position of the Disciples will be
exhibited, followed by a statement of the Mormon attitude.
106
It will be found in every instance that the Mormon attitude
is either "a reasonably exact facsimile" of the Disciples,
a competitive elaboration, or a negation identical with a
previously exhibited attitude of Sidney Rigdon.1
Within recent years many of the doctrines of Mormonism
have developed greatly; new ones have come into being.
Obviously those areas lie outside the province of this
paper. Neither are we concerned with such doctrines as
polygamy, which came about not as a doctrine to be believed,
but a practice to be justified.2 Eliminating these
1 "Rigdon was a thorough Bible scholar, a man of
fine education, and a powerful orator. He soon worked
himself deep in Joseph's affections, and had more influence
over him than any other man living. He was Brother Joseph's
private counsellor, and his most intimate friend and brother
for some time after they met. Brother Joseph rejoiced,
believing that the Lord had sent to him this great and
mighty man Sidney Rigdon, to help him in the work. Poor
Brother Joseph' He was mistaken about this, and likewise
all of the brethren were mistaken; for we thought at 'that
time just as Brother Joseph did about it. But alas i In
a few years we found out different. Sidney Rigdon was the
cause of almost all the errors which were introduced while
he was in the church." David Whitmer, An Address to All
Believers in Christ (Richmond, Missouri; Elder David
Whitmer, 1587), p.35*
2 The Utah Mormons are realistic negarding- polygamy.
Brigham Young once frankly stated: "I myself sealed dozens
of women to Joseph." Cf. Fawn M. Brodie. No Man Knows My
History (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1946), p. 334. The
Reorganized church persists in denying patent facts. David
Whitmer, who certainly knew Smith well, wrote: "Was not
Joseph Smith a man subject to like passions? Had you been
with him as much as I was, and knew him as well as I knew
him you would also know that he could fall into error and
transgression: but with all his weaknesses, I always did
love him." 0^. cit.. p. 43.
107
extraneous matters, the origin of Mormon theology can be
explained only via Sidney Rigdon.,
I. THE NAME OF THE CHURCH
One of the first problems which concerned the
Disciples was the name they were to wear. Very early,
the Campbells and others insisted upon "a pure speech,"
_1. e., "calling Bible things by Bible names." They rejected
such names as "Lutheran," on the ground that honor was paid
to a human being rather than to Christ. "Baptist," "Epis
copalian," and the like, were undesirable because they
called attention to some distinctive belief or type of
organization. All sectarian names were divisive, while the
body of Christ should be united.
Protestant bodies are all founded upon Protestant
peculiarities. Indeed, there is but one radical and
distinctive plea in any of them. That is their center
of attraction and of radiation. They baptize themselves
at the laver of that idea, and assume the name of it,
whatever it may be, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, or
Methodist, etc., etc. They build on what is peculiar,
and thus, in effect, undervalue that which is common
to them all. And yet, themselves being judges, that
which is common is much more valuable than that which
is peculiar. The sub-basis of all parties is the tenet
which is their cognomen.3
Hence, the necessity for a rigidly scriptural name
for the church, as an organization, to wear. Nicknames
3 Alexander Campbell, Christian Baptism (Bethany,
[ Va. ] : Alexander Campbell, 185D, p. 17.
108
were odious to the Disciples. Campbell relates that the
decisive reason for the change in the name of his periodical
from Christian Baptist to that of Millennial Harbinger
was because his co-laborers were being called "Christian
Baptists."4
Alexander Campbell preferred the term "Disciples of
Christ," because, he argued: it is more ancient; it is
more descriptive; it is more scriptural; and it had not
been appropriated by any sect.5
His father preferred the name "Christian," as did
Barton W. Stone. However, none of them was contentious,
believing that any name sanctioned by the New Testament
was permissible.6
4 M. H., X (1839), 337, 338.
5 Loc. cit.
6 In the latter part of the last and the early part
of the present century, a split arose over the introduction
of instrumental music and missionary societies. Since
1 9 0 6, U. S. census reports recognize them as two distinct
bodies: the "progressives" as "Disciples of Christ";
and the "conservatives" as "Churches of Christ." The
latter are uniformly so-called. However, it is interesting
to note that in the eastern part of the United States,
where Alexander Campbell labored most, the "progressives"
are commonly called "Disciples of Christ." In the south
and middle west, where Stone's influence was strongest, they
are usually known as "Christian Churches." In the far
west and to a considerable extent in the middle west, they
often are called "Churches of Christ." In recent years
the "progressives" have split into a liberal and a neo
conservative group. What is perhaps the ablest and most
widely-read liberal religious journal in the United States
was founded and is still edited by men aligned with the
liberal wing. The Christian Century.
109'
The Mormons have followed the same pattern of thought.
However, the matter of choosing a name was simplified for
them, in that a revelation was received, not only naming
the church, but giving the exact date of its inauguration:
The rise of the Church of Christ in these last days,
being one thousand eight hundred and thirty years since
the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in the
flesh. . .7
At a conference of the elders. May 3, 1834, the name
of the church was changed to "The Church of the Latter-Day
Saints." Rigdon made the motion.8 The intent was to avoid
the nickname Mormon, since the name "Christian" was not
specific enough for the gentiles. The new name conformed
to Rigdon's view of an imminent millennium. 9
In Rigdon's zeal over their being saints of the pre-
millennial era, he completely forgot the name of Christ.
The Lord noted the defect, so that on April 26, I8 3 8,
another revelation was received commanding that; "Thus
7 D. C., 20:1. Smith and Rigdon were unaware, of
course, that the calculations of Dionysius, upon which the
Christian era is dated, was at least four years too late.
Curiously, I have never seen any comment by non-Mormons
upon this testimony to the divinity of the revelation.
Mormons use the revelation to prove the accuracy of .
Dionysius and the error of present-day historians.
8 Cf. Joseph Smith and Heman C. Smith, History of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Lamoni,
Iowa: Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints, I9 0 8), p. 453-4.
9 Cf., post. p. 1 2 8.
110
shall my church he called in the last days, even the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints."10
The Latter-Day saints were following in the footsteps
of their predecessors, for the Book of Mormon tells of the
same argumentation on this continent eighteen hundred years
earlier. Rigdon pictures the Nephites much troubled, so that
when Jesus asks their needs, they reply:
Lord, we will that thou wouldst tell us the name
whereby we shall call this church; for there are dis
putations among the people concerning the matter.
And the Lord said unto them:
. . . Have they not read the scriptures, which say
ye must take upon you the name of Christ, which is my
name? For by this name shall ye be called at the last
day.11
One needs to be versed in the period of Rigdon and
Smith to appreciate this point. Hardly an issue of the -
Christian Baptist or the Millennial Harbinger failed to
discuss the matter of names.
II. NAMES OF FOLLOWERS
The above discussion makes clear the use of such
terms as "Disciples" or "Christians," the particular one
10 D. C., 115:4. Later when Rigdon was expelled
from the church, he organized a faction which he named the
"Church of Christ."
11 3 Nephi 27:3-5.
Ill
used, being dependent upon the name of the body as a whole.
Either name had the precedent of Scripture.
For the Mormons, their name was a gain. The church
had a designation which not only carried the authority of
Christ, but the added glory of the elect who were heirs
of all the ages. They themselves could boast of a title
which bore all the holy connotations that centuries of
Roman Catholic tradition had attached to it. At the same
time, the name as applied to all followers of Christ, was
eminently scriptural.12 Rot merely a few persons— and those
no longer alive— but every Mormon could proudly call
himself a saint.
Ill. CREEDS
As has been seen, the Disciples had consistently
opposed the use of creeds. By way of definition:
A creed or confession of faith is an ecclesiastic
document— the mind and will of some synod or council
possessing authority— as a term of communion, by which
persons or opinions are to be tested, approbated,
or reprobated. 13
They had no objection to any man's writing a simple
statement of belief— or printing it— but they strongly
protested against his making it a test of membership in
God's church. For they.
12 Cf., 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 1:1; Eph.» 1:1; etc.
13 Campbell-Rice Debate (Lexington, Kentucky: A. T.
8keliman & Son-, 1844), p. 7 6 2.
112
. . . regarded human creeds as both the cause and
the effect of partyism, and the main perpetuating
causes of schism, and therefore, remonstrated and
inveighed against them.14
In fact, Campbell was prepared to affirm that "human
creeds as bonds of union and communion, are necessarily
heretical and schismatical."!? Greater opposition than
that, could no one offer.
The "articles of faith," supposedly written by
Smith himself, are printed on the back of the calling
card which the Mormon elder presents. Although they have
the effect of a creed. Mormons deny that they are a creed
or that they are used as a test of fellowship. Orson Pratt
declared that any creed written "without the aid of
immediate revelation" stirs up strife,16 while Smith said
that creeds set up limiting "stakes."17
IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD
One of the major parallels has usually been over
looked.18 The Disciples have been almost alone in insisting
14 Ibid.. p. 783-4.
15 Ibid.. p. 759. Italics mine.
16 George B. Arbaugh, Revelation in Mormonism
(Chicago; University of Chicago Press, 1932), p. 12.
17 Loc. cit.
18 Arbaugh, alone, seems to have noted its significance,
op. cit., p. 14.
113
upon the identity of the church with the kingdom of God.
To them the church was a divine institution. Jesus said
to Peter: "Upon this rock I will build my church."19
After Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost, "the Lord
added to the Church daily such as should be saved."20
Paul tells the Ephesians that Christ is "the head over all
things to the Church."21 More than that, "he is the saviour
of the body."22 The sermons and writings of the Disciples,
not only then, but to this day, are filled with these
and similar passages.
It followed from these that salvation could be found
only in the Church, for Christ "purchased [it] with his own
blood."23 Therefore, it not only behooved men to get into
the church, but it was a sin to divide the church.
The Disciples thought of this divine institution,
not as a denomination, but as the sum total of the children
of G o d .24 Divisive opinions had torn apart the Church of
19 Matt. 16:18.
20 Acts 2:47 (A. V.).
21 Eph. 1:22.
22 Eph. 5:23.
23 Acts 20:28.
Cf. Declaration and Address.
11^
Christ. Then let men go back to the * * Ancient order of
things. **25
The Mormons have carried this principle to its
ultimate. The first question that Joseph Smith addressed
to the angel was, "which of all the sects was right— and
which should I join." The answer was that they were all
wrong. 26 From the very beginning Mormon missionaries
have led their listeners to the point of admitting that
not all the churches can be right. Only one can be. If
that be true, then which one is divine?
No one can read Mormon literature without being
impressed with the constant emphasis upon authority.
Campbell restored the gospel, but Bigdon restored the
priesthood. 27 Campbell insisted that the Bible was the
only source of authority. Rigdon wrote a new Bible; the
old Bible being "an insufficient g u i d e ."28
The Disciples preached that the Apostle Peter used
the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, that Christ had bestowed
25 Beginning in 102^, Campbell published a series
of thirty-two articles, entitled "A Restoration of the
Ancient Order of Things." Cf., G. B., II. (February, 182Ç),
126.
26 Cf., ante p. 4-.
27 This can unquestionably be attributed to Rigdon.
Cf., ante. p. 18.
Cf., Orson Pratt, A Series of Pamphlets (Liverpool,
[Sng.] : R. James, 18^1), "Divine Authenticity of the Book
of Mormon," No. 3, p. 3^.
115
upon him,29 to open the doors of the church at the first
Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ. No less a
person than John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and
Oliver Cowdery, saying:
Upon you my fellow servants in the name of Messiah,
I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys
of the ministering of angels, and of the Gospel of
repentance, and of baptism by Immersion for the remission
of sin. . . .3 0
Later, Cowdery was to say that the voice of this
angel did "most mysteriously resemble the voice of Elder
Sidney Rigdon."3^
The Mormons could, and did, argue that they were
the only organization to have a completely "restored" church.
The Disciples had insisted upon a congregational government,
with elders and deacons according to what they believed was
the New Testament pattern. The Mormons had not only twelve
apostles, but such an elaborate system of lesser officials,
that a very large proportion of the membership could hold
office.
29 Matt. 16:19.
30 Cf., ante., p. 9. To Mormons, this is the key
sentence to jthe whole system.
31 Cf. Charles A. Shook, The True Origin of the Book
of Mormon (Cincinnati: Standard Publishing Co., 19ÏS),
p. 1^9. The possibility of Rigdon*s visits to Smith have
already been discussed. Cf., ante,, p. 33^-
116
The Mormon church preaches an authoritarianism
which in many respects is more emphatic than Roman Catholic
dogma.32 Orson Pratt, brother of Parley P. Pratt who
"converted" Rigdon, declares:
Since the church with its authority and power has
been caught away from the earth, the great "mother of
harlots" with all her descendants has blasphemously
assumed the authority of administering some of the
sacred ordinances of the gospel. They have blasphemed
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, by using
it without authority in their ministrations. They
have dishonored the name of Christ by calling their
powerless, apostate, filthy, and most abominable churches,
the Church of Christ. The whole Romish, Greek, and
Protestant ministry, from the Pope down through every
grade of office, are as destitute of authority from
God, as the devil and his angels. The Almighty abhors
all their wicked pretensions, as he does the very gates
of hell.33
This principle of authority extends down to the
most minute particulars.
Who is authorized to break the bread and bless it,
and also the wine, and administer it to the saints?
Can teachers or deacons do this with authority? . . .
32 «Whatever it does, and whatever the of
Its working, the efficacy of baptism in no degree depends
on the administrator. If in substance it is administered
according to Christ's institution, then it is Christ's
ordinance, and whatever is done by it. He does it. The
administrator may be ... a schismatic or a heretic.
The validity of the sacrament is not affected." Robert
Rainy, The Ancient Catholic Church (International Theological
Library. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1902) p. 4l4.
33 Orson Pratt, cit.. "Divine Authenticity of
the Book of Mormon," p. 18-19.
117
In what particular points does a teacher's duty
differ from a deacon's? Wherein do the duties of
elders, evangelists,'and pastors differ? What authority
has one which the others do not possess?
Should all saints wash one another's feet, or is
this an ordinance limited to the apostles and officers
of the church?34
In April, I8 3 0, Joseph Smith received a long reve
lation defining in detail the organization and government
of the church.35 The duties of officers are prescribed
more minutely than in the by-laws of most organizations.
Instructions are given even for such matters as sending
delegates to conferences, keeping the church roll and
transferring members. 36
V. THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL
Attention has been called several times to the
insistence by the Disciples upon a return to "the ancient
order of things." The Christian Baptist and the Millennial
Harbinger contain frequent references to the "Everlasting
Gospel," based upon Revelation l4:6,7, as follows:
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven,
having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them
3^ Ibid.. p. 34.'
3? At.this period, there is a lapse of two months
in the chronology of Higdon's activities. Cf., Brodie,
OP. cit., p. 432.
36 D. C. 20.
118
that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and
kindred, and tongue and people.
Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory
to him; for the hour of judgment is come: and worship
him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the
fountains of water.
This quotation appeared in the prospectus to the
Millennial Harbinger. As late as 1929, R* C. Poster, a
prominent preacher of the Disciples, published a book of
sermons, with the title: The Everlasting Gospel.
When on his visit to Smith in I83O, Rigdon preached
his initial sermon to a Mormon audience, he took as his
text a paraphrase of part of Revelation l4, which he no
doubt was responsible for placing in the Book of Momon.37
It will be recalled that the angel who described the gold
Bible told Joseph that the Book would contain the "fulness
of the everlasting gospel."38 in the Doctrine and Covenants
the expression is emphatically used many times.39 This
is without doubt the favorite passage of Scripture of the
Mormon people today. It is not without interest— or
significance— that after Rigdon was expelled by the Mormons
from Nauvoo, he wrote:
37 1 Nephi 13:4-0. Cf., Linn, op. cit.. p. 76.
38 Cf., ante., p. 1.
39 Cf., 68:1; 99:1; 133:38; especially the latter.
119
It is a strict observance of the principles of the
fulness of the Everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ, as
contained in the Bible. Book of Mormon, and Book of
Covenants. which alone will insure a man an inheritance
in the kingdom of our God.40
VI. FAITH
Walter Scott's analysis of "First Principles” or
the "Plan of Salvation" has already been discussed at
some length.4l With that general scheme in mind, reference
will be made to the separate steps involved, the first in
order being faith.4-2
Faith, of course, is an essential element of every
system of theology, but Alexander Campbell offered a
definition of faith which the Disciples— and the Mormons—
almost alone have accepted. All of the Protestant reformers
affirmed that the inner conviction of the truth of the
Word of God is brought about by the Holy Spirit. The
Disciples believed that the Holy Spirit operated, not
mystically, but through the Word of God. Hence, faith is
4-0 Messenger and Advocate. June 15, 1845, quoted
in Linn, op. cit.. p. ?6-7.
4*1 Cf., ante., p. 62f.
42 Baptists place repentance first, faith second,
based upon Acts 20:21— "repentance toward God, and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ."
120
the belief of'testimony. "Evidence alone produces faith,
or testimony is all that is necessary to faith.«43
The parallelism is so close here that a tract upon
"Faith" published either by Mormons or Disciples, could be
used interchangeably, save for the publisher's imprint.
"From trustworthy evidence, rightly interpreted, true
faith will spring; from false evidence, only distorted '
and misplaced faith can a r i s e .'^44 Talmage continues:
The foundation of faith in God then is a sincere
belief in or knowledge of Him, as sustained by evidence
and testimony, tested and proved by earnest, prayerful
search. 45
VII. REPENTANCE
The position accorded by Campbell to repentance,
in the scheme of redemption, is unique. Not only in his
definition of it, but also in the relationship it sustains
to faith, did he differ radically from the theologians
of his time.46
43 C. B., 7:58, April, 1824. A passage constantly
cited by Disciples is Romans 10:17— "So then faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
44 James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith (Salt
Lake City, Utah: The Deseret News, 1912), p. 104.
45 Ibid.. p. 106.
46 Kellems, pp. cit.. p. 207.
121
Repentance is the fruit of faith; its effect;
it is "the adjunct of faith, as the remission of sins is
of baptism."4? If repentance is genuine, a reformation of
life will inevitably follow. In reference to Peter's
sermon at Pentecost, Campbell says:
The profession of repentance without reformation or
fruits worthy of it, they were clearly informed, would
avail nothing. So evident is it that their contemporaries
understood by the precept 'repent' what we associate
with the word 'reform.'48
Mormon theology is again identical with the belief
of the Disciples.
It would be of no use for a sinner to confess his
sins to God, unless he were determined to forsake them.
. . . Repentance, then, is not only a confession of
sins, with a sorrowful, contrite heart, but a fixed,
settled purpose to refrain from every evil way.49
Talmage declares that repentance "indicates a godly
sorrow for sin, producing a reformation of life" and
therefore, "properly ranks as the second principle of the
gospel, closely associated with and immediately following
faith."50
4? Campbell-Rice Debate, p. 432.
48 Christian Baptism, p. 79.
49 Orson Pratt, quoted by Talmage, cit..
p. Il6—117.
50 Ibid.. p. 113.
122
VIII. OBEDIENCE
The Disciples differed radically from other bodies,
in reference to the essentiality of obedience, before there
could be salvation. Not by faith alone does God save,
they preached, but by a "saving faith," that is, an obedi
ent faith. In this connection, no sermon could be complete
without a citation of James to prove that, "faith, if it
have not works, is dead, being alone," with the succeeding
thought that "the devils also believe," bût in vain. The
triumphant conclusion: "Ye see then how that by works a
man is justified, and not be faith only."51 So important
has this doctrine been to the Disciples, that for more
than a hundred years, each Church of Christ in America
has extended a "gospel invitation" at the close of every
sermon. Variations from this custom, even today, are almost
non-existent.
Likewise a Mormon Apostle tells us:
No person can truthfully profess faith in Christ,
and refuse to obey His commandments; therefore obedience
is essential to remission of sin; and the repentant
sinner will eagerly seek to learn what is further
required of him. 52
51 James 2:17, 19, 24.
52 Talmage, og. cit., p. 116.
123
Talmage notes the warning of Jesus that, "Not every
one that sayeth unto me. Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven."53 Immediately afterward the same
author quotes James 2:14-18.54
IX. BAPTISM
The Disciples were not alone in their emphasis upon
immersion— the Baptists agreed upon that point. However,
Campbell engaged in several debates that attracted great
public interest. He became the champion of the immersion-
ists.
Rigdon was eloquent and emotional, but he was not
a logician. He could not equal Campbell* s skill in debate,
but he had another expedient.55 Campbell had to resort
to Greek lexicons to prove that baptidzo meant ^immerse* ;
to church histories to show apostolic practice. Rigdon
could write a sacred book, revise the Bible, receive
53 Matt. 7:21. A favorite passage with Disciples.
5k 02. cit., p. 111-112.
55 "Rigdon who always caught and proclaimed the last
word that fell from the lips of Scott or Campbell, seized
these views, and with the wildness of his extravagant
nature, heralded them everywhere." A. S. Hayden, Early
History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve (Cincinnati:
Chase & Hall, 1875), P- 1^.
124 -
revelations, that would divinely explain baptism. Accordingly
Jesus personally taught the Nepiiites to, "immerse them in
the water, and come forth again out of the water." Jesus
then settled the matter with finality by adding:
And there shall be no disputations among you, as
there have hitherto been; neither shall there be
disputations among you concerning the points of my
doctrine, as there have hitherto been.56
The teaching of the Disciples regarding the connection
of baptism with remission of sins has already been presented.57
Mormons hold the same beliefs and offer the same proof texts.
But here again, if one accepts their scriptures, "disputa
tions" will cease. "The elders of the church are commissioned
to preach the remission of sins as obtainable through the
means of authorized baptism."58 The Disciples were handi
capped by Scriptures from which "many plain and precious
things" had been removed, but the Mormons could receive a
revelation to "preach repentance and remission of sins by
way of baptism."59 That was plain enough.
The Disciples had emphasized the importance of
baptism, until they had been accused of "water salvation."
Rigdon could outdo that.
56 3 Nephi 11:26, 28. Cf., D. 0. 20:7^-74; 76:51;
128: 12.
57 Cf., ante., p. 6]f.
58 Talmage, og. cit.. p. 126.
59 D. C. 55:2.
125
Compliance with the ordinance [of baptism ] has been
shown to be essential to salvation, and this condition
applies to all mankind. Nowhere in scripture is a
distinction made in this regard between the living and
the dead. . . . In the course of the world's history
there have been long periods of spiritual darkness,
when the gospel was not preached upon the earth; when
there was no authorized representative of the Lord
officiating in the saving ordinances of the kingdom.
As baptism is essential to the salvation of the
living, it is likewise indispensable to the redemption
of the dead.60
The doctrine of baptism for the dead was first
taught at Kirtland, Ohio— Rigdon*s home— after the saints
moved there.
X. THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE MIRACULOUS
The Disciples stood against the entire Protestant
world in their attitude toward the work of the Holy Spirit
in conversion. They denied that there is "some invisible,
indescribable energy exerted upon the minds of men in order
to make them Christians; and that, too, independent of,
or prior to, the word believed."61
With regard to miracles, their beliefs were more
orthodox. They were convinced that inspiration and the
miraculous ceased with the close of the New Testament canon.
60 Talmage, op. cit.. p. 148 f.
61 C. B., 1:49, March 1824.
126
In the words of Campbell, the miraculous work of the Holy
Spirit was "confined to the apostolic age, and to only a
portion of the saints that lived in that age."62
Rigdon had never been one with the Disciples on
this point. Richardson says that:
Rigdon had been for some time diligently engaged in
endeavoring, by obscure hints and glowing millennial
theories, to excite the imaginations of his hearers,
and in seeking by fanciful interpretations of Scripture
to prepare the minds of the churches of Northern Ohio
for something extraordinary in the near future. He
sought especially in private to convince certain in
fluential persons that, along with the primitive gospel,
supernatural gifts and miracles ought to be restored,
and that, as at the beginning, all things should be
held in common. From his want of personal influence,
however, he failed in disseminating his views, except
to a very limited extent. In Mentor, where he resided,
he was quite unsuccessful, but was more fortunate in
Kirtland, the adjoining town, where a flourishing church
became much disturbed and unsettled by his plausible
theories and brilliant declamations.63
Immediately after Rigdon*s conversion, the Kirtland
church, a large part of which was transferred to Mormonism,
became wildly excited:
Scenes of the most wild, frantic and horrible
fanaticism ensued. They pretended that the power of
miracles was about to be given to all who embraced
the new faith; and commenced communicating the Holy
Spirit . . . Young men might be seen running over the
62 Ibid.. p. 125.
63 Robert Richardson, Memoirs of Alexander Campbell
(Cincinnati: Standard Publishing Company, 1897),1%, 346.
127
fields and hills, in pursuit, as they said, of the
balls of fire, lights., etc., which they saw moving
through the atmosphere.64
Rigdon was in Palmyra with Smith at the height of
this disturbance, but the prophet soon received a revelation
that Kirtland was to be the Promised Land of the Saints.
The Mormons remained in Kirtland until I8 3 8. Miracles,
speaking in tongues and similar manifestations were a
conspicuous feature of the early years of Mormonism.
XI. COMMUNISM
Kirtland also became the center of Mormon communistic
experiments. Higdon had become bitter toward the Disciples
when he was defeated in his attempt to require a community
of goods, in imitation of the early Jerusalem church.65 It
is unquestionable that he was responsible for its intro
duction among the Mormons.
If it had ever occurred to Joseph Smith to turn his
church into a communistic society, he betrayed no such
intention until after meeting Rigdon. The latter had
not only studied the New Testament; he had absorbed
much of the recent national excitement over Robert
Owen*s New Harmony. 66
64 Mormonism Unvailed. p. 104-105. Quoted in
Hayden, c^. cit.. p. 213.
65 Cf., Acts. 4:32 f,
66 Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History (New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1946), p. I05. Campbell debated with Owen
in April, 1829.
128
XII. THE MILLENNIUM
It might be supposed, from the name Millennial
Harbinger. which was bestowed upon the successor to the
Christian Baptist, that Campbell had some peculiar views
regarding a millennial period. However, this was hot
the fact. Campbell explained:
We have often rather jeeringly been asked, "Wherein
consists the millennial characteristics of the Harbinger?"
— the querists imagining that a millennial harbinger
must be always discussing or preaching millenniary
affairs.
Far from having any such intention, Campbell stated
that, "We have not committed ourselves to any of the theories
of the present day on the nature and coming of the Millennium."
He held to no such hopes, for he reasoned that,
All the Millennium we could scripturally expect was
not merely the restoration of the Jerusalem church in
all its moral and religious characters, but the extension
of it through all nations and languages for one thousand
years. 67
Rigdon, on the other hand, had visionary theories
of the Millennium. Hayden, in speaking of a book of specu
lative interpretations of these matters, says that: "Rigdon
. . . seized these views, and with the wildness of his
extravagant nature, heralded them everywhere."68
67 M. H., 11:561-562, December, 1840.
68 Hayden, og. clt.. p. 186.
129
One of Smith's first revelations, has Christ
predicting that, "the hour is nigh and the day soon at
hand," when he would reveal himself, "And dwell in right
eousness with men on earth a thousand years."69 In 1843,
Smith declared that in answer to his prayer to know the
time, he was told that, "if thou livest until thou art
eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son
of Man."70
Mormons today emphasize the doctrine so little,
that one may forget one of their Articles of Faiths
We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and
in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion will be
built upon this [the American] continent; that Christ
will reign personally upon the earth; and that the
earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal
glory.71
XIII. CONCLUSION
In the above presentations of the beliefs of Disciples
and Mormons, it would be easy to distort the meanings of the
respective theologies, due to the necessarily fragmentary*
character of the quotations. For an understanding study of
either, of course, reference should be made to works in
69 D. C. 29:9-11.
70 D. C. 130:14, 1 5.
71 Article 10.
130
which a more comprehensive treatment is possible. Other
wise, connotations may be suggested which are at variance
with the tenets of the respective groups. The quotations
have been used, not for the purpose of giving a complete
picture of the theologies, but merely to point out signifi
cant parallels and to suggest the sources of these agreements.
CHAPTER VIII
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
SUMMARY
Early in I83O, at Palmyra, New York, was published
a book called the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith, Jr., its
"author and proprietor" claimed that it was the translation
of inscriptions upon some gold plates, which in obedience
to the command of the angel "Moroni," he had found in a
box buried in , the Mil Cumorah. The plates, he declared,
contained an account of a race which formerly inhabited
the American continent, together with the "fulness of the
everlasting gospel."
Smith, with a few others, organized the "Church of
Christ," which declared that it was the only body having
authority to administer the ordinances of the gospel.1
The first important convert to the new church was Sidney
Rigdon of Mentor, Ohio.
1 Cf. the celebrated statement of Orson Pratt:
"The nature of the message in the Book of Mormon is such,
thkt if true, no one can possibly be saved and reject it;
if false, no one can possibly be saved and receive it.
Therefore, every soul in all the world is equally inter
ested in ascertaining its truth or falsity." Divine
Authenticity of the Book of Mormon (Liverpool, [Eng.]:
R. James, lo5l7, p. 1.
132
Rigdon had been a popular orator among the Baptists.
After a long conversation with Alexander Campbell, he began
preaching the "ancient order of things." These teachings
spread rapidly, but dissension arose, and the Disciples
were compelled to withdraw from the Baptist associations.
Rigdon was noted among the Disciples as being ambitious and
a brilliant orator, but inclined to be erratic and ex
citable. 2
Rigdon was suspected of having "borrowed" the
manuscript of one Solomon Spaulding, adding a religious
element to it, and through Smith, who had gained some
local notoriety as a "seer," foisting it upon the public.
Mormonism, as manifested in the Book of Mormon,
the Doctrine and Covenants, the Inspired Translation.
2 "Captivating as a public speaker by his fluency
and his exuberant fancy, he had depended upon these super
ficial endowments for popularity and success. In private
he had been found petulant, unreliable and ungovernable in
his passions, and his wayward temper, his extravagant stories
and his habit of self-assertion had prevented him from
attaining influence as a religious teacher among the
disciples. He was ambitious of distinction, without the
energy and industry necessary to secure it, and jealous of
the reputation of others, without the ability to compete
with them. Floating upon the tide of popular excitement,
he was disposed to catch at anything which, without demanding
labor, might serve for his advancement, and was naturally
led to seek in deception the success which he found denied
to indolence." Robert Richardson, Memoirs of Alexander
Campbell (Cincinnati: Standard Publishing Company, 1Ô97),
p. 344.
133
and, the practices of the church, had remarkable similarities
to the Disciples.
Both Disciples and Mormons held that a great apostasy
had culminated in the Roman Catholic Church. However, they
agreed that the Reformation had not gone far enough, that it
was necessary to duplicate the doctrines, organization, and life
of the New Testament church. A Disciple slogan was: "In things
essential, unity: in things non-essential, liberty." The
Mormons insisted upon a facsimile of everything recorded.
The Campbells, Barton W. Stone, Walter Scott, and
others brought about a synthesis of what they were convinced,
was the primitive New Testament pattern of faith and worship.
Most of the fundamentals of this synthesis, were repeated
in Mormonism. Where the Mormons differed from the Disciples,
the divergences were known favorites of belief with Higdon.
The Book of Mormon in its anti-Masonry, its camp
meeting expressions and its backwoods crudities, shows
itself to be a product of its times. Furthermore, Walter
Scott, with whom Rigdon was closely associated, had but
recently -discovered:
. . . relations which the truths of revelation bore
to each other that had for a long time, in a great
measure, been lost sight of, and in consequence of which
confusion and darkness had usurped the place of order
and light.3
3 William Baxter, Life of Elder Walter Scott
(Cincinnati: Bosworth, Chase & Hall, 1074), p. -42.
134
These principles— the "Plan of Salvation"— were
immediately embedded in Mormonism, where they became basic
to Mormon theology.
Rigdon not only had expressed bitter jealousy of
Campbell and Scott when defeated regarding communism,4
but had described the contents of the Book of Mormon
two or three years before its publication. Furthermore,
the Inspired Translation seems to indicate a desire to
eclipse Campbell* s translation, which passed through three
editions within two years of its first publication.
Â comparison of the fundamental doctrines of Mormons
and Disciples, shows that with regard to; 1) The name of
the Church; 2) The names of followers; 3) Creéds; 4) The
Kingdom of God; 5) The Everlasting Gospel; 6) The Plan of
Salvation; 7) Faith; 8) Repentance; 9) Obedience; 10)
Mode of baptism; and, 11) Purpose of baptism; the identities
were too great to be coincidental. In the items of: 1)
The Holy Spirit; 2) The miraculous ; 3) Communism; and 4)
The Millennium; the Mormons varied from the Disciples, in
just the ways that Rigdon varied.
4nayden discloses that he left the meeting, "chafed
and chagrined, and never met with the Disciples in a general
meeting afterward." A. S. Hayden, Early History of the
Disciples in the Western Reserve (Cincinnati: Chase &
Hall, -187577 p. 299.
135
CONCLUSIONS
Today few, if any, of the Disciples of Christ,
Christian Churches, or Churches of ^hrist, would admit
that the theology of the Campbells and their associates
has any value other than the expression of the beliefs of
earnest, devout individuals. But these groups would
freely admit the debt that their thinking owes to these
same individuals. Mormonism largely has the same debt,
but denies its existence. Higdon*s own statement that,
**The Book of Mormon has revealed the secrets of Campbellism
and unfolded the end of the system,** is significant.5
The likenesses and differences between the Methodist
Church and the Church of England are clear, but they can be
explained upon historical grounds. The likenesses and
differences between Disciples and Mormons are just as strik
ing, and cannot be accounted for upon the grounds of
accident or special revelation.
In defense against the Rigdon origin of Mormon
theology. Mormon writers tend to concentrate upon the
weaknesses of the Spaulding theory, while largely ignoring
its strong points. Practically without exception, they
5 W. A. Linn, The Story of the Mormons (New York:
The MacMillan Company, 1902), p. 62.
136
completely ignore Rigdon* s foreknowledge of the ^ook of
Mormon, a fact which seems incontrovertible. .
Without any necessary dependence upon the Spaulding
theory, it seems logical to conclude that the parallelism
between the Disciples and Mormonism can be explained only
in the light of a transference from the former to the latter,
through the mediumship of Sidney Rigdon.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
isQ
A. MORMON SCRIPTURES
The Book of Mormon: An Account Written By the Hand of
Mormon, upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi.
Palmyra, New York: E. B. Grandin, I83O.
Where unrevised, the 1920 edition, printed in Salt
Lake City, is used throughout the thesis.
A Book of Commandments for the Government of the Church
of Christ. Zion, Illinois: W. W. Phelps & Co., 1Ô33*
Reprinted verbatim, by C. A. Wickes, Lamoni, Iowa, I9 0 3.
Revelations of Smith and others to September I83I.
The Pearl of Great Price. Salt Lake City, Utah: The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1923*
"A selection from the revelations, translations, and
narrations of Joseph Smith."
Doctrine and Covenants (1835). The 1923 edition, printed
in Salt Lake City, is quoted throughout the thesis.
An enlargement of the Book of Commandments with some
drastic revisions. Varies from the Reorganized church
collection.
B. PERIODICALS
1. Mormon
Evening and Morning Star (a monthly, twenty-four numbers),
started at Independence and transferred to Kirtland,
covers the period from June, I8 3 2, to September, 1834.
Latter Day Saints* Messenger and Advocate. issued at
Kirtland from l834 to 1837.
Times and Seasons, published at Nauvoo from 1839 to 1845.
Suppressed, so far as possible, by Brigham Young*s
orders.
Millennial Star, begun in Liverpool in May, 1840, and is
still continued.
2. Disciple
Christian Baptist, from I823 to I83O. Seven volumes.
Edited by Alexander Campbell.
139
Millennial Harbinger, from I83O to I87O. Forty-seven
volumes. Edited by Alexander Campbell until I8 6 3.
3. Articles
Prince, W. F., “Psychological Tests for the Authorship
of the Book of Mormon,” American Journal of Psychology.
XXVIII, 373-8 9.
C. DEBATES
Braden, Clark: Kelley, E. L. Lamoni, Iowa: The Herald
Publishing House, 1913, ^00 pp. vHeld in Kirtland,
Ohio, February 12 - March 8, 188^. Issues: The Book
of Mormon; The Church of Christ; The Reorganized
Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints.)
Campbell, Alexander: Walker. John. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:
Eichbaum and Johnston, lo22, viii. 292 pp. (Held in
Mount Pleasant, June 19 and 20, 1820. Issue: Christian
Baptism.)
MacCalla, W. L. Buffaloe, Virginia: Campbell
& Sala, 1 8 2 4, xii, M-20 pp. (Held in Washington,
Kentucky. October 15-21, I8 2 3. Issue: Christian
baptism.;
Owen, Robert. Cincinnati: Robinson and Fairbank,
I8 2 9, 2 vols, in 1^ 2 5 1 ,3 0 0 pp. (Held in Cincinnati,
Ohio, April 13-21, 1829. Issues: Owen's “Social
System”; Skepticism.)
: Purcell, John B. Cincinnati, Ohio: C. F. Vent,
1 8 7 5, 360 pp. (Held in Cincinnati, Ohio, January 13-
21, 1 8 3 7. Issue: Roman Catholic theology.)
Rice, N. L. Lexington, Kentucky: A. T. Skellman
& Son, 18^-4-, 912 pp. (Held in Lexington, Kentucky,
November 15 - December 2, 1843. Issues: Christian
baptism; creeds; conversion.)
D. ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLES
“Infallibility," TW Catholic Encyclopedia. VII, 790-800.
140
"Augustine," Encyclopedia Britannica. Eleventh edition,
II, 907-1 9 0.
E. MANUSCRIPTS
Chase, Daryl, "Sidney Rigdon— Early Mormon." Unpublished
M. A. Thesis, University of Chicago, 1931.
At present, the best available source for the life of
Rigdon. The available material has been assembled in a
careful manner. However, the author’s hero-worship of
Joseph Smith seems to have hindered an objective analysis
of Rigdon*s major contributions to the theology of
Mormonism.
Pancoast, Eva L., "The Mormons at Kirtland." Unpublished
M. A. Thesis, Western Reserve University, Cleveland,
1929.
Good for the period covered.
Rigdon, John, "The Life of Sidney Rigdon." Mss. located
at church archives in Salt Lake City.
A brief history by Rigdon’s son. Quoted in part by
Roberts. Never printed in full.
Rigdon, Sidney, Letters of.
At church archives in Salt Lake City. Most of them
printed in official church history. A few in New
York Public Library.
Tanner, George S., "The Religious Background From Which
Mormonism Arose." Unpublished M. A. Thesis, University
of Chicago, 1931.
A survey of the well-known phenomena of western re
vivalism. Good picture of these factors as they
existed in Western New York. Does not discuss the
background of distinctive Mormon theology.
F. BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS
Ainslie, Peter, The Message of the Disciples for the Union
of the church. New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1913,
212 pp.
Arbaugh, George B., Revelation in Mormonism. Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press, 1932, 221 pp.
141
Bacon, Leonard Woolsey, Â History of American Christianity.
American Church History Series, Vol. XIII. New York:
The Christian Literature Co., 1897, 429 pp.
Bancroft, H. H., History of Utah. San Francisco: The
History Company, 189O, 808 pp.
Bays, Davis H., The Doctrines and Dogmas of Mormonism.
St. Louis: Christian Publishing Company, l897, ^59 pp.
Briggs, Charles A., Biblical Study. New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons, I89I, 50é pp.
Brodie, Fawn N.,No Man Knows My History. New York: Alfred
A. Knopf, 1943% 475 • + • ix pp.
Campbell, Alexander, Christian Baptism: with its antecedents
and consequents. Bethany, Va.: Alexander Campbell,
1 8 5 1, 438 pp.
_______, The Christian System. Pittsburg, Penn.: Forrester
& Campbell, 1839, 3^8 pp.
_______, Christianity Restored. Bethany, Va.: M’vay and
Ewing, 1 8 3 5, ^04 pp.
_______Memoirs of Elder Thomas Campbell. Cincinnati:
H. S. Bosworth, iSél, 3I9 pp.
_______, The Sacred Writings of the Apostles and Evangelists
of Jesus Christ, commonly styled the New Testament.
Translated from the original Greek by Doctors George
Campbell, James MacKnight, and Philip Doddridge, .with
Prefaces, Various emendations, and an appendix.
Cincinnati, Ohio: G. W. Rice, 1882.
Chase, Daryl, Joseph the Prophet as He Lives in the Hearts
of His People. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book (Company,
179 pp.
Cleveland, Catharine C., The Great Revival in the West.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, I9 1 6, 215 pp.
Davis, Inez Smith, The Story of the Church. Independence,
Mo.: Herald Publishing House, 1934, 400 pp.
Fortune, Alonzo Willard, Ph. D., Origin and Development
of the Disciples. St. Louis: The Bethany Press. 1924,
ÎÏÏ6"Ü.
142
Fulke, William, The Text of the New Testament of Jesus
Christ. Translated out of the vulgar Latine by the
Papists of the traiterons Seminarie at Rhemes, etc.,
Whereunto is added the Translation out of the Original
Greeke . . . with a Confutation of all such Arguments,
Glosses and Annotations. . . .London: Christoper
Barker,.1589.
Garrison, Winfred Ernest, Religion follows the Frontier—
A History of the Disciples of Christ. New York: Harper
& Brothers Publishers, 1931, 311 pp.
Gates, Errett, The Early Relation and Separation of Baptists
and Disciples. Chicago: The Christian Century Company,
Ï9Ô4, 124 pp.
Gatewood - Farnsworth Debate on Mormonism. Salt Lake City:
Otis Gatewood, 1942, 229 pp.
Goodspeed, Edgar J,, Problems of New Testament Translation.
Chicago: University of Chicago P r e s ^945,xv, 215 PP«
Grabmann, Martin, Thomas Aquinas. New York: Longmans,
Green and Co., 1928, 191 pp.
Green, John Richard, A Short History of the English People.
American Book Co., 191&, 1039 pp.
Hailey, Homer, Attitudes and Consequences. Kansas City,
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Creator White, J. W. (author)

Core Title The influence of Sidney Rigdon upon the theology of Mormonism

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Degree Master of Arts

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest,philosophy, religion and theology

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c39-353272

Unique identifier UC11313818

Identifier EP65170.pdf (filename),usctheses-c39-353272 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier EP65170.pdf

Dmrecord 353272

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights White, J. W.

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

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