For mainstream Latter-day Saints to foul up occasionally on doctrinal questions is no big deal. We all do it. But when a questionable teaching originates from the Church’s top leaders, it becomes a larger problem. That’s because in today’s Church, we tend to treat concepts as true merely because they come from the prophet, First …
Event: Salt Lake Symposium 2009
SL09225 Sidney Rigdon: The Baptist Years (1817–1830)
For most of his public ministry, Joseph Smith’s closest advisor was former Baptist minister and evangelist Sidney Rigdon. The prophet was uncomfortable with public speaking while the Baptist was a seasoned orator and the leader of the largest group of converts. Sidney was named Joseph’s spokesman at their first meeting. What attracted him to the …
SL09273 Panel: Community of Christ Principles of Church History: A Turning Point and a Good Example?
Unlike the Community of Christ, the LDS Church has no formally defined history principles, but it does have fairly clear positions enunciated by officials on various levels toward various historical events and attitudes. This panel discusses the origins and implementation of these nine principles in the Community of Christ with particular attention to the questions: …
SL09332 Panel: Remembering the Longfellow Chapel
Participants will reflect on the meaning of the Cambridge Chapel situated on Longfellow Park just outside Boston. For generations of Latter-day Saints, this meetinghouse represented the center of their faith, spirituality, and community. Panelists will consider the meaning of sacred space, the role of undergraduate and graduate education in Mormon identity, the nature of Latter-day …
SL09371 Panel: Do Mormons Dream of Monstrous Gods? Interpreting Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Myth
Mormon mom and BYU grad Stephenie Meyer created a myth so compelling, her Twilight series sold 42 million books worldwide and migrated to the movie screen and grossed $188 million. As the bestselling fiction author of 2008, Meyer is the biggest publishing phenomenon since J.K. Rowling. She has sold more books than any Mormon author …
SL09091 The Achievements and Ironies of Women’s Religious Creativity
Including the authority of women’s voices and experiences—almost always more than half the membership of their communities—does not threaten the integrity or the stability of religions. It strengthens, broadens, and deepens them and contributes to their resilience and to their realization that they are continually unfolding. Mary Farrell Bednarowski
SL09162 Is Heavenly Mother a Member of the Godhead? [Partial]
Feminist theologians have responded to the feminist challenge to an exclusively male God by exploring the feminine attributes of God, pointing out feminine metaphors describing God, and seeking to develop a more inclusive language to speak about God. The Mormon doctrine of divine embodiment requires that Mormon theologians go further. Our teaching that God the …
SL09231 Panel: Why We Stay
This perennially well-received session features the stories of those who have chosen to remain active, dedicated Latter-day Saints even in the face of many difficult challenges to traditional faith. How have these members wrestled with their faith and yet emerged more determined than ever to be a part of the Latter-day Saint community? J. Frederick …
SL09274 Panel: A Murder of Editors
Playwright and film director David Mamet writes that “art flourishes in times of struggle.” A panel of editors from various Mormon magazines and journals will discuss the role struggle has played in the writings they have recently published. They will also discuss the struggle of their publications to meet and prosper from the challenges of …
SL09332 Panel: Remembering the Longfellow Chapel
Participants will reflect on the meaning of the Cambridge Chapel situated on Longfellow Park just outside Boston. For generations of Latter-day Saints, this meetinghouse represented the center of their faith, spirituality, and community. Panelists will consider the meaning of sacred space, the role of undergraduate and graduate education in Mormon identity, the nature of Latter-day …