Download or read book Inventing Mormonism written by H. Michael Marquardt and published by Smith Research Associates. This book was released on 1998 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than 150 years the story of Mormon origins has been rewritten to a point where only fragments remain of the original. This book restores much of the human drama and detail. Moving from village to village, the Joseph Smith, Sr., family lived in constant poverty. When in 1825 Joseph, Sr., a cooper, defaulted on the family's final mortgage payment, he and his nineteen-year-old son, Joseph Jr., traveled 100 miles south to Pennsylvania to join a band of money diggers on a desperate hunt for buried Spanish treasure. Following this ill-fated quest, father and son returned near-penniless to New York to face eviction. They resettled in a small Manchester cabin where young Joseph later saw angels-not unlike his father and other contemporaries-and eventually found hieroglyph-inscribed sheets of gold, which his former money-digging associates repeatedly tried to steal. During this turbulent time Joseph Smith was brought to court three times for crystal gazing, eloped with a former landlord's daughter, watched as his mother and siblings were excommunicated from the Presbyterian church, published his translation of the hieroglyphs, founded the Church of Christ, saw a potential convert forcibly abducted by her minister, and eventually sought refuge in Ohio where he changed the name of his church and its place of origin.
Download or read book Quest for Faith Quest for Freedom written by Otto Reimherr and published by Susquehanna University Press. This book was released on 1987 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of essays that portray the role and diverse expressions of religious freedom in Pennsylvania history and point to Pennsylvania's unique contribution to the rise of religious liberty in America. Illustrated.
Download or read book Carthage Conspiracy written by Dallin H Oaks and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 1979-05 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Carthage Conspiracy deals with the general problem of Mormon/non-Mormon conflict, as well as with the dramatic story of Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum, and their alleged assassins. It places the infamous event at the Carthage jail (1846) and the subsequent murder-conspiracy trial in the context of Mormon and American legal history, and deals with the question of achieving justice when crimes are politically motivated and popularly supported.
Download or read book CES Letter written by Jeremy Runnells and published by . This book was released on 2017-04-17 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CES Letter is one Latter-Day Saint's honest quest to get official answers from the LDS Church (Mormon) on its troubling origins, history, and practices. Jeremy Runnells was offered an opportunity to discuss his own doubts with a director of the Church Educational System (CES) and was assured that his doubts could be resolved. After reading Jeremy's letter, the director promised him a response.No response ever came.
Download or read book The Refiner s Fire written by John L. Brooke and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 1995 book presents an alternative and comprehensive understanding of the roots of Mormon religion.
Download or read book The Mormon Experience written by Leonard J. Arrington and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The best history of the Latter-Day Saints addressed to a general audience now includes a new preface, an epilogue, and a bibliographical afterword. "This is without a doubt the definitive Mormon history".--Library Journal.
Download or read book Ashamed of Joseph written by Steven A. Crane and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2011-03-22 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mormon Prophet and Tenth President, Joseph Fielding Smith, once said: Mormonism, as it is called, must stand or fall on the story of Joseph Smith. He was either a prophet of God, divinely called, properly appointed and commissioned, or he was one of the biggest frauds this world has ever seen. There is no middle ground. If Joseph Smith was a deceiver, who willfully attempted to mislead the people, then he should be exposed; his claims should be refuted, and his doctrines shown to be false . . . The doctrines of false teachers will not stand the test when tried by the accepted standards of measurement, the Scriptures. --Doctrines of Salvation, 1:188. Brigham Young, Prophet and Second President offered this challenge: Well, now examine the character of the Savior, and examine the character of those who have written the Old and New Testament; and then compare them with the character of Joseph Smith, the founder of this work . . . and you will find that his character stands as fair as that of any man's mentioned in the Bible. We can find no person who presents a better character to the world . . . than Joseph Smith. --Journal of Discourses, Vol. 14, p. 203. Combining their research in Mormonism to author this work, Charles A. Crane and his son, Steven A. Crane, would like to accept the challenge and show why many, even among the LDS faith, are Ashamed of Joseph.
Download or read book Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism written by Richard L. Bushman and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 1987-01-15 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The core of Mormon belief was a conviction about actual events. The test of faith was not adherence to a certain confession of faith but belief that Christ was resurrected, that Joseph Smith saw God, that the Book of Mormon was true history, and tht Peter, James, and John restored the apostleship. Mormonism was history, not philosophy. It is as history that Richard L. Bushman analyzes the emergence of Mormonism in the early nineteenth century. Bushman, however, brings to his study a unique set of credentials - he is both a prize-winning historian and a faithful member of the Latter-day Saints church. For Mormons and non-Mormons alike, then, his book provides a very special perspective on an endlessly fascinating subject. Building upon previous accounts and incorporating recently discovered contemporary sources, Bushman focuses on the first twenty-five years of Joseph Smith's life - up to his move to Kirtland, Ohio, in 1831. Bushman shows how the rural Yankee culture of New England and New York - especially evangelical revivalism, Christian rationalism, and folk magic - both influenced and hindered the formation of Smith's new religion. Mormonism, Bushman argues, must be seen not only as the product of this culture, but also as an independent creation based on the revelations of its charismatic leader. In the final analysis, it was Smith's ability to breathe new life into the ancient sacred stories and to make a sacred story out of his own life which accounted for his own extraordinary influence. By presenting Smith and his revelations as they were viewed by the early Mormons themselves, Bushman leads us to a deeper understanding of their faith.''A brilliant piece of research and writing by one of America's top historians. It is written with style and felicity, and it deals with all the difficult topics that must be probed in describing and interpreting the controversial early history of Mormonism. It is simply an outstanding work.''--Leonard J. Arrington, co-author of The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints''A brilliant piece of research and writing by one of America's top historians. It is written with style and felicity, and it deals with all the difficult topics that must be probed in describing and interpreting the controversial early history of Mormonism. It is simply an outstanding work.''--Leonard J. Arrington, co-author of The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints
Download or read book God Is Not Great written by Christopher Hitchens and published by McClelland & Stewart. This book was released on 2008-11-19 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christopher Hitchens, described in the London Observer as “one of the most prolific, as well as brilliant, journalists of our time” takes on his biggest subject yet–the increasingly dangerous role of religion in the world. In the tradition of Bertrand Russell’s Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris’s recent bestseller, The End Of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope’s awesome view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty and symmetry of the double helix.
Download or read book Joseph Smith and the Origins of The Book of Mormon 2d ed written by David Persuitte and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2010-07-27 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Just as a growing interest in millennialism at the turn of this century has rejuvenated religious debate and questions concerning the fate of the world, so did Mormonism develop from millennial enthusiasm early in the nineteenth century. Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, and a provocative, even controversial figure in history, declared that he had been given the authority to restore the true church in the latter days. The primary source of Smith's latter-day revelation is The Book of Mormon, and to fully understand his role as the founder of the Mormon faith, one must also understand The Book of Mormon and how it came to be. Unfortunately, the literature about Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon is permeated with contradiction and controversy. In the first edition of this impressive work, David Persuitte provided a significant amount of revealing biographical information about Smith that resolved many of the controversies concerning his character. He also presented an extensive comparative analysis positing that the probable conceptual source for The Book of Mormon was a book entitled View of the Hebrews; or the Tribes of Israel in America, which was written by an early New England minister named Ethan Smith. Now in an expanded and revised second edition incorporating many new findings relating to the origin of The Book of Mormon, Mr. Persuitte's book continues to shed much new light on the path Joseph Smith took toward founding the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Download or read book A Documentary History of the Book of Mormon written by and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-01-02 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the creation of the Book of Mormon has been told many times, and often ridiculed. A Documentary History of the Book of Mormon presents and examines the primary sources surrounding the origin of the foundational text of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the most successful new religion of modern times. The scores of documents transcribed and annotated in this book include family histories, journal entries, letters, affidavits, reminiscences, interviews, newspaper articles, and book extracts, as well as revelations dictated in the name of God. From these texts emerges the captivating story of what happened (and what was believed or rumored to have happened) between September 1823-when the seventeen-year-old farm boy Joseph Smith announced that an angel of God had directed him to an ancient book inscribed on gold plates-and March 1830, when the Book of Mormon was first published. By compiling for the first time a substantial collection of both first- and secondhand accounts relevant to the inception of the divine revelation-or clever fraud-that launched a new world religion, A Documentary History makes a significant contribution to the rapidly growing field of Mormon Studies.
Download or read book Bamboozled by the CES Letter written by Michael Ash and published by . This book was released on 2016-04-21 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In April 2013 Jeremy T. Runnells published a PDF booklet entitled, "Letter to a CES Director." This booklet, which is now typically referred to as the "CES Letter," catalogs Runnells' concerns and reason why he left the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Runnells has worked hard to make his booklet available to people everywhere (and in several languages) and has, unfortunately, been the agent for leading at least a few other believers out of Mormonism. Sadly, most of those who have been bamboozled by the "CES Letter" are Latter-day Saints who were blind-sided by scholarly-sounding interpretations of challenging data. In my opinion, however, the "CES Letter" creates a caricature of Mormonism. The arguments are fundamentally flawed and do not accurately represent either Mormonism or the only logical interpretations of the data. Unfortunately, the reason the "CES Letter" has enjoyed any success is that most Latter-day Saints have never been exposed to some of the more complex matters in early Mormon history. On average, the typical Latter-day Saint has never needed to think outside of the box on Mormon-related philosophical, historical, or scholarly issues. "Bamboozled by the 'CES Letter'" explains why these controversial issues need not kill a testimony. Interpretation matters. Many lay members, as well as educated Mormon scholars, are fully aware of every topic discussed in the "CES Letter" but continue strong in their faith because they recognize that there are logical interpretations which can be integrated with their belief in Mormonism. There are answers to the concerns raised by the "CES Letter," and those answers can be supported by current scholarship as well as harmonized with the acceptance of Mormon truth claims.
Download or read book Joseph Smith written by Richard Lyman Bushman and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2007-03-13 with total page 786 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Founder of the largest indigenous Christian church in American history, Joseph Smith published the 584-page Book of Mormon when he was twenty-three and went on to organize a church, found cities, and attract thousands of followers before his violent death at age thirty-eight. Richard Bushman, an esteemed cultural historian and a practicing Mormon, moves beyond the popular stereotype of Smith as a colorful fraud to explore his personality, his relationships with others, and how he received revelations. An arresting narrative of the birth of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling also brilliantly evaluates the prophet’s bold contributions to Christian theology and his cultural place in the modern world.
Download or read book Joseph Smith written by Dan Vogel and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 760 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A psychological biography of Joseph Smith presents a comprehensive account of his life, set against a backdrop of theology, local and national politics, Smith family dynamics, organizational issues, and interpersonal relations.
Download or read book Cold Case Christianity written by J. Warner Wallace and published by David C Cook. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by an L. A. County homicide detective and former atheist, Cold-Case Christianity examines the claims of the New Testament using the skills and strategies of a hard-to-convince criminal investigator. Christianity could be defined as a “cold case”: it makes a claim about an event from the distant past for which there is little forensic evidence. In Cold-Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace uses his nationally recognized skills as a homicide detective to look at the evidence and eyewitnesses behind Christian beliefs. Including gripping stories from his career and the visual techniques he developed in the courtroom, Wallace uses illustration to examine the powerful evidence that validates the claims of Christianity. A unique apologetic that speaks to readers’ intense interest in detective stories, Cold-Case Christianity inspires readers to have confidence in Christ as it prepares them to articulate the case for Christianity.
Download or read book Almost a Mormon written by Adam Dommeyer and published by WestBow Press. This book was released on 2018-05-03 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One family vacation to Utah back in 2002 changed Adams entire summer. One Mormon girl in his 9th grade English class altered his path over the following year. One book changed his outlook on faith. One true church had him hooked. Suddenly, one unexpected dream from God transformed the course of his entire life. Join Adam on his quest from Mormonism to the one true FaithChristianityand youll soon realize your own story is about to unfold before your very eyes. Youre about to meet and encounter the One True God!
Download or read book Mormon Enigma written by Linda King Newell and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Evans Biography Award, the Mormon History Association Best Book Award, and the John Whitmer Association (RLDS) Best Book Award. A preface to this first paperback edition of the biography of Emma Hale Smith, Joseph Smith's wife, reviews the history of the book and its reception. Various editorial changes effected in this edition are also discussed."--back cover.
