Could a man who had been a Methodist minister for decades who was in Fayette, New York in January 1831 not have heard about the farm boy from Palmyra who claimed to have seen God and received new scripture? In fact, unless he was new to the area he would most likely have spoken against such claims or even tried to reclaim the young man himself. James Covel met that description but even before he was baptized he covenanted with God that he would obey any commandment that Joseph should receive for him.
I wonder if it was previous position to Joseph’s claims that led to the declaration that he had seen sorrows because of hardening his heart in times past. Whatever the origin of that declaration it proved predictive as he ain find the commitment plucked from his heart by the cares of the world and he ended up rejecting the direction he received to accept baptism in the restored church.
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