Milton Vaughn Backman, Jr. (born 1927) is a historian of American religions with particular emphasis on the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement

Latter Day Saint movement

The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...

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Biography

Backman was a professor of Church History at Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...

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Backman is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has served in various positions in the church, often related to teaching and welfare. He has served as a member of a bishopric and on a stake high council.

As a young man, Backman served as a Mormon missionary

Mormon missionary

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...

 in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

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Writings

Among his many works are The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830-1838, American Religions and the Rise of Mormonism, Joseph Smith's First Vision: The First Vision in its Historical Context and Christian Churches of American: Origins and Beliefs. Backman also compiled the work entitled Eyewitness Accounts of the Restoration. Backman also edited Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint History: New York with Larry C. Porter and Susan Easton Black

Susan Easton Black

Susan Easton Black is a professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She is also an author of several books related to Joseph Smith, Jr. and the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.Black joined the faculty of BYU in 1978. ...

. Backman has also compiled a collection of diaries and biographies of people who knew Joseph Smith with the assistance of Keith W. Perkins

Keith W. Perkins

Keith W. Perkins was a professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University . He has written widely on the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the period when it was headquartered at Kirtland, Ohio and has also written articles on figures in the recording...

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External links