Early on in a faith shift, most of us begin to feel less comfortable at church, sure that we’re the only one thinking (what seem to be) bigger thoughts about the topics at hand, or frustrated at appeals to authority instead of genuine engagement. “Where’s the growth?” “Where’s the curiosity?”, we wonder. Experiences like these …
Speaker: Boyd J. Petersen
SL10115: One Soul Shall Not Be Lost: A History of the War in Heaven in Mormon Thought
The idea of a War in Heaven is rooted in the biblical story of fallen angels (Genesis 6), a reinterpretation of Isaiah 12, and the apocalyptic writings of John (Revelation 12). Developed in the literature of post-biblical Judaism, the idea is more fully expanded in Christianity. Mormon scripture—the Book of Moses and the Doctrine and …
SL10164: Adam-ondi-Ahman: An American Eden
In 1838, Joseph Smith proclaimed Spring Hill in Daviess County, Missouri, as Adam-ondi-Ahman, the place where eventually Adam “shall come to visit his people” (D&C 116). He had already established the idea of Adam-ondi-Ahman as the land into which Adam and Eve were exiled and where Adam gave his final blessing to his children. Tied …
SL09352 Adam and Eve in America: Gnostic Mormon Retellings of the Genesis Narrative
Retellings of the biblical Adam and Eve narrative proliferated in nineteenth-century literature; however, the retellings took a decidedly Gnostic turn, reversing the binary oppositions of good and evil, and taking a post-enlightenment view of knowledge. From the start, Mormonism has been a “Romantic” religion: the Adam and Eve narrative took center stage with Joseph Smith …
SL09374 Panel: Young Scholars in Mormonism
Mormon Studies is a field of growing academic interest, and many young LDS scholars are making it their professional focus as well as a personal interest. This panel brings some of the bright young minds in Mormon Studies together to discuss what drew them to this field of study, what kinds of academic work they …
David O. McKay And The Rise Of Modern Mormonism By Gregory A. Prince
In September 2004, with a presidential election approaching, the state of Utah was prepared to declare itself “Bush Country.” However, this conservative calm was jolted when Utah Valley State College student leaders announced that they had invited liberal filmmaker Michael Moore to speak at their campus. An explosion of outrage tore the community apart, and …
Three Mormon Intellectuals of the Twentieth Century: Reflections on Sterling McMurrin, Lowell Bennion and Hugh Nibley
SL03091, This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the March on Washington, at which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, and the thirty-fifth anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination. It also marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the revelation reversing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ policy of …