Newsroom
The Latest
Tough Questions & Responses with Paul Reeve (Part 5)
Why did God not clearly communicate to the prophets that all His children should receive the priesthood and temple blessings?
By Todd Noall
Tough Questions & Responses with Paul Reeve (Part 3)
Historian Paul Reeve explores racialized verses in the Book of Mormon and clarifies they were never used to justify racial restrictions on Black Africans.
By Todd Noall
Tough Questions & Responses with Paul Reeve (Part 2)
Paul Reeve tackles the tension between claims of prophetic guidance and the historical errors of LDS Church leaders regarding racial restrictions.
By Todd Noall
Tough Questions & Responses with Paul Reeve (Part 1)
A scholar of Mormon history examines whether the 1978 revelation lifting the racial priesthood ban offers lessons for understanding the Church's current position on same-sex marriage.
By Todd Noall
Blacks in Mormonism: Black Africans in the Early Church (Part 1)
The early Mormon Church was unusually progressive on race — until the priesthood ban changed everything.
By Todd Noall
Blacks in Mormonism: Black Africans in the Early Church (Part 2)
Spencer W. Kimball's path to the 1978 revelation that removed the priesthood ban reveals a pattern of faithful seeking, scriptural study, and readiness for change.
By Todd Noall
Blacks in Mormonism: Black Africans in the Early Church (Part 3)
On June 1, 1978, after months of fasting and prayer, President Spencer W. Kimball and the Quorum of the Twelve received what they described as a manifestation confirming the time had come to extend full priesthood blessings to all worthy members regardless of race.
By Todd Noall
Blacks in Mormonism: Black Africans in the Early Church (Part 4)
As the Church's restoration continues, leaders reflect on how to reckon with the past priesthood ban while inviting all people to abandon prejudice.
By Todd Noall
Tough Questions & Responses with Paul Reeve (Part 4)
How do we explain the origins of the LDS priesthood ban without questioning our faith, and how do we know current prophets aren't making similar mistakes?
By Todd Noall
Helen Mar Kimball: Joseph's Marriage Examined
Don Bradley unpacks the Helen Mar Kimball narrative, tracing how her father's proposal became a story about Joseph Smith's manipulation—and where the evidence diverges from that account.
By Todd Noall
Joseph Smith & Fanny Alger: Evidence & Accounts
Historian Don Bradley explores how chronological evidence and primary sources illuminate the nature and discovery of Joseph Smith's earliest plural marriage.
By Todd Noall
Joseph Smith & Fanny Alger: Dating the Evidence
Don Bradley uses converging historical evidence to narrow the timeline of Joseph Smith and Fanny Alger's relationship to a specific window in 1836.
By Todd Noall