SOURCE: “The ‘Articles of Faith’ in Early Mormon Literature and Thought,” in New Views of Mormon History: A Collection of Essays in Honor of Leonard J. Arrington, edited by Davis Bitton and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, University of Utah Press, 1987, pp. 63-92.

In the following essay, Whittaker provides an overview of the literature produced during the early years of Mormonism, focusing primarily on “lists of belief” generated by early writers.

Almost anyone familiar with Joseph Smith has heard of the letter he wrote to John Wentworth, editor of the Chicago Democrat, in 1842. He was answering a specific request from Wentworth to supply Wentworth's friend, George Barstow, information on the history and beliefs of the Latter-day Saints. Wentworth told Smith that Barstow was writing a history of the state of New Hampshire and that he wished to include information about the Mormons.¹

Joseph Smith's letter is a masterpiece of succinctness...