Download or read book Sidney Rigdon written by Richard S. Van Wagoner and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the late 1820s a fiery young minister in western Ohio converted nearly 1,000 proselytes to the Reformed Baptist Movement. As these schismatics organized themselves into the new Disciples of Christ church, the Reverend Sidney Rigdon was already aligning himself with another, more radical movement, the Latter-day Saints, where he quickly became the LDS prophet's principal advisor and spokesman. He served Joseph Smith loyally for the next fourteen years, even through a brief spat over the prophet's romantic interest in his teenage daughter. Next to Smith, Rigdon was the most influential early Mormon. He imported Reformed Baptist teachings into Latter-day Saint theology, wrote the canonized Lectures on Faith, championed communalism and isolationism, and delivered many of the most significant early sermons, including the famous Salt Sermon and the Ohio temple dedicatory address. Following Smith's death, Rigdon parted company with Brigham Young to lead his own group of some 500 secessionists Mormons in Pennsylvania. Rigdon's following gradually dwindled, as the one-time orator took to wandering the streets, taunting indifferent passersby with God's word. He was later recruited by another Mormon faction. Although he refused to meet with them, he agreed to be their prophet and send revelations by mail. Before long he had directed them to settle far-off Iowa and Manitoba, among other things. At his death, his followers numbered in the hundreds, and today they number about 10,000, mostly in Pennsylvania. "Rigdon is a biographer's dream," writes Richard Van Wagoner. Intellectually gifted, manic-depressive, an eloquent orator and social innovator but a chronic indigent, Rigdon aspired to altruism but demanded advantage and deference. When he lost prominence, his early attainments were virtually written out of the historical record. Correcting this void, Van Wagoner has woven the psychology of religious incontinence into the larger fabric of social history. In doing so, he reminds readers of the significance of this nearly-forgotten founding member of the LDS First Presidency. Nearly ten million members in over one hundred churches trace their heritage to Joseph Smith. Many are unaware of the importance of Rigdon's contributions to their inherited theology.
Download or read book I Wrote the Book of Mormon Sidney Rigdon the Confession of an Apostate written by John Clinton Rigdon and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-02-09 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1994, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland declared: "Not everything in life is so black and white, but the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and its keystone role in our religion seem to be exactly that. Either Joseph Smith was the prophet he said he was, a prophet who, after seeing the Father and the Son, later beheld the angel Moroni, repeatedly heard counsel from Moroni's lips, and eventually received at his hands a set of ancient gold plates that he then translated by the gift and power of God, or else he did not. And if he did not, he would not be entitled to the reputation of New England folk hero or well-meaning young man or writer of remarkable fiction. No, nor would he be entitled to be considered a great teacher, a quintessential American religious leader, or the creator of great devotional literature. If he had lied about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, he would certainly be none of these... If Joseph Smith did not translate the Book of Mormon as a work of ancient origin, then I would move heaven and earth to meet the "real" nineteenth-century author. Surely there must be someone willing to step forward-if no one else, at least the descendants of the "real" author-claiming credit for such a remarkable document and all that has transpired in its wake. After all, a writer that can move millions can make millions. Shouldn't someone have come forth then or now to cashier the whole phenomenon? " Let me quote a very powerful comment from President Ezra Taft Benson, who said, 'The Book of Mormon is the keystone of [our] testimony. Just as the arch crumbles if the keystone is removed, so does all the Church stand or fall with the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. To hear someone say something so tremendously bold, so overwhelming in its implications, that everything in the Church - everything - rises or falls on the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and, by implication, the Prophet Joseph Smith' s account of how it came forth, is astounding. Either the Book of Mormon is what the Prophet Joseph said it is or this Church and its founder are false, fraudulent, a deception from the first instance onward." "Either Joseph Smith was the prophet he said he was and he is not entitled to be considered a great teacher or a quintessential American prophet or the creator of great wisdom literature. If he lied about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, he is certainly none of those." I am suggesting that we make exactly that same kind of do-or-die, bold assertion about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the divine origins of the Book of Mormon. We have to. Reason and rightness require it. Accept Joseph Smith as a prophet and the book as the miraculously revealed and revered word of the Lord or else consign both man and book to Hades for the devastating deception of it all My name is John Rigdon - great nephew of Sidney Rigdon. In this book I explore the real genesis of the Book of Mormon relying on family documents and published affidavits of people who witnessed firsthand the creation of the Book of Mormon - men and women who knew Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon personally over their entire lifetime. For more than 150 years the Mormon Church has endeavored to hide the true origin of the Book of Mormon and gone to great lengths to silence and discredit witnesses and in many cases change original documents, but now that the Internet has made access to those records available to anyone who takes the time to research them, the true history of the fraud of the Book of Mormon and the rise of the LDS cannot be denied by any rational seeker of truth. The time has come to set the record straight, once and for all. My book will show the involvement that my Uncle Sidney had in the whole affair.
Download or read book The manuscript Found written by Solomon Spaulding and published by . This book was released on 1886 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Divergent Paths of the Restoration written by Steven L. Shields and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Lectures on Faith written by Joseph Smith (Jr.) and published by Zion's Camp Books. This book was released on 1988 with total page 101 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This special edition of the Lectures on Faith from Zion’s Camp Books is formatted for convenience on an eReader, with more than 100 internal links to scriptures and citations. We hope it will give you a great reading experience! The Lectures on Faith were originally prepared as materials for the School of the Prophets in Kirtland, Ohio in 1834 and were included in the Doctrine and Covenants from 1835 to 1921. Although the Lectures on Faith have never been accepted as revelation by the body of the church (and so were removed from the Doctrine and Covenants in 1921), they contain important doctrinal insights that can help anyone seeking to learn more about faith and come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. President Joseph Fielding Smith noted, “I suppose that the rising generation knows little about the Lectures on Faith. . . . In my own judgment, these Lectures are of great value and should be studied. . . . I consider them to be of extreme value in the study of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Seek Ye Earnestly. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1970.) Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has stated the lectures contain “some of the best lesson material ever prepared on the Godhead; on the character, perfections, and attributes of God; on faith, miracles, and sacrifice. They can be studied with great profit by all gospel scholars.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966.)
Download or read book Revelations in Context Chinese written by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and published by . This book was released on 2016-08 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon written by Wayne L. Cowdrey and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Authors determine that The Book of Mormon is an adaptation of an obscure historical novel. Read about their findings.
Download or read book Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet written by Lucy Smith and published by . This book was released on 1853 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Life in Utah written by J. H. Beadle and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2023-05-11 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reprint of the original, first published in 1872. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.
Download or read book Prophets and Apostles of the Last Dispensation written by Lawrence Read Flake and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Book of Commandments for the Government of the Church of Christ written by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and published by . This book was released on 1884 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints written by Parley Parker Pratt and published by . This book was released on 1888 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book View of the Hebrews Exhibiting the Destruction of Jerusalem the Certain Restoration of Judah and Israel the Present State of Judah and I written by Ethan Smith and published by Legare Street Press. This book was released on 2022-10-26 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Download or read book Know Brother Joseph written by Eric R. Smith and published by . This book was released on 2021-03 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book William Bickerton written by Daniel P. Stone and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 500 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: William Bickerton is the founding prophet of the third-largest Latter Day Saint denomination, known as the Church of Jesus Christ. Remarkably, his life has largely remained in the shadows. Bickerton immigrated to America in 1831 at the height of the Second Great Awakening. In 1845 Sidney Rigdon, a former counselor to founding prophet Joseph Smith, accepted him into the Church of Christ. Rigdon soon bankrupted his church and abandoned his followers. Unsure where to turn, Bickerton joined with Brigham Young until a moral objection to polygamy left him once again in search of a religious community. Divine inspiration led Bickerton to form his own church based on the original teachings of Joseph Smith. A visionary man, Bickerton expanded his church along the western frontier, even among the Native Americans, and kept his congregation afloat through financial trials. Yet when an allegation of marital infidelity against Bickerton split his church in two, he was disfellowshipped and his legacy obscured. Biographer Daniel P. Stone carefully reconstructs the forgotten details of this American mystic, fulfilling Bickerton's final wish, as taken from the Book of Job: "Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!"
Download or read book Mormonism Unvailed written by Eber D. Howe and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Any Latter-day Saint who has ever defended his or her beliefs has likely addressed issues first raised by Eber D. Howe in 1834. Howe's famous exposé was the first of its kind, with information woven together from previous news articles and some thirty affidavits he and others collected. He lived and worked in Painesville, Ohio, where, in 1829, he had published about Joseph Smith's discovery of a "golden bible." Smith's decision to relocate in nearby Kirtland sparked Howe's attention. Of even more concern was that Howe's wife and other family members had joined the Mormon faith. Howe immediately began investigating the new Church and formed a coalition of like-minded reporters and detractors. By 1834, Howe had collected a large body of investigative material, including affidavits from Smith's former neighbors in New York and from Smith's father-inlaw in Pennsylvania. Howe learned about Smith's early interest in pirate gold and use of a seer stone in treasure seeking and heard theories from Smith's friends, followers, and family members about the Book of Mormon's origin. Indulging in literary criticism, Howe joked that Smith, "evidently a man of learning," was a student of "barrenness of style and expression." Despite its critical tone, Howe's exposé is valued by historians for its primary source material and account of the growth of Mormonism in northeastern Ohio.
Download or read book History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints written by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and published by . This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
