Mormon Life - Church History tag

Pictures of newly acquired Far West burial grounds

Wed, 23 May 2012 11:27:00 -0600

source: deseretnews.com

Mormon Life says: Pictures of one of the newest properties bought by the Church from the Community of Christ. The pictures aren't impressive, but it's momentous considering there are some 200 unmarked graves on the property. One of several historical sites recently acquired by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the site that was once the cemetery or burial grounds of Far West, Caldwell County, Mo. The site was previously owned by the Community of Christ.

It is located about a mile northwest of the Far West Temple site where the original cornerstones of the temple are still situated and visible.

Mormon history scholar discusses growing media interest in LDS church

Mon, 21 May 2012 10:05:00 -0600

source: hjnews.townnews.com

Almost two years ago, even before the pre-campaigning for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination began, Philip Barlow, the Leonard Arrington Professor of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University, got a surprising phone call from a very powerful Mormon who happened to be a USU alum.

It was Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Reid exchanged pleasantries, although the two men had never met. Then Reid ripped into Barlow about an article Barlow had been quoted in.

Joseph Smith is in 'the pantheon of the prophets'

Mon, 21 May 2012 09:48:00 -0600

source: ldschurchnews.com

In considering the character of the Prophet Joseph Smith, it is good "to transfer what we know into how we act," Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the Seventy said May 12.

Elder Jensen, recently released as Church Historian and Recorder, was the evening dinner speaker for the National Society of the Sons of Utah Pioneers Annual Symposium held in Salt Lake City. Other presentations from the symposium, which was themed "Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration," will be reported later in the Church News. All of the speakers have been involved with the Joseph Smith Papers Project currently being undertaken and published by the Church History Department.

Area rich in LDS history is now home to Church's 137th temple

Mon, 14 May 2012 10:58:00 -0600

source: ldschurchnews.com

Mormon Life says: There's a nice photo gallery with this article. In an area of the United States hallowed by the suffering and sacrifices of Latter-day Saints in the late 1830s, President Thomas S. Monson dedicated on May 6 the Church's 137th operating temple.

The Kansas City Missouri Temple is located in western Missouri's Clay County, an area rich in early Church history. At Liberty, Mo., just six miles slightly northeast of the new temple, the Lord gave to the Prophet Joseph Smith revelations of comfort, affirmation and instruction, which are recorded in Sections 121-123 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Those revelations came while the Prophet and several of his associates in the gospel were held from December 1838 until April 1839 in the "dungeon" of Liberty Jail.

Mitt Romney and Those 'Mormon Moments'

Mon, 14 May 2012 10:35:00 -0600

source: huffingtonpost.com

Mormon Life says: Click on the forwarding link to watch the video the article is summarizing. From Donny and Marie Osmond, to HBO's "Big Love," to Proposition 8 in California, to persistent -- and inaccurate -- Beltway legends about how half of the CIA is staffed by members of the LDS Church, America's Mormons have a way of episodically popping into the national consciousness.

The recent ascent of Mitt Romney to the status of presumptive Republican nominee is no exception to this rule. It is yet another "Mormon moment" in a long string of such moments dating back to the 19th century.

In my conversation with Hampden-Sydney College professor Matthew Bowman (author of "The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith"), we explore the possibility that Mormons themselves aren't necessarily the biggest fans of Mormon moments. The national scrutiny can be taxing and treacherous, especially for a community as family-oriented and averse to the spotlight as this one is.

Church restores historic meetinghouses

Fri, 11 May 2012 08:39:00 -0600

source: Newsroom.lds.org

Mormon Life says: I love this article's photo gallery of historic churches. The bricks, mortar and beams of a meetinghouse create a level of emotional connection for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who gather there. Significant personal moments in life are experienced by families in these church buildings, such as births, baptisms, celebrations, achievements, even funerals. They also provide the locale for fellowship among Latter-day Saints.

The late Church President Gordon B. Hinckley described his first recognition of the Church’s founder, Joseph Smith, as he listened to a hymn in the old 10th Ward meetinghouse in Salt Lake City. “During the singing in the service,” President Hinckley explained, “there came into my young heart a great surge of love for and belief in the mighty prophet of this dispensation.”

Mormonism and Its History—Past, Present, and Future

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:33:00 -0600

source: mormonmatters.org

Every religion has many dilemmas when it comes to its history. How does a group incorporate the idea of a God or Universal force or will that acts in the development of that group and/or the unfolding of world events when such things are not acceptable claims in academic disciplines? How does a tradition balance the doing of history for the purposes of community and faith building through the creation and maintenance of a shared story with other ideals, such as telling the truth about missteps and all the humanness and frailties that are also present in each event? Should a religion’s history be told primarily in terms of what its founders and leaders do, or should the focus be on how it is received and lived among adherents in different social situations? What is a group’s responsibility toward making records and documents public that were originally intended only for private purposes?

Elder Jensen will speak at symposium on Joseph Smith

Thu, 10 May 2012 09:08:00 -0600

source: MormonTimes.com

Elder Marlin K. Jensen, the LDS Church's historian, will be the evening keynote speaker at the Sons of the Utah Pioneers' annual symposium on May 12.

Latter-day Saint Images, 1920

Tue, 08 May 2012 10:01:00 -0600

source: keepapitchinin.org

Mormon Life says: Click on the link to view the full photo gallery. Latter-day Saints, at worship and play, in 1920.

LDS Church buys historical sites from Community of Christ

Sun, 06 May 2012 16:04:00 -0600

source: deseretnews.com

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints confirmed Saturday that it purchased 6,000 acres of Missouri farmland and three historical sites from the Community of Christ — the group formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“The Church recently acquired operating farmland and several other non-farmland properties located in Missouri and Ohio from the Community of Christ," LDS Church spokesperson Scott Trotter said. "Non-farm sites include the Haun’s Mill and the Far West Burying Ground in Missouri as well as the Joseph Smith Sr. home in Kirtland, Ohio."

Defending the Faith: A simple explanation works best for the Restoration

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:19:00 -0600

source: MormonTimes.com

We left off last week with the notion that the Book of Mormon was plagiarized from a manuscript written by Solomon Spalding, who had died in 1816. Sidney Rigdon, so the story goes, stole the work from Spalding's family and, for whatever reason, used it to set the young farmer Joseph Smith up as a prophet.

Though lacking any real historical support, this was the dominant non-Mormon theory of the origin of the Book of Mormon for more than a century. In recent decades, though, it's fallen on hard times.

It didn't help, probably, that, when Spalding's lost manuscript was found, it was also found to bear no significant resemblance to the Book of Mormon.

Church History Museum's youth art contest deadline is June 1

Thu, 03 May 2012 09:32:00 -0600

source: deseretnews.com

The deadline for the LDS Church History Museum's International Art Competition for Youth is June 1.

Out-Door Preaching: Instructions to Missionaries, April 1883

Wed, 02 May 2012 07:53:00 -0600

source: keepapitchinin.org

The following instructions and tips were issued to elders of the British Mission in the spring of 1883. They suggest to me that Elders of the nineteenth century found it just as difficult as I would to do street preaching; I’m also struck by the cautions about too-bold attacking of other churches’ doctrines, and a suggestion that the elders not be too prompt in identifying themselves. What strikes you?

The season has now arrived for out-door preaching to be commenced, and we hope the Elders will push this part of the work vigorously.

The Mormons Sit Out the Civil War

Tue, 01 May 2012 14:55:00 -0600

source: nytimes.com

Mormon Life says: A little church history story for your afternoon. On May 1, 1862, Capt. Lot Smith led a cavalry company of a little more than 100 volunteers from Salt Lake City east into the mountains. Their mission was simple: to help the Union Army guard the overland mail route and telegraph line in northern Utah and what is now southwestern Wyoming against Indian attacks.

Smith’s men, members of Utah’s Nauvoo Legion militia, never engaged any Indians in combat, though they helped facilitate the resumption of the mail in June. Still, the mission was an important one — it marked Utah’s only significant military contribution to the Civil War, and a brief respite in the Mormons’ often-tense relationship with Washington.

In Our Lovely Deseret: Where does our journey take us after baptism?

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:16:00 -0600

source: deseretnews.com

What things have you found yourself doing, year after year, on your baptism day?

Brigham Young was baptized on April 14, 1832. On the same date, 15 years later, he began a journey to gather the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the West. This journey of 1847 was to impact hundreds of thousands of lives for generations to come — it was to change the face of the country and the face of the kingdom of God for all time.

Latter-day Saint Images, 1927

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:14:00 -0600

source: keepapitchinin.org

A photo gallery of images of Latter-day Saints circa 1927.

Provo Tabernacle excavation: Work completed!

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:06:00 -0600

source: ldschurchnews.com

Mormon Life says: This article has pictures of many of the artifacts found during the excavation. They found some neat stuff! The work is completed. Excavation of the original Provo Tabernacle at the site of the new Provo City Center Temple has been finished. A team of BYU archaeologists in conjunction with the Church History and Temple Departments have been hard at work since the beginning of the year. They have uncovered the foundation of the original Provo Tabernacle dedicated in 1867, a water well and many pioneer artifacts.

"The building was integral to the pioneer origins and early history of Utah County," said Rich Talbot, director of the Office of Public Archaeology (OPA) at BYU.

Joseph Smith's account of the Restoration is difficult to counter

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:23:00 -0600

source: deseretnews.com

As I see it, the single most persuasive secular argument for the authenticity of the founding events of the Restoration isn't actually a single argument or line of evidence at all. It's the fact that no counterexplanation yet proposed for those events accounts for all the relevant data nearly as well as Joseph Smith's own story does.

If his claims aren't true, the fundamental question to be asked regarding Joseph is whether he thought they were or knew they weren't. In other words, was he in some sense "crazy" or was he consciously deceptive?

Let's take those two options in that order.

Slate on how Mormons went from beard-wearing radicals to clean-cut conformists

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:10:00 -0600

by LDS Living
source: ldsliving.com

Slate published a story today called Saturday’s Warriors: How Mormons went from beard-wearing radicals to clean-cut conformists that caught our attention. While it's an interesting rundown of how LDS culture has evolved from essentially bearded polygamists to clean-shaven business men, the tone of the article is somewhat negative towards the Church.

We like this blog post from By Common Consent, A Response to Bowman on Beards and Correlation, where the author "nit-pick's" the Slate aritcle and goes a little bit deeper into the topic.

Both are interesting reads.

For Mormons in Missouri, a time of healing

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:09:00 -0600

source: washingtonpost.com

It was just a small group - perhaps a dozen and a half people - who assembled in one of the most sacred rooms of the new Mormon temple in Kansas City, Missouri, a couple of weeks ago, but what happened there was deeply significant and will be long remembered.

It was during the public open house --the period when newly built temples are opened to the public for several weeks before they are officially dedicated. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, along with the state’s first lady, the attorney general, several dignitaries and a handful of church officials, had toured most of the building and had found their way to one of the sealing rooms on an upper floor. This is the place in the temple where members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints undertake their most sacred sacraments --the marriage ceremonies that they believe unite couples for eternity.