AnalyzingMormonism
Welcome to
Analyzing Mormonism
My name is Julia. I grew up in the Mormon Church, known officially as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For the past several years (really my entire life) I have been learning more and more about the Church's history and its truth claims.
This is a website in which I hope to store my findings. I don't seek to argue or to tear the church down. My intention is to share sources and details about the church to help members and non-members take an honest look at the history and theology of the Church.
In many ways it is my aim to make every reader a Mormon historian.
Topics
Analyzing Mormonism also has a podcast! The podcast seeks to discuss the life of Joseph Smith and the teachings of the Mormon Church, properly called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
People are still trying to figure out Joseph Smith. Was he educated? Was he really a treasure digger? How did he begin the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
Perhaps one of the most famous aspects of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is it's past teachings and current ties to polygamy. What is the church's doctrine on polygamy? Was Joseph Smith a polygamist? What was his relationship with these women?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has other scriptures in addition to the Holy Bible, namely The Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, and the Doctrine and Covenants (originally called The Book of Commandments).
"I think that for the Church to remain strong it has to reconstruct its narrative. The dominant narrative is not true; it can't be sustained..."
-Richard Bushman, Mormon Historian
"I don't know that it's possible to distinguish between policy and doctrine in a church that believes in continuing revelation and sustains its leader as a prophet."
- President Dallin H. Oaks, June 1988
Inside temples, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints perform sacred ordinances or ceremonies. The ceremonies in these temples are said to have come from inspiration and from ancient origins, but how accurate is this? Where did these rituals originate from?
In the past, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints discriminated against natives and people of color. What changed? Does the Church still hold these racial views and teachings today?
What is the Church's current stance on homosexuality? Where did the Family Proclamation come from? What are the past teachings regarding being LGBTQ?
In the 1800s Joseph Smith gave women the power of the priesthood, but today women are not authorized to use it. The church today is still against ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment. It wasn't until 2013 that women were allowed to pray in General Conference. For all of this -Why?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has no official stance on where their most sacred scripture took place. There are theories that the Book of Mormon took place in Mesoamerica, Ethiopia, and even in the United States.
How does the Church function today? How quickly is it growing? What is being said in General Conference?
Perhaps the most important part of any research are the resources. From articles to books, from podcasts to interviews -this is where I will seek to link the sources to all of my findings.
With current church events, General Conference, new tik tok content, upcoming guest podcasts, etc. I thought it might be fun to share what's going on my life and in my research.
Want to tour Joseph Smith's city from a more historical and unfiltered lense? Where did he marry his polygamous wives? What was happening with Masonry, etc.?
Follow me on Patreon!
I started a Patreon! If you like my content and would like to see more, please consider becoming a patron. Doing this research and making these vidoes takes a lot of time and energy, and unfortunately I don't get paid to do any of it. On Patreon I will be posting exclusive content, sharing personal stories, doing Q&As, Livestreams, and more!
© Copyright. All rights reserved.
We need your consent to load the translations
We use a third-party service to translate the website content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details in the privacy policy and accept the service to view the translations.