AboutMichael Kelley Expertise For a different viewpoint on Mormonism for your questions, try me. I am a staunch believer in the Book of Mormon and belong to another church (the Church of Christ)that is set up identically to the Biblical church. If there are things about traditional Mormonism that trouble you or you have questions about, just ask and you might find the answers from the Book of Mormon to be quite surprising. I have been studying the scriptures diligently for 16 years under the school of hard knocks... I may not have all of the answers but will sure go find them if I don`t. I`m strongest on Biblical and Book of Mormon doctrines, and am also somewhat familiar with Mormon history and archaeology.
Does your church have a web site. I currently attend the Mainstream LDS church but am very far from othodox. My wife is a tre believer and I attend for family reasons. I am very interested in the early history and the various factions from the church.
I did a litte more research and found that the "Joseph Smith - History" in the Pearl of Great Price is extracts from the "History of Joseph Smith" withi is a searialized version ofthe "manuscript History of the CHurch, which was published in the Times and Seasons, Deseret News and Millennial Star. The manuscript of History of the Church" was dictated by JS and also excerpt of his diaries and letterbooks. But the scribes also wrote much of the history themselves based on their observations. Interestingly the original drafts of the "History of Joseph Smith" was not all written in 1st person (like it is today).
thanks,
Kyle
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Followup To
Question -
On the title page of the Joseph Smith history, the subtitle states "EXTRACTS FROM THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH SMITH, THE PROPHET". Additionally, the JSH is written in the 1st person. This implies that Joseph Smith wrote (or at least dictated) the docuemnt. Is this correct? Was this written and published in 1838? Is this the official First Vision account of the LDS church? Does the church address the 1832 account or Oliver Cowdery's 1835-ish account?
thanks,
kyle
Answer -
Hi Kyle,
I will be happy to answer your questions. Please note I am ex-LDS and belong to the original Church of Christ that believes in the Book of Mormon.
The Church of Christ does not use Joseph Smith's history but I do believe he was the author of this work. There are other histories or accounts by other authors such as Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer who wrote "An Address to All Belivers". Many of the teachings of Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer went against the hierchy and Joseph Smith in the early church which led to them being excommunicated or withdrawing from the church. There are several differing renditions of Smith's "First Vision" account, I and cannot say which one is the most true.
In 1830 the church was originally named the "Church of Christ" and had doctrines very similar to the Bible or Book of Mormon Church of Christ. Unfortunately Smith being young and a novice allowed the worship of the people as a Moses to cause him to fall into pride and the persuasions of men which led to many false doctrines being brought into the early church. This, in my opinion, led to God's disfavor with Smith and the early church leading to their persecution and being driven from their homes and cities. After Smith's death the church split into numerous factions, with the Utah polygamous Brighamite faction being the largest. They have since shelved the polygamy practice but continue many other practices that are not only utterly absent from the Book of Mormon, but are even taught against by the Book of Mormon. Doctrines such as Celestial Marriage, Baptism for the Dead, a Changing God, the 1st Presidency, etc. are all contrary to the fundamental Christian teachings of the Book of Mormon (or Bible).
Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer (and others) saw these things corrupting the early church and tried to correct these things as much as was in their power to do so... which unfortunately led to their being ostracised and ran out from the church.
Today there are some 100 different restoration factions, many fairly close to the scriptures, some even worse such as ones that still promote polygamy (which the Book of Mormon bitterly condemns). There are numerous histories published by various factions or authors, each often skewed to support thier particular beliefs or agendas. Often antis will quote or misquote from various histories to discredit the early restoration while ignoring the many things that are good and true in the restoration. I tried studying some of these histories and got so confused over the claims vs. counterclaims I gave up on it.
I hope this helps answer your questions, feel free to ask other questions or for specific scripture quotes on a particular subject if you like.
I've done a lot of research on the different restoration factions and they are the closest to the Bible and Book of Mormon teachings.
One thing you might be interested in researching. Many of the original revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants were altered from their original versions as was written in the earlier Book of Commandments. Many of these alterations completely change the original meaning of the revelations and made allowances for changes that happened later on in the church.
I've met several "social Mormons" who still attend the Utah church for various reasons but do not believe in all of their doctrines. Many know their teachings are not correct but do not know what to do about it, and the few who attempt to reform the LDS church in any way are usually run out. Personally I found the doctrinal differences between thier beliefs and what the scriptures teach to be too glaring to accept, so I had my name removed and joined the Church of Christ. They have a few minor things I disagree with, and the typical human faults that you will find in any church, but have found them to be the closest to the truth.
