Richard P. Howard is an American historian emeritus of Community of Christ, having served as world church historian of that organization (previously named the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) from 1966–1994. He was the first professionally trained scholar to occupy that position. Howard has frequently been compared to Leonard Arrington, his counterpart in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Both church historians are recognized as pioneering scholars of the New Mormon History. Howard's contributions include foundational work on Latter Day Saint scripture and the professionalization of the history of the Reorganization and the Community of Christ. His research into the origins of Mormon polygamy helped change his church's official stance on the subject.
Education
Howard earned an associate degree from Graceland College, a B.A. in education from the University of Kansas, and an M.A. in history from the University of California-Berkeley. He pursued further graduate studies at the University of Kansas, American University in Washington, D.C., and Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri.
RLDS Church historian, 1966–1994
When Charles A. Davies retired as church historian of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1963, Howard succeeded him in that position, becoming the first professionally trained RLDS church historian. This change took place against the backdrop of a broader trend of professionalization in the history of the Latter Day Saint movement commonly known as the "New Mormon History". In the RLDS context, major participants in the New Mormon History included Howard, Robert Flanders, Alma Blair, Barbara Higdon, Paul M. Edwards, William D. Russell, and W. Grant McMurray.
Howard's first major contribution was a study of the scriptures produced by Joseph Smith Jr., entitled Restoration Scriptures: A Study of Their Textual Development (1969). In this work, Howard noted evolutionary changes in the Joseph Smith Translation or "Inspired Version" of the Bible and similar changes in the revelations recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants. More provocative was his comparison of the various texts of the Book of Mormon from the 1829 manuscript through the 1840 printed version. In noting the numerous changes in the text, Howard concluded that the composition process of the Book of Mormon could not have been a word for word "translation" that some of Smith's contemporaries reported. Howard's study received the "Best Book Award" from the Mormon History Association in 1969/1970.
While serving as church historian, Howard contributed articles to the independent, progressive RLDS periodical, Courage: A Journal of History, Thought, and Action. Published quarterly between 1970 and 1973, Courage anticipated many of the progressive changes that would occur within the RLDS Church as it transformed into the Community of Christ. Howard's contributions included a study of the Book of Abraham in which he concluded with candor that "separate analyses of modern Egyptologists have established conclusive evidences that Joseph Smith's Book of Abraham (text and interpretations of the papyri drawings) is not even remotely related to the cultural reality behind the inscriptions and artwork on the Egyptian papyri brought to Kirtland." Howard further suggested that "it may be helpful to suggest that the Book of Abraham represents simply the product of Joseph Smith Jr.'s imagination" because it is "neither a scholarly translation...nor any kind of 'inspired' translation."
Howard was one of the first three RLDS historians to join the Mormon History Association (MHA), and he was among the original fifteen founders of the John Whitmer Historical Association (JWHA) on September 18, 1972. He served as president of JWHA in 1985 and as president of MHA in 1990–91. Also among the founders of JWHA was Howard's assistant in the Church Historian's Office, W. Grant McMurray. McMurray later became a member of the church's First Presidency, rising ultimately to become prophet-president of the church.