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 Ardis SJune 5, 2009
I’m sorry for the severe delay in posting this research. It is a very interesting facet of my overall research at discussions of civil rights in BYU’s newspaper The Daily Universe:
In March 1964, the Daily Universe published a series of three editorials on the Nation of Islam, which were most likely reprinted editorials from a national newspaper.[1] The first of the three editorial was published three days after Malcolm X announced that he was leaving the Nation of Islam, and an editor?s note preceding the first editorial noted that the editorial series was being published given ?recent developments in the Black Muslim movement? and ?recent publicity? on Cassius Clay and the Nation of Islam.[2] Although the new series was listed under the headline of ?Black Muslim Threat,? the editorials discussed the religious movement in more objective and respectful terms than might be expected of an extreme group at BYU.
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By matt b.June 4, 2009
I
There’s been a lot of enthusiasm for this conference, and every inch of it deserved. Not a cubic zirconium among the presentations, and more than one absolute diamond (Laurie Maffly-Kipp on preparation; Richard Cohen on the Hebrew temple). This was an impressive and a diverse kaleidoscope, and the most interesting thing was the way, one after another, each speaker demonstrated the point Jeanne Halgren Kilde made – that talking about sacred space, at its essence, is talking about the way we experience religion. Space matters because people do things in it.
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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 Ben PJune 3, 2009
[My last contribution to JI’s attempt to recreate this wonderful symposium]
Steve Olsen, “The Mormon Quest for Zion”
Although not a lawyer, Olsen presented his paper point-by-point as if arguing a case. Further, he used powerpoint to present each point. As such, I think the best way to stay true to his presentation is to post each point that he put up (they are all pretty self-explanatory). These are his thoughts on the development of Mormon thought of “sacred space.”
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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 Ben PJune 3, 2009
[Again, take these as my far-from-perfect reformulations of a spectacular presentation]
Jeanne Halgren Kilde, “Foregrounding the Background: Power and Proximity in Sacred Space
Kilde began her fascinating presentation with a defense for the study of sacred space. She credited us for wanting to engage the issue, because it is largely in the background of religious scholarships. This neglect is mostly because of two reasons: first, we often focus on texts as the best representation of religious thought. Second, when we do move beyond texts, we mostly focus on ritual. This leaves out an important part of the ‘soul’ of religious worship: the actual space—the architecture, the layout, and the physical appearance of how and where worship occurs. She argues that we can gain access to the believer’s mind by looking at how they viewed space as an element of religion. Specifically to her research, Kilde has focused on what sacred space can tell us about the evolving idea of authority.[1]
Kilde gave several great examples of how this approach can reveal much about religious history.
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