By March 18, 2013
First I must say this: Hooray! The publication of the Nauvoo Relief Society Minutes has been a long time coming?one hundred and seventy one years, to be exact. The Beginning of Better Days: Divine Instruction to Women from the Prophet Joseph Smith, ed. by Sheri Dew and Virginia H. Pearce, presents powerful words and meaningful experiences, both with the Nauvoo Relief Society and with its interpretation.
By March 17, 2013
Last week Ardis (from Keepapitchinin) pointed out that in the early 1900s some church assignments held by females did not require ?setting apart.? [1] Female missionary did, however, and Amelia Carling received her ?missionary blessing? on 1901 Jun 25 from Apostle John W Taylor. Below I comment on some gendered aspects of her blessing in comparison to a selection of contemporary male blessings. [2] The complete text of Carling?s blessing is in the footnote. [3]
By March 16, 2013
Lately I’ve had a number of people ask me to clarify what the “hermetic tradition” was and I realized that although I’ve written some blog posts dealing with the topic, I ought to make a few more clarifications. The notion of a Hermetic tradition is the work of Francis Yates and her very influential book Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition. It was this book that John Brooke used to frame Mormonism in his Refiner’s Fire. Yates’s work did much to shed light on early-modern modes of thought that had previously been under-explored but like most works, they get a little dated over time, and I will list a few of the critiques here.
One of the biggest problems was that Yates called a number of ideas “Hermetic” that were not in the Corpus Hermeticum [1]: like astrology, alchemy, and kabbalah. Such modes of thought, Yates argued, shared a common essence with Hermetism. Though Yates always used the term “Hermetism” (the preferred term of those who study antiquity) later scholars began using the term “Hermeticism” as a broader umbrella for the practices not in the Corpus Hermeticum, but similar in essence [2]. Thus “Hermetism” meant the ideas in the Corpus, “Hermeticism” meant the broader term. This move unfortunately created a bigger mess because the term “Hermeticism” became too vague. What was deemed Hermetic was now an intuitive judgment call, rather than a process of tying ideas back to particular sources.
By March 15, 2013
– Emmeline B. Wells, Exponent, Vol. 3 (Sept. 1874), No. 9
In his book Enlightenment Contested, Jonathan Israel argues that the first ?revolutions? were not, in fact, political rebellions; “revolution” referred to new epistemic frameworks caused by the likes of Galilean, Copernican, Newtonian, and Cartesian paradigm shifts. These new conceptual models laid the groundwork for later political reforms; in Condorcet?s concise maxim: ?only philosophy can cause a true revolution.? One of the reasons I have focused my research on 18th century European intersections of gender and religion is because of this very notion: that beliefs matter. And when people challenge or reinterpret the status quo, interesting things happen.
By March 14, 2013
On the second day of October conference 1929, LDS Church President Heber J. Grant introduced three other Presidents without warning?Sisters Louise Robison, Ruth May Fox, and May Anderson. President Grant commented,
?We have listened to a great many testimonies from our brethren during this conference.
We shall now call on some of our sisters??[1]
By March 13, 2013
On April 28, 1842 Joseph Smith attended a meeting of the nascent Female Relief Society of Nauvoo. He delivered a sermon. Eliza R. Snow recorded a long-hand report of the sermon in the Society?s minute book, and Willard Richards recorded a brief summary in the “Book of the Law of the Lord” [n1]. Smith opened up his discourse by referencing 1 Corinthians, chapter 12. “He said the reason of these remarks being made, was, that some little thing was circulating in the Society, that some persons were not going right in laying hands on the sick &c.” Smith proceeded to deliver an emphatic endorsement of women performing healing rituals. The sermon included other material, but the participation of women in the healing liturgy was a primary concern.
By March 10, 2013
Amelia B Carling was one of the first ?official? full-time female missionaries for the Church and was the first for the Southwestern States Mission. [1] I have previously transcribed her account of the events leading to the mission call and her defense of ?lady missionaries?? right to preach. Below I transcribe her mission call letter and compare it to the letters received by male missionaries.
By March 9, 2013
Suppose that you were interested in Mormon women?s history, and suppose that you owned a library card and a computer. Now suppose you wished a smart group of LDS scholars would make you a list of classic texts and maybe comment a bit on why each book is worth a read. And while they were at it, throw in a roundup of web and digital resources for Mormon women?s history, too.
Voila! Today is your lucky day. The JI authors have been busy crowdsourcing this annotated bibliography of our must-read books and online archival resources for the history of Mormon women.
By March 7, 2013
?We Latter-day Saints are Methodists, as far as they have gone, only we have advanced further.? -Joseph Smith to Peter Cartwright[1]
I?ve argued elsewhere that the above quote encapsulates how many Methodist converts to early Mormonism understood their new religion. The more I study the trajectory of Methodism in antebellum America and the beginnings of Mormonism, the more I?m convinced that the statement also highlights an actual historical truth. In matters of ecclesiology, theology, and liturgy, early Mormons?whether consciously or not (and I think there?s some of both going on)?took a concept originated and/or popularized by Methodists and went one step further, thus simultaneously building on and challenging the foundation from which the new religion sprang.[2] For this reason, among others, I think a close reading of Mormon texts?including scriptural texts?that pays particular attention to Methodism?s discursive community can yield important insights into the Mormon past.[3]
© 2025 – Juvenile Instructor
Recent Comments
Steve Fleming on BH Roberts on Plato: “Interesting, Jack. But just to reiterate, I think JS saw the SUPPRESSION of Platonic ideas as creating the loss of truth and not the addition.…”
Jack on BH Roberts on Plato: “Thanks for your insights--you've really got me thinking. I can't get away from the notion that the formation of the Great and Abominable church was an…”
Steve Fleming on BH Roberts on Plato: “In the intro to DC 76 in JS's 1838 history, JS said, "From sundry revelations which had been received, it was apparent that many important…”
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