![]() The church has only about one-fourth of the manuscript in its archive today, Turley said. The water-damaged manuscript was found in the rubble of the unfinished hotel some 40 years later. Turley, assistant church historian and recorder.īefore he was killed by a mob in 1844, Smith buried the manuscript in the cornerstone of a building under construction in Nauvoo, Illinois, the city Mormons fled to in the mid-1800s to avoid religious persecution. The document likely to draw the most interest is the page from the Book of Mormon, considered the religion’s most valuable manuscript, said Richard E. “There are questions that arise occasionally, and we need to deal with them in an honest, forthright way, which we are trying to do.” ![]() “We need to be open and transparent,” Snow said. The collection should generate widespread interest among Mormons who will be able to see, in person, the artifacts associated with keystone events in church history, Givens said. The new “Foundations of Faith” exhibit, which opens to the public this week at the church’s Salt Lake City history library, is an illustration of the religion’s push to open its vault and take on questions, said Terryl Givens of the University of Richmond. The church’s website has become a treasure trove of information about its doctrine, gospel and practices. ![]() The religion also has issued a series of in-depth articles that explain or clarify some of the more sensitive parts of its history it once sidestepped, such as the faith’s past ban on black men in the lay clergy and its early history of polygamy. In recent years, the Salt Lake City-based church has taken concerted steps to change that image.Ī year ago, it began releasing books containing historical documents that shed light on how Smith formed the church. As Mormons became more prominent in America and questions emerged about the burgeoning faith, some criticized it as being secretive about its beliefs and practices. The religion founded with 30 followers now counts 15 million worldwide after experiencing a tripling of membership in the past three decades. “These four display cases comprise our most precious documents,” said Steven E. The priceless collection of 26 books, manuscripts and documents was unveiled Wednesday with church leaders that marks the latest example of the faith being more forthcoming about its history and tenets. They are part of a new public exhibit that features some of the faith’s most treasured artifacts dating back to the early days of Mormonism. In other nearby cases are Smith’s first journal and the first printed editions of books that contain commandments, doctrine and covenants based on early revelations Smith received while forming The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in upstate New York in 1830. In one glass case sits a weathered page from the original Book of Mormon manuscript that Latter-day Saints believe was translated from ancient Egyptian and dictated to scribes by founder Joseph Smith 185 years ago with help from God.
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