Editor’s Note: On Friday, May 15, 1829, one of the most glorious events in the dispensation took place when John, the same who is called John the Baptist in the New Testament, appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and brought back the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood. Today marks the 194th anniversary of that event. Enjoy this excerpt from the Church’s essay on the event. Read the full essay HERE. 

In a series of letters published in 1834, Oliver Cowdery recorded the earliest detailed account of the appearance of John the Baptist to Cowdery and Joseph Smith in 1829 in Harmony, Pennsylvania. According to Cowdery, John the Baptist’s visit was spurred by the translation of a passage in 3 Nephi that described Jesus Christ conferring authority to baptize on his ancient disciples. The two men wondered whether baptisms over the centuries had been performed by proper authority. Seeking answers to these questions, they withdrew to a secluded place near Joseph’s home to ask God. “The voice of the Redeemer spake peace to us,” Cowdery remembered, and an angel “came down clothed with glory, and delivered the anxiously looked for message.”1

The two men testified that they knelt before the angel who then “laid his hands upon us” and said, “Upon you my fellow servants in the name of Messiah I confer the priesthood of Aaron.” Though they now had authority to baptize each other by water, the angel declared that this priesthood did not authorize them to give the gift of the Holy Ghost. The angel assured them the “power of laying on of hands, for the gift of the Holy Ghost” would come “in due time.” He identified himself as John, “the same that is called John the Baptist in the new Testament,” and said he acted “under the direction of Peter, James, and John, who held the keys of the priesthood of Melchisedeck.” Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery stated that this experience occurred on May 15, 1829.2 When the vision closed, they went to the nearby Susquehanna River and baptized each other.

Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery’s detailed firsthand accounts were written several years after the appearance of John the Baptist, but both published and unpublished sources written closer to the event itself corroborate their memory. For example, a non-Mormon newspaper reported Cowdery’s claim of receiving a commission from angelic visitors just months after the publication of the Book of Mormon.3 Joseph Smith later explained that at first, he and Cowdery were reticent to share details of their experience “owing to a spirit of persecution” in the area.4

Read the full essay HERE.