polygamy
The Latest Polygamy Controversy
You may think that we know all there is to know about polygamy in the LDS church. Â However, historians continue to debate the issue. Â A press release from Signature Books a few days ago let me know about some interesting developments. Â In 2008, George D Smith released a book called Nauvoo Polygamy – …but we […]
The Finale of MHA 2011
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. MHA 2011 finished with a bang. Once again it was hard to pick which session to attend. Steve Olsen, Shawn Bennion, and Brandon Plewe combined for a session titled “New Perspectives on Mormon History”. Steve spoke on how we often argue history. To bolster an argument […]
MHA 2011: First Impressions
I’m at the Mormon History Association meetings here in St. George, Utah and thought I would give some first impressions of the conference so far. Yesterday I had the opportunity to be part of the pre-conference tour, and learned a very interesting thing: Sin City was first settled by Mormons! The first non-Indian settlers in […]
Revelation that Warren Jeffs is not a Prophet
BiV at Wheat and Tares has an amazing 4 minute video of Warren Jeffs in prison stating that he “never was a prophet.” I decided to make a transcript of the video. He speaks in a slow, deliberate fashion, indicating he is receiving and dictating the revelation during the filming of the prison video. Here’s […]
Development of LDS Temple Worship
I received a wonderful surprise in the mail a few weeks ago. I received an advance copy of The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History from Signature Books. It will be released on March 24, and I just added it to my Books and Movies page. If you pre-order, Amazon is offering it […]
The Wentworth Letter
I posted my initial impressions of the Kindle over at Wheat and Tares. One of the coolest “books” I received at Amazon for free was the Wentworth Letter. For those of you who don’t know, Joseph Smith wrote a history of the church to John Wentworth, the editor of a newspaper called the Chicago Democrat in […]
Fundamentalist Mormonism: More Diverse Than you Thought
Anne Wilde wrote the chapter on Fundamentalist Mormonism in Hamer/Bringhurst’s book Scattering of the Saints. I’ve always viewed Fundamentalist Mormons like an embarrassing relative, and I haven’t really wanted to learn much about them. However, Anne’s chapter was incredibly interesting, and I learned that Fundamentalist Mormonism is much more diverse than I realized.
History of the Bickertonites
The Church of Jesus Christ (based in Monongahela, Pennsylvania) traces its roots to Joseph Smith. I previously discussed its most famous former member, rock star Alice Cooper. I thought I could give a bit more history of this church and discuss basic beliefs. Larry Watson wrote a chapter in John Hamer and Newell Bringhurst’s book […]
Sunstone Recap 2010
I wanted to get this post up sooner, but I’ve been really busy correcting final exams. I really enjoyed the last day of Sunstone, since I was able to attend all day, rather than a session here or there. Don Bradley gave a presentation titled “Dating Fanny Alger”, a bit of a play on words. […]
The Strangites: Another Mormon Group
As I mentioned previously, I really enjoyed the Strangite session of the Mormon History Association meetings a few weeks ago. Vickie Speek, John Hamer, and Mike Karpowicz gave some fascinating presentations on this little known group. Following the session, they answered additional questions, and I thought it would be interesting to provide a transcript of […]
Mormon Heretic 