Faith Crisis

After working with thousands of struggling members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over many years, the authors decided to write a book offering hope and answers for those struggling with faith crisis. Unbeknownst to the general Church membership, the 20th century would witness an organized effort to rewrite Latter-day Saint history from within its own ranks. In a head-to-head, behind-the-scenes-battle, traditional leaders resisted intellectual progressives working in the Church History Department and at BYU, who claimed some forty years ago that it would take a generation to re-educate the Church membership. Where are we in this attempted re-education? What is the New Mormon History, and how does it personally affect you and your family? Join us as we explore newly-available diaries, review old books, and bring untold history into the light! • Progressives claim the Church covered up its history for nearly 200 years. Is the current faith crisis stemming from unmasked history . . . or new interpretations? • Why did New Mormon Historians insist Hofmann's forgeries were legitimate, even when investigators provided convincing evidence to them of the hoax? • How did Bruce R. McConkie know Hofmann's Joseph Smith III blessing was a fake, despite authentication by document experts and pressure by historians calling him "incompetent" for questioning? • Who were the "Swearing Elders"? How did this group of progressive Latter-day Saints reshape the identity of Mormonism? • Why did Carol Lynn Pearson and Leonard Arrington share cards that read, "History is on our side-as long as we can control the historians?" • Leonard Arrington shared that an "invisible higher power" commissioned him to rewrite or reconstruct our dominant narrative of the Restoration. Did God want our history changed? • Why did Leonard Arrington say the First Vision, Nephites and gold plates were part of the Mormon "myth"? • Why did Leonard Arrington note that if he were honest about his beliefs, "not many" Latter-day Saints would "want [him] to teach their children"? How did this affect his career as Church Historian and later at BYU?

Renew your FAITH in Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the Restoration-and better understand the TRUE HISTORY behind why so many are no suffering from a crisis of faith. During the 20th century, an organized objective to rewrite Latter-day Saint history from within, unbeknownst to the general Church membership, went head to head behind the scenes with traditional leaders of the Church. Meet the main players of this conflict: Leonard Arrington-progressive "Father of New Mormon History," Ezra Taft Benson, traditionalist defender, and many other advocates of traditionalist and progressive Latter-day Saint history. As traditionalists and progressives sparred during the 1970s-1980s, a covert cold war commenced in Salt Lake City, Utah, with the progressives spying on the traditionalists, and the traditionalists spying on the progressives. Secret informants, leaked documents, falsified reports, and even employed pseudonyms-all were part of this struggle to dominate Latter-day Saint history. But, how did, and does, this secret conflict affect you? Progressives, working in the Church History Department and at Brigham Young University, claimed 40 years ago that it would take a generation to re-educate the Church. Where are we now in that re-education?