I highly recommend Wrestling with the Restoration: Why This Church Matters, by Steven C. Harper, for any member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is, at its heart, apologetics done well. In other words, it is a response to critics of the Church on a series of historic and praxis concerns. But rather than trying to bend reality to fit a desired result (as often happens in apologetic works), it incorporates historical research and what that process has revealed into the narrative of Church history that it shares. In addition, the book functions as a primer on critical source evaluation and other skills of the historical trade to help enable the reader to evaluate discussions of Church history on their own. Even as someone who is acquainted with historical research and methodology, I found it enlightening and thoughtful throughout.

Two central questions posed by Harper’s work here are, “what do you know?” and “how do you know it?” The latter question pushes people to slow down and evaluate what they know and check to see if it holds up against the original sources. The facts about what was written down and how those facts are interpreted are two different things altogether. One example was evaluating whether the accounts of the First Vision say Joseph saw one or two people, particularly in the 1832 account. The facts of what was written are that Joseph Smith said, “the <Lord> opened the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord” in the 1832 account, and subsequent accounts clearly state he saw two separate being (God the Father and Jesus Christ) and at least one account indicates that there was a temporal distance between the two appearing (“a personage appeared in the midst of this pillar of flame … another personage soon appeared like unto the first”). How those facts are interpreted, then, is up to the reader. For example, one could say that both times Joseph Smith said “the Lord” in the 1832 account mean the same person, and therefore he only mentions one in that account, and therefore he was making up the appearance of multiple personages in later accounts. Or, it could mean that he was just focused on talking about Jesus in the 1832 account and included a more complete picture in later accounts. Or, it could be interpreted to mean that each reference to “the Lord” refers to a different personage (i.e., God the Father, AKA “the Lord”, appeared first and opened the heavens to reveal Jesus Christ, also AKA “the Lord”). Those are possible interpretations that can be derived from the facts, but they are not the facts themselves.

In addressing these types of issues, Harper incorporates up-to-date historical scholarship. The Joseph Smith Papers work is one aspect of that scholarship, but he also relies upon W. Paul Reeve in relating the narrative of the priesthood and temple ban, as one example. He also addresses things like Freemasonry rituals being incorporated into the temple endowment ceremony in a way that acknowledges that it was probably a factor in how the ritual was developed, but does so in a way that still fits within a believing perspective. He also builds on his own previous work throughout. For example, aspects of his chapter on revelation from You Shall Have My Word: Exploring the Text of the Doctrine and Covenants is incorporated into his discussion of William McLellin’s experiences with the Church in a way that fits well within the book as a whole.

As stated upfront, I recommend that any member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints read Wrestling with the Restoration: Why This Church Matters, by Steven C. Harper, particularly if they have encountered material like the CES Letter. (I might even recommend it being used as a textbook for an Institute course for that very purpose.) Even if you still end up disagreeing with his conclusions, it helps you think through why you do so in a deeper manner.