History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 3: Period 1

History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints #3

by Joseph Smith III, B.H. Roberts (Editor)

This seven-volume set is a compiled history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, written by Joseph Smith, Jr. Told with characteristically eloquent language, this history covers the origin of the Church, along with the events through which it was restored. Truly a treasure in its own right, The History of the Church makes a wonderful addition to any library.

466 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

Joseph Smith III (1832-1914) was the son of Joseph Smith Jr., founder of Mormonism. Joseph III was the President of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church).

Reviews

[David Petersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I really enjoyed this volume. As the Church of Jesus Christ went world wide the overall story became harder to tell. This time frame includes the turn of the 20th century, WW1, the Great Depression, WW2 and into the cold war. There are stories from across the globe. I had a harder time with the narrative but there is so many more stories to tell. I enjoyed the final stories during the cold war the most. Especially, the arc of Gordan B. Hinkley. I would encourage anyone to read these who want to know more of the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

[Thebarrys10 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though hard to keep track of the many people and countries from which they lived, I enjoyed finding out what occurred in all of those places during the world wars. I especially liked reading about Elder Hinckley'a assignment to prepare a the films for temple worship.

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best part of the book were the affidavits from the Liberty jail at the end. Not as scripture heavy as volumes one and two.

[Robb Menlove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another outstanding effort to teach the noble history of the restored Church of Jesus Christ on the earth today.

[Jesse Whitehead · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am continually fascinated by the forethought that the early members of the church displayed (namely Joseph Smith but others as well) in recording the events of things happening around them. The level of detail here is exhaustive. There are letters to government officials, and responses and correspondence between missionaries and even notes from one member to another and minutes from meetings of the twelve. I have no doubt that nearly any question of events in the early part of the church can be answered by searching through these volumes.

I wonder if the people at the time new and understood how important this record keeping was or if they just did it by blind faith, like Nephi. The Lord said ‘keep a record’, so he did.

I know much of our church history is also corroborated by the faithful writings of Wilford Woodruff at the behest of Joseph Smith. This is another case of curiosity to me. Did he know that his writing would some day be an invaluable record that confirms many of the things that Joseph Smith and others wrote about (‘in the mouth of two or three witnesses…’) or did he just do it because he was asked to?

That makes me think about how many times I’ve been asked to do something and I start to ask questions. Why? Why me? Wouldn’t it be easier to…? Most of the things we’re asked to do are not that difficult. Write in a journal regularly – it doesn’t even have to be every day. Go to church. Read scriptures. Listen to and obey the commandments. Why then does it feel so difficult sometimes?

I find that sometimes the simple faith of those early saints is a powerful lesson. It reminds me of when my son was only 18 months. I asked him to throw something away. He thought I was talking about the cookie that I had just given him so he walked to the trashcan and threw it away. No questions.

Heavenly Father won’t tell me to throw away my cookie unless I need to. Perhaps that is the reason for President Kimball’s well-known phrase – ‘Just do it.’

[Chris Condie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting look at the legal and political climate and process at the time and in the "wild, wild west".