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This chapter shows how the evolving narrative about Smith receiving the power to baptize sheds light on his authoritative role in Mormonism. Analyzing Mormon baptism is a great first example of how Smith used his prophetic voice to create religious authority, in which he connected himself to God experientially, defined the meaning of baptism through the restoration scripture of the Book of Mormon, and built an influential restoration narrative in which a heavenly figure directly conferred the authority to baptize. Smith eventually claimed that his authority derived from a direct, divine source: angels, as understood through his revelations. The angels who authorized him were not, this time, those with an ancient American past like Moroni, but rather beings taken from the familiar New Testament narrative. Within this context of restoration, baptismal authority was first tied to a narrative involving John the Baptist, from which began Smith’s reconstruction of Christ’s ancient church. The example of how Smith received the authority to baptize demonstrates how his prophetic voice began to build a distinct Mormon religious authority almost immediately. His hierarchical position was bolstered and he quickly offered his authority to lay believers, making the first step toward a democratic hierarchy.

In addition to baptism, a second foundational narrative that demonstrates Joseph Smith’s authority was the establishment of the Mormon apostleship. His translations and revelations called for major initiatives that required increasing amounts of commitment from his adherents, but with these major initiatives, the revelations also required a certain amount of malleability. Smith established certain forms of authority, such as priesthood and sacraments, through his revelations and then molded and reformed them through additional revelations to meet the evolving needs of his church. In doing this, Smith demonstrated his ability to control the narrative and shape his authority. As his theology developed and his lay ministry expanded, his prophetic leadership adapted. It was the malleability of his leadership that enabled the relationship between hierarchy and democracy to adjust and find stasis on the waves of change. To demonstrate this point, this chapter explores one of Smith’s most radical concepts of authority—namely, apostleship—in its nearly superfluous beginnings and its ultimate importance within Mormonism.

The documents in this chapter deal with the experience reported by Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris in June 1829. Both first-and secondhand accounts are included. The statement of Cowdery, Whitmer, and Harris, titled “The Testimony of Three Witnesses,” states that “we, through the grace of God have seen the plates which contain this record, and we also know they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us. And we declare with words of soberness than an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon.”

Around June 1, 1829, David Whitmer arrived in Harmony, Pennsylvania, to move Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to Fayette Township, New York, a journey of more than one hundred miles. With the help of David and his family, the translation was completed at the Whitmer farm by the end of June. Several individuals witnessed the translation, including David Whitmer and his sister, Elizabeth (future wife of Cowdery). During this same period, Jesse Smith wrote a hostile letter to Hyrum Smith—this is the first extant letter mentioning the Book of Mormon. This chapter also includes a contemporaneous letter from Oliver Cowdery to Hyrum Smith as well as Cowdery’s “Articles of the Church of Christ.”

The period from the autumn of 1828 to March 1829 was an interregnum of sorts because Joseph Smith was in Harmony, Pennsylvania, providing for his family, as shown by David Hale’s store ledger. Joseph “Could not translate But little Being poor and nobody to write for him But his wife and she Could not do much and take Care of her house and he Being poor and no means to live But work.” In another sense, however, this interregnum proved quite significant because Oliver Cowdery arrived on the scene. In September 1828 he likely knew nothing of any gold plates, but by the end of March 1829, he was well on his way to becoming the cofounder of Mormonism. When the rehabilitation of Martin Harris and the curiosity of newcomer David Whitmer are figured into the equation, this seven-month period looks anything but routine.

dLate in March 1829, Oliver Cowdery traveled from Manchester, New York, to Harmony, Pennsylvania, to assist Joseph Smith with the translation of the Book of Mormon. The two men had not met prior to this but begin translating on April 7 and translated at a furious pace, completing the project in about fifty-seven working days. Accounts from Pomeroy Tucker, Joseph Knight, and others offer views from both skeptics and believers. Cowdery’s letters to W. W. Phelps present the perspectives of both Cowdery and Smith. During this same period, Smith dictated several revelations that later were incorporated into the Book of Commandments and subsequently the Doctrine and Covenants.