Should Mormons Celebrate Holy Week? The week between Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and his triumphant resurrection is the most significant in human history. Since the early Church, Christians have annually celebrated these events. A succession of holy days leads to the great drama of Easter Sunday. Latter-day Saints celebrate only the last of these holy …
Event: Southwest Symposium 2001
Mormon History as Seen by Four Generations of Mormon Women
Mormon History as Seen by Four Generations of Mormon Women The Four Zinas details the lives of four generations of remarkable and influential Mormon women: mother, daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter. Their lives collectively span and illuminate the complex and often turbulent experience of women in the LDS Church. In successive historical contexts (gender, polygamy, activism, …
How Violence in History and Scripture Shape Mormon Culture
How Violence in History and Scripture Shape Mormon Culture Violence is a potent force in religious writings–not only in the Bible, but also in the Book of Mormon. This presentation will explore Mormonism’s violent stories from scripture and Church history, apply theories of violence to selected texts, and tease out the significance and influence of …
Mormons and the Machine
Mormons and the Machine In the last year an attempt has been made to establish a ‘Mormon Studies Center” at Utah Valley State College, in which faculty from across the curriculum were beginning to study the intersection of their disciplines with LDS experience, history, thought, and theology. The use of the Internet in dispersing such …
Sunstone Magazine: An Appreciation and New Vision
Sunstone Magazine: An Appreciation and New Vision In my first three months at Sunstone, I have learned many interesting things about the magazine’s 25-year evolution. I have also begun to sense new directions for next years. I look forward to discussing with everyone interested in contributing to the magazine’s vision and pages. Dan Wotherspoon, Janet …
‘Tell Eve About The Serpent!’ A Study of the Effects of Temple Participation
‘Tell Eve About The Serpent!’ A Study of the Effects of Temple Participation This presentation is a report of a qualitative study about the effects temple participation in lives of young adult Mormons in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through interviews, this study examines these individuals’ experiences, thoughts, feelings, and insights about participating in temple …
What’s so Funny about Mormon History?: Mirth and Myth
What’s so Funny about Mormon History?: Mirth and Myth Will Bagley looks at the lighter side of Mormon history and recounts some humorous incidents and anecdotes he’s encountered in doing Mormon history. He discusses how the official chronicles of Mormondom overlook Mormon humanity. William Grant Bagley
Helen Mar Whitney as Dreamer and Priestess
Helen Mar Whitney as Dreamer and Priestess Helen Mar Whitney, in her l888-96 diaries, records many dreams, a liminal territory of visitations from benign and demonic spirits. The dreams reflect anxieties on both a micro (personal, familial) and macro (historical) level. Her diaries include many occasions where Helen and her women friends blessed and anointed …
A New ‘Lost’ Generation? The Future of Mormon Scholarship
A New ‘Lost’ Generation? The Future of Mormon Scholarship ‘Lost Generation” has been used to refer both to a generation of American expatriate writers after World War I and to a Utah/Mormon group of writer-intellectuals of the same period. The Mormon generation just after World War II has been rich in intellectual and literary accomplishments, …
Synchronicity
Synchronicity In addition to widely acknowledged forms of spiritual guidance, might others deserve our attention? Synchronicity, as defined by Carl Jung, is ‘meaningful coincidence,” a moment when outer events intersect with inner experience to create a new insight. Leonardo daVinci said much of his creativity came from the fact that he looked for the hidden …