More and more Mormons are deciding to jump off the “obedience” train and explore a new faith journey. The initial freedom one feels is intoxicating, but this new journey introduces many choices that can become very confusing! This session offers techniques for making those choices in ways that can minimize regret and introduce more joy …
Event: Salt Lake Symposium 2018
Michael-Adam-God: From Doctrine, to Theory, to Obscurity, and Back Again
Joseph Smith, Jr. went against centuries of Christian teachings to proclaim that we can be like God, thus revealing the idea of plural Gods in the cosmos, making room for Brigham Young to preach the so-called David Patrick
312.The Crowning of Marriage: A Case for Marriage Enthronement
Marriage was a royal ceremony where the man and woman wore crowns because they were royal citizens of the Kingdom of God; their marriage symbolized the future kingship reign of the Messiah on the New Earth. In the tradition of the early church, this sacred endowment view of marriage was maintained. The crowning of marriage …
No Healing Without Liberation: A Critique of the Christ of Restoration Theology
The Christology of modern LDS Mormonism is vainly and disproportionately concerned with personal healing and wholeness (Christ being cast as an advisor and therapist for the spiritually and materially wealthy) at the expense of justice for those whom the Jacob Baker
The Church of the Father and the Church of the Son: Ross LeBaron and The Church of the First-Born
A religious innovator within the Mormon tradition, Ross Wesley LeBaron (1914-1996) organized The Church of the First-Born (sic) in 1955. LeBaron saw his small organization as being the Church of God the Father, while recognizing the priesthood authority of mainstream LDS Church and recognizing the various groups in the Mormon Fundamentalist movement as branches of …
Opening Plenary: Rethinking Pioneer Day
This presentation will explore how committed Latter-day Saints can reshape old narratives of Utah settlement in ways that are more complete. W. Paul Reeve
The Temple Pattern – A Celebration of the Plan of Salvation
Temple attendees often express an inability to understand the symbolism and meaning of the endowment. They also often wonder how ancient the endowment’s roots actually are. This presentation offers new answers to those seeking greater temple understanding. Marcus Ladd
Evening Devotional: Scripture as Dialogue, or How can our Religions Impact the World
This presentation focuses on the Exodus narratives of the Hebrew Bible in dialog with subsequent biblical, Rabbinic, Christian, and Mormon tradition. It begins with a treatment of the Exodus narratives in Exodus 1-15 as a creation account that portrays Israel’s origins as a nation in relation to the creation of the natural world, and considers …
Entering The Closet: The Case for The Inner Path
Jesus instructs us to go into our Philip G. McLemore
Destroying Their God: How I Fought My Evil Half-Brother to Save My Children
On the day the FBI arrested FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs for child rape, he was en route to claims Wallace Jeffs’ second wife for himself. Wallace had defied the prophet and was soon the victim of a car crash he fears was caused by FLDS sabotage—spending 45 days in a coma. Concerned for the thousands …