Researchers who have tried to determine which and how many women Joseph Smith married agree on one thing: he had at least thirty plural wives. But how does a young man, a husband and father of three children, in the space of three years, find thirty women to marry? And how would the LDS community …
Event: Salt Lake Symposium 2002
Anniversary Looks at Two Feminist Books
Anniversary Looks at Two Feminist Books Panelists will explore the paradoxical role of Mormon feminism on the anniversary of two feminist books, Women and Authority (1992) and A Daughter of Zion (1972). These books were avidly received by women, yet the books’ creators encountered Church disapproval. Still, the books have continued to have an impact. …
The War in Heaven Revisted: Agency vs. Compulsion
As told in the scriptures, the war in heaven was more than a simple story of the good guys defeating the bad guys. The fundamental issue was the question of agency versus compulsion. Are there forces in the Church today which are attempting to compel righteousness? Does it make a difference if these forces are …
”Then I Became Me”: A Qualitative Analysis of Written Accounts of Leaving the LDS Church
This paper reports on my examination of 127 personal narratives of people who, for varied and complex reasons, have disassociated themselves from the Church. Of those under study, seventy-one percent had been lifetime members; sixty-two percent of males are returned missionaries; and of those married, over fifty percent are temple marriages. As I report my …
Understanding Talmage: Stories from the Life of an LDS Original
Apostle James E. Talmage was a very complex man, brilliant, in mind, expansive in spirit. This paper explores several themes in Elder Talmage’s life and work, including the bridge he was able to build between his intellect and spirit; the role that President John Taylor played in his life as well as other early LDS …
Seerstones, Scrying, and “Translating” Holy Writ: Can a Government Espionage Program Help Us Understand Joseph Smith’s Translation Methods?
Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon (according to some accounts) by burying his face in a hat with a “seerstone.” Skeptics think such methods undermine Joseph’s claim to legitimacy as a prophet, while apologists try to reconcile the apparent facts in a faith-preserving way. Calling on personal experience in a U.S. government remote viewing …
Mormonism and Its Two Ultimates
The assertion that there are two ultimates provides a basis for dialogue between two basic kinds of religious experience: the experience of the ultimate in a personal and impersonal form. I think this notion of two ultimates is a particularly fruitful one for theological interpretations of LDS doctrine, with its emphasis on freedom and persons. …
Musings of a Small-Town Mormon Man Gone Slightly Awry
Musings of a Small-Town Mormon Man Gone Slightly Awry
The Eternal Value of Hardship and Tragedy: Another Take On Why God Lets Bad Things Happen To Good People
Why does a loving father allow nasty things to happen, time and again, to even his most innocent and virtuous children? Is the refiner’s fire really necessary? More relevant, what do these problems, even large-scale calamities, do for us? Can they actually work to our benefit? Unsure if there is audio for this session. Dale …
Recollecting God
In this paper I argue that LDS theology provides us with an understanding of the nature of religious experience that allows for a philosophical defense of the “argument from religious experience.” This argument states that one can be justified in belief in God on the basis of one’s religious experiences. The two main problems with …