Juvenile Instructor » 2015

Mormonism and the Catholic Critique of Protestantism in America

By GuestApril 20, 2015

Today’s post comes from Bradley Kime, who will graduate this spring with a Masters in history rom Utah State University. Bradley has published in the Journal of Mormon History and is an editorial fellow at the Western Historical Quarterly. He will begin his PhD program in religious studies at the University of Virginia this fall (WAHOOWA!).

For the last few years, Stephen Webb has generously praised LDS Christo-centrism. Back in 2012, before the publication of his Mormon Christianity[1], he offered the First Things crowd a positive take on Mormonism?s eternally embodied Savior titled ?Mormonism Obsessed with Christ.? When First Things recently posted the article on their Facebook feed, the 108 comments (and counting), almost entirely from creedal Christians across the Protestant-Catholic spectrum, were overwhelmingly negative. One comment summed up the general consensus: ?You know who else was obsessed with Christ? Arius.? In other words, earnestness doesn?t equal orthodoxy, and calling a spade a spade is important. Almost as a chorus, First Things readers reaffirmed that the Mormon Christ was a heresy, notwithstanding Webb?s misguided generosity.

Review: David Conley Nelson’s Moroni and the Swastika

By Mees TielensApril 16, 2015

David Conley Nelson, Moroni and the Swastika: Mormons in Nazi Germany. University of Oklahoma Press, 2015.

David Conley Nelson’s book centers on a bold premise: that Mormonism in Germany did not only survive WWII relatively unscathed, but actually benefited from it. Nelson, who has a PhD in history from Texas A&M University, asserts that the church, helped by faithful historians, is invested in promoting a picture of German Mormons as suffering for the sake of the gospel. However, a more accurate picture would be that “German Mormons and their prewar American missionaries avoided persecution by skillfully collaborating to a degree that ensured their survival but did not subject them to postwar retribution” (xvi). Throughout the book, Nelson uses the rhetorical devices of ‘memory beacons’ and ‘dimmer switches’ to illustrate the construction of memory sites, and the ways in which realities of collaboration, then, were transformed into memories of appeasement and survival.

CFP: Communal Studies Association 2016 in SLC!

By David G.April 15, 2015

Call for Papers for the Annual Conference of The Communal Studies Association

October 6?8, 2016
Salt Lake City, Utah
Anticipating the End Times:
Millennialism, Apocalypticism, and Utopianism in Intentional Communities

The Garfield Assassination, 2 of 4: DeWitt Talmage

By Edje JeterApril 15, 2015

As noted in the last post, T[homas] DeWitt Talmage, the histrionic, hyperbolic, famous, and famously anti-Mormon preacher of Brooklyn, was not the first or only figure to claim that Garfield?s assassin, Charles Guiteau, was Mormon or that Guiteau was part of a Mormon conspiracy. However, Talmage?s national presence gave his allegations more reach (see image).

The Church in Action, ca. 1973

By Tona HApril 13, 2015

While doing a close reading of Rick Turley’s essay for our #JMH50 roundtable series, I came across a tidbit that was new for me. He writes,

Beginning around 1970, our department had sponsored newsreel-style movies under the series title The Church in Action. These annual or five-year retrospectives used existing footage to feature newsworthy events like the international travels of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Brigham Young University?s dance teams. Useful though they were in featuring Church events in multiple countries, these films did not begin to capture the depth of Church history around the globe. [1]

As a scholar of religion and media, my ears perked up.

Mormon Studies Weekly Roundup

By Mees TielensApril 12, 2015

This week, I have for your perusal:

An Announcement for Those in and Around DC and for EVERYONE going to #MHA50

By J StuartApril 11, 2015

For JI readers living in or around Washington DC

Kathleen Flake, Richard Lyman Bushman Chair for Mormon Studies at the University of Virginia, will be speaking at George Mason University on Monday, April 13th. As part of John Turner’s course “Religion in America,” Professor Flake will deliver a guest lecture entitled, “Modern Love & Mormon Marriage.” The lecture will take place at 12 PM at Merten Hall 1202 on George Mason University’s Fairfax campus.

From the flyer: “Except for a relatively brief historical moment in the mid-20^th century, Mormonism has always been at odds with what most Americans think marriage means and what it ought to look like. This lecture invited you to think about why that is and what we can learn from it.” Light refreshments will be provided.

FOR ALL THOSE INVOLVED IN ANY WAY WITH #MHA50:

The Mormon History Association has launched a 50^th Anniversary Conference Blog. Please be sure to visit it often for updates and discussion about the upcoming conference (the program schedule is available there as well!). This is a great way to gear up for the conference and begin conversations that can continue in person in Provo. In 54 days. Not that we’re counting or anything.

Max Perry Mueller’s “History Lessons: Race and the LDS Church,” JMH 50th Roundtable

By Farina KingApril 10, 2015

Max Perry Mueller uses a clever title, ?History Lessons,? in his essay on ?Race and the LDS Church? in the fiftieth anniversary edition of the Journal of Mormon History. ?History Lessons? implicate some form of historical appropriations. Institutions use history to formulate lessons, which support certain values and ways of knowing. Mueller traces how the LDS Church alters historical narratives of a ?black Mormon past? through three main time periods to argue ?the LDS Church has worked to tell a story of historical continuity in its relationship with people of African descent? (143).

#JMH50 Roundtable: Richard Bushman’s “Reading the Gold Plates”

By Ben PApril 9, 2015

Previous #JMH50 posts:

Liz M. on Laurel Thatcher Ulrich?s Personal Essay
David Howlett on his own article on jobs and publishing in Mormon Studies
J. Stuart on William Russell?s ?Shared RLDS/LDS Journey?
Brett D. on Jared Farmer?s ?Crossroads of the West?
Ryan T. on Matthew Bowman?s ?Toward a Catholic History of Mormonism?
Tona H on Richard Turley’s “Global History of the Church”

If Leonard Arrington was the dean of New Mormon History, Richard Bushman is the patriarch of Mormon studies.[1] Bear with me for a moment while I get into some nerdy insider historiographical speak. The term “Mormon studies” gets thrown around a lot, sometimes to the point that it loses all usefulness. Does it just mean any “study” of “Mormonism”? Does it have to be academic? Does it include apologetics? Is it, *gasp*, “objective”? Does “Mormon” imply the institutional experience of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Answers to these questions vary depending on who you ask.

The Garfield Assassination, 1 of 4: Joy, Prophecy, and Conspiracy

By Edje JeterApril 8, 2015

In his inaugural address as President of the United States, James A Garfield included about 180 words proposing action against Mormonism (1881 Mar 04). [1] Four months later (Jul 02), Charles J Guiteau shot Garfield. Guiteau was apprehended at the scene and Garfield died several weeks later (Sep 19). In the next few posts I will look at some ways Garfield?s shooting and rhetoric about Mormonism intersected. (Image [2])

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