Denver C. Snuffer Jr.

Denver C. Snuffer Jr. is a Utah lawyer and an author of books about the history and doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was excommunicated by the LDS Church in 2013 for refusing to cease publication of his 2011 book, Passing the Heavenly Gift. Snuffer converted to the LDS Church in New Hampshire in 1973. He received undergraduate degrees from Daniel Webster Junior College and McMurry University and a law degree from the J. Reuben Clark Law School. Media has interpreted Snuffer's main thesis in Passing the Heavenly Gift, to be that "every Mormon prophet, starting with Brigham Young, caved to social, political and legal pressures to accommodate mainstream American society". Snuffer states in the book that he has seen and spoken with Jesus. A 2012 episode of Mormon Stories Podcast described Snuffer as a "progressive, fundamentalist, non-polygamist Mormon lawyer who claims to have seen Christ". Snuffer was not fully settled with sensationalism inherent in the title. Snuffer's book, The Second Comforter: Conversing With the Lord Through the Veil, claims to outline the process for receiving a personal visitation from the resurrected Jesus. In August 2013, Snuffer's Sandy, Utah, stake president informed him that the continued publication of Passing the Heavenly Gift specifically constituted apostasy since the "book's thesis is in direct conflict with church doctrine," and that the only way he could avoid church discipline was to cease its publication and to cancel a planned speaking tour that was thought to be for promoting the ideas expressed in the book. Snuffer's negotiations with his stake president resulted in an impasse—with Snuffer claiming that his stake president received instructions from LDS Church leaders in Salt Lake City to proceed—and he was excommunicated from the church in September 2013. In November 2013, Snuffer said his appeal to the First Presidency of the church to have the excommunication reversed was denied. Snuffer claims his intentions are faith-promoting: "I have loved every minute of being a Mormon since I joined the church in September 1973 in New Hampshire," he says. "I am actually advocating activity and fidelity to the Mormon church." Snuffer claims that he intended Passing the Heavenly Gift and his other works to promote loyalty to the LDS Church.