Joseph's Changing Myth with Grant Palmer

At 7pm on November 6, Grant Palmer will be giving a talk on “Joseph Smith's Changing View of God Seen in His First Vision Accounts” at the Salt Lake City Public Library Auditorium. At the end of the presentation, there will be a question and answer session for audience members to participate in. This lecture is part of the SLC Postmormon Lecture Series.

Grant Palmer received his MA from Brigham Young University in 1968. He was part of the Latterday Saint (LDS) Church Educational System (CES) as a teacher and director for 34 years. He is most famous for writing “An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins”, which details many of the original narratives in early LDS Church history. As a result of this book, Palmer was disfellowshipped (but not excommunicated) from the LDS church. Palmer has also appeared on the PBS documentary, “The Mormons”.

Most recently, Palmer has been the source of many details that are related to the LDS church. Palmer had several meetings with a General Authority of the LDS church who no longer believes in the LDS church, as mentioned in the 2012 Exmormon Foundation Conference. He also predicted of the New York Times article on LDS Area Authority Hans Mattsson several months in advance.

This talk occurs in preparation for the Joseph Smith Papers Project, which will be a series of Church sponsored books that will address the historical changes of the Joseph Smith First Vision accounts, rumored to be released in 2014. This talk is intended to cover well-documented details and historical accounts that may not be covered by the Papers Project, particularly outlining the changing views of Joseph Smith and how it influenced the First Vision accounts.