The Reformation Index

A Quantitative Analysis of LDS General Conference Discourse, 1942 to 2026

6,322 talks. 12.1 million words. Seven independent metrics. 84 years of data.

0/100

Oaks Reformation Index (highest ever recorded)

0:1

Nelson-to-JS mention ratio (nearly 1:1 for first time)

0:1

Nelson-to-JS quote attribution ratio

Snow Couplet occurrences under Nelson (508 talks)

"The Gods" (plural) under Nelson

Liturgical calendar increase under Nelson

0:1

Works-to-grace ratio under Nelson (was 19.63:1 under Grant)

0:1

Mormon-to-Protestant vocab ratio under Nelson (was 6.78:1 under Grant)

0:1

M:P ratio under Oaks (Protestant vocabulary exceeds Mormon for first time)

Data: BYU Scripture Citation Index (scriptures.byu.edu)

Includes President Oaks' first General Conference (April 2026)

Interactive Dashboard

Explore the Data

Select eras to highlight across all charts. Switch metrics in the focus chart. Toggle comparison mode to view two eras side by side on a radar chart.

Era A: Era B:

Section 0

The Reformation Index

The Reformation Index is a composite of seven metrics. Each is scaled 0 to 100, where 0 is peak LDS distinctiveness and 100 is full Protestant convergence. For 76 years it fluctuated between 18 and 32, a net movement of 3.9 points. Under Nelson it moved 32.8 points in 7 years: 91 times the historical rate.

Section 1

The Living Prophet vs. Joseph Smith

How often does conference mention the sitting president versus the founding prophet? For eight decades, Joseph Smith dominated. Then that changed.

Under Nelson, the living prophet is mentioned 1.87 times per talk. Joseph Smith: 1.20 times. This is the first time the living prophet exceeds the founder.

Quote Attribution Ratio by Era

The ratio of quotes attributed to the living prophet versus quotes attributed to Joseph Smith.

Section 2

Mormon Distinctives vs. Protestant Vocabulary

Tracking distinctively LDS terms (e.g. "dispensation," "priesthood keys," "plan of salvation") against generically Protestant terms (e.g. "grace alone," "born again," "personal relationship with Jesus").

The Mormon-to-Protestant vocabulary ratio collapsed from 6.78:1 under Grant to 2.21:1 under Nelson. Under Oaks, the M:P ratio dropped to 0.57:1, the first time in 84 years that Protestant vocabulary exceeded Mormon distinctive vocabulary.

Section 3

Grace vs. Works

The balance of grace language versus works language in conference talks, measured by term frequency per talk.

Works-to-grace ratio: 19.63:1 under Grant, 2.20:1 under Nelson. Grace share rose from 4.8% to 31.3%.

Section 4

The Doctrine of Godhood

Tracking four categories of theosis language: Hard Theosis ("become gods"), Exaltation (celestial kingdom / eternal increase), Soft Theosis ("become like God"), and Protestant Replacement ("relationship with Christ" / generic salvation).

Hard Theosis plus Exaltation share: 63.8% under Grant, 19.2% under Nelson.

Snow Couplet references under Nelson

"The Gods" (plural) under Nelson

King Follett references in 542 Nelson-era talks

Section 5

The Liturgical Calendar

References to traditionally Protestant liturgical terms (Lent, Advent, Holy Week, Good Friday, Palm Sunday, Ash Wednesday) in General Conference.

13 mentions in 76 years pre-Nelson. 44 mentions in 7 years under Nelson. A 36-fold increase in the per-talk rate.

Section 6

The Godhead

Measuring two competing streams: hard materialist claims about the Godhead (separate beings, body of flesh and bone, First Vision physicality) versus generic piety language (personal relationship with Christ, come unto Jesus, etc.).

Generic Christ-language tripled from 4.6 to 13.8 per talk. Hard materialist claims fell 46%.

Separate Dataset

Journal of Discourses Baseline (1854-1886)

Same regex methodology applied to a separate corpus: 951 First Presidency discourses from the Journal of Discourses (Brigham Young, John Taylor, Heber C. Kimball, George Q. Cannon, and others). This is not General Conference — it is a separate baseline showing what LDS leadership discourse sounded like at peak theological distinctiveness.

Note: Values shown are estimates pending full analysis. Run jod_scraper_analyzer.py to generate verified numbers from 951 JoD discourses. The estimates below are conservative projections based on documented JoD content.

Then vs. Now: Key Metrics

Doctrines That Disappeared

These doctrines were actively taught in the JoD era but have completely vanished from modern General Conference.

First Presidency discourses analyzed (1854-1886)

JoD Mormon-to-Protestant vocabulary ratio (est.)

Oaks M:P ratio (Apr 2026) — first time below 1:1

The Full Arc: 1854 to 2026

Combining both datasets into a single timeline view. The JoD baseline (purple) represents peak LDS distinctiveness. The GC data (teal/red) shows the 84-year trajectory from 1942 to 2026.