Who Inherits a Prophet?

When a prophet dies, who has the right to lead?

After Joseph Smith's death in 1844, his followers faced competing claims to the future of the Restoration. Brigham Young and the Twelve appealed to apostolic authority. Sidney Rigdon invoked his place beside the prophet. James Strang presented a purported appointment. Joseph Smith III later accepted leadership among believers who looked to the prophet's son.

Each offered a different answer to a question that would shape generations of faith, family, and religious belonging.

In Who Inherits a Prophet?, Ryan Mercer examines the events, documents, and interpretations behind these divisions, then follows the question of authority into Mormon fundamentalism. What happened when the Church ended its authorization of plural marriage? What does the 1886 revelation establish? How should believers evaluate later accounts of private priesthood commissions?

Written from the perspective of a believing Latter-day Saint with fundamentalist sympathies, this book explores:

• The succession crisis of 1844 and the development of apostolic seniority.
• The claims of Brigham Young, Sidney Rigdon, James Strang, Joseph Smith III, and smaller Restoration movements.
• The relationship between priesthood, church office, and the kingdom of God.
• The Manifesto, the Woolley commissioning narrative, and divisions among fundamentalist councils.
• Common consent, personal conscience, and the limits of religious authority.

Drawing on published documents, historical accounts, scripture, and writings by Ogden Kraut and Joseph Musser, Mercer distinguishes contemporary records from later recollections and asks what each source can reasonably establish.

For readers exploring Latter-day Saint history, Mormon fundamentalism, or their own inherited beliefs, Who Inherits a Prophet? offers a framework for examining authority while taking faith seriously.

An inherited faith deserves honest questions. The people who entrust their lives to it deserve honest answers.