By September 18, 2008
I had the privilege a couple weeks ago of plowing through the Beinecke Library out at Yale in search of LDS-related stuff. Specifically, I got to spend a couple days just looking through the D. Michael Quinn Collection–quite a treasure-trove of documents, specifcally relating to “transitional” period Mormonism.
By September 14, 2008
This is not so much an analytical post as it is an invitation for a forum of discussion.
By September 11, 2008
This afternoon, halfway through a wonderful presentation by David Whittaker on the relationship between Brigham Young and Thomas L. Kane, I realized that I probably should have brought my laptop so I could have taken notes to share. As a form of repentance, I figured I should post the remaining schedule on what should be a very interesting lecture series over the next six months:
By August 19, 2008
Earlier this summer, in preparation for my first-time visit to Monticello in the lush country of Virginia, I read Joseph Ellis?s biography on Thomas Jefferson.[1] In the introduction, I was particularly struck by what Ellis described as one of the main struggles in writing on a man like Jefferson:
By August 17, 2008
Enlightenment thought brought many threats to eighteenth and nineteenth century religious movements.
By August 13, 2008
David Whitmer was a powerful figure in the early Mormon Church. Besides being one of the Book of Mormon Witnesses, he was in the Missouri Presidency and (some believed) ordained to be Joseph Smith’s successor in 1834. He was released from his Missouri position in 1837 and was excommunicated from the Church in 1838.
By August 4, 2008
Limiting the time-frame of when Joseph Smith was visited by Peter, James, and John to a specific period has been problematic for Mormon historians. This mostly results from Joseph’s (almost) complete silence regarding the event. His statements on it are both very rare and quite ambiguous. Here, I will give a brief outline of the debate, a couple of the most relevant arguments, and then leave it open for discussion on some important questions.
By July 29, 2008
Today I had the privilege of attending the 2008 Bushman Seminar, entitled “Joseph Smith and His Critics” (for a preview of the conference by Stephen Flemming, one of the participants, see here). I brought along my laptop to take notes, though they not very detailed. What follows is a combination of my notes and my reflections on the proceedings. They are very scattered and random, but I hope they give at least a little sense of what was said.
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.
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