Palmer received his
M.A. in American history from
Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1968, writing his thesis on the
Godbeite movement. He pursued doctoral studies from 1974 to 1975, but did not complete them. During his career Palmer was active in the
Mormon History Association. Palmer's wife died of cancer in late 1992. and they lived in
Sandy, Utah. After retiring Palmer worked as a
real estate developer. He died on September 25, 2017.
Career Initially, Palmer was hired to teach history at the
Church College of New Zealand. Shortly later he began teaching religion, which led to a 34-year career in the
Church Educational System (CES). He was director of the LDS
Institute of Religion in
Whittier, California (1970–73) followed by
Chico, California (1975–80). Returning to Utah, he then taught
LDS seminary at
East High School in 1980 and at
Brighton High School from 1980 to 1988. As he grew uneasy with some aspects of LDS history, Palmer approached his CES supervisor about changing positions to teach adults at the Salt Lake County Jail. Teaching more general Christian and Biblical lessons of faith and ethics to all inmates, he was the jail's chaplain and director of its Institute program from 1988 until his 2001 retirement. He also served on the board of directors of the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association. After completing his long-coming manuscript, he published the controversial book ''
An Insider's View of Mormon Origins'' with
Signature Books in 2002, in which Palmer challenged the orthodox teachings of Mormonism's beginnings. Palmer's prison teaching led him to write another book,
The Incomparable Jesus, published by Greg Kofford Books in 2005. In the following
Review issue, historian
James B. Allen published another critical review.
Church discipline Palmer asserts that he was
disfellowshipped from the LDS Church in December 2004 as a result of his book, ''An Insider's View of Mormon Origins'', which was skeptical of Mormonism's claimed origins. Being disfellowshipped results in probational loss of some church privileges without being forced to leave the church. Palmer concluded that while he liked many of the teachings of Joseph Smith, "the foundational events in church history are too problematic to ignore". He found that much of what
Latter Day Saints take for granted as literal history has, over the years, been modified to emphasize certain aspects over others. This, he believes, has resulted in an inaccurate picture of LDS Church history. Palmer argues also that the '
Mormon Jesus' is very different from the current
Christian Jesus due to the modern practices of the LDS Church such as tithing, avoidance of alcoholic beverages, and use of special clothing. At the time of his disfellowshipment, Palmer stated that he still loved the church, and was pleased he was not
excommunicated. He also stated that he no longer attended church meetings specifically to avoid offending other members with his opinions as well as due to his rejection of standard LDS beliefs. In May 2006, a four-part interview of Grant Palmer was featured on
John Dehlin's podcast
Mormon Stories. Palmer and Bushman were also among the wide range of people interviewed in the 2007
PBS documentary
The Mormons. In 2008 Palmer wrote an article in
The Salt Lake Tribune comparing the Mormon and Catholic Churches to the
Pharisees, whose observance of strict laws and oral traditions was decried by Jesus. Palmer believed that, instead, a true belief in Christian religion is centered in individually becoming good and loving people. In 2010, Palmer resigned his membership in the LDS Church. Palmer stated in a
Mormon Stories interview in 2012 that due to the publication of a two and half page article in 2010, "Religious feeling and truth", for an obscure Baptist journal in Kansas City, a second disciplinary council was scheduled but Palmer handed in his resignation before the hearing was held. Several reasons led to his decision, mainly, that the first disciplinary council lasted an exhausting seven hours and he did not want to repeat that experience and also that the presiding authority of the second council let him know beforehand that to stay a member and avoid excommunication he would need to repudiate all of the details from his book and also regain his testimony of the church. After learning that Palmer had terminal cancer, the
Open Stories Foundation organized celebration of the life and works of Palmer February 15, 2017. He died on September 25, 2017. ==Publications==