Reed C. Durham
Encyclopedia
Reed Connell Durham, Jr. (born 1930) is a historian of the Latter Day Saint movement
and former director of the Institute of Religion
in Salt Lake City, Utah
for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Durham is remembered for a controversial speech given in 1974 about Freemasonry and the Latter Day Saint movement.
. He was one of the four children of Reed C. Durham, Sr. and Violet E. Cottrell. His father was a professor at Utah State University
in Logan, Utah
and served as bishop in the LDS Church three times. As a young man, Reed Jr. served as an LDS missionary
for two years.
Durham married Faye Lenore Davis and they began having children while he attended college in Logan.
), followed by his Ph.D.
in history from Brigham Young University
(BYU) in 1965, writing his dissertation on the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. Historian Donald Q. Cannon
considered Durham's dissertation part of the "major scholarly contribution to the study of Mormon history" that occurred during the 1960s.
(CES) in 1955 while attending school in Logan. After receiving his master's degree, he stayed in Logan and in 1958 became associate director of the LDS Church's Institute of Religion
adjacent to Utah State University. He was elected as a national vice president of Lambda Delta Sigma
, the LDS fraternity
, in 1959. By 1966 he was associate director of the Institute adjacent to the University of Utah
in Salt Lake City, where he would serve for years as Institute Director and coordinator of Seminaries and Institutes throughout the Salt Lake Valley
.
Durham has taught religion at BYU and in 1972 he was awarded the Division Faculty Teaching Award by the BYU Division of Continuing Education.
In addition to his church employment, Durham served in various ecclesiastical positions. For a time he taught Sunday school
in his local ward (congregation) and he also was a member of the Sunday School General Board, planning and overseeing the church-wide Sunday School program. He also served in various auxiliaries and in two stake high councils.
. In 1970 Durham was one of several prominent LDS historians forming a committee that consulted the creation of the LDS Church Historical Department. Durham was an early supporter of Sunstone
magazine, which was founded in 1974 by a former student. In 1974 Durham took a year off as Institute Director to work on a book in the church's 16-volume sesquicentennial history to be published in 1980.
In the Mormon History Association
(MHA) Durham served as its eighth president, from 1973–74, and second executive secretary, from 1969–71. While he was president, the MHA launched the Journal of Mormon History, whose inaugural issue received criticism from some CES
personnel for an article by Jan Shipps
about Joseph Smith
. In 1974 he delivered a controversial presidential speech to the MHA which startled the LDS historical community, causing Durham to issue a letter of clarification and withdraw from future participation in the MHA.
By 1991 Durham had been living in Logan, Utah
where he still taught for CES. In 1995 he taught at BYU's travel study program in Nauvoo, Illinois
, and he was a service missionary
at Brigham Young University–Hawaii from 1996 to 1999. In 2009 he taught a class on the Book of Mormon
to single adults in Providence
, near Logan.
, on April 20, 1974, Durham delivered his presidential address on the connections of Mormonism
and Freemasonry
, entitled "Is There No Help for the Widow's Son?". During a thunder storm that day, Durham discussed Masonic parallels with the LDS priesthood, the Masonic Enoch Legend, the occultic Jupiter Medallion attributed to Joseph Smith, and Masonic elements in Mormon temple
design and ceremony
. About the temple ceremony, Durham famously stated:
Durham said he was attempting to raise questions and he appealed to the historical community to clarify Joseph Smith's relationship to folk magic and Masonry, rather than burying their heads "in the traditional sand".
said the speech ignited an explosion leaving attendees in a "tension-filled aftershock". It was the only time she saw Leonard J. Arrington
angry, who had worked for years to open the church archives and now feared they would be closed. The next day, the Nauvoo Visitors' Center removed a Nauvoo Temple
weather vane display, which Durham had shown in slides for its Masonic symbols.
The speech seemed to support critics who wanted to discredit Mormonism. Durham's leaders were upset and he was rumored to have been disciplined. Durham denied that his church membership was ever threatened and he was even offered a promotion with CES, where he continued his career. The church had asked him "to do no more with the subject again" and "not to release information" and he declined public comment. His paper went unpublished and he ceased involvement in the MHA.
Many saw this as an apology. LDS writer Matthew B. Brown
asserted that Durham's letter admitted to limited research and insufficient skill and knowledge.
, though his colleague Gilbert W. Scharffs
believes Durham's statements have been exaggerated. While Durham didn't publish his paper, unauthorized transcripts were made and circulated as the "underground presidential address", though Durham's notes and citations were absent.
Looking back during the 1980s, Durham privately wished he had presented some material differently, noting that the evidence for the Jupiter Talisman was actually quite weak. Matthew B. Brown
claimed that Durham had abandoned his speech's claims.
The speech is seen as one factors in the LDS Church's waning tolerance toward open and revisionist history during the 1970s and 1980s. It is thought to be one reason CES began to discourage its faculty from involvement in the MHA.
Some Mormon historians, such as D. Michael Quinn
, built upon the speech to argue that early Mormonism was heavily influenced by folk magic. Jan Shipps
believed the speech was part of Mark Hofmann
's inspiration in creating the Salamander Letter
, a hoax document which seemed to support Quinn's and Durham's work linking Joseph Smith's religious experiences with "magic".
magazine, was inspired to study theology and teach Institute because of Durham's classroom explorations of controversial issues in a historical context, which highlighted the humanistic elements of the church.
Despite his position as a religious teacher for the church, Durham was on good terms with Jerald and Sandra Tanner
, well-known opponents of Mormonism, and was known to have purchased materials from them. In an 1972 speech he explained how he is motivated by the Tanner's criticisms:
In 1992, Durham remembered explaining to Sandra Tanner how he reconciled LDS historical controversies with his faith in the 1960s:
His colleague Gilbert W. Scharffs
said, "I have seldom found a man with a firmer conviction of Jesus Christ and the LDS Church. There are few in the LDS Church who have a deeper knowledge of LDS history and doctrine than Reed C. Durham, Jr."
In 1972 the LDS Church planned a new sixteen-volume sesquicentennial history to be published in 1980, and Durham was commissioned to write the volume on the crossing of the Great Plains
. However, these contracts were all canceled in 1981 and Durham's volume was never published, though he did write an article on the subject for the Encyclopedia of Mormonism
and two journal articles on the Mormon pioneer sojourn in Iowa.
Harold B. Lee Library
.. Presidential Address. (Unauthorized publication by Mervin B. Hogan as "An Underground Presidential Address".). Privately circulated letter..
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
and former director of the Institute of Religion
Institute of Religion
Institutes of Religion provide religious educational classes for young single adult and university students who belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
in Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Durham is remembered for a controversial speech given in 1974 about Freemasonry and the Latter Day Saint movement.
Biography
Durham was born in Long Beach, CaliforniaLong Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
. He was one of the four children of Reed C. Durham, Sr. and Violet E. Cottrell. His father was a professor at Utah State University
Utah State University
Utah State University is a public university located in Logan, Utah. It is a land-grant and space-grant institution and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities....
in Logan, Utah
Logan, Utah
-Layout of the City:Logan's city grid originates from its Main and Center Street block, with Main Street running north and south, and Center east and west. Each block north, east, south, or west of the origin accumulates in additions of 100 , though some streets have non-numeric names...
and served as bishop in the LDS Church three times. As a young man, Reed Jr. served as an LDS missionary
Missionary (LDS Church)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
for two years.
Durham married Faye Lenore Davis and they began having children while he attended college in Logan.
Education
Having earlier attended school in California, Durham's higher education was in Utah. He received his M.S. from the Department of Speech at Utah State Agricultural College in 1957 (the year it became Utah State UniversityUtah State University
Utah State University is a public university located in Logan, Utah. It is a land-grant and space-grant institution and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities....
), followed by his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in history from Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
(BYU) in 1965, writing his dissertation on the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. Historian Donald Q. Cannon
Donald Q. Cannon
Donald Quayle Cannon is a retired professor at Brigham Young University who specializes in Mormon history, particularly early Mormon history and international Mormon history....
considered Durham's dissertation part of the "major scholarly contribution to the study of Mormon history" that occurred during the 1960s.
Church Educational System
Durham began teaching for the Church Educational SystemChurch Educational System
The Church Educational System of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consists of several institutions that provide religious and secular education for both Latter-day Saint and non-Latter-day Saint elementary, secondary, and post-secondary students and adult learners...
(CES) in 1955 while attending school in Logan. After receiving his master's degree, he stayed in Logan and in 1958 became associate director of the LDS Church's Institute of Religion
Institute of Religion
Institutes of Religion provide religious educational classes for young single adult and university students who belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
adjacent to Utah State University. He was elected as a national vice president of Lambda Delta Sigma
Lambda Delta Sigma
Lambda Delta Sigma may refer to:*Lambda Delta Sigma : a sorority at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota; founded in 1919*Lambda Delta Sigma : a sorority founded in 1960 for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ; now replaced with the LDS Student Association at all...
, the LDS fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
, in 1959. By 1966 he was associate director of the Institute adjacent to the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
in Salt Lake City, where he would serve for years as Institute Director and coordinator of Seminaries and Institutes throughout the Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably West Valley City, Murray, Sandy, and West Jordan; its total population is 1,029,655 as of 2010...
.
Durham has taught religion at BYU and in 1972 he was awarded the Division Faculty Teaching Award by the BYU Division of Continuing Education.
In addition to his church employment, Durham served in various ecclesiastical positions. For a time he taught Sunday school
Sunday School (LDS Church)
Sunday School is an official auxiliary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . All members of the church and any interested nonmembers, age 12 and older, are encouraged to participate in Sunday School.-Purpose:...
in his local ward (congregation) and he also was a member of the Sunday School General Board, planning and overseeing the church-wide Sunday School program. He also served in various auxiliaries and in two stake high councils.
Historical community
Durham was active in the historical community. In the 1960s he was involved with the Organization of American HistoriansOrganization of American Historians
The Organization of American Historians , formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S...
. In 1970 Durham was one of several prominent LDS historians forming a committee that consulted the creation of the LDS Church Historical Department. Durham was an early supporter of Sunstone
Sunstone Magazine
Sunstone is a magazine published by the Sunstone Education Foundation, Inc., a 501 nonprofit corporation, that discusses Mormonism through scholarship, art, short fiction, and poetry. The foundation began the publication in 1974 and considers it a vehicle for free and frank exchange in The Church...
magazine, which was founded in 1974 by a former student. In 1974 Durham took a year off as Institute Director to work on a book in the church's 16-volume sesquicentennial history to be published in 1980.
In the Mormon History Association
Mormon History Association
The Mormon History Association is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the study and understanding of all aspects of Mormon history to promote understanding, scholarly research, and publication in the field...
(MHA) Durham served as its eighth president, from 1973–74, and second executive secretary, from 1969–71. While he was president, the MHA launched the Journal of Mormon History, whose inaugural issue received criticism from some CES
Church Educational System
The Church Educational System of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consists of several institutions that provide religious and secular education for both Latter-day Saint and non-Latter-day Saint elementary, secondary, and post-secondary students and adult learners...
personnel for an article by Jan Shipps
Jan Shipps
Jo Ann Barnett "Jan" Shipps is an American historian specializing in Mormon History, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century to the present. Shipps is generally regarded as the foremost non-Mormon scholar of the Latter Day Saint movement, having given particular attention to The...
about Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith was founder of what later became known as the Latter Day Saint movement or Mormons.Joseph Smith may also refer to:-Latter Day Saints:* Joseph Smith, Sr. , father of Joseph Smith...
. In 1974 he delivered a controversial presidential speech to the MHA which startled the LDS historical community, causing Durham to issue a letter of clarification and withdraw from future participation in the MHA.
Later life
After his year of research ended, Durham was offered the choice of returning as the Director of the Salt Lake Institute or a promotion to area director of LDS educational programs. He turned both down so he could focus on research and full-time Institute teaching, which he did for years.By 1991 Durham had been living in Logan, Utah
Logan, Utah
-Layout of the City:Logan's city grid originates from its Main and Center Street block, with Main Street running north and south, and Center east and west. Each block north, east, south, or west of the origin accumulates in additions of 100 , though some streets have non-numeric names...
where he still taught for CES. In 1995 he taught at BYU's travel study program in Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...
, and he was a service missionary
Missionary (LDS Church)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
at Brigham Young University–Hawaii from 1996 to 1999. In 2009 he taught a class on the Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
to single adults in Providence
Providence, Utah
Providence is a city in Cache County, Utah, United States. The population was 7,075 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Logan, Utah-Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Providence is located at ....
, near Logan.
1974 Nauvoo speech
At the Mormon History Association (MHA) conference in Nauvoo, IllinoisNauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...
, on April 20, 1974, Durham delivered his presidential address on the connections of Mormonism
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
and Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, entitled "Is There No Help for the Widow's Son?". During a thunder storm that day, Durham discussed Masonic parallels with the LDS priesthood, the Masonic Enoch Legend, the occultic Jupiter Medallion attributed to Joseph Smith, and Masonic elements in Mormon temple
Temple (LDS Church)
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a temple is a building dedicated to be a House of the Lord, and they are considered by Church members to be the most sacred structures on earth. Upon completion, temples are usually open to the public for a short period of time...
design and ceremony
Endowment (Mormonism)
In Mormonism, the endowment is an ordinance designed to prepare participants to become kings, queens, priests, and priestesses in the afterlife. As part of the ceremony, participants take part in a scripted reenactment of the Biblical creation and fall of Adam and Eve...
. About the temple ceremony, Durham famously stated:
There is absolutely no question in my mind that the Mormon ceremony which came to be known as the Endowment, introduced by Joseph Smith to Mormon Masons initially, just a little over one month after he became a Mason, had an immediate inspiration from Masonry. This is not to suggest that no other source of inspiration could have been involved, but the similarities between the two ceremonies are so apparent and overwhelming that some dependent relationship cannot be denied.
Durham said he was attempting to raise questions and he appealed to the historical community to clarify Joseph Smith's relationship to folk magic and Masonry, rather than burying their heads "in the traditional sand".
Reaction
Jan ShippsJan Shipps
Jo Ann Barnett "Jan" Shipps is an American historian specializing in Mormon History, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century to the present. Shipps is generally regarded as the foremost non-Mormon scholar of the Latter Day Saint movement, having given particular attention to The...
said the speech ignited an explosion leaving attendees in a "tension-filled aftershock". It was the only time she saw Leonard J. Arrington
Leonard J. Arrington
Leonard James Arrington was an author, academic and the founder of the Mormon History Association. He is known as the "Dean of Mormon History" and "the Father of Mormon History" because of his many influential contributions to the field.-Biographical background:Arrington was born in Twin Falls,...
angry, who had worked for years to open the church archives and now feared they would be closed. The next day, the Nauvoo Visitors' Center removed a Nauvoo Temple
Nauvoo Temple
The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly known as the Mormons. The church's first temple was completed in Kirtland, Ohio, United States in 1836. When the main body of the church was forced out of Nauvoo, Illinois in the...
weather vane display, which Durham had shown in slides for its Masonic symbols.
The speech seemed to support critics who wanted to discredit Mormonism. Durham's leaders were upset and he was rumored to have been disciplined. Durham denied that his church membership was ever threatened and he was even offered a promotion with CES, where he continued his career. The church had asked him "to do no more with the subject again" and "not to release information" and he declined public comment. His paper went unpublished and he ceased involvement in the MHA.
Letter
After friends and colleagues criticized his conclusions and questioned his faith, Durham circulated a letter to all participants. He stated that he had been misunderstood by not incorporating his faith into the speech. He reasserted his belief in Joseph Smith, the temple ceremonies and divine revelation.Many saw this as an apology. LDS writer Matthew B. Brown
Matthew B. Brown
Matthew B. Brown was a Latter-day Saint author and historian whose emphasis was on the history and doctrine of Joseph Smith and his successors through Brigham Young.-Biographical background:...
asserted that Durham's letter admitted to limited research and insufficient skill and knowledge.
Legacy
Durham's speech became famous and made him into "a kind of pivotal figure in the Mormon (LDS) Church". It is still cited by critics of the Mormon temple ritesEndowment (Mormonism)
In Mormonism, the endowment is an ordinance designed to prepare participants to become kings, queens, priests, and priestesses in the afterlife. As part of the ceremony, participants take part in a scripted reenactment of the Biblical creation and fall of Adam and Eve...
, though his colleague Gilbert W. Scharffs
Gilbert W. Scharffs
Gilbert Woodrow Scharffs is a Latter-day Saint religious educator and author.-Biography:Scharffs was born to Fritz and Louise Scharffs and raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
believes Durham's statements have been exaggerated. While Durham didn't publish his paper, unauthorized transcripts were made and circulated as the "underground presidential address", though Durham's notes and citations were absent.
Looking back during the 1980s, Durham privately wished he had presented some material differently, noting that the evidence for the Jupiter Talisman was actually quite weak. Matthew B. Brown
Matthew B. Brown
Matthew B. Brown was a Latter-day Saint author and historian whose emphasis was on the history and doctrine of Joseph Smith and his successors through Brigham Young.-Biographical background:...
claimed that Durham had abandoned his speech's claims.
The speech is seen as one factors in the LDS Church's waning tolerance toward open and revisionist history during the 1970s and 1980s. It is thought to be one reason CES began to discourage its faculty from involvement in the MHA.
Some Mormon historians, such as D. Michael Quinn
D. Michael Quinn
Dennis Michael Quinn is a historian who has focused on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a professor at Brigham Young University from 1976 until his resignation in 1988. At the time, his work concerned church involvement with plural marriage after the 1890 Manifesto, in which...
, built upon the speech to argue that early Mormonism was heavily influenced by folk magic. Jan Shipps
Jan Shipps
Jo Ann Barnett "Jan" Shipps is an American historian specializing in Mormon History, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century to the present. Shipps is generally regarded as the foremost non-Mormon scholar of the Latter Day Saint movement, having given particular attention to The...
believed the speech was part of Mark Hofmann
Mark Hofmann
Mark William Hofmann is an American counterfeiter, forger and convicted murderer. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished forgers in history, Hofmann is especially noted for his creation of documents related to the history of the Latter Day Saint movement...
's inspiration in creating the Salamander Letter
Salamander Letter
The Salamander Letter was a document created by Mark Hofmann in the early 1980s.The letter was one of hundreds of documents concerning the history of Latter Day Saint movement that surfaced in the early 1980s...
, a hoax document which seemed to support Quinn's and Durham's work linking Joseph Smith's religious experiences with "magic".
Historical approach
Durham was known for his unorthodox approach and research into LDS history and controversy. Scott Kenney, one of Durham's Institute students who would later found SunstoneSunstone Magazine
Sunstone is a magazine published by the Sunstone Education Foundation, Inc., a 501 nonprofit corporation, that discusses Mormonism through scholarship, art, short fiction, and poetry. The foundation began the publication in 1974 and considers it a vehicle for free and frank exchange in The Church...
magazine, was inspired to study theology and teach Institute because of Durham's classroom explorations of controversial issues in a historical context, which highlighted the humanistic elements of the church.
Despite his position as a religious teacher for the church, Durham was on good terms with Jerald and Sandra Tanner
Jerald and Sandra Tanner
Jerald Dee Tanner was an American writer and researcher who, with his wife Sandra McGee Tanner spent nearly fifty years annotating and publishing archival and evidential materials which, the Tanners claim, accurately portrayed the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
, well-known opponents of Mormonism, and was known to have purchased materials from them. In an 1972 speech he explained how he is motivated by the Tanner's criticisms:
I can't help but think that when they raise these issues it does something to us to have to defend... When I see something that counters what I've been taught or what I know or what I understand or what I feel, the way to counter research...unpleasant to me is not by sticking my head in the sand like an ostrich, but by more research. I may have to revamp, and knowledge sometimes is a dangerous thing. But I will revamp, and I will understand better my heritage. ...what I'm trying to say is that they have become, in a sense, catalysts to sharpen our own historical understanding. We've had to get on the stick and do some study, and do some homework that sometimes we haven't done.
In 1992, Durham remembered explaining to Sandra Tanner how he reconciled LDS historical controversies with his faith in the 1960s:
I explained to Sandra that I look at revelation as a process and that line upon line a church or a prophet or anyone for that matter can learn and improve. I told her that we all make mistakes and errors and said, 'But Sandra, you look at it differently. If you find one little mistake with a church or a prophet you believe they cannot be of God. I see a process of growing and learning. God sometimes has trouble helping us because of our limitations, not his. Oh sure, he could coerce us, but he doesn't and so we can only progress as fast as our limitations let us.'
His colleague Gilbert W. Scharffs
Gilbert W. Scharffs
Gilbert Woodrow Scharffs is a Latter-day Saint religious educator and author.-Biography:Scharffs was born to Fritz and Louise Scharffs and raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
said, "I have seldom found a man with a firmer conviction of Jesus Christ and the LDS Church. There are few in the LDS Church who have a deeper knowledge of LDS history and doctrine than Reed C. Durham, Jr."
Books
.In 1972 the LDS Church planned a new sixteen-volume sesquicentennial history to be published in 1980, and Durham was commissioned to write the volume on the crossing of the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
. However, these contracts were all canceled in 1981 and Durham's volume was never published, though he did write an article on the subject for the Encyclopedia of Mormonism
Encyclopedia of Mormonism
The Encyclopedia of Mormonism is a semi-official encyclopedia for topics relevant to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
and two journal articles on the Mormon pioneer sojourn in Iowa.
Papers
..... Unpublished manuscript in the BYUBYU
-Education:* Brigham Young University, a university located in Provo, Utah, USA administered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.**BYU Salt Lake Center, a satellite center in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA...
Harold B. Lee Library
Harold B. Lee Library
The Harold B. Lee Library , located in Provo, Utah, is the main academic library of Brigham Young University, the largest religious and second-largest private university in the United States. The library has approximately of shelving for the more than 6 million items in its various collections, as...
.. Presidential Address. (Unauthorized publication by Mervin B. Hogan as "An Underground Presidential Address".). Privately circulated letter..