The Story of the Mormons, from the Date of Their Origin to the Year 1901Linn, William Alexander
History
The Story of the Mormons, from the Date of Their Origin to the Year 1901
Linn, William Alexander
Latter Day Saints -- History; Utah -- History
One of these, John Corrill, a man of intelligence, who stayed with the
church until it was driven out of Missouri, then became a member of the
Missouri Legislature, and wrote a brief history of the church to the
year 1839, in this pamphlet answered very clearly the question often
asked by his friends, "How did you come to join the Mormons?" A copy
of the new Bible was given to him by Cowdery when the missionaries,
on their Western trip, passed through Ashtabula County, Ohio, where he
lived. A brief reading convinced him that it was a mere money-making
scheme, and when he learned that they had stopped at Kirtland, he did
not entertain a doubt, that, under Rigdon's criticism, the pretensions
of the missionaries would be at once laid bare. When, on the contrary,
word came that Rigdon and the majority of his society had accepted the
new faith, Corrill asked himself: "What does this mean? Are Elder Rigdon
and these men such fools as to be duped by these impostors?" After
talking the matter over with a neighbor, he decided to visit Kirtland,
hoping to bring Rigdon home with him, with the idea that he might be
saved from the imposition if he could be taken from the influence of
the impostors. But before he reached Kirtland, Corrill heard of Rigdon's
baptism into the new church. Finding Kirtland in a state of great
religious excitement, he sought discussions with the leaders of the new
movement, but not always successfully.
Corrill started home with a "heart full of serious reflections." Were
not the people of Berea nobler than the people of Thessalonica because
"they searched the Scriptures daily; whether these things were so?"
Might he not be fighting against God in his disbelief? He spent two or
three weeks reading the Mormon Bible; investigated the bad reports of
the new sect that reached him and found them without foundation; went
back to Kirtland, and there convinced himself that the laying on of
hands and "speaking with tongues" were inspired by some supernatural
agency; admitted to himself that, accepting the words of Peter (Acts ii.
17-20), it was "just as consistent to look for prophets in this age as
in any other." Smith seemed to have been a bad man, but was not Moses a
fugitive from justice, as the murderer of a man whose body he had hidden
in the sand, when God called him as a prophet? The story of the long
hiding and final delivery of the golden plates to Smith taxed his
credulity; but on rereading the Scriptures he found that books are
referred to therein which they do not contain--Book of Nathan the
Prophet, Book of Gad the Seer, Book of Shemaiah the Prophet, and Book
of Iddo the Seer (1 Chron. xxix. 29; 2 Chron. ix. 29 and xii. 15). This
convinced him that the Scriptures were not complete. Daniel and John
were commanded to seal the Book. David declared (Psalms xxxv.) "that
truth shall spring out of the earth," and from the earth Smith took
the plates; and Ezekiel (xxxvii. 15-21) foretold the existence of two
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account