Mormon Inquiry

Recently in LDS history Category

Thursday July 23, 2009

Categories: LDS history

July 24th: Pioneer Day in Utah

July 24th is a state holiday in Utah, designated Pioneer Day. It commemorates the entry of the first wagon train of Mormons into the Salt Lake Valley in the summer of 1847. They came down Emigration Canyon, somewhat north of the present I-80 corridor which comes down Parley's Canyon. Brigham Young was part of that first company to enter the valley. Due to sickness, he was a couple of days behind the lead group of wagons. By the time he entered the valley, crops were already being planted and water diverted for irrigation.

Thursday June 11, 2009

Categories: LDS history

Inoculation: That word does not mean what you think it means

In the small world of Mormon Studies and online blogging, the term "inoculation" refers to teaching mainstream Latter-day Saints enough accurate LDS history that they won't contract a terminal case of apostasy when they encounter publications or talks that use select historical events and interpretations to present an anti-LDS message. [And, speaking broadly, that also includes publications or talks which are relatively objective or scholarly with no overt anti-LDS intent but which come across as anti-LDS to a mainstream Latter-day Saint who reads it.]

Friday June 5, 2009

Categories: LDS history

Contrasting views of Mormonism

I finally secured a copy of Richard L. Bushman's Mormonism: A Very Short Introduction. Bushman, a historian, is the author of Rough Stone Rolling, the definitive biography of Joseph Smith, as well as the Howard W. Hunter Professor of Mormon Studies in the School of Religion at Claremont Graduate Univeristy in Southern California. This is the first of several posts covering some of the chapters in the book. The introductory chapter raises the persistent and somewhat puzzling issue of the widely contrasting public views of Mormonism.

Monday June 1, 2009

Categories: LDS history

Lincoln, Douglas, and 'the Mormon Problem'

The Mormon Times reports on the remarks of historian William P. MacKinnon at the recent MHA meetings. MacKinnon summarized his paper, "Stephen A. Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and the Mormon Problem: The 1857 Debate." Relying on what he admitted to be "rumors and reports," Douglas supported the use of military force to "to remove Brigham Young and all his followers from office."

Tuesday May 26, 2009

Categories: LDS books, LDS history

Emma Smith and her biographers

The Mormon Times reports on one of the more interesting MHA sessions in "Reflections of an Emma Hale Smith biographer." Both stories make interesting reading: the story of Emma Smith, Joseph's first wife; and the story of Linda King Newell, the surviving author of Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, which won the MHA best book award in 1985. Co-author Valeen Tippetts Avery passed away in 2006.

Thursday April 23, 2009

Categories: Conferences, LDS history

Dickens on the Mormons

In the Saturday afternoon session of the recent LDS General Conference, Elder Quentin L. Cook, one of the newer members of the Quorum of the Twelve, related a fascinating vignette concerning Charles Dickens as part of his address ("Our Father's...

Wednesday January 28, 2009

Categories: LDS history

Found: the lost McLellin notebook

At the Mormon Times, "Inside the lost McLellin notebook," with information about and excerpts from a newly discovered notebook written by William E. McLellin, an early Mormon apostle who was later excommunicated from the Church (in 1838). It appears the...

Sunday January 18, 2009

Categories: LDS history

Early Mormon history, in pictures

A marvelous set of maps is posted at By Common Consent. This is a fine resource for those reading through the Doctrine and Covenants this year....

Advertisement

About Mormon Inquiry

This blog is no longer updated and is closed for comments. We welcome your comments about Mormonism in our Latter-day Saints forums.

David Banack is an attorney living in Jackson Hole. He joined the LDS Church at age 15 and later served a two-year LDS mission to France and Switzerland. He has lived up and down the West Coast, as well as in Fiji, Samoa, Sweden, Utah, and now Wyoming. Dave has been running the Mormon Inquiry site discussing LDS and Christian issues since 2003. He is a website editor for Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought and also participates at the LDS weblog Times and Seasons. The views expressed on this blog are his own.

Search This Blog

Advertisement

Advertisement


About Beliefnet

Our mission is to help people like you find, and walk, a spiritual path that will bring comfort, hope, clarity, strength, and happiness. More about Beliefnet.

Legal

Copyright © Beliefnet, Inc. and/or its licensors. All rights reserved. Use of this site is subject to Terms of Service and to our Privacy Policy. Constructed by Beliefnet.

Advertisement

Report as Inappropriate

You are reporting this content because it violates the Terms of Service.

All reported content is logged for investigation.