Posted by:
Uncle Dale
(
)
Date: April 16, 2012 02:32AM
steve benson Wrote:
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> Oliver was most likely a formal member of the
> Methodist Church (if he wasn't, it would be far
> from likely that it would have allowed him to be
> their official secretary of the minutes, plus he
> sought membetship in its ranks).
Then again, I performed quasi-ministerial duties with
a Methodist congregation, while retaining my Latter Day
Saint identity. In fact, there was no much else that I
might have done, short of srrking a Methodist re-baptism
and possibly an ordination.
If Oliver was in a like situation, he might have enagaged
in all sorts of church activities -- without the regional
Bishop acknowledging him as a full-fledged member. No
matter his official status, Oliver was merely one of the
congregation in such a setting. He could no longer put on
the entitled act that Erza Booth witnessed. He was nothing
special -- and perhaps Oliver was ready for that sort of
identity for a while. I'm not certain that he was a Freemason
at Tiffin (also Jacksonianism and Masonry went hand in hand).
I suppose that the sort of social acceptance and position in
a "tribe" that he later experienced in Walworth were lacking
while he was still at Tiffin -- and Smith was still alive.
> Cowdery not only became a Methodist, he apparently
> became a good and dedicated one.
If so, then he broke every Methodist standard, by later
trying to conspire with David Whitmer, in order to seek
some special leadership status within Mormonism. I'd guess
that he retained some ties with the Methodists for his
famly's sake -- but that he never internally complied
with Wesleyan spirituality or theology -- certainly not
with Methodist piety and honesty.
> A long-time acquaintance of
> Cowdery, Judge W. H. Gibson, described Cowdery as
> “an able lawyer, a fine orator, a ready debater
> and led a blameless life, while residing in this
> city. He united with the Methodist Protestant
> Church, and was a consistent, active member. “
>
Like I said -- I could have been considered an active
member of the local United Methodist congregation -- that
is, until asked to recite the Apostles Creed with personal
conviction. I doubt that we are fully fathoming Oliver's
motivations during that period of his life.
> Joseph, on the other hand, was never a member of
> the Methodist Church since the local Methodist
> board or review there in frontier upstate New York
> refused to allow him to attend its Sunday School
> on account of his folk magic treasure hunting
> (despite Smith's desire to do so).
He attended class meetings for a while -- perhaps until
the shock of having his infant son die in front of him
wore off -- and until Emma was safe from death herself.
And -- I think that Joseph originally thought of church
polity in something like Methodist terms. He probably
had to evolve out of his early mentality, in order to
envision something like "Mount Zion" being the great
city of refuge, unto which scattered Israel had to gather,
under his leadership. A transition between 1828 and 1831.
>
> Still, Ollie and Joe were true brothers in the
> Methodist gospel--a sure sign of the Restored
> Mormon Church of God. :)
I wonder just how Oliver would have defined "gospel?"
I can sort of guess at Smith's motivations, and imagine
his development. Likewise for the Whitmers, Rigdon, Phelps,
etc. But Oliver remains opaque to my observation. Remove
the "myth" facade, and I'm not quite sure what remains to
be seen, behind that Mormon mask.
At some point, he must have felt that things were going
terribly wrong -- and that he was no longer "second elder"
of anything. Governor Harding recalled a visit to the Smith
cabin in Manchester, when Oliver was practically one of the
family. As that early intimacy faded, I wonder what was
left for Oliver? Why go on promoting Mormon lies, testifying
to spectacular supernatural encounters -- when Smith was all
the while pulling the ecclesiastical rug out from under him?
I have the suspicion that Oliver truly believed that he was
special -- a latter day Israelite, inheriting blessings that
the unrepentant Jews and unknowing Indians were rejecting.
But -- beyond that sense of wonder and exhileration, I do
not comprehend what Oliver derived from Mormonism -- and
especially so after, say, 1834-35.
So -- remove the "Cowdery myth" and what is left? A con-man
who went to his death-bed, knowing that he had fooled his
own family and Whitmer in-laws? A strange notion....
UD