FALSE PROPHET SPENCER KIMBALL
Spencer W. Kimball diaries shine a light behind the scenes of modern Mormonism
Religion News Service
February 17, 2023
(RNS) — Spencer W. Kimball, despite being
ordained an apostle just shy of his 50th birthday in 1943, never
expected to live long enough to be president of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Much of his adult life was filled with health problems, including a
series of heart attacks and a malignancy of the throat and vocal cords.
Whenever he spoke in General Conference, he wore a miniature microphone
attached to his cheek so his raspy words would be carried to television
and radio audiences. Yet the man known for his work ethic and dogged
determination persisted and presided over the global faith from 1973
until 1985, one of the most consequential decades in Mormon history.
Even before his voice problems, Kimball knew the
power of the pen in expressing his thoughts. He started his first
journal when he was 10 years old and compiled over 34 volumes of
diaries as an adult. It is a personal papers collection rarely matched
in Mormon history, an eyewitness account of the church’s rapid
evolution from a regional denomination to a global faith. And on
Wednesday, Feb. 15, the church announced it had digitized the entire
corpus and made it available to researchers.
The church has been increasingly open about its 19th-century
collections, as embodied in the award-winning Joseph Smith Papers
Project. Other notable initiatives include the Eliza R. Snow
discourses, the Emmeline B. Wells diaries and the assorted documents
related to the Relief Society’s first 50 years.
Yet similar archival projects have not addressed the 20th century. Even
accessing the physical collections in the Church History Library is
much more restricted for documents after 1900. This has resulted in
histories of the modern church being more sporadic and less grounded in
primary sources, at least when covering the institution’s leaders.
(There are a few exceptions: Individual access predicated on familial
relationships has resulted in important biographies of influential
leaders like J. Reuben Clark and David O. McKay.)
The release of Spencer W. Kimball’s diaries and correspondence — a
collection that covers roughly 10 linear feet of archival space and
resulted in more than 28,000 digital images — is therefore a crucial
and necessary addition.
When Kimball surprisingly succeeded the younger and more energetic
Harold B. Lee as the church’s head prophet, seer and revelator in 1973,
few expected him to bring much reform.
“The new president is not likely to change Mormon views on the family
or race,” posited Time magazine. But America’s then-raging culture wars
made uncomfortable discussions on both topics unavoidable. Protesters,
both within and without the faith, picketed the church over a policy
that restricted Black men and women from priesthood and temple rites;
they also alleged the faith’s patriarchal structure relegated women to
second-class members. Kimball could not help but react to the changing
times.
As it turned out, the soft-spoken prophet would be forever remembered
for deciding, in 1978, to revoke the racial restriction, a move that
was celebrated across the globe. And yet during these same years he
presided over a retrenchment on gender roles, including backing an
anti-Equal Rights Amendment that dragged the church into the Religious
Right’s new political coalition — in which it still remains today.
The newly released sources shed further light on these important
moments. Because the journals are scrapbook-style and include numerous
newspaper clippings, they also provide insight on what Kimball and
other LDS leaders were reading and responding to.
Most of the journal entries are brief, bordering on curt, and often
bland. They are also inconsistent: He has no entries for the days
surrounding his appointment as an apostle, for instance. Yet there are
plenty of moments where he fleshes out entire scenes, like when the
Quorum of the Twelve gathered after Lee’s death to reorganize the First
Presidency. The soon-to-be prophet played the organ while they sang
“Come, Let Us Anew,” and then delivered remarks that began, “I had
hoped this day would never come because of my limitation.” The anecdote
fleshes out stories of Kimball’s humility.
The entries also add important details to other events. For instance,
after releasing the statement announcing the end of the racial
restriction, it records how “the telephone started to ring and rang
continuously the balance of the afternoon,” as both members and
non-members “called from around the world to learn if what they had
heard on the radio and TV was true.” (Sadly, similar details do not
seem to be included in the months leading up to the momentous decision.)
At times there are intriguing comments concerning other church leaders.
One eagle-eyed sleuth already discovered a passage that adds details to
the character of Russell M. Nelson, current president of the church.
According to the diary, Nelson approached Kimball in early February
1979 asking the prophet to write a foreword for a forthcoming book
about Nelson’s life.
Or rather, as a later diary entry made clear, to approve a foreword
Nelson had already written that would appear under Kimball’s name. The
foreword spoke of Nelson’s “perfect family,” “sweet Spirituality,” and
“skill as a surgeon,” and noted that “long will his children and their
posterity honor this great man.”
Kimball apparently approved the foreword, though there is a bracketed
quip in his diary that it was “a fulsome foreword for a man to write
about himself!!”* (Historians for the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints stated Friday that this comment was added later by
Kimball’s son Edward Kimball, and not Spencer W. Kimball himself.)
Readers will notice that certain passages in the diaries, especially
those that deal with temple matters or confessions from average Saints,
are blanked out. This is in keeping with the church’s policy to censor
material it deems sacred or confidential.
Currently, in order to access the digital images, researchers must sign
in through a free Church account. The explanation given is that the
collection contains copyrighted material, like newspaper clippings,
which make full public access impossible. Transcribing all the
non-copyrighted material and making it available on its own in a more
accessible fashion, like with their other digital projects, would take
major work. I hope the church does it, however. This is a collection
worthy of wide engagement.
The Kimball diaries are a landmark release for the field of Mormon history. May it lead to many more.
The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.434
We are impressed that the mission of the Church is threefold:
-To proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to every nation,
kindred, tongue, and people;
-To perfect the Saints by preparing them to receive the ordinances
of the (1) gospel and by instruction and discipline to gain
exaltation;
-To redeem (2) the dead by performing vicarious ordinances
of the gospel for those who have lived on the earth.
All three are part of one work; to assist our Father in Heaven and
his Son, Jesus Christ, in their grand and glorious mission "to bring
to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."
(1) Correction: Salvation comes through the confession of
Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.
Romans 10:8-9 But what does it say? "The word is near you, even in
your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we
preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved.
(2) Correction: The dead cannot be saved.
Luke 16:22-26 "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by
the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
And being in torments in Hell, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham
afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, 'Father
Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip
of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this
flame.' But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you
received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now
he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between
us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to
pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to
us.'"
The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.110
Baptism is essential. Jesus is traveled to the River Jordan to be
baptized by immersion by his cousin John, called the Baptist. By
participating in this symbolic ordinance, he demonstrated to all that
baptism is the door into this church. From heaven, his Father
acknowledged the important occasion, saying, "This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased."
Correction: Salvation comes through the confession of Jesus
Christ as your personal Savior.
Luke 23:42-43 Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You
come into Your kingdom." And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to
you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."
The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.29
Perfection is a long, hard journey with many pitfalls. It's not
attainable overnight. Eternal vigilance is the price of victory.
Eternal vigilance is required in the subduing of enemies and in
becoming the master of oneself. It cannot be accomplished in little
spurts and disconnected efforts. There must be constant and valiant,
purposeful living; righteous living. The glory of the Lord can be had
only through correct and worthy marriage and living a clean, worthy
life.
Correction: Perfection can only be obtained through faith
in Jesus Christ alone.
Romans 3:21-22 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law
is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even
the righteousness of God which is through faith in Jesus Christ to
all and on all who believe.
1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And
this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith.