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183-620: Before 1903, writings about Mormons were mostly orthodox documentary histories or anti-Mormon material. The first dissertations on Mormons, published in the 1900s, had a naturalistic style that approached Mormon history from economic, psychological, and philosophical theories. While their position within Mormon studies is debated, Mormon apologetics have a tradition dating back to Parley P. Pratt 's response to an anti-Mormon book in 1838. The amount of scholarship in Mormon studies increased after World War II. From 1972–1982, while Leonard Arrington

366-519: A Cabalist who used them for the basis of his book, The Temple of Satan . A reaction to this was the Taxil hoax in 1890s France, where an anti-clerical writer Léo Taxil (aka Marie Joseph Gabriel Antoine Jogand-Pagès), publicly converted to Catholicism and then published several works alleging to expose the Satanic doings of Freemasons . In 1897, Taxil called a press conference promising to introduce

549-691: A 2001 chapel-bombing in Croatia. Although a position on anti-Mormonism is not part of the official doctrine of the LDS Church, it has been mentioned specifically in a number of general conference talks made by church general authorities . Marvin J. Ashton , speaking as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles , began a fall 1982 conference by relating an experience he had with a protester outside Temple Square . He went on to declare "[t]o

732-473: A Devil-worshipping cult was committing sexual abuse, murder, and cannibalism in its rituals, and including children among the victims of its rites. Initially, the alleged perpetrators of such crimes were labeled "witches", although the term Satanist was soon adopted as a favored alternative, and the phenomenon itself came to be called "the Satanism Scare". Those active in the scare alleged that there

915-537: A Mormon Studies Fellowship. Utah State University 's Evans Biography Awards focus on biographies significant to " Mormon Country ". Student writing competitions are held by Utah State University, the MHA, and the JWHA. BYU Religious Education presents annual awards to its faculty for teaching, research, and service, as well as books in the categories of church history or ancient scripture. Several universities have programs in

1098-621: A Mormon audience in order to support their existing beliefs. Brigham H. Roberts was an associate editor of the Salt Lake Herald and while on a mission to England, was the editor of the Millennial Star . Upon returning to Utah, he became a General Authority . After an invitation from Americana , Brigham H. Roberts wrote a chapter each month from 1909 to 1915 in what later became the Comprehensive History of

1281-541: A battle for their faith. Parley P. Pratt responded to Mormonism Unveiled in detail in his 1838 pamphlet Mormonism Unveiled: Zion's Watchman Unmasked and Its Editor Mr. L.R. Sunderland Exposed, Truth Vindicated, the Devil Mad, and Priestcraft in Danger! Pratt argued against Sunderland's character, quoting Hurlbut, who stated that Sunderland has a "notorious character." Hugh Nibley's No, Ma'am, That's Not History set

1464-505: A belief in witches , a group of individuals who invert the norms of their society and seek to harm their community, for instance by engaging in incest , murder, and cannibalism . Allegations of witchcraft may have different causes and serve different functions within a society. For instance, they may serve to uphold social norms, to heighten the tension in existing conflicts between individuals, or to scapegoat certain individuals for various social problems. Another contributing factor to

1647-493: A bitter persecution; and this was common among all the sects—all united to persecute me. In New York and Pennsylvania , anti-Mormonism dealt mainly with issues including whether or not Smith actually had the gold plates ; whether those plates belonged to the people rather than Smith; whether or not Smith ever really had had visions (at least ones of theological import); Smith's treasure-digging episodes; and alleged occult practices by Smith. In Ohio , anti-Mormons focused on

1830-781: A community hundreds of miles away in the Salt Lake Valley in Utah . Beginning in 1849, every federally appointed official left Utah under duress. In 1857 President Buchanan concluded that the Mormons in the territory were rebelling against the United States . In response, President Buchanan sent one-third of the United States army to Utah in 1857 in what is known as the Utah War . Much of this anti-Mormon sentiment

2013-759: A conspiratorial group of Satanists. Among the first to do so was French Catholic priest Jean-Baptiste Fiard, who publicly claimed that a wide range of individuals, from the Jacobins to tarot card readers , were part of a Satanic conspiracy. Fiard's ideas were furthered by Alexis-Vincent-Charles Berbiguier de Terre-Neuve du Thym (1765–1851), who devoted a lengthy book to this conspiracy theory ; he claimed that Satanists had supernatural powers allowing them to curse people and to shapeshift into both cats and fleas. Although most of his contemporaries regarded Berbiguier as suffering from mental illness, his ideas gained credence among many occultists, including Stanislas de Guaita ,

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2196-898: A deadlier form. In May 1989, members of a terrorist organization called the Zarate Willka Armed Forces of Liberation murdered two Mormon missionaries in La Paz, Bolivia. Another Bolivian terrorist group, the Tupac Katari Guerrilla Army , claimed responsibility for two attacks against Mormon chapels. The Lautaro Youth Movement in Chile conducted 27 small-scale bombings against LDS meetinghouses in 1992. The MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base lists 149 individual attacks that have been carried out against Mormon targets in Latin America since 1983. It also lists

2379-629: A demon. Throughout the Middle Ages , this accusation would be applied to a wide range of Christian heretical groups, including the Paulicians , Bogomils , Cathars , Waldensians , and the Hussites . The Knights Templar were accused of worshipping an idol known as Baphomet , with Lucifer having appeared at their meetings in the form of a cat. As well as these Christian groups, these claims were also made about Europe's Jewish community. In

2562-658: A dissertation entitled "Mormon Values: The Significance of a Religious Outlook for Social Action" after living in a rural Mormon farming village in New Mexico for six months and subsequently teaching at Utah State University. This study of Mormon culture "stunned Mormon readers with its objectivity and sympathetic insight," according to Mormon scholar Richard Bushman . (O’Dea expanded this into The Mormons in 1957.) Bernard DeVoto , Dale L. Morgan , Fawn McKay Brodie , Stuart Ferguson, and Juanita Brooks did not have graduate degrees in history, but made significant contributions to

2745-479: A far-right political movement, made by an anonymous individual or individuals known as "Q", which were relayed and developed by online communities and influencers. The central QAnon claim purports that a global child sex trafficking ring made up of Democratic politicians, Hollywood actors, high-ranking government officials, business tycoons, and medical experts, were kidnapping, sexually abusing and eating children, but that (then-President) Donald Trump would round up

2928-642: A foolish rather than a menacing figure. The development of new values in the Age of Enlightenment (in particular, those of reason and individualism ) contributed to a shift in many Europeans' concept of Satan. In this context, a number of individuals took Satan out of the traditional Christian narrative and reread and reinterpreted him in light of their own time and their own interests, in turn generating new and different portraits of Satan. The shifting concept of Satan owes many of its origins to John Milton 's epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), in which Satan features as

3111-402: A great deal of prejudice against me among professors of religion, and was the cause of great persecution, which continued to increase; and though I was an obscure boy, only between fourteen and fifteen years of age, and my circumstances in life such as to make a boy of no consequence in the world, yet men of high standing would take notice sufficient to excite the public mind against me, and create

3294-682: A group including both laypeople and academics, attempts to answer criticisms of the Mormon faith. in 2013, it changed its name to FairMormon . Some other Mormon "insiders" countered the Book of Mormon's ancient origins through the Smith-Pettit Foundation in Salt Lake City and George Smith's Signature Books publishing company. Signature Books published New Approaches to the Book of Mormon by Brent Metcalfe and American Apocrypha by Dan Vogel and Metcalfe. These insider views of

3477-676: A group of religious , ideological , and/or philosophical beliefs based on Satan —particularly his worship or veneration. Satan is commonly associated with the Devil in Christianity , a fallen angel often regarded as chief of the demons who tempt humans into sin. The phenomenon of Satanism shares "historical connections and family resemblances" with the Left Hand Path milieu of other occult figures such as Chaos , Hecate , Lilith , Lucifer , and Set . Self-identified Satanism

3660-589: A key character of his stories but instead announced that his revelations about the Freemasons were made up, and thanked the Catholic clergy for helping to publicize his stories. Nine years later he told an American magazine that at first he thought readers would recognize his tales as obvious nonsense, "amusement pure and simple", but when he realized they believed his stories and that there was "lots of money" to be made in publishing them, he continued to perpetrate

3843-488: A large scale was Edward Tullidge , who wrote Life of Brigham Young: or Utah and Her Founders (1876), History of Salt Lake City (1886), and History of Northern Utah and Southern Idaho (1889). Hubert How Bancroft wrote History of Utah (1889) with the help of the Historian's Office. Bancroft's history of Utah portrayed Mormons favorably. Critics say that he wasn't objective since he allowed LDS Church authorities to read

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4026-407: A legitimate factual or religious debate. Eric Johnson, for example, makes a distinction between "personal animosity and intellectual dialogue". Johnson insists that he is motivated by "love and compassion for Mormons", and that while he "[might] plead guilty to being against Mormon ism ", he finds the suggestion that he is anti- Mormon "both offensive and inaccurate". Stephen Cannon elaborates, It

4209-678: A literal Satan". Taub and Nelson define Satanism as "the literal or symbolic worship of Satan, the enemy of the Judeo-Christian God". According to author Arthur Lyons, "Satanic religions are as old as monotheism and have their origins in Persia of the sixth century", and Joe Carter of the conservative ecumenical journal First Things writes that "real satanism has been around since the beginning of history, selling an appealing message: Your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God." But religious scholar Joseph Laycock writes that

4392-627: A non-Mormon public about how "primitive and dangerous" Mormons were in "extreme terms." Eber D. Howe published Mormonism Unvailed, or a Faithful Account of that Singular Imposition and Delusion in 1834, which claimed that Sidney Rigdon was the original author of the Book of Mormon and that Joseph Smith was a "vile wretch." Howe included affidavits from people who knew Joseph Smith collected by ex-Mormon Philastus Hurlbut . The book influenced future anti-Mormon literature. (by La Roy Sunderland , John Bennett , and John A. Clark). Origen Bacheler examined

4575-579: A number of points: notably for the vitriolic tone of some of their more polemical pieces, their resistance to change, and their unauthorized publication of several copyrighted documents. In recent years, however, the apologists' antagonism toward the Tanners has somewhat subsided. In their study of anti-Mormon "word games", for example, Daniel C. Peterson and Stephen D. Ricks have nothing negative to say about them. Instead, they enlist them as allies against New Age anti-Mormons like Ed Decker, whose fabrications

4758-577: A pact with Satan . This may have emerged after observing that pacts with gods and goddesses played a role in various pre-Christian belief systems, or that such pacts were also made as part of the Christian cult of saints. Another possibility is that it derives from a misunderstanding of Augustine of Hippo 's condemnation of augury in his On Christian Doctrine , written in the late 4th century. Here, he stated that people who consulted augurs were entering quasi pacts (covenants) with demons. The idea of

4941-573: A potential source of learning for himself and others. After retiring from BYU, he started one of the first Mormon studies programs at Utah Valley State College . According to a 1997 report by the American Association of University Professors on academic freedom at BYU, Alan Wilkins was questioned about his motives for contributing to Dialogue and Sunstone in a tenure review. The report also mentioned other incidents where BYU administration criticized speakers and articles for criticism of

5124-489: A previous story, exaggerated a little more each time". Other publications made allegations of Satanism against historical figures. The 1970s saw the publication of the Romanian Protestant preacher Richard Wurmbrand 's book in which he argued—without corroborating evidence—that the socio-political theorist Karl Marx had been a Satanist. At the end of the 20th century, a moral panic arose from claims that

5307-743: A religion that does not declare itself "Satanic", but includes elements of Satanism (e.g. Temple of Set ). Others may regards themselves as Satanists but promote mythological figures and traditions outside of Christianity or Judaism. These religions are sometimes called Satanic and sometimes post-Satanic. Diane E. Taub and Lawrence D. Nelson complain that Satanism "is frequently defined either too broadly or too narrowly", with accusers sometimes including non-satanic groups such as Santeria , Witchcraft , Eastern religions as well as Freemasonry ; and academics (for example Carlson and Larue) and others sometimes restricting its definition to "recognized Satanic churches and their members", excluding those who "believes in

5490-650: A ritual performance to facilitate their sexual acts, with the intent of frightening their victims and justifying their actions, but that none of these child molesters were involved in wider Satanist groups. By 1994, the Satanic ritual abuse hysteria had died down in the US and UK, and by the 21st century, hysteria about Satanism has waned in most Western countries, although allegations of Satanic ritual abuse continued to surface in parts of continental Europe and Latin America. In

5673-607: A similar detached tone. New Mormon historians often published with the University of Illinois Press in order to publish for an academic audience independent of the church. Charles S. Peterson argued in The Great Basin Kingdom Revisited that Arrington took an exceptionalist view of Mormon history, which he then taught to other New Mormon historians. This exceptionalist view was that they could believe in both secular history and orthodox Mormon views of

Mormon studies - Misplaced Pages Continue

5856-474: A standard for apologetics to use academic language, and criticized Brodie's use of sources in her controversial biography of Joseph Smith, No Man Knows My History . The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) aimed to support the historical authenticity of the Book of Mormon and respond to criticism, and used Nibley's style to counter research that contradicted the Book of Mormon's ancient origins. FARMS collaborated with Deseret Book to publish

6039-811: A statement condemning the "defacement and destruction of property." In November 2008, the United States Postal Service delivered envelopes containing white powder to two LDS Church temples —the Los Angeles California Temple and the Salt Lake Temple —and to the Knights of Columbus ' national headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut , prompting a hazardous materials response and a federal domestic terrorism investigation. The LDS Church blamed opponents of

6222-518: A symbol of certain human traits, a useful metaphor without ontological reality. Contemporary religious Satanism is predominantly an American phenomenon, although the rise of globalization and the Internet have seen these ideas spread to other parts of the world. Historical and anthropological research suggests that nearly all societies have developed the idea of a sinister and anti-human force that can hide itself within society. This commonly involves

6405-536: A verb, when Jehovah sent an angel to satan ("to oppose") Balaam . Prior to the composition of the New Testament , the idea developed within Jewish communities that Satan was the name of an angel who had rebelled against Jehovah and had been cast out of Heaven along with his followers; this account would be incorporated into contemporary texts such as the Book of Enoch . This Satan was then featured in parts of

6588-435: A way to democratize Mormon studies. Since blogs are independent from Church institutions, many felt that blogs were a safe space to test more unorthodox ideas. A few observed that men's voices are more prominent in the blogging community, though a few prominent blogs have all-women authors. Other respondents felt that blogs made Mormon studies "more of an echo chamber," and were "superficial," and "glorified navel-gazing." One of

6771-525: Is "traditional anti-Mormonism", typified by Rev. Wesley Walters , Jerald and Sandra Tanner , and Walter Martin . Anti-Mormons in this category generally try to explain Mormonism in naturalistic terms. They appeal to "Joseph Smith's environment and his (wicked or pathological) character, perhaps assisted by a co-conspirator or two", as a sufficient explanation for Mormon origins. "New Age anti-Mormonism", according to Peterson, "is quite different. It admits

6954-685: Is a relatively modern phenomenon, largely attributed to the 1966 founding of the Church of Satan by Anton LaVey in the United States—an atheistic group that does not believe in a supernatural Satan . Accusations of groups engaged in " devil worship " have echoed throughout much of Christian history. During the Middle Ages , the Inquisition led by the Catholic Church alleged that various heretical Christian sects and groups, such as

7137-538: Is also helpful to know that Mormons are a group of people united around a belief system. Therefore, to be "anti-Mormon" is to be against people. Christians who desire to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Mormons are never to come against people of any stripe. Yes, evangelical Christians do have strong disagreements with Mormonism, but the argument is with a belief system and not a people. The LDS people are no better or no worse than any other group of people. Any dispute

7320-591: Is known about the activities of the Hellfire Clubs. Introvigne suggested that they may have engaged in a form of "playful Satanism" in which Satan was invoked "to show a daring contempt for conventional morality" rather than to pay homage to him. The French Revolution of 1789 dealt a blow to the hegemony of the Roman Catholic Church in parts of Europe, and soon a number of Catholic authors began making claims that it had been masterminded by

7503-495: Is satanic in nature, and that it is a political conspiracy by nature. Protesters have been visible as "street preachers" at LDS General Conferences , outside of LDS pageants, and temples. At the Sacramento temple, for example, protesters dispersed pamphlets to visitors who came to take a guided tour. They also held up signs directing people to websites critical of the LDS Church. Notably, protesters also made an appearance at

Mormon studies - Misplaced Pages Continue

7686-634: Is the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University in California. The Church History Library still restricts access to certain documents for most scholars. Scholars may self-censor their research for fear of losing access to documents from the Church History Library. Previous excommunications of Mormon historians give Mormon researchers the sense that they are being watched. Scholars from various disciplines see

7869-447: Is to be a disagreement with the "ism", not the "Mormon". Even some members of the church who write negatively about it have had their writings labeled anti-Mormon. Ex-Mormons who write about the church are likewise frequently labeled anti-Mormon, even when their writings are not inflammatory in nature. The debate on who is "anti-Mormon" frequently arises in Mormon discussions of authors and sources. Stephen Cannon has argued that use of

8052-632: Is true that, just as some Mormons want nothing more than to ridicule and insult those with whom they disagree, some Christians have done the same. This is wrong and always will be wrong. Some other individuals have been seen throwing copies of the Book of Mormon on the ground, stepping on them, and portray using temple garments, which LDS hold sacred, as toilet tissue, and other similarly offensive actions. However, nearly every evangelical ministry, including those that actively challenge truth claims of Mormonism, vehemently condemns this sort of offensive and belligerent behavior, and further object to being placed in

8235-548: Is used by some to describe all thought perceived as critical of the LDS Church. Siding with the latter, less-inclusive understanding of the term, Latter-day Saint scholar William O. Nelson suggests in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism that the term includes "any hostile or polemic opposition to Mormonism or to the Latter-day Saints, such as maligning Joseph Smith , his successors, or the doctrines or practices of

8418-511: The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. One group that actively organizes peaceful protests, a non-profit organization called Mormonism Research Ministry, insists that its activities are not "anti-Mormon". Our goal at MRM is not to be antagonistic. In fact, whenever a representative of MRM speaks publicly on this subject, we often emphasize how Christians should reflect a Christ-like attitude when sharing their faith. We must be firm in our convictions but compassionate and patient as well. ... It

8601-623: The Association for Mormon Letters , often awarding Mormon publications in biography, criticism, and special categories. Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought honors the best contributions to its journal and Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture awards the best article submitted by a woman. Universities also present awards. The University of Utah gives the Juanita Brooks Prize in Mormon Studies and offers

8784-957: The Association for Mormon Letters , the first scholarly association aimed at the literature of the Latter-day Saints. Some writers looked at Mormon women's history with the goal of restructuring historical narratives. Mormon feminist articles on Mormon history started with the special Summer 1971 issue of Dialogue on women's issues and continued in publications like Exponent II (starting in 1974), and Mormon Sisters: Women in Early Utah (1976), edited by Claudia Bushman . Beecher and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich edited another volume about Mormon women's history in Sisters in Sprit: Mormon Women in Historical and Cultural Perspective (1987). Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism (1992)

8967-416: The Book of Mormon witnesses , as "perhaps the most infamous liars and impostors that ever breathed. ... By their deception and lies, they swindle them out of their property, disturb social order and the public peace, excite a spirit of ferocity and murder, and lead multitudes astray on the subject in which, of all others, they have the deepest interest." He voiced outrage at "the miscreants who are battening on

9150-670: The Church of Christ on April 6, 1830. Church records continue to the present and are kept in the LDS church archives. The first official church history was published in 1842, when Smith and his associates began writing History of Joseph Smith as an official diary of Joseph Smith. This history was published in Times and Seasons in Nauvoo , and then in Deseret News and Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star up until 1863. History of Joseph Smith

9333-749: The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers . Early academic writers on Mormon topics had a "naturalistic" approach to history, using theory from economics, psychology, and philosophy to guide their study. Richard Ely contributed to the professionalization of Mormon studies with his early dissertation "Economic Aspects of Mormonism" (1903). In the work, he praised Mormon irrigation and communalism as a good model of economic development. He influenced Leonard Arrington's interest in economics and Mormons. Andrew Love Neff wrote "The Mormon Migration to Utah," which he finished in 1918 but had started over ten years earlier. He

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9516-793: The Knights Templar and the Cathars , performed secret Satanic rituals. In the subsequent Early Modern period , belief in a widespread Satanic conspiracy of witches resulted in the trials and executions of tens of thousands of alleged witches across Europe and the North American colonies, peaking between 1560 and 1630 CE. The terms Satanist and Satanism emerged during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation (1517–1700 CE), as both Catholics and Protestants accused each other of intentionally being in league with Satan. Since

9699-538: The Mountain Meadows Massacre . Brooks's Mormon neighbors did not like "the frankness" of her book. Mormon scholars are divided on whether or not apologetics should be considered part of Mormon studies. Brian D. Birch argues that it should be a part of Mormon studies, as long as apologetic authors concede that their arguments are objective and subject to academic debate. Apologists write defensively, and view their polemical responses to criticism as

9882-627: The Sunstone symposium; around 1990, BYU professors were asked not to contribute to Dialogue or Sunstone . Eugene England , one of the founders of Dialogue and then a professor at BYU, spoke out against these prohibitions. He was asked not to write for the Encyclopedia of Mormonism in 1990, and in 1998 he was asked to retire from BYU without justification. England saw this as stemming from his publicly anti-war stance, and for his attention to Mormon racism and sexism. He viewed his differences as

10065-544: The University of Oklahoma Press published books on Mormonism. In the 2000s, Jan Shipps was a large influence on news articles about Mormons; often she is the only expert cited for an entire article. In 2005, the National Endowment for the Humanities held a seminar at Brigham Young University on the bicentennial of Joseph Smith's birth. Terryl Givens , a comparative literature scholar, analyzed discourse about

10248-500: The Utah Lighthouse Ministry . The Tanners' work has included "publishing [reprints of] many hard-to-find Mormon historical documents" and "[debating] virtually every significant topic in Mormonism". During their prolific career, they have published more than two hundred items on a variety of social, doctrinal, and historical issues. Despite the high caliber of some of their work, the Tanners have been criticized on

10431-762: The deification of man . After the destruction of the press of the Nauvoo Expositor and institution of martial law , Joseph Smith was arrested on charges of treason against the state of Illinois and incarcerated in Carthage Jail where he was killed by a mob on June 27, 1844. The persecution in Illinois became so severe that most of the residents of Nauvoo fled across the Mississippi River in February 1846. In 1847, Mormons established

10614-449: The "anti-Satanists" of the Satanic Scare was that any child's claim about Satanic ritual abuse must be true, because children do not lie. Although some involved in the anti-Satanism movement were from Jewish and secular backgrounds, a central part was played by fundamentalist and evangelical Christians, in particular Pentecostalist Christians, with Christian groups holding conferences and producing books and videotapes to promote belief in

10797-471: The "available evidence suggests" that Satanism began as "an imaginary religion Christians invented to demonize their opponents". Confessions of worship of Satan came only after torture or other forms of coercion in early modern Europe. While early stories of satanic activity have been commonly labeled and regarded as propaganda based on falsehood, they also partially shaped the beliefs of what would become modern religious Satanism. Those who absorbed and accepted

10980-419: The "twin relics of barbarism" along with slavery . Modern-day opposition generally takes the form of websites, podcasts, videos or other media criticizing Mormonism, or protests at large Latter-day Saint gatherings such as the LDS Church's semiannual general conference , outside of Latter-day Saint pageants , or at events surrounding the construction of new temples . Non-Mormon critics generally believe that

11163-403: The 13th century, there were also references made to a group of "Luciferians" led by a woman named Lucardis which hoped to see Satan rule in Heaven. References to this group continued into the 14th century, although historians studying the allegations concur that these Luciferians were probably a fictitious invention. Within Christian thought, the idea developed that certain individuals could make

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11346-534: The 16th century, when they were used by Christian groups to attack other, rival Christian groups. In a Roman Catholic tract of 1565, the author condemns the "heresies, blasphemies, and sathanismes [sic]" of the Protestants . In an Anglican work of 1559, Anabaptists and other Protestant sects are condemned as "swarmes of Satanistes [sic]". As used in this manner, the term Satanism was not used to claim that people literally worshipped Satan, but instead that they deviated from true Christianity, and thus were serving

11529-480: The 1920s. He worked in agriculture and was dean of BYU's College of Applied Science and director of the Utah Agriculture Experiment stations. He wrote articles about how the Mormon village was designed to promote unity and sociability, which allowed Mormon settlers to colonize the Great Basin Desert. He left Utah in 1937. Nels Anderson studied at the University of Chicago, and studied hobos in Utah, where he converted to Mormonism. His book Desert Saints (1944) recounted

11712-465: The 1950s, various British tabloid newspapers repeated such claims, largely basing their accounts on the allegations of one woman, Sarah Jackson, who claimed to have been a member of such a group. In 1973, the British Christian Doreen Irvine published From Witchcraft to Christ , in which she claimed to have been a member of a Satanic group that gave her supernatural powers, such as the ability to levitate , before she escaped and embraced Christianity. In

11895-438: The 1960s has come to be known as the New Mormon history. The publication of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought , the newly-established Mormon History Association, and the professionalization of LDS and RLDS history departments provided spaces for historians to do new research in Mormon topics. RLDS scholars founded the John Whitmer Historical Association in 1972. In 1974, Claudia Bushman and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich founded

12078-500: The 1980s largely as a result of the rise of Third-wave Pentecostalism and its emphasis on spiritual warfare . Traditional anti-Mormons, according to Peterson, are those who "are content to argue that Mormonism is untrue" and "incompatible with the Bible." While some may believe that Satan was indirectly involved in the founding of the LDS Church, they place little emphasis on his role. For them, naturalistic and historical explanations are always preferable to supernatural ones. Among

12261-427: The 19th century various small religious groups have emerged that identify as Satanist or use Satanic iconography. While the groups that appeared after the 1960s differed greatly, they can be broadly divided into theistic Satanism and atheistic Satanism . Those venerating Satan as a supernatural deity are unlikely to ascribe omnipotence , instead relating to Satan as a patriarch . Atheistic Satanists regard Satan as

12444-469: The American standing army in 1857 to Utah in what is known as the Utah War . More recent persecution against Mormons in the U.S. has occasionally taken the shape of acts of vandalism against church property. At an LDS Church building in Orangevale , Sacramento County , vandals spray painted "No on 8" and "No on Prop 8" on the front sign and sidewalk. An affiliate group of the radical Trans/Queer organization Bash Back! , claims credit for pouring glue into

12627-423: The Anti-Mormons" (the article was also the first known to label believers in the Book of Mormon as "Mormons"). In 1841, it was revealed that an Anti-Mormon Almanac would be published. Mormonism had been strongly criticized by dozens of publications since its inception. In 1834, Eber D. Howe published his book Mormonism Unvailed . The Latter Day Saints initially labeled such publications "anti-Christian", but

12810-463: The Book of Mormon from ancient gold plates and it is historically accurate , and that Native Americans are descended from Israelites who left Jerusalem in 600 BC . The court case was tossed out before trial. A court judge called it an "abuse" of court process. Tangible acts of violence against Latter-day Saints are considerably less common in the United States today than they were in the 19th century. The first significant violent persecution occurred in

12993-415: The Book of Mormon in By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion in 2002. Mormon women's history has not been well-integrated in general histories. Arrington and Davis Bitton discussed women's issues in two chapters on marriage and sisterhood in The Mormon Experience (1992). The Story of the Latter-day Saints (1992) by James Allen and Glen Leonard mentioned women in

13176-589: The Book of Mormon itself in Mormonism Exposed Internally and Externally , arguing that the book was inconsistent with the Bible and was written by Joseph Smith himself. In the 1960s, ex-Mormons Jerald and Sandra Tanner continued that anti-Mormon tradition by reprinting anti-Mormon works in the public domain as well as important but unflattering documents from LDS history through Utah Light House Ministry. They published their own criticisms of

13359-727: The Book of Mormon's origins were diverse. American Apocrypha described the Book of Mormon as a work of fiction reflecting its environment. Ostler argued that the Book of Mormon was partially inspired. FARMS's responses were at times patronizing, and even descending into veiled name-calling in William Hamblin's 1994 critique of a Metcalfe essay. In the 1990s and 2000s, Evangelicals Carl Mosser and Paul Owen encouraged other Evangelicals to respond to Mormon apologetics. Evangelical Craig L. Blomberg discussed whether or not Mormons were Christian with Mormon Stephen E. Robinson in How Wide

13542-523: The Christian figure of a fallen angel who tempts mortals into sin. The word Satan was not originally a proper name, but rather an ordinary noun that means "adversary". In this context, it appears at several points in the Old Testament . For instance, in the Book of Samuel , David is presented as the satan ("adversary") of the Philistines , while in the Book of Numbers , the term appears as

13725-484: The Church Historical Department included Jill Mulvay Derr, Carol Cornwall Madsen, and Edyth Romney. Journals dedicated special issues to Mormon women, and the increased interest in Mormon women led to more publications focused on them. Scholars published biographies of Emma Smith, Eliza Snow, Emmeline B. Wells, and Amy Brown Lyman. Beecher's efforts would also prove instrumental to the founding of

13908-419: The Church History Library archives. Non-Mormon scholars are often suspicious of Mormon scholars' work. Before World War II, church histories were mostly either orthodox Mormon or anti-Mormon and written by faithful Mormons or hostile non-Mormons, respectively. A few writers in the first era of church history (1830–1905) wrote about Mormons as a curiosity and focused on their peculiar ways. Non-Mormons wrote for

14091-581: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints : Century One . The history had some of the first historical analysis of events in church history. It was serialized in Americana 1909–1915. From 1830-1930, women were victims or symbols in historical accounts. Church historians mentioned their suffering, but rarely mentioned them by name. Anti-polygamy tracts also described Mormon women in general terms, describing them as deluded or miserable. In an effort to combat

14274-467: The Church" containing over 1,500 scrapbooks filled with published and unpublished records of daily activities in the church. Jenson made a special report on the Mountain Meadows Massacre , and parts of the report were not openly used until Massacre at Mountain Meadows (2008) by Richard E. Turley , Ronald W. Walker , and Glen M. Leonard . The first historian to attempt to summarize Mormon history on

14457-449: The Church. Though sometimes well intended, anti-Mormon publications have often taken the form of invective, falsehood, demeaning caricature, prejudice, or legal harassment, leading to both verbal and physical assault." Many of those who have been labeled "anti-Mormon" object to the designation, arguing that the term implies that disagreement or criticism of Mormonism stems from some inherent "anti-Mormon" prejudice, rather than being part of

14640-840: The Devil. This was accompanied by claims that such individuals engaged in acts of evil—incestuous sexual orgies, the murder of infants, and cannibalism —all stock accusations that had previously been leveled at Christians themselves in the Roman Empire . In Christian iconography, the Devil and demons were given the physical traits of figures from classical mythology , such as the god Pan , fauns , and satyrs . The first recorded example of such an accusation being made within Western Christianity took place in Toulouse in 1022, when two clerics were tried for allegedly venerating

14823-620: The Divide? A Mormon and Evangelical in Conversation . Richard Bushman encouraged fellow Mormon historians to be less defensive and more open to criticism, and also to do research on Mormon history from a consciously Mormon point of view. Over the years, scholars raised within the Latter-day Saint tradition and professionally trained academically, often in the social sciences, began to enter the field. A flowering of these efforts in

15006-663: The Institutional LDS Church and its doctrines and policies. In March 2014, a court case was brought against LDS Church president Thomas S. Monson in the United Kingdom. Monson was accused by disaffected member Tom Phillips of breaching the Fraud Act 2006 . The summons alleged that two men were induced to pay tithes to the LDS Church by church teachings which are objectively untrue. The allegedly untrue teachings included that Joseph Smith translated

15189-570: The LDS Church. In September 1993, the LDS church excommunicated the September Six , which included historians Lavina Fielding Anderson , D. Michael Quinn and Maxine Hanks . These excommunications served as a warning to other Mormon historians. Quinn's excommunication was perhaps tied to his idea that Mormon women had been given the priesthood in 1843, which he published in an essay in Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism . In 2003, he

15372-546: The LDS church as well, which, unlike early anti-Mormon works, cite historical documents. Ed Decker , an excommunicated Mormon, made two anti-Mormon films: The God Makers (1982) and The God Makers II (1993). The films described Mormons as being a cult , abusing women and children, manipulating news outlets, and practicing Satanism . The God Makers II received criticism from other anti-Mormons, including Jerald and Sandra Tanner, who stated it contained inaccuracies. Official recorders have existed since Joseph Smith organized

15555-576: The Latter Days with Richard Turley . Tait works on the web team, helping to add a "Women of Conviction" section to church history website. In 2017, Reeder and Holbrook edited a compilation of women's speeches called At the Pulpit: 185 Years of Discourses by Latter-day Saint Women. The Mormon blogosphere influences Mormon studies. In 2011, Patrick Mason surveyed 113 Mormon blog readers who were also graduate students. Most respondents viewed blogs as

15738-514: The McMartin family—owners of a preschool in California—were guilty of sexually abusing the children in their care during Satanic rituals. The allegations resulted in a lengthy and expensive trial , in which all of the accused would eventually be cleared. The publicity generated by the case resulted in similar allegations being made in various other parts of the United States. A key claim by

15921-501: The Mormons were "the most vile, the most impudent, the most impious, knot of charlatans and cheat with which any community was ever disgraced and cursed." Antidote to Mormonism describes Mormons as "miserable enemies of both God and man—engines of death and hell." He described combat with them as being "desperate, the battle is one of extermination." Bushman describes the characteristics of these anti-Mormon materials as sensationalizing actuality: The critics' writings largely controlled

16104-594: The New Mormon historians and New Mormon scholars was hard to define. Along with Arrington's transfer and a subsequent increase in restrictions in the LDS Church Archives, several other incidents led to an intellectual chilling of Mormon history by Mormons in the 1990s. In 1992, Arrington wrote that "the church cannot afford to place its official stamp of approval on any 'private' interpretation of its past," and this kind of history must be not sponsored by

16287-454: The New Mormon history movement as ending, bring replaced by post-New Mormon history or "Newer Mormon History." This emerging movement is interdisciplinary and endeavors to place Mormon studies in a broader historical context, further eroding boundaries between disciplines. Mormon women's history has not been well-integrated with other Mormon studies topics. Contemporary historians like R. Marie Griffith , Grant Wacker , and Robert Orsi encourage

16470-484: The New Testament, where he was presented as a figure who tempts humans to commit sin ; in the Book of Matthew and the Book of Luke , he attempted to tempt Jesus of Nazareth as the latter fasted in the wilderness. While the early Christian idea of the Devil was not well developed, it gradually adapted and expanded through the creation of folklore, art, theological treatises, and morality tales, thus providing

16653-452: The Order of Nine Angles (ONA), and The Satanic Temple (TST)—often accuse one another of being fraudulent Satanists and/or ignorant of true Satanism. Because the original concept of Satan came from Judaism and was embraced by Christianity, and because Satanists, almost by definition, oppose the teachings of those religions, people drawn to Satanism will often move on to "post-Satanism", i.e. to

16836-537: The Relief Society, is mostly used in women's meetings. Outside of Mormon history specialists, Mormon women are rarely mentioned. Non-Mormon scholars are still often suspicious of LDS scholars' work. That is gradually changing as non-Mormon scholars increase and universities not affiliated with the LDS Church have endowed chairs for Mormon studies. Kathleen Flake is the first Richard L. Bushman Chair of Mormon Studies at University of Virginia , and Patrick Mason

17019-506: The Satanic Scare had lost its impetus following increasing skepticism about such allegations, and a number of those who had been convicted of perpetrating Satanic ritual abuse saw their convictions overturned. In 1990, an agent of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation , Ken Lanning, revealed that he had investigated 300 allegations of Satanic ritual abuse and found no evidence for Satanism or ritualistic activity in any of them. In

17202-725: The Smith papers project moved to the Church Office Building . The Joseph Smith Papers project, started by the LDS church in 2001, aimed to publish Joseph Smith's papers with rigorous accuracy, and was validated by the National Historic Public Records Commission. Jan Shipps asserts that this reluctance to support New Mormon history was a response to the Mark Hofmann document forgeries. Also, some church authorities disliked

17385-530: The State." Three days later, a renegade militia unit attacked a Mormon settlement at Haun's Mill , resulting in the death of 18 Mormons and no militiamen. The extermination order was not formally rescinded until 1976. After the destruction of the press of the Nauvoo Expositor in Nauvoo, Illinois , Joseph Smith was arrested and incarcerated in Carthage Jail where he was killed by a mob on June 27, 1844. The persecution in Illinois became so severe that most of

17568-786: The Tanners have denounced on more than one occasion. Walter Martin , founder of the Christian Research Institute , was another traditional anti-Mormon. Martin was more controversial and contemptuous than others noted here. He portrayed Mormons as deceivers who "pose as Christians," calling them "anti-Christian" and "a cult infiltration." Martin also claimed that Mormons secretly harbor a "deep contempt for Christians," and accused them of being egomaniacs and "cultists". New Age anti-Mormons have generated considerably more controversy than traditional anti-Mormons. The most prominent of their number, Ed Decker , produced The God Makers and The God Makers II , and wrote books by

17751-518: The UK, the Department of Health commissioned the anthropologist Jean La Fontaine to examine the allegations of SRA. She noted that while approximately half did reveal evidence of genuine sexual abuse of children, none revealed any evidence that Satanist groups had been involved or that any murders had taken place. She noted three examples in which lone individuals engaged in child molestation had created

17934-505: The United States SRA ideas persisted among much of the public even as law enforcement had grown tired of false leads. A 1994 survey for the women's magazine Redbook reported in 1994, Another Satanic conspiracy theory arose in the United States by 2017, with unsubstantiated allegations of organized Devil-worshippers in prominent positions committing sexual abuse, murder, and cannibalism. The source of such claims began within

18117-450: The United States during the 1960s and 1970s, various Christian preachers—the most famous being Mike Warnke in his 1972 book The Satan-Seller —claimed that they had been members of Satanic groups who carried out sex rituals and animal sacrifices before discovering Christianity. According to Gareth Medway in his historical examination of Satanism, these stories were "a series of inventions by insecure people and hack writers, each one based on

18300-611: The Women's History Initiative at the institute, where she wrote an important biographical study of Emmeline B. Wells . In 2001, Richard Bushman retired from full-time teaching at Columbia University and was a research director at the Smith Institute. Dean C. Jessee started editing Joseph Smith's papers in The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith . The Smith Institute closed in 2005, and institute staff along with

18483-531: The adherents, institutions, or beliefs of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement as a whole. It may include physical attacks, discrimination , persecution , hostility, or prejudice against Mormons and the Latter Day Saint movement, particularly the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Opposition to Mormonism began before the first Latter Day Saint church

18666-423: The best interest of the Mormon at heart. Mormonism, or the Latter Day Saint movement , arose in western New York , the area where its founder, Joseph Smith , was raised, during a period of religious revival in the early 19th century. Smith claimed to have several visions involving God, Jesus and angelic Native American prophets. These claims were often not received well by those in the community, as evident in

18849-445: The body of Mormons, and contained the contents of a debate between the author and Parley Pratt , with Pratt's side omitted. Bushman describes the author's rhetoric as indistinguishable from that uttered by "scores of other polemicists of his time," providing a glimpse into the kind of material considered anti-Mormon. The pamphlet described Joseph Smith as a "blockhead", a "juggling, money-digging, fortune-telling impostor" and, along with

19032-666: The book before publication. Perhaps his favorable treatment was how he obtained access to the church records. Expanding on Bancroft's history, Orson F. Whitney wrote History of Utah (1898–1904) in four volumes. Joseph Fielding Smith wrote Essentials of Church History in 1922. Most of these accounts combined various testimonies into a single narrative without questioning the validity of the eyewitnesses or other observers, especially those of church authorities. Mormons wrote accounts for other Mormons, often published in church-sponsored venues like The Juvenile Instructor and in church-published lesson manuals. These writings were written for

19215-426: The book was "the most important work to emerge from a Mormon Press in the last 50 years." Jennifer Reeder , specializing in 19th century women's history, was hired in 2013. Brittany Chapman Nash and Lisa Tait also specialize in women's history and work in the Church history department. Nash works in public services and helps researchers to be aware of women's sources the archive offers. She co-authored Women of Faith in

19398-431: The books and articles produced by the history department, which noted flaws as well as strengths of people in church history. Shipps states that the increase in new converts to the LDS Church led General Authorities to emphasize the need for "palatable" versions of church history in museums and historic sites rather than in-depth articles in church-sponsored publications. Mormon sociologist Armand Mauss argued that Mormonism

19581-502: The cabal and bring them to justice in a climactic event known to supporters as "the storm". With the lack of any evidence of child abuse or harm, and failure of the prophesized "storm" to appear before the inauguration of a new president, the conspiracy has waned but not entirely disappeared. From the late 1600s through to the 1800s, the character of Satan was increasingly rendered unimportant in western philosophy, and ignored in Christian theology, while in folklore he came to be seen as

19764-602: The character with a range of extra-Biblical associations. Beginning in the early middle ages, the concept developed in Christianity of the devil as "archrepresentative of evil", and of the Satanist "as malign mirror image of the good Christian". The word Satanism was adopted into English from the French satanisme . The terms Satanism and Satanist are first recorded as appearing in the English and French languages during

19947-567: The church did not like the New Mormon history style, and Arrington and his remaining staff were transferred to Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1982, where they worked in the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History . The institute continued to support scholarship in Mormon history until 2005, when the institute closed and employees transferred to the LDS Church Office Building. In

20130-507: The church's claims are false, that it is non-Christian, or that it is a religion based on fraud or deceit on the part of its past and present leaders. The FBI began tracking anti-Mormon hate crimes in the United States in 2015 and have noted an increase in incidents over time (through 2019). The term, "anti-Mormon" first appears in the historical record in 1833 by the Louisville ( Kentucky ) Daily Herald in an article, "The Mormons and

20313-417: The church, among other complaints. In 1997, Joanna Brooks argued that the goal of Mormon studies was to critically examine Mormonism, not to determine religious truths. She postulated that Mormon studies done as a type of cultural studies will help scholars in the field feel less defensive and more productive. Outside of Brigham Young University and Utah, the University of North Carolina Press , Knopf , and

20496-474: The complete works of Hugh Nibley starting in 1984. In 1997, LDS church president Gordon B. Hinckley invited FARMS to be officially affiliated at BYU, and in 2006 it was subsumed by the Neal A. Maxwell Institute of Religious Scholarship . In 2012, Daniel C. Petersen, the editor of FARMS Review , started publishing a new journal called Interpreter . The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR),

20679-399: The conspiracy. Various figures in law enforcement also came to be promoters of the conspiracy theory, with such "cult cops" holding various conferences to promote it. The scare was later imported to the United Kingdom through visiting evangelicals and became popular among some of the country's social workers, resulting in a range of accusations and trials across Britain. In the late 1980s,

20862-570: The context of auxiliaries like Relief Society and Primary, plural marriage, suffrage, and the ERA. The Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History (2000) contained 435 entries about men, but only 64 about women, with three-quarters of the women receiving less than a page of description. Church publication Our Heritage (1996) only mentioned a few women. Women's history remained in a "separate sphere." Daughters in My Kingdom (2011), an official history of

21045-587: The devil. Understanding of disorders of the mind undercut demonic possession. But while the hunting and killing of alleged witches waned, belief in Satan did not disappear. During the 18th century, gentleman's social clubs became increasingly prominent in Britain and Ireland, among the most secretive of which were the Hellfire Clubs , which were first reported in the 1720s. The most famous of these groups

21228-637: The devotional religious market also occasionally publish in Mormon studies, including the LDS publishers Cedar Fort, Inc. , Covenant Communications , and Deseret Book (which is owned by the LDS Church), as well as Herald House (which is owned by the Community of Christ ). In addition, certain general book publishers or university presses have also published significant Mormon studies. These include: Anti-Mormonism Anti-Mormonism includes people and literature that are critical, or opposed to,

21411-516: The diabolical pact made with demons was popularized across Europe in the story of Faust , probably based in part on the real life Johann Georg Faust . As the late medieval gave way to the early modern period , European Christendom experienced a schism between the established Roman Catholic Church and the breakaway Protestant movement. In the ensuing Reformation and Counter-Reformation (1517–1700 CE), both Catholics and Protestants accused each other of deliberately being in league with Satan. It

21594-672: The early 1830s in Missouri . Mormons tended to vote as a bloc there, wielding "considerable political and economic influence," often unseating local political leadership and earning long-lasting enmity in the frontier communities. These differences culminated in the Missouri Mormon War and the eventual issuing of an executive order (since called the extermination order within the LDS community) by Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs , which declared that "the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from

21777-459: The early 20th century, the British novelist Dennis Wheatley produced a range of influential novels in which his protagonists battled Satanic groups. At the same time, non-fiction authors such as Montague Summers and Rollo Ahmed published books claiming that Satanic groups practicing black magic were still active across the world, although they provided no evidence that this was the case. During

21960-564: The eventual issuing of an executive order (since called the Extermination Order ) by Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs declaring "the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State." Three days later, a renegade militia unit attacked a Mormon settlement at Haun's Mill , resulting in the death of 18 Mormons and no militiamen. The Extermination Order was not formally rescinded until 1976. In Nauvoo, Illinois , persecutions were often based on

22143-512: The evidence for the trials, the historians Geoffrey Scarre and John Callow thought it "without doubt" that some of those accused in the trials had been guilty of employing magic in an attempt to harm their enemies and were thus genuinely guilty of witchcraft. In a scandal starting with the poisoning of three people, prominent members of the French aristocracy, including members of the king's inner circle, were implicated and sentenced on charges of poisoning and witchcraft. Between 1677 and 1682, during

22326-558: The faults of church leaders and dismiss spiritual inspiration. In 1982, historians from Arrington's department were transferred to Brigham Young University, where they were assigned to teach in the history department and worked in the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History. After Arrington's death in 1999, Ronald K. Esplin and Jill Mulvay Derr led the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History at BYU. Carol Cornwall Madsen led research in

22509-666: The field of Mormon studies are presented annually by scholarly societies. The Mormon History Association (MHA) and the John Whitmer Historical Association (JWHA) each present annual awards for various categories within Mormon history, such as books, biographies, documentary history, journal articles, and lifetime achievement. The MHA also gives awards for theses and student papers. The Utah State Historical Society (USHS), which frequently engages Mormon history, also presents awards for books, articles, and student papers. Literary awards are presented by

22692-477: The following excerpt from Smith's account of LDS Church history: ... one of the Methodist preachers ... treated my communication ... with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil, that there were no such things as visions or revelations in these days; that all such things had ceased with the apostles, and that there would never be any more of them. I soon found, however, that my telling the story had excited

22875-400: The foundation of Salt Lake City . Mormons are presented as violent, rigidly intolerant and corrupt, systematically terrorizing both members of the church and non-Mormon neighbors as well as forcing polygamous marriage on Mormon girls against their will. Later in his career, Conan Doyle apologized to the Mormons for his depiction of their religion. During a 1923 tour of the United States, Doyle

23058-418: The foundations of Mormonism's "New History" movement. Brodie wrote No Man Knows My History (1945), which contemporary reviews praised as definitive and scholarly. Other LDS scholars, notably Hugh Nibley , criticized Brodie's biography. In 1950, Juanita Brooks, a Columbia University -trained housewife who formerly taught English composition at a nearby college, published a well-researched and balanced book on

23241-455: The gods and goddesses with supernatural powers venerated by these "pagans" could not be genuine divinities but must actually be demons. However, they did not believe that "pagans" were deliberately worshipping devils, but were instead simply misguided and unaware of the "true" God. Those Christian groups regarded as heretics by the Roman Catholic Church were treated differently, with theologians arguing that they were deliberately worshipping

23424-598: The history of saints in the St. George, Utah area. Other scholars publishing on Mormonism from this time period include I. Woodbridge Riley, Walter F. Prince , Franklin D. Daines, Hamilton Gardner, Joseph Geddes, Feramorz Fox , Arden Beal Olsen, William McNiff, Kimball Young , Austin Fife and Alta Fife . In the 1950s after World War II, an increasing number of Mormons studied history professionally and wrote dissertations about Mormon history. Non-Mormon sociologist Thomas F. O'Dea wrote

23607-491: The hoax. Around the same time, another convert to Catholicism Joris-Karl Huysmans , also helped promote the concept of active Satanist groups in his 1891 work Là-bas (Down There). Huysmans "helped to cement" the idea the black mass as Satanic rite and inversion of the Roman Catholic mass, with a naked woman for an altar. (Unlike Taxil, his conversion was apparently genuine and his book was published as fiction.) In

23790-509: The idea of Satanism is the concept that there is an agent of misfortune and evil who operates on a cosmic scale, something usually associated with a strong form of ethical dualism that divides the world clearly into forces of good and forces of evil. The earliest such entity known is Angra Mainyu , a figure that appears in the Persian religion of Zoroastrianism . This concept was also embraced by Judaism and early Christianity, and although it

23973-433: The ignorance and credulity of those upon whom they can successfully play off this imposture." He described the Book of Mormon as, "the most gross, the most ridiculous, the most imbecile, the most contemptible concern, that was ever attempted to be palmed off upon society as a revelation." He believed the religion "can be viewed in no other light than that of monstrous public nuisances, that ought forthwith to be abated" and that

24156-683: The ill-fated banking efforts of the Kirtland Safety Society and other failed economic experiments including the United Order . In Missouri , once the gathering place of the Latter Day Saints, Mormons tended to vote as a bloc, wielding "considerable political and economic influence," often unseating local political leadership and earning long-lasting enmity in the sometimes hard-drinking, hard-living frontier communities. These differences culminated in hostilities and

24339-457: The increasing amount of Mormon scholarship "the New Mormon history." The "New Mormon history" movement included non-Mormons Thomas F. O'Dea, P.A.M. Taylor, Mario De Pillis , Lawrence Foster, Community of Christ member Robert Flanders, and Mormon scholar Klaus Hansen. Maureen Ursenbach Beecher was a leading researcher in women's studies. In the 1970s women's biographies were published, but not integrated into larger narratives. Other women hired by

24522-467: The label is a "campaign by Latter-day Saints to disavow the facts presented by simply labeling the source as 'anti-Mormon'". Critics of the term also claim that Mormon authors promote the ideal of a promised heavenly reward for enduring persecution for one's beliefs. Those individuals and groups who challenge Mormonism, particularly those who approach the challenge from an evangelical Christian perspective, would generally sustain that they do, in fact, have

24705-629: The late 1980s and 1990s, several other incidents made BYU faculty reluctant to voice unorthodox ideas about church history. Around 1990, BYU professors were asked not to contribute to Dialogue or Sunstone . Two historians were excommunicated in 1993, probably for their published unorthodox views. BYU Studies and other LDS church-sponsored publishers published more "faithful" scholarship at this time. Presses outside of Utah started to publish more books in Mormon studies. Mormon scholars engaging in Mormon studies still feel they must be careful about what they write, especially if they work with material from

24888-455: The legal authorities in both Catholic and Protestant regions. Most historians agree that the majority of those persecuted in these witch trials were innocent of any involvement in Devil worship. Historian Darren Eldridge writes that claims that there actually was a cult of devil-worshippers being pursued by witch hunters "have not survived the scrutiny of surviving trial records" done by historians from 1962 to 2012. However, in their summary of

25071-534: The lives of their unsuspecting victims. Joseph Smith became the worst of the type—a religious fraud who preyed upon the sacred yearnings of the human soul. British author Arthur Conan Doyle 's A Study in Scarlet (1887), the novel in which the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance, includes a very negative depiction of the early Mormon community in Utah after its migration westwards and

25254-547: The locks of an LDS Church building and spray painting on its walls. An internet posting signed by Bash Back!'s Olympia chapter said: "The Mormon church ... needs to be confronted, attacked, subverted and destroyed." According to the Chicago Tribune , the acts of vandalism against the LDS Church appear to be in retaliation for support of Proposition 8. Police reported that nine church buildings were also damaged in Utah that month. The Anti-Defamation League released

25437-656: The magazine Exponent II . The first issue of BYU Studies was published in 1959. In 1972, the LDS Church hired Leonard Arrington as their historian. During Arrington's time as historian, Mormon and non-Mormon historians were allowed to access the LDS Church Archives . Much of the research in the 1970s used these newly-available sources to examine church history, sometimes in great detail. Leonard Arrington influenced important scholars of Mormon history, including Richard Jensen , William Hartley , and Ronald Walker . In 1969, Jewish historian Moses Rischin named

25620-435: The marriage ban for sending the hoax mailings , while a group that also supported the measure condemned "acts of domestic terrorism against our supporters." LGBT rights groups, such as Equality Utah and Equality California , have spoken out against the use of violence in protests, and note that the source of the "white powder" mailings has not been determined. In Latin America, however, opposition to Mormonism has taken

25803-751: The most popular blogs, By Common Consent, had over two million page visitors in 2011. It and other blogs are influential on Mormon studies. Archives with significant Mormon collections include the L. Tom Perry Special Collections at BYU, the Church Archives in Salt Lake, the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah in Salt Lake, Utah State University Libraries, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut. Awards for writing or service in

25986-480: The most prominent of the traditional anti-Mormons are Jerald and Sandra Tanner. Both former members of the LDS Church, the Tanners converted to evangelical Protestantism; in 1964, they founded the Modern Microfilm Company to "document problems with the claims of Mormonism and to compare LDS doctrines with Christianity." In 1983, they turned their company into a non-profit organization and renamed it

26169-676: The oral history data were published in Mormon Women Have Their Say: Essays from the Claremont Oral History Collection . The Church History Department hired a specialist in women's history in 2011, Kate Holbrook . She co-authored The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-Day Saint Women's History with Jill Mulvay Derr, Carol Cornwall Madsen, and Matthew J. Grow. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich said

26352-598: The pre-existing idea of the witch , or practitioner of malevolent magic . The idea of a conspiracy of Satanic witches was developed by educated elites, although the concept of malevolent witchcraft was a widespread part of popular belief, and folkloric ideas about the night witch, the wild hunt , and the dance of the fairies were incorporated into it. The earliest trials took place in Northern Italy and France, before spreading it out to other areas of Europe and to Britain's North American colonies, being carried out by

26535-573: The presence of supernatural events in the founding events of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is quite willing to acknowledge continuous supernatural influence in the life of the Church today." However, "unlike faithful Latter-day Saints, New Age anti-Mormons see the supernatural agents involved in the founding and progress of the Church as demonic, occultic, diabolical, luciferian." This "New Age anti-Mormon" grouping includes Ed Decker , Loftes Tryk, James R. Spencer and many others. According to Introvigne, New Age anti-Mormonism emerged in

26718-470: The primary sources for the scare was Michelle Remembers , a 1980 book by the Canadian psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder in which he detailed what he claimed were the repressed memories of his patient (and wife) Michelle Smith. Smith had claimed that as a child she had been abused by her family in Satanic rituals in which babies were sacrificed and Satan himself appeared. In 1983, allegations were made that

26901-532: The protagonist. Milton was a Puritan and had never intended for his depiction of Satan to be a sympathetic one. However, in portraying Satan as a victim of his own pride who rebelled against the Judeo-Christian god, Milton humanized him and also allowed him to be interpreted as a rebel against tyranny. In this vein, the 19th century saw the emergence of what has been termed literary Satanism or romantic Satanism , where in poetry, plays, and novels, God

27084-530: The publication of the Almanac and the subsequent formation of an " Anti-Mormon Party " in Illinois heralded a shift in terminology. "Anti-Mormon" became a common self-designation for those opposed to the religion. Today, the term is primarily used as a descriptor for persons and publications that are active in their opposition to the LDS Church, although its precise scope has been the subject of some debate. It

27267-471: The reading public's image of [Joseph Smith] for the next century, with unfortunate results for biographers. The sharp caricature of "Joe Smith" as fraud and con man blotted out the actual person. He was a combination of knave and blockhead. No one had to explain what motives drove him. He was a fixed type, the confidence man, well known in the literature of antebellum America. Americans knew all about these insidious scoundrels who undermined social order and ruined

27450-535: The reign of King Louis XIV , 36 people were executed in Satanic panic known to history as the Affair of the Poisons . At least some of the accusers were implicated others under torture and in hopes of saving their lives. These highly unreliable reports include what "may be the first report of a satanic mass using a woman as an altar". The Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution changed humanity's understanding of

27633-519: The residents of Nauvoo fled across the Mississippi River in February 1846. Even after Mormons established a community hundreds of miles away in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, anti-Mormon activists in Utah Territory convinced U.S. President James Buchanan that the Mormons in the territory were rebelling against the United States; critics pointed to plural marriage as a sign of the rebellion. In response, President Buchanan sent one-third of

27816-689: The restoration. The LDS church stopped funding so much research and limited access to the church archives. Apostle Ezra Taft Benson warned employees in the Church Educational System against New Mormon history in a 1976 speech. He said that writing history in a neutral style undermined "prophetic history." Boyd K. Packer 's 1981 article, "The Mantle is Far, Far Greater than the Intellect" was published in BYU Studies. He wrote that contemporary historians were too eager to focus on

27999-496: The same category as those few who engage in such behavior. As a result of organized protests at Mormon events, a number of Latter-day Saints, and even non-Mormons, have begun to counter-demonstrate at events (by singing hymns, for example). Opposition to Mormonism has been more prominent in the 21st century from atheist perspectives. Richard Dawkins , Bill Maher and John Dehlin are among those who more prominent individuals who have used media appearances or podcasts to oppose

28182-403: The same name. The God Makers has attracted criticism not only from Latter-day Saints, but from traditional anti-Mormons as well. The film is generally considered acerbic and misleading, and has provoked bomb threats against LDS meetinghouses and death threats against members. In other publications, Decker has asserted that the literal source of Mormonism is Satan , that its religious symbolism

28365-457: The second group, you leave out most of the history of Satanism, (Joseph P. Laycock argues). If you do include both groups, you have two sides with very different views on who or what Satan was/is and represented. The accusers usually follow the Christian idea of Satan as an irredeemably evil fallen angel who seeks the destruction of both God and humanity, but who (along with his followers) is doomed to fail and to suffer eternal punishment. While

28548-495: The self-identified Satanists often do not believe that Satan actually exists as a being (they believe he is a symbol and a " Promethean figure", "an esoteric symbol of a vital force that permeates the universe"), let alone is trying to destroy humanity. A definitions/descriptions that would include the "satanism" of heresy crusades and moral panics is: In their study of Satanism, the religious studies scholars Asbjørn Dyrendal, James R. Lewis , and Jesper Aa. Petersen stated that

28731-454: The snares of the wicked one, and have been left destitute of the Spirit of God, to manifest their wickedness in the eyes of multitudes. From apostates the faithful have received the severest persecutions ... "When once that light which was in them is taken from them, they become as much darkened as they were previously enlightened, and then, no marvel, if all their power should be enlisted against

28914-432: The source of at least some anti-Mormon and apostate groups, relates an experience of a Mormon convert being excommunicated and encourages the avoidance of "those who would tear down your faith.” A passage from an early Mormon epistle addresses a claimed tendency of ex-Mormons to criticize the church of which they are no longer a part: [A]postates after turning from the faith of Christ ... have sooner or later fallen into

29097-482: The study of Mormonism, with professors named to oversee coursework, research, and events on Mormon studies. While independent academic programs have emerged in recent years, devotional religious education programs have existed far longer. Additional colleges have also taught courses on Mormonism without having institutionally sponsored programs, but they are not included in the list below. The following primarily publish books on Mormon studies: Several publishers within

29280-541: The tales sometimes began to imitate them (celebrating Black Masses for example), a process known to folklorists as "ostension". As Christianity expanded throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe, it came into contact with a variety of other religions, which it regarded as " pagan ". Christianity being a monotheist religion, Christian theologians believed that since there was only one God (the God of Christianity)

29463-434: The tendency of Mormons to "dominate community, economic, and political life wherever they resided." The city of Nauvoo had become the largest in Illinois, the city council was predominantly Mormon, and the Nauvoo Legion (the Mormon militia ) had grown to a quarter of the size of the U.S. Army . Other issues of contention included polygamy , freedom of speech , anti-slavery views during Smith's presidential campaign, and

29646-403: The term Satanism "has a history of being a designation made by people against those whom they dislike; it is a term used for ' othering '". Eugene Gallagher noted that Satanism was usually "a polemical , not a descriptive term". Similar to the way certain Christian denominations accuse each other of heresy, different satanic groups—mainly the Church of Satan (CoS), the Temple of Set (ToS),

29829-403: The truth," and they, Judas like, seek the destruction of those who were their greatest benefactors. In 1985, Vaughn J. Featherstone, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy of the LDS Church, addressed students at the church-owned Brigham Young University , calling anti-Mormon material "theological pornography that is damaging to the spirit." Satanism Satanism refers to

30012-446: The use of interdisciplinary tools in Mormon studies. Included in these interdisciplinary tools are oral histories. In 1972, the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies was established at BYU, where Jessie L. Embry directed an extensive oral history project. The Church History Department started their own oral history project in 2009. Claudia L. Bushman and her students started the Claremont Oral History collection in 2009, and papers using

30195-429: The way anti-polygamists portrayed Mormon women, Edward Tullidge and Eliza R. Snow compiled The Women of Mormondom (1877), a book that portrayed Mormon women as hardworking and independent in a combined history, biography, and theology. Heroines of Mormondom (1884) highlighted faithful Mormon women's lives. Women wrote short biographies of other women and recorded them in Women's Exponent and through publications from

30378-706: The will of Satan. During the 19th century, the term Satanism began to be used to describe those considered to lead a broadly immoral lifestyle, and it was only in the late 19th century that it came to be applied in English to individuals who were believed to consciously and deliberately venerate Satan. This latter meaning had appeared earlier in the Swedish language ; the Lutheran Bishop Laurentius Paulinus Gothus had described devil-worshipping sorcerers as Sathanister in his Ethica Christiana , produced between 1615 and 1630. Some definitions of Satanism offered/suggested by scholars include: But these definitions of Satanism are limited to ... excluding And by excluding

30561-431: The world, and especially to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" that "there is no time for contention," and encouraged "all our members to refuse to become anti-anti-Mormon. In the wise words of old, can we 'live and let live'?" Carlos E. Asay of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy spoke in the fall 1981 conference concerning opposition to the LDS Church. He describes " Lucifer " as

30744-535: The world. The mathematics of Isaac Newton and psychology of John Locke "left little space for the intervention of supernatural beings". Charles Darwin 's theory of evolution undermined the doctrine of the Fall in the Garden of Eden and the role of the diabolical serpent, while also providing an "alternative account of human evil" in the form of "a residual effect of our animal nature". The Industrial Revolution and urbanization disturbed traditional social relations and folk ideas to undermine belief in witchcraft and

30927-451: Was Louis Midgely , who argued that from a relativist, postmodern theory, the Mormon view that the LDS Church had divine origins was just as valuable and valid as others. New Mormon historians said that the New Mormon scholars left faith out of their analyses. Many were members of FARMS, and often saw writers of New Mormon history as the same as other anti-Mormons, even though most writers of New Mormon history were Mormon. The difference between

31110-416: Was a Church Historian in the history department, the LDS Church Archives were open to Mormon and non-Mormon researchers. Researchers wrote detached accounts for Mormon intellectuals in the "New Mormon history" style. Many new publications started to publish history in this style, including Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought , BYU Studies Quarterly , and Exponent II . Some general authorities in

31293-416: Was a conspiracy of organized Satanists who occupied prominent positions throughout society, from the police to politicians, and that they had been powerful enough to cover up their crimes. Preceded by some significant but isolated episodes in the 1970s, a great Satanism scare exploded in the 1980s in the United States and Canada and was subsequently exported towards England, Australia, and other countries. It

31476-587: Was a struggle between remaining distinctive and assimilating to accepted American cultural practices; scholar Ronald Helfrich speculates that the change in General Authority's reception to Arrington's research was because they feared assimilating too much. General interest in Mormon studies continued during the 1980s, with over 2,000 books, articles, and other material published on Mormon history during that decade. BYU Studies and Deseret Books published more New Mormon historians after General Authority pushback against New Mormon history. One of these New Mormon historians

31659-529: Was another milestone in feminist publications, and it encouraged Mormon women to be empowered by their history and "reclaim lost opportunities." Most New Mormon historians were LDS. Their audience was Mormon intellectuals and non-Mormons. They maintained their respect for the Mormon faith, admitted to flaws in people and policies, and avoided taking a defensive stance, a tone which non-Mormon historian Jan Shipps wrote "made them seem more secular than they actually were." Mormon history by non-Mormons at this time had

31842-406: Was established in 1830 and continues to the present day. The most vocal and strident opposition occurred during the 19th century, particularly the forceful expulsion from Missouri and Illinois in the 1830s and 1840s, during the Utah War of the 1850s, and in the second half of the century when the practice of polygamy in Utah Territory was widely considered by the U.S. Republican Party as one of

32025-402: Was expressed in publications during the early part of LDS Church history. In his 2005 biography of Joseph Smith, Richard Lyman Bushman cites four 1838 pamphlets as anti-Mormon: Mormonism Exposed by Sunderland, Mormonism Exposed by Bacheler, Antidote to Mormonism by M'Chesney, and Exposure of Mormonism by Livesey. The first was the work of Origen Bacheler, who had no direct contact with

32208-455: Was followed by History of Brigham Young , which was also published in Deseret News and Millennial Star over the next two years. Church Historians and their assistants edited the material, which was published in official publications. Andrew Jenson made sizable contributions to documentary church history with the Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia (1901–36), Encyclopedic History of the Church (1941), and an unpublished "Journal History of

32391-427: Was in this context that the terms Satanist and Satanism emerged. The early modern period also saw fear of Satanists reach its "historical apogee" in the form of the witch trials of the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries , when between 30,000 and 50,000 alleged witches were executed. This came about as the accusations which had been leveled at medieval heretics, among them that of devil-worship, were applied to

32574-414: Was interested in how Mormons helped colonize the West. Mormon Ephraim Edward Ericksen wrote "The Psychological and Ethical Aspects of Mormonism" (1922) while studying at the University of Chicago. His dissertation, influenced by functionalist theory, argued that Mormonism was a product of conflicts with non-Mormons and harsh environments. Lowry Nelson, also a Mormon, studied at the University of Wisconsin in

32757-602: Was invited to speak at the LDS Church's Salt Lake Tabernacle ; while some individual Mormons remained deeply upset over the negative depiction, in general, the Mormons present received him warmly. Vehement opposition to the LDS Church comes from individuals or groups associated with the Christian countercult movement , which is mostly an evangelical Christian phenomenon. In the 21st century, opposition to Mormonism has become frequent among Secular groups. Among those with religious motives, Daniel C. Peterson has identified two major streams of modern anti-Mormon thought. The first

32940-478: Was scheduled to give a speech at a conference at Yale which was co-sponsored by BYU, and BYU stated they would withdraw their funding if Quinn presented his paper. That same year, Quinn applied to work as a professor at the University of Utah and Arizona State University. He was not hired as a professor, possibly because of fears that LDS people in power would retaliate against the university. In 1986, administrators were asked not to contribute to Dialogue or present at

33123-418: Was soon marginalized within Jewish thought, it gained increasing importance within early Christian understandings of the cosmos. The Native South American terrible god Tiw is traditionally honored with the syncretic dance and parade Diablada ('Dance of the Devils') that was opposed to the Catholic Church in origin. The term Satan has evolved from a Hebrew term for "adversary" or "to oppose", into

33306-464: Was the Order of the Knights of Saint Francis, which was founded circa 1750 by the aristocrat Sir Francis Dashwood and which assembled first at his estate at West Wycombe and later in Medmenham Abbey . A number of contemporary press sources portrayed these as gatherings of atheist rakes where Christianity was mocked, and toasts were made to the Devil. Beyond these sensationalist accounts, which may not be accurate portrayals of actual events, little

33489-475: Was unprecedented in history. It surpassed even the results of Taxil 's propaganda, and has been compared with the most virulent periods of witch hunting. The scare started in 1980 and declined slowly between 1990... and 1994, when official British and American reports denied the real existence of ritual satanic crimes. Particularly outside the U.S. and U.K., however, its consequences are still felt today. Sociologist of religion Massimo Introvigne, 2016 One of

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