The only contact usually referred to between Dr. Thomas and the Mormons is a debate held around 1842 in St. Charles, Illinois. Recent research shows this is not, however, the only connection!
- It is not generally realized that many of the doctrines of the Mormons were derived from one Sidney Rigdon, who was converted to the Campbellites at least partially by Walter Scott, the person who first baptized Dr. Thomas. Dr. Thomas was well aware of this, but whether he had any direct contact with the Mormons while he was in Cincinnati, newly arrived from England in 1832-3, I do not know. Almost certainly Walter Scott would have told him of the Mormons, who at that time were in Kirkland, Ohio, about 40 miles away.
- Thomas lost to the Mormons part of a Millerite congregation he converted in Nottingham, England in 1848.
- This may have prompted Dr. Thomas to publish a 24-page broadside in England in 1849, in which he directly attacked the Mormons. (This pamphlet is not listed nor referred to anywhere in our literature that I know of!)
- Thomas castigated the Mormons in several articles in the Herald from 1851 to 1861.
- Thomas and his followers were lumped together with the Mormons, at least in the minds of those who tried to maintain Campbellism in the early 1850’s.
- On his last visit to England in 1870, just before his death, the Mormons directly confronted Dr. Thomas at one of his lectures.
It therefore seems appropriate to look at the early similarities — and differences — between the Mormons and the doctrines being developed by Dr. Thomas, and the points of contact between them. We will also discuss the apparently unknown work about the Mormons, written by Dr. Thomas in 1849. (It was published before Elpis Israel.)
Sidney Rigdon – Campbellite, then prominent Mormon
As is often the case, the Campbellites and the Mormons have quite different views of Sidney Rigdon. The Mormons claim he was prominent in founding the Campbellites, but the Campbellites regard him with sadness as a one-time minister who defected to Mormonism. It seems clear that, although a Campbellite for some time prior to his public conversion to Mormonism in November, 1830, he was strongly influenced by Alexander Campbell and Walter Scott, and not vice versa.
Rigdon was born in 1793 in Pennsylvania, and had little schooling prior to his taking up residence with a Baptist preacher in Ohio in 1819. Soon after, he became converted to Campbellism through the influence of Adamson Bentley, whose sister-in-law he married. After a brief spell in charge of a congregation in Pittsburgh, he returned to Ohio, preaching a gospel of restoration and proclaiming the imminence of the millennium. Although definitely a Campbellite in 1828, he fell out with Campbell over Rigdon’s views on the necessity for Christian communism, or the sharing of all material possessions. In the fall of 1830 when he and his congregation in Kirkland, Ohio joined the Mormons, he had already mostly separated from Campbellism.
From 1830 until the assassination of Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism, Rigdon played a major role in his new church. He engaged in extensive preaching and writing, organized the church hierarchy, and was appointed counselor and spokesman for Smith and the entire church. He eventually followed Smith to Nauvoo, Illinois, but differed increasingly from him. Rigdon did not accept the secret practice of polygamy that Smith introduced, probably because of the reaction of his daughter to Smith’s proposal to make her one of his “spiritual wives.” Rigdon left Nauvoo in June, 1844, only to return after the death of Joseph Smith later that year. He hoped to be selected as “Guardian” of the church, basing his claim on a vision he had. He was, however, outmaneuvered by Brigham Young and others, and was put up for public trial, charged with the determination to “rule or ruin the church.” He was convicted in absentia, it being moved that “he be cut off from the church and delivered over to the buffetings of Satan until he repent.”
He then tried to lead a small group of dissident Mormons, but this was not very successful, and he died in Allegheny County, New York in 1876 at the age of 83.
Dr. Thomas’ opinion of Sidney Rigdon’s role in the book of Mormon
To the end of his days, Rigdon denied any hand in the creation of the Book of Mormon. However, Dr. Thomas assumed Rigdon had taken a novel of Solomon Spaulding, written around 1810, and reworked it into the Book of Mormon. You can find Dr. Thomas’ views in the “Herald” of 1860, where he commented on a book written by Walter Scott (p. 66):
“Thus Mormonism is the natural offspring of Campbellism, as proved in Mr. Scott’s Evangelist…he tells us that ‘The Mormon impostor came into furtive possession of his method of advocating the gospel, and made to himself a numerous people.’ Messrs. Scott and Campbell’s associate, Sidney Rigdon, seceded from their leadership, and formed partnership with Joe Smith for a speculation of their own. They grafted Mr. Scott’s ‘ancient gospel’ upon the Rev. Mr. Spaulding’s Book of Mormon; and boldly offered the Holy Spirit in its gifts to all who would be baptized for remission of sins, and join them.”
Dr. Thomas’ grounds for this belief appear later in this article.
Dr. Thomas debates a Mormon elder in 1842
Dr. Thomas was a well-known religious figure in St. Charles, Illinois in 1842, and was very friendly with two elders of the Universalist Church in town. He was therefore asked to occupy their pulpit in the frequent absence of their preacher. Some others in the congregation were not so pleased, and indirectly attacked Dr. Thomas by inviting a Mormon elder from Nauvoo, Illinois, about 100 miles away, to preach to them. As is not surprising in light of Rigdon’s influence, “he did not preach from Joe’s book (Joseph Smith’s Book of Mormon), but read a chapter of the Bible and then discoursed in the words and statements of Mr. Campbell.” The elder also “advocated the pre-millennial advent of Jesus in power and glory in 1847, and proclaimed baptism for the remission of sins.” However, his Mormonism leaked out in a concluding remark to the effect that baptism was not valid unless administered by an “official of the true church” (i.e. the Mormon Church). Dr. Thomas rose among the audience of 200, and asked whether he fellowshipped Joe Smith. The elder evaded the question, but a debate on the subject of Mormonism was later arranged. During it, Dr. Thomas “criticized its (the Book of Mormon) wretched English, and comparing its assertions with the Bible, pointed out its flat contradictions of Bible truth.” The result was apparently a victory for Dr. Thomas. It is interesting that the audience for the debate is given as around 500, which was larger than the total number of inhabitants of the town at that time.
At the end of the debate, the Mormon elder became abusive, denouncing Dr. Thomas as an infidel, a heathen, and a devil. At this, the doctor declined any further dealings with his antagonist, but the elder then apologized for his vulgarity. The Mormon elder subsequently asked for a collection to defray his expenses. It is perhaps reflective of the opinion the audience held of the elder that the amount collected amounted to “75 cents and an old button.” (This account of the debate differs slightly from that given by Robert Roberts, as it is based on Dr. Thomas’ writings, recently re-discovered.)
The Mormons trouble Dr. Thomas in Nottingham, England
The next recorded collision between the Mormons and Dr. Thomas appears after he laid the truth before a Milletite church of about 100 in Nottingham, England. The Millerites had been disappointed when the Lord failed to appear in 1844, as William Miller had predicted in the early 1840’s. (The influence the Millerites had on Dr. Thomas, and vice versa, will be dealt with in a different article, God willing.) Dr. Thomas and the Millerites had quite a close relationship in England during his first visit, from 1848 to 1850. He wrote about a disappointing episode when a number of his converts from Millerism defected to the Mormons, around August, 1848 (Herald, 1852, p 158):
“They saw that they were in error, but did not see into the truth…About twenty were entrapped by the Mormons, whose earthly and sensual dogmas suited their natures best…”
It is worth pointing out that the Mormons devoted much of their energies to the British Isles at this time, with the result that in 1851 there were 50,000 Mormons in England and Wales, but only 13,000 in Utah!
Dr. Thomas’ pamphlet against the Mormons
It will surprise most readers to learn that Dr. Thomas wrote a powerful 24-page attack on the Mormons, and had it published in pamphlet form while he was in England in 1849. It has the long and curious title of “Sketch of the rise, progress, and dispersion of the Mormons, by John Thomas, MD, to which is added an account of the Nauvoo Temple mysteries, and other abominations practiced by this impious sect previous to their emigration to California…” This published work is not referred to in any other of his writings as far as I know, nor have I ever seen it included in any list of his published items. To me, it is an exciting find, as it provides fresh insight into Dr. Thomas’ work of exposing error and defending the Truth.
On the title page, Dr. Thomas describes himself as “President of the S. and E. Medical College of Virginia, United States, America.” This designation is later somewhat derisively referred to by some of his opponents. It is short for “Scientific and Eclectic Medical” according to a letter from Dr. Thomas that Robert Roberts reprints. Whether an actual college existed of that name is unknown at this time.
He wrote “We have published this narrative at the particular insistence of several of this country (England) where, we are sorry to hear, this imposture is making considerable progress…I can only account for people turning to Mormonism in England, on the grounds of their ignorance of its nature and history.” Apparently he published this broadside because of the trouble in Nottingham, referred to above.
His central thesis was twofold: to expose the actual story behind the book of Mormon, and to assail what were then the peculiar “mysteries” of Mormonism. He based the first on an account of Campbell, who starting in 1833, published claims that Rigdon used Spaulding’s old novel as the basis of the Book of Mormon. A letter was written by the brother-in-law of Rigdon, Adamson Bentley, and published in 1844 in the Millennial Harbinger, Alexander Campbell’s magazine. In this letter Bentley, writing to Walter Scott, (see above), says, “I know that Sidney Rigdon told me there was a book coming out, the manuscript of which had been found engraved on gold plates, as much as two years before the Mormon book made its appearance or had been heard of by me.” Campbell confirms this, as he had been present when Rigdon made this statement.
Dr. Thomas made his second point by republishing “An account of the Nauvoo Temple Mysteries, and other abominable practices of the Impious Sect…,” by Increase McGee Van Duren (1847). This is a strange history of seven stages of initiation into the Mormon Church.
Dr. Thomas concluded “At all events, I have discharged a duty incumbent on every man, and that is, to combat ‘all imagination, and everything that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,’ as well as to ‘contend earnestly for the faith as originally delivered to the saints,’ by the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Lumped together with the Mormons
In the British Millennial Harbinger for May, 1853, someone known only as “G. M.” complained that the Mormons had added the Book of Mormon to the Campbellite faith, and Dr. Thomas “makes the Millennial Reign the Gospel of our salvation.” Dr. Thomas replies:
“Having nothing but utter contempt for Mormonism, I have nothing to say for that in the premises before us, but shall confine my remarks to what ‘G. M.’ affirms of myself. Those who are my regular readers and hearers, and whose minds are not biased by prejudice, will only smile at ‘G. M.’s’ foolishness…This is what I understand the Scriptures to teach concerning the ‘baptism for the remission of sins.’ It is very different from the Bethanian [Campbellite], Mormon and Baptist baptisms.”
In the rest of the long article, the doctor declared his “weapons are the divine testimony and reason.” He also wrote:
“The wholesome words of the Lord Jesus are scripturally interpreted by the paraphrase, ‘He that lovingly believes the Gospel of the Kingdom, and is immersed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, shall have repentance and remission of sins granted to him in my name; and he that believes not the glad tidings of the kingdom shall be condemned.”
Thus Dr. Thomas tersely concluded, “G. M. must trim his lamp or perish in the war.”
Dr. Thomas and the Mormons -Conclusions
There are some obvious slight similarities between the beliefs of the Mormons and the beliefs of Dr. Thomas. Both originally had vaguely similar ideas on the nature of God, both believed in the necessity of believer’s baptism, and both believed in physical resurrection and the literal return of Jesus to reign on earth. However, they obviously differed drastically in their views on the Book of Mormon, the role of a church hierarchy, on the present possession of Holy Spirit gifts, the location of Zion and the nature of the devil, among many other points of doctrine. (The Mormons’ beliefs about the nature of God are very strange, though they are not Trinitarians.) Both were influenced by the Campbellites, but Dr. Thomas adhered solely to the Scriptures, while the Mormons credit Joseph Smith with translating the Book of Mormon and derive many doctrines from his “revelations.” There is no evidence Dr. Thomas came into direct contact with the Mormons prior to 1842, although he must have had some prior knowledge of them. After that, whenever their paths crossed, Dr. Thomas was vehement in his opposition.
Dr. Thomas obviously was violently opposed to the Mormons, with all their false doctrines, and believed that Rigdon was instrumental in fabricating the Book of Mormon. As our paths cross those of the Mormons, or Latter Day Saints, it surely helps us to know of the strongly negative opinion Dr. Thomas had of them — and the grounds for that belief. He confronted them, boldly and largely successfully, over 150 years ago. We need to learn from and copy his example.
Notes on Sources. The contacts between Dr. Thomas and the Mormons are found in Robert Roberts’ writings and the various Heralds as noted. The statements of Campbell about the Mormons are found summarized in a book Who wrote the Book of Mormon? by R. Patterson, published in 1882. The conventional Christadelphian position on the Mormons is expounded in Mormonism — an historical and scriptural analysis by Forrest Brinkerhoff. Dr. Thomas’ book Sketch of the rise, progress, and dispersion of the Mormons… is very rare: the copy I consulted is to be found (with some difficulty) in the New York public library.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One