Recent discussions of the diversity of religions have centered on three stances toward another’s religion—exclusivity, inclusivity, and plurality—and I have found examples of Mormons who approach other religions through each of those lenses. But my larger goal in this paper is to outline a new approach to interacting with other religions that suggests ways that …
Speaker: James McLachlan
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 …
WILLIAM CHAMBERLIN’S LDS IDEA OF GOD
Sterling McMurrin considered William H. Chamberlin (1870–1921) the “foremost Mormon philosopher” and “more competent than Orson Pratt or B.H. Roberts,” but Chamberlin is largely forgotten, and his work can be found only in the special collections sections of university libraries. Chamberlin was a personalist philosopher who believed that the person was the ultimate category of …
THE BEST IDEA IN MORMONISM
Thought experiment: Imagine Mormonism without any concern for the concept of being “the one and only true church,” without any worries about how this or that doctrine might “play” in the mission field or among those with whom the Church is forging coalitions to cooperate on moral issues. That imaginary position is the starting point …
Mormonism and Process Theology Part II: The Problem of Evil
The cover of a recent issue of BYU Studies states: “Joseph Smith Resolves the Problem of Evil.” This is an editorial exaggeration of the conclusions reached in the actual article, written by David L. Paulsen, which appeared inside. Still, of all the theological challenges that dominate philosophy of religion, “theodicy,” often called the “problem of …
Mormonism and Its Two Ultimates
The assertion that there are two ultimates provides a basis for dialogue between two basic kinds of religious experience: the experience of the ultimate in a personal and impersonal form. I think this notion of two ultimates is a particularly fruitful one for theological interpretations of LDS doctrine, with its emphasis on freedom and persons. …
Whoring, Polygamy, or Just Friendship? Or, Can a Mormon Be a Buddhist?: How Might Latter-day Saints Think of the Other Religions
Whoring, Polygamy, or Just Friendship? Or, Can a Mormon Be a Buddhist?: How Might Latter-day Saints Think of the Other Religions Recent discussions of the plurality of religions have centered around three possible stances toward another’s religion. We can be exclusivists claiming that our tradition is the only true one and that all others are …
‘And that Same Sociality Which Exists Among us here Will Exist Among us There’: A Mormon Understanding of Grace as Between Persons
‘And that Same Sociality Which Exists Among us here Will Exist Among us There’: A Mormon Understanding of Grace as Between Persons Different from other theistic traditions Mormons have tended not to make a distinction between the Being of God and the Being of other Persons. In fact God is presented as the great example …
Person, Creativity, Freedom, and God: Some Mormon Thoughts About Process Thought
Person, Creativity, Freedom, and God: Some Mormon Thoughts About Process Thought James McLachlan, Richard Sherlock
Kenosis and A Mormon Idea Of Atonement
Kenosis and A Mormon Idea Of Atonement James McLachlan