As a historian I, of course, have some issues with historians. My main bugaboo this past year has been what I term “source prejudice.” We favor textual documents over visual, no doubt about it. What really gets me is that one of the main defenses for this has been that textual documents are more open and reliable, visual more obscure and relative. Well now, there are definitely interpretation issues within textual documents too; we still need to consider intention, audienc
The Juvenile Instructor has come into a bit of luck recently in attracting solid and talented guest bloggers. That luck has not run out. We’re pleased to announce our latest guest, Heidi, known also as Pinto. Heidi received a BA in Humanities and History at BYU in 2006, and will graduate with a Masters in American Studies at Boston University this spring. I got to know Heidi this summer as part of the Joseph Smith Seminar with Richard Bushman and Terryl Givens (although we quickly discovered that she was that “Special Collections girl” [meaning she worked there] and I was “that guy with a shaved head always looking up Joseph Smith stuff” when we were undergrads at BYU). She tells me that s
The Juvenile Instructor would like to thank BHodges for his contributions as a guest blogger the last week and a half. His insights into the Journal of Discourses produced some great discussion, and we encourage everyone interested to keep up with his exploration of the JD over at his blog, Life on Gold Plates. Please leave a comment helping us thank him for his contributions. Thanks again, BHodges.
Because leaders and speakers didn’t give prepared sermons or refer to notes in most cases, the discourses contain unique insight into their feelings and emotions. A good example of the differing nature of the discourses is found by contrasting a few from Heber C. Kimball.
In February of 1855 Heber recounted some experiences connected with being driven from Nauvoo, and included some fiery rhetoric:
Vengeance on God’s enemies has been a key theme in Latter-day Saint collective memory of persecution. This, I believe, in part reflects the uneven power relations that structured Mormon contact with other Americans. Since the Latter
Discourse by Brigham Young
March 16, 1856
JD 3:247-249
On March 14, 1856 Brigham Young addressed a group of Saints at the Social Hall where he told the congregation “think, brethren, think, but do not think so far that you cannot think back again.” Two days later he resumed the thought in his address at the Tabernacle, urging his listeners to develop balance:
In the eastern country there was a man who used to go crazy, at times, and then come to his senses again. One of his neighbors asked him what made him go crazy; he replied, “I get to thinking, and thinking, until finally I think so far that I am not always able to think back again.”
Can you think too much for the spirit which is put in the tabernacle?
You can, and this is a subject which I wish the brethren instructed upon, and the people to understand. The spirit is the intelligent part of man, and is intimately connected with the tabernacle. Let this intelligent part labor to excess, and it will eventually overcome the tabernacle, the equilibrium will be destroyed, and the whole organization deranged. Many people have deranged themselves by thinking too much.
Brigham was encouraging moderation in all things, including study and critical thinking.
I recently came across an internet quiz entitled “Which Theologian are You?” You answer thirty theological questions, answering each on a six-division scale progressing from “disagree” to “agree”, and then submit your answers. In response, the quiz matches up your theology (by percentage) with that of ten influential Christians from throughout history, ranking them from one to ten, and tells you a bit about the theologian you match most closely with.
I match up 67% with Charles Finney, the noted Presbyterian revivalist and Joseph Smith’s contemporary in upstate New York, but Anselm is close behind at 60%. Jonathan Edwards, the 18th-century Puritan preacher and theologian, came in last with only a 13% match. I am curious to see what others’ matches are. If you take the quiz, please leave a comment telling who your first and last matches were. I’m interested in how Latter-day Saints situate their theology in relation to other Christian denominations’ theologians, and what that reveals about the notion of a “Mormon Theology” or lack thereof.
In 1888, the Deseret News Weekly published a talk by Joseph E. Taylor apparently given in the Logan Temple. I found interesting how Taylor connects the dots between Adam-God and multiple probations using statements from Brigham Young and Joseph Smith. The full article can be found here beginning on page 19.
In the summer of 1950, a young Harvard graduate student named Thomas F. O’Dea traveled to Salt Lake City and met with a veritable who’s who of Mormon intellectuals and church leaders.
Steve Fleming on Study and Faith, 5:: “The burden of proof is on the claim of there BEING Nephites. From a scholarly point of view, the burden of proof is on the…”
Eric on Study and Faith, 5:: “But that's not what I was saying about the nature of evidence of an unknown civilization. I am talking about linguistics, not ruins. …”
Steve Fleming on Study and Faith, 5:: “Large civilizations leave behind evidence of their existence. For instance, I just read that scholars estimate the kingdom of Judah to have been around 110,000…”
Eric on Study and Faith, 5:: “I have always understood the key to issues with Nephite archeology to be language. Besides the fact that there is vastly more to Mesoamerican…”
Steven Borup on In Memoriam: James B.: “Bro Allen was the lead coordinator in 1980 for the BYU Washington, DC Seminar and added valuable insights into American history as we also toured…”
David G. on In Memoriam: James B.: “Jim was a legend who impacted so many through his scholarship and kind mentoring. He'll be missed.”
Recent Comments
Steve Fleming on Study and Faith, 5:: “The burden of proof is on the claim of there BEING Nephites. From a scholarly point of view, the burden of proof is on the…”
Eric on Study and Faith, 5:: “But that's not what I was saying about the nature of evidence of an unknown civilization. I am talking about linguistics, not ruins. …”
Steve Fleming on Study and Faith, 5:: “Large civilizations leave behind evidence of their existence. For instance, I just read that scholars estimate the kingdom of Judah to have been around 110,000…”
Eric on Study and Faith, 5:: “I have always understood the key to issues with Nephite archeology to be language. Besides the fact that there is vastly more to Mesoamerican…”
Steven Borup on In Memoriam: James B.: “Bro Allen was the lead coordinator in 1980 for the BYU Washington, DC Seminar and added valuable insights into American history as we also toured…”
David G. on In Memoriam: James B.: “Jim was a legend who impacted so many through his scholarship and kind mentoring. He'll be missed.”