DNA and Lamanite Identity: A Panel Discussion Science often complicates the sancta simplicitas of theology. Genetic research promises to help genealogists define and refine family trees. But this technological blade can cut both ways. What is a benefit to LDS genealogists may be a detriment to Book of Mormon literalists. Initial findings of geneticists have …
Event: Salt Lake Symposium 2001
The Husband and Father as Society’s Ideal Role for Men
The Husband and Father as Society’s Ideal Role for Men In September 1995, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued its Proclamation on the Family. Just a few months earlier, in his book, Fatherless America, David Blankenhorn examined society’s traditional prescription to men to be husbands and fathers. Husband/father as a universal role …
How Many Organizational Psychologists Does it Take to Change a Hierarchy?
How Many Organizational Psychologists Does it Take to Change a Hierarchy? Many of us have direct, first-hand knowledge of the ‘dark side” of hierarchical organizations – they tend to be rigid, controlling, and inflexible. Yet, a full understanding requires us to acknowledge that there are some things they do well. Indeed, some ask whether they …
The Anthropic Argument, Mormon Finitism, and the Argument from Design: A Re-examination.
The Anthropic Argument, Mormon Finitism, and the Argument from Design: A Re-examination. The ‘argument from design” has long provided theists with a sufficient proof of God’s existence. This paper briefly examines and explores the outline and implications of this, Thomas Aquinas’s fifth proof. Next, it probes the outlines of the anthropic argument itself (deemed “mere …
The Wisdom of Death
The Wisdom of Death Latter-day Saint culture has sought to demystify death through metaphor and ritual. Death is often portrayed as a ‘gateway” to the next life, a necessary step in the plan of eternal progression. However, this approach overlooks many profound life lessons we might learn and experience through giving serious contemplation and consideration …
Led By the Light: When the Only Way Out is Through
Led By the Light: When the Only Way Out is Through I recently had a profound experience of panic and fear as I traveled through Hezekiah’s tunnel in Jerusalem. Only once before, as a teenager struggling through an ordeal from which I thought I could never be redeemed, had I ever felt such a feeling …
Sojourner in the Promised Land: Forty Years among the Mormons, by Jan Shipps
Sojourner in the Promised Land: Forty Years among the Mormons, by Jan Shipps For some time, Jan Shipps has been the preeminent non-Mormon interpreter of Mormonism. Her book, Sojourner in the Promised Land: Forty Years among the Mormons, is a compilation of her writings for the past thirty years, much of it a personal, intellectual …
Violence on the Mormon Frontier: Fact or Fiction?
Violence on the Mormon Frontier: Fact or Fiction? Elder Bruce R. McConkie insisted: ‘There is not one historical instance of so-called blood atonement in this dispensation,” yet recent researchers have concluded that Brigham Young’s support of “holy murder” helped create a “culture of violence” that promoted crimes ranging from individual murders to massacres. The Encyclopedia …
Delving into the Mysteries: Argument for an ‘Arcana Doctrina’
Delving into the Mysteries: Argument for an ‘Arcana Doctrina’ In a Priesthood, Relief Society, and Gospel Doctrine class one hears the often repeated but never supported injunction against ‘delving into the mysteries.” Why is the belief in such a prohibition so prevalent in the Church when scripture encourages the study of the mysteries? What does …
Why I No Longer Trust ‘FARMS Review of Books’
Why I No Longer Trust ‘FARMS Review of Books’ For the past twelve years, many Latter-day Saints have turned to the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) and their semi-annual journal, ‘FARMS Review of Books,’ as the unofficial response to anti-Mormon books and publications. I was one of them. However, when I began …