The Latter-day Saint tradition maintains a finite conception of God that challenges key tenets of classical Christian theism. God is understood to have a literal body of flesh and bone (D&C 130:22) and to relate to human beings in exceptionally passable and interactive ways (Jacob 5:7 & Moses 7:29). God is said to have created human beings in the divine likeness such that it is possible for humanity to become divine (Moses 1:39). God’s design for humanity is to create the conditions for spiritual growth and to labor with them toward the glorification of both (Jacob 5:72). This conference will explore divine finitude in the Latter-day Saint tradition and seeks to examine and build on the theological writings of thinkers such as B. H. Roberts, David Paulsen, Truman Madsen, Eugene England, Lowell Bennion, Sterling McMurrin, Margaret Toscano, and Fiona & Terryl Givens, among others.
The concept of divine finitude is especially relevant given the challenges confronting humanity in the contemporary world. How might Latter-day Saint theology respond meaningfully to the lived experience of chaos and hopelessness due to pervasive loss and suffering? How might its conception of God inform its approach to scriptural interpretation, ethics, and social activism? The conference will orient around four topics: scripture, revelation, the problem of evil, and liberation theology & social justice.
Thomas Jay Oord will give a plenary address entitled, “A Finite God: Internal or External Limitations.”
Dr. Oord is Professor of Open and Relational Theology and Director of the Center for Open and Relational Theology, Northwind Theological Seminary.
I got a kick out of your list of “finitists” — for a number of reasons. Sterling McMurrin was certainly not a finitist — or a believer in any kind of deity. Lowell Bennion likewise as definitely not a finitist and, at least in his later years, an agnostic. Margaret Toscano? Are you kidding? Fiona is not a finitist at all.
Comment by Blake — April 12, 2024 @ 6:33 pm
I would like to read Paulsen’s dissertation. Does anyone have some link or way to access it?
Comment by Eric Nielson — April 14, 2024 @ 5:11 pm
This one? https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/157453
Comment by Matt Witten — April 15, 2024 @ 11:26 am
Perhaps I missed something, but when and where is it?
Comment by Terry H — April 19, 2024 @ 10:01 am
I mean, I know its in the link, but just curious.
Comment by Terry H — April 19, 2024 @ 10:02 am
Matt, I have signed up with a friend account, but when I try to open the file I am told that I do not have the credentials for that.
Comment by Eric Nielson — April 22, 2024 @ 4:55 am
Blake, I get a kick out of your poor reading comprehension skills.
If your comment is directed to Joseph, who posted this description, please understand that this isn’t his list. The Juvenile Instructor has no formal relationship with the conference or its sponsors. We’re merely helping to spread the word, as Mormon blogs have been doing for decades at this point.
Also, the list of individuals are never identified as “finitists.” It’s strange you would put that word in quotation marks when it is never used in the OP. It merely identifies the individuals listed as “thinkers.”
Comment by Christopher — April 24, 2024 @ 2:07 pm