An Insiders View of Mormon Origins by Grant H. Palmer

Informative

Over the past thirty years, an enormous amount of research has been

conducted into Mormon origins--Joseph Smiths early life, the Book of

Mormon, the prophets visions, and the restoration of priesthood authority.

Longtime LDS educator Grant H. Palmer suggests that most Latter-day

Saints remain unaware of the significance of these discoveries. He

therefore gives a brief survey of the literature for all who have ever wanted

to know more about the New Mormon History. He finds that what we take

for granted as literal history has been tailored over the years for missionary purposes--slightly modified, added to, one aspect emphasized over

another--to the point that the original narratives have been nearly lost.

What was experienced as a spiritual event, something from an entirely

different dimension, has been often refashioned as if it had been a

physical, objective occurrence. This is not how the first Saints interpreted

these events. Historians have reevaluated basic concepts surrounding

these foundational stories and restored elements, including a nineteenth-

century world view, that have been misunderstood, if not forgotten.

I came to a decision to stop going to church actively after 26 years of what

I would consider living the gospel. This review of this book is in no way a

portrayal of the LDS Church or its members, many of which are my family

and close friends.

After going to BYU, for years I assumed and never rigorously studied

cultural effects on theology, historical documents, sworn testimonies, comparative literature and so forth. Until, I enrolled in a History class at

BYU with a very detailed and young professor. He taught about cultural

effects on history taking specifically talking about Guns, Germs and Steel

and how many historical accounts are subjective to bias.

This is where Insider View of Mormon Origins comes into play. AFTER I

made the decision based on my own rational thought about God and my

feelings of what truth is I decided to truly seek out the truth of the LDS

churchs origins.

I found his book on Amazon, purchased and read. It amazed me that so

many fundamental claims of the church can be drawn back to cultural

influences at the time, popular theology thought at the time of the Great

Awakening in the Eastern States and so forth. The evidence soon became overwhelming, and Palmer does a good job of outlining them in

his research.

Do you need other sources and should you verify his footnotes and

commentary? Yes, Im in the process of doing it. However, in the same vain

of the fundamental doctrine of the church states: Truth will prevail and The

truth will set you free and Of the best books seek ye out, nowhere does it

say, Stay away from historical research that disagrees with what you feel is

right. Truth is truth and will be able to repel any attack.

I also love Palmers research and inclusion of how Evangelical

Protestantism played a major role in what many members based their

knowledge of the truth on. The feelings of the Holy Spirit. Look at it this

way... if the feelings werent there to back up irrational thought, would you

still be LDS? Palmer does a great job of explaining how that doctrine came into existence through Methodist Prayer camps and the role it played

in the initial formation of LDS theology.

If you learn anything from this book, it is that Christ should be the center of

your worship, and that the Book of Mormon is one of the worlds most

persuasive reasons to believe in Christ. Even if Joseph Smith was not

prophet of God, his work in expanding and spreading Christianity through

the Book of Mormon (really a commentary and expansion of basic

Christian thought) should be viewed as such. I find it telling that he still

loves the Church and attends his local ward because its focusing more of

Christ now.

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