Abner Cole printed this in the October 28, 1829 edition of the Palmyra Reflector:
KNIPPERDOLINGS. -- a denomination in the sixteenth century, so called from Bertrand Knipperdoling, who taught that the righteous before the day of Judgment , should have a monarchy on earth and the wicked be destroyed, that men are not justified by their faith in Christ; that there is no original sin; that infants ought not to be baptized, and that immersion is the only mode of baptism; that every one has the authority to preach and administer the sacraments; that men are not obliged to pay respect to magistrates; that all things ought to be in common, and that it is lawful to marry many wives. ~Wednesday, October 28, 1829.
Fascinating, huh?
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door; Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors. One focal point in a random world can change your direction: One step where events converge may alter your perception.
Indeed. Knipperdoling deserves a seat on the Early Modern English ghost committee on those qualifications alone.
Seriously, though, grindael, thanks. You do an amazing job of setting the full scene for the unfolding of historical events. in my opinion, Joseph Smith was a pretty amazing mimic, and he certainly had plenty of material to work with.
Smith had a smorgasbord of freakdom to pick from. Kind of a like a new guru showing up in California in the early 60s. Really, CA has been that way since the 19th century. It's like there was a NY-CA transmission belt of weirdness and woo.
I don't know why Cole published that then, except that I think he was struck by the similarities in the Book of Mormon and perhaps from word of mouth. It's word for word from the entry. He did publish another on Joanna Southcott, but I'm not sure if he got that from the same source.
The parallels to the Anabaptists are simply striking. Cole may have known that the Book of Mormon decried polygamy, but that's debatable, he surely knew later. What struck me is how early this is, there wasn't even a hint of a church being formed yet, but who knows what kind of inside information Cole had that we may never have heard of?
This was before they went to Ohio and fell in with the "common stock" families there.
It would only be two years later that Ezra Booth would claim that Joseph could act like King David and have a man killed for his wife and it would not hurt his prophetic standing, and some would be claiming that Smith and Rigdon were claiming that adultery was no crime.
George Smith (I was told after finding this - I had forgotten) does a whole chapter on the Anabaptists in his book Mormon Polygamy.
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door; Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors. One focal point in a random world can change your direction: One step where events converge may alter your perception.
I just found a letter published in a newspaper written by Sidney Rigdon from Liberty Jail on Jan. 1, 1839, and it's very interesting, and is his take on the events that happened with David Patten, etc. I've only ever seen the first two paragraphs of it, and there is no date. I'm looking to see if anyone else has ever found the whole letter. So far, I'm coming up empty.
Note: This open letter was apparently written by Sidney Rigdon between Nov. 30, 1838, when he was first confined at Liberty Jail, and Feb. 5, 1839, when he managed to escape. The wording sounds as if it may have been derived from his Jan. 25th plea for a writ of habeas corpus, as presented before the Clay County Court at the beginning of 1839.
Last edited by Guest on Wed Jan 02, 2019 4:52 am, edited 3 times in total.
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door; Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors. One focal point in a random world can change your direction: One step where events converge may alter your perception.
Cole may have known that the Book of Mormon decried polygamy, but that's debatable, he surely knew later. What struck me is how early this is, there wasn't even a hint of a church being formed yet, but who knows what kind of inside information Cole had that we may never have heard of?
What is the timing on the publication of this information on Anabaptists relative to the Book of Pukei stuff?
ETA: Like 10 months before he Book of Pukei? Hmmm. This COULD be a very significant find, grindael.
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
“The ‘New-Jerusalem Reflector’ states that the building of the TEMPLE OF NEPHI is to be commenced about the beginning of the first year of the Millennium. Thousands are already flocking to the standard of Joseph the Prophet. The Book of Mormon is expected to astonish the natives!!”
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
It's very interesting what you can find when you dig around... now who would have thought there were articles like this being reported in 1838? And what does this say about the Mormon version of what was going on?
Where is all the reporting about Joseph being condemned to be shot? Only in Mormon accounts.
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door; Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors. One focal point in a random world can change your direction: One step where events converge may alter your perception.
Temple of Nephi? Martin Harris running his mouth...
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door; Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors. One focal point in a random world can change your direction: One step where events converge may alter your perception.
