Early church histories were a 'prequel'

Note: Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the Seventy, church historian and recorder, has called the Joseph Smith Papers Project "the single most significant historical project of our generation." This article, part of an ongoing series, pertains to the "History" volumes in the project.On the day the church was organized, the Lord gave a revelation, the very first words of which command, "Behold, there shall be a record kept among you" (Doctrine and Covenants 21:1)."But it did not spell out the details, just that a record should be kept," said David Whittaker, a co-editor of Volume 1 in the "History" series of the Joseph Smith Papers Project."As is often the case, the Lord left it to His servants to figure out on their own how best to follow His directive.So they attempted several times starting in 1832 to write histories of various kinds," said Karen L. Davidson, another volume co-editor. "Finally, in 1838, they got an organized, successful effort under way." It was completed about a decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith. In the early 20th century, Elder B.H. Roberts of the Seventy organized and published it as the now familiar six-volume "History of the Church."The manuscript documents for that classic reference work will be reproduced in later volumes of the History series in the project. But this time, it will have explanatory material that heretofore has not been available to the average reader.See the rest of this story at ldschurchnews.com.

This story is provided by the LDS Church News, an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is produced weekly by the Deseret News.