The September Six

“The September Six” is the name given to a group disciplined by the LDS Church in 1993, framing the climax of Stretching The Heavens’s account of the limits of Mormon intellectual inquiry. As the book recounts, the six “were forthcoming about the exact charges behind their discipline to varying degrees, and the church does not discuss details surrounding any church discipline. However, the most common factor was scholarship that challenged orthodox narratives — whether about the meaning of Isaiah, details of Heavenly Mother doctrine, or Latter-day Saint history.” The disciplinary actions “were widely perceived as orchestrated by the leadership as a powerful warning about the limits of intellectual inquiry that would be tolerated.”

In the book’s narrative the episode sits against Eugene England’s posture toward faith — the “learning to be righteous in the dark” frame, England’s instinct that constant divine contact “moves towards the devil’s plan” rather than the saint’s, favoring internalization over scaffolding. The book also notes the broader institutional dynamic that fed the moment: a “consensus-driven practice” in which “change and innovation are frequently thwarted until total consensus is reached,” and “maverick individuals” who “break ranks” may be “silently tolerated rather than disciplined or repudiated.”

Context: The September Six were six Latter-day Saint scholars and writers excommunicated or disfellowshipped by the LDS Church in September 1993, an event widely read as a signal about the boundaries of acceptable Mormon scholarship.

Where this appears

• Stretching The Heavens — the 1993 disciplinary actions frame the book’s climax on the limits of Mormon intellectual inquiry, set against Eugene England’s theology of internalized faith.