In 1958, Robert Eaby wrote a two-page document with the scriptural reference that expanded the traditional Mormon view of seven dispensations of the gospel and, more importantly, portraited Ross LeBaron’s patriarchal work in cosmic proportions. The “ten weeks” described in the apocryphal Book of Enoch were identified by Eaby as ten dispensations of the gospel. QuotingContinue reading “Becoming The Head of the Eighth Dispensation”
Category Archives: Scholarly
Was Ross LeBaron a Mormon Fundamentalist?
“I have been associated with the Fundamentalists since 1936” – Ross Wesley LeBaron wrote to Fundamentalist leader Margarito Bautista in December 1958 – “but have stood a hundred percent on my own feet.”[1] Almost 27 years later, LeBaron would give a more detailed – and probably more honest – account of his early association withContinue reading “Was Ross LeBaron a Mormon Fundamentalist?”
Mormon Fundamentalism and the Sealing Keys of Hyrum Smith
Ross W. LeBaron claimed to have “the patriarchal keys of the lineage of the Prophet Joseph”. He considered his heirship to the Mormon Prophet “the highest title of birth, and the second order of priesthood,” as he stated to Joseph White Musser in 1951. Lebaron believed the Mormon Fundamentalist movement, on the other hand, operated underContinue reading “Mormon Fundamentalism and the Sealing Keys of Hyrum Smith”
Sunstone 2018: Ross LeBaron and The Church of The First-Born
On July 28, I`ll be presenting a paper on Ross LeBaron at the Sunstone Summer Symposium to be held this year at the Mountain America Expo Center, in Sandy, Utah. A religious innovator within the Mormon tradition, Ross LeBaron (1914-1996) organized The Church of the First-Born in 1955. Although commonly identified by outsiders as aContinue reading “Sunstone 2018: Ross LeBaron and The Church of The First-Born”
Christopher Blythe: The Crafting of a New Religious Movement
The following is an excerpt from historian Christopher Blythe‘s master thesis on Ross LeBaron, submitted to the Utah State University in 2009. In his work, Blythe characterizes Ross LeBaron as “a religion maker in the same sense as Joseph Smith or Jesus Christ, in that he brought forth new concepts, which diverged from previous orthodoxContinue reading “Christopher Blythe: The Crafting of a New Religious Movement”
Lyle O. Wright: Overview of Ross LeBaron’s Beliefs
The following is an excerpt is from Lyle O. Wright‘s Master Thesis, submitted to Brigham Young University in 1963, based on his interviews with Ross W. LeBaron. Even though Wright’s research focused on the Church of the Firstborn of the Fullness of Times, led by Joel and Ervil LeBaron, it approached the different priesthood claims inContinue reading “Lyle O. Wright: Overview of Ross LeBaron’s Beliefs”
Ross LeBaron, the Holy Order and the Church of the Firstborn 