Mormon Enigma

Emma Hale (1804-1879) was born in Harmony. Pennsylvania to Isaac Hale (1763-1839) and Elizabeth Lewis (1767-1842). In 1827 she eloped and married Joseph Smith (1805-1844) who was the founder and prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Emma became the mother of eleven children, five of whom lived to adulthood. She and Joseph moved often and suffered great persecution for their beliefs. After Joseph's martyrdom in 1844, Emma remained in Nauvoo and married Lewis Bidamon. She died in her home in 1879.

Winner of the Evans Biography Award, the Mormon History Association Best Book Award, and the John Whitmer Association (RLDS) Best Book Award. A preface to this first paperback edition of the biography of Emma Hale Smith, Joseph Smith's wife, reviews the history of the book and its reception. Various editorial changes effected in this edition are also discussed."--back cover.

In Revelation, Resistance, and Mormon Polygamy historian Merina Smith explores the introduction of polygamy in Nauvoo, a development that unfolded amid scandal and resistance. Smith considers the ideological, historical, and even psychological elements of the process and captures the emotional and cultural detail of this exciting and volatile period in Mormon history. She illuminates the mystery of early adherents' acceptance of such a radical form of marriage in light of their dedication to the accepted monogamous marriage patterns of their day. When Joseph Smith began to reveal and teach the doctrine of plural marriage in 1841, even stalwart members like Brigham Young were shocked and confused. In this thoughtful study, Smith argues that the secret introduction of plural marriage among the leadership coincided with an evolving public theology that provided a contextualizing religious narrative that persuaded believers to accept the principle. This fresh interpretation draws from diaries, letters, newspapers, and other primary sources and is especially effective in its use of family narratives. It will be of great interest not only to scholars and the general public interested in Mormon history but in American history, religion, gender and sexuality, and the history of marriage and families.

Winner of the Special Book Award from the John Whitmer Historical Association Excavating Mormon Pasts assembles sixteen knowledgeable scholars from both LDS and the Community of Christ traditions who have long participated skillfully in this dialogue. It presents their insightful and sometimes incisive surveys of where the New Mormon History has come from and which fields remain unexplored. It is both a vital reference work and a stimulating picture of the New Mormon History in the early twenty-first century.

This 1995 book presents an alternative and comprehensive understanding of the roots of Mormon religion.

A DIVIDED MORMON ZION: NORTHEASTERN OHIO OR WESTERN MISSOURI? This is Volume III of an epic, multi-volume work entitled The Quest for the New Jerusalem: A Mormon Generation Saga, which combines family, Mormon, and American history, focusing upon how the author's ancestors were affected by their conversion to the Mormon religion. In Volume I, four of the author's ancestral families the Carters, Hammonds, Knowltons, and Spencer's and the ancestors of Mormon Church founders Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, are followed from the time they enter the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England in the 1600s down to the early 1800s. Toward the end of Volume I, the focus is upon Joseph Smith and his family, including their move from Vermont to western New York and their religious and occult "magic worldviews." Volume II takes up the narrative at about the year 1820, and involves a detailed, comprehensive, and critical look at the events in the life of Joseph Smith, Jr., during the decade in which he purportedly was visited by numerous heavenly messengers, received the "golden plates," translated the writing on the plates to produce the Book of Mormon, received priesthood authority from other heavenly messengers, published the Book of Mormon, and organized the Mormon Church. There is a detailed examination of the contentious debate concerning the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and the validity of Smith's 1820s visionary experiences. The later chapters describe the movement of Church headquarters from western New York to northeastern Ohio in early 1831, Smith's interest in western Missouri as the site for his New Jerusalem/Zion, and the conversion of the author's direct ancestor Simeon Daggett Carter. Volume III begins with a detailed look at the life of Sidney Rigdon, who played a significant role in the development of the Campbellite, Reformed Baptist, Disciples of Christ Church. When he became a Mormon in late 1830, he helped bring about the conversion of hundreds of his friends in the Campbellite movement, which caused Joseph Smith Jr. in early 1831 to change the headquarters of his fledgling Mormon Church from western New York to northeastern Ohio. A remarkable fusion then took place between Mormonism, as it had been formulated initially by Smith, and the new Campbellite doctrines, practices, and organization. In the summer of 1831 Smith and Rigdon visited Jackson County, Missouri, and numerous Smith revelations formally designated it as the site for the New Jerusalem/Zion, where, immediately after the city was built, Christ's Second Coming was to occur. The sites for the city and a temple were dedicated at Independence, but Smith returned to Ohio, continued to live at Kirtland, and made the decision to build the first temple there, much to the chagrin of the Mormons who had obeyed his revelations and were "gathering" to Missouri. This led to a serious rift between Ohio and Missouri leaders, many of the latter Smith's earliest disciples from New York. Ancestrally, the focus of this volume is upon the four Carter brothers Simeon, John S., Gideon, and Jared--who joined the Mormon Church in the 1831-32 period. While Simeon (the author's great, great grandfather) did not keep a journal, and Gideon's journal is very brief, Jared's is one of the most important documents in early Mormon history, and John S.'s shorter journal is also very valuable. Jared was a kind of religious fanatic--with utopian views on faith healing, the power of prayer, and prophecy--yet nevertheless he became president of the Kirtland High Council and a member of the prestigious three-man Kirtland Temple (Building) Committee. John S. became a leader of the Church in the northeastern New York/Vermont region and brought a large company of saints to Kirtland in early 1833. All four Carter brothers became important early missionaries, and four separate chapters document their activities.

In the first edition of The Mormon Mirage, Latayne C. Scott shared her remarkable journey out of Mormonism as she uncovered shocking inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and contradictions in the faith she had loved and lived. Thirty years later, Mormonism and Mormon scholarship have evolved with the times. In this third, revised and updated edition of her well-known book, Scott keeps pace with changes and advances in Mormonism, and reveals formidable new challenges to its claims and teachings. The Mormon Mirage provides fascinating, carefully documented insights into • DNA research’s withering implications for the Book of Mormon • the impact of new “revelations” on Latter-day Saint (LDS) race relations • new findings about Mormon history • increasing publicity about LDS splinter groups, particularly polygamous ones • recent disavowals of long-held doctrines by church leadership • the rise of Mormon apologetics on the Internet More than a riveting, insider’s scrutiny of the Mormon faith, this book is a testimony to the trustworthiness of Scripture and the grace of Jesus Christ.

An examination of women's roles, family relationships, and sexuality in three unorthodox 19th-century communal experiments, with analysis of the implications such systems may have for present-day Americans concerned with the sense of crisis in family life and sex roles.