Craig James Ostler (born 1954) is an American historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and a professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University (BYU).
Ostler served a mission for the LDS Church in the Colombia Bogota Mission. Prior to joining the BYU faculty Ostler was an instructor with the Church Educational System. Ostler received his Ph.D. from BYU.
In the LDS Church Ostler has served as a bishop. He and his wife Sandy are the parents of seven children. He currently lives in Pleasant Grove, Utah. [1]
Ostler's main area of expertise is the Doctrine and Covenants and sites related to the early history of the LDS Church; he has compiled photographs from these early sites.
Along with Susan Easton Black and Joseph Fielding McConkie, Ostler was a creator of much of the material at Virtual Historian. [2]
"Lectures on Faith" is a set of seven lectures on the doctrine and theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, first published as the doctrine portion of the 1835 edition of the canonical Doctrine and Covenants (D&C), but later removed from that work by both major branches of the faith. The lectures were originally presented by Joseph Smith to a group of elders in a course known as the "School of the Prophets" in the early winter of 1834–35 in Kirtland, Ohio.
Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. was an American religious leader and writer who served as the tenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1970 until his death in 1972. He was the son of former church president Joseph F. Smith and the great-nephew of Church founder Joseph Smith.
Adam-ondi-Ahman is a historic site in Daviess County, Missouri, about five miles south of Jameson. It is located along the east bluffs above the Grand River. According to the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it is the site where Adam and Eve lived after being expelled from the Garden of Eden. It teaches that the place will be a gathering spot for a meeting of the priesthood leadership, including prophets of all ages and other righteous people, prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Bruce Redd McConkie was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1972 until his death. McConkie was a member of the First Council of the Seventy of the LDS Church from 1946 until his calling to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Joseph Fielding McConkie was a professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University (BYU) and an author or co-author of over 25 books.
Mormon Doctrine is an encyclopedic work written in 1958 by Bruce R. McConkie, a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was intended primarily for a Latter-day Saint audience and has been used as a reference book by church members because of its comprehensive nature, and was a highly influential all-time bestseller in the LDS community. It was viewed by many members both then and now as representing official doctrine despite never being endorsed by the church. It has been both heavily criticized by some church leaders and members and well regarded by others. After the book's first edition was removed from publication at the instruction of the church's First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve, corrections were made in subsequent editions. The book went through three editions but has been out of print since 2010.
John Murdock Jr. was an early convert to the Latter Day Saint movement and was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mentioned twice in the Doctrine and Covenants, he devoted most of his life to full-time missionary service for the LDS Church. He was the first mission president for the LDS Church in Australia where he oversaw the official organization of the church in the country and its early growth. A compatriot of Joseph Smith, Murdock attended School of the Prophets and participated in Zion's Camp. After the death of his first wife in childbirth, Joseph and Emma Smith adopted his infant twins. Julia Murdock Smith, who survived to adulthood, was the eldest child and only daughter of the Smiths.
Robert James Matthews was a Latter-day Saint religious educator and scholar, teaching in the departments of Ancient Scripture and Religious Education at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah.
The 1978 Revelation on Priesthood was a revelation announced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that reversed a long-standing policy excluding men of black African descent from the priesthood.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints takes no official position on whether or not biological evolution has occurred, nor on the validity of the modern evolutionary synthesis as a scientific theory. In the twentieth century, the First Presidency of the LDS Church published doctrinal statements on the origin of man and creation. In addition, individual leaders of the church have expressed a variety of personal opinions on evolution, many of which have affected the beliefs and perceptions of Latter-day Saints.
George Wendell Pace was an American professor of religion at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. He was a popular writer and speaker on religion in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and part of a public criticism voiced by Apostle Bruce R. McConkie in 1982.
Richard Olsen Cowan is a historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a former professor in the Church History Department of Brigham Young University (BYU). He was one of the longest-serving BYU faculty and the longest-serving member of the Church History Department ever.
Daniel Hansen Ludlow was a professor of religion at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. He was also the chief editor of the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, published in 1992 by Macmillan.
Bookcraft was a major publisher of books and products for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Arnold Kent Garr was the chair of the department of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University (BYU) from 2006 to 2009. He was also the lead editor of the Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History.
James Brown "Jim" Allen is an American historian of Mormonism and was an official Assistant Church Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1972 to 1979. While working as Assistant Church Historian, he co-authored The Story of the Latter-day Saints with Glen Leonard. After Ezra Taft Benson dismissed the book as secular new history, other events led to the dissolution of the LDS Church History department in 1982. Allen resigned as Assistant Church Historian in 1979, returning to work at Brigham Young University (BYU) full-time.
Craig K. Manscill is a religion professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) and a historian who specializes in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, especially during the 1830s. Among other things he has edited the journal of the part of Zion's Camp that started in Pontiac, Michigan under the direction of Hyrum Smith. He is also a sociologist who has done studies on the family in Utah.
Steven Craig Harper is a professor of church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. He was a historian for the Church History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From 2019, he is the Editor-in-Chief of BYU Studies Quarterly.
Leon R. Hartshorn was a religion professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) and an author of many books. Most of his books were the collections of stories about leaders or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the LDS Church, Hartshorn has been a bishop and the president of the Missouri St. Louis Mission.
The LDS edition of the Bible is a version of the Bible published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. The text of the LDS Church's English-language Bible is the King James Version, its Spanish-language Bible is a revised Reina-Valera translation, and its Portuguese-language edition is based on the Almeida translation. The editions include footnoting, indexing, and summaries that are consistent with the doctrines of the LDS Church and that integrate the Bible with the church's other canonized Latter-day Saint scriptures. The LDS Church encourages its members to use the LDS Church edition of the Bible.