Cowley's Talks on Doctrine

by Matthias F. Cowley

On the 11th of April, 1830, Oliver Cowdery preached the first Gospel discourse of this dispensation. Soon branches of the Church were raised up in New York and Pennsylvania. Men were brought into the fold who later filled notable places in the Church. Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow and other leading men embraced the Gospel between 1830 and 1837. The Book of Mormon had been translated and published to the world previously. News of the new dispensation was heralded abroad by friend and foe. At that time many were prepared to embrace the Gospel, for the Lord had shown unto them that the Gospel in its fullness and purity did not exist in the Catholic and Protestant systems of so-called Christianity. The ministration of heavenly beings had been renewed, and during the entire lifetime of Joseph Smith he was the recipient of messages from the eternal worlds.

Persecution arose, and bitter opposition was arrayed against the Church. The Prophet was at times waylaid by wicked men, and sometimes arrested upon unfounded, trumped-up charges. From all these he was delivered until the time came for him to offer his life as a martyr.

In the fall of 1830 Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt, John Whitmer and Ziba Peterson were called to carry the Gospel to the Indians (Lamanites), located in what was then the western wilds of these United States. Near Kirtland, Ohio, they met Sidney Rigdon and other followers of Alexander Campbell. The Elders presented to them the restored Gospel, with the Book of Mormon. Many of them received the truth, and the town of Kirtland became a gathering place for the Saints. Joseph Smith, the Prophet, removed to that point, and the Church as a body was chiefly located there as early as 1831.

In the meantime the future site of the chief city of Zion was designated by revelation to the Prophet, dedicated and set apart for the gathering of the Saints. In 1832 the first periodical in the Church was published, the Evening and Morning Star, at Independence, Missouri. The press and property of this publication were subsequently destroyed by a mob. Persecution in Missouri became very bitter. Many of the Saints were treated with bodily violence, their houses and property destroyed by fire and themselves expelled from the county by armed mobs.

During this time Kirtland was being built up. The Lord required the Saints to build a temple, in which to receive sacred ordinances for the salvation of the living and the dead. To this labor they devoted their energies, and notwithstanding their poverty the temple was completed and ready for dedication in March, 1836. Joseph Smith, the Prophet, translated by inspiration the New Testament, completing the work Feb. 2, 1833. Five months later he finished the translation of the Old Testament, so far as the Lord indicated the necessity of so doing. The Latter-day Saints' Messenger and Advocate was published in Kirtland. The Church, though organized by the authority of the apostleship, did not contain sufficient adherents at first to organize the councils of the priesthood, so as time went on and numbers increased, the Lord would indicate when and how to organize these quorums. The quorum of High Priests was organized in Kirtland, March 18, 1833. The Presidency and High Council of the Church were organized Feb. 17, 1834. That of the Seventies commenced Feb. 28, 1835. Thus from time to time, as the Church grew and developed, the Lord made plain by revelation how to organize every quorum, and finally Stakes of Zion and branches thereof and branches scattered abroad.

On Aug. 17, 1835, the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, containing the revelations of the Lord to the Church up to that date, was accepted as a rule of faith and practice. Between that date and the martyrdom of the Prophet many revelations were given, but owing to the poverty and unsettled condition of the Church all of them were not published until subsequent to the decease of the Prophet. During the troubles in Missouri, a body of men called "Zion's Camp" left Kirtland May 5, 1834, to carry supplies and relieve the distress of their co-religionists, who had been exiled from their homes in Independence, Missouri. They performed the arduous journey on foot, through the wildernesses of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, accomplished their mission and returned to Ohio.

Early in the year 1836 the ordinances of blessing and anointing were attended to in the Kirtland temple, and that sacred edifice was dedicated to the Lord March 27, 1836. In the temple the gifts of the Holy Ghost were poured out in abundance. Many saw visions. The Savior, Moses, Elias and Elijah appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. Previous to this, Joseph's first visit was a personal visit of the Father and the Son. Again on Feb. 16, 1832, the Savior appeared to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, and revealed to them the glories of the celestial, terrestrial and telestial worlds, and the suffering and condemnation of these who are unworthy a kingdom of glory. In 1837, during the financial panic, a great apostasy took place in Kirtland, which involved the standing of several of the Twelve Apostles. Persecution raged in Missouri.

Elders Kimball, Hyde and Richards introduced the Gospel into England and performed their first baptism July 30th, 1837, in the river Ribble. From that time until the present date a prosperous mission has been conducted in Great Britain. Thousands have joined the Church in that land and gathered to Zion. Subsequently John Taylor introduced the Gospel into France, and with others, into Germany; Erastus Snow into Scandinavia, and Lorenzo Snow into Italy; and from these countries, especially Germany and Scandinavia, thousands have come to swell the ranks of the Latter-day Saints. Into each of these tongues, and others, the Book of Mormon has been translated in fulfillment of prophecy.

The Gospel continued to spread in Canada, where it had been introduced by Parley P. Pratt, also in the United States and Europe. Persecution raged in Ohio and Missouri. The Saints as a body left Kirtland July 6th, 1838, for Missouri, chiefly locating at Far West, Caldwell county. In the fall of that year, Apostle David W. Patten fell a martyr at the hands of a mob on Crooked river; Joseph, Hyrum and others had been sent to prison without trial or conviction; yet the work prospered and spread abroad. During these sore trials, when death to the Prophet and others appeared inevitable, he prophesied their safe deliverance from the mob in Missouri.

While Joseph and Hyrum were yet in prison, Presidents Young and Kimball led the suffering Saints to Illinois, where they established the famed city of Nauvoo. To that point Joseph and his brethren made their escape and enjoyed a brief respite from mobocracy. The Prophet predicted, however, that Nauvoo would not be a resting place of the Saints for a great length of time. In keeping with this inspiration, he prophesied on Aug. 6th, 1842, of their coming location and greatness in the Rocky Mountains. He also prepared an expedition to explore the West, but died a martyr before its consummation.