Mormon History

Biography of Joseph Smith as written by his mother, Lucy Mack Smith. Shortly following the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, and into 1845, Lucy Mack Smith dictated her recollections and family story to Nauvoo schoolteacher Martha Jane Coray. Coray worked with her husband to compile these books of notes and other sources into a manuscript, which was then copied. Although surrounded by a great deal of controversy when first published by Orson Pratt in 1853, it was later published by the Church under the direction of Joseph F. Smith. It has been called "one of the essential sources for Mormon origins" by Richard L. Anderson, and in the words of Leonard Arrington it "perhaps tells more about Mormon origins than any other single source."

This three-and-a-half-hour audiobook offers a faithful retelling of the Hofmann forgeries, and their impact on the progressive rewriting of Latter-Day Saint history. Why did new Mormon historians insist Hofmann’s forgeries were legitimate, even when investigators provided convincing evidence to them of the hoax? How did Bruce R. McConkie know Hofmann’s Joseph Smith III Blessing was a fake, despite authentication by document experts and pressure by historians calling him “incompetent” for questioning?

Among all the various figures in 19th century America who left controversial legacies, it is hard to find one as influential as Joseph Smith (1805-1844), the founder of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Mormonism, and the Latter-Day Saint movement. Revered as a prophet on the level of Moses by some, reviled as a perpetrator of large-scale fraud by others, what everyone can agree on is that Joseph Smith founded a religious movement that played a crucial role in the settlement of the West, especially in Utah.

In 1830, a young seer and sometime treasure hunter named Joseph Smith began organizing adherents into a new religious community that would come to be called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (and known informally as the Mormons). One of the nascent faith’s early initiates was a twenty-three-year-old Ohio farmer named Parley Pratt, the distant grandfather of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. In The Mormon People, religious historian Matthew Bowman peels back the curtain on more than 180 years of Mormon history and doctrine.

Early Scenes in Church History, is the eighth in a series of 17 books called The Faith-Promoting Series. Published between 1879 and 1915, this series of books was published by the Juvenile Instructors Office for the Instruction and Encouragement of Young Latter-day Saints. It was George Q. Cannon's inspiration that produced the series, however. In 1866, Cannon, then a member of the Quorum of the 12, began publication of a magazine for youth and young adults called The Juvenile Instructor, which he owned and published until his death in 1901, when his family sold the magazine to the LDS Church's Sunday School organization. Thus, in 1882 when the present work, Early Scenes in Church History, was published, it was a work undertaken under the direction of Cannon, with the blessing of the Church's governing leadership.

Among all the various figures in 19th century America who left controversial legacies, it is hard to find one as influential as Joseph Smith (1805-1844), the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Mormonism, and the Latter-Day Saint movement. Revered as a prophet on the level of Moses by some, reviled as a perpetrator of large-scale fraud by others, what everyone can agree on is that Joseph Smith founded a religious movement that played a crucial role in the settlement of the West, especially in Utah.

The Mormon trek westward from Illinois to the Salt Lake Valley was an enduring accomplishment of American overland trail migration; however, their wintering at the Missouri River near present-day Omaha was a feat of faith and perseverance. Richard E. Bennett presents new facts and ideas that challenge old assumptions - particularly that life on the frontier encouraged American individualism.

Dive into a compelling historical account with Female Life Among the Mormons! This remarkable book provides a vivid glimpse into the lives, experiences, and challenges faced by women in the early days of the Mormon community. Written by Maria Ward, who experienced the lifestyle first-hand, this book navigates through the intricacies and dynamics of polygamous relationships, societal expectations, and the overall environment within the Mormon community during the 19th century.

The book is a controversial and critical account of the early history of the LDS Church. Bennett's work offers a scathing review of Joseph Smith and the practices of the Mormon community in Nauvoo, Illinois. He covers various topics, including the church's political and social practices, alleged secret rites, and polygamy, which was a deeply controversial issue at the time.

In Revelation, Resistance, and Mormon Polygamy, historian Merina Smith explores the introduction of polygamy in Nauvoo, a development that unfolded amid scandal and resistance. Smith considers the ideological, historical, and even psychological elements of the process and captures the emotional and cultural detail of this exciting and volatile period in Mormon history.

The Mormon Church entered the public square on LGBT issues by joining forces with traditional marriage proponents in Hawaii in 1993. Since then, the church has been a significant player in the ongoing saga of LGBT rights within the United States and at times has carried decisive political clout. Gregory Prince draws from over 50,000 pages of public records, private documents, and interview transcripts to capture the past half century of the Mormon Church’s attitudes on homosexuality.

In the single month of September 1993, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints excommunicated or disciplined six of its members. These six individuals–some of them intellectuals, some activists, and some both–were soon dubbed the “September Six.” In The September Six and the Struggle for the Soul of Mormonism, Sara M. Patterson challenges listeners to think more deeply about the events of that month and the era in which they unfolded.

Mormonism Unvailed, authored by Eber D. Howe and published in 1834, presents one of the first published critiques and investigations into the origins and credibility of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church or Mormon Church) and its founder, Joseph Smith. The book elucidates the skepticism and criticism of early Mormonism, disputing its authenticity and alleging fraudulent and deceptive practices within its early formation.

"By a (Prophet's) fruit, ye shall know them". Do we look upon the outward appearance or on the Gospel they embraced? There is a Mormon Crisis which has resulted in 13 million active members have up and left since 2011, the advent of Social Media. Church History is not what we've been told and taught. All truth comes from God, whereas Priesthood authority is lost by cover-up, suppression of truth, and outright lies. What is the answer to this Mormon Conundrum? This is the author's 306th published work.

A brief and early account of the goin's on in Nauvoo among the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) including details on the secretive "Endowment" ceremony, polygamy and polyandry (multiple wives for the men), and an account of the doctrines being taught after the death of Joseph Smith when the saints had moved to the Utah territory.

As a born and raised Mormon I was taught over and over to study the Book of Mormon in order to get a testimony. I've done just that and what I've replicated is not what members will be happy with and will surprise those of you not of the Church despite what you may have already learned. The establishment of the LDS Church is directly linked with the establishment of this nation and explains the chaos we are going through this year, 2017.

Santos cuenta las historias de hombres y mujeres comunes y corrientes desde los primeros años de la Iglesia hasta la actualidad. También ofrece nuevos detalles y perspectivas sobre las personas y los acontecimientos más conocidos de la historia de la Iglesia. Cada relato le ayudará a comprender y valorar a los santos que los precedieron e hicieron de la Iglesia lo que esta es en la actualidad.

In Barred by Congress: How a Mormon, a Socialist, and an African American Elected by the People Were Excluded from Office, Robert M. Lichtman provides a definitive history of congressional exclusion and expulsion cases. Lichtman offers a timely investigation of the vital constitutional issues, debated since the nation's founding, concerning permissible and impermissible grounds for excluding a member-elect or expelling a member from Congress.

With the new hymnbook and children’s songbook for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the horizon, it is an excellent time to look back at where church music has been and to see where we might be going. The Song of the Saints examines the history of the hymnbooks and children's songbooks of the church, both the official and nonofficial versions.

This is a brief article that explores the early state of affairs when the Latter-Day Saints (or Mormons) arrived in Utah. The government operated as a theocracy with Brigham Young, the Prophet, acting as the governor. Trace elements of a theocracy linger in the church's structure to this day.