JOEL - Information about James J. Strang and the Strangite church can be found
at this site: www.strangite.org
According to the Strangite church, Joseph Smith
Jr. presided over the church from 1830 to 1844,
and then James J. Strang presided from 1844 to 1856.
The church claims that Joseph Smith Jr. appointed James J. Strang to be his successor
with a document that survives at Yale University.
Scholars claim that it has an authentic
postmark "Nauvoo, June 19, 1844" on an
envelope addressed in the same hand as the whole
document. They believe the text of the document matches the language,
style, and passion of Joseph Smith Jr. The
document is printed with the Revelations of James
J. Strang.
James J. Strang announced that he had been ordained by some unidentified
angels in the same hour that Joseph Smith Jr. was
killed, even though he and Smith were two hundred miles
apart. The ordination is printed in the
Revelations of James J. Strang.
Strang claims he translated metallic plates and eleven
witnesses signed testimonies that they saw the
plates--none ever denied their testimony. The
testimony of the Voree Plates is in the
Revelations of James J. Strang, and the testimony
to the Book of the Law of the Lord
precedes that book. Brigham Young
was summoned to a trial and excommunicated by a
high council on April 6, 1846. Young in turn
claimed that he excommunicated James J. Strang,
but there was never a notice for Strang to
appear, nor was there ever a trial for Strang. About 10,000
people acknowledged the appointment of James J.
Strang.
Strang was killed in 1856 by someone in his own organization, just twelve years
after his appointment, and the church barely
survived being driven from northern Michigan at
the same time. Most of the
members later joined the Reorganized church which
was formed four years after the death of James J.
Strang. There are about 200 members in the church today.
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