History
Is the Church Running Scared? (Plus Elizabeth Smart Notes)
The LDS Church has been subject to increasing leaks and protests lately. MormonLeaks has been publishing internal documents (some mundane, some embarrassing), and some people have been sneaking cameras into church to record Protest-imonies. Apparently Jeremy Runnells and Sam Young have had excommunication proceedings posted online as well. Is the LDS Church becoming even more […]
Baptist Church Problems with Race
Mormons have long had a problem with race regarding the ban that resulted in blacks being denied priesthood and temple blessings until 1978. Mormons aren’t the only ones with racial problems though. According to Wikipedia, In May 1845, the Baptist congregations in the United States split over slavery and missions. The Home Mission Society prevented slaveholders from […]
100 Most Important Events in Church History
I was pleased to receive a review copy of What You Didn’t Know About the 100 Most Important Events in Church History by Casey Paul Griffiths, Susan Easton Black, and Mary Jane Woodger. It’s the perfect coffee table book, describing 100 events in LDS church history in about 3 page chunks. It’s easy to read, […]
Gays & the 2nd Article of Faith
There was an interview released last week where Paul Reeve admitted being the source behind the Race & Priesthood essay at LDS.org. While I think that was a nice scoop, there was another part of that interview that I think is very important and may have gotten lost in the headline. I have been very vocal […]
Awesome Interviews for #BlackHistoryMonth
As many of you know, one of my favorite topics has been the priesthood and temple ban on black church members. There’s a new podcast called Gospel Tangents I want to HIGHLY recommend. Here are some of my favorite quotes so far in interviews with Dr. Paul Reeve, a history professor at the University of […]
The LDS Church in Ghana
Many of you are familiar with the story documented by Greg Prince in his biography of David O. McKay where blacks in Nigeria discovered the Book of Mormon and asked for missionaries in the 1960s. Nigeria wasn’t the only place; Dr. Emmanuel Abu Kissi has documented a similar history in Ghana in his book Walking […]
Doctrinal History of Vicarious Work
A friend asked me about the doctrinal history of why Mormons, and specifically Joseph Smith, came up with the doctrine of baptism of the dead, and vicarious ordinances. He noted that in Elder Bednar’s 2011 General Conference talk, Bednar tied vicarious work not only with the visit of Elijah to Joseph Smith in the Kirtland […]
Was the Revolution a Mistake?
Monday July 4 is Independence Day in America. I came across an interesting (heretical) point of view: 3 reasons the American Revolution was a mistake. Dylan Matthews argues that “the British Empire, in all likelihood, would have abolished slavery earlier than the US did, and with less bloodshed.” “Independence was bad for Native Americans”, and […]
Does D&C 132 support Polyandry?
This past week, we’ve discussed polyandry–the idea that a woman can have multiple husbands. (Polygyny is the concept where a husband can have multiple wives. Polygamy encompasses both polygyny and polyandry.) The reason this came up was due to a presentation I attended at the Mormon History Association meetings. Many people have charged that Josephine’s mother […]
Mormon Heretic 