A member of the Tanner team has passed away. Jerald Tanner, great-great-grandson of John Tanner (a financial supporter of Joseph Smith, Jr.), died Sunday evening from the effects of Alzheimer’s disease.
Jerald was husband to Sandra Tanner, a fifth-generation descendent of Brigham Young. They were both raised in the LDS Church, but early in their lives (independently) they each found reasons to seriously question their beliefs. Eventually they met, converted to Christianity, and were married. The result has been, among other things, 40 years of dedicated research critiquing the historicity and theology of the LDS Church.
The legacy of Jerald and Sandra Tanner cannot be understated. Through their work countless lives have been impacted, both within Mormonism and without. While they’re often the target of “anti-Mormon” rejections by Mormons, the Tanners have marked their work with a high dose of honesty and integrity. This is reflected in their early criticisms of the Hofmann forgeries and their response to fellow-Christian Ed Decker’s misrepresentations of Mormonism in The Godmakers.
No doubt, God will continue to effectively use their ministry, The Utah Lighthouse Ministry, for His glory long after Jerald’s passing.
Our friend Rob Sivulka is maintaining a list of links
related to Jerald’s passing:
MormonInfo.org: Jerald Tanner
Here is a thoughtful obituary written by Mormon David
King Landrith (some of the comments are not so thoughtful).
A few of the Tanner's many titles:
Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? (their most popular book)
Joseph Smith's Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar
Major Problems of Mormonism
Mormon Scriptures and the Bible
Mormonism, Magic, and Masonry
3,913 Changes in the Book of Mormon