Appendix 3: “Articles of the Church of Christ,” June 1829
Source Note
“Articles of the Church of Christ,” [possibly , Seneca Co., NY; June 1829]. Featured version copied [between ca. Feb. and Apr. 1830]; handwriting of ; three pages; CHL.
One sheet folded in half to form two leaves, each measuring about 10¼ × 7⅝ inches (26 × 19 cm). According to a letter filed with this manuscript, this document and several other manuscript revelations were donated to the Church Historian’s Office in the early 1960s by a descendant of . The rolled-up papers were discovered by the Rider family in 1958, having presumably been held by the family since Rider obtained them circa 1831.
Note, [27 May 1964], in Revelations Collection, CHL; Faulring, “Examination of the 1829 ‘Articles of the Church of Christ’ in Relation to Section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants,” 87n70.
Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583.
wrote “Articles of the Church of Christ” in June 1829 in response to a JS revelation that commanded him to “rely upon the things which are written” in order to “build up my church.” The content and tone are similar to JS’s April 1830 “Articles and Covenants,” a text that was presented at the church’s first and adopted by vote as a governing document. Both texts relied on the same Book of Mormon passages and both were written to govern believers, but Articles of the Church of Christ was superseded once the church was established and was never ratified by the membership. seemed to recognize the two as independent documents by including both in Revelation Book 1, as if they were discrete revelatory texts. JS, however, did not write or dictate Articles of the Church of Christ, and it was not included in either the Book of Commandments or the Doctrine and Covenants. Cowdery’s Articles document is presented as an appendix to this volume because it was included in Revelation Book 1, written by commandment, and compiled from JS documents. It is also included for comparison with Articles and Covenants, circa April 1830 [D&C 20].
Both documents present instructions to guide believers, but the shorter document was apparently designed for JS’s followers in 1829, while the later document fits the circumstances of the newly organized in April 1830. The heading Cowdery attached to his Articles suggests its purpose: “A commandment from God unto Oliver how he should build up his Church & the manner thereof.” According to both JS’s history and Cowdery’s 1834 historical letters, John the Baptist gave JS and Cowdery the authority to one another, as well as other believers, in May 1829. In June 1829, the revelation commanding Cowdery to build up the church by relying on “the things which are written” indicated that “in them are all things written, concerning my church, my gospel, and my rock.” It was in the context of these events that Cowdery then wrote Articles by copying passages about baptism, the Lord’s Supper, ecclesiastical positions, and church regulations from both the Book of Mormon manuscript and the June revelation to Cowdery and . This document thus enabled believers to “rely upon the things which are written,” even though the Book of Mormon was not published until March 1830.
The specific content of Articles of the Church of Christ strengthens the likelihood that it was intended to guide believers before the organization of the church. Notably, it excluded two important ordinances described in the Book of Mormon manuscript. ’s excerpts from the Book of Mormon copied all the and prayers found in the book of Moroni except those for bestowing the to those who were baptized and for ordaining believers to the office of . According to JS’s history, in June 1829 he and Cowdery were commanded by the voice of God to wait until they gathered with believers to ordain elders and bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost. The history further reports that only after 6 April 1830, when the Church of Christ was established, did they begin ordaining elders and bestowing the gift of the Holy Ghost. JS’s Articles and Covenants included and elaborated upon the passages in the Book of Mormon manuscript that described the proper procedures for performing these . In contrast, Cowdery’s text omits these passages.
The text presented here is from a copy of Articles of the Church of Christ apparently owned by early member and handed down in his family. This version, which is in ’s handwriting, was selected over the copy in Revelation Book 1 because the latter is missing the leaf containing the first two paragraphs and the leaf containing the last few lines of text. Analysis of the text of Articles found in Revelation Book 1 strongly suggests that the Book of Mormon passages were copied from the original manuscript and that the document was therefore written before Cowdery finished creating the printer’s manuscript around February 1830. The Book of Mormon passages in the Rider copy, however, match the text of the printer’s manuscript. Since punctuation in these passages does not match punctuation found in the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon, this document was likely written sometime after the circa February 1830 completion of the printer’s manuscript but before April 1830, when Cowdery could have easily copied from the printed edition.
If Whitmer considered Articles of the Church of Christ to be an early version of Articles and Covenants, it is unlikely that he would have included both in Revelation Book 1. Even when a revelation was expanded after its first version, Whitmer only included one version of each revelation.
Revelation, June 1829–B [D&C 18:3]. Once the Book of Mormon was published, the prayers on the Lord’s Supper printed therein became readily available for reference and guidance. Before then, Articles provided the only accessible copy of the prayers found in the Book of Mormon. After the publication of the Book of Mormon, some of the extant versions of JS’s Articles and Covenants referenced the published prayers found in the Book of Mormon instead of reproducing the text. (See Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:72–79]; and Coltrin, Diary, [9].)
Coltrin, Zebedee. Diaries, 1832–1834. CHL. MS 1443.
After Jesus Christ ascended to heaven following his ministry on the American continent, the twelve disciples were given “power that on him whom ye shall lay your hands, ye shall give the Holy Ghost.” (Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 574 [Moroni 2:2].)
Cowdery recorded the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon from April to June 1829, after which he created a copy to be used by the printer to typeset the Book of Mormon. Cowdery repeatedly made the same kinds of changes throughout the printer’s manuscript, such as capitalizing words and changing “&” to “and.” Based on comparison of the passages of Cowdery’s Articles that were copied from the Book of Mormon with the Book of Mormon manuscripts themselves, it appears that the earliest known copy of Articles (found in Revelation Book 1) was copied from the original manuscript and that the copy of Articles featured here (the second extant copy) was copied from the printer’s manuscript. All of the changes made to the copy featured here match the common changes that Oliver Cowdery made to the printer’s manuscript: there were fifty-one capitalization changes, one instance of “has” being changed to “hath,” six instances of an ampersand being changed to “and,” one instance of “shew” being changed to “show,” one instance of “wherefore” being changed to “therefore,” three instances of “ye shall” being changed to “shall ye,” and one instance of “man nor of men” being changed to “of men nor of man.” (See Skousen, “Translating the Book of Mormon,” 110–111.)
Skousen, Royal. “Translating the Book of Mormon: Evidence from the Original Manuscript.” In Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins, edited by Noel B. Reynolds, 61–93. Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1997.
we ask thee in the name of thy Son Jesus Christ to bless & sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it that they may eat <eat> in remembrance of the body of thy Son & witness unto thee O God the Eternal Father that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son & always remember him & keep his commandments which he hath given them that they may always have his spirit to be with them Amen
And then shall ye take the cup & say O God the Eternal Father we ask thee in the name of thy Son Jesus Christ to bless & sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it that they may do in remembrance of the blood of thy Son which was shed for them that they may witness unto thee O God the Eternal Father that they do always remember him that they may have his spirit to be with them Amen
And now behold I give unto you a commandment that ye shall not suffer any one knowingly to unworthily when ye shall minister it for whoso eateth & drinketh my flesh & blood unworthily eateth & drinketh damnation to his soul Therefore if ye know that a man is unworthy to eat & drink of my flesh & blood ye shall forbid him nevertheless ye shall not cast him out from among you but ye shall minister unto him & shall pray for him unto the Father in my name & if it so be that he repenteth & is in my name then shall ye receive him & shall minister unto him of my flesh & blood but if he repenteth not he shall not be numbered among my people that he may not destroy my people For behold I know my Sheep & they are numbered nevertheless ye shall not cast him out of your Synagogues or your places of worship for unto such shall ye continue to minister for ye know not but what they will return & repent & come unto me with full purpose of heart & I shall heal <heal> them & ye shall be the means of bringing Salvation unto them Therefore keep these sayings which I have commanded you that ye come not under condemnation for wo unto him whom the Father condemneth——
And the shall meet together oft for prayer & suplication casting out none from your places of worship but rather invite them to come And each member shall speak & tell the church of their progress in the way to Eternal life
And there shall be no pride nor envying nor strifes nor malice nor idoletry nor witchcrafts nor whoredoms nor fornications nor covetiousness nor lying nor deceits nor no manner of iniquity & if any one is guilty of any or the least of these & doth not repent & shew fruits meets <meats> for repentance they shall not be numbered among my people that they may not destroy my people [p. [2]]
The extant portion of the version of this document found in Revelation Book 1 begins at this point. The preceding pages are missing. (See Revelation Book 1, p. 23.)