This devotional draws on Eve’s story to explore the hazardous role and vital contribution of women as speakers to power and authority. Michael Vinson
Tag: Jewish
SL09252 Toward a Feminist Mormon Midrash: The Prodigal Daughter and Other Imaginative Readings of Scripture [Partial]
How would our understanding of scriptural parables, allegories, and narratives, as well as Church history, be enlarged and enlightened if told through a woman’s understanding and experience? Taking as a model the imaginative expansions and extrapolations of scripture by ancient Jewish rabbis and contemporary Jewish women, this session invites Latter-day Saints to re-imagine their scripture, …
SL09271 Panel: Religious Tribalism in the Larger Society
From the perspective of the religious traditions in which they were raised, panelists will discuss various dimensions of the question of religious tribalism as it has existed and as it has interacted with the larger society (however each panelist may choose to define each). Discussion among panelists will be followed by Q&A with the audience. …
‘My Soul Delighteth in Plainness’
‘My Soul Delighteth in Plainness’ As a non-Mormon, but one who has been very involved in all things Mormon for more than twenty years, I’ve become aware of the difficulties of reconciling various aspects of the Mormon faith. When Nephi states that his ‘soul delighteth in plainness,’ one must wonder just how he defined ‘plainness.’ …
HUGH NIBLEY AT CLAREMONT
HUGH NIBLEY AT CLAREMONT After Hugh Nibley received his Ph.D. from Berkeley in 1938 and until he joined the Army in 1942, he taught at the Claremont colleges. It was a time of great transitions for Hugh. He began his Claremont tenure with anti-Semitic attitudes (ironic given his own Jewish ancestry) but left with a …
THE KINGDOM OF GOD OR NOTHING: JACOB TAUBES, JOSEPH SMITH, AND MORMON POLITICAL THEOLOGY
THE KINGDOM OF GOD OR NOTHING: JACOB TAUBES, JOSEPH SMITH, AND MORMON POLITICAL THEOLOGY Does Mormon political theology endorse positive political action in the world or theological withdrawal from worldly political authority as a political attitude? While many political theologies are often either positive or negative toward involvement, LDS doctrine seems to have characteristics of …
THE OTHER DNA PROBLEM: BLACK AFRICAN JEWS AND THE PRIESTHOOD
For thousands of years, African tribes in Mozambique and Zimbabwe have claimed Jewish heritage and priesthood lineage. Their religious practice has included monotheistic worship, circumcising male children, and dietary practices closely resembling those prescribed in the Old Testament, including eschewing the eating of pork. Although some scholars have dismissed the tribes’ ancestral claims, new DNA …
‘Behold . . . I Will Unfold This Mystery Unto You’: Mormon Readings of the Zohar
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 …
Our Hands are Clean, Our Hearts are Pure: Are We Too Anal-Retentive to Care for the Poor
Our Hands are Clean, Our Hearts are Pure: Are We Too Anal-Retentive to Care for the Poor In his book, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, renowned scholar Marcus J. Borg shares the results of his research on the historical Jesus. He examines the ‘purity system” of the Jewish social world, and contrasts it …
Why do Mormons Continue to Believe and Practice?
Why do Mormons Continue to Believe and Practice? From a strictly naturalistic view, the last fifty years have failed to bring much support for the supernatural claims of Joseph Smith. On the other hand, critics have been compiling evidence that contradicts those claims. Yet, Mormonism continues to thrive and expand, suggesting psychological reasons for the …