OFFICIAL LDS CHURCH RESOURCES


LDS Gospel Topics Essays

LDS.org – Search Church History

Journal of Discourses

The Book of Commandments

The Book of Mormon

Doctrine & Covenants

The Pearl of Great Price

The Joseph Smith Papers

Journal of Discourses

VIDEOS


Top 10 Mormon Problems Explained

Mormon Origins Explained, Dan Vogel

Overview of Church Essays – An Introduction to the Gospel Topics Essays

Dan Vogel – Mormon Origins Explained

Grant Palmer – My Ah-Ha Moments While Researching Mormon History

Brother Jake – entertaining short clips

The Boy Who Asked Questions

PODCASTS


MormonStories – John Dehlin

Gospel Tangents: Exploring Mormon History – Rick Bennett

Mormon Discussions

Year of Polygamy

Exploring The Book of Mormon

WEBSITES


The CES Letter

Mormon Think

Letter For My Wife

FAIR – Reflections on CES Letter

CES – Debunking FAIR

Missed in Sunday School

Thoughts on Things Stuff

LDS Discussions

Grant Palmer, former CES Director

Utah Lighthouse Ministry, Jerald and Sandra Tanner – A massive data cache

Mormon Primer

Mormon Essays

Book of Commandments

Mormonism in Context

Church is True – good articles about religion transformation

Signature Books

Signature BooksOnline Library

Institute for Religious Research

MormonInfo.org  

LDS Answers

Zelf On The Shelf

20 Truths

Salamander Society

Gentle Awakenings: Summary of Major LDS Church Concerns

Arrest and imprisonment of Joseph Smith

Mormon Bandwagon

The Mormon Challenge

Book of Mormon Problems

Book or Mormon Changes

Thoughtful Sunday School: A guide for uncorrelated church lessons

Why I Left the Mormon Church

BOOKS


Joseph Smith, The Making of a Prophet, Dan Vogel – A thorough examination of how Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon came to be. 

Natural Born Seer, Richard Van Wagoner – An astonishingly detailed chronicle of the Smith family only up to 1830.

Studies of The Book of Mormon, B.H. Roberts – A hero of early Mormon thinking, but nobody listened.

No Man Knows My History, Fawn Brodie – A less apologetic portrait of Smith, she got a lot more right than wrong. Ebook available here.

Rough Stone Rolling, Richard Bushman – Covers the same material as Brodie but with more a more inspiring spin, various key details omitted to comply with Deseret Book screeners.

Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, Michael Quinn – The definitive account of the Smith’s magical beliefs and practices.

Leonard Arrington: The Writing of Mormon History – A first-hand account from prominent church historian during critical decades and the civil rights movement.

An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins, Grant Palmer – Palmer was a revered pioneer in exploring truth in Mormonism.

The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, Michael Quinn – a detailed exploration of Mormonism’s priesthood evolution and increasingly controlling command structure.

The Book of Bad Arguments – A fun exploration of mental pitfalls.

This is My Doctrine – The Development of Mormon Theology, Charles Harrell.

Mormon Enigma – Emma Hale Smith, Linda Newell – A well researched reconstruction of Emma Smith’s (Joseph’s first wife) life.

In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith, Todd Compton – A chronicle of the lives of Joseph’s numerous polygamous wives, largely through their own words and letters.

Mormonism Unvailed – Published in 1834, the first major expose of early Mormonism and Joseph Smith’s character.

Devil’s Gate: Brigham Young & the Great Mormon Handcart Tragedy, David Roberts – You won’t likely send your teenagers to re-enact pioneer heritage treks after reading this.

History of Joseph Smith by his Mother, Lucy Mack Smith – Published decades after Smith’s death, his mother sheds new perspectives on his life.

The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy, Carol Pearson – Portrays a different narrative than the one learned in Sunday School.

Massacre at Mountain Meadows, Walker, Turley, Leonard – One of the darkest episodes in Mormon history.

The Odyssey of Thomas Ferguson, Thomas Stuart Ferguson

Standing Apart, Miranda Wilcox, John Young – Illustrates how the notion of a great apostasy is primarily a Mormon thing and definitely not what we were taught in Sunday School.

Blood of the Prophets, Will Bagley – Chronicles both the Mountain Meadows Massacre and Brigham Young’s role.

The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Stephen C. LeSueur – A fascinating description of how Mormonism’s militancy, isolation and unique world view fostered self-destructive violence and animosity.

A Reason For Faith – Pure apologetics, has helped many see how illogical and desperate the traditional narrative has become.