[7] Snuffer grew up in a devoutly Baptist household[8] in Mountain Home, Idaho,[9][10] and in 1973 converted to the LDS Church in New Hampshire during very early adulthood.
Peggy Fletcher Stack, religion columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune, 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".
[13] 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.
[12] 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.
"[11] The only way Snuffer could avoid church discipline was to cease its publication[11] and to cancel a planned speaking tour that was thought to be for promoting the ideas expressed in the book.