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 movementThe Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
during the lifetime of founder Joseph Smith, Jr. It is largely composed of Smith's writings and interpolations and editorial comments by Smith's secretaries, scribes, and after Smith's death, historians of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The history was written between 1839 and 1856 . Part of it was published in
Times and SeasonsTimes and Seasons was a 19th-century Latter Day Saint periodical published monthly or twice-monthly at Nauvoo, Illinois, from November 1839 to February 15, 1846...
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.
Authorship, editorship, and initial publication
The body of the work is "a narrative of the prophet Joseph Smith" as most was written by scribes. 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. Much of the writing occurred after
Smith's deathThe death of Joseph Smith, Jr. on June 27, 1844 marked a turning point for the Latter Day Saint movement, of which Smith was the founder and leader. When he was attacked and killed by a mob, Smith was the mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and running for President of the United States...
in 1844. From
handwriting analysisQuestioned document examination is the forensic science discipline pertaining to documents that are in dispute in a court of law...
, scholars have identified the following men as the primary scribal authors of the work during the time periods indicated:
- Oliver Cowdery
Oliver H. P. Cowdery was, with Joseph Smith, Jr., an important participant in the formative period of the Latter Day Saint movement between 1829 and 1836, becoming one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon's golden plates, one of the first Latter Day Saint apostles, and the Second Elder of...
(1829-1838)
- John Whitmer
John Whitmer was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He was one of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon's Golden Plates...
(1829-1838)
- Sidney Rigdon
Sidney Rigdon was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Baptist background:...
(1830-1838)
- Frederick G. Williams
Frederick Granger Williams was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and served in the First Presidency as Second Counselor to church president Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1833 to 1837...
(1832-1839)
- Orson Hyde
Orson Hyde was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles...
(1833-1836)
- W.W. Phelps (1831?-1844)
- Warren Parrish
Warren Parrish was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint or Mormonism movement. Parrish held a number of positions of responsibility, including that of scribe to church president Joseph Smith Jr. Parrish and other leaders became disillusioned with Smith after the failure of the Kirtland Safety...
(1835-1837)
- Sylvester Smith (1834-1836)
- Warren A. Cowdery
Warren A. Cowdery was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an editor of Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate, an early Latter Day Saint periodical. He was the eldest brother of Oliver Cowdery, who with Joseph Smith, Jr...
(1836-1838)
- George W. Robinson
George Washington Robinson was the first secretary to the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints...
(1836-1840)
- James Mulholland (1838-1839)
- Robert Blashel Thompson (1839-1841)
- Howard Coray (1840-1841)
- James Sloan
James Sloan was an official historian and recorder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a secretary to Joseph Smith, Jr., and one of the first Mormon settlers in Nauvoo, Illinois....
(1840-1843)
- Willard Richards
Willard Richards was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served as Second Counselor in the First Presidency to church president Brigham Young in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death.Willard Richards was born in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, to...
(1841-1854)
- William Clayton (1842-1844)
- Thomas Bullock
Thomas Bullock was a Mormon pioneer and a clerk in the Church Historian's Office of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.Bullock was born in Leek, Staffordshire, England...
(1843?-1856)
- Robert Lang Campbell (1845-1850, 1854-1856)
- Leo Hawkins (1853-1856)
- Jonathan Grimshaw (1853-1856)
Although Smith died in 1844, the compilation of his actions and words were not completed until 1856. Apostle
Willard RichardsWillard Richards was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served as Second Counselor in the First Presidency to church president Brigham Young in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death.Willard Richards was born in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, to...
was the chief editor of the work from 1841 until 1854. Apostle
George A. SmithGeorge Albert Smith was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and as a member of the church's First Presidency.-Childhood:Smith was born in Potsdam, St...
was the chief editor from 1854 until its completion in 1856. After Smith's death, Apostle
Wilford WoodruffWilford Woodruff, Sr. was the fourth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1889 until his death...
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 YoungBrigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
and was published in 1858 by the LDS Church under the title
History of Joseph Smith.
Revision, renaming and republication
Beginning in 1902, a
general authorityIn The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a general authority is a member of certain leadership organizations who are given administrative and ecclesiastical authority over the church...
of the LDS Church, B. H. Roberts, was commissioned by the
First PresidencyThe First Presidency is the presiding or governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It is composed of the President of the Church and his counselors. The First Presidency currently consists of President Thomas S. Monson and his two counselors, Henry B...
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 BookDeseret Book is the largest Latter-day Saint book publisher and also owns a chain of LDS bookstores in the western United States. Over 150 people work in its Salt Lake City headquarters...
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
MormonThe term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
historians.
Today, the work is published in essentially the same form created by Roberts.
Deseret BookDeseret Book is the largest Latter-day Saint book publisher and also owns a chain of LDS bookstores in the western United States. Over 150 people work in its Salt Lake City headquarters...
currently publishes the work in paperback under the shortened title
History of the Church.
Status in the 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. This book was
canonizedThe Standard Works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are the four books that currently constitute its open scriptural canon.* The Holy Bible * The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ...
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, most of the section headings in the current edition of the canonized
Doctrine and CovenantsThe Doctrine and Covenants is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement...
contain citations to related portions of
History of the Church, and it is the most-cited source in two histories of the church which are official publications of the 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.
Criticism
Jerald and Sandra TannerJerald Dee Tanner was an American writer and researcher who, with his wife Sandra McGee Tanner spent nearly fifty years annotating and publishing archival and evidential materials which, the Tanners claim, accurately portrayed the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
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.
D. Michael QuinnDennis Michael Quinn is a historian who has focused on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a professor at Brigham Young University from 1976 until his resignation in 1988. At the time, his work concerned church involvement with plural marriage after the 1890 Manifesto, in which...
responded to these charges by pointing 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.
See also
External links