Archive for 2007

On the sweetness of Mormon life. Some child behind me started yelling during a really good talk about charity. Because of the talk, perhaps, I remembered not to turn around and gawk. Later I peeked behind me and saw a young mother with three small children who had slipped in late. ... Read More »

America, as they say, is browning. Latino/as recently surpassed African Americans as the largest minority group in the United States, and the Church is experiencing that browning along with the rest of the nation. “According to Church statisticians, the future of the Church does not lie in Europe, Canada, or the United States but... Read More »

The Spanish-language scriptures use the name José Smith. This raises interesting questions: Which names do we choose to translate and which do we choose not to translate, and why? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The poem Stille Nacht has six verses, though we typically only sing three of them. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Son: Was the night when Jesus was born really silent? Me: No, not really. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Yesterday was Joseph Smith’s birthday. I wonder sometimes how important it is to us in the 21st century that he was born in Vermont, given that the narratives we use to discuss Joseph usually skip his birthplace altogether and fast forward to New York. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Because Adam asked, here’s my Santa Claus/Meaning-of-Christmas manifesto, originally written on my own blog three years ago. A brief update: our oldest daughter, mentioned below in this post, is now eleven, and while she is a joyful and spirited participant in the Christmas season, particularly for the sake of her three younger sisters, she... Read More »

Christ was uniquely part divine and part mortal. The Almighty was his father, the woman Mary was his mother. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Oliver Wendell Holmes famously wrote, “The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience.” In various writings, he expanded that claim, contrasting a natural law approach to justifying legal and ethical rules of conduct with his own more modest approach rooted in history and experience and falling under... Read More »

My wife’s grandmother, Elaine Harris, has lived in Evanston, Wyoming, all her life, except for a brief period during the Depression, when lack of work at home forced her parents–my wife’s great-grandparents, John and Dorothy Martin–to relocate their family to Bountiful (technically Woods Cross) in search of employment. It was there, seventy years ago... Read More »

Christmas Bells, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols play, 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

When Christ says to Mary and Joseph– I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me –they will not ask him “when?”. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In his recent (and excellent) book, Making Space on the Western Frontier: Mormons, Miners, and Southern Paiutes, Paul Reeve examines the contact and interactions between the three groups mentioned in his title in southern Utah/eastern Nevada during the last four decades of the 19th century. Although Reeve uses the word “frontier” in his title,... Read More »

‘Parascripture’ was the term Hugh Nibley used to refer to popular statements of religious sentiment that weren’t actually found in scripture, and that can sometimes be the vehicle for foreign ideas to find a home in a Mormon setting. An example in recent circulation is, “If you want to talk to God, pray; if... Read More »

There is only one Christmas. Each year it comes slightly more into view. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

(and always has been). 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The way we see and define who we are is usually closely related to how we understand the past. Most of us have overlapping identities that require us to negotiate compromises between them and these compromises shape our narratives of history. African American members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have... Read More »

There have been some interesting discussions of Mormonism in the media lately. Commenters like Lawrence O’Donnell, Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich, and others have made statements about the church in highly public places. What are we (or others) to make of these? In this post, I’ll try to address some of the... Read More »

Reading bloggernacle Christmas posts each year is one way I observe Christmas. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In April 2005, I spent two weeks on assignment for the Joseph Smith Papers Project in Missouri and Illinois, visiting court houses and archives searching for documents pertaining to early Mormon history. On the second evening of my stay in northwestern Missouri, I drove down a lonely dirt road to a desolate place that... Read More »

That stands for “Historian In, Historian Out”–Times and Seasons bids farewell to one historian, Paul Reeve, and welcomes another, David Grua. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The mission president called. Would I, as his counselor, conduct a baptismal interview? A case he wouldn’t have the zone leaders handle, a woman with a troubled past. Most likely involving a chastity issue. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

You heard it here first: a member of the Quorum of the Twelve has ordered you to blog about the Church. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

This year, Simon turned nine, Nathan turned six, and Truman turned three. For previous installments, see here, here, and here. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

From the archives. This Christmas season I’ll be reposting a few favorite Christmas posts from the past. This first one is from December 18 of 2005 and may not make sense as a Christmas post until a later one I put up. I would appreciate that any substantive comments be left... Read More »

If Mormons had a liturgical year, the distinctively Mormon part of December would be tithing settlement, not a limp dutifulness like Joseph Smith’s birthday. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

According to Eugene England, this is the best Mormon poem ever written: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I apologize to you unfortunates who don’t know the pure, sweet beauties of an obsession with politics. This post is not for you. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In fall 2001 (vol. 27, pp. 125-149) the Journal of Mormon History published an article I wrote entitled “‘As Ugly as Evil’ and ‘As Wicked as Hell’: Gadianton Robbers and the Legend Process among the Mormons.” Let me share a few excerpts from it and then pose a question. 0 people like... Read More »

Imagine that universally-respected researchers had determined that most of the people in your community eat too much sugar and fat, and are at serious risk of developing diabetes, hardened arteries, and other ailments associated with poor diet and inadequate exercise. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I have a theological crush (not to be confused with an intellectual crush or a garden variety crush) on Rob Bell. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In 1874 a short lived satirical newspaper appeared in Utah, under the title Enoch’s Advocate: A Temporary Journal Devoted to the Interests of the United Order of Wooden Shoes. The paper’s sole intent was to take jabs both in picture and in print at Brigham Young and the United Order effort... Read More »

“I am persuaded that many do not understand the Church’s teachings about personal criticism, especially the criticism of Church leaders by Church members.” Thus begins Elder Oaks’ 1987 article on criticism, its uses and abuses. Our Relief Society President used it as the basis for a Sacrament Meeting talk last month... Read More »

Clarissa, the daughter of commenter East Coast, is a seventh-grader, the only Latter-day Saint in a student body of more than 600. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Up at 6:20am, into the shower, on with the shirt and tie and jacket. Grap some Grape-Nuts in the kitchen. Open the front door: a half-inch or so of sleet on the ground. No biggie, I think. Normally I walk, but this morning I’m running late, so I hop in the car, drive to... Read More »

As of this writing, Google News lists 769 newspaper reports about Mitt Romney’s speech yesterday, and 8,232 stories since yesterday containing the word “Mormon”. Please share your finds with the rest of us. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Much of the commentary and criticism swirling around Mitt Romney and the religion issue seems to take as its starting point the assumption that there is a single Mormon view on any particular issue, decided by LDS leaders and accepted by the LDS membership. Too bad there isn’t a Mormon view on particular... Read More »

Thank you, Mr. President, for your kind introduction. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

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We recently surveyed a bunch of politically savvy bloggernacle types — including some of our own T&S crew — and asked them to answer in a few paragraphs this question: “What would you say tomorrow (in the much-anticipated “Religion Talk”) if you were Mitt Romney?” Here are replies we’ve received: 0 people... Read More »

Each Monday they rotate drivers. Every three weeks it is my mom’s turn. She picks up Margarete and MaryLou in her Buick and they drive to St. George to visit Shirlee. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I was flipping through a book called The Secret at the bookstore. I don’t want to criticize the book itself too much, since I haven’t read it in detail. But there seem to be an awful lot of bestsellers, prosperity gospellers, and seminar gurus out there, all preaching that “you are the... Read More »

In a 19th-century Utah newspaper, a wise and thoughtful satirist argued that the polygamy “problem” had wrongly been characterized as a numbers issue—how many wives a man had—rather than a quantity issue—how much wife a man had. The satirist offered this ingenious answer under the heading, 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I suspect that on Thursday Mitt Romney’s Mormonism will perform the function that Mormonism has been fulfilling in American politics for a century and a half: It will be an anvil on which this mainly Protestant nation hammers out the place of religion in public life. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In the historiography of communication, orality refers to reliance on the spoken word as well as to the corresponding institutions and habits of mind, while literacy means not just the ability to read, but also the mental habits and social institutions that attend the use of writing, or more specifically the use of an... Read More »

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In 1846 during the Mormon Exodus from Illinois, as the Saints were strung out in various camps across Iowa and farther west, Mormon Warren Foote went in search of a mill to grind some of his grain: “It is quite a curiosity for the inhabitants here to see a “Mormon,” he wrote. ... Read More »

Mitt Romney has decided to formally address his Mormonism in a speech this Thursday. His campaign is stressing that he won’t be detailing Mormon doctrine, but speaking more broadly to the role of faith in America and in Mitt Romney. This speech will cause every major news organization on the planet... Read More »

It has no doubt been noticed–for those that care about the deep red-blue rivalries of Utah, anyway–that Times and Seasons does pretty well when it comes to drawing upon the Cougars insofar as perma- and guest-bloggers are concerned, but until this point, our track record with the Utes has been lacking. With arrival of... Read More »

On the sweetness of Mormon life– We came a few minutes late to our small ward and could hardly find a spot to squeeze in. The chapel was full of family from the funeral on Wednesday and for today’s two baby blessings. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Terryl Givens is doing a great deal in People of Paradox. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Terryl Givens was kind enough to share some reflections on his book, People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture, in response to our questions. His answers follow, in italics. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Stake conference in the mission field. Still the mission field, for although we are a stake, there is no stake center, only a chapel in some of the main cities, and rented rowhouses elsewhere. The stake covers some 10,000 square miles. Therefore we gather in this huge, sparsely lit movie theatre—theatre number 14 in... Read More »

Call for Papers: “Interpretation: LDS Perspectives” Sponsored by Mormon Scholars in the Humanities and Mormon Scholars Foundation 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

“May These Principles Be Established”: Mormonism in the Political Arena 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Terryl Givens and Richard Bushman share a common pattern of scholarship. Both seek to put the Mormon experience into a broad cultural and historical framework. Both seek engage us by bringing Mormon history into dialogue with the broader history of our shared civilization. This is part of an encouraging direction in... Read More »

This story begins at the bitter end, with suicide in a Butte brothel. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

His fruitful new study provides lots to chew on this winter. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Terryl Givens’ new book, People of Paradox, provocatively explores how distinctive features of Mormon faith are expressed in Mormon culture. Times and Seasons has decided to hold a symposium to review it, and to take up the conversation it begins. The symposium will include 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A Canticle for Liebowitz has a remarkable scene where a priest tries to persuade a mother not to euthanize her radiation-poisoned child. He argues with her in front of the emergency euthanasia tents, under the gaze of a statue called “Mercy” that the emergency euthanasia authorities have erected. The statue is a... Read More »

Graduate Student Conference at Claremont: Call for Papers “May These Principles Be Established”: Mormonism in the Political Arena 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Here’s a post for your afternoon stupor. What were your mission Thanksgiving meals like? Tell us in the comments. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. The world, and all they that dwell therein. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

What’s going to be on your plate tomorrow? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Today, my older brother, James Daniel Fox, turns 40. That’s right: 40. Forty! Which means I’m thirty-nine, and that’s plain crazy. Something has gone dreadfully wrong, I know it. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Two different scientific teams have independently discovered they can convert normal human cells into “embryonic” stem cells without destroying or cloning embryos. For those of us who realize that “embryo” is just shorthand for an embryonic person, this is great news. See the NYT and the Washington Post 0 people like this... Read More »

People of Paradox is unusual: Givens sets out four major paradoxes in Mormon thought and then shows how various aspects of Mormon culture (the life of the mind, architecture, visual art, dance, film, etc.), at various moments in history, negotiate those dilemmas. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I’m probably the last man on the Bloggernacle to realize that the the great stone which smashes to bits the statue in Daniel is not necessarily just a universal government. The stone is the gospel Kingdom, which is both spiritual and temporal. So it makes as much sense to compare parts of... Read More »

People frequently claim that Mormonism is an essentially atheological religion. It is not always exactly clear what is meant by this statement, but it generally seems to me something like we place right practice and sacred stories at the center of our faith rather than an abstract set of propositions. Whatever the... Read More »

When we read the Book of Mormon, whose voice do we think we are hearing? Trying to answer that question, I think, is one of the essential moves in a Mormon mode of interpretation. Consider, for example, 2 Nephi 2:17, where Lehi pauses to speculate on Lucifer’s origins: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In 2004, the church issued True to the Faith, a First Presidency-approved booklet discussing many points of church doctrine. The booklet includes a discussion of birth control. How does that official, First Presidency-approved discussion compare to both President Beck’s recent talk on Mothers Who Know, and to the anti-Beck statement at the... Read More »

Is “multiply and replenish the earth” one commandment, or two? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Several women I know and like recently signed on to an anti-President-Beck’s-talk statement. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In Moses 7, Enoch sees God weep because of the wickedness and suffering of his children. When does God’s weeping end? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Check out these wacky ads, straight off of today’s Gmail sidebar. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The recent conference on Mormonism and American Politics at Princeton University, organized by former Times and Seasons blogger Melissa Proctor, was–from the perspective of this participant at least–a resounding success: plenty of exchanges, ideas, and arguments, some presented formally through papers and many others emerging informally through conversations after and between sessions, all packed... Read More »

How an obscure academic article yielded marketing gold. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

What the conservative chattering class is chattering about the last few days is Jacques Barzun and his book From Dawn to Decadence . So it was no surprise to see Steve Sailor quote the book’s lessons. Here’s one lesson that piqued my Mormon interest. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

John Varah Long was cited to appear before church officials in 1866 for, among other reasons, “belonging to the young men’s social club, and other conduct unbecoming a saint.” Is it possible that the social club, one cause of Long’s excommunication, was also a model for the church’s Mutual Improvement Associations? 0 people like this... Read More »

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I have long thought that there ought to be an online clearing house for research papers related to Mormonism. My proposed model is SSRN, the Social Science Research Network, where scholars in law, economics, and other disciplines upload copies of working papers and published articles. Each article is accompanied by an abstract,... Read More »

Go read this. Then return and report. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

That time of year thou may’st in me behold 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Ben called my attention to this discussion. David Bokovoy, who is working on a PhD in Hebrew Bible at Brandeis and is the CES director in Boston, sets out this argument: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A recent change in the wording of the Book of Mormon may suggests a shift in the church’s view of the relationship between Lamanites and American Indian tribes. The prior introduction, written just 26 years ago by Elder McConkie, stated that the Lamanites were “the principal ancestors of the American Indians.” 0 people... Read More »

Reading the Book of Mormon is a lot like reading Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan.” 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In the summer of 1879, a meteor streaked across the sky above Utah, and people throughout the state tried to describe what they had seen and heard. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

So it’s vouchers time in Utah. Here are what I see as the relevant issues, minus the apocalyptic rhetoric: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A Evangelical classmate of mine discovered an easy tactic for bothering his Mormon classmates, that often required him only to occasionally omit the letter B or W from a sentence. In discussion about the church, he would conspicuously mention the name “Spencer Kimball,” or “Gordon Hinckley,” or “Ezra Benson.” This drove many... Read More »

This weekend, Princeton will host an interdisciplinary conference to discuss the contested intersection between religion and American politics. Speakers include Richard Bushman, Richard Land, Kathleen Flake, Philip Barlow, Marci Hamilton, Alan Wolfe, Helen Whitney, Mark Silk, Noah Feldman, Sarah Barringer Gordon, Stephen Macedo, Thomas Griffith, Melissa Proctor, Robert George, Russell Arben Fox, Chris... Read More »

I’m tired of waiting around for Mormonism to develop the rich extra-biblical tradition of our Christian friends. Let’s get the ball rolling! 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

My God paints the skies for me. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Is it possible for someone not in a position of authority to practice unrighteous dominion? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Don’t forget, this weekend is Sunstone East, organized by blogoddess Kristine Haglund. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

November is TV sweeps month, where networks and stations vie for audiences to set their advertising rates for the coming months. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Suppose your government took an 11-year old child away from you–you’ve been his foster parents for two years–and put him in an institution. The reason? You’re Christians who believe homosexuality isn’t right. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

1. I don’t like Halloween. When we moved to Germany, I was looking forward to spending a couple years without interference from the least export-worthy American holiday celebration I can imagine. 2. Since I was last here, Halloween has been exported to Germany. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Joseph Smith went to the woods because he wished to know the truth of his existence. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A while back the chattering class got its knickers in a knot about demography. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

So, that costume you’re going to wear to your ward Halloween party tonight? The one you’ve been working on for weeks? The one that you’ve consulted your parents/spouse/children/roomates/bishop/stake high council about? The one that manages to be simultaneously perfectly orthodox as well as moderately heretical, perhaps even a little risque? The one you’re so... Read More »

Which of the following statements would you agree with? 1. A school voucher system should be put into place, to more easily allow parents to remove their children from sometimes-deficient public schools and place them in more appropriate, parent-selected educational environments. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Today’s LA Times has a longish article on the recent official announcement of Richard Bushman as the Howard W. Hunter Visiting Professor in Mormon Studies, in the School of Religion at the Claremont Graduate University in Southern California. The appointment as... Read More »

Are all of us praying to Mother in Heaven, unawares? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I have been doing research lately on the resolution of civil disputs in Mormon courts in the nineteenth century. Last week, I presented some of my research at the American Society for Legal History conference at ASU. I recorded my presentation and made it into an episode for the Law Talk... Read More »

True or false: Mormons believe God is a married couple. (To receive credit, you must explain your answer. ) 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Before there were Young Men and Young Women, there were the Young Men’s and Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Associations. Before there were correlated lesson manuals and basketball and scouting and Young Womanhood awards and dancing-a-Book-of-Mormon’s-width-apart there were homemade programs. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is building a university from the ground up. It is to be much less conservative than other Saudi institutions, but is explicitly based in Muslim values. This opens some very exciting possibilities. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. Joel 2:30-31 (Photo: San Diego Fire Moon, originally uploaded by Tamara Hart,... Read More »

Note: this post begins a series of posts on President Beck’s recent conference talk. If you feel the need to vent your dislike of the talk, I imagine that you might possibly be able to find a thread somewhere in the Bloggernacle where you can do just that. But you can’t... Read More »

I hope some of you grabbed your moon glasses and stepped outside to have a look at how that full moon lights up the world. Thirty thousand miles closer than usual and thirty percent brighter, tonight this lesser light has a chance to really shine. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

By now you will have heard the news that J.K. Rowling herself has decided to preempt the Dumbledore slash fiction. She reveals that Dumbledore’s intense attraction to Grindelwald was homosexual attraction. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Anonymity isn’t the only reason the internet is quarrelsome. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

We’re about ten miles from the danger zone, living in the shadow of the fire. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The textbook I used when I taught freshman comp at BYU contains an essay by Gilbert Highet titled “Diogenes and Alexander.” This well embellished tale recounts the legendary maybe-it-happened, maybe-it-didn’t visit that Alexander the Great paid to the notorious Cynic philosopher at Corinth. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

We don’t often refer to Christ as the morning star, although there’s good scriptural precedent for the metaphor, and several 16/17th century Lutheran hymns (my particular target of religious envy) make use of it. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Josiah Quincy famously wrote that, “Of the multitudinous family of Smith, from Adam down (Adam of the “Wealth of Nations,” I mean), none had so won human hearts and shaped human lives as this Joseph. His influence, whether for good or for evil, is potent today, and the end is not yet.” Was... Read More »

It’s easy to forget how much time LDS teenagers spend in LDS classrooms, roughly seven hours per week. Are they learning anything? That’s a fair question, as the “classroom model” that governs teaching hasn’t changed much over the years, but students have. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Here are today’s Evans Bull-Bear Political Indicators. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Prominent evangelical conservatives are making Mitt Romney noises. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

We get a fair number of visitors from the search string, “Times and Seasons.” I’m sure a portion of these are actually looking for the blog; and others may be after discussion of the general concept (which isn’t solely a Mormon idea). But I’m sure some of them are actually looking for... Read More »

“A new century dawns upon the world today. The hundred years just completed were the most momentous in the history of man upon this planet. It would be impossible in a hundred days to make even a brief summary of the notable events, the marvelous developments, the grand achievements, and the beneficial inventions and... Read More »

I haven’t been watching this issue very closely, but if I understand correctly, 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The topic of the 2008 conference of Mormon Scholars in the Humanities is “Interpretation: LDS Perspectives.” I won’t be there, unfortunately. But if I were to attend, I know what I would talk about. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The icy breath of winter descends. Yesterday reached a low of 59; the forecast for the next few days drops to a bone-chilling 55. (Don’t hate me because I live in paradise.) The seasons cause changes. Starting about now, I won’t be able to swim at the beach without a wetsuit. ... Read More »

I have holy envy. I want a private chapel. I want stained glass, a pew, children kneeling, ritual, beauty, low murmurs, and I want it in my home. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

And, if so, what should we do about it? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

When Harry Reid spoke at BYU last week, he brought up a topic he was uniquely suited to address. To paraphrase, how can you be a Mormon and a Democrat? Reid’s response was, well, deeply predictable in the outset but wildly unpredictable after that. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

My time is just about gone. Tomorrow, I return to the anonymity of the commenter – responding to posts that others have written, instead of wondering whether anyone will respond to mine. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

… grow tomatoes in their home garden, and lots of them. Men who know grow them, too. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I recently brought to a successful conclusion a one-month, eight-hundred-mile odyssey that had a simple and straightforward object: to purchase a copy of Richard L. Bushman’s On the Road with Joseph Smith: An Author’s Diary at Deseret Book. I didn’t think it would be such a challenge. 0 people like this... Read More »

She was 12 years old, and her death was totally unexpected. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Don’t forget: Get a jumpstart on your holiday shopping by supporting the Gifts Outreach book fair at all Utah Barnes and Noble bookstores, Saturday October 13. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Original article here 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Are you an agnostic divorced man whose Evangelical daughter (two weekends a month) is worried that you’ll go to hell? You’re in luck, because in the past week, two different columnists have offered you their advice. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

There has been much discussion of Mitt Romney’s run for the White House, both here and throughout the Bloggernacle. Predictably, scholars don’t want bloggers to have all the fun. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

When you put joy first, what happens to your mind? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

English manufacturers were not the only ones to make Mormons the butt of a joke to advertise their products. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

One of the reasons I loved my mission so much was that both of my Mission Presidents emphasized what I already believed about the purpose of a mission – both what it means to be a missionary and how that should direct missionary effort. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Elijah had had enough. He left his servant at Beer-sheba, walked a day’s journey into the desert, and sat down to die. What was going through his head? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

What’s the opposite of feminism? Hierarchy? Patriarchy? Oppression? For me as a married man, the opposite of feminism is selfishness. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The title page of the Book of Mormon is a really fascinating passage of scripture. I think that it provides a very useful model for thinking about scripture in particular and revelation in general. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Some new books: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

(***NOTE***: I realized Saturday morning the folly of posting a new thread the night before General Conference begins, so I took it down. Chalk it up to being a greenie. However, I feel pretty good that Elder Edgely must have read my post Friday night (”endure together”) and changed his talk accordingly.... Read More »

If you listened to conference, you heard his words. He is the fourth-century monk, referenced by Elder Holland. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In General Conference we get to be a people, instead of just wards; we get spiritual refreshment in prayer, song, and preaching; and sometimes some personal answers. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Can you guess the ten most common last names in America? (Link via A Soft Answer). You can check your guesses at this link. My first ten guesses got six right answers. (I missed #3, 6, 7, and 8; my incorrect guesses came in at #13, 14, 15, and 23.)... Read More »

Go to BYU.tv and set the date to Saturday Oct. 6th. Then click on LDS General Conference 10am. Go to 2:55 (that’s two hours and 55 minutes) into the program and listen to Elder Eyring talk about decision making by the Quorum of the Twelve. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

She didn’t say that you should keep your home as clean as the temple. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Just FYI, if 400+ comments at T&S aren’t enough for you, check out some of the following other nacle reactions to President Beck’s talk: Heather at MMW: What I Wish President Beck had Said. Lisa at FMH: I Want to Sustain Her, but I Don’t Believe Her. Carrie at Tales: President Beck’s... Read More »

As is tradition here at Times and Seasons, please feel free to post your comments, thoughts, insights and inspirations regarding the Sunday afternoon session of General Conference here. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

As is tradition here at Times and Seasons, please feel free to post your comments, thoughts, insights and inspirations regarding the Sunday morning session of General Conference here. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

As is traditional here at Times and Seasons, please feel free to post your comments, thoughts, insights and inspirations regarding the Saturday afternooon session of General Conference here. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

As is tradition here at Times and Seasons, please feel free to post your comments, thoughts, insights and inspirations regarding the Saturday morning session of General Conference here. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

So let’s just say that one day you find yourself sitting on death row and 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I was signing copies of GIFTS at a Barnes and Noble author event when a tall, brunette middle-aged woman approached the table. She peered at me and the stack of books at my elbow with curiosity. “Do you have any friends or family members with Down syndrome?” I asked. “No,” she said. “I’ve been lucky.” 0... Read More »

On every ward’s roster are a few zz’s, people who have requested no contact. In different wards, I’ve gotten different messages about these folks. In some wards, clerk/bishop/EQP/etc will say something like, “we can’t talk to Bro. Jones. We’re legally prohibited from talking to him.” Is that true? 0 people like... Read More »

Last year, BYU Studies announced that they were placing the Archive of Restoration Culture online. This database consists of statements from contemporaneous sources about doctrines that are now viewed as distinctly Mormon. If you’ve ever wondered, “Was anyone else discussing an idea like three degrees of glory, around the time Joseph Smith... Read More »

Early missionaries carried the gospel to many corners of the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, baptizing converts in neighborhoods where there was no established branch to sustain them. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

“Bert” came into our lives his senior year in high school, after a torturous journey through adolescence and a broken home. He now attends a small college in northern Ohio – and he had the following experience yesterday. He gave his permission for me to share it with all of you. ... Read More »

Mary had a little lamb; it was a little sheep, but then it joined the Mormon Church and died of lack of sleep. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

1. Each link in the current “Abbreviated link list” that points to an outdated URL: 4 points. (Please list correct URL in your comment). 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I don’t wish to detract from Adam’s lovely post, but after reading the comments, I am surprised at how common the late September Primary Program is. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

There are those who get invited to guestblog at Times and Seasons because they’ve been a regular in the Bloggernacle for ages and we figure their turn has come. There are those who get invited because it collectively occurs to us that we and our readers would really benefit from hearing from a circus... Read More »

On the sweetness of Mormon life: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I headed to the organ after choir practice. Twenty minutes till Sacrament meeting started — enough time to quickly run through the hymns and play some prelude. I knew what hymns we were singing (the music director e-mails me once a month), and none were too difficult. Suddenly the chorister approached... Read More »

President Monson told the following joke at the General Relief Society meeting: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

See Part Two posted 9/27. On September 22nd, I rose early and hiked into Crossfire. Afterward, I stopped at the local market and ran into a women I’d seen at the BLM’s open house, one of the most vocal SPEAR members present that night. We greeted each other and she demanded to... Read More »

Okay, everyone. The race is on. Feel free to post comments, times, discussion, and links-to-pictures (if you’ve uploaded them to flickr or something). Or e-mail me pictures (kaimipono at gmail) and I’ll post them. Good luck, everyone. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Did you know Buzz Aldrin took Episcopalian communion on the moon? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

See Part One here. On September 18th, the BLM held an open house explaining the closure to local residents. The BLM’s acting field manager opened the presentation, telling everyone that the purpose of the closure was to stop traffic through cultural sites. It wasn’t intended to be permanent, he said. 0... Read More »

From Frank Bednarz, “a programmer with a student film society at the University of Chicago, Doc Films:” 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Let’s say that you learned to cook by watching others and that you’ve never picked up a cookbook or seen a cooking show. Could you become an excellent cook? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Crossfire Canyon is not the canyon’s real name. Following the trend in nature writing, I have refrained from providing any obvious identifying names or details. Otherwise, this three-part series describes actual events and conversations. Mormons in Utah, especially in southern Utah, often find their concepts of stewardship put to the test when predominantly... Read More »

After we got to talking about temple attendance in Elders’ Quorum I mentioned Pushing Towards the Temple. Our high councilman was sitting in. He observed that whoever was pushing towards the temple, it wasn’t us. The major effect of the Church building a temple out here in our backyard is that... Read More »

My wife and I cleverly decided to live in the same ward as my parents, so our small children only keep us from listening to about half of sacrament meeting. They were particularly well-behaved yesterday so I think I got in about 2/3s. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The town of Kingston, Utah, was settled as a United Order community, whose inhabitants pooled their economic, spiritual, and social resources and attempted to live the law of consecration 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Today’s colleges and universities have abandoned their most important task, en masse, says Anthony Kronman in his recent Boston Globe article. What are the prospects for getting back in the saddle? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

It is going on ten years now since I have lived in Utah, but I still follow Utah politics from afar partly as a matter of tribal attachment but mainly because they are just so strange and fun. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Why were Blacks denied the Priesthood from the early days of the church until 1978? Of course, the official (and only really undisputable) answer is, “we don’t know.” But what are the options, really? Let’s go over the list of conceptually coherent potential reasons for the Priesthood ban. 0 people like... Read More »

A while back, Dave asked about possible narratives to structure 20th or 21st century Mormons. Another way of thinking about this question is how we bridge between modern experience and our historical narratives. We need not only new stories but also ways of maintaing continuity with our old stories. Consider the... Read More »

And who might they be, these cultural barbarians? You and me, according to the author of The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture (Doubleday, 2007). Will it kill the Church too? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A T&S reader has a question about daily family scripture study. How have you made it work in your home? To what extent do the words “daily,” “family,” “scripture,” and “study” apply? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Millennial Press has a new series of short books on controversial topics. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A Venerable Bede links to several sources showing that at least in the United States, believers tend to be happier, healthier, and more charitable. The pseudonomyous Theodore Dalrymple has something similar to say. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Sir Poach-a-Lot: Is belief objective, or subjective? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

1. Four loads of laundry. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

She is a little street vendor who put up shop next to the entrance of the church with the long name. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

On the sweetness of Mormon life: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

“No, we don’t worship Joseph Smith,” I explained to the investigator. “We respect him as a prophet.” “You mean, like Mohamed?” he asked. “No, more like Moses, or John the Baptist.” 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

How binding are promises to do things that are or later become inconsistent with our moral progress? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A First Things writer reckons that the West needs a pagan revival before it can have a Christian revival. In Africa and in the ancient world, the theory goes, Christianity flourished because the people were afraid of the capricious spiritual powers and principalities and were glad to find refuge in a God... Read More »

A woman — or, perhaps, a group of men and/or women — bent on a practical joke and signing her letter as “Ethel,” once wrote to Brigham Young from St. Louis to propose marriage. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

This summer I had the chance to participate in a workshop at BYU put together by Richard Bushman. Bushman wanted to gather together Mormon academics working outside of Utah to discuss the question of how we explain Mormonism. My own sense is that when we explain our beliefs — even to one... Read More »

I know that this is controversial for some readers, but for purposes of this discussion stipulate that same-sex marriage in wrong. As an institutional shift it will damage the institution of marriage in ways that will harm society in the long run. Obviously, this is a hugely controversial claim, but for the... Read More »

The Telegraph reports that the British government intends to take the baby away from a pregnant, single woman with a troubled past as soon as the child is born. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

That is what B.H. Roberts called it when he reached the point in his monumental Comprehensive History of the Church where he had to confront the Mountain Meadows massacre, which occurred 150 years ago today. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

From the archives: One Person’s Story. In Rama was there a voice heard. (With additional comments and links here.) 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Over the last decade, being “pro-life” has got a lot more popular. To a lesser extent, pro-life political positions have also got more popular. An extremely comprehensive recent look at changing opinions in a swing state is here. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

When we first moved to our current ward, for an initial stay of only a year, I was asked to serve as a counselor in the elders quorum presidency before I had attended a single sacrament meeting here. A year ago, we returned to the same ward, and yesterday we discovered that that previous... Read More »

I have a vague recollection of President Benson telling a story about how (not) to do missionary work: he compared it to trying to convince a young girl to replace the doll she had with the doll you were offering her. He pointed out that ripping the head off of her doll... Read More »

I’ve referred a time or two to one of my heroes, Leon Fargier, the only Melchisedek Priesthood holder in France during World War II. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In order to prevent inadvertent exposure of nursing mothers’ breasts during church meetings to the bishopric, or to the deacons passing the sacrament — and the related possibility of those men having bad thoughts — scarves or blankets should definitely be used to conceal the nursing from male eyes. Thus, effective immediately, all... Read More »

Get Religion has posted a review of an interesting Wall Street Journal article examining how cell phones are affecting Hutterite culture. The GR post uses that example to touch on the larger issue of religion and technology, which is one of those rare topics that hasn’t been kicked around the Bloggernacle much.... Read More »

Kage (err, KAGE) over at Tales posted recently about nut-free schools. She strongly supports the idea, given the possibility of an allergic reaction in vulnerable kids. Commenters have been even more adamant 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Claremont Graduate University has announced: Professor Richard Bushman has been appointed as the Howard W. Hunter Visiting Professor in Mormon Studies. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Ann Greenwood was born yesterday at 8 lbs. 2 oz. and 21 inches long. She was three weeks early. Though the events of yesterday were excessively fraught with interest, mother and child are now doing well. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

“No other organization is so perfect as the Mormon Church, except the German army.” 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Let’s think about lines, circles, and time. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

There are all sorts of characteristics one wants in a Bishop. Ideally he’d be kind, honest, obedient, a good people person, in-tune spiritually, good at administration and delegation, care deeply about the youth, doctrinally aware, and so on. But all of these pale in comparison to what I consider to be by... Read More »

My neighborhood erupted a little while ago. The issue was immigration. I found out about the eruption when I was doing my visiting teaching. I won’t go into the details of the neighborhood fight, just a few lines I heard as I prepared to do a typical visit. “Maria is illegal, you know. She has... Read More »

This month’s Dialogue prominently features a discussion of gay marriage. Surprise number one: The lead article, by Randolph Mulhestein, is one of the best articles against gay marriage that I’ve read. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In 1980, when I was nine, for thirteen weeks running, I watched Cosmos on Sunday nights with my father. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The tireless Kevin Barney is hosting a discussion of LDS apologetics for teenagers over at BCC, trying to get a handle on the tone, approach, and content of a fireside-type presentation to LDS youth on that topic. Reflecting on this, it occurred to me that one of the challenges is how the topics... Read More »

Hard to believe it’s the end of summer, especially with temps around here expected to top 100 again. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

It is the sense of Times and Seasons that the bowl system for college football makes no sense and that there ought to be a proper tournament of some sort. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Stumble–because the world needs more ways to waste time online. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In the Preface to New Genesis: A Mormon Reader on Land and Community, the editors cite an unidentified 1991 report that places each of the thirty largest Christian denominations in one of five categories based on their environmental stances. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Each relay team will consist of 5 runners. Over the course of a 48-hour period, each team will, collectively, run and/or walk a marathon (26.2 miles). Here are the current (draft) rules. Feedback is welcome. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Harry: You realize of course that we could never be friends. Sally: Why not? Harry: What I’m saying is – and this is not a come-on in any way, shape or form – is that men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way. 0 people like... Read More »

August 2007 has seen the passing of two fine Mormon historians 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The Parents TV Council has studied TV ad buys over the last year and has published a list of the worst companies for sponsoring or advertising on raunchy, violent, and profane programs in preference to clean programs, along with a list of those companies that best take the opposite approach. 0 people like... Read More »

There’s some discussion online about whether Idaho senator Larry Craig (recently in the news for lewd acts) is LDS. According to his official biography, he is not. For some anti-Mormons, this isn’t enough. Here’s a (real!) comment from one blog: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

It was one of the last zone conferences I attended. President Gonzales paused in his talk, and then pulled out a small greenish-colored jade bracelet. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The tension between “official” Mormon history and other sorts of Mormon history is a central narrative for a lot of Mormon intellectual discussion. D. Michael Quinn, for example, who is a fabulously tenacious researcher at times seems to have little in the way of a historiographic agenda other than to do “honest” history... Read More »

This summer, Times and Seasons was fortunate enough to host three superb guest-bloggers: Dave Banack, of Dave’s Mormon Inquiry fame; Patricia Gunter Karamesines, who came to us by way of A Motley Vision; and Kathryn Lynard Soper, who blogs and writes at her pseudo-eponymous blog and the journal Segullah. We are proud to announce... Read More »

New York Post: “‘September Dawn’ succeeds completely at failure; the unified incompetence of its writing, directing and acting suggest a man who manages to be on fire and drowning at the same time, just as the bus runs him over.” New York Daily News: “‘September Dawn,’ written by an evangelical Christian, may be the... Read More »

A reader writes: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Another remarkable series is running at FMH: “How I became a mother.” Contributors have posted ten stories so far, many of them remarkable discussions of adoption, battles with infertility, emotional issues, family, and more. The series itself doesn’t yet seem to have a page (hint, hint!), but they’re all listed under... Read More »

The function of the brain and nervous system and sense organs are in the main eliminative and not productive. Each person is at each moment capable of remembering all that has ever happened to him and of perceiving everything that is happening everywhere in the universe. The function of the brain and nervous system... Read More »

Once upon a time, there really was a moment when a girl left behind an actual, old-fashioned childhood and embarked on a well-defined period of preparation for motherhood and marriage. Now, childhood ends earlier than ever, while adulthood in the traditional sense—of settling down and starting a family—begins much later, if at all. In... Read More »

Matt has kindly invited me to continue guest posting at will. And I’m glad, because my mind is spinning this week with thoughts I’d like to dump on you guys. I’m going to start with a long preamble: this sacrament meeting talk that was assigned to me a few months ago. More to follow... Read More »

A couple of months ago I heard a presentation on the general topic of historical sites that the Church owns and manages. I came with a pocketful of snarky questions but left with some appreciation for how tough the task is and (on the whole) how well the sites are set up and... Read More »

The people who bet money on their ability to predict political events are bullish on Mitt Romney. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

BYU shot up over 50 places in the university rankings that were just released this week. Not in the US News and World Report rankings, where BYU continues to bounce around the 70s, but in the Washington Monthly rankings of universities’ based on their contributions to society, where BYU went from 124 to 68,... Read More »

I read a lot of Abraham Lincoln books. I can’t say enough good about him, but I have to admit that, like his law partner said, “his ambition was a little engine that never quit.” Some historians have argued that the key to his ambition was his undeniable fear of being... Read More »

The writer of the gospel of John worked really, really hard to make it clear that no one suspected Judas: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

We seem to discuss issues of homosexuality ad nausum around here. Surprisingly, one particular subtopic that hasn’t really come up in the past is the real problem of anti-gay violence. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Baseball cards and Pokemon cards are the modern descendants of the 18th and 19th century trade card 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The Old Testament gives us all sorts of strange stories. One that I’ve been thinking about lately is the delightfully wacky book of Esther. In particular, I’ve been wondering about the lessons on sex and morality that we can learn from this book. And I find the answers a little surprising,... Read More »

A man used 1-800-FLOWERS to send roses to his mistress. Despite his explicit instructions to keep the matter secret from his wife, the company sent a thanks-for-using-our-services note to his home address a couple of months later. His wife investigated and ended up discovering her husband’s affair. They’re getting divorced and... Read More »

We left our hotel late Sunday morning, heading home from Utah. We weren’t sure whether we’d make a 2-day trip of it, stopping in St. George or Vegas, or whether we’d pull an all nighter. It would depend on how we felt. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The day before the cliff swallows return to traditional nesting sites in canyons near where I live in southern Utah, the sky hangs quiet, with only a few ravens, hawks, and eagles spiraling through. The next day, whoosh! Swallows arrive reeling in their folklorico like revelers at an unseen party spilling onto... Read More »

I don’t know of any Americans planning to move into my ward soon. If there were any, I wish they would understand a few things from the outset. (If you’re contemplating a foreign assignment in an industrial nation, some of this might apply to your situation as well.) 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Comments expressing love for President Faust have been left by readers in India and the Netherlands Antilles. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In Sunday School yesterday we read about the day of Pentecost where Peter cited God’s promise that in the last days He would pour out his Spirit and the Saints would dream dreams. The Lovely one and I garden every year, partly because we like it, partly because our parents always did it, and... Read More »

“The Faust family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Church Missionary Fund or to the Perpetual Education Fund.” There is a site at lds.org/Faust available for making donations. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

It is the destiny of mint to be crushed. –Waverley Lewis Root June 12, 2007 Rained most of the night. Morning’s cool and sweet. Good day to venture into a canyon. Because the storm has left behind puffy white seeds that could blossom suddenly into rain, I replace my extra water bottle with a rain poncho.... Read More »

President James E. Faust, second counselor to President Gordon B. Hinckley, has passed away at age 87. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

It is surely one of the more unexpected voices to go to bat for Joseph Smith: Harold Bloom in his 1992 book The American Religion, which gave serious (if unconventional) consideration to Joseph Smith’s role as a religious figure and which famously described him as a “religious genius.” As sort of a post-script,... Read More »

On Matt’s thread, Jordon F. wrote, “I should add that I think children are particularly quick at grasping and enjoying the opportunity of rendering service as a family. “ 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

When asked why they aren’t more generous with their time or money, many people answer that if they gave more, it would be at the expense of their own children. Sure, the argument goes, it would be great if I could pay an extra $100 to provide immunizations for kids in Africa,... Read More »

Esteemed reader Andrew Ainsworth is writing a paper on the official doctrine on what constitutes official doctrine. He emailed me the following bleg for your help. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

For those interested in the BYU summer seminar, I’ve revised the post, adding the titles of and abstracts for the papers. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

For years I’ve been torn by the knowledge that there are thousands of orphaned or abandoned children desperate to be welcomed into a family like mine and our reasons for “passing by on the other side” when we see the “least of these.” 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Over time I’ve discussed various reasons to think that we’ll have the pleasure of raising kids in the Millennium. For convenience I’ve collected all those reasons and shortened them down, with links to the longer original versions. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Orson Scott Card has written Empire, a near-future thriller about coups, plots, and civil war in America. What follows is a short but idiosyncratic review with spoilers. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Warning: To write this post, I’ve had to get personal. I apologize in advance for that, but some points I make require grounding in my observations about personal experiences, many of which are highly charged. The stories and observations I report here in no way represent everything I think about these matters.... Read More »

The annual summer symposium, this year “Joseph Smith and His Times,” will be held on Thursday, August 9, 2007. The symposium will feature papers by twelve summer seminar fellows on the theme “Mormon Thinkers, 1890-1930,” covering topics ranging from the influence of Herbert Spencer on Mormon thought to Mormonism and Modernity. ... Read More »

“Our correspondences show us where our intimacies lie,” writes Terry Tempest Williams. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I just finished finished reading Karen Armstrong’s A Short History of Myth (2005). Almost everyone loves myth from a distance, as a conceptual springboard or reference, as long as it doesn’t get too close to one’s own beliefs or worldview. This book helps put myth in a more useful perspective, which I’d... Read More »

There’s something interesting in the current Deseret Book catalog. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

For more than 200 years, my father’s family has lived in western New York, centered between Canandaigua and Palmyra. Whenever anyone publishes a description of Joseph Smith’s neighborhood and the neighbors who knew him or hired him or harassed him, I scour the writing for familiar names. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

1. How does Harry Potter get from one room to another? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

When I was in high school, I had a friend whose family always struggled to make ends meet. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Breastplate of righteousness? Check. Helmet of salvation? Check. Garments of vengeance and cloke of zeal? Check, and double check. 1 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I keep telling myself this, but now I really mean it: It’s time for me to make a graceful exit. Thanks for a fun 10 days, everyone. I’ve appreciated all your comments (yes, all). If I’ve left any loose ends you want to call me on, or if you’d like to contact me for... Read More »

Pro-lifers generally aren’t interested in throwing women in jail for having abortions. Ana Quindlen believes they should be, if they want to be consistent. I’ve encountered many pro-choice people who believe some variation of the same thing. If you think abortion should usually be illegal you must think women... Read More »

A message from Jack Welch and Gideon Burton: The upcoming issue of BYU Studies, volume 46, no. 2, will be a long-awaited, double-sized issue about Mormons and film. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Is it right to abort unborn disabled babies? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

In January 2007 the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) issued new guidelines recommending first-trimester Down syndrome screening for all pregnant women, regardless of age. That means this year, 4 million American women will be offered first-trimester screening for DS, and thousands will receive a positive prenatal diagnosis. This protocol is supposed... Read More »

Mormons are distinct in the emphasis we put on Gethsemane. We see Christ’s Atonement as having two primary lobes at Gethsemane in the garden and at Calvary on the cross. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Now working on my final guest post. Thought I’d toss a (non-related) bone in the meantime: Here are ten candid, insightful, courageous pieces from Segullah’s back issues. Enjoy! 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Brigham Young’s condemnation of novel reading during the last two decades of his life is a perfect example of a much-studied moment in the history of reading, the hypothesized “reading revolution” of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. But the peculiar trajectory of Brigham Young’s attitude, from wary tolerance of novel reading to blanket... Read More »

I’ve just been called as Gospel Doctrine teacher. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I heard today from a great-grandchild (one of 30) of the little girl in the story below 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

…about the Church’s new pamphlet on same-sex attraction? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

This essay was recently published in Literary Mama. I’m posting it here as a precursor to my upcoming post about prenatal testing for Down syndrome. I. In the beginning You can tell a great deal about people by the way they react when you tell them you’re going to have a retarded child. 0... Read More »

Who I am is not enough. It is necessary to become more. May 3, 2007 Been out of action nearly a month due to injury from hiking in broken-down boots. Finally bought new boots. Two days ago I made it into the canyon and found it well awakened since my last visit: trees... Read More »

When I think about the curricula available to evangelical homeschoolers, I instantly become guilty of several of the deadly sins. Oh, if I were a young earth creationist, the riches that would be mine! 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Summer, 2003: I was a wreck. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A Florida jury awarded a couple 21 million dollars for bad advice they received from a geneticist (though under state law they may only receive $200,000). The couple’s first baby had severe disabilities but the geneticist told them they would not have future children with the same problem. But the... Read More »

Let not any man publish his own righteousness, for others can see that for him; sooner let him confess his sins, and then he will be forgiven and he will bring forth more fruit. (TPJS 194-195) 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Two years ago when Segullah made its debut I fielded lots of questions. The most frequent was this: Why a new journal? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The movie The Best Two Years was better than I expected. It was also hard to watch. My own mission was a lot like the movie. It was the best and worst two years of my life. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

This is a talk I gave in Sacrament Meeting today. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A week has passed since Pioneer Day. We remembered it here. In my sacrament meeting, where the speakers reminded us of President Hinckley’s meditation on the shade cast by the trees the pioneers planted and the “long shadow” they themselves cast in which we still find some shelter from the heat... Read More »

ECS wrote about this article over at FMH ; I’d like to take a different perspective on it–I want to tell you what I liked about it. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Memory is a poor substitute for feeling, and language is a poor substitute for memory; yet it is through those dual prisms that we translate the ephemeral raw material of emotion into something more permanent. And it is only that language of memory of feeling — awful, inadequate substitute that it is —... Read More »

I have a tattoo on my left ankle. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Times & Seasons is happy to welcome our newest guest blogger, Kathryn Lynard Soper. Kathryn is a mother of seven with a passion for writing and editing creative nonfiction. Raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, she’s lived in Utah since her BYU days (BA English, 1993). Founder and president of Segullah Group,... Read More »

Iff you’ve finished reading the book, Official Times and Seasons Coblogger and Person of Illustriousness Russell Fox has opened a discussion of Deathly Hallows here. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

We might use language in our attempts to set boundaries, but language contains in microcosmic acts the macrocosmic thrust toward new form. November 4, 2006 The trail into the canyon is rougher at November’s threshold; run-off from recent storms took the same trail to the canyon’s main water course that I must take. 0 people like... Read More »

That’s not how I expected the ending to be and, yes, I found it a little puzzling. WARNING: SPOILERS. Do NOT click through unless you are prepared for SPOILERS. (more…) 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

One of the frequent laments about Mormon literature is that so much of the Mormon experience is tied to spiritual experience, which is very difficult to describe in prose. Mormon authors facing that problem could learn a trick or two from Stephen King. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

We sometimes hear two related but distinct chains of reasoning about the consequences of what are perceived as womens’ natural tendencies. Chain One: Women are naturally more spiritual than men. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

And just where is the dustbin of history these days, you ask? It’s at Amazon, where the pitiless laws of supply and demand are on full display in the “used books” queue attached to every book title. That’s where I rescued a like-new copy of Claudia and Richard Bushman’s Building the Kingdom... Read More »

Some weeks ago a friend (an archaeologist and therefore a man of science) and I were discussing a nature writer who was coming to town to promote his latest book. I asked my friend if he liked this writer’s work. He said he did. I said that I did, too, and... Read More »

Which Dialogue articles should the savvy blog-reader have hot-keyed and ready to go? What would the top three articles be, for useful citation in blog conversation? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

See here. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

We moved into our house on the first weekend of January, 1980. One reason we chose it was that it reminded us of Pennsylvania, where we did graduate work. (The other reason? It was the only house we afford because the seller gave us great terms.) 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The postal rate for periodicals is expected to rise significantly this week, due to changes in the ways rates are calculated. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

What would happen if there was no question in the temple recommend interview about the Word of Wisdom–but there was one about home and visiting teaching? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Remember the silence around Pueblo Alto in Chaco, so heavy you felt blanketed by its snows, and the desert landscape spread out below, unmoving for miles? That was silence. Not even a breeze singing on the stones. June 8, 2006 Hiked in the rain this morning. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

There are songs that make me feel that God is all and I am nothing, and that God has given me everything and I deserve none of it, although that is far too precise and theological a description for an experience that is almost entirely pre-rational. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

All winter I plotted how to improve the garden, my first focal point for exercising “good stewardship” over the acre plus we moved to a year and a half ago. Last year’s garden had gone all right. I loved every minute in it, especially the time spent with animals, like Woodhouses’ toads... Read More »

In a recent video dialogue between two of the The Atlantic Monthly’s stable of talented writers, left-wing blogger Matthew Yglesias argued that the Book of Mormon was “a remarkably crude and obvious forgery“. Right-wing blogger Ross Douthat essentially agreed with him. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Much of church government is carried out in councils and recently they have been received new emphasis, particularly from Elder Ballard. Councils are, however, a problem. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

An editorial by this title appeared in the Deseret News late in 1877. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

…or Patricia Gunter Karamesines, to those who know her outside the blogging world. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Mamadou has AIDS. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

This post was written by Bryan Stout; his biography appears at the end of the post. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Once upon a time, there was a book called Essentials in Church History. It was first published in 1922 and authored by Joseph Fielding Smith, who was made Assistant Church Historian in 1906 and an Apostle in 1910 (then President of the LDS Church from 1970 to 1972). For many years, this... Read More »

When F. Enzio Busche was a temple president, he was once asked by a priesthood leader “when thought the Church would receive revelation giving the priesthood to women.” 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Oliver Cowdrey has the distinction of being one of the few Mormon dissidents to make his stand against church authorities on the basis of obscure doctrines of real estate law. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Everybody’s talking about expensive weddings; let’s talk about expensive marriages. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

On an intermittent but regular basis, women alone perform a portion of our Sacrament blessing. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Suppose I claim that I am right about something (which I do with some regularity). Is there any way to avoid the fact that this is also claiming that God agrees with me? And doesn’t that seem blasphemously presumptuous? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A post recently appeared on Times and Seasons which we regret. While each post reflects the views of the individual writer and is not vetted by the group before posting, we acknowledge that each post also reflects upon Times and Seasons as a whole. Each of us bears some responsibility for the tenor... Read More »

I did grad work in biblical studies in Berkeley in the 90s, which means that the Documentary Hypothesis was one of the unquestioned tenets of my faith. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Ordinances are a central part of the gospel, yet of late I find myself wondering what exactly they are. Here are some of my preliminary thoughts: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

When Moroni first appeared to Joseph Smith, he quoted a number of scriptures, including Malachi’s prophesy that “And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.” We generally read these words as... Read More »

I think I must have missed this one when it came out in 1999. Elder Ballard takes the time to list out a few teachings he considers signposts of False Teachers. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

A brotherly reader wrote me yesterday: I was at realclearpolitics.com today and saw that they’re running an ad for mormon.org. Advertising on rightish political blogs makes a lot of sense right now. Has anyone else seen any Church internet advertising? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, -more- 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Gerhard Spörl, reporter for Der Spiegel, surely did not have an easy task. After his editors at the finest German-language news weekly on the planet took notice of a German Mormon apostle and a Mormon candidate for the U.S. presidency, they gave Spörl the responsibility for interviewing Dieter Uchtdorf, visiting the church offices in... Read More »

I suppose that I can support the legalization of polygamy with certain specific limitations. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

See here. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Some familiar names appear in the preliminary program for the upcoming Sunstone symposium. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Beliefnet is hosting an online debate of sorts on the topic (and I’m sure you’ve never seen this one before) “Are Mormons Christian?” Albert Mohler, who holds a Ph.D. (in systematic and historical theology) and is president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, titles his post “Mormonism Is Not Christianity.” Orson Scott... Read More »

Apparently folks in the Church Office Building drop by T&S from time to time. Today, this press release was posted to LDS.org, responding in part to Julie’s post on the recently posted Ensign article on MMM. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Please ask your children to leave the room now! 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Brigham Young and Joseph Smith had some very harsh things to say about lawyers, but from the beginning, Mormon attorneys sought to create an ecclesiastical identity for themselves other than that of lying tricksters bent on stirring up litigation. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

If you’re applying to BYU-Hawaii, should Dartmouth be your safety school? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

There’s always an owner, of course — there are few concepts more disfavored in the law than real property without an owner. But when it comes to chapels and church buildings, the question of just who owns them can get messy. The latest example: a congregation in Orange County that is trying... Read More »

Last week, Adam Greenwood pointed out to me an essay by Sally Thomas in First Things, titled “Home Schooling and Christian Duty.” Her article defends home schooling against a very particular kind of attack–specifically, the claim that educating one’s children in the home, away from the public schools, is a failure to be a... Read More »

Sometime on or before November 4, 2008, the Romney campaign is going to tank. (Dwelling too long on the possibility that he won’t tank is not good for the cardiac health of both his supporters and his opponents, so we’ll ignore that possibility for now.) After the Romney candidacy is no more, how are... Read More »

An article in the July Ensign provides a short list of dangerous threats to the home. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Historians don’t just catalog events, they assemble events into stories or “historical narratives.” But to really be relevant or worth reading, a given historical narrative has to tap into a bigger theme or “grand narrative” (using the term rather loosely). I’m going to flesh out that concept a bit, then float some... Read More »

God wants us to be mean to animals. This is clearly the take-home point of the lesson I taught last week, which included a discussion about a camel: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

I think Kaimi’s metaphor is apt, maybe in more ways than he intended. Every few weeks, or every few days, there’s another discussion of polygamy, and some country hick who’s new to the big city suggests in breathless wide-eyed wonder that plural marriage was a way to care for widows and other women without... Read More »

Snooty Elitist Kristine doesn’t think I should be writing this post, because I haven’t read enough books. I’m going to write it anyway. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Joseph Smith, it’s fair to say, was a rebel and a runner and a restless young man. That, plus his many religious accomplishments, makes him an attractive subject for biographers both in and out of the Church, who have responded by writing dozens of Joseph Smith biographies. In fact, I think that... Read More »

…or, as you likely know of him, DMI Dave. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

That is the question asked by Zeke Johnson and James Wright in a recent Suffolk University Law Review article.* 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

The September Ensign has an article about the Mountain Meadows Massacre (HT: M*). 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

“What e’er thou art, act well thy part.” David O. McKay’s famous line motivated him during his mission and during his presidency. It’s not a bad philosophy, either. If I’m a Mormon, I should be a good one. However, for many of us, the question isn’t acting well a... Read More »

I’ve always been happy to be a Mormon without insisting on being a Christian. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

If you are looking for a morally, philosophically, and theologically fascinating place, I can think of few locations in contemporary life that can compare to the supermarket. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Technically, we weren’t supposed to go on splits with Chepe at all. Not by a longshot. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

On my mission in Guatemala, we didn’t use the King James version of the bible. Instead, we used a popular Protestant translation called the Reyna Valera. This raises all sorts of fun questions. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Richard Bushman’s recent appearance at a Pew Forum conference on Mormonism and Democratic Politics has got me thinking about the role of scholars of Mormonism in shaping the religious news coverage swirling around Mitt Romney’s candidacy. I decided to do a little bit of informal content analysis of recent news stories, seeing which... Read More »

In the Reuters interview with Elder Christofferson, the interviewer asks, “There is historical evidence that suggests Joseph Smith took a 14-year-old bride, Helen Mar Kimball, when he was 38 years old. In today’s terms, that would make him a pedophile. Does this bother you or other LDS church members?” Elder Christofferson replies, “It... Read More »

Everything changed when Tyko came to church. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Read it here. (HT: BCC) Lots of hot topics: polygamy, women and the priesthood, evolution, Romney, etc. Discuss. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Brandon Sanderson is the Campbell-nominated author (twice-nominated now) of the fantasy novels Elantris and Mistborn: The Final Empire. His novel Well of Ascension, second in the Mistborn trilogy, will be published in a few months. Other projects (including the playfully titled Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians) are on the horizon. Brandon... Read More »

What I dislike most about discussing Mormon literature is the all but inevitable moment when someone disparages the low artistic taste and congenital stinginess of Mormon readers. So let me set out the foundation for any discussion of Mormon literature and its readers: Readers owe authors nothing. Not a single copper-plated cent. Not a second... Read More »

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This is the paper I read at the recent Mormon History Association meeting. I post it now in connection with T&S’s Mormon Writers Series commemoration of the 30th anniversary of President Spencer W. Kimball’s call for a renaissance in Mormon cultural arts 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Earlier today, Elizabeth Rose Oman was born in Richmond, Virginia. Both Heather and the baby are doing well. Elizabeth is 8 lbs 2 oz and 21 inches long. Labor lasted for 18 hours, and we are very glad that she is here. God has been very good to us. 0... Read More »

To celebrate, I’m enlisting you all to assist me in this groundbreaking literary endeavor. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Sometime this morning–perhaps even by the time I put up this post–Times and Seasons’ visitor counter will pass the two million mark. Two million readers in a little over three and a half years. Not bad for a blog that doesn’t feature kittens or porn. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Is it really such a bad place to be? 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

For the last six months of so, I have been doing a lot of research on nineteenth-century Mormon courts. Earlier today I presented some of my preliminary research to the law school faculty at William & Mary. For those who are interested, you can take a look at my paper online. ... Read More »

I’m gonna steal BCC’s idea going to contribute to the fine discussions of the lifting of the priesthood ban with a few thoughts on what we might learn from some responses to the ban. 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Over at Pilgrim Girl, Jana discusses how she was told as a teen that her life would be a movie that everyone would watch in the hereafter. She writes: 0 people like this post.Like  Read More »

Mormonism and Pluralism In the U.S. today, many people are wary of religion because they feel it often supports a kind of intolerance. Mitt Romney’s presidential candidacy provides an interesting case study on the relationship between faith and pluralism. On the one hand, we see clear examples of religious intolerance from people like Bill Keller.... Read More »