Jerald and Sandra Tanner facts for kids

Jerald Dee Tanner (born June 1, 1938 – died October 1, 2006) and Sandra McGee Tanner (born January 14, 1941) were American writers and researchers. They collected and shared old documents and facts about the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

The Tanners started a group called the Utah Lighthouse Ministry (UTLM). Their goal was to show information about Mormonism and compare its beliefs with those of Christianity. After Jerald passed away in 2006, Sandra Tanner continued to lead the ministry.

The Tanners used to be members of the LDS Church themselves. They printed original versions of early Mormon writings and scriptures. They pointed out changes in beliefs over time, such as the church no longer teaching Brigham Young's "Adam–God doctrine". Together, they wrote over 40 books about the history of the LDS Church.

The Lives of Jerald and Sandra Tanner

Jerald Tanner was born in Provo, Utah. His family had been Mormon for five generations. He studied at the University of Utah. His great-great-grandfather, John Tanner, gave a lot of money to the church's founder, Joseph Smith, when the church was new and in debt.

Sandra also came from a family that had been Mormon for five generations. She is a great-great-granddaughter of Brigham Young. He was the second president of the LDS Church. Both Jerald's and Sandra's families had strong connections to the Mormon community.

They met in 1959 in Salt Lake City at a religious meeting. Soon after meeting, Jerald and Sandra began researching Mormonism together. Both had been raised as Latter-day Saints. However, they had each started to question the church's teachings when they were teenagers.

Jerald and Sandra Tanner got married in Mission Hills, California, on June 14, 1959. The next year, they both left the LDS Church. In 1964, they started helping other Mormons from their home in Salt Lake City. This effort grew into the Utah Lighthouse Ministry (UTLM). They had two daughters and one son. Jerald passed away in Salt Lake City on October 1, 2006, after 47 years of marriage. Sandra continues their important work.

Legal Challenges and Copyrights

In 1999, the LDS Church took the Tanners to court. The church said the Tanners were illegally linking from their website to a copyrighted book called Church Handbook of Instructions.

This case was settled outside of court. Many people thought it could have been a very important case about how linking on the internet works.

Standing Up for Truth

Sometimes, the Tanners also spoke out against people who unfairly criticized Mormonism. Some scholars from the LDS Church even praised them for this. For example, a historian named Daniel C. Peterson said the Tanners were honest. He noted they would prove documents were fake, no matter what the documents said.

He said, "I don't see the Tanners in that way," meaning they were not like other critics who spread hate.

The Tanners were among the first to question the work of Mark Hofmann. Hofmann had created many fake Mormon documents. These fake documents seemed to support the Tanners' arguments. However, by early 1984, Jerald Tanner believed that a document called the Salamander Letter was not real. He even wrote about why he thought it was fake. This surprised many experts. Later, it was proven that Hofmann had created many forgeries. The Tanners were proven right.

The Tanners also pointed out when other critics of the LDS Church, like Ed Decker, shared wrong information. They criticized his film The God Makers II, even though they had been involved in his earlier film, The God Makers.

Key Books by the Tanners

The Tanners wrote many books that shared their research. Here are a few of their important works:

• Mormonism: Shadow or Reality?: This book includes copies of early Mormon documents and comments from the Tanners. A simpler version of this book is called The Changing World of Mormonism.
• The Case Against Mormonism, Vols. 1–3: A series of books discussing their findings.
• The Mormon Kingdom, Vols. 1–2: Another series exploring aspects of Mormon history.
• Evolution of the Mormon Temple Ceremony: 1842–1990: This book shows how the temple ceremony changed over many years. It includes the full text of the changes made in 1990.

See also

• Brent Metcalfe
• Criticism of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Descendants of Brigham Young
• H. Michael Marquardt
• Mormonism and Christianity
• Wesley P. Walters