Study and Faith, 3: Objectives

History grad students learn about Leopold von Ranke, the 19^th century German considered the father of the modern discipline of history, famous for stating the objective of discovering “what actually happened.” History grad students will learn that statement is much criticized, as grad students also learn the incompleteness, problems with records, and problem of the humans making the judgements.

But others note that despite all those limitations, historians really do want to try to understand the past like Ranke said, and that good methodology helps historians make the best historical judgments. Mark Ashurst McGee’s “Moroni: Angel or Treasure Guardian?” gives a nice overview: earlier and closest the subject is best. But based on that criteria, the 1832 First Vision account would be given primacy over the 1838 account for being earlier.

Differences in First Visions accounts long noted and debated, but in the differences between those accounts, church members tend to pick the later 1838 over the 1832 account. 1832 famously mentions “the Lord” not “two personages” one of which is the other’s “beloved son,” but there are other differences as well. My adviser liked to point out that in the 1832 accounts JS come to the conclusion that “mankind had apostatized” on his own, but in the 1838 account God tells JS that. Again “earliest is best” would give primacy to the 1832 account in such conflict between sources.

Continue Reading

Study and Faith, 2: Mythos, Logos, and Historical Methodology

As I mentioned over at Times and Season, I put together what we call our “safe-space group” to discuss all kinds of topics, and not surprisingly history stuff was one of the genre of topics the group wanted to go over.

As all of my fellow JI bloggers know, that can be a bit of a difficult topic to try to do a crash course in because though our concepts of what happened in the past are very important to the larger culture and our church, we all know the study of history can be a tricky thing that often isn’t understood very well. And if such a discussion can get tricky in our larger societies’ culture war, it is even more so in debates within Mormonism when we often feel that larger religious truths are on the line.

So I thought a lot about best approaches when I was brainstorming how to introduce the topic and all the points that trained historians often want to convey. Things like “the past is a foreign country,” we have to rely on historical documents and good-faith interpretations vary, but that doesn’t mean we just make up whatever narrative we want, good historical interpretations will be supported by historical evidence (etc etc).

Since the historical topics we were going to cover were in the context of our religious beliefs, I thought I would be useful to start with the concept of the Greek ways of knowing: mythos and logos (And yes I’m using the division for my own purposes, feel free to correct!) Mythos is the accepted cultural truth about the Gods (common in all pre-modern societies) while Logos is truth that comes truth discussion (Logos=word), debates, logic, and inquiry; what the philosophers were trying to get at.

Such ways of knowing often clash: the example of Socrates being executed for challenging the contemporary religious system is a good example. Even more so would be the containing angst biblical scholarship can cause. Yet, the example of many such scholars maintaining a religious faith after making adjustments is also an example of something of a reconciliation between mythos and logos. (I know this is an extremely complicated topic with a very long history, just trying to offer some summaries).

Continue Reading

Kirtland Temple Conversations and Resources

If you’re into Mormon history, someone you know has likely asked for resources on learning about the history of the Kirtland Temple and what the sale of the sacred site means for Latter-day Saints and members of the Community of Christ. Here’s a starter pack for you:

Continue Reading

CFP: Book of Mormon Studies Association

DATE: October 10-12, 2024
LOCATION: Utah State University Inn
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: June 3, 2024
SUBMISSION EMAIL: bookofmormonsa (@) gmail.com

The Book of Mormon Studies Association (BoMSA) is pleased to announce its eighth annual meeting, to
be held on October 10-12, 2024, at Utah State University. The event is sponsored by USU’s Department
of Religious Studies and with thanks to Patrick Mason, the Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History
and Culture.

Continue Reading