From the Archives: Brownite Revelations from the Spirit of Joseph Smith

I was in Special Collections the other day, going thru the diaries of Mark H. Forscutt, a Latter-day Saint who left the Brighamites and became a Latter Day Saint when the Josephite movement started up. I came across an entry in which he describes an interesting encounter with one Mr. Moore, whom he describes as a “Brownite.” I’m not sure who Brown is (any who can enlighten us on that, please do), but I found the passage quite intriguing, and so I quote:

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Poll: Mitt Romney & “The highest promise to God”

Admin. Note: Comments have been closed on this thread, as the nature of the comments degenerated into irrelevant (or, at best, tangentially relevant) discussion. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and comments.

Jeffs Resigns as FLDS Corporation President

According to Tribune reporter Brooke Adams, Warren Jeffs has resigned as “President of the Corporation of the President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Inc.” All this really says is that Jeffs no longer is running the business side of things, which seems like a practical move considering his incarcerated position. I don’t know enough about FLDS theology to know what implications this has for Jeffs’ position as Prophet. Does anyone know how these positions relate to each other in the LDS church?

Buenas noticias para los Mormones

A couple of notes of interest for the ever-growing Spanish-speaking population within the LDS Church …

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A Possible Fallout of the “New Mormon History”? (And the Bloggernacle?)

In part 2 of a recent 3 part Mormonstories podcast, Dr. Ted Lyon Jr. reported an interesting remark by a prominent ex-university president about his keeping of a journal. He is reported to have said,

“He saw that I was writing in my diary while I was waiting for him.  And he said, “Oh, Ted, you keep a diary.” I said, “Yea.” He said, “I don’t, I wish I…I know I should, but I don’t. And I said, “Why don’t ya?” And he said, “Because I saw what happened to Ernest Wilkinson.” He said, “Wilkinson kept diaries in such detail of all of his doings with the Brethren,

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Romney’s “Faith in America”– A Mormon Speech?

The blogosphere is abuzz with the news that Romney has finally announced that he will be giving his long-awaited, much-anticipated “Mormon Speech” this Thursday at the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas. Thus, the question is no longer “Will Romney give the speech?” or “When will he give the speech?” but “What will he say?” and further, is it actually going to be a “Mormon” speech? The speech, titled “Faith in America,” leaves Romney open to spe

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From the Archives: “We Have a Company of Danites in these Times”

The summer and fall of 1838 were times of increasing tensions both within and without the Church. Internal dissent originating in the Kirtland banking crisis of late 1837 bled into 1838, and Missourian opposition to the increasing Mormon population in northern Missouri was rising to a boiling point. During the ensuing months, these tensions led to the outbreak of violence between Mormons and non-Mormons, a conflict in which neither side was guiltless, and one that resulted in the expulsion of the Latter-day Saints from Missouri in winter 1838-1839. Any discussion of Mormon vigilantism during this period must be framed within the context of what historian William G. Hartley [following Juanita Brooks] has called war hysteria.[1]

In June 1838 Mormon vigilantes formed an extralegal organization that came to be known as the Danites, apparently with the full knowledge and support of Church leaders Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon. Scholars have suggested that the

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From the Archives: “The Impropriety of the Organization of Bands or Companies”

While in Liberty Jail, Joseph had a lot of time to meditate upon his latest year’s experiences. The Church had been forced from Ohio, some of his closest friends had turned on him, and now his followers were being expelled from the state of Missouri. After spending four months in prison, he reflects on many of these topics in a letter dictated to the rest of the church. Full of emotion, struggle, and comfort, this letter has become famous among LDS circles, and parts of it were extracted to form three revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants. However, while going over it again recently, a portion which was not canonized caught my attention

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A Mormon Megachurch? Or where is Truman O. Angell when you need him?

In the last few weeks, I have been reminded of my disdain for modern Mormon architecture.  Watching the First Presidency Christmas Devotional at the LDS Conference Center earlier this evening was the latest of these reminders.  In contrast to 19th-century Mormon meeting halls (like this one I attended Stake Conference at last month) that were hand-crafted, relatively ornate, and aesthetically appealing, today’s cookie-cutter chapels (and an increasing number of temples) seem to have efficiency as their chief aim.

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Disgusted with Darwin, but Bacon’s okay–mostly

I was up at Church Archives recently and while waiting for the items I had requested to be pulled, I began browsing the shelves and noticed a volume of Darwin’s Descent of Man. I pulled it down off the shelf. It looked like an older copy, with marbleized paper for flyleaves. The title page revealed that it was an 1897 edition, printed by D. Appleton and Company. I opened it up to the first blank page and found stamped in purple ink: “Joseph F. Smith Jr.” Hopeful that I might find some good marginalia, I began flipping through. I was not disappointed. There was commentary on several pages–and it was characteristically Joseph Fielding Smith. “Argument of a fool!” he wrote in the margin of one page. “Booh!” on another. “Wrong again!” he wrote next to Darwin’s assertion that

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