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 …
Speaker: Brian Birch
SW08011: MORMONISM AND CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY: EXPLORING COMPARATIVE THEOLOGY
MORMONISM AND CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY: EXPLORING COMPARATIVE THEOLOGY A new course is being offered at Claremont Graduate University this spring entitled ‘Mormonism and Christian Theology.’ The class is designed to explore LDS thought in comparison with the broader Christian theological tradition. A panel of students in this seminar will discuss the curriculum and explore some of …
MORMONISM IN THE ACADEMY
MORMONISM IN THE ACADEMY Courses and programs in Mormon studies are being established across the country. Panel members will discuss the challenges, tensions, and rewards of teaching Mormon history, literature, and culture to both member and non-member students in the same classroom. Panelists will also discuss the current place of Mormon studies in the academy …
The Flight From Reason: The Dynamics Of Faith And Rationality
The Flight From Reason: The Dynamics Of Faith And Rationality Latter-day Saints often appeal to the mantra, “Seek learning, even by study and also by faith,” to explain the appropriate relationship between faith, reason, and revelation in our tradition. But what about cases where faith and reason conflict? What do these conflicts tells us about …
A Philosophical Testimony
How does Mormonism fit within the larger religious landscape? 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. Gerald E. Jones, Brian Birch
Divine Inspiration Or Devilish Deception? Interpreting Religious Experience
What is the relationship between feeling the spirit and knowing that a teaching is true? This paper will examine the nature of religious experience and explore the question of how to understand our own spirituality in light of the vast diversity of religious experiences we observe in other faith traditions. Brian Birch
When Talking About God With Those Of Other Religions, Do We Mean The Same Thing?
When traditional Christians and Mormons talk about God, are they talking about the same being and disagreeing with each other, or are they merely talking past one another? This panel will explore the philosophical issue of how we can refer to God and what implications this has for interreligious discourse between Mormons and those of …
INTELLIGENCE AND CREATIVITY: ULTIMATES IN MORMONISM AND PROCESS THEOLOGY
Alfred North Whitehead’s Process and Reality is one of the classic texts of twentieth-century philosophy and laid the foundation of one of the most important movements in contemporary theology, process theology. One of Whitehead’s stunning claims is that the category of the ultimate is made up of three notions. In traditional theology, one would expect …
HOW ‘CHRISTIAN’ SHOULD MORMONISM STRIVE TO BE?
Abstract Mormonism seems to be in the midst of an identity crisis. For Church members, its founding claim to be the restoration of primitive Christianity along with its theology and worship practices have always made it feel very Christian. But with the Church’s efforts to emphasize Mormonism’s message of Christ even more strongly, subtitling the …
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 …