Oliver Cowdery - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

DrumNFeather · 06-05-2007, 04:29 AM

Whatever became of Oliver Cowdery (sp?)

I know that church history portrays him as someone who ultimately fell away from the church, but never denied what he saw or the veracity of the Book of Mormon and the Joseph Smith story.

I'm just curious to know what information, if any, exists regarding the life of Oliver Cowdery and what exactly drove him away from the church.

When my wife asked me what became of Cowdery, I immediately began to wonder if his profession had anything to do with his departure from the faith. Meaning (and not in any insulting way at all), was he one of the first intellectuals in the church who looked at what he was being taught and said, "this just doesn't mesh with me intellectually."

I could be way off on that, but your thoughts and information would be appreciated.

fusnik11 · 06-05-2007, 04:42 AM

Dude left the church because he called Joseph an adulterer and didn't agree with polygamy.

All-American · 06-05-2007, 04:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fusnik11

Dude left the church because he called Joseph an adulterer and didn't agree with polygamy.

A little more complicated than that. There seemed to be a significant power struggle with the local high council. Cowdery thought his authority was greater than theirs; the high council decided to prove otherwise.

I have never seen any evidence to suggest that Cowdery didn't believe in the main claims of Mormonism. To the contrary, he affirmed his testimony as a witness of the plates to his death, even while out of the church (which he rejoined before his death, incedentally).

Archaea · 06-05-2007, 05:56 AM

Much more complicated than that. I have cited a good FARMS article on it, and it involved a high council the members of which later left the Church. Oliver failed to attend because he could see their minds were made up.

BY's brother remained friends with him until his death, and Oliver was in good standing when he died.

Church history whitewashes the whole event, but FARMS did a good job on a tragic, and probably abused figure within our history.

DrumNFeather · 06-05-2007, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Archaea

Much more complicated than that. I have cited a good FARMS article on it, and it involved a high council the members of which later left the Church. Oliver failed to attend because he could see their minds were made up.

BY's brother remained friends with him until his death, and Oliver was in good standing when he died.

Church history whitewashes the whole event, but FARMS did a good job on a tragic, and probably abused figure within our history.

Is it possible to get a copy of this article from you sometime?

Sleeping in EQ · 06-05-2007, 12:12 PM

I have some neat and hard to obtain material on Oliver Cowdery, including facsimiles of some correspondance between him and W.W. Phelps while Oliver was away from the Church. As is true of so many people in the early Church who left, official, published materials have told a very one-sided (and basically, false) story.

When I get some time, I'll put up some interesting material on brother Cowdery.

bluegoose · 06-05-2007, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrumNFeather

Is it possible to get a copy of this article from you sometime?

http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?tab...nscripts&id=50

06-05-2007, 04:29 AM	#1
DrumNFeather Active LDS Ute Fan Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Nantucket : ) Posts: 2,566	Oliver Cowdery Whatever became of Oliver Cowdery (sp?) I know that church history portrays him as someone who ultimately fell away from the church, but never denied what he saw or the veracity of the Book of Mormon and the Joseph Smith story. I'm just curious to know what information, if any, exists regarding the life of Oliver Cowdery and what exactly drove him away from the church. When my wife asked me what became of Cowdery, I immediately began to wonder if his profession had anything to do with his departure from the faith. Meaning (and not in any insulting way at all), was he one of the first intellectuals in the church who looked at what he was being taught and said, "this just doesn't mesh with me intellectually." I could be way off on that, but your thoughts and information would be appreciated. __________________ "It's not like we played the school of the blind out there." - Brian Johnson.

06-05-2007, 05:56 AM	#4
Archaea Assistant to the Regional Manager Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: The Orgasmatron Posts: 24,338	Much more complicated than that. I have cited a good FARMS article on it, and it involved a high council the members of which later left the Church. Oliver failed to attend because he could see their minds were made up. BY's brother remained friends with him until his death, and Oliver was in good standing when he died. Church history whitewashes the whole event, but FARMS did a good job on a tragic, and probably abused figure within our history. __________________ Ἓν οἶδα ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶδα

06-05-2007, 12:12 PM	#6
Sleeping in EQ Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: The People's Republic of Monsanto Posts: 3,085	I have some neat and hard to obtain material on Oliver Cowdery, including facsimiles of some correspondance between him and W.W. Phelps while Oliver was away from the Church. As is true of so many people in the early Church who left, official, published materials have told a very one-sided (and basically, false) story. When I get some time, I'll put up some interesting material on brother Cowdery. __________________ "Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; " 1 Thess. 5:21 (NRSV) We all trust our own unorthodoxies. Last edited by Sleeping in EQ; 06-05-2007 at 12:18 PM.

06-05-2007, 04:42 AM	#2
fusnik11 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 2,506	Dude left the church because he called Joseph an adulterer and didn't agree with polygamy.