Speaker: Kathleen Flake

January 1, 2004

THE REED SMOOT HEARINGS AND THE SHAPING OF 20TH CENTURY MORMONISM

The Church’s 1890 Manifesto on polygamy is often given credit for solving the worst of the Church’s problems with the nation. More accurately, however, the Manifesto introduced another set of problems that came to a head in 1903 with the nationwide protest over the election of LDS apostle Reed Smoot to the U.S. Senate and …

January 1, 2004

DOES IT MATTER HOW WE REMEMBER THE ABANDONMENT OF PLURAL MARRIAGE?

Twenty years ago, Michael Quinn demonstrated that plural marriage had been actively practiced within the Church after the 1890 Manifesto. Kathleen Flake’s recent book tries to explain why that was and what finally motivated the Church to abandon the practice between 1905 and 1910 in the context of the seating of Apostle Reed Smoot in …

January 1, 2001

‘Re-establishing the Restoration’

‘Re-establishing the Restoration’ Far from solving the Church’s problems, the Manifesto introduced another set of difficulties which came to head in the early twentieth century. I will discuss these problems in terms of two crises. First, the Church’s negative reputation was inhibiting its ability to accomplish its objectives at home and abroad. Second, the internal …

January 1, 2001

Why Mormons Should Celebrate Holy Week

Why Mormons Should Celebrate Holy Week The week between Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem and his triumphant resurrection from the dead is the most significant week in human history. Beginning with the early church, Christians celebrated the events of this week and for two millennia they have been the focus of annual celebrations of what …

January 1, 1999