BiV at Wheat and Tares has an amazing 4 minute video of Warren Jeffs in prison stating that he “never was a prophet.” I decided to make a transcript of the video. He speaks in a slow, deliberate fashion, indicating he is receiving and dictating the revelation during the filming of the prison video. Here’s the video and transcript. (I don’t know who he is talking to–obviously a devoted follower.) Read more…
Just 9 days prior to Joseph Smith’s death, he sent a letter to James Strang. Strang believed that this letter showed Joseph’s intentions that Strang would be the next prophet of the church. This letter was originally published in a pamphlet by Strang’s followers known as “The Diamond.” I have always wanted to read the actual letter, and I received an email from Tim Hansen, a high priest in the Strangite church with a copy of the letter. He graciously said I could re-print it here, and also noted that it is available as a PDF on their website, along with the rest of “The Diamond”.
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Kirtland Temple
There was a fascinating interview about the Kirtland Temple over at Mormon Expression. It was so interesting, that I decided to transcribe it here. John Larsen interviews historian John Hamer, and Barbara Walden, former Executive Director of the Kirtland Temple. Both Barbara and John Hamer give some really cool information about the Kirtland Temple, and I wanted to share this with you all.
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Angel Moroni
A few months ago, I attended several family reunions. At the time, I was reading John Hamer’s book, Scattering of the Saints. I was absolutely fascinated with all the accounts of Mormon schismatic groups. I was especially interested in Strangism and the Church of Christ with the Elijah Message. As I told the story of their founding, the reaction of my relatives was incredibly interesting to me.
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Anne Wilde wrote the chapter on Fundamentalist Mormonism in Hamer/Bringhurst’s book Scattering of the Saints. I’ve always viewed Fundamentalist Mormons like an embarrassing relative, and I haven’t really wanted to learn much about them. However, Anne’s chapter was incredibly interesting, and I learned that Fundamentalist Mormonism is much more diverse than I realized.
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The Church of Jesus Christ (based in Monongahela, Pennsylvania) traces its roots to Joseph Smith. I previously discussed its most famous former member, rock star Alice Cooper. I thought I could give a bit more history of this church and discuss basic beliefs. Larry Watson wrote a chapter in John Hamer and Newell Bringhurst’s book Scattering of the Saints.
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John Hamer and Newell Bringhurst compiled many essays highlighting major Mormon schismatic groups that trace their founding to Joseph Smith in their book titled Scattering of the Saints. The book is a great read. It goes into quite a bit of detail of the major groups, but if you want a more comprehensive listing of Mormon Groups, Stephen Shields has a book listing approximately 400 schismatic group in his book Divergent Paths of the Restoration.
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Apostle Paul Savage of the Church of Christ with Elijah Message
Sunstone has been going on since Wednesday here in Salt Lake City. It ends tomorrow, and I thought I would give a few words about the conference. I have been blogging at Mormon Matters for about a year and a half, and have never met any other bloggers here….until this week! It has been nice to nice BiV and Stephen Marsh. I hope to meet others tomorrow. It was also nice to meet with a few apostles.
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Alice Cooper at the Scream Awards in 2007
If you’re Mormon, you’ve probably heard the myth that Alice Cooper was a Mormon. Most of you have probably dismissed the myth as complete hogwash. Well, it turns out there is an element of truth to the myth. For example, his father’s middle name is Moroni and his grandfather was an apostle! Yes it is true!
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As I mentioned previously, I really enjoyed the Strangite session of the Mormon History Association meetings a few weeks ago. Vickie Speek, John Hamer, and Mike Karpowicz gave some fascinating presentations on this little known group. Following the session, they answered additional questions, and I thought it would be interesting to provide a transcript of the Q&A session. But before I get into the transcript, I should tell you a brief history of the Strangite Church.
James Strang, prophet of the Strangite Church
James Strang was baptized into the church just a few months before Joseph Smith was killed in 1844. He said he had a letter from Joseph proclaiming that Strang was to lead the church. The letter is currently owned by Yale University; in the past few decades, they have declared Joseph Smith’s signature on the letter a forgery.
Evidently Strang was a dynamic leader. Read more…
CoC Independence Temple at Sunset
All trip long, I have been looking forward to attending the Community of Christ Devotional at the Independence Temple. The meeting began at 8:30 AM, and was a wonderful hour of singing and spoken word. Professor Alex Baugh of BYU, and Apostle Susan Skoor of the Community of Christ
CoC Apostle Susan Skoor
gave background on many hymns written or revised by WW Phelps. It was a truly inspiring meeting. I haven’t enjoyed singing that much since I was in the MTC!
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John Hamer, Mike Karpowicz, and Vickie Cleverly Speck gave a very interesting history of the Strangite movement. What’s a Strangite you say? Speck filled in many details: she said that James Strang was baptized into the LDS church just 4 months prior to the death of Joseph Smith. Strang claims to have a letter from Joseph Smith making him the new leader of the LDS movement, and claims to been visited by Smith at the moment of Smith’s death. An angel later anointed Strang with oil as the new prophet. Amazingly, Strang counted many of the Smith family (including Joseph’s brother William) as followers, and other prominent members, such as Martin Harris.
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