Did you know that one of the best selling books in Latter-day Saint history on Amazon.com was not written by a Latter-day Saint or a historian? It was a controversial book written by atheist Jon Krakauer in 2003 titled, Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, which still tops the Amazon charts (in Kindle releases) in the category “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” And an adaptation of the book was released as a mini-series in 2022.

One of the major premises of the book is that religion is inherently violent. To illustrate this premise Krakauer combines stories from early Latter-day Saint history with the story of a tragic murder in 1984 committed by two former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Now Krakauer’s work has already been repeatedly criticized as a gross caricature of Latter-day Saint history and of religious people in general, but considering the widespread reach and influence of his fundamental premise and the LDS history he chose to support it, we felt like this is a topic that might warrant further investigation.

So today on Church History Matters, Casey and I begin our multi-episode exploration of this question: Does faith in general, and the faith of the Latter-day Saints in particular, lend itself to acts of aggression and violence? What does reflecting on our Church’s history—and specifically the violent episodes of our history—teach us about this important question?

For show notes and transcript for this and other episodes go to https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/church-history-matters-podcast/

From our brief survey of some of the various branches of the Restoration in this series, a few things have become apparent. First, it’s clear that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not have a monopoly on a love of the Book of Mormon. Many of our Restoration cousins also deeply revere this sacred text, have their faith in Christ strengthened because of it, and draw near to God by abiding by its precepts. Second, and perhaps more puzzling to some Latter-day Saints, it’s also clear that we do not have a monopoly on God’s notice, God’s mercy, and God’s guidance in our Church. In spite of many key differences between us, God also seems to actively be at work among many in the other Restoration branches as they seek him in faith. So what are we to make of this? What does it mean for our Church if God is guiding others as well?

In this episode of Church History Matters, Casey and I sit down with Dr. Christopher Blythe, a gifted historian, author, fellow podcaster, and Joseph Smith Papers editor. Together we briefly overview two additional branches of the Restoration—the Henrickites and Cutlerites—and then dig into the question about how we reconcile God’s involvement in other faiths with the generally shared belief among Latter-day Saints that ours is God’s one-and-only authorized Church (and not least because we got succession right!). We each share why we choose to continue our membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in spite of other attractive alternatives.

For show notes and transcript for this and other episodes go to https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/church-history-matters-podcast/

Most of the main branches of the Restoration were formed within roughly two decades of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith. One clear exception, however, is the Mormon Fundamentalist movement. Here’s a little backstory: In 1890 President Wilford Woodruff issued a manifesto announcing the Church’s intention to submit to those laws recently passed and declared constitutional by the US Supreme Court forbidding plural marriage. Then in 1904, as a result of the Reed Smoot hearings before the US Senate and the national attention this brought to the continued practice of plural marriage in Utah, President Joseph F. Smith issued what is known as the “Second Manifesto,” which announced the Church’s policy to excommunicate anyone who continued to enter into new polygamous marriages.

Yet some Church members felt that the manifestos of Presidents Woodruff and Smith were not inspired. Instead, they saw them as weak and uninspired capitulations to government demands rather than a continued courageous commitment to God’s commands in the face of persecution. Within a few decades, those who dissented against these manifestos or were excommunicated from the LDS Church for entering into additional plural marriages began to gather on the Utah/Arizona border at a place known as Short Creek. They believed in a 1912 statement by Lorin C. Woolley, who had been courier for President John Taylor, about an unpublished 1886 revelation of President Taylor wherein the Lord declared that the “New and Everlasting Covenant” had not been revoked, nor would it ever be. This was interpreted by those in this group to mean that plural marriage would never be withdrawn. They concluded therefore that President Taylor’s unpublished revelation (and their interpretation of it) overruled and superceded the first manifesto of President Woodruff in 1890 and the second manifesto of President Smith in 1904. They were staying true to this core fundamental element of Mormonism while the LDS Church was not.

In time these Mormon Fundamentalists fragmented into various groups, including the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or FLDS Church), the Apostolic United Brethren (or AUB), the Righteous Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days, among others.

In this episode of Church History Matters, Casey and I sit down with Dr. Brian Hales, an expert researcher and author of several books on the Mormon fundamentalist movement, to discuss this fascinating branch of the Restoration.

For show notes and transcript for this and other episodes go to https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/church-history-matters-podcast/