History of the Church (Joseph Smith)

Last updated

History of the Church (cited as HC) (originally entitled History of Joseph Smith; first published under the title History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; nicknamed Documentary History of the Church or DHC) is a semi-official history of the early Latter Day Saint movement during the lifetime of founder Joseph Smith. It is largely composed of Smith's writings and interpretations and editorial comments by Smith's secretaries, scribes, and after Smith's death, historians of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The history was written between 1839 and 1856 ( Jessee 1976 ). Part of it was published in Times and Seasons and other church periodicals. It was later published in its entirety with extensive annotations and edits by B. H. Roberts as part of a seven-volume series beginning in 1902 as History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Contents

Authorship, editorship, and initial publication

The body of the work is "a narrative of the prophet Joseph Smith"; [1] most of the text was written by scribes rather than by Smith. The parts of the work attributed to Smith were either dictated by Smith to a scribe or consist of a secretary or historian independently outlining Smith's activities and statements for a given time period. [2] Much of the writing occurred after Smith's death in 1844. From handwriting analysis, scholars have identified the following men as the primary scribal authors of the work during the time periods indicated:

Although Smith died in 1844, the compilation of his actions and words was not completed until 1856. Apostle Willard Richards was the chief editor of the work from 1841 until 1854. Apostle George A. Smith was the chief editor from 1854 until its completion in 1856. After Smith's death, apostle Wilford Woodruff allowed his extensive journal entries to be used to coordinate dates and clarify statements made by Smith. The completed work was read by and revised by church president Brigham Young and was published in 1858 by the LDS Church under the title History of Joseph Smith.

Most of the material that resulted in History of Joseph Smith had been originally published in serial form over a 25-year period in the Times and Seasons , the Deseret News , or the Millennial Star .

Revision, renaming and republication

Beginning in 1902, a general authority of the LDS Church, B. H. Roberts, was commissioned by the First Presidency to work through History of Joseph Smith and correct errors, add corroborative material, improve the narrative, and provide commentary on the events. Roberts's extensive revision of the work resulted in it being republished by church-owned Deseret Book between 1902 and 1912 as the seven-volume History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The work soon became nicknamed the Documentary History of the Church, a usage which has only recently been abandoned by Mormon historians.

Today, the work is published in essentially the same form created by Roberts. Deseret Book currently publishes the work in paperback under the shortened title History of the Church.

Volumes

History of the Church is published in seven volumes. The dates covered by each volume is as follows:

Status in the LDS Church

History of Joseph Smith was initially published as an official publication of the LDS Church. Although Roberts's History of the Church has never been granted "official history" status, it nonetheless is widely used in the church and is often cited in the sermons and magazine articles written by general authorities and other church leaders.

In 1851, extracts from what would become History of Joseph Smith were published in a church publication entitled Pearl of Great Price .[ citation needed ] This book was canonized by the LDS Church on October 10, 1880. The portion of History of Joseph Smith that was canonized consists of Smith's recitation of events between his birth in 1805 and May 1829 and is officially entitled Joseph Smith–History.

Although History of the Church is no longer an official publication, it is the most-cited source in two histories of the church which are official publications of LDS Church: Our Heritage: A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Church History in the Fulness of Times. [5] [6]

Criticism

Jerald and Sandra Tanner have alleged that when History of the Church is compared to the original manuscripts from which it is drawn, "more than 62,000 words" can be identified that were either added or deleted. [7] One response to these charges points out that the methods used in creating History of the Church—while flawed by today's standards—were not uncommon practices in the nineteenth century, even by reputable historians. [8]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ See Preface, Volume I, 1902 edition
  2. ↑ Jessee, D.C. (Summer 1971). The Writing of Joseph Smith's History (PDF). BYU Studies (Report). 11. p. 439. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007.g
  3. ↑ The work begins with Joseph Smith's birth in December 1805 and a brief recitation of his genealogy. The first major event covered by the history is the First Vision, which the work dates to the spring of 1820.
  4. ↑ Volume 7 is designated as "Part II" of the history; it covers material from immediately after Smith's death in June 1844 until the church's first general conference in Salt Lake City. Volume 7 is sometimes referred to as the history of the "apostolic interregnum" of the church.
  5. ↑ "Church History in the Fulness of Times". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  6. ↑ "Our Heritage: A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  7. ↑ Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Changes in Joseph Smith's History, Salt Lake City: Utah Lighthouse Ministry, 1965.
  8. ↑ "Jerald and Sandra Tanner's Distorted View of Mormonism: A Response to Mormonism—Shadow or Reality?".

Related Research Articles

Latter Day Saint movement Religious movement

The Latter Day Saint movement is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s.

Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) Original name of the Latter Day Saint church founded by Joseph Smith in the 1820s

The Church of Christ was the original name of the Latter Day Saint church founded by Joseph Smith. Organized informally in 1829 in New York and then formally on April 6, 1830, it was the first organization to implement the principles found in Smith's newly published Book of Mormon, and thus its establishment represents the formal beginning of the Latter Day Saint movement. Later names for this organization included the Church of the Latter Day Saints, the Church of Jesus Christ, the Church of God, the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

B. H. Roberts American Mormon; denied a seat as a member of United States Congress because of religion (1857–1933)

Brigham Henry Roberts was a historian, politician, and leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He edited a popular six-volume history of the LDS Church and also wrote Studies of the Book of Mormon—published posthumously—which discussed the validity of the Book of Mormon as an ancient record. Roberts was denied a seat as a member of United States Congress because of his practice of polygamy.

Joseph Smith–History Excerpt from the first five chapters of the History of the Church by Joseph Smith; describes his life up to 1829; today included in the Pearl of Great Price

Joseph Smith–History is a book in the Pearl of Great Price containing excerpts from an autobiographical record of some of the early events in the life of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Like many of Smith's publications, it was dictated to scribes.

Works relating to Joseph Smith

There are many works relating to Joseph Smith. These works cover Joseph Smith's his life, legacy, and teachings. Smith is the author of several works of scripture, and several personal histories, letters, and other writings. There have also been several biographies written about him.

In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve is one of the governing bodies or (quorums) of the church hierarchy organized by the movement's founder Joseph Smith, and patterned after the Apostles of Jesus. Members are called Apostles, with a special calling to be evangelistic ambassadors to the world.

A Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Century I is a six-volume history published in 1930 by B.H. Roberts, a general authority and Assistant Church Historian of the LDS Church. It should not be confused with the seven-volume History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which was also edited by Roberts in the early 20th-century but focuses on the history of Joseph Smith.

<i>Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith</i> (book)

Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith is a book compiling selected sermons and portions of sermons and sundry teachings of Joseph Smith, the first prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Mormons have both used and been subjected to significant violence throughout much of the religion's history. In the early history of the United States, violence was used as a form of control. Many people of different faiths used violence in order to harass and persecute people who adhered to different religious beliefs. Mormons were violently persecuted and pushed from Ohio to Missouri, from Missouri to Illinois and from Illinois, they were pushed west to the Utah Territory. There were incidents of massacre, home burning and pillaging, followed by the death of their prophet, Joseph Smith. Smith died from multiple gunshot wounds in a gun battle while jailed in Carthage; Smith defended himself with a small pistol smuggled to him by Cyrus Wheelock while trying to protect himself against a mob. There were also notable incidents in which Mormons perpetrated violence. Under the direction of Mormon prophets and apostles, the Mormon burned and looted Davies County, attacked and killed members of the Missouri state militia, and carried out an extermination order on the Timpanogos. Other Mormon leaders led the Mountain Meadows Massacre, Battle Creek massacre, and Circleville Massacre. Mormons have also been a major part in several wars, including the 1838 Mormon War, Walker War and Black Hawk War.

Phineas Young

Phineas Howe Young was a prominent early convert in the Latter Day Saint movement and was later a Mormon pioneer and a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Phineas Young was an older brother of Brigham Young, who was the president of the LDS Church and the first governor of the Territory of Utah.

Sylvester Marshall Smith was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and one of the inaugural seven Presidents of the Seventy.

<i>The Joseph Smith Papers</i>

The Joseph Smith Papers is a project researching, collecting, and publishing all manuscripts and documents created by, or under the direction of, Joseph Smith (1805-1844), the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. The documents, which include transcriptions and annotations, have appeared both online and in printed form. The Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sponsors the project; the department's imprint, the Church Historian's Press, publishes the website and the printed volumes.

Alexander Neibaur

Alexander Neibaur was the first dentist to practice in Utah and first Jew to join the Latter Day Saint movement. He was educated for the profession at the University of Berlin and was a skilled dentist before the establishment of dental schools in America. He was fluent in 7 languages and as many dialects.

Dean Cornell Jessee is a historian of the early Latter Day Saint movement and leading expert on the writings of Joseph Smith Jr.

In the theology of the Latter Day Saint movement, an endowment refers to a gift of "power from on high", typically associated with Latter Day Saint temples. The purpose and meaning of the endowment varied during the life of movement founder Joseph Smith. The term has referred to many such gifts of heavenly power, including the confirmation ritual, the institution of the High Priesthood in 1831, events and rituals occurring in the Kirtland Temple in the mid-1830s, and an elaborate ritual performed in the Nauvoo Temple in the 1840s.

<i>The Joseph Smith Papers</i> (TV series)

The Joseph Smith Papers: Television Documentary Series is a documentary television series produced by Ronald O. Barney and the Larry H. Miller Communications Corporation. The series documented the creation of, and work involved in, the Joseph Smith Papers Project. It also discussed the history of Joseph Smith, the founder and first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement.

This is a bibliography of works on the Latter Day Saint movement.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.