Latter-Day Paper Trail
Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet by John G. Turner
“The number of Mormons throughout the world may soon equal that of Jews,” The New Yorker observed in 2002, noting the Latter-day Saints’ rapid growth alongside Judaism’s demographic stability. As of 2025, that moment has arrived. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) now reports over 17.5 million members worldwide. By contrast, the global Jewish population stands at approximately 15.8 million, most of them in Israel or the United States. These figures, however, rest on very different definitions: LDS membership includes all baptized individuals, regardless of belief or activity, while Jewish identity blends religious, ethnic, and cultural lines. Yet the demographic shift is more than statistical. A once-persecuted frontier sect has become a global player—driven by missionary zeal, international expansion, and institutional polish.
Since the turn of this century, the Latter-day Saints have retained ongoing visibility. From earnest proselytizing and billion-dollar renovations of the Salt Lake Temple to a satirical Broadway smash, the church has remained remarkably present in the cultural imagination. But now their founder returns to the spotlight in a different key—not as a punchline or proselytizing symbol, but as the subject of Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet, a substantive new biography by historian John G. Turner.
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Joseph Martin is Professor of Communication and the Arts at Montreat College in North Carolina. He writes frequently on media culture.
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