“A Book of Books”: Writing the History of the Church in “One of the Most Important Eras of the World”©

It is interesting how one’s reading in various books sometimes converges. At the moment I am reading three books. The first is the latest book by former General Relief Society President, Julie Beck, called Joy in the Covenant; the second is Kent Richards’, Family of Faith, which reproduces excerpts from the journals of three Apostles in the same family–Willard Richards, Franklin D. Richards, and George F. Richards; finally, the third is the new history Saints.

I have a teenage granddaughter in Virginia who is a reader and recently we decided to read Saints together and discuss it. To help her appreciate the importance of reading the history of the Church in her youth, I shared with her a quotation from sister Beck’s book. The context for the quotation  is that sister Beck relates the background of the writing of the history of the Relief Society, Daughters of the Kingdom. When she became general Relief Society President, her presidency felt the need to get a clear vision of the purpose(s) of Relief Society. They engaged in a lengthy study of available sources about the history of Relief Society. It gave them the sense of purpose and vision they were looking for. That led to the notion that others could benefit from what they learned. About that time the First Presidency assigned the Beck presidency with the task of producing such a volume for the women of the Church. In the course of telling that story she wrote the following, which I shared with my granddaughter:

At one point we were given some research indicating that individuals who know and understand Church history are much more likely to be faithful in their spiritual observance and to have a greater sense of identity in the Church.(1)

This statement resonated with me, not only because I was trained as a historian in graduate school, but because it has been true in my life, both in the sense of identity I feel with the Church and it has contributed to my desire to be a faithful member of the Church.  

Meanwhile, I have also been typing notes and quotations from Family of Faith. Apostle Willard Richards, served as a scribe to Joseph Smith, and as a church historian. He was responsible to gather, preserve, and write the history of the Church. After the Martyrdom and during the Exodus from Nauvoo this was not an easy task. A number of entries in his journal pertain to this effort.  For example, on 15 November 1845 he dictated an “Epistle to the Saints” to be read the next day in the Sunday meeting in Nauvoo. In it he called upon missionaries and members to provide him with knowledge and documents in their possession pertaining to  events in Church history. He was looking for “Books, Maps, Charts, Papers, Documents, of every kind, name and nature, and all information that may relate to, or have a bearing in any wise upon the History of the Church....”(2) 

Apparently he received a lot and storage proved to be a problem. Just a year later at Winter Quarters he wrote in his journal that he called upon Bishop Whitney for some packing boxes for the records because he had no place to keep them but in the bottom of his wagon. Unfortunately the Bishop gave him no encouragement.(3) The matter came up again a month later. On 17 December, Richards journalized:

Dr. Richards [himself] spoke of the bushels of papers, now in his possession that are not now filed, & of the need of a place to gather them & arrange them for future history. A man must have his mind free, who writes a history that is to last for time & thro’ all Eternity, & not burthened with other cares. W. Woodruff says this is a subject that will benefit the whole Church & Kingdom of Go– [sic] when I heard Joseph speak I could not rest until I had written it down in black & white–I am now in one of the most important eras of the world–the people ought to keep a strict eye upon the historian–I feel deeply interested in the books out of which I am to be judged–it is the duty of High Counsel to let the Dr. have a box to put the papers in, to find wood, beef &c–this is to be a book of books–I rejoice that we have a ready writer–let the Dr. go to work & save the Church History.(4)

This gem has a lot packed in it.  In sum the following points are significant to me:

• It is admirable that Willard Richards is magnifying his calling and continues to seek help from others to do it. But think of it all in a greater sweep–the sweep of the history of mankind. There may be other refugee peoples of which I know nothing, who amidst all the trials of fleeing danger, concerned themselves with gathering and preserving records so a history could be written.  But generally those things come after the fact. Here, amazingly, Richards is doing it on the trail!  Richards’ vision?  He was to write a history that was to “last for time and through all eternity”!

• This, of course, was initiated by and consistent with a revelation given the day the Church was organized, in which the Lord said in the first verse, “Behold, there shall be a record kept among you....”(5) Oliver Cowdery was the first Church historian, but in March of 1831, John Whitmer was called when D&C 47 was received.  Later the job fell to Willard Richards.

• History matters in religion.  History matters for faith and commitment. The Lord knows all of this and therefore provided for a history to be kept from the first day of the Church’s existence in this the last dispensation. So, isn’t it logical that the Savior would have given similar instructions to the leaders of his Church in his generation? Perhaps that accounts for the alleged document “Q” that many scholars believe was the source for the canonical gospels. Be that as it may, history matters to Christianity.  It is a historical-based religion.

• Wilford Woodruff was and is an international treasure, because he had a magnificent vision of the importance of the early history of the Restored Church–it was to be a “book of books”!  But he also did so much to preserve our history, including at this moment in a refugee camp, to sustain Willard Richards and his work as Church historian.

• Woodruff knew he lived “in one of the most important eras of the world,” with one of the most important prophets who ever lived, and the Spirit put a fire of discontent in him so that he could not rest until Joseph’s teachings were preserved. In many ways we owe much more to him than to John Whitmer, who seemed to be not only uncertain, but almost indifferent about his calling as Church historian.

• Woodruff knew that the Book of Revelation teaches that we will be judged out of the “book(s) of life” which shall be kept; therefore, he took a “deep interest in the books out of which I am to be judged.” So much so, that he thought Willard Richards should have what he needed–boxes to preserve the records, time to work with them and write, and he thought we should be grateful to have a “ready writer.” What a refugee-pioneer!  What a vision!  Thank God for men like Willard Richards and Wilford Woodruff!

Well, this brings us to the new first volume of a projected four-volume history of the Church, entitled Saints. The presiding brethren are urging all members of the Church to obtain a copy and read it. So they can, the cost is kept to a bare minimum. But how can those non-English speakers in the international church follow this counsel? Ah, the book is to be translated into 25 languages.(6)  Think of that. There have been two previous multi-volume histories of the Church, but neither one of them were available on this scale. So, many, if not most in the international church have had almost nothing on the history of the Church available to them. Now for the first time people in the entire Church can learn of its amazing history. If sister Beck and Wilford Woodruff are correct, and I believe they are, that  translation effort is a most significant event, one consistent with the list of other things the Lord has recently done to strengthen the Church as mentioned by Elders Bednar and Ballard.(7)

Let's think together gain, soon.

Notes:  

1.  Julie B. Beck, Joy in the Covenant: Reflections by Julie B. Beck, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2018, 47.

2.  Willard Richards, journal, Saturday, 15 November 1845, cited in Kent F. Richards, ed., A Family of Faith: An Intimate View of Church History through the Journals of Three Generations of Apostles–Willard Richards, Franklin D. Richards, and George F. Richards, 1837-1950, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2013, 70-71.

3.  Ibid, under date of 7 November 1846, p. 101.

4.  Ibid, 17 December 1846, pp. 102-103.

5.  D&C 21;1.

6.  Interestingly, Sister Beck said that Daughters in My Kingdom, was being translated into 25 languages, including English Braille. See, Beck, Joy in the Covenant, 52.

7.  See, David A. Bednar, “Gather Together in One All Things in Christ,” Ensign (November 2018): 21-24. Elder Ballard gave a similar list when he spoke to a regional conference for stakes in northern Utah and southern Idaho, Sunday, 28 October 2018, which is available online at:

https://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/utah-north-multi-stake-conference-broadcast?lang=eng.