What s New in Mormon History: A Response to Jan Shipps
|
|
- Reginald Underwood
- 5 years ago
- Views:
Transcription
1 What s New in Mormon History: A Response to Jan Shipps Richard Lyman Bushman No one is better qualified to comment on the state of Mormon history than Jan Shipps. Not only has she been an observer of the Mormon historiographical scene for half a century; she has been one of the most vigorous and influential participants. Her Mormonism broke new ground in the conceptualization of the Mormon past. I meant it when I said for the dust jacket: This may be the most brilliant book ever written on Mormonism. She is to be believed when she says Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling stands squarely in the tradition of the new Mormon history. 1 Shipps did not have the space to say more about the book s place in the other major current in Mormon intellectual life: apologetics. She knows full well the major role played by the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (farms, now absorbed into the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship) at Brigham Young University, whose mission is to demonstrate the historical authenticity of the Book of Mormon and to defend the faith wherever it is attacked. Like farms, the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (fair), an independent organization comprising zealous amateurs and professional academics, sponsors conferences, runs a Web site, and tries to answer virtually every criticism of Mormon claims. 2 In addition to these insitutionalized operations, scores of Mormon writers and thinkers collect evidence in support of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Situating Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling in the Mormon apologetic tradition may serve to round out Shipps s illuminating analysis of the book s location in the new Mormon history. One might expect Mormon apologetics to be closely linked to the new Mormon history: both focus on the history of Joseph Smith. Mormon apologists seek to authenticate the miraculous beginnings of Mormonism; the new Mormon history recounts that story along with everything else that happened in Mormonism over the century and threequarters of its existence. As has been frequently observed, Mormonism is less a set of doctrines than a collection of stories. Apologetics and history writing necessarily overlap. In reality, however, the two developed in quite different environments with quite different outcomes. In her opening sentence, Shipps describes the cultural circumstance from which the new Mormon history emerged. It came about just as Mormonism itself was moving in from the margins to find a place on the American religious landscape as Richard Lyman Bushman is Gouverneur Morris Professor of History Emeritus at Columbia University. Readers may contact Bushman at rlb7@columbia.edu. 1 Jan Shipps, Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition (Urbana, 1985); Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York, 2005). 2 Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, f a i r: Defending Mormonism, September 2007 The Journal of American History 517
2 518 The Journal of American History September 2007 a respectable belief system and an upstanding faith community. 3 The new Mormon historians could put aside their defensiveness and write for both Mormon and general audiences, she is postulating, because they no longer had to be on guard. Amiable relations between Mormon and non-mormon historians developed just as Mormons of all kinds were leaving their enclaves in the Great Basin and finding places in non-mormon neighborhoods around the country. Mormons got along perfectly well with their new neighbors, and Mormon historians made peace with their fellow historians. It was as unsuitable for them to do battle with other historians as it was for Mormons to fight with the people next door. The new Mormon history was a peace mission, expressing a desire for intellectual commerce with a nation that had once seemed like a wall of enmity to Utah Mormons. Mormon apologists, however, did not see the world that way. They would disagree with Shipps s phrase a respectable belief system in her one-sentence hypothesis about the new Mormon history. Mormonism did become an upstanding faith community ; in the mid-twentieth century the national press openly admired Mormons for their welfare system, their strong families, and their youth programs. 4 A half century after the cessation of plural marriage, Mormons looked like ideal Americans. But basic Mormon beliefs never won that kind of respect. Joseph Smith s angels, golden plates, and history of ancient America always had an exotic flavor. The Mormon doctrine that God was once a man, plural marriage, and the temple ceremonies went to extremes that most Americans could not accept. The attacks on the miraculous parts of Joseph Smith s history never moderated. Mormons existed in a divided world: loved for their social virtues, despised (as the apologists believed) for their beliefs. The apologists still feel that they are living in a hostile world. The church has real enemies, they firmly believe, and war has to be waged. Not all of the apologists write pugnaciously, but they all write defensively. If not exactly at war with an enemy, they are certainly engaged in debate. And they are not entirely off the mark. A furious controversy over Mormon beliefs goes on continuously, largely fueled by lapsed Mormons justifying their departure from the faith and trying to save hapless church members from their errors, joined by outsiders of various sorts, especially evangelicals shocked by Mormon heresies. Young Mormons, waylaid by such critics, leave the church in disillusionment with their own history, making the battle deadly serious for the apologists. The apologists zealously propound rational arguments to counter the critics of Joseph Smith and accumulate piles of evidence to demonstrate the historicity of the Book of Mormon. Every educated Mormon knows of these battles and watches their progress with interest. 5 Although seeing themselves as collaborators in the cause of Mormon history, apologists and new Mormon historians occasionally snipe at one another. The apologists wonder why the historians do not spring to the defense of the faith when Joseph Smith comes under attack. The apologists want to war with the critics; the historians ask them out to 3 Jan Shipps, Richard Lyman Bushman, the Story of Joseph Smith and Mormonism, and the New Mormon History, Journal of American History, 94 (Sept. 2007), Thomas F. O Dea, The Mormons (Chicago, 1957), Critical essays are collected in Brent Lee Metcalfe, ed., New Approaches to the Book of Mormon: Explorations in Critical Methodology (Salt Lake City, 1993); and Dan Vogel and Brent Lee Metcalfe, eds., American Apocrypha: Essays on the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City, 2002). Examples of the huge apologetic literature include the classic defense of the faith: Hugh Nibley, An Approach to the Book of Mormon: Course of Study for the Melchizedek Priesthood Quorums of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1957; Salt Lake City, 1964); and Noel B. Reynolds, ed., Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins (Provo, 1997).
3 A Response to Jan Shipps 519 lunch. At Mormon History Association meetings you can hear a critic vehemently attack Joseph Smith in one session while in the next room a presenter lauds Smith s character and achievements. The apologists insist that the historians fail to understand what is at stake. The historians for their part question the apologists polemical writing and special pleading. They think the apologists repel readers with their bellicose style and unwillingness to yield points. Though assembled on the same campus at Brigham Young University and acknowledging each other as brothers and sisters in the gospel, they live in different worlds. I find it interesting that the new Mormon historians have not written much about Joseph Smith s early life. That was when the big miracles took place the angel, the gold plates, the translation. Survey books by new Morman historians summarize the stories as a sympathetic non-mormon historian might, recording what Joseph Smith claimed happened but not passing judgment. 6 To avoid the strain between keeping the peace with non-mormons and showing their colors as believers, the new Mormon historians bypass the early history. None of the new Mormon historians wrote a biography of Joseph Smith until I undertook the task. Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism was the first book to give a detailed account of the early history from the new Mormon history perspective addressing a general as well as a Mormon audience. I got around the problem of the miracles by announcing my intention to tell the story from the participants perspective. How can a description of Joseph Smith s revelations accommodate a Mormon s perception of events and still make sense to a general audience? My method has been to relate events as the participants themselves experienced them, using their own words where possible. Insofar as the revelations were a reality to them, I have treated them as real in this narrative. General readers will surely be left with questions about the meaning of these experiences, but at least they will have an understanding of how early Mormons perceived the world. 7 That stance permitted me to tell the whole story for Mormons while still leaving space for general readers. Judging from miscellaneous comments, I think non-mormon historians went along with that strategy. I will confess I became something more than a neutral observer at one point in the book. When I came to write about the Book of Mormon, I turned into an apologist. I could not resist countering the arguments of critics about the nineteenthcentury sources of the Book of Mormon. I thought most of the presumed explanations were unconvincing and said so, rebutting many of the chief critical arguments point by point. That put the Book of Mormon outside of history, making it a bit of a mystery. I did not explicitly say the book had to be inspired, but the implication was certainly there. The apologists loved that chapter. Four chapters of Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism were carried over to Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. The chapter on the Book of Mormon was not among them. In the new book, instead of writing a defense of the Book of Mormon, I wrote an explication. 8 Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism was originally intended for a series on church history, sponsored by the church historian, and published by a church 6 See, for example, James B. Allen and Glen M. Leonard, The Story of the Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City, 1976), Richard L. Bushman, Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism (Urbana, 1984), 3. 8 Ibid., 9 113,143 77; Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, 9 83,
4 520 The Journal of American History September 2007 press. I could not help but have Mormons in mind as I wrote. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling was slated for publication by Alfred A. Knopf. I was much more aware of writing for a general audience, so the intramural debates between apologists and critics of Mormonism seemed less relevant. General readers, I thought, would want to get a taste of these controversies but not to become mired in them. They would be more interested, I presumed, in what the Book of Mormon meant to Joseph Smith and to his readers than in the apologists attempts to defend the book. My aim was to situate the book in its American environment not to identify its sources, but to explain its interaction with American culture. In this more recent version, the Book of Mormon appears as a deep critique of American culture, including its religious culture. Though Mormons themselves do not see it this way, I found the book thundering no to the state of the world in Joseph Smith s time. It condemned social inequalities, moral abominations, rejection of revelations and miracles, disrespect for Israel (including the Jews), subjection of the Indians, and the abuse of the continent by interloping European migrants. The apologists were less satisfied with my second rendition of the Book of Mormon. It lacked an argument, some thought. The historians, including non-mormon historians, preferred it. It helps them, I gather, to find a place for a complex text that in many ways stands outside history. One colleague, perplexed by how to teach the Book of Mormon in an American history course, once asked: What books would you assign before and after reading the Book of Mormon? How is it to be situated? In the current chapter on the book, I may not have solved the problem, but at least I addressed the issue. As to Joseph Smith s miracle stories, I essentially adopted the same tactic as in Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism: I told the story as the participants experienced it. In two paragraphs that I labored over more than any others in the book, I tried to explain why my narrative assumes that the gold plates existed. I first described the difficulty of finding an alternate explanation when the people closest to Smith all believed he had the plates. On the one hand, his wife, his scribes, the people Smith lived with all left accounts of the plates on the table, the plates under the bed, the plates wrapped in linen cloth. All this is in the record. The manufacture of the plates by a charlatan fabricating a hoax, on the other hand, cannot be documented. Since the people who knew Joseph best treat the plates as fact, a skeptical analysis lacks evidence. The skeptical historian has to make up a story with no factual support. I was unwilling to do that. Then I went on to say why readers would benefit from my empathic approach: Incredible as the plates were, hunting for deception can be a distraction. It throws us off the track of Joseph Smith the Prophet. In devising a story of a charlatan, we lose sight of the unprepossessing rural visionary who became a religious leader admired by thousands. What is most interesting about Joseph Smith is that people believed him. To understand the emergence of Joseph the Prophet, we must follow the stories told by family and friends who believed they were witnessing a miracle. From their accounts issues the Joseph Smith who has a place in history. 9 I am not at all sure that historians will follow me here. Many will prefer Fawn McKay Brodie s account in No Man Knows My History. 10 She portrayed Joseph Smith as a pious fraud who became a prophet despite perpetrating a hoax with the Book of Mormon. 9 Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, Fawn McKay Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet (New York, 1945).
5 A Response to Jan Shipps 521 That does not work for me. In Brodie s narrative, Mormon believers inevitably become simpleminded dupes. If Smith was a charlatan, everyone who followed him was deluded including myself and all my Mormon friends. Making Joseph Smith an impostor may accord with our modern view of what is possible and impossible no gold plates or angels, please but it does not explain why he succeeded. Why did people then and now believe him? To understand their belief you have to get inside his world, in my opinion, and think of him as his followers did. I recognize that in writing about Joseph Smith in a balanced, sensible voice I may perplex readers. They will naturally ask: How can an educated, scholarly person believe Smith s stories? The seeming disjuncture is, however, an aspect of contemporary cultural diversity. The man who pumps our gas may pray to Mecca five times a day and believe that Gabriel carried Muhammad to Jerusalem in the night. The shoe salesman may think Christ will come again and take his saints into heaven. Lots of people believe Jesus was resurrected two days after dying on the cross. We have to make conversation, neighborly or scholarly, with people who harbor beliefs we do not countenance. It is more difficult for scholars with their severe convictions about rationality to converse with people they think are beyond the pale, but the social realities of our time require it. As more and more historians work to situate Mormonism in American history, Mormons like me want to join the discussion. We will write better if we are less defensive, more open to criticism, more exploratory and venturous, but even with our inhibitions and parochialisms, we should come to the table with our Mormonism intact. It would be a mistake, in my judgment, for Mormon historians to check their beliefs at the door when they write. We do not want to homogenize the interpretation of Mormon history. We will never recover Mormonism s complexity by pursuing only one approach. The subject calls for inquiry from many angles. Historical knowledge will be best served if Mormon historians tell the story in their own way, writing from the perspective of their faith.
BCC Papers 5/2, May
BCC Papers 5/2, May 2010 http://bycommonconsent.com/2010/05/25/bcc-papers-5-2-smithsuspensive-historiography/ Is Suspensive Historiography the Only Legitimate Kind? Christopher C. Smith I am a PhD student
More informationThe Scholar as Celebrant
College of William & Mary Law School William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository Faculty Publications Faculty and Deans 2008 The Scholar as Celebrant Nathan B. Oman William & Mary Law School, nboman@wm.edu
More informationInnovation and Entrepreneurial Spirit: Leonard J. Arrington and the Impact of New Mormon History
Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU Arrington Student Writing Award Winners Leonard J. Arrington Mormon History Lectures 2010 Innovation and Entrepreneurial Spirit: Leonard J. Arrington and the Impact
More informationResponse to Earl Wunderli's critique of Alma 36 as an Extended Chiasm
Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Physics Faculty Publications Physics Fall 2006 Response to Earl Wunderli's critique of Alma 36 as an Extended Chiasm Boyd F. Edwards Utah State University W.
More informationFARMS Review 19/1 (2007): (print), (online)
Title Author(s) Reference ISSN Abstract The Book of Mormon as Automatic Writing: Beware the Virtus Dormitiva Richard N. Williams FARMS Review 19/1 (2007): 23 29. 1550-3194 (print), 2156-8049 (online) Review
More informationRace: Always Complicated, Never Simple
INTERPRETER A Journal of Mormon Scripture Volume 29 2018 Pages 191-196 Race: Always Complicated, Never Simple Tarik D. LaCour Offprint Series 2018 The Interpreter Foundation. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
More informationReview of What is Mormonism? A Student s Introduction, by Patrick Q. Mason; Mormonism: The Basics, by David J. Howlett and John Charles Duffy
Title Author Reference ISSN DOI Review of What is Mormonism? A Student s Introduction, by Patrick Q. Mason; Mormonism: The Basics, by David J. Howlett and John Charles Duffy Jennifer Graber Mormon Studies
More informationHow Doubt Built the Foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU Arrington Student Writing Award Winners Leonard J. Arrington Mormon History Lectures 12-2013 How Doubt Built the Foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
More informationMixing the Old with the New: The Implications of Reading the Book of Mormon from a Literary Perspective
Journal of Book of Mormon Studies Volume 25 Number 1 Article 8 1-1-2016 Mixing the Old with the New: The Implications of Reading the Book of Mormon from a Literary Perspective Adam Oliver Stokes Follow
More informationThe Mainline s Slippery Slope
The Mainline s Slippery Slope An Introduction So, what is the Mainline? Anyone who has taught a course on American religious history has heard this question numerous times, and usually more than once during
More informationWhy Were Three Key Witnesses Chosen to Testify of the Book of Mormon?
KnoWhy # 267 January 27, 2017 The Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon Compilation retouching and colorization by Bryce M Haymond Why Were Three Key Witnesses Chosen to Testify of the Book of Mormon?
More information(New York: Knopf, Notes, Bibliography, Photographs, Maps, Index. $35.00 hardback.)
Book Review 133 Book Review Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. (New York: Knopf, 2005. Notes, Bibliography, Photographs, Maps, Index. $35.00 hardback.) Reviewed by Kent P. Jackson,
More informationThe Testimony of Men. William E. McLellin and the Book of Mormon Witnesses. Mitchell K. Schaefer
The Testimony of Men William E. McLellin and the Book of Mormon Witnesses Mitchell K. Schaefer A recently discovered circa 1871 manuscript written by William McLellin, an early Mormon Apostle and, later,
More informationThe Foundation of Our Religion. FARMS Review 18/2 (2006): (print), (online)
Title Author(s) Reference ISSN Abstract The Foundation of Our Religion Kevin L. Barney FARMS Review 18/2 (2006): 179 87. 1550-3194 (print), 2156-8049 (online) Review of Opening the Heavens: Accounts of
More informationThe Glory of God Is Intelligence : A Note on Maimonides. FARMS Review 19/2 (2007): (print), (online)
Title Author(s) Reference ISSN Abstract The Glory of God Is Intelligence : A Note on Maimonides Raphael Jospe FARMS Review 19/2 (2007): 95 98. 1550-3194 (print), 2156-8049 (online) This article compares
More informationMormon Studies: A Bibliographic Essay. Mormon Studies Review 1 (2014): (print), (online)
Title Author Reference ISSN Mormon Studies: A Bibliographic Essay Blair Dee Hodges Mormon Studies Review 1 (2014): 223 235. 2156-8022 (print), 2156-8030 (online) Mormon Studies: A Bibliographic Essay Blair
More informationBedrock of a Faith Is Jolted
Page 1 of 6 COLUMN ONE Bedrock of a Faith Is Jolted DNA tests contradict Mormon scripture. The church says the studies are being twisted to attack its beliefs. By William Lobdell Times Staff Writer February
More information"The Testimony of Men": William E. McLellin and the Book of Mormon Witnesses
BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 50 Issue 1 Article 9 1-1-2011 "The Testimony of Men": William E. McLellin and the Book of Mormon Witnesses Mitchell K. Schaefer Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq
More informationThe ESV says: [Some of the earliest manuscripts do not include 16:9 20.]
THE UNENDING GOSPEL. Rev. Robert T. Woodyard First Christian Reformed Church April 27, 2014, 10:30AM Scripture Text: Mark 16:9-20 Introduction. This text is very controversial, but not for the reasons
More informationWhen I first began work on Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling in
The Archive of Restoration Culture, 1997 2002 Richard Lyman Bushman When I first began work on Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling in 1996, I realized that reconstructing the cultural environment of the
More informationFARMS Review 19/1 (2007): (print), (online)
Title Author(s) Reference ISSN Abstract Turning Away Jacob D. Rawlins FARMS Review 19/1 (2007): 325 31. 1550-3194 (print), 2156-8049 (online) Review of The Inevitable Apostasy and the Promised Restoration
More informationApologetics 02ST530 Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando, FL Fall 2017
Apologetics 02ST530 Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando, FL Fall 2017 Instructor: Justin S. Holcomb Email: jholcomb@rts.edu Schedule: Sept 11 to Dec 11 (Monday, 3-5pm) Office Hours: By appointment COURSE
More informationMulti-Site Conference The Gospel-Centered Church Dick Kaufmann March 2007
Multi-Site Conference The Gospel-Centered Church Dick Kaufmann March 2007 To get the most out of this please do the following: 1. Mark what you find especially helpful or important with a!. 2. Mark what
More informationJUDICIAL OPINION WRITING
JUDICIAL OPINION WRITING What's an Opinion For? James Boyd Whitet The question the papers in this Special Issue address is whether it matters how judicial opinions are written, and if so why. My hope here
More informationThe Expanded Canon. Mormon Studies Conference. Perspectives on Mormonism and Sacred Texts. April 4-5, 2013 UVU Library Lakeview Room
The UVU Religious Studies Program Welcomes you to the thirteenth annual Mormon Studies Conference The Expanded Canon Perspectives on Mormonism and Sacred Texts April 4-5, 2013 UVU Library Lakeview Room
More informationthis is not a study of mormon history but of mormon their historians salt lake city university of utah press 1988 those who have had a longterm
book reviews 117 suppose a wish list of well defined trails and sites could be endlessly imposed on such expertise as has been displayed by stan kimball in this and other trail guides he has published
More informationBook of Mormon Central
Book of Mormon Central http://bookofmormoncentral.org/ KnoWhy #218 - Why Did Jesus Give the Nephites Malachi s Prophecies? Author(s): Book of Mormon Central Staff Published by: Springville, UT; Book of
More informationUtilitarianism: For and Against (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973), pp Reprinted in Moral Luck (CUP, 1981).
Draft of 3-21- 13 PHIL 202: Core Ethics; Winter 2013 Core Sequence in the History of Ethics, 2011-2013 IV: 19 th and 20 th Century Moral Philosophy David O. Brink Handout #14: Williams, Internalism, and
More informationInterfaith Dialogue as a New Approach in Islamic Education
Interfaith Dialogue as a New Approach in Islamic Education Osman Bakar * Introduction I would like to take up the issue of the need to re-examine our traditional approaches to Islamic education. This is
More informationFARMS Review 16/1 (2004): (print), (online)
Title Author(s) Reference ISSN Abstract Priced to Sell William J. Hamblin FARMS Review 16/1 (2004): 37 47. 1550-3194 (print), 2156-8049 (online) Review of Prophecy and Palimpsest (2002), by Robert M. Price.
More informationFARMS Review 15/1 (2003): (print), (online) Review of Abraham in Egypt (2000), by Hugh Nibley.
Title Author(s) Reference ISSN Abstract Nibley s Abraham in Egypt: Laying the Foundation for Abraham Research Brian M. Hauglid FARMS Review 15/1 (2003): 87 90. 1550-3194 (print), 2156-8049 (online) Review
More informationMarcel Sarot Utrecht University Utrecht, The Netherlands NL-3508 TC. Introduction
RBL 09/2004 Collins, C. John Science & Faith: Friends or Foe? Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2003. Pp. 448. Paper. $25.00. ISBN 1581344309. Marcel Sarot Utrecht University Utrecht, The Netherlands NL-3508 TC
More informationThe Paranormal, Miracles and David Hume
The Paranormal, Miracles and David Hume Terence Penelhum Publication Date: 01/01/2003 Is parapsychology a pseudo-science? Many believe that the Eighteenth century philosopher David Hume showed, in effect,
More informationThe Pearl of Great Price
10 The Pearl of Great Price A s we mentioned in the Introduction to this section, the Utah Mormon church accepts the Pearl of Great Price in its entirety, whereas RLDS do not. We include here a discussion
More informationArgument Writing. Whooohoo!! Argument instruction is necessary * Argument comprehension is required in school assignments, standardized testing, job
Argument Writing Whooohoo!! Argument instruction is necessary * Argument comprehension is required in school assignments, standardized testing, job promotion as well as political and personal decision-making
More informationAs Dr. Elman noted, one of the compelling strengths of higher
Acknowledging Differences While Avoiding Contention Renata Forste As Dr. Elman noted, one of the compelling strengths of higher education in the United States is the diversity across institutions. Diversity
More informationDay, R. (2012) Gillian Clark, Late Antiquity: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011.
Day, R. (2012) Gillian Clark, Late Antiquity: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011. Rosetta 11: 82-86. http://www.rosetta.bham.ac.uk/issue_11/day.pdf Gillian Clark, Late Antiquity:
More informationAdlai E. Stevenson High School Course Description
Adlai E. Stevenson High School Course Description Division: Special Education Course Number: ISO121/ISO122 Course Title: Instructional World History Course Description: One year of World History is required
More informationNibley's Abraham in Egypt: Laying the Foundation for Abraham Research
Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989 2011 Volume 15 Number 1 Article 9 1-1-2003 Nibley's Abraham in Egypt: Laying the Foundation for Abraham Research Brian M. Hauglid Follow this and additional works
More informationAre Miracles Identifiable?
Are Miracles Identifiable? 1. Some naturalists argue that no matter how unusual an event is it cannot be identified as a miracle. 1. If this argument is valid, it has serious implications for those who
More informationJoseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling PDF
Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling PDF Founder of the largest indigenous Christian church in American history, Joseph Smith published the 584-page Book of Mormon when he was twenty-three and went on to
More informationCare of the Soul: Service-Learning and the Value of the Humanities
[Expositions 2.1 (2008) 007 012] Expositions (print) ISSN 1747-5368 doi:10.1558/expo.v2i1.007 Expositions (online) ISSN 1747-5376 Care of the Soul: Service-Learning and the Value of the Humanities James
More informationThe Rationality of Religious Beliefs
The Rationality of Religious Beliefs Bryan Frances Think, 14 (2015), 109-117 Abstract: Many highly educated people think religious belief is irrational and unscientific. If you ask a philosopher, however,
More informationSolomon Chamberlain Early Missionary. BYU Studies copyright 1972
Solomon Chamberlain Early Missionary Solomon Chamberlain Early Missionary Larry C. Porter John H. Gilbert, a typesetter for E. B. Grandin, publisher of the Book of Mormon, stated that the first manuscript
More informationThis book is a welcome addition to a growing list of solid introductory
Claudia L. Bushman. Contemporary Mormonism: Latter-day Saints in Modern America. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2006 Reviewed by Armand L. Mauss This book is a welcome addition to a growing list of solid introductory
More informationbook reviews smith john whitmer historical association monograph series independence mo independence press pp ap bibliography paperback joseph
book reviews GREGORY A PRINCE having authority the origins and development of priesthood during the ministry of ofjoseph smith john whitmer historical association monograph series independence mo independence
More informationThemelios. An International Journal for Pastors and Students of Theological and Religious Studies. Volume 8 Issue 3 April, 1983.
Themelios An International Journal for Pastors and Students of Theological and Religious Studies Volume 8 Issue 3 April, 1983 Editorial: The gospels and history The Pentateuch today J. G. McConville Contents
More informationThe Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text
BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 50 Issue 2 Article 10 4-1-2011 The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text Robert L. Maxwell Royal Skousen Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq
More informationLIBERTY UNIVERSITY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. Book Critique. Submitted to Dr. Olufemi Adeyemi, in partial fulfillment
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Book Critique Submitted to Dr. Olufemi Adeyemi, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of the course 201440 Fall 2014 NBST 621-D01
More informationHUME AND HIS CRITICS: Reid and Kames
Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive All Faculty Publications 1986-05-08 HUME AND HIS CRITICS: Reid and Kames Noel B. Reynolds Brigham Young University - Provo, nbr@byu.edu Follow this and additional
More informationIn 1972 Leonard J. Arrington was appointed Church Historian, the
Gregory A. Prince. Leonard Arrington and the Writing of Mormon History. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2016. Reviewed by James B. Allen In 1972 Leonard J. Arrington was appointed Church Historian,
More informationContinuing Education from Cedar Hills
Continuing Education from Cedar Hills May 25, 2005 Continuing Education from Cedar Hills Authored by: Paul T. Mero President Sutherland Institute Cite as Paul T. Mero, Continuing Education from Cedar Hills,
More informationWas There a Secret Gospel of Mark?
7.29 Was There a Secret Gospel of Mark? One of the most intriguing episodes in New Testament scholarship concerns the reputed discovery of an alternative version of Mark s Gospel indeed, an uncensored
More informationmckeeman Mc of a flawed publication of
128 BYU studies ROGER D LAUNIUS joseph smith III 111 ili pragmatic prophet urbana and chicago university rosity ofillinois press 1988 xii 394 pp ap 24.95 2495 reviewed by william D russell chairperson
More informationLeft: Flora Amussen and Ezra Taft Benson in their younger years. Right: Flora and Ezra enjoying a day with their six children.
Flora and I Equal Partners in the Work of the Lord Left: Flora Amussen and Ezra Taft Benson in their younger years. Right: Flora and Ezra enjoying a day with their six children. As we learn of the supportive,
More informationCRITICAL QUESTIONS FOR CHRISTIANS
Dr. Jim Eckman CRITICAL QUESTIONS FOR CHRISTIANS I. How can there be only one true religion? All major religions are equally valid and basically teach the same thing. Each religion sees part of spiritual
More informationDave Hall has made a landmark contribution to Mormon history generally,
Dave Hall. A Faded Legacy: Amy Brown Lyman and Mormon Women s Activism, 1872 1959. Salt Lake City: University of Utah, 2015. Reviewed by Lisa Olsen Tait Dave Hall has made a landmark contribution to Mormon
More information(e.g., books refuting Mormonism, responding to Islam, answering the new atheists, etc.). What is
Brooks, Christopher W. Urban Apologetics: Why the Gospel is Good News for the City. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2014. 176 pp. $12.53. Reviewed by Paul M. Gould, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Christian
More informationA Case against Subjectivism: A Reply to Sobel
A Case against Subjectivism: A Reply to Sobel Abstract Subjectivists are committed to the claim that desires provide us with reasons for action. Derek Parfit argues that subjectivists cannot account for
More informationA Response: "What the Manuscripts and the Eyewitnesses Tell Us about the Translation of the Book of Mormon
A Response: "What the Manuscripts and the Eyewitnesses Tell Us about the Translation of the Book of Mormon Daniel C. Peterson Royal Skousen has devoted a decade and a half to intensive study of the text
More informationMaking Choices: Teachers Beliefs and
Making Choices: Teachers Beliefs and Teachers Reasons (Bridging Initiative Working Paper No. 2a) 1 Making Choices: Teachers Beliefs and Teachers Reasons Barry W. Holtz The Initiative on Bridging Scholarship
More informationArgument Essay (possible structure organizer)
Name 1 Argument Essay (possible structure organizer) Introduction: Hook: Some question, piece of information, or statement that will capture the reader s attention What is the issue at hand? Background
More informationSAMPLE. Introduction. xvi
What is woman s work? has been my core concern as student, career woman, wife, mother, returning student and now college professor. Coming of age, as I did, in the early 1970s, in the heyday of what is
More informationSharing the Good News with Mormons. Practical Strategies for Getting the Conversation Started
Sharing the Good News with Mormons Practical Strategies for Getting the Conversation Started www.mrm.org I would like to say that this cause is either true or false. Either this is the kingdom of God,
More informationHaving Authority: The Origins and Development of Priesthood during the Ministry of Joseph Smith Gregory A. Prince
BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 37 Issue 1 Article 14 1-1-1997 Having Authority: The Origins and Development of Priesthood during the Ministry of Joseph Smith Gregory A. Prince Arnold K. Garr Follow this
More informationTitle Review of Revelations and Translations, Volume 3, Parts 1 and 2: Printer s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, by Royal
Title Review of Revelations and Translations, Volume 3, Parts 1 and 2: Printer s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, by Royal Skousen and Robin Scott Jensen Author Janiece Johnson Reference Journal of Book
More informationLesson 6: Evidence for the Inspiration of the Bible
Lesson 6: Evidence for the Inspiration of the Bible Examining the Claims of Inspiration for other Books WHY CONSIDER THE CLAIMS OF INSPIRATION FOR OTHER BOOKS? There are many people in the world that believe
More informationBook Of Mormon Student Manual 1981 Pdf
Book Of Mormon Student Manual 1981 Pdf The current Book of Mormon Sunday School manual discusses polygamy in the The Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual (Religion 324-325), 1981, has (.pdf) Directing
More informationHonours Programme in Philosophy
Honours Programme in Philosophy Honours Programme in Philosophy The Honours Programme in Philosophy is a special track of the Honours Bachelor s programme. It offers students a broad and in-depth introduction
More informationComments on Scott Soames, Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century, volume I
Comments on Scott Soames, Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century, volume I (APA Pacific 2006, Author meets critics) Christopher Pincock (pincock@purdue.edu) December 2, 2005 (20 minutes, 2803
More informationWomen s Activism, , by Dave Hall (print), (online)
Title Author Review of A Faded Legacy: Amy Brown Lyman and Mormon Women s Activism, 1872-1959, by Dave Hall Susan Sessions Rugh Reference Mormon Studies Review 4 (2016): 143-145. ISSN 2156-8022 (print),
More informationMassacre at Mountain Meadows: An American Tragedy. by Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr., and Glen M. Leonard
BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 47 Issue 3 Article 23 7-1-2008 Massacre at Mountain Meadows: An American Tragedy. by Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr., and Glen M. Leonard Jared Farmer Follow this and
More informationSolomon Chamberlain Early Missionary
BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 12 Issue 3 Article 12 7-1-1972 Solomon Chamberlain Early Missionary Larry C. Porter Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq Recommended Citation
More informationCOURSE SYLLABUS. Course Description
PR 5500 - Apologetics (2 cr.) TEDS Madison Extension Spring Semester 2015 Jan. 16-17; Feb. 20-21; Mar. 27-28 6:30 PM 9:30 PM, Sat. 8:30 AM 4:30 PM Harold Netland, PhD Phone: 847-317-8087 Email: hnetland@tiu.edu
More information[JGRChJ 6 (2009) R1-R5] BOOK REVIEW
[JGRChJ 6 (2009) R1-R5] BOOK REVIEW Charles H. Talbert, Reading the Sermon on the Mount: Character Formation and Ethical Decision Making in Matthew 5 7 (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006). ix + 181 pp.
More informationIam grateful, brothers and sisters, to
Roland and Dora Mae BOYD K. PACKER Iam grateful, brothers and sisters, to represent the board of trustees at this devotional service and dedication, and I think it is fitting that it be a devotional service
More informationRBL 02/2004 Birch, Bruce C., Walter Brueggemann, Terence E. Fretheim, and David L. Petersen
RBL 02/2004 Birch, Bruce C., Walter Brueggemann, Terence E. Fretheim, and David L. Petersen A Theological Introduction to the Old Testament Nashville: Abingdon, 1999. Pp. 475. Paper. $40.00. ISBN 0687013488.
More informationBailey Jensen. Senior Division. Historical Paper. Paper Length: 1702 words
Jensen 1 Joseph Smith: Taking a Stand During Religious Reformation Bailey Jensen Senior Division Historical Paper Paper Length: 1702 words Jensen 2 Joseph Smith Jr., the son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy
More informationBreaking New Ground in Confucian-Christian Dialogue?
Breaking New Ground in Confucian-Christian Dialogue? Peter K. H. LEE The Second International Confucian-Christian Conference was held at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California, July 7-11,
More informationContemporary Mormonism: Latter-day Saints in Modern America. by Claudia L. Bushman
BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 46 Issue 1 Article 17 1-1-2007 Contemporary Mormonism: Latter-day Saints in Modern America. by Claudia L. Bushman Armand L. Mauss Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq
More informationA Very Short Essay on Mormonism and Natural Law. by The Lawyer. I was recently talking with a friend of mine at Harvard Law School who describes
A Very Short Essay on Mormonism and Natural Law by The Lawyer I was recently talking with a friend of mine at Harvard Law School who describes himself as an ex-mormon. He left the church in his teens,
More informationI also occasionally write for the Huffington Post: knoll/
I am the John Marshall Harlan Associate Professor of Politics at Centre College. I teach undergraduate courses in political science, including courses that focus on the intersection of identity, religion,
More informationCarl J. Strikwerda. President, Elizabethtown College. Emergent Scholars Reception, Sunday, March 11, Susquehanna Room
Page 1 INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES, VIRTUOUS INTELLECT Carl J. Strikwerda President, Elizabethtown College Emergent Scholars Reception, Sunday, March 11, 2012 Susquehanna Room Thank you for that kind introduction,
More informationKorsgaard and Non-Sentient Life ABSTRACT
74 Between the Species Korsgaard and Non-Sentient Life ABSTRACT Christine Korsgaard argues for the moral status of animals and our obligations to them. She grounds this obligation on the notion that we
More informationThe First Vision: The Firm Foundation for Our Faith. Elder John K. Carmack Emeritus General Authority
The First Vision: The Firm Foundation for Our Faith Elder John K. Carmack Emeritus General Authority This address was given Thursday, April 28, 2005, at the BYU Women s Conference 2005 by Brigham Young
More informationRS 100: Introduction to Religious Studies California State University, Northridge Fall 2014
RS 100: Introduction to Religious Studies California State University, Northridge Fall 2014 Instructor: Brian Clearwater brian.clearwater@csun.edu Office SN 419 818-677-6878 Hours: Mondays 1-2 pm Course
More informationA Studying of Limitation of Epistemology as Basis of Toleration with Special Reference to John Locke
A Studying of Limitation of Epistemology as Basis of Toleration with Special Reference to John Locke Roghieh Tamimi and R. P. Singh Center for philosophy, Social Science School, Jawaharlal Nehru University,
More informationNW: So does it differ from respect or is it just another way of saying respect?
Multiculturalism Bites Nancy Fraser on Recognition David Edmonds: In Britain, Christmas Day is a national holiday, but Passover or Eid are not. In this way Christianity receives more recognition, and might
More informationWhen Pages Collide: Dissecting the Words of Mormon
BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 51 Issue 4 Article 10 12-1-2012 When Pages Collide: Dissecting the Words of Mormon Jack M. Lyon Kent R. Minson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq
More informationQuiz - Boxing Lessons. By Gordon Marino, The New York Times Level 6
ZINC READING LABS Quiz - Boxing Lessons By Gordon Marino, The New York Times Level 6 Q1. The author uses the phrase roll with the punches (paragraph 7, "And let's be...") primarily in order to suggest
More informationSigns that Will Follow Those Who Believe. A sermon by Rev. Michael Gladish Mitchellville, MD, April 3 rd, 2016
Signs that Will Follow Those Who Believe A sermon by Rev. Michael Gladish Mitchellville, MD, April 3 rd, 2016 After the Lord rose from the grave on what we now call Easter Sunday, He appeared to various
More informationHOURS NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN
2 0 1 7 L a u r a F. W i l l e s B o o k o f M o r m o n L e c t u r e HOURS NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN Timing the Book of Mormon Translation John W. Welch November 8, 2017 2 0 1 7 L a u r a F. W i l l e s
More informationUnited States History and Geography: Modern Times
United States History and Geography: Modern Times Correlated to Common Core State Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects Key Ideas and Details 1. Read closely
More informationTHE PIECES OF THE EVANGELISM PUZZLE
PUTTING RANDY NEWMAN, TOGETHER PH.D. THE PIECES OF THE EVANGELISM PUZZLE RANDY NEWMAN, PH.D. SENIOR TEACHING FELLOW FOR APOLOGETICS AND EVANGELISM, C.S. LEWIS INSTITUTE D espite the best efforts by evangelists
More informationThesis Statement. What is a Thesis Statement? What is a Thesis Statement Not?
Thesis Statement What is a Thesis Statement? A thesis statement is an argument that clearly states the point of view of the author, and outlines how the author intends to support his or her argument. The
More informationCosmopolitan Theory and the Daily Pluralism of Life
Chapter 8 Cosmopolitan Theory and the Daily Pluralism of Life Tariq Ramadan D rawing on my own experience, I will try to connect the world of philosophy and academia with the world in which people live
More informationPhilosophy of Science. Ross Arnold, Summer 2014 Lakeside institute of Theology
Philosophy of Science Ross Arnold, Summer 2014 Lakeside institute of Theology Philosophical Theology 1 (TH5) Aug. 15 Intro to Philosophical Theology; Logic Aug. 22 Truth & Epistemology Aug. 29 Metaphysics
More informationExegetical Paper Guide
Exegetical Paper Guide Writing Papers for Biblical Studies An exegetical paper is a type of essay that seeks to interpret or explain a certain Biblical text. There are two types of exegetical papers that
More informationAS A PRESENT for Joseph Smith s. RICHARD Bushman is a respected professor
AS A PRESENT for Joseph Smith s 200th birthday, Latter-day Saints and others interested in Mormonism receive two new and very detailed biographies, each representing very different ways of scrying for
More informationGraduate Studies in Theology
Graduate Studies in Theology Overview Mission At Whitworth, we seek to produce Christ-centered, well-educated, spiritually disciplined, and visionary leaders for the church and society. Typically, students
More information