Fred E. Woods, Steven C. Harper, Andrew H. Hedges, Patty A. Smith, and Thomas R
Fred E. Woods, Steven C. Harper, Andrew H. Hedges, Patty A. Smith, and Thomas R. Valletta, Preface to Prelude to the Restoration: From Apostasy to the Restored Church (Provo, UT and Salt Lake City: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University and Deseret Book, 2004). Preface In years past the Sperry Symposium has provided speakers and hearers, authors and readers a valued opportunity to engage one of the standard works of Latter’day Saint scripture. That esteemed tradition has been expanded recently to include reflections on the Church in the twentieth century. This volume looks forward to the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Joseph Smith in 2005 by looking back to some of the events, processes, people, and ideas that set the stage for the marvelous Restoration begun by the Prophet. Latter-day Saints acknowledge the hand of the Almighty in shaping history. Unsurprisingly, then, as the distinguished historian Gordon S. Wood wrote, the Restoration “appeared at precisely the right moment in American history” (“Evangelical America and Early Mormonism,” New York History, October 1980, 381). One might add that, in anticipation of the Restoration, America appeared at precisely the right moment in world history. Indeed, because of the Restoration we know that the earth itself appeared in its proper time and season. This volume provides glimpses into the complicated choreography of history by which the world became ready for Joseph Smith and the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ. The complex processes at work between the Apostasy and the Restoration do not lend themselves to reduction or simplification, and this volume cannot impose unwarranted order on the chaos.
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