Why Did Oliver Cowdery Come Back to the Church? #605

Scripture Central

Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 852 Ratings

🗓️ 30 May 2021

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

Latter-day Saints are no strangers to the fact that even the best, brightest, and spiritually strongest of them can have the Church withdraw fellowship from them. Such was the case with the Church's "second elder" (Doctrine and Covenants 20:3) Oliver Cowdery. Despite being one of the founding members of the Church and the many miraculous experiences he had with the Angel Moroni and the Restoration, Cowdery was excommunicated in April 1838. Happily, Cowdery returned to the Church and was rebaptized on November 12, 1848. What did Oliver do while he was out of the Church? Why did he return? What can today's Latter-day Saints learn from Oliver's experiences of being excommunicated and returning to the Church? Read this KnoWhy to find out. Read more at https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/knowhy/why-did-oliver-cowdery-come-back-to-the-church

Transcript

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0:00.0	And to Oliver Cowdery, who was call of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to be the second elder of this church and ordained under his hand.
0:12.3	Doctrine and Covenant Section 20, verse 3.
0:15.8	Hey listeners, this is Nick from Book of Mormon Central, and today's podcast addresses the question,
0:21.9	Why did Oliver Cowdery come back to the church?
0:27.5	After the prophet Joseph Smith, no single person was more deeply involved in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon
0:34.3	and the restoration of the church than Oliver Cowdery. Oliver was one of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration of the Church, then Oliver Cowdry.
0:38.3	Oliver was one of the three special witnesses chosen to bear record of the divinity of the Book of Mormon.
0:44.3	He personally saw the angel Maroni, the records and sacred relics,
0:49.3	and heard the voice of God, declare that the book was true. Despite all these incredible experiences,
0:57.6	Oliver eventually grew bitter towards some new members of the church's leadership and was
1:02.3	excommunicated in April 1838. A decade later, Oliver returned and was rebaptized into the church.
1:10.3	What caused Oliver to come back?
1:13.0	After leaving Missouri in the fall of 1838, Oliver traveled to Curtlin, Ohio,
1:18.2	where he briefly practiced law with his brother Lyman, who was not a member of the church.
1:23.3	A short time later, Oliver relocated to Triffon, Ohio, where he lived and practiced law for the
1:28.6	next seven years.
1:30.2	By 1842, Oliver was visited several times by Phineas Young, a devoted friend and the husband
1:36.7	of Oliver's half-sister, Lucy.
1:39.6	After several conversations with Oliver, Phineas was able to report to his brother, Brigham Young,
1:45.0	the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, that Oliver's heart is still with his old friends.
1:51.0	Over the next few years, Phineas Young served as a mediator between Oliver and the leaders of the church.
1:58.0	Phineas believed that Oliver had been unjustly driven out of the church
	...

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