I came across a news item (here and here) this morning that gives background on the 25 members of the President’s Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and it made me wonder a little about LDS participation in this kind of group. Shouldn’t there be a Mormon on this council? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
LDS Newsroom
- Manaus Brazil Temple Opens To the Public May 16, 2012
- Ground Broken for Provo, Utah’s Second Temple May 12, 2012
- Released for Mother's Day: Bible Video Depicts Mary, Mother of Jesus May 11, 2012
- Pacific Mormon Helping Hands Come to the Aid of Their Neighbors May 11, 2012
- Mormon Story: Journalist Describes It Well May 10, 2012
- Church Preserving Legacy of Historic Buildings May 10, 2012
- “Stately and Magnificent” Mormon Kansas City Missouri Temple Dedicated May 6, 2012
- Mormonism in the News: Getting It Right | May 4 May 4, 2012
- Political Neutrality: Whiteboard Animation 'Draws Out' Church Position (VIDEO) May 3, 2012
- Mormon Helping Hands: Fix Up, Clean Up, Build It in California and Hawaii May 2, 2012
Yearly Archives: 2009
Same-Sex Marriage in the News (but not the Newsroom)
Lots of movement on the SSM front today (and this week in general). Today, Vermont’s legislature passed a bill allowing same-sex marriage. Also, Washington D.C.’s city council passed a bill recognizing out-of-state same-sex marriages. Meanwhile, last week the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled that same-sex couples had a right to marry under the state constitution. And the California court will rule on the Prop 8 appeal in the next two months. (I don’t think the appeal will succeed.) There is no official statement that I’m aware of about these recent developments (the Newsroom is silent so far; the most recent releases... Read more »
The Implied Statistical Report, 2008
Every General Conference, the LDS Church releases a statistical report that gives a brief window into how the Church has changed over the past year. With my accounting background, I’m a bit of a statistics wonk, and I’ve long thought that there is a lot that can be gleaned from these statistics and from the additional information published in the Deseret News Church Almanac. So this year, I thought I’d put together some statistics calculated from the figures that the Church gives out each year — a kind of report of the implications of the Church’s statistical report. Be... Read more »
Sunday Afternoon Session Notes
Here’s a few thoughts on Sunday Afternoon’s session of conference. We encourage everyone to take notes during each session and post their thoughts in comments here. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Long Time in Coming
Meet Joseph Wafula Sitati, introduced today as a new member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. He is the first African General Authority and only the second black General Authority (the first being Helvécio Martins, a Brazilian who served five years in the Second Quorum of the Seventy from 1990 to 1995). (Joseph and Gladys Sitati) Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Priesthood Session Notes
Since we’re not doing open threads during the sessions of conference, we’re trying to start comment threads at the end of the session, so that once you have heard and thought a little about the entire session and the individual talks. So take your notes during the sessions, and let us know after the session is over. Here’s a few thoughts on Saturday Afternoon’s session of conference. I’d welcome your thoughts also. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
An Image from General Conference
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Saturday Afternoon Session Notes
Since we’re not doing open threads during the sessions of conference, we’re trying to start comment threads at the end of the session, so that once you have heard and thought a little about the entire session and the individual talks. So take your notes during the sessions, and let us know after the session is over. Here’s a few thoughts on Saturday Afternoon’s session of conference. I’d welcome your thoughts also. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Saturday Morning Session
Since we’re not doing open threads during the sessions of conference, we’re trying to start comment threads at the end of the session, so that once you have heard and thought a little about the entire session and the individual talks. So take your notes during the sessions, and let us know after the session is over. Here’s a few thoughts on Saturday Morning’s session of conference. I’d welcome your thoughts also. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Whence Our Open Conference Thread?
Times and Seasons has historically hosted an open thread for comments on each session of conference as that session was being broadcast. We’re trying something new this year. I’m posting this as a bit of notice to our readers, and in an unofficial attempt to explain. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
FHE–Easter
I’m taking a break from the Gospel Fundamentals FHEs to do an Easter FHE next week and I’m posting this early because it requires a little prep work. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Congratulations
I’ll be attending a wedding later today. The couple will be married in the church, and a new baby will be joining them somewhat sooner than later. For a faithful LDS family, this is difficult. 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Information for the Next Six Months
The first weekend of April is a time when we look for information, for an understanding of the changes that have happened in the last six months and how that will help us prepare for the next six months. This is because the first weekend of April begins the baseball season. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
En Route to the Field: Missionaries Aboard the S.S. Vestris, 1928
David Henry Huish, born in the Mormon colony of Morelos, Sonora, Mexico in 1906, and Keith Wynder Burt, born in the Mormon colony of Cardston, Alberta, Canada in 1908, met in the Mission Home in Salt Lake City late in 1928, after both young men had been called to serve missions in South America. After finishing their few days’ training in Salt Lake – which did not include language training – the two young men traveled together by train, via Denver, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., to New York City. They spent two and a half days exploring New York,... Read more »
When is Sin Tax a Sin?
The new tobacco tax in the United States took effect yesterday, which tripled the amount of tax collected on each pack of cigarrettes, and probably raising the cost of a pack to as much as $9. The tax is the single largest increase in tobacco taxes in history. For an LDS audience, this probably seems all fine and good. You aren’t likely to complain about a sin tax if you aren’t committing that sin. And, to be honest, its hard to imagine a sin tax that LDS Church members would be particularly vulnerable to (perhaps ice cream?) But even... Read more »
The Mormon Sort
After seeing a reference or two, I noticed a copy of The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart at the library and gave it a quick read. The thesis is simple: increased income and mobility over the last five decades has enabled Americans to self-sort geographically into communities surrounded by people they are most comfortable with, namely people like themselves. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
April Fool’s at the Newsroom
So the LDS Newsroom‘s April Fool’s day joke about President Eyring’s singlehanded dismantling of CES is a little weird… Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Santa Biblia
A few years ago, as I was waiting for a temple session to begin, I began flipping the pages of the Spanish language Bible in front of me. 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Dow 6,000
One of the things people find odd about Mormons is our claim to be led by a prophet. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
FHE Lesson #2
Lesson #2: Our Life in Heaven Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
England Lecture: “The Prehistory of the Soul”
Terryl L. Givens, James A. Bostwick Professor of English at the University of Richmond will give the Eighth Annual Eugene England Lecture at 7pm next Thursday, April 2nd in the Lakeview Room of the UVU Library Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mormonism in the Public Mind at UVU
Richard and Claudia Bushman, Jana Riess, Terryl Givens, and Michael Paulson are among the speakers at Utah Valley University’s conference next Thursday and Friday (April 2-3) on “Mormonism in the Public Mind,” addressing public perceptions of Mormonism and LDS efforts to shape those public perceptions. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Problem with the Unwritten Order of Things
Can women offer the opening prayer in sacrament meeting? 2 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Reading Nephi Reading Isaiah at BYU
This looks like the sort of conference that makes me sad at times that I don’t live in Utah: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Tender Mercy
My 13-year-old daughter came down with Bell’s Palsy last weekend. I was reeling a bit from the diagnosis Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mormons Take over the World!
Or, at least, most of Amazon’s best seller list. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
One Last Book Before I Go
So your mission call finally arrived (see here, here, or here) and you suddenly realize that it starts in 44 days but you don’t know that much about Mormonism or what it is you are supposed to teach for two long years. You are suddenly serious about “missionary prep.” What book should you read? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
FHE Lesson #1
I’ve decided to start a new series of FHE lessons based on the Gospel Fundamentals book. 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Time to Reconsolidate?
I was only a teenager when the new-fangled consolidated schedule hit the church fashion scene. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
(Beehive) Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – 1916
In 1916, the Beehive Girls were Latter-day Saint young women ages 14 and 15 (the 12- and 13-year-olds were still in Primary). Older teens, and even the mothers of Beehive Girls, could learn the same skills and earn the same badges of honor, if they chose to. Beehive Girls from Thatcher, Arizona 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Jensine Hostmark Grundvig: Zionward
Jensine was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1837, her parents’ youngest child. Her father died when she was 4, her mother when she was 12; she probably spent her youth in the household of one of her much older brothers. In1857 Jensine was married to Frants Christian Grundvig, a young joiner who had come to Copenhagen a few years earlier to learn his trade. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
When Woman Means Man
When I was growing up, “woman” meant “woman” and “man” meant “human.” Or “man.” Depending on the context. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
I challenge you . . . I promise you
I challenge you — all of you, collectively — to match up your bracket against mine. (And, well, everyone else who is also matching up their bracket against mine.) Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Confronting Modernity
I recently finished up Hans Kung’s Great Christian Thinkers, which reviews the work of seven theologians (Paul, Origen, Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Schleiermacher, and Barth). From an LDS perspective, the most interesting of the bunch is Friedrich Schleiermacher, who Kung terms “the paradigmatic theologian of modernity.” The question he presents to LDS readers is how our approach to religion and doctrine deals with modernity. Is our approach premodern, modern, or postmodern (which in theology generally means some version of neo-orthodoxy)? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The “anti-Mormon” label
Some years ago I had the idea that Mormonism needs an “anti-defamation league”–a group that reviews news coverage and other public actions and publicly condemns those actions that clearly defame Mormons and Mormonism. But I’ve since decided that this is probably not a very workable idea. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
What My Father Did
A few weeks ago my father retired after spending three decades working for the Church Historical Department. I’m no doubt guilty of an excess of filial piety, but I think that the Church and Kingdom are better for the work that he did. 2 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »
The Salamander Letter in a nutshell
So, what is this scary Salamander Letter that the church is hiding from everybody? 7 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »
So you saw Big Love, then Googled to find out more about this Mormon temple weirdness, and ended up here.
Hi. 4 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Relief Society Moment
I ran across this Relief Society moment in the March 15, 1873 Woman’s Exponent. Maybe it will make you smile, too: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Gospel of Gluttony and Sloth
Some years ago, I noticed a trend among female general auxiliary leaders. With few exceptions, they all lean (no pun intended) to the slimmer side of the LDS population at large (ahem). Much as missionaries have a particular grooming code, is there an unwritten appearance requirement for “upper-level” service? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Why Mormons Build Temples
The church has a channel on YouTube called Mormon Messages. Yesterday they posted a new video titled, “Why Mormons Build Temples.” (Comments and ratings are not open on this video.) How do you think this will work as a response to the upcoming airing of recreated temple ceremonies (accurate or not)? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Notes from all over
Comment on the week in sidebar links. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Forgetting, and History
From Ernest Renan, a French 19th-century philosopher: Forgetting, and I would say even historical error, is an essential element in the creation of a nation, and that is why the progress of historical studies is often a danger for the nation itself. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Monument to the Restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood
While uncounted thousands of visual artists have contributed their skills to building Zion, the Fairbanks dynasty holds a special place in the world of Mormon art history: John B. Fairbanks (1855-1940) was one of the art missionaries sent to Paris by the Church, who came home to paint murals for the temples. His sons J. Leo (1878-1946) and Avard T. (1898-1987) have a catalog that must amount to a hundred or more Mormon-themed works: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Gospel is Crude
The temple, we are told, is where the most sacred gospel rites occur. Brigham Young explained the meaning of those rites this way: are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens So, the deepest, most mystical, most mind-blowing things are . . . passwords? Secret handshakes? Door codes? Jon Stewart says, “Really, Brigham Young? Angel security guards. Really?” Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Adultery in Law
I had a buddy in high school who was a fierce Navajo patriot. He bitterly resented what had become of his people. I needled him once on how much better off the Navajo were now with roads, and medicines, and aqueducts, and things. His voice got strangled and he could hardly say anything. He finally choked this out: “before you white men came, when we caught an adulterer we had horses drag him to death.” 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Be Mannerly
In the spirit of President Hinckley’s six be’s, I’d like to submit some suggestions for visiting/home teaching etiquette. Here are my 12 be’s of assigned teaching. Please add your own! Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Being Orthodox in the Modern World
A couple of years ago, Noah Feldman published “Orthodox Paradox,” an essay in which he recounted some of the tensions of being an Orthodox Jew in the modern world (I ran across it reading The Best American Spiritual Writing 2008). Increasingly, being an orthodox anything in the modern world raises some of the same tensions. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Guest Blogger: Alison Moore Smith
We are delighted to welcome Alison Moore Smith as a Times and Seasons guest blogger! Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Miracle of Forgiveness
Thursday night I heard a short piece on the radio that brought me close to tears. Part of NPR’s on-going series of personal essays called This I Believe, the segment illustrated for me the meaning of true forgiveness as perfectly as anything I’ve ever heard. The essay was delivered by two people, Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson-Cannino. Ronald is a man who spent 10 1/2 years in prison for a crime he did not commit based primarily on testimony given by Jennifer, a woman who had mistakenly picked him out of a line-up as the man who had raped... Read more »
Notes From All Over
Comment on the week in sidebar links. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Coerced abortion, involuntary sterilization
The US Senate just voted down an amendment that would prevent federal funds given to the United Nations Population Fund programs that support or promote coerced abortion (read China) or involuntary sterilization (still China, I think). Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Garment Rights?
Do we have a right to wear garments? If we do, how far does that right go? What , kind of right is it? Is it a human right? Or a legal one that might disappear and reappear as we pass national boundaries? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Laura Rees Merrill: Replacing Fear with Peace
Laura Liona Rees was born in Brigham City, Utah, in 1876, to LDS parents (her father had emigrated as a convert from England; her mother was born at Council Bluffs). With only an eighth grade, district school education, she studied for and passed the test to be licensed as a grade school teacher. Then she became one of the first women to attend Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) at Logan. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Central Religious Experience of Mormonism
What does Mormonism portray as the central religious experience? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Are Mormons Crazy for Porn?
A study has looked at what percent of broadband users in an area also subscribe to a particular network of paid online pornography. Articles about the study have suggested that conservative religious types, especially Mormons, are more likely to use porn. 9 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »
“You Can’t Go to Heaven in Cologne Water”: A Missionary Talk by J. Golden Kimball
If you’re going to be disappointed by a J. Golden talk that doesn’t fit the swearing-elder stereotype, stop reading now. This isn’t that kind of J. Golden story. It is a talk the future Seventy gave to a small South Carolina branch in 1891 during a period when local members – including a woman – had been whipped and shot at, their homes ransacked, and the missionaries ordered out of the county at gunpoint. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mountain Meadows Panel Discussion at UVU
Richard Turley, Will Bagley, and Forrest Cuch will present a panel discussion this coming Thursday (March 5) at Utah Valley University. These panelists have very, very different perspectives on the events at Mountain Meadows, so bringing them together should make for an exciting conversation. 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Provident Living Idea
Since more people are budget-minded these days, I thought I’d begin an occasional series of frugal ideas. 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Notes From All Over
Comment on the week in sidebar links. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
I the Lord thy God.
On being smarter than other people at church 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Theology and Conversation
It’s hard for Mormons to find an accessible doorway into theology. David F. Ford’s short book Theology: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 1999) is the first I’ve found to really give me some traction with this elusive subject. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Motley Vision of the Wilderness
Long-time Mormon culture blog A Motley Vision has added a companion blog focused on Mormon nature writing and Mormon thinking about the natural world. T&S stand-out Patricia Karamesines is the presiding muse. Check it out. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Confidential: Have I Got a Deal for You
The original Keepapitchinin printed this “editorial” in 1870: Confidential. We have received the following letter: ”Dear Sir: – a confidential friend having notified us that you can be relied on we send you the enclosed circular.” Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
First in War, First in Peace
Here’s a belated recognition of George Washington’s birthday. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A New Book for the Mormon Canon
There are a number of Mormon pamphlets and books that have achieved a kind of semi-canonical status within Mormon studies. Everyone agrees, for example, that Parley P. Pratt’s Key to the Science of Theology or John Taylor’s Mediation and Atonement are key texts for understanding nineteenth Mormon thought. If any evidence is needed, both texts, I believe, are still in print. At the very least both have produced modern reprints. I have a proposed addition to the canon, George Q. Cannon’s A Review of the Decision of the Supreme Court in the Case of Geo. Reynolds v. the United... Read more »
Faith and Healing
“And again, it shall come to pass that he that hath faith in me to be healed, and is not appointed unto death, shall be healed. He who hath faith to see shall see. He who hath faith to hear shall hear. The lame who hath faith to leap shall leap.” (D&C 42:48-51) Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Mormon History Bleg
Do you know of any good source dealing with Mormon attitudes toward and/or involvement in the Spanish-American War? Please give me your ideas in the comments. Thanks! Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Colonel Kane, Righteous Gentile
From nearly the moment Thomas L. Kane walked into Mormon history in 1846, Latter-day Saint leaders promised that his name would long be honored by the Saints. In part, they wanted to bolster Kane’s determination to take the deeply controversial stance of defending the Mormons. When his father John, a powerful federal judge, learned of Kane’s decision to befriend the Mormons by traveling to their refugee camps in Iowa in 1846, he saw only potential ruin in associating with such a disreputable cause. “The case has no bright side,” he lamented, as Tom “is about to deal a blow... Read more »
For Those in the D.C. Area
Richard E. Turley will be speaking at the Wesley Theological Seminary this coming Sunday. Last year I posted a couple of notices about a great series of events that Greg Prince, co-author of David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, hosts every few months at his house in Potomac, Maryland. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
BYU Church History Symposium, Feb 27th
Church Historian Marlin K. Jensen and Asst. Church Historian Richard E. Turley Jr. will be among the many speakers at this year’s BYU Church History Symposium. The event is free, open to the public, and requires no registration. More information can be found at the symposium web page. Full announcement below. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Agonizing
I was intrigued by Adam’s link: “Legitimacy is the most precious resource of the state and should not be frittered away like this.” Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mormonism and Communal Studies
Scholars of Mormonism (like scholars of most topics) need to find ways to connect their subject to larger scholarly debates and frameworks. Mormon academics have used frameworks from American religious history to western history to the history of family and gender to legal studies. Another possibility is communal studies. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Who’s the Most Important Non-Mormon in LDS History?
The Bloggernacle has been awash lately in awards: Mormon of the Year, Mormon of the Year, 1950-present, and the Boggs-Doniphan Award. This last one asked for the most influential non-Mormon on Mormonism within the last year, for either good or ill, named about Missouri’s Governor Lilburn Boggs who infamously issued an Extermination Order against the Mormons in 1838 and for Alexander Doniphan, a Missouri militia leader who refused to execute Joseph Smith and other church leaders during the same conflict. In that same spirit, my question is: Which outsider has most influenced Latter-day Saint history, either positively or negatively?... Read more »
Getting over Nibley
Of late I have been thinking of late about how to read Mormon scriptures. In particular, I have been working on some passages in the Book of Mormon on legal interpretation and thinking about how best to approach these sections. By and large, it seems to me that there have been three basic models of how to read LDS scriptures. First, there has been what I think of as an external, sectarian reading. This consists essentially of proof texting in debates and discussions with Protestant outsiders. There is a sense in which this is the oldest kind of LDS hermeneutic. The... Read more »
Woe to the Outcast
Marginal groups get into the Second Coming. We contemplate with pleasant savagery the haves and the snobs getting smashed. “Kings shall see that which they had not considered.” “Bottom rail top dis time.” Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Politics versus Sectarianism
I recently finished The Theocons: Secular America Under Seige and put up a short post on it elsewhere. But as I continue to mull it over I have a different idea to float than I discussed in the other post, namely that the rejection of Mitt Romney as a presidential candidate by religious conservatives in the Republican Party marks a triumph of sectarianism over politics that will undermine (or already has) the political influence of the theocons, to whatever extent you grant they have had influence. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Short Lesson on Multipliers
This is just a post about Keynesian mulitpliers with no particular religious content. You have been warned and forewarned. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Polygamy, Women’s Rights, and Marital Sexuality: Elizabeth Kane’s Theory
Nineteenth-century polygamy provoked a decades-long national shouting match over the evils and virtues of the practice. It also prompted a fascinating contemplation by Elizabeth Kane of women’s rights and marital sexuality. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Notes From All Over
Comment on the week in sidebar links. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Dotting the Earth with … Baptismal Fonts
In a day when new temples are being announced by the handful, it’s easy to forget how far we have come in making priesthood ordinances available, convenient, and even non-life threatening. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
David Hall at Claremont on Puritans and Mormons
Next Thursday, February 19th, David Hall of Harvard Divinity School will be giving a free public lecture at the Claremont School of Religion. Below is the text of the announcement; you may also download a color PDF version of the event flyer. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Missionaries to Dinner, 1854 Style
On June 20, 1854, Elizabeth Kane received a note from her husband that he had invited some “common men” for dinner. Elizabeth, then 17, had been married to Thomas Kane, her second cousin, for a little over a year. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Understanding Thomas L. Kane
In Mormon country, Thomas L. Kane is remembered, if at all, as the nineteenth-century defender of the Latter-day Saints and the hero of the Utah War of 1857-58. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Welcome Guest Blogger Matt Grow
I am very glad to introduce to you our next guest blogger, Matt Grow. We thought this would be a good time to have Matt blog with us because he just had a book come out last week from Yale University Press, Liberty to the Downtrodden: Thomas L. Kane, Romantic Reformer, on an important and colorful figure in early Mormon history. Adam and I knew Matt when we were all graduate students Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Reminders: SMPT & Summer Seminar
Deadlines are approaching for paper submissions to the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology 2009 Annual Meeting (due February 13th), and for applications to the Summer Seminar on Orson and Parley Pratt with Terryl Givens and Matt Grow (due February 15th). Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Too Much Truth?
Blogger and journalist Rod Dreher posted an op-ed piece at USA Today, “How much ‘truth’ is too much?” It reviews in passing the author’s personal journey from faithful Catholic journalist reporting on the abuse scandals in the Catholic Church to Orthodox Christian who prefers to avoid repeating that experience a second time in his new church. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Ashtabula Horror
The train known as the Pacific Express (No. 5, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway) pulled out of Erie, Pennsylvania on the afternoon of December 29, 1876, headed toward Chicago. Two locomotives, christened “Socrates” and “Columbia,” towed its two passenger cars, three sleeper cars, two baggage cars, two express wagons, a smoker, and the caboose. The Pacific Express reached Ashtabula, Ohio, early on that snowy evening. When it pulled out of the Ashtabula station, 159 passengers and crew members were aboard. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Scout Sunday
Scout Sunday is today. 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Why Are the Faithful Fleeing?
At the blog Text Messages, an interview with Julia Duin, who is the religion editor at the Washington Times and author of the book Quitting Church: Why the Faithful are Fleeing and What To Do About It. Here are a couple of highlights from the interview. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Elijah and the Sealing Power
I’ve been thinking about this week’s Relief Society lesson. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Intentions
5-year-old son: Mom, he hit me with his backpack! Me: Did you hit your brother? 11-year-old son: No. 5-year-old: Yes, he did! He did! Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Michael Scott and C.S. Lewis
While I don’t really have a television, there are a couple of shows that I regularlly watch through Netflix or hulu.com. Among them is The Office. I actually think that some of C.S. Lewis’s thoughts on the nature of love help to make sense of Michael Scott. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
If You Had Been a Mormon Boy Born in 1915 …
… and if you had lived in the Mormon Corridor or somewhere else with a fully organized Primary, you would have become a Trail-Builder when you turned 10 in 1925, and you would have received one of the new “First Year Books” to track your progress during the year as your learned to do some really cool boy stuff. Your handbook was decorated with the pine tree, your class emblem, and you learned how this tree represented the kind of boy you were learning to be: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Pity of the World
Love is compassion and admiration mixed together. Pity and awe. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Commentary on 1 Ne. 17, concluded
Continuing part 1 , part 2, and part 3. Nephi’s response to his brothers directly attacks their understanding of Moses’s significance. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Intellectual Conversion
Seven Storey Mountain is Thomas Merton’s autobiographical account of his increasing restlessness with a worldly life. He converts to Catholicism and eventually enters one of the most strict (the strictest?) Catholic orders: a Trappist monastery. What has fascinated me Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Child’s-Eye View of the Mormon Silk Experiment
Utah’s 19th century silk industry was one of those projects encouraged by Brigham Young to stimulate home production and reduce Mormon dependence on a hostile world. Period literature is heavy on sermons advocating sericulture, treatises on raising worms and the mulberry trees they fed on, and praise for the quantities and artistry of finished articles. What I’ve never seen before is the memoir of a child who assisted in the enterprise. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Expected Value of A Fetus
A thoughtful reader asked me if there were any economic tools that could be brought to bear in valuing a fetus. Of course there are! And in fewer than a 1000 words, no less! Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
“The ‘Wild West’ Has Ceased to Be”
David G. at Juvenile Instructor (the blog, not the periodical) has just posted Mormonism’s Unbroken Past: Transcending the 1890 Rupture, noting that 1890 is as historically significant to the Mormons as that year is to the wider history of the West: For us, the 1890 Manifesto marked as great a shift in outlook, traditional Mormon historical thinking goes, as the 1890 “closing of the frontier,” declared in 1893 by Western historian Frederick Jackson Turner, signaled in the development of all that was distinctively American. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Mormon Index
A comprehensive bibliography? A portfolio of LDS-owned companies? No, it’s a measure of food-storage activity by preparedness-minded Mormons, as revealed in a feature at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “The Mormon Index is a rising sign of troubled economy.” 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
The Political Uses of Debt and Mormon History
Yesterday’s discussion got me thinking about debt, in particular the political uses of debt. Here, I think that the experience of the American Revolution and the failure of the Confederacy may have something to tell us about Mormon history. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Extended Deadline: Mormon Scholars in the Humanities conference
It’s not too late to send in a proposal for this year’s Mormon Scholars in the Humanities conference, May 8-9 at Aspen Grove and BYU, Provo, UT. Speaker John Caputo and individualized scholarly mentoring opportunities are special highlights this year. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
$819,000,000,000 Bill
The Stimulus, Debt, Pork, Rescue, Special Interest Pay-off $819 Billion Bill (not counting interest) has passed the House. You can search the text here if you like. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Friedrich Schulzke: “It Fell to My Lot to Guide the Little Branch”
Friedrich Schulzke Read more »
If You See Her, Say Hello
We are delighted to announce that Ardis Parshall’s posts will be returning to T&S. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Hindsight Prophecy
Higher critics would claim that any suspiciously accurate revelations in the scriptures were probably put in afterwards. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
United States to Fund Abortions Abroad
By executive order, President Obama has authorized government funding of abortions overseas (funding abortions in the United States is still illegal thanks to the Hyde Amendment). He described this taxpayer funding of abortion as a non-partisan measure that will move us beyond the stale, tired abortion debates of the past. 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Brand New Day
Thanks for all the comments on site design. We’re still making use of that feedback. Here is a two sidebar option that gives a great deal of info up top, but then quickly drops off to just let you read in peace as you get farther down the page. Take it for a spin. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Commentary on 1 Nephi 17, pt. 3
Continuing part 1 and part 2. Laman and Lemuel offer up their gloss on the story of Moses in verse 22 and in so doing model a particular type of scriptural and legal interpretation. They say: And we know that the people who were in the land of Jerusalem were a righteous people; for they kept the statutes and judgments of the Lord, and all his commandments, according to the law of Moses; wherefore, we know that they are a righteous people; and our father hath judged them, and hath led us away because we would hearken unto his... Read more »
Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright
We’ve spiffed up our design a little bit. Have a look around and let us know what you like and what you don’t. We may not do anything about your comments; but then again, we might, and the venting should be good for you regardless. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Bad Men and Food Storage
On the sweetness of Mormon life. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Spooky action at a distance
I am a total NPR dork. I would LOVE to have Carl Kasell’s voice on my answering machine; when I was in middle school, I felt betrayed when I learned that Lake Woebegone wasn’t a real place; and I admit that I joined Ira Flatow’s Science Friday Facebook group (“for those who love Science Friday. Or Ira Flatow.”). In fact, all my scientific knowledge pretty much comes from either Science Friday or the SciFi channel. That’s essentially my disclaimer before I jump into a discussion of quantum mechanics: my knowledge of quantum entanglement is limited to how much Ira... Read more »
Notes From All Over
Comment on the week in sidebar links. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Commentary on 1 Nephi 17, pt. 2
Laman and Lemuel make their appearance in chapter 17 in verse 17, where they say: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Logic of Christ
16 ¶ And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
A Psalm for Inauguration Day
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Ooooobama!
The swearing-in of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States is just around the corner. It’s an exciting time to be living in Washington, DC – even if we don’t dare leave our house to brave the swarm of people descending on the nation’s capital to watch the inauguration. Even our not-quite-two-year-old daughter is catching Obama-fever. We haven’t gone out of our way to teach her anything about Obama, but she still has absorbed quite a bit (it helps that the city is absolutely SATURATED with Obama-related stuff). She now points to pictures of Obama and... Read more »
Who Should Have Been Mormon of the Year, 1990-2007
This final of three posts, covers Times and Seasons reader Last Lemming’s suggestions for Mormon of the Year for the years 1990 through 2007. We already posted on Monday his picks for 1950 through 1969 and on Wednesday 1970 through 1989. I suspect as these posts get into more familiar and more recent territory, more of you will have comments and suggestions about who Last Lemming suggested and who should have been suggested instead. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Key to the Science of Unity
Our ward has been exploring the idea of Unity in our sacrament meeting talks this month, and I’ve heard the same attribution to Elder Dallin H. Oaks several times. It apparently comes from a “News of the Church” article in June 2007 which discusses the growing diversity in the Church. According to the article, Elder Oaks “said that the growing diversity among the members is simply a condition, not a Church goal. The real goal is unity, not diversity.” Perhaps’ I’m not listening closely enough, but the discussions of this idea seem to have missed the balance of what... Read more »
Lint-free
On the sweetness of Mormon life. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
MLK Day
The way we honor Martin Luther King Day, around here, is we post his words, usually the text of his letter from Birmingham Jail. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Political is Personal
This post is Janet’s fault. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Regarding Carol Lynn Pearson
Over the holidays I discovered the poetry of Carol Lynn Pearson, which I have been enjoying. At times she spills over into the trite or saccharine, but on the whole I like it. There is nothing agonistic about it, which is the reason that Terryl Givens doesn’t much care for it. I think that he’s right, however, that by taking Emily Dickinson (another poetess I’ve recently started reading) as her model, the conciseness of her style frequently rescues her from smugness. At its best, there is an engaging naivete in her verse, a kind of simple purity that skates... Read more »
Sunday School Lesson Links
Owing to the fact that I am a moron, Jim F.’s excellent Doctrine and Covenants Sunday School lessons are inordinately hard to retrieve. Here are links to a few of them, and we’ll have the rest of them easy to get to by next week. Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 2 Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 3 Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 4 Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 5 Jim no longer posts at T&S, but he still reads here on occasion, so if you have nice things to say or helpful comments about any of these lessons, please feel free to post... Read more »
HUAC
After nearly 40 years in the wilderness, HUAC is back in style! Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
First Mormon Studies Fellowships Announced
Mormon Studies took another step forward this week with the announcement of two doctoral fellowships in Mormon Studies. Courtesy of the George S. and Delores Doré Eccles Foundation, the two fellowships will be awarded one a year this year and next. With any luck, the fellowships will be repeated in future years, assuming that they successfully lead to dissertations. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Last “Who Should Be Mormon of the Year” segment postponed
At Last Lemming’s request, I have postponed the last of the three “Who Should Be Mormon of the Year” segments until Tuesday morning. That segment covers 1990 to 2007. Last Lemming will be out-of-town during the weekend, and wants to be sure he is available to comment and react to others’ comments on the post. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Commentary on 1 Nephi 17, pt. 1
This is the first of a series of posts in which I will be offering some commentary on 1 Nephi 17. Why that particular chapter you ask? The answer is that I believe that chapter 17 is setting forth a method of scriptural interpretation that proved to be very important both for the Book of Mormon and for Mormonism generally. Furthermore, what I find fascinating about the story is that ultimately it is about the legal interpretation of scripture. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
“Twenty-Mark Note” Experiences
There is a certain category of life-experiences that I refer to as “Twenty-Mark Note” stories. The name for these experiences comes from a talk by the same name, given by President Packer at BYU-Idaho in 2002 (excerpted below). I suspect that once you read President Packer’s remarks, you’ll immediately recall your own Twenty-Mark experiences: Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Road to the Temple
NPR recently did a story about a group of reporters’ visit to the newly constructed Draper Temple. The Draper Temple, by all appearances, is characteristically beautiful. I am as intrigued by the process of building a new temple, as I am by the end product itself. Some of the most marvelous stories from church history involve sacrifices that the Saints – ancient and modern – have made in order to build a House consecrated to the Lord. Unfortunately, the sacrifices and challenges that go into constructing a temple are often not immediately apparent, particularly to those of us living in... Read more »
Who Should Have Been Mormon of the Year, 1970-1989
This second of three posts, covers Times and Seasons reader Last Lemming’s suggestions for Mormon of the Year for the years 1970 through 1989. We already posted on Monday his picks for 1950 through 1969 and on Friday morning we will list his picks for 1990 through 2007. I suspect as these posts get into more familiar and more recent territory, more of you will have comments and suggestions about who Last Lemming suggested and who should have been suggested instead. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Welcome to Guest Blogger Sheldon G.
We’re due for an infusion of new blood here at T&S, so we’ve decided to roll out the red carpet for one Sheldon G. Sheldon got his undergraduate degree from the U of U, where he majored in history, wrote his senior thesis on the reactions of LDS women to the Correlation-related changes to the Relief Society, and took advantage of every possible opportunity to taunt and belittle BYU fans. Upon graduating, Sheldon attended law school at The George Washington University Law School, where he chaired the 2008 Religious Freedom Moot Court competition. After graduating in May 2008, Sheldon... Read more »
A Year’s Supply of Goodwill
The Lovely One and I do not (yet) own a hand-crank radio or an AK-47. But we’re still emergency preparedness freaks in our own way. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Who Should Have Been Mormon of the Year, 1950-1969
I received an unexpected and fun email message after we began selecting the 2008 Mormon of the Year from Times and Seasons reader Last Lemming, who had made his own selections for Mormon of the Year for each year since 1950! In this first of three posts, we will include his suggestions for the years 1950 through 1969. We will follow on Wednesday morning with his picks for 1970 through 1989 and on Friday morning for 1990 through 2007. I suspect as these posts get into more familiar and more recent territory, more of you will have comments and... Read more »
Neuhaus Dies
Fr. Richard Neuhaus of First Things has died. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Totality of Mortality
When I picked up my manual to prepare to teach Gospel Doctrine this Sunday, I figured it would be a lesson about the spirit of Elijah (second week = section 2 = turning hearts, etc). I was surprised and delighted to find that Lesson 2 is instead about the atonement, highlighting powerhouse passages in Doctrine & Covenants sections 19, 76, 88, and 93. While reading the material I was reminded of a favorite quote from Chieko Okazaki on the topic and had a hankering to share it. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Times and Seasons 2008 Mormon of the Year: Mitt Romney
Image via Wikipedia After careful consideration, the staff of Times and Seasons has selected Mitt Romney as Mormon of the Year, our annual designation of the Mormon who had the greatest impact or influence on Mormons and Mormonism in 2008. During 2008 Romney concluded the most credible presidential campaign of any Mormon to date and dominated the U.S. national news early in the year like no single Mormon has in recent memory. He garnered a great deal of both praise and criticism, gaining him significant endorsements as well as important detractors. Remarkably, his supporters included many Evangelical Christians, which... Read more »
Call for Papers: SMPT at Claremont, 2009
The Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology’s 2009 conference will be held at Claremont Graduate University, May 21-23, in cooperation with the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies and the Claremont Mormon Studies Student Association. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The Utes are the 2008 Football Champs.
I’m a Cougar. I will always be a Cougar. I loathe the Utes. I will always loathe the Utes. The number of college football teams in preference to which I would want to crown the Utes as national champion can be counted on the fingers of one amputated hand. The Utes are the 2008 Football Champs. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Semiautomatic Madness
“Gun sales in the waning months of 2008 saw a dramatic spike in Utah, a trend gunowners say is propelled by the election of Barack Obama and a faltering economy . . . At Kearns’ Impact Guns, assault weapons, such as AR-15s and AK-47s are out-of-stock after a post-election rush.” Will someone please explain to me why any civilian would want or need an AK-47? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The TRUTH about the Book of Mormon pronouncing guide EXPOSED
The Mormon Church does not want even its own members to know how to pronounce Shimnilom 2 people like this post. Like Unlike Read more »
Get me a new hometeacher
On the sweetness of Mormon life Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Om nom nom
In a recent ABC article, mother of three Robyn Paul has some good things to say about breastfeeding children beyond infancy. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
The New Era 2.0
The Church has a new website for youth, launched today. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Vote for Mormon of the Year
This post opens the voting for Mormon of the Year. Votes will be taken until midnight Eastern Time on Monday, January 5th, at which time the voting will close. The voting mechanism will attempt to restrict votes to one per person. THE WINNER OF THE ONLINE VOTE IS NOT NECESSARILY THE MORMON OF THE YEAR!!! Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Conferences and Events
- Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR) Conference
- BYU Education Week
- BYU Idaho Education Week
- Sperry Symposium
- Utah State Historical Society Conference
- John Whitmer Historical Association Annual Meeting
- Association for Mormon Letters Annual Meeting
- LDS Semi-Annual General Conference
- Matthew Bowman: "Mormonism and American Progressivism"
- Samuel Morris Brown: "In Heaven as it is on Earth"
Calls for Papers
- Brazilian Mormon Studies Conference
- Colloque international sur le mormonisme (International Conference on Mormonism)
- LDS Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists
- Mormon Media Studies Symposium
- Sunstone Kirtland
- Sunstone West
- Sunstone Symposium: MORMONS AND MORMONISM AS A POLITICAL FORCE
- BYU Religious Education Student Symposium
- RESTORATION STUDIES SYMPOSIUM
- Claremont Mormon Studies Student Association