New Release! The September Six and the Struggle for the Soul of Mormonism, by Sarah M. Patterson

Sep 25

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The September Six and the
Struggle for the Soul of Mormonism

by Sara M. Patterson

In the single month of September 1993, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints excommunicated or disciplined six of its members. These six individuals—some of them intellectuals, some activists, and some both—were dubbed the "September Six." In The September Six and the Struggle for the Soul of Mormonism, Sara M. Patterson challenges readers to think more deeply about the events of that month and the era in which they unfolded. Patterson argues that the clever alliterative phrase "September Six" masks our ability to see that what happened that month was part of a much broader, decades-long cultural and theological debate over the nature of the church and its restoration narrative.

"With careful detail, brilliant analysis, and generous empathy, The September Six is both page-turning and deeply moving. It is an impressive work of scholarship that illuminates nearly two-hundred years of history while also speaking to some of the most pressing questions of belief, authority, identity, and belonging today. Patterson's book is a remarkable achievement."
—Neil J. Young, author of We Gather Together: The Religious Right and the Problem of Interfaith Politics

Excerpt

Any movement toward prophetic or hierarchical infallibility or unquestionability means that democratic impulses that do not conform must be silenced or condemned. The church in the 1990s very clearly defined orthodoxy at the doctrinal and behavioral levels. The actions around the September 1993 disciplinary councils demonstrate that in addition to the concept of prophetic authority, the church was constructing a new understanding of orthodoxy that had been in development for decades. This entailed a commitment to a purity system, an understanding of God that suggested God's ultimate concerns were about holiness and purity, maintaining the purity of those on the inside and protecting them from those on the outside.

About the author

Sara M. Patterson (she/her) is a professor of theological studies and gender studies at Hanover College, where she holds the inaugural Barron Professorship in Social Justice Education. She is the author of multiple articles addressing the intersections of gender, sexuality, and religion. Her research also explores the intersections of religion, space, and material culture, a topic she most recently explored in Pioneers in the Attic: Place and Memory Along the Mormon Trail (Oxford University Press, 2020). She is a former board member of the Mormon History Association.