By Jared TAugust 16, 2011
Call for Papers
The History of Mormonism in Latin America and the U. S.-Mexico Borderlands
We are pleased to announce a call for papers for a conference on the history of Mormonism in Latin America and the U.S. Mexico Borderlands to be held in El Paso, Texas on July 28, 2012 in conjunction with a 100th Anniversary Commemoration of the ?Exodus? of settlers from the Mormon Colonies in northern Mexico to the United States.
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By Jared TJuly 29, 2011
Drew Briney. Silencing Mormon Polygamy: Failed Persecutions, Divided Saints & the Rise of Mormon Fundamentalism, Volume 1. Hindsight Publications, n.p., 2008.
This book, a free review copy, has been sitting on my shelf for perhaps the last two years as I’ve done all I can to avoid a) reviewing it and b) paying for it. I think part of my trepidation was that the issues I had with it were so vast that I just didn’t know where to begin or how to possibly provide a glimpse of the web that the book weaves. I will not take the time to take you through all the twists and turns of the story the author tells, but will instead focus on some issues that make that story suspect. You’ll note in the picture that I read the book thoroughly (what can I say, the summer of 2009 must have been slow).
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By Jared TJune 4, 2011
Our own Chris Jones’ excellent article, “The Power and Form of Godliness: Methodist Conversion Narratives and Joseph Smith’s First Vision,” explores, first, the significance of the rebuke Joseph Smith related in his 1838 First Vision account that all other Churches had a form of Godliness but denied the power thereof.
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By Jared TJune 3, 2011
It’s that time again. The latest issue of the Journal of Mormon History is rolling out to a mailbox near you (if you’re lucky enough to be a subscriber–if not–what are you waiting for?).
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By Jared TMay 27, 2011
I submitted the following abstract in response to MHA?s call for papers for the 2011 conference, underway as we speak. I was pleased to receive notice that my proposal had been accepted, but in the time between submission and acceptance, circumstances had changed. My family was now expecting a new arrival, due May 23, 2011 (he arrived a week early?welcome, Hyrum!). Since the due date was the very week of MHA, I declined acceptance, and I?m jealously following reports of those who are attending. Here is the abstract:
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By Jared TMay 12, 2011
I confess to having been slightly confused about exactly what has been published in the JSP and I may be the only one, but just in case I’m not, I thought I’d put up this short summary of what we have to date. With the very recent addition of two volumes, the fine scholars at the JSP continue their excellent work.
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By Jared TMay 11, 2011
Dear MHA Members,
For the past three years Patricia Lyn Scott has served the Mormon History Association, first as Co-Executive Director and then as Executive Director, just the most visible period of her decades of dedicated service to the organization as a member of councils, boards, and committees. As Pat concludes her three-year service as Executive Editor, we, her current Board colleagues, express our heartfelt appreciation for Pat’s significant contribution to the advancement and perpetuation of the Association. Her term as Executive Director will end later in the summer on July 31, 2011, consistent with her original appointment, after directing the work for the imminent St. George Conference. Along with her notable work on the earlier Sacramento, Springfield, and Independence conferences, as well as the 2012 Calgary conference, her kindly manner and friendly cheer have helped MHA in equally important ways. We wish Pat well in her current and future scholarly projects, which are several.
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By Jared TMarch 1, 2011
A few years ago, while discussing seer stones with Steve Sorensen, he mentioned that there was an obscure reference in someone’s papers that gave a formula for how to make a seer stone and that wasn’t in Quinn’s Early Mormonism and the Magic World View. Later that day he forwarded me his notes from the John Steele collection (MS 1847) at the Church Archives (now Church History Library) and it was like nothing I’d ever seen before.
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By Jared TFebruary 13, 2011
Hitting shelves this April is this long-awaited collection of essays edited by Paul Reeve and Michael S. Van Wagenen and which features the work of two JIers: Matt and Stan. The book’s webpage states that,
Mormons gave distinctive meanings to supernatural legends and events, but their narratives incorporated motifs found in many cultures. Many such historical legends and beliefs found adherents down to the present. This collection employs folklore to illuminate the cultural and religious history of a people.
The contents:
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By Jared TFebruary 2, 2011
The Journal of Mormon History 37:1 (Winter 2011)
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