Final Joseph Smith Papers Volume Published on Anniversary of Prophet’s Martyrdom

In a fitting tribute to the Prophet Joseph Smith, last month on June 27, 2023, the Joseph Smith Papers Project published the final print installment of the landmark documentary editing series. A launch event held at the Church History Library in Salt Lake City celebrated the occasion of the publication of Documents, Volume 15 of … Read more

Book Review: “Relational Faith”

  Review of Brent J. Schmidt, Relational Faith: The Transformation and Restoration of Pistis as Knowledge, Trust, Confidence, and Covenantal Faithfulness. BYU Studies. 2022. 306 pp. + xiv, bibliography, index. $21.95. In 2015, Brent J. Schmidt, a faculty member of Brigham Young University—Idaho who teaches religious education and humanities courses, published Relational Grace: The Reciprocal … Read more

Church Historian’s Press Releases New Documents Related to Latter-day Saint Women’s History

On October 27, 2022, The Church Historian’s Press, an imprint of the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, completed the online publication of important documents related to Latter-day Saint women’s history: The Discourses of Eliza R. Snow and The Diaries of Emmeline B. Wells. A media brief distributed to … Read more

A Fulfilled Prophecy of Joseph F. Smith

Joseph F. Smith (1838–1918) was the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from October 17, 1901 to November 19, 1918. On January 5, 1923, some four years after Joseph F. Smith’s death, a Latter-day Saint named Joseph Bailey Smith (1870–1944), grandson of Joseph Smith’s younger brother Samuel H. Smith (1808–1844), … Read more

B. H. Roberts and the Book of Mormon: Exhumation and Reburial

To anybody even passingly familiar with Latter-day Saint scholarship and historiography, Brigham Henry Roberts (1857–1933) needs no introduction. Those who may not be familiar with B. H. Roberts or his contributions can learn about him and his story from either his own autobiography prepared shortly before his death or Truman G. Madsen’s 1980 biography. In … Read more

Book Review: The Lost 116 Pages

Detail1

The subject of the lost 116 pages of the Book of Mormon continues to be a topic of considerable interest among researchers of Latter-day Saint history and readers of the Book of Mormon. Indeed, the lost 116 pages continue to tantalize modern readers of the Book of Mormon, prompting scholars to offer hypothetical reconstructions of … Read more

The Ex-Mormon’s Progress

Let me tell you a story about a girl named Sue from Orem, Utah. Sue was raised by parents who were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  When Sue was eight years old, she was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church.  At age twelve she became a Beehive; at … Read more

Book Review: First Vision: Memory and Mormon Origins

Review of Steven C. Harper, First Vision: Memory and Mormon Origins (New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2019). 262 pp. + index. Print: $35.00. Ebook: $14.00.   Oh, how lovely was the morning!Radiant beamed the sun above.Bees were humming, sweet birds singing,Music ringing thru the grove,When within the shady woodlandJoseph sought the God of love. … Read more