Conflict in the Quorum

by Bergera, Gary James

• ISBN13: 9781560851646
• ISBN10: 1560851643
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-12-01
• Publisher: Signature Books

Summary

Like Uriah and his wife Bathsheba in the Old Testament, Orson Pratt, the bright, thirty-one-year-old member of the Mormon hierarchy, was forced to choose between his wife and his spiritual leader, Joseph Smith. The year was 1842, the place Nauvoo, Illinois. Pratt would forever after be associated with controversy -- a fly in the ointment in Brigham Young's view. His willingness to speak his mind put him at odds with Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and Orson's own brother Parley. But his integrity and intellectualism kept him in the inner circles, even though Young demoted him in the Quorum of the Twelve. This action prevented his eventual succession as LDS church president.

These three -- Smith, Young, and Pratt -- though they mingled like oil, air, and water, continue to hold more influence over Mormon thought than any subsequent church leader.

Author Biography

Gary James Bergera is managing director of the Smith-Pettit Foundation in Salt Lake City. He is the recipient of a Best Article Award from the Mormon History Association

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Prologue. "Out of the Church"	p. 1
"My Sorrows Are Greater than I Can Bear!"	p. 7
Return to Power and Authority	p. 33
Perfectly Submissive	p. 53
Preaching Salvation and Eternal Truth	p. 85
A Great Mystery	p. 113
False Doctrine	p. 137
"Let Br. Pratt Do as He Will"	p. 153
Matters of the Gods	p. 169
Apparent Contradictions	p. 189
While Wickedness Stalks Unrebuked	p. 213
The Interests of Posterity	p. 227
Regret for Past Sins	p. 245
Adjusting Matters	p. 261
Epilogue: Because He Faltered	p. 279
Sources Cited	p. 287
Index	p. 301
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