By October 28, 2014
Here is the first, in a series, of answers to historical questions about polygamy, as a result of the LDS Church’s new Gospel Topics essays on plural marriage.
Let us know if you have more questions here.
Without further ado, here are the first three questions.
By October 26, 2014
Most notably, the LDS Church released three essays on the practice of polygamy during the Nauvoo, Utah, and post-Manifesto eras. if you have questions about polygamy that were not answered in any of the essays, SUBMIT THEM HERE.
Despite the click-baity title, The New Republic had a great article on Mormon genealogy, particularly as it relates to LDS theology. Here’s a snippet:
By October 22, 2014
We at JI were very happy to see the LDS Church’s release of three essays on plural marriage yesterday. The histories of Nauvoo Era, Utah Era, and Post-Manifesto polygamy have not been told by institutional sources in such a clear, open way. Facebook conversations and Twitter dialogues popped up quickly; many are still ongoing. The Bloggernacle has begun to respond already.
With that said, we at JI couldn’t help but notice that many individuals still had burning questions on plural marriage. Although many of the questions people had were actually answered by the essays, there are still more nuanced questions that were not answered by the essays. There are also questions of a more personal nature that, for obvious reasons, could not be answered by an essay aimed at a western, if not global, audience. Often, the questions asked on social media were not answered by folks with an academic knowledge of plural marriage. While many people know a lot about polygamy and polyandry, many of the responses to people’s questions were not based in history.
Juvenile Instructor wants to try and answer people’s questions about plural marriage with reference to sources, where available. As an academic Mormon History blog, we have a duty to not only analyze the essays themselves, but to engage with those interested in Mormon History and do our best to answer questions about plural marriage. All questions, from academics or non-academics, are welcome.
There are a few ground rules to participating:
PLEASE SHARE.
Please submit your questions here. You can also ask questions in the comments. We will answer the questions in future posts.
By October 6, 2014
During the past week, several of JI’s permabloggers have begun writing short intros to the birth of Mormonism for theses, dissertations, or articles. All of us expressed a desire to start the narrative after 1820, the year generally attributed to Joseph Smith’s First Vision.
By September 15, 2014
I’d like to offer some thoughts I’ve had on Jehu J. Hanciles’ Tanner Lecture at the 2014 meeting of the Mormon History Association. During his lecture, Professor Hanciles, a Professor of Global Christianity at Emory University, shared his research on the growth of Mormonism in Africa.
By August 5, 2014
Our friends at BYU’s Department of Church History and Doctrine are looking for another recruit. Full information and application here. Relevant details can be found below.
Position Title: Faculty Church History & Doctrine
Beginning Date: Fall 2015
Qualifications: PhD or equivalent degree completed prior to application from an accredited institution of higher learning, preferably in history, religious studies, or other related field; Special emphasis on ability to teach and research mid-to-late nineteenth and twentieth century Church history; show evidence of training and skill in research and scholarly writing, preferably with a record of peer-reviewed publications in high quality academic venues; show evidence of ability to teach Doctrine and Covenants and Latter-day Saint history (CES courses); previous university-level teaching experience; be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and observe standards of conduct consistent with qualifying for temple privileges.
Duties/Responsibilities: Teach assigned classes in Church History & Doctrine, especially the Doctrine and Covenants (8-10 credit hours per semester, 4 credit hours per spring or summer term). Classroom instructions must be both intellectually rigorous and spiritually strengthening and consistent with acceptable academic standards. Mentor students; serve on university, college, and/or department committees or other assignments in professional or academic associations. Be a contributing and collegial team player. Continually engage in scholarly research and writing, as evidenced by regular publishing in high quality top-tier venues.
Deadline: August 31, 2014
By June 22, 2014
After a few weeks’ hiatus, we’re back and better than ever! Let’s go:
In case you don’t have Facebook/Twitter/receive a newspaper/talk to Mormons for any length of time, two high-profile Mormons (Kate Kelly and John Dehlin) are facing church discipline for “apostasy.” Here’s the most noteworthy articles on the subject:
By June 21, 2014
MHA and the Joseph Smith Papers Project
The Joseph Smith Papers Project released a blog post about the forthcoming Council of Fifty Minutes; it’s a nice summary for those who weren’t at MHA.
By June 16, 2014
At the Mormon History Association’s meetings two weeks ago (was it only two weeks ago?!), I attended several excellent sessions and roundtables. Each of the sessions I attended was worth the price of the conference registration; it was my favorite MHA I’ve attended. As usual, meals, hall conversations, and the student reception provided an excellent arena for sharing ideas about the research being presented, but also about the new developments in Mormon history and American religious history.
© 2026 – Juvenile Instructor
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