Andrew H. Hedges is a scholar with the Joseph Smith Papers Project who holds a PhD in American History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was one of the editors for the second volume of the journals series, which covered the years 1841–1843 and includes material pertinent to Joseph Smith’s practice of plural … Read more
Broadly speaking, there are two general ways to know if an author’s work is taken seriously in academia. The first is where an author publishes his work. One mark of a genuine scholar is if he is able to publish in academic journals relevant to the given field or with a university press. If a … Read more
He doesn’t have a cult of anonymous redditors following him, you say? How good of a scholar could he even be? Readers of my blog will recall that some time ago Jeremy Runnells amusingly accused Brian C. Hales (undoubtedly one of the finest living authorities on the topic of the history of Mormon plural marriage) … Read more
When Jeremy Runnells accused Brian C. Hales of being an “amateur,” he assured me that “[t]he real scholars in the field of polygamy have issues with many of Hales’ conclusions and interpretations.” I asked Runnels who exactly these “real scholars” were, and also specifically asked where they had published their rebuttals of Brian’s work. Remember, before … Read more
Brian Hales (right) and Don Bradley (left) at Pioneer Bookstore in Provo, Utah discussing their research on Joseph Smith’s polygamy (March 2013). Last week I criticized Jeremy Runnells, who has no academic qualifications in Mormon history, for hypocritically accusing Brian Hales of being an “amateur” when it comes to research on Joseph Smith’s polygamy. In response … Read more
Pictured: Brian C. Hales, a rank amateur who doesn’t know the first thing about Joseph Smith’s plural marriage. Jeremy Runnells, author of the popular anti-Mormon tract “Letter to a CES Director,” is upset. He’s upset that Brian Hales, one of the foremost authorities on Joseph Smith’s plural marriage, would dare challenge him and his accusations … Read more
Did you know that Brian C. Hales has a blog? It’s called Joseph Smith’s Polygamy, and covers . . . wait for it . . . Joseph Smith’s practice of plural marriage. He also has a blog that you can read here. On his blog he has a new post about an encounter he recently had … Read more
Look, we can’t kid ourselves or others by pretending this never happened. It happened, but there’s no reason to freak out about it. The early Mormon practice of plural marriage is one of the most controversial legacies of Mormonism. Understandably, many people, including members of the Church, are often troubled by what they hear are … Read more