The discovery of the Nag Hammadi third-century Gnostic Library has awakened interest in this very early form of Christianity. My proposal is that if Joseph Smith restored true Christianity, then it should share many similarities with Gnosticism. Indeed, there are many strong parallels between these two theologies, starting with a shared sense that humans are …
Event: San Francisco Symposium 2005
PANEL. IN QUIET DESPERATION
Over the past several decades, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as the Church itself have struggled with the complex dimensions of homosexuality. The evolving dialogue about the religious, moral, political, and social issues surrounding homosexuality has included many voices. In Quiet Desperation adds to the dialogue the voices …
EMMA SMITH’S LEGACY OF MUSIC FOR THE RESTORATION / AN INTRODUCTION TO SHAPE NOTE MUSIC
At the time of the Restoration, there was no shortage of sacred music that could have been used as hymns by the newly formed LDS Church. Yet Emma Smith was charged with compiling “a selection of sacred hymns . . . which is pleasing unto me, to be had in my church” (D&C 25:11). Eighteenth- …
A PHILOSOPHICAL TESTIMONY
This presentation discusses how I as a student of philosophy and religion am able to be an honest skeptic and still have a testimony of the Gospel. Using a combination of models that illustrate rational, empirical, and mystical approaches to religion as well as different spiritual temperaments, I will discuss Latter-day Saint connections to the …
THE BATTLE OF CROOKED RIVER: ETHNIC CLEANSING IN 1838 NORTHERN MISSOURI
A large volume of poor Mormons moved into Missouri in 1838, and the resulting economic, social, and political tension terminated in a series of small skirmishes which occurred in August through October of 1838. This presentation examines in summary the Mormon raid and cleansing of non-Mormons from Daviess County, Missouri, and will examine in detail …
THE INSISTENT CALL OF MY MITOCHONDRIAL DNA: ONE WOMAN’S PRIMER IN FEMINIST GENEALOGY
While DNA science challenges such Mormon beliefs as Israelite ancestry for Native Americans, it promises fresh pursuits for genealogists. Particularly suggestive is our ability, notably publicized by Cambridge geneticist Bryan Sykes’s Seven Daughters of Eve, to track mitochondrial DNA mutations to seven European “clan mothers”, and beyond them, to African ancestresses. Traditionally overshadowed by surname-conferring …
JOSEPH SMITH, WILLIAM MILLER, ELLEN G. WHITE, AND MARY BAKER EDDY: FOUR AMERICAN PROPHETS’ PERSPECTIVES ON SLAVERY, RACE, AND ETHNICITY
This presentation compares and contrasts Joseph Smith’s views and practices regarding slavery, race, and ethnicity with those of William Miller and Ellen G. White (founding leaders of Seventh Day Adventism) and Mary Baker Eddy (founder of the Christian Science movement). These issues figured prominently in all three religious movements, but while all four leaders were …
INTUITION, QUANTUM HOLOGRAPHY, EPIGENETICS, AND THE BOOK OF MORMON
One of the questions not satisfactorily answered by critics of the Book of Mormon who see the book as a product of Joseph Smith’s mind and imagination and his nineteenth-century environs is how he could have found many of the elements in the Book of Mormon (e.g., a knowledge of olive horticulture, Egyptian names, ancient …
THE FIRST TWO OF FIVE BRIEF ESSAYS ON THE ATONEMENT
In these two essays, I work to lay out the rationale and groundwork for any serious LDS consideration of the atonement of Christ. The first essay explores the context of the project. Why should we engage in such speculation as this? What is the LDS view of the role of reason in religious and spiritual …
PANEL. MORMON FEMINIST LITERATURE REVIEW
Join panelists for a lively discussion of our favorite, provocative, thought-provoking, revolutionary, inspirational, and faith-enhancing books in the field of feminist spirituality. Re-discover the classics, and hear about newer volumes too good to keep to ourselves! A list of our top picks will be available for the audience. Mary Ellen Robertson, Carol Lynn Pearson Lavina …