I’ve been thinking about Levi Peterson’s The Backslider lately (SPOILERS AHEAD).
books
Horus Bible Parallels
Recently I saw Religulous here and he touched on Horus here and a few of the parallels between the story of Horus and Jesus. Many Mormons when they start delving and unravelling events in our history also delve into what they can find out about (possible origins)
The Problem with Authority
Mormons are sometimes criticized for their unquestioning obedience to authority. Statements like “When the prophet has spoken, the thinking is done,” and the Primary song “Follow the prophet” come to mind as well as the belief that even if leaders are mistaken, we should follow them. Do Mormons have an unhealthy respect for authority?
There Are Too Many Books about the Church
As I sit at the computer in my office, my back is to the 400 or so books I have about the Church in my library.
Abstinence= Don’t think the colour red! Don’t think the colour red!
“The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health” (Add Health), Found that conservative and evangelical Christian teenagers are more sexually active than mainline Protestants, Jews, and even Mormons. On average, white evangelical Protestants begin having sex shortly after turning sixteen, which is sooner than most other groups.
Twilight and “The Great Mormon Novel”
Many consider The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene to be the quintessential Great Catholic Novel: a book written about faith and doubt with great courage. So far, no one has written what one would call “The Great Mormon Novel.”
This Won’t Make It Past Correlation!
Here’s another quote from a discarded Church manual predating Correlation. Who said it and why wouldn’t it fly in today’s Church?: The pragmatic or experimental view of life has penetrated widely into the educational program of America, in the form known as Progressive Education…Most teachers who accept some of these ideas would indignantly reject any suggestion that the universe is naturalistic or Godless, that there are no fundamental moral truths, or that man is really an animal in the ultimate sense.
Continuing Problems with Mountain Meadows
Today’s guest post is by Joe Geisner. Most bookstores in Utah have sold out of the new book on the Mountain Meadows massacre with a print run of 10,000 copies. Amazingly this happened in less than a week. The buzz is that the book answers all the questions. This new openness, scholarly approach and availability for the most controversial subject in Mormon history is quite amazing.
Virtual RS/PH #16: Revelation & the Living Prophet
Finally, a lesson that really makes you think! This is probably my favorite JS lesson this year (no one dies or has to move to Missouri). For those who are teaching, you may also enjoy the excellent essay at Feast on the Word blog by joespencer.
Our Foundation Stories Part IV: The Book of Mormon Translation
Was the Book of Mormon translated? Was the Book of Mormon revealed? Was it inspired? Was it all three, or a combination of the above? How much does it matter?
Deep in the Heart of Mormondom
Outside of my own library and the virtual community I’m connected to through the internet, Mormondom has very little impact on my immediate environment in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The LDS Institute has a prominent place next to the university, but the LDS chapel is across the river in a part of town we rarely visit. The Community of Christ chapel is in the Old West Side historic district across the street from the home of our closest friends and there’s a Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) branch out past Target. Once every six months or so we have a...
Mark Your Calendars — 2 Upcoming Conferences IRL
Meeting together in person to exchange ideas, you ask? Haven’t you heard of the “internets” John Hamer? Hasn’t the awesome nature of the MormonMatters Blog made attending a Mormon studies conference IRL (in real life) as obsolete as reading a printed book?! As incredible as online connections can be, you can’t imagine the fun you’re missing at a real life Mormon studies conference until you’ve been to one in person. I went to my first Mormon History Association conference in May of 2003 and I got hooked. Like the guy in the old Gillette commercials, “I love these things...
The Jagged Little Pill We Call Mormonism
. . . . there I was writing my ex-wife a letter trying to explain what a Temple Marriage and Sealing is and what it means regarding our son. You see my current wife and I wanted her daughter, my older son, and our younger son, to all be sealed to us in the Mormon Temple. One of our many obstacles was my son was only 15 and needed the consent of both of his living parents. The other obstacle was my wife’s daughter was 18 and needed the same consent from her bio-father (even the Bishop had to...
Reed Smoot Hearings: A Review and What it Says About Today
Title: The Mormon Church On Trial: Transcripts of the Reed Smoot Hearings Editor: Michael Harold Paulos Publisher: Signature Books Reviewed by Nicholas S. Literski For decades, talk of the Reed Smoot Hearings has conjured up claims of religious persecution, duplicitous testimony, and shocking admissions. Intimidated by the multiple volumes of original source material, would-be historians have settled for short excerpts and whispered rumors. That day has passed, and we have Michael Harold Paulos to thank for it. Condensing thousands of pages of testimony into a single volume presents tremendous challenges. Editorial bias, consciously or not, continually threatens to interfere with an...
Bookends #2: Book of Mormon Studies–Orson Pratt
Today’s post is by Terry Foraker. Ever since its initial publication in 1830, the Book of Mormon has been the subject of countless studies. This post is the first of a series to introduce those who may be familiar with these studies to some of the more prominent of these writings as a starting point. While the series is not meant to be comprehensive, and though it is admittedly saturated with my own bias, hopefully it will be a helpful introduction to the rich literature examining the Book of Mormon from a variety of angles.Shortly after the Church was...
Bookends #1: The Screwtape Letters
Today’s post is by Terry Foraker. Welcome to Bookends, a new column where I give you a peek over my shoulder at what I am currently reading and hopefully toss out a quasi-thoughtful question or two. The other night I finished listening to the audio version of The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. (There are actually two or three audio versions floating around; I recommend the one read by John Cleese of Monty Python fame. He brilliantly brings out both the pomposity and the sinister humor in the work; this recording won the Grammy award for best spoken word...
Episode 11: Our Favorite Books on Mormonism
In today’s episode, J. Nelson-Seawright, David King Landrith and I discuss our favorite books on mormonism (listed below). J. Nelson-Seawright’s Recommendations D. Michael Quinn: The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, and The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Douglas J. Davies: The Mormon Culture of Salvation: Force, Grace, and Glory Leonard J. Arrington and Davis Bitton: Saints Without Halos: The Human Side of Mormon History Levi S. Peterson: Juanita Brooks: Mormon Woman Historian Leonard Arrington:
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