Top 5 Mormon History topics

[Anonymous]

I posted this on my blog yesterday, but I’m curious how StayLDS readers feel. If someone were to create a documentary on a Mormon History topic, what would you like to learn most about? Here is a list of 20 topics, what would be your top 5? (If you have something not listed, feel free to add to the list?

What Mormon History topic is most interesting to you?

The First Vision

Early Black Mormons

The Hoffman Bombings

Evolution of Priesthood

The First Meeting

The BoM Translation Process

What Happened to Joseph Smith’s family?

Polygamy Basics

The Martyrdom

Trial of Joseph’s Assassins

Mountain Meadows Massacre

Schismatic Mormon Groups

Evolution of RLDS Church

Strangites

Bickertonites

Joseph Smith Translation of Bible

The Book of Abraham

KIrtland Temple History

Nauvoo Temple History

The Succession Crisis

The Martin/Willie Handcart Disaster

Seagulls and Crickets

Consecration vs United Order

Other (I’ll list below)

[Anonymous]

Polandry.

William Law.

Navouo masonary.

BY living arrangements with his 50ish wives.

Apostle Apostates.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

[Anonymous]

1- Evolution of Priesthood

2 – Schismatic Mormon Groups / The Succession Crisis

3 – The Book of Abraham

4 – The First Vision

5 – What Happened to Joseph Smith’s family?

[Anonymous]

mormonheretic wrote:

I posted this on my blog yesterday, but I’m curious how StayLDS readers feel. If someone were to create a documentary on a Mormon History topic, what would you like to learn most about? Here is a list of 20 topics, what would be your top 5? (If you have something not listed, feel free to add to the list?…What Mormon History topic is most interesting to you?

I would say:

1. The racial priesthood ban

2. Polygamy

3. The Book of Abraham translation

4. Joseph Smith’s polyandry

5. Brigham Young’s controversial comments in the Journal of Discourses

The majority of members probably already know about 1 and 2 but finding out about the others in addition to those ones is what currently contributes to many members losing faith in the Church. So these ones really stand out and would probably be some of the best candidates for attempted inoculation or at least to be more honest and open about.

[Anonymous]

There are so many interesting topics, I would love to see an ongoing series that basically goes in chronological order – spending more than one episode on topics that will take more time to effectively cover. I would love to see a scholarly/historical approach in a church friendly venue (like BYU channel) explaining “further light and knowledge” that has been revealed through sound research – and even giving possible options where the exact facts cannot be nailed down.

[Anonymous]

There’s really only one I’d be interested in: The History of Mormon History.

[Anonymous]

Here’s my top 5:

1. Early Black Mormons/Priesthood ban

2. Succession Crisis

3. What happened to JS’s family?

4. Trial of JS’s assassins

5. Schismatic Mormon Groups

With honorable mention of the Hoffman bombings and polygamy basics. I’d love to see some scholarly documentaries on these topics.

[Anonymous]

mormonheretic wrote:

Here’s my top 5:

1. Early Black Mormons/Priesthood ban

2. Succession Crisis

3. What happened to JS’s family?

4. Trial of JS’s assassins

5. Schismatic Mormon Groups

With honorable mention of the Hoffman bombings and polygamy basics. I’d love to see some scholarly documentaries on these topics.

Hmmm. I see a different dimension: the history of LDS doctrine and practice in the following topics. Since your blog topic is just a poll, there is no place for comments or suggestions — here is my view:

1. The First Vision

– history of epiphanic experiences, from Paul to the 1819

– historical context of the second great awakening

– historical evolution of creeds

– historical meaning of ‘professors of religion’ (profess=confess, etc.)

– on the timing of actual events in the burned out district

– the mystico/magical worldview of the Smith family

– the evolution of the first vision account

– evolution of the all-or-nothing treatment of the account

— in other words, how belief in the first vision account has become a creed for the church.

– the history of doctrinal and theological implications of the claims in the first vision:

—Ontological claims about God

—nature of visions versus transfigurational experience

—creeds as abominations

—the corruption of professors of religion (this does not mean what it does in 20th and 21st centuries)

2. Evolution of Priesthood

– Priesthood as reflected in the primitive church

— scriptural evidence

— James as presiding bishop or presiding high priest in Jerusalem

— the greek christian position: the “high priest” (hierarch) was Jesus Christ, of which Melchizedek was a type and a shadow — no high priests in greek Christianity, only ‘overseers’ (bishops), deacons, seventy.

— Ante-Nicene Fathers and Eusebius evidence

— the priesthood career of Origen as evidence of primitive priesthood.

– pre-19th century understanding of priesthood

— the history of “priesthood as hierarchy” model – greek pagan priesthoods evolving into Catholicism

— the history of “priesthood of all believers” model – product of the reformation, especially Baptist movement

– Evidentiary history of priesthood restoration

– evolution of the current understanding of priesthood

– the higher order of priesthood – aka polygamy

– history of blacks and the priesthood

– evolution of Women and the Priesthood

— pre-modern priestesses and prophetesses.

— in early Joseph Smith’s time

— history of woman’s role in anointings and blessings of the sick.

— history of women in the temple as priestesses

— second anointing role of women

— CoC/RLDS evolution around women and the priesthood

3. Evolution of Mormon Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy

– role of orthodoxy and orthopraxy in rabbinical Judaism (the “pharisees”)

– evolution of orthodoxy in the early christian church

— Jewish Christianity

— the Pauline heresies enshrined as orthodoxy

— Catholic versus Protestant Orthodoxy

— history of enforcement of orthodoxy and orthopraxy

— history of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition

– evolution of orthopraxy in the early church

— Jews who became christian

— Greek jews

— greek converts

— retention of orthopraxy in the Catechism of the Catholic Church

— elmination of orthopraxy in the reformation

– The specific context of New England protestantism as the context for the restoration

— history of heretic and witchcraft trials in puritan new england

– evolution of orthodoxy and orthopraxy in mormonism

— noncreedalism

— joseph smith’s syncretism

— early church courts

— use of discipline as a means to enforce loyalty among early leaders

— use of loyalty tests and oaths

— evolution of the WoW, LoC, etc.

— polygamy as orthopraxy

— effect of sending key LDS scholars to liberal protestant seminaries

— the thaw of the early 20th century

— the schism beteen BH Roberts and the orthodox.

— the emergence of fundamental orthodoxy among key LDS leaders (Joseph Fielding Smith, BR McConkie, Lee, etc.)

— history of Correlation

— the thawing of Mormon history and theology under Arrington

— 1978 Sonja Johnson, one liberal bridge too far.

— First Watershed event: The militarization of Mormon Orthodoxy 1980-1982

— February 1980 – ETB’s controversial but widely promoted “14 Fundamentals”

— July 23, 1981 – the appointment of Gordon B Hinckley as third counselor – creating PR-based fundamentalist orthodoxy in the Church

— August 22, 1981 – Boyd K. Packer’s “The Mantle is far, far greater than the intellect” – locking down CES Orthodoxy

— 1982 – the quite dismissal of Leonard Arrington as Church Historian.

— 1993 – September six.

— the internet as nemesis to LDS orthodoxy

— history of the the all-or-nothing proposition

— The emergence of the Disaffected Mormon Underground (DAMU)

— Hinckley’s legacy: enforcement of loyalty on poltical matters

— The second watershed event: Proposition 8

— damage control after proposition 8

4. History of attempts at Mormon Theology

– History of revelatory theology

– Theological speculation as revelation in Joseph Smith

– The thought leaders/inflencers into Joseph Smith’s theological speculations

– Theological speculation as fiat in Brigham Young, the “Yankee Guesser”

– Orson Pratt and The Seer and his theological censure by Brigham Young

– The age of the professional LDS theologians: BH Roberts, Widtsoe, and Talmage

– the emergence of fundamentalist orthodoxy in Joseph Fielding Smith and his legacy

– the theological counterculture of Sterling McMurrin

– Correlation: the death of mormon theology.

– the dialog and sunstone culture

– Mormon Theology today

5. History of the Temple

– Temple ideas leading up to the restoration of Latter day Temples

— preChristian temples

— the role of temple at the time of Christ

— James, the first bishop of Jerusalem and his role in the temple as an Ebionite high priest

— the crusades, knights templar, and the cistercian orders as temple

— the Wat Tyler rebellion

— the emergence of freemasonry in the ruin of the orders

— the role of masonry in the American Revolution

— the anti-masonry context of the book of mormon

— masonry as power in Nauvoo and in Illinois politics

– The evolution of the LDS Temple

— Role of the Kirtland temple

— Joseph Smith’s masonry epiphany

— The Endowment

— the role of polygamy in shaping the temple covenants

— Nauvoo period temple practice

— the Nauvoo temple

— sacred marriages

— Brigham Young’s use of the endowment to enforce loyalty

— the use of the temple recommend as confessory and enforcement of orthodoxy

— the evolution of the temple rite

— blood oaths

— oaths of vengeance

— the evolution of temple mechanisms

— the temple boom.

— the purpose of modern temples in both enforcing orthodoxy as well as viral marketing — locking in entire family groups through linking life-events to “temple worthiness”

[Anonymous]

:clap: Uh….what Wayfarer said, sounds like all that that would be a pretty-good two hour movie to do.

(p.s. thank you Wayfarer for providing me a study guide for the next 30 years, and for the humility lesson just as i thought i was starting to get a handle on most of the issues)

[Anonymous]

I was thinking of what my own answer would be, but I really like wayfarer’s second list – and, ironically for some people, I think if the membership as a whole (including leaders at every level) better understood those topics as outlined we would have relatively little problem with inactivity and could focus on the pure Gospel and the creation of Zion. There still would be some inevitable social issues, since we still would be human, but I would love to live to see it happen.

[Anonymous]

I’ll try to be concise in this description of what I’d like to see:

Earlier in the Church there was a deep undercurrent of what could be called mysticism and a wider variety of beliefs and practices – I’m thinking particularly of writings of folks like BH Roberts, John Widsoe, etc. There have been a few different periods of … Inquisition, perhaps? Meaning times when the president of the church has come down on the free-thinking types. Joseph F Smith, Joseph Fielding Smith, the September 6, etc. I’d like to hear something about the hard-core, reactionary wing of the Church, embodied by JFS and McKonkie stamped out the more liberal (not politically liberal, but philosophically) wing, embodied by Roberts, Hugh Brown, etc.

[Author]

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