By July 22, 2008
The Mormon Church has always placed an emphasis on education: the Kirtland School of the Elders, the School of the Prophets, the Hebrew School, etc. This idea continued into Nauvoo, where, as part of the Nauvoo Charter, they founded the University of the City of Nauvoo. This institution was fairly functional until the Saints migrated West, whereupon it obviously became dormant.
By July 21, 2008
(Just in case you didn’t already read about this here, here, or here).
CALL FOR PAPERS
By July 21, 2008
As I understand it, when a Mormon speaks of tracting, they mean, “to travel from door to door attempting to present a message.” The OED lists ten variations for the verb tract, none of which match the Mormon version. (The one that says “to lengthen out, prolong, protract (time)…” seems related, however.) What gives? It’s not like Mormons invented the art or are the only ones currently practicing it.
By July 17, 2008
Last night, a few bloggers from the JI, along with some other friends, informally gathered for some good food (chips and Jared T.’s homemade salsa … mmm) and good conversation.
By July 15, 2008
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m currently working with the missionary diaries of an Elder Joseph Brooks who served in Southeast Texas from 1899 to 1902. Elder Brooks’ description of a smallpox outbreak strikes me as interesting.
By July 14, 2008
In my browsings on Ebay I came across something of a gem, what is apparently an original handwritten letter of George Reynolds, then secretary to President John Taylor. Though the price tag of $199 seems a little steep, the content is interesting. The text, as given in the item listing is as follows:
By July 14, 2008
Well, it depends on who you ask. As discussed before (see esp. comments 9-12, 25-29), the argument over what was rational and what was absurd was a hot topic in Antebellum America, especially when attempting to describe and understand new religious movements. What many felt was completely asinine, others found fulfilling. This led to confusion on both sides while they tried to grapple with the other’s beliefs. Here, for example, is an editorial written in Europe in 1843 attempting to explain this new Mormon movement stealing away many of their citizens.
By July 11, 2008
David O. McKay performed his first exorcism when he was 25. It was, he wrote in his journal, a day “long to be remembered.”
By July 11, 2008
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Cajuns of southern Louisiana and the Mormons of Utah were, in general, geographically concentrated, relatively isolated, and “white” (though the “whiteness” varied with the describer). Despite significant differences in their situations, I think the groups shared enough attributes to support some comparative analyses. For example, their respective views on alcohol illustrate
By July 8, 2008
Beginning in the 1830s, Parley P. Pratt produced a tremendous amount of literature describing his people’s persecutions. Pratt wrote not only for his fellow religionists, but also as a means to inform other Americans of the Mormon plight and seek redress.[1] Of the hundreds of pages of his prose, among the most significant included his Extra of the Mormon newspaper The Evening and the Morning Star entitled “?Mormons,’ So Called”, which is perhaps the most comprehensive contemporary description of the 1833-1834 Jackson County expulsion.[2] Pratt included this Extra as part of his eighty-four page history of the Missouri persecutions that he published in 1839.[3] In turn, this history later formed the basis of parts of Pratt’s autobiography.[4] Beyond his narrative contributions, Pratt also wrote several poems describing his people’s sufferings that he published in 1840 in The Millennium and Other Poems.[5]
Historian Kenneth Winn has described Pratt as the leading Mormon commentator on
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