Will there be murderers in Celestial Kingdom? An Institute Teacher’s answer challenged Sandra Tanner’s faith back in the 1950s. We’ll talk about this unusual case and how it contributed to Sandra joining Pauline Hancock’s Basement Church (known as Church of Christ) in Independence Missouri. Check out our conversation…

https://youtu.be/4c6tu0SYs6

Don’t miss our other conversations with Sandra: https://gospeltangents.com/people/sandra-tanner

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Gospel Tangents

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From Brigham Young Defender to Critic: Influences That Sparked Tanners’ Journey

The history of early Mormonism and its subsequent splinter groups is complex, but few journeys into critical thinking are as personal and profound as that of Sandra Tanner. Raised defending the faith, her path to becoming a leading critic of Mormonism was catalyzed by several unexpected influences, including the work of a pioneering female Restoration leader and the startling discovery of historical documents.

The Vision of Pauline Hancock

Sandra Tanner’s husband, Jerald Tanner, was deeply influenced by an obscure Restoration group led by Pauline Hancock. Pauline was a head of her group, called the Church of Christ (Bible Book of Mormon), serving as its minister and preacher. Though she never claimed to be a prophet, she was considered a “deliverer of the message”.

Crucially, Pauline did claim to have a vision of Christ before the group started meeting as a church. This vision occurred during a transition when she was trying to sort out what she believed, focusing on the “original kernel of Mormonism”. She told Christ she couldn’t fulfill the calling to tell the world what she had learned because she was a woman, but Christ responded, “I was a man, and they didn’t listen to me. So, it doesn’t matter that you’re a woman. You are called to go out and tell what you’ve learned”.

Pauline’s group focused on studying the Book of Mormon outside of various splinter groups. Their theology centered on the “oneness idea of God,” a modalistic model (though they would not have used the term “modalism”). They aimed for a rejuvenation of the David Whitmer flavor of Mormonism, seeking to go “back to original Mormonism” using just the Bible and Book of Mormon.

Jerald Tanner’s Cottage Meetings

Jerald Tanner became converted to Pauline’s message after two visits to Missouri. At age 20 (around 1957 or 1958), Jerald returned to Salt Lake and began holding little cottage meetings at his parents’ house. He would play reel-to-reel tapes of Pauline’s different sermons or teachings. The purpose of these meetings was to discuss early Mormonism and explain where the Church “went off the track”.

Sandra’s grandmother, a relative by marriage to the Brigham Young family, received an invitation to one of these meetings via a postcard. Sandra, visiting from Southern California during spring break, drove her grandmother to the meeting. Grandmother claimed it was “sort of like a Mormon fireside”. Jerald, whom she found “nice looking” and “cute,” impressed her with his studies on Mormonism’s problems and the group’s focus on returning to the Book of Mormon.

From Defense to Doubt

Sandra’s journey of doubt had already been seeded by others.

First, her mother and aunt began studying Mormon history in the 1950s after reading Fawn Brodie’s book, No Man Knows My History. They were pouring over “apostate literature” and photocopies. Sandra, then in high school, was busy defending the faith, while her mother and aunt were “going into apostasy”. Sandra noted that her mother became known as being “too inquisitive” in Sunday school classes, often disrupting the class with questions.

Sandra’s mother and aunt found James Wardle’s barbershop, possibly through Sam Weller’s bookstore (which stocked anti-Mormon and polygamy literature). James Wardle was the link that put Sandra’s mother in contact with Pauline Hancock’s group.

Second, Sandra recounts her first challenge in Mormonism occurring in 8th grade when a Christian girl questioned her about what Mormons believed about God. Sandra proudly quoted the popular saying from the 1950s: ” as man is, God once was. As God is, man may become.” The girl called this “blasphemy” and walked away, leaving Sandra stunned.

Will there be Murderers in Celestial Kingdom?

Third, while attending the Institute of Religion in Southern California in the late 1950s, Sandra was troubled by a conversation with her Institute teacher about an acquaintence convicted of murder. The teacher said that the person could never be baptized, receive the temple ordinances (endowments/sealings,) or reach the celestial kingdom. This answer shocked Sandra, who questioned how this system fit the “gospel of Jesus” if the “good news” meant, “Unfortunately, you don’t qualify”. (It is noted that current 2025 church policy allows a person convicted of murder to be baptized and go to the temple after completing their sentence, with First Presidency approval, but the practical difficulties for a prisoner remained. If he was on death row, he would never qualify.) It is unknown what official Church policy was in 1958.

The Deal Breaker: Brigham Young’s Sermons

After meeting Jerald, their courtship centered on studying Mormon history. Sandra, who was raised to practically worship Brigham Young, told Jerald she was a “great-great-granddaughter of Brigham Young”. Jerald challenged her to read his sermons.

Jerald brought copies of sermons addressing Adam-God theology, polygamy, and the Civil War. But the ultimate “real deal breaker” for Sandra was reading the blood atonement sermons. Specifically, she was horrified by the passage where Brigham Young discusses finding his brother in bed with his wife:

“I would immediately put a javelin through them both and this would save them… I would be justified and… this is loving your neighbor as yourself.”

This teaching, which claimed there were “certain sins you could commit [that] the blood of Christ won’t cover,” was entirely opposite to the benign image she had of Brigham Young. Sandra immediately rejected Brigham Young out of hand: “God did not tell Brigham Young to teach this sermon. This cannot be from God… That guy’s toast.”

After that moment, Sandra was ready to read anything Jerald had. She purchased a copy of the 1833 Book of Commandments and compared it against the current Doctrine and Covenants, confirming David Whitmer’s claim that Joseph Smith had changed revelations.

Despite her own mother’s severe worries that Sandra was being “sucked in” to a “fanatic cult group” in Missouri (even though her mother acknowledged church problems, she would not leave the role of a Mormon), Sandra and Jerald had a whirlwind romance and were married by a Protestant minister. Their partnership in critiquing Mormon history had begun.

Don’t miss our other conversations with Sandra: https://gospeltangents.com/people/sandra-tanner

Copyright © 2025

Gospel Tangents

All Rights Reserved