Our Dual Challenge: Ecumenism And Abiding Faith Despite precedents to the contrary, such as the Thirteenth Article of Faith, the School of the Prophets, and the 1978 First Presidency declaration on world religions, Mormons have become increasingly insular with respect to other-than- officially enunciated or approved sources of inspiration. By the same token, too many …
Speaker: Respondent
A New Look At I Woodbridge Riley
A New Look At I Woodbridge Riley This presentation is based on an investigation of every factual statement and biographical reference in I. Woodbridge Riley’s The Founder of Mormonism: A Psychological Study of Joseph Smith, Jr. Who was Riley? Why was he so fascinated with religious leaders such as Smith and Mary Baker Eddy, founder …
Toward A Comparative Mormon Erotics
Toward A Comparative Mormon Erotics This presentation takes seriously the suggestion that cultures be read closely to see how they understand erotics and their understandings of and practices concerning bodies. As part of an effort to build a comparative erotics, this paper works from a close reading of key Latter-day Saint texts, such as “A …
Scarlet Threads In The Lineage Of Jesus
Scarlet Threads In The Lineage Of Jesus In his list of who fathered whom in the lineage of forty-two generations from Abraham to Jesus, Matthew includes five women. This presentation focuses on four of them, Tamar, Rachab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, who, though chosen as members of the most royal of lineages, are largely ignored today, …
Reflections On Mormon Liminality: A Generational Response
Reflections On Mormon Liminality: A Generational Response Dan Wotherspoon’s December 2005 Sunstone editorial speaks of the concept of liminality in relation to the Sunstone community, that as we explore questions within Mormonism, we often find ourselves in the awkward, sometimes dangerous, threshold (limen) between two worlds. Wotherspoon speaks of his own sustained immersion in liminality …
The God Of This World: Gnostic Insights Into Mormonism
The God Of This World: Gnostic Insights Into Mormonism Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, with forty-plus million copies sold and a movie version, has highlighted the alternative Christianity of Gnosticism. In his The American Religion, Harold Bloom notes the Gnostic characteristics of Mormonism, such as belief in the uncreated essence of the individual and …
Author-Meets-Critics Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency Of Spencer W Kimball
Author-Meets-Critics Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency Of Spencer W Kimball Edward L. Kimball’s highly anticipated study of the landmark Church presidency of Spencer W. Kimball arrived late last year with far less fanfare than it deserved. According to the book’s preface, the author and publisher Deseret Book “[did] not agree on the interpretations or weight …
Are Boys More Important Than Girls? The Conflict Between Gender Difference And Equality In Mormonism
Are Boys More Important Than Girls? The Conflict Between Gender Difference And Equality In Mormonism This presentation examines three sets of related inquiries to the question, “Are boys more important than girls?” (1) What kind of equality does God’s justice demand to fulfill the scriptural exhortation that we are all “alike unto God”? Can gender …
Marketing Research And The Book Of Mormon
Marketing Research And The Book Of Mormon This presentation reports the results of a means/end market research survey concerning the Book of Mormon. What did the survey reveal to be the underlying values Latter-day Saints bring to their reading of the Book of Mormon? What are the “product features” in the Book of Mormon that …
Boys, Boys, Spies? Mormon Missionaries As Suspected American Agents In Finland
Boys, Boys, Spies? Mormon Missionaries As Suspected American Agents In Finland This presentation tells the story of the suspicions in some Finnish political circles that during the Cold War, Latter-day Saint missionaries gathered information on the Finns’ political thoughts and perhaps even forwarded them to U.S. government intelligence. The resulting public scare, though limited, was …