KnoWhy #453 - How Are Oliver Cowdery’s Messenger and Advocate Letters to Be Understood and Used? (Mormon 6:6)

In late 1834 to early 1835 Oliver Cowdery wrote a series of letters for the Mormon newspaper the Messenger and Advocate. In these letters he describes important events relative to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the early history of Joseph Smith. While Oliver's letters are an important historical resource, and while they capture Oliver's deeply moving testimony of the Book of Mormon, they must be used cautiously in in reconstructing the early history of the Restoration or attempting to solve issues of Book of Mormon geography.