7.8 /10 1 Votes7.8
Language English | 3.9/5 Goodreads Originally published 2002 Country United States of America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Latter Day Saint movement books, Mormons books |
An Insider's View of Mormon Origins is a 2002 book on the origins of Mormonism by Grant H. Palmer, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who is a retired Church Educational System instructor and Institute director with a master's degree in history.
Contents
- Overview of the book
- LDS response to Palmers book
- Response to LDS criticism of Palmers book
- Church action against Palmer
- References
Palmer's stated purpose in writing the book was to incorporate recent critical historical and scholarly studies of LDS history in an orthodox defense of the faith. He states that his aim is to "increase faith, not diminish it."
Overview of the book
The book concludes that:
Palmer's book suggests that the foundation events were rewritten by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery and other early church officials. This reworking made the stories more useful for missionary work. Palmer asks, "Is it right to tell religious allegories to adults as if they were literal history?"
LDS response to Palmer's book
Mormon apologists dispute Palmer's claim that his intent is to "increase faith", and instead regard him as a skeptic. Some speculate that Palmer may be a cultural Mormon, whose research has led him to believe that the Church is not entirely what it claims to be.
Palmer argues that "faith needs to be built on truth—what is, in fact, true and believable". This statement can be perceived to be in opposition to the methods used by practitioners of what has been termed "faithful history". Critics of "faithful history" argue that this sort of scholarship often appears to be based on conclusions, not evidence.
Mark Ashurst-McGee, an LDS member, states that Palmer presents only one side of an issue and only uses evidence that supports his own views. According to Ashurst-McGee, Palmer used the Hurlbut affidavits from Eber D. Howe's book Mormonism Unvailed for the purpose of "overlaying run-of-the-mill treasure lore" onto Joseph Smith's original account of the recovery of the golden plates.
Response to LDS criticism of Palmer's book
Responding to five negative reviews of Palmer's book by FARMS (the LDS affiliated Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies), Ron Priddis states: "Is nothing beyond the reach of sarcasm by FARMS polemicists?" Priddis refers to the book reviews by FARMS as "tabloid scholarship."
Church action against Palmer
Palmer was disfellowshipped from the Church in December 2004. Palmer has been quoted as saying that he still loves the church, and is pleased he wasn't excommunicated. A disfellowshipped member retains church membership but loses certain privileges. Palmer has since resigned his membership in the church.