By Jerald and Sandra Tanner

In 1966 Wallace Turner, a correspondent for the New York Times, wrote the following:

Dr. Thomas F. O’Dea, a sociologist at Columbia University, who wrote a major study called The Mormons when he taught at the University of Utah, insists that the church is in the midst of a crisis . . . in keeping with Dr. O’Dea’s theory of the sleeping crisis, one of the most influential apostates of the 1960s has been a young machinist, who with his wife, left the church and now makes a living printing books and documents which contradict official Mormon pronouncements.

His name is Jerald Tanner. His wife, Sandra, is a great-great-granddaughter of Brigham Young. . . .

The Tanners operate as the Modern Microfilm Company. They specialize in copying books and documents that are out of print, or have been suppressed in one way or another, but that bear on the history and doctrine of the LDS church. When I talked with them, they had thirty-one titles for sale, the best seller was Mormonism—Shadow or Reality? prepared by them jointly. They had sold about 3000 copies . . . The Tanners’ masterwork, Mormonism—Shadow or Reality? is an intricate weaving of arguments from many sources against the fundamental precept of the Saints’ doctrine—that Joseph Smith, Jr. , was a prophet of God . . .

With the Tanners the church today finds itself faced by its own techniques of argument and its own words turned back against it to create doubts and uneasiness among some members. The campaign is effective, too, and of this there is no doubt. (The Mormon Establishment, by Wallace Turner, Boston, 1966, pages 153-156, 159, 160 and 162)

Since printing the book Mormonism—Shadow or Reality? in 1964, many important things have happened. By far the most important was the rediscovery of the papyri from which Joseph Smith “translated” the Book of Abraham, for these papyri prove that the Book of Abraham is the work of Joseph Smith’s own imagination. Another important discovery was that the Mormon Church had been suppressing important accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision which differ from the account printed in the Pearl of Great Price. Wesley P. Walters discovered an original document which proves beyond all doubt that Joseph Smith was a “glass looker” and that he was arrested, tried and found guilty by a justice of the peace in Bainbridge, New York, in 1826. Wesley P. Walters has also discovered that there was no revival in Palmyra, New York, in 1820 as the Mormon Church has always maintained.

Many other important discoveries have also been made since we published Mormonism—Shadow or Reality? in 1964. These discoveries, which have come to light one right after another, have taken a great deal of our time. In 1967 we began printing our work, The Case Against Mormonism. This was a three-volume work and dealt with many of the new discoveries. We have also completed a two-volume work entitled The Mormon Kingdom. Besides this we have printed a number of other books concerning Mormonism. The publication of these new books has kept us very busy.

After printing thousands of copies of Mormonism—Shadow or Reality? the metal plates began to break down. We hoped to get out an enlarged edition of this book, but we were unable to find the time. Consequently, Mormonism—Shadow or Reality? went out of print for a number of years. We are now happy to announce, however, that we have found the time to bring out a new enlarged and revised edition of Mormonism—Shadow or Reality? This is by far our most important work, for we have taken the best material out of the old edition and combined it with the most important material from the publications we have printed since 1964. In addition we have added a great deal of new material that has never before appeared in print. Condensing all this material into one volume has been a tremendous task, but we feel that our efforts will be rewarded by the fact that more people will have access to the material. This new edition actually contains more than twice as much material as the old edition.

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