By Ben PJune 3, 2009
[My last contribution to JI’s attempt to recreate this wonderful symposium]
Steve Olsen, “The Mormon Quest for Zion”
Although not a lawyer, Olsen presented his paper point-by-point as if arguing a case. Further, he used powerpoint to present each point. As such, I think the best way to stay true to his presentation is to post each point that he put up (they are all pretty self-explanatory). These are his thoughts on the development of Mormon thought of “sacred space.”
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By Ben PJune 3, 2009
[Again, take these as my far-from-perfect reformulations of a spectacular presentation]
Jeanne Halgren Kilde, “Foregrounding the Background: Power and Proximity in Sacred Space
Kilde began her fascinating presentation with a defense for the study of sacred space. She credited us for wanting to engage the issue, because it is largely in the background of religious scholarships. This neglect is mostly because of two reasons: first, we often focus on texts as the best representation of religious thought. Second, when we do move beyond texts, we mostly focus on ritual. This leaves out an important part of the ‘soul’ of religious worship: the actual space—the architecture, the layout, and the physical appearance of how and where worship occurs. She argues that we can gain access to the believer’s mind by looking at how they viewed space as an element of religion. Specifically to her research, Kilde has focused on what sacred space can tell us about the evolving idea of authority.[1]
Kilde gave several great examples of how this approach can reveal much about religious history.
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By Ben PJune 3, 2009
What follows is my sporadic, poor attempt of reformulation, added by notes, of Givens’s presentation–take them as such.
Terryl Givens, “Contexts for an LDS Temple”
Givens introduced his presentation by explaining that he would address the temple in four different contexts. First, within the context of JS’s ideas of apostasy and restoration. Second, through the lens of the temple as human anthropology, or the eternal potential of pre- and post-mortal possibilities. Third, as a response to the Romantic notion of natural supernaturalism. And fourth, addressing the possibility of a “weeping God.”
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By Ben PJune 1, 2009
(Note: If you couldn’t from Ryan T’s last comment and this brief post, three of us JIers are currently taking part in an intense seminar on the Pratt brothers’ writings. Therefore, you may see quite a bit on good ol’ Parley and Orson; be advised.)
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By Ben PMay 29, 2009
As one whose ?to-read? pile lends a large shadow over both my desk and nightstand, devotional history books put out by publishers like Deseret Book or Covenant Press don?t usually make the list. However, a couple weeks I decided to download the audio version of a recent ?popular? devotional/historical work.[1] While this post is formatted like a standard book review, I hope that it will serve as a ?springboard? of sorts to discuss the practice of writing history for the faithful masses.
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By Ben PMay 23, 2009
Award Recipients from the 2009 MHA Awards Banquet.
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By Ben PMay 11, 2009
Patriarchal blessings have always been an important aspect of Mormonism, and serve as a great window through which to interpret early Mormon thought. One key to understanding Joseph Smith Sr.?s role as the first patriarch is to recognize that the bestowal of ?patriarchal blessings? was a crucial step for Latter-day Saints to connect themselves with the authority of the past. Jan Shipps noted that early Mormonism was a ?movement in which leader and followers were together living through?recapitulating?the stories of Israel and early Christianity?[1]?the implementation of patriarchal blessings was an important way to do this.
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By Ben PApril 26, 2009
To begin his preface to A Discourse of the Baconian Philosophy, conservative Calvinist Samuel Tyler quoted approvingly Francis Bacon’s famous statement that had by then became the mantra for American religious discourse: “It ought to be eternally resolved and settled, that the understanding cannot be decide[d] otherwise, than by Induction, and by a legitimate form of it.”[1]
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By Ben PApril 20, 2009
I have been dealving into Nauvoo-era theology recently–a task not for the faint of heart. There are plenty of un-touched topics there just waiting to be analyzed, but one of the themes that has stood out to me the most, however, is Joseph Smith’s reconception of the state of the body–its nature, its potential, and even its inherent power. These are some preliminary thoughts on the topic; preliminary, because it only relies on sermons reproduced in Ehat and Cook’s Words of Joseph Smith (and only those before summer of ’43 at that), and engages very limited contemporary and secondary sources. (Also, since we have been getting quite a bit of discussion on Joseph Smith’s view of spirits lately, I thought we should even it out by also engaging his view of the body.)
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By Ben PApril 8, 2009
…and don’t worry, it doesn’t mention any salamanders.
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