By Jared TJune 7, 2009
Maybe this is old news to some, but I wanted to bring attention to a program that the Church recently begun on its radio channel. Reid Nielson, professor of Church History and Doctrine at BYU and author/editor of a number of great works on Mormon history was asked to host a weekly radio program in which he interviews a mission or stake president from around the world and learns about the lives of LDS Church members the world over. The program is called Into All The World and has three previous podcasts available for listening online. I’m happy to see continued steps toward bringing issues facing the international church into sharper focus and I’m sure I speak for more than myself when I wish Reid well in this new project.
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By Jared TJune 4, 2009
Steve R. Sorensen, former director of the LDS Church Archives and co-editor of the 5th volume in the Joseph Smith Papers’ document series passed away on May 29, 2009. In 1980 he started work as an archivist for the Church and went on to serve 16 years as director of the Archives.[1] In 2006, Steve received the Leonard Arrington Award from the Mormon History Association for his lifetime contributions to Mormon history.[2]
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By Jared TJune 3, 2009
The Sacred Space Symposium at BYU concluded with a panel discussion guided by Richard Bushman and included each of today’s presenters. Dr. Bushman had opening remarks and launched discussion with a few questions of the panel before turning it over for questions from the audience. I did not take down the questions from the audience, sorry. We hope that providing these notes has been fruitful for many of you. Those of us who attended really enjoyed it and felt that the presenters were well prepared and engaging in their presentations. Jim Faulconer deserves hearty praise for his work putting it together and we hope to see many more conferences like this one that bring the work of national scholars from within and without the Mormon tradition to bear on issues of Mormon studies.
Richard Bushman
Before the Manhattan temple dedication a group of us was shown through the building.
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By Jared TJune 3, 2009
Laurie Maffly-Kipp, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In mid September 1983, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dedicated a temple in Santiago Chile. It was the first built in a Spanish speaking country, just a few months prior to the Mexico City Temple. Pres. Hinckley stood in for Pres. Kimball, Elders McConkie and Packer with wives and other leaders attended. This occasion was the most visible sign of the Church’s recent growth in South America. Work had been going on for years to prepare for it. The first stake organized in Chile occurred 11 yrs earlier. The members, he said, were not ready for a temple then.
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By Jared TJune 3, 2009
Michael Fishbane, Nathan Cummings Professor of Jewish Studies, Divinity School, University of Chicago presented on the Divine Presence in the Hebrew Bible. He hilighted that sacred places are not natural, but are made in the Hebrew Bible. My notes:
My contribution to this conference will be to focus on the theme of sacred space in the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew Bible is the foundational document of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. My orientation has to benefit from the limitations of one slice of historic theology, but we’ll see that it has many dimensions. To help narrow the focus, I want to talk about the interplay of sacred space in the bible and the sacred presence.
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By Jared TJune 3, 2009
Hamid Mavani, Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies, Claremont Graduate University spoke on the sacred in Islam. In essence, he argued that sacred space is defined by intent in Islam. My reformulated notes:
I should let you know that I am the only Muslim speaker; you can be assured that what I say is the absolute truth [laughter].
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By Jared TJune 3, 2009
Richard A. Cohen, Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Institute of Jewish Thought and Heritage, University of Buffalo (SUNY) presented a paper a the Sacred Space Symposium on “Place, Sacred Space, and Utopia”. The session was chaired by Ralph Hancock, Associate Professor of Political Science, BYU. Dr. Cohen argued, in essence, that there is no sacred space in Judaism and even the most publicly sacred place in Judaism, the temple, is a testament to the placelessness of holiness in Judaism. My notes are not to be seen as a word for word transcript. I have made additions and rewordings for clarity and I missed plenty. Here it is:
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By Jared TJune 3, 2009
Elder Cecil O. Samuelson, President of Brigham Young University kicked off the Sacred Space Symposium with very brief remarks welcoming both presenters and guests. He remarked, in essence, that one of the roles of a university is to understand our own tradition better and also the understandings and perspectives of others. With presentations across a wide theological range, this is shaping up to be a great symposium.
The JI is out in force here this morning and we will be providing notes for each presentation. Stay tuned!!
By Jared TMay 19, 2009
Well, this week the Mormon History Association Conference will be in full swing at Springfield, Illinois. The preliminary program is here.
Panel Changes:
There has been at least one change to the schedule that you should be made aware of. The panel I’m a part of with Paul Reeve and Stan Thayne has moved to 2B, Friday 2:00 to 3:30 pm. It had been on Saturday. Presumably (we haven’t gotten any definite word), our panel switched with Chris, Ed and Mark Brown’s panel, which would place them in our old spot of 6A. So, be tuned to that and come out to see us!
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By Jared TApril 5, 2009
Day two of the Mormonism in the Public Mind conference at UVU went very well. See my notes for Day 1 here.
The First Panel, “Political Discourse and the Latter-day Saints” has been reported in a number of places. The Mormon Times reported on Kirk Jowers’ presentation “Did Romeny’s Religion Cost Him the Presidency?” and Thursday’s Keynote speaker, Michael Paulson liveblogged portions of each of the three panel participants on his Boston Globe religion blog, Articles of Faith.
My notes are as follows:
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