Mormon Publications: 19th Century - Correspondence between the Rev. W. Crowel, A.M., and O. Spencer

SPENCER, Orson. Correspondence between the Rev. W. Crowel [sic], A.M., and O. Spencer, B.A. R. Liverpool, R. James, Printer, [1847] 12,4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 pp. 22 cm.

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Orson Spencer labored twelve years in the Baptist ministry before converting to Mormonism in 1841. The following year William Crowell, an acquaintance and the editor of the Baptist Christian Watchman, wrote to him, inquiring about his new religion. Crowell's letter and Spencer's response were printed in the Times and Seasons of January 2, 1843, and in the Millennial Star that June and July. At the time he wrote this letter, Spencer later reported, Joseph and Hyrum Smith urged him to "exhibit a full reply and exposition of the faith and doctrines of the Saints, being assured by them that the letter would do more good than a preacher."

Spencer arrived at Liverpool on January 23, 1847, to assume the presidency of the British Mission. In May he began a series of eleven additional letters to Crowell, which he printed in the Star and simultaneously issued in individual tracts. The following January, he published the twelve letters with two others in hardback under the title Letters Exhibiting the Most Prominent Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints -the first of the major works, which synthesizes Mormon theology and hence is one of Mormonism's most important books. Before the close of the century, Spencer's Letter's went through six more editions.

The first tract in the series includes Crowell's letter and Spencer's initial response. It is in twelve pages and has the caption title Correspondence Between the Rev. W. Crowel [sic], A.M., and O. Spencer, B.A. Each of the other eleven tracts in the series is in four pages, individually paginated, and bears the caption title Letters by Orson Spencer, A.B. in Reply to the Rev. William Crowel [sic], A.M. Editor of the Christian Watchman, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., which is followed by Letter, the appropriate roman numeral and a subtitle giving the topic of the letter.

Crowell's letter, dated at Boston, October 21, 1842, asks Spencer about his new religion, the character, personality, and religious views of Joseph Smith, the nature of the Latter day Saint worship, and the features of Nauvoo. In his response, dated at Nauvoo, November 17, 1842, Spencer talks about his conversion to Mormonism and remarks that John Lloyd Stephen's Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan influenced his belief in the Book of Mormon. He asserts that the character and conduct of Joseph Smith are misunderstood because prejudice precludes a fair hearing, comments on the persecution of the Saints, and includes a brief outline of basic beliefs. He writes that Joseph Smith is "an upright man," that he is "eminently scriptural," and that he claims to be inspired. On the Sabbath, he reports, "some person usually preaches a sermon after prayer and singing, and perhaps reading some scripture."

Spencer's second letter, subtitled "Immediate Revelation," is dated at Liverpool, May 15, 1847. Here he argues that the spirit of revelation, which is the Spirit of God, is requisite for one to partake of the gospel of salvation, and that the Spirit was sent into the world to acquaint mankind with Jesus Christ. His third letter, "On Faith," dated June 1, 1847, asserts that no man knows God without "the faith of immediate revelation," that God's will is revealed to faith, and that the Latter day Saints "contend for the faith of miracles in [their] own day." Letter four, "On Water Baptism," June 14, 1847, centers on John 3:5, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can in no wise inherit the kingdom of God." Water baptism, it argues, is for the remission of sins and necessarily precedes the birth of the Spirit, that is, the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The fifth letter, "The Gift of the Holy Ghost," is dated in the tract, June 29, 1842 [i.e., 1847]. It describes the Holy Ghost as "an embodied personage," the view now held by the Church (D&C 130:22). The Holy Ghost's presence as a witness, the letter contends, invariably follows the laying on of hands. The Holy Ghost reveals God's purposes and enables the believer to work certain miracles such as healing the sick and speaking in new tongues. The theme of letter six, "Apostasy of the Primitive Church," July 12, 1847, is that modern Christendom "possesses such a faint resemblance to that system of faith established by Jesus Christ and his apostles, that it cannot be called a likeness, or a copy, or even an imitation." Letter seven, "The Re establishment of an Apostolic Church," August 28, 1847, maintains that the scriptures predict that Christ's true church would be re established by the visitation of an angel to a young man and would involve a book, which the letter contends is the Book of Mormon.

Letter eight, "The True and Living God," September 13, 1847, argues that God is a corporeal, anthropomorphic being, whose "holy dwelling place, is literal, local[,] real and to its occupants, it is visible and tangible." Spencer's ninth letter, "The Priesthood," September 30, 1847, defines the priesthood to be "that order of author[it]ative intelligences by which God regulates, controls, enlightens, blesses or curses, saves or condemns all beings," and maintains that by it God establishes his divine government upon the earth. The central idea in letter ten, "On Gathering," October 13, 1847, are: "Before there can be anything like a true, godlike, peaceful millennium, a separation must take place between the righteous and the disobedient;" and "The righteous are being withdrawn apart in order that the Almighty may stretch out his chastening hand, and inflict sore judgment upon rebellious nations." Spencer's eleventh letter, "The Latter day Judgments," October 28, 1847, declares that "the gospel must first be preached, and then the judgments will follow in quick succession;" that because Joseph and Hyrum Smith were slain at Carthage, "the sword shall waste the blood of the nations;" that religions which are not based on immediate revelation "will not, cannot, and shall not stand." The twelfth letter, "On the Restitution of All Things," November 14, 1847, asserts that at the time of restitution the earth "will undergo an important change" and "all things that are now wrong will be set right," and death will cease. The righteous, it continues, will be reinstated on the earth, will "multiply upon it, and build cities and temples," while the wicked "lie unnoticed" for a thousand years until the final judgment.

Excerpted and edited from Peter Crawley, A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. Volume One, 1830-1847. (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, Religious Studies Center, [1997]). Item 335, p. 364-67.

Used by permission of the author and the Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University.