Richard P. Howard

RICHARD P. HOWARD is historian emeritus for the Community of Christ, formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and resides in Independence, Missouri. He is the author of The Church Through the Years, Rids Beginning, to 1860.

The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri: Translations and Interpretations: A Tentative Approach to the Book of Abraham

Articles/Essays – Volume 03, No. 2

Dialogue 3.2 (Summer 1968):89 – 92
It appears that in time the mystery of the Book of Abraham will be unveiled. Meanwhile, it is significant for the Reorganized Church that undue haste and overzealous faith did not move it in the nineteenth century to canonize this work of Joseph Smith, Jr., primarily on the basis that it was accomplished by Joseph Smith, Jr.

The Reorganized Church in Illinois, 1852-82: Search for Identity

Articles/Essays – Volume 05, No. 1

The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (here after referred to as the RLDS Church) was headquartered in the State of Illinois until 1882. To a greater degree than that of any…

Scripture Reviewed | The Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; containing revelations given to Joseph Smith, the Prophet, with some additions by his successors in the presidency of the church

Articles/Essays – Volume 16, No. 2

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to be congratulated for its latest edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. My personal copy of this volume—happily, a gift from Dr. Robert J. Matthews of…

The Document Diggers and Their Discoveries: A Panel

Articles/Essays – Volume 19, No. 4

Mormon history has always been a hot topic. From the earliest days of Church history over a century and a half ago, vastly divergent accounts of the origins and development of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been penned and published. In many cases, controversies about LDS historical topics have spilled over into the national press. In the last generation, for example, disputes about the accuracy of Fawn Brodie’s No Man Knows My History and Juanita Brooks’s Mountain Meadows Massacre have been avidly covered in national newspapers and magazines.

Why Were Scholars Misled? What Can We Learn From This?

Articles/Essays – Volume 21, No. 2

In the May 1986 Mormon History Association meetings, a panel of historians and archivists explored the impact of the Mark Hofmann documents on the LDS and RLDS churches and views of their common origin. Soon…

Mormonism Becomes a Mainline Religion: The Challenges: A Reorganized Church Perspective

Articles/Essays – Volume 24, No. 4

There was a time when one could identify a sort of “mainline” religious configuration in the United States.

A Tentative Approach to the Book of Abraham

Articles/Essays – Volume 34, No. 1

During the 1830’s John Whitmer wrote, in connection with the ancient Egyptian records purchased by the church in July 1835 from Michael H. Chandler,