Hinderaker, Amorette. ““It was Nothing That was Super Subversive”: Resistance as a Narrative Process in Dialectical Identity Spaces Among Mothers of LGBTQ+ Children in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Communication Studies (2024): 1-22.
This study examines resistance and identity dialectics among mothers of LGBTQ+ children in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Narrative theme analysis of in-depth interviews with 22 members of Mama Dragons, a nonprofit advocacy organization, revealed voiced identities (Mother, Latter-day Saint, LGBTQ+ Mother, and Dragon/Advocate) conceptualized as existing on a coordinate plane that measures voice (individual or organizational), and ways of knowing (ontological or experiential). Findings advance a view of dialectical resistance that moves beyond current understandings of an alternating control-resistance dialectic, suggesting that the process of resisting happens between storied identities. This study extends the exploration of resistance beyond organizational boundaries, suggesting that where totalistic organizational values bleed into the core identity (e.g. faith values), resistance is undertaken against not only the organization but often formerly held antenarrative versions of the self.
Salud, Ramon Angel P., Carl Froilan D. Leochico, MD PTRP, and Josephine R. Bundoc. “Wheelchair Recipients’ Perceived Barriers to In-person and Virtual Follow-up Consultations: A Cross-sectional Study.” Acta Medica Philippina 58, no. 20 (2024).
Not LDS-related per se, but cool that LDS Charities is involved.
Background. The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) is a tertiary government hospital that serves as the national referral center for Filipinos from across the country. In partnership with Latter-Day Saint Charities (LDSC), PGH has been serving patients in need of mobility devices, such as wheelchairs, through in-person services from screening to assessment, measurement, assembly, fitting, and mobility training. Given the patients’ barriers to in-person follow-up consultations, regular healthcare provision has been challenging. The use of telerehabilitation, a form of telemedicine, has emerged as a practical and innovative solution, but it needs further evaluation.
Calvert, Isaac, Spencer C. Weiler, and Brady Stimpson. “Releasing financial pressure through released time religious education: the fiscal impact of one released time programme on a state’s funding for public education.” British Journal of Religious Education (2024): 1-9.
We sought to quantify the fiscal impact of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ released time programme in the state of Utah, in the United States of America, on funding for American public education. The guiding research question for this study was: How much money does the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ seminary programme save public education in the state of Utah? We collected data from one school district in Utah and then extrapolated those findings, on a per pupil basis, to the entire state. Findings are reported in three approximates of the actual fiscal impact of the Church’s seminary programme in Utah: high, medium, and low. Our conclusion is that the actual fiscal impact of seminary on funding for public education lies within this reported range. We report that the Church’s seminary programme saves the state of Utah between $45,000,000 and $64,000,000 annually. While these figures only constitute 0.6% to 0.8% of the total funding for public education, this released time programme provides district officials with financial and scheduling flexibility. In addition, there are indirect fiscal benefits associated with seminary as well as direct and indirect costs.
Coyne, Sarah M., Ashley LeBaron-Black, Jane Shawcroft, Megan Gale, J. Andan Sheppard, Chenae Christensen-Duerden, and Megan Van Alfen. “The Heavenly Mother Artwork Project.” SquareTwo.
Although many non-Christian religions believe in female goddesses, the belief in a Heavenly Mother is a “cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints,” and few other Christian religions acknowledge a female deity. While members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a strong belief in the actuality of a Heavenly Mother, historically, there has not been much elaboration on this point of doctrine. However, interest among this figure in the lay community has surged in the last decade—particularly among its women members—resulting in numerous theological examinations, literary musings, and visual representations. Indeed, depictions of Heavenly Mother have increased exponentially within this time frame and some members report feeling that the visual arts are an appropriate terrain in which to explore her attributes, powers, and roles. Recent studies by Kayla Bach and Charlotte Shurtz suggest, based on members’ self-reports, that art provides an important means for believers to draw nearer to her.
Convinced that a large-scale, data-driven study of this phenomenon was in order, in 2020 we put together a team of researchers from across several disciplines who could combine expertise in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting its development. As authors, our goal is not to speculate or state anything about the doctrine, role, activity, or purpose of Heavenly Mother. We refer interested readers to the Gospel Topics essay on Heavenly Mother for a discussion of those themes.2 Instead, we aim to examine how Latter-day Saint artists portray Her and how this might be a reflection of the cultural climate among Church members. After identifying 505 artworks with the subject of Heavenly Mother and surveying as many of the artists as possible (approximately 50% provided data), these images were coded for an initial round of content analysis, considering components such as bodily characteristics (age, race, and body type); the use of formal elements such as light and color; dress and symbols; activities and events; contexts; and relational elements (e.g., inclusion of other divine figures such as Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ). The specific data derived from analysis of the visual attributes of Heavenly Mother-related art suggest discernable patterns of representation. These representational patterns, in turn, speak to broader cultural trends within the Latter-day Saint Church, including globalization and the increasing value placed on parity, inclusion, and belonging. But perhaps the most noteworthy aspect to this project is that it quantifies the number of artworks devoted to Heavenly Mother in the last ten years—a number that suggests interest among the Latter-day Saint community to acknowledge and reflect on Her—and that art is viewed as an efficacious space to express and meet these desires.
Burt, Henry. “Perfectionism and the Threat of Grace: Reimagining Theological Principles for Healing.” Journal of Pastoral Theology (2024): 1-17.
In this discussion, I provide a perspective on perfectionism as a spiritual struggle in such a way that challenges the consoling nature of grace. Through the case studies of a Mormon housewife, Martin Luther, and myself, I illuminate the conundrum found in a Law to ‘be perfect,’ on the one hand, and the Gospel—interpreted as a ‘Law’ to receive grace—on the other. The predicament I seek to address is: how is the perfectionist to placate both of these competing ‘Laws’? I suggest that a troublesome theology of Law and Gospel from the viewpoint of the perfectionist can be redeemed in service to them by employing Luther’s theology of ‘new decalogues.’ Luther’s concept, contextualized to the perfectionist, affirms the creativity they might apply to their theology with respect to conflicting perfectionistic concerns and strivings so that grace, in a new light, might have a fuller effect in their life.
Buchenau, Ju?rgen, and David S. Dalton. “Immigrant Religious Communities in an Anti-Catholic Context: Mormons and Mennonites Petition the Mexican State, 1928–1936.” In Anti-Catholicism in the Mexican Revolution, 1913-1940, pp. 213-235. University of New Mexico Press, 2024.
Significant conflict emerged in Mexico over the role of religion in public life in the 1920s and 1930s, culminating in the 1926–1929 Cristero War, and over the implementation of free public education for all that continued well into the 1930s. The national government mandated secularism, and yet it faced a population that was overwhelmingly Catholic. At the same time, there were groups of people in the country who were religious—but not Catholic—and who experienced officially imposed anti-Catholic policies in different ways than other Mexicans.1 This chapter will consider the experiences of two such groups, Mormons and Mennonites, who came to Mexico from the United States and Canada seeking religious freedom in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.2 Examining how Mexico ’s federal government related to members of these religious minorities expands the scope of anti-Catholicism as a general phenomenon, moving toward what Butler describes in his afterward to this volume as a catholic (all-encompassing) definition of anti-Catholicism. This chapter is in dialogue with other chapters in this volume, as well as Liminal Sovereignty, where I elaborated on how state policy relating to immigration and land redistribution programs occasionally favored Mormons and Mennonites and viewed them as a way to modernize or improve the country.3 The Mexican government may have viewed the members of these foreign, religious communities as allies to building an anti-Catholic order. On other occasions, as I show in this chapter, Mexican state leaders and bureaucrats viewed these religious minorities unfavorably, perhaps because their members belonged to non-Mexican, religious organizations, and these organizations often tried to carry out functions that the state had reserved for itself. I then analyze interactions between Mormon men and Rebecca Janzen 214 the government about issues around education, water, and taxation because it compliments research that I have done about land conflict between Mennonites , Mormons, and the Mexican government during this period and how each group imagined national belonging and citizenship depending on the situation.
Coyne, Sarah M., Jane E. Shawcroft, Chenae Christensen-Duerden, Lauren A. Barnes, Haley Graver, Moriah Perkins, and Andrew Brindley. “Modesty and Mormons: A Mixed-Methods Study of the Impact of Principles and Practices of Modesty on Body Esteem in a Latter-day Saint Sample.” SquareTwo.
The principle of modesty is one highlighted in many religions and can be a controversial practice. However, little research has examined how this principle is taught by religious communities and how it relates to body esteem among individuals. The current study consisted of two studies aimed to examine modesty and body esteem in a sample of religious individuals (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Study 1 involved a qualitative study of 111 individuals who reported a number of principles and practices surrounding modesty. Perceptions of the teaching of modesty were mixed, with participants reporting having better body esteem when teaching involved principles instead of focusing on practices. Study 2 was a quantitative study of 1,333 religious individuals. Again, body esteem tended to be higher when modesty was discussed using principles as opposed to practices and strict dress codes. Implications for religious leaders, parents, individuals, and clinicians are discussed.
Jelinek, Lauren. “INTERACTIONS BETWEEN APACHES AND MORMONS ON A FRONTIER LANDSCAPE.” From the book Contemporary Archaeologies of the Southwest.
Using documentary evidence, oral traditions, and archaeological remains, in this chapter I examine a brief period of interaction between the White Mountain Apache and Mormon colonists in the Forestdale Valley of Arizona. Archaeological evidence and oral traditions support the claim that Apache people reoccupied the homes of the Mormon colonists after their expulsion. This may have been a symbolic as well as a practical act. Shortly thereafter the settlement was burned, resulting in the erasure of the physical evidence of a Mormon occupation. The complexities of Forestdale as a symbol to both groups are revealed through the interplay of social memory and silences in the past.
Kraus, Spencer. ““One Drop of Salvation from the House of Majesty”: An Analysis of the Revelation of the Magi and Restoration Scripture.” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 61, no. 1 (2024): 13.
An early Christian text called the Revelation of the Magi
presents itself as a history of the Magi before and after the birth of
Jesus Christ. This text offers important insights into how the early
Christian world may have conceptualized how other nations outside
of Israel similarly looked forward to the advent of the Messiah, how
they worshiped God, and how they knew who their Savior would be.
The Book of Mormon similarly presents itself as text written by early
believers in Jesus Christ. It is centered primarily around two civiliza-
tions outside the land of Israel who knew who Jesus was, worshiped
him, and prophesied about him. Both texts begin with similar premises,
and each shares a remarkable level of consistency in matters of doc-
trine and narrative. Furthermore, the Revelation of the Magi contains
citations from a book of Adam that have striking similarities to details
revealed in other Restoration scripture regarding Adam and his chil-
dren. While the Revelation of the Magi is not scripture, it is nonethe-
less a text that many modern readers will find beneficial in highlighting
beliefs of early Christians.
Goff, Alan. “The Plagiary of the Daughters of the Lamanites.” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship61, no. 1 (2024): 6.
Repetition is a feature of all ancient Hebraic narrative.
Modern readers may misunderstand this quality of biblical and Book
of Mormon narrative. Biblical and Book of Mormon writers believed
that history repeated, with what happened to the ancestors hap-
pening again to their posterity. Fawn Brodie and her acolytes misap-
prehend Book of Mormon narrative when—instead of at least pro-
visionally granting that God might exist, can intervene in history, and
tenaciously reenacts events from the past while the recorders of such
repeated stories firmly believed in the historical reality of the narra-
tives they recounted—they attribute such repeated stories to Joseph
Smith’s imputed plagiaristic tendencies. The story of the kidnapping of
the Lamanite daughters by the priests of Noah (Mosiah 20) is a recur-
rence of the story of the mass kidnapping of the daughters of Shiloh
(Judges 21), but to attribute such similarity to plagiarism by Joseph
Smith is a grand and flagrant misreading of Hebraic narrative, its per-
sistent allusive qualities, and its repetitive historiography. Such narra-
tives were widespread in Levantine and classical antiquity, and neither
ancient historians nor modern scholars take the relationship among
such analogous stories to be one of plagiarism when their antiquity is
undisputed. At least one additional construal of the Book of Mormon
story’s meaning needs to be explored and considered against the
backdrop of Hebraic narrative.
Stenson, Matthew Scott. ““This Stone Shall Become the Great, and the Last, and the Only Sure Foundation”: A Nephite Poetics of Dramatic Fusion and Transfer in Jacob 5.” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship61, no. 1 (2024): 18.
In this study, three intersecting images are traced through
the small plates until Jacob 5, where they directly (or by implication)
culminate in the final section of Zenos’s allegory. The three images
appear fused together in Nephi’s and Jacob’s writings. Specifically,
this literary study tracks the images of the olive vineyard, the sheep-
fold and pasture, and the cornerstone or rock foundation. These
oddly fused (or adjacent) images, though complexly employed, can
be understood best as representing not only Christ but a gospel-cen-
tered record to be revealed by him. Fundamental to this reading is the
idea that the Good Shepherd gathers his sheep by means of a stone
or rock comparable to the gospel of Christ. In making this case, it is
helpful to compare related texts such as 2 Nephi 25 and 3 Nephi 27.
The value of this analysis is to demonstrate a unity amidst complexity
in the aesthetic of the Book of Mormon and to offer alternative read-
ings of certain scriptures, especially Jacob 5. Zenos’s allegory is read
here as tragicomedy and as one locus for the aforementioned images.
Jones, Clifford P. “Review of Two New Theories about the Lamanite Mark Recently Presented in Two Different Forums.” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship61, no. 1 (2024): 10.
T. J. Uriona has offered two new theories about the mean-
ing of Nephi’s term “skin of blackness” in 2 Nephi 5:21. He suggests
that Nephi’s term may indicate impending death and/or it may be a lit-
eral reference to diseased or deathly skin. Both theories are based on
a motif in an ancient Neo-Assyrian treaty that curses people to have
skin as black as pitch and crude oil. I submit that these two theories
are inconsistent with the larger context in the Book of Mormon.
Larsen, Val. “Mormon and Moroni’s Rhetoric: Reflections Inspired by Grant Hardy’s Understanding the Book of Mormon.” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 61, no. 1 (2024): 12.
Grant Hardy has shown that Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni
have distinctive personalities, rhetorical strategies, implied readers,
and thematic concerns. Mormon lived within history and wrote as a
historian. He focused on the particulars of time and place and person,
on political and military matters. But, Hardy says, Mormon lacked audi-
ence awareness. I argue Mormon’s historiography was well adapted
to the needs of his initial envisioned audience, the Alma family. Moroni,
who lived most of his life outside of history, wrote intertextually, in dia-
log with voices speaking from the dust. And he wrote as a theologian
especially attuned to the tragedy of human existence without God.
Unlike his father, Moroni was a reluctant and, initially, untrained writer.
His initial lack of confidence and competence and his growth as a
writer and as a person are apparent in the five different endings for
the Book of Mormon that he successively inscribed over the course of
his life. Moroni’s ultimate model as he so effectively closed the large-
plates record was Amaleki, last author of the small plates. This article
critiques Hardy’s assessment of Mormon’s and extends his account of
Moroni’s rhetorical effectiveness.
Hoskisson, Paul. ““Rise Up, O Light of the Lord”: An Appropriate and Defensible Etymology for Cumorah.” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship60, no. 1 (2024): 10.
This article explores issues with past suggestions concerning the
etymology of the name Cumorah and suggests a slightly updated etymology,
“Rise up, O Light of the Lord.” It then suggests that Book of Mormon
references to the Hill Cumorah appear to confirm the proposed etymology,
thus becoming an apt description of the Restoration.
Hart, Blaine L. “Recovering the Lost Concept of Truth in the Restoration Scriptures: Another Key to Understanding God’s Word.” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 60, no. 1 (2024): 15.
The word “truth” has for practical purposes lost one of its original
English-language meanings, and this has significant implications for
understanding scriptures. The obvious, well- understood meaning is that
which is real or factual. However, the earliest meaning in English is that
which is true in an entirely different way, in the sense of fidelity, loyalty,
and faithfulness. The King James translators frequently used “truth” in this
latter sense. The sense of “truth” as “faithfulness” remained well known
in the nineteenth century. Some passages in the Book of Mormon and
other Restoration scriptures reveal deeper insights when read with this
understanding. Pondering both meanings of “truth” in the scriptures can
serve as a source of inspiration and learning.
Squire, Derek. “The Literary Structure of Alma 17–20: A 14-Unit Chiasm.” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 60, no. 1 (2024): 5.
This article is an analysis of the literary structure of Alma 17–20.
These four chapters in the current Book of Mormon were originally a single
chapter in the first edition of the Book of Mormon (originally, chapter
12). The current article describes a process and rationale that was used to
identify several major literary units whose structure is no longer obvious
with the division into four chapters. The original literary structure appears
to have been written as a 14-part chiasm in which the matching units share
many strong links and parallels. According to this analysis, the central
units of this chiasm highlight the turning point of the narrative. Ammon
preaches the gospel to King Lamoni, and Lamoni then proceeds to cry unto
the Lord for mercy upon himself and his people. Thousands of Lamanites
then repent and are converted unto the Lord. This critical episode in the
Book of Mormon had far-reaching and long-lasting effects. It now appears
that Mormon carefully structured this episode to help readers remember
key events that transpired and to highlight its importance as a hinge point
in Nephite/Lamanite history.
Smith, Skyler. “Heavenly Ascent in Jacob’s Writings in Second Nephi: Addressing the Question of What the Plan of Salvation is in the Book of Mormon.” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 60, no. 1 (2024): 6.
Heavenly ascent describes the process of an individual (or
community) returning to the presence of God. Though various elements exist
within heavenly ascent literature, general patterns can be discerned. This
project uses one such pattern as a hermeneutical tool to examine what can
be learned about how Book of Mormon prophets may have understood the
plan of salvation. Specifically, Jacob’s understanding of the plan of salvation
will be analyzed by examining his writings in 2 Nephi 9–10. The evidence
from this study suggests that some Book of Mormon prophets (at least Jacob
and Nephi) viewed the plan of salvation through the lens of heavenly ascent.
Belnap, David M., and Nalini M. Nadkarni. “Trees and the Love of God.” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 60, no. 1 (2024): 12.
Trees play real and metaphorical roles in the beliefs and holy
scriptures of many world religions, and believers and non-believers
throughout the world are uplifted spiritually by trees. In the Book of
Mormon, a tree with delicious, sweet fruit appeared in two visions and one
parable. Respectively, the tree represents the love of God as seen through
the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ and symbolizes spiritual growth as one
experimentally nourishes faith from a seed. Trees and fruit in the world
around us can remind us of important lessons from these teachings and
help keep us focused on the Lord because trees embody godly attributes and
illustrate righteous principles. Trees and God’s love are universal, meant
to be dispersed, beautiful, long-lasting or eternal, strong, gifts, providers
of bounty, givers of joy, and sources of shelter and comfort. From trees, we
learn to shun pride, have proper priorities, be patient and persevering, keep
growing spiritually, be well-rooted, and pursue spirituality. Trees kindle
awe, reverence, and love in us. Whenever we see a tree or eat fruit or nuts
from a tree, we can be reminded of God’s love and to choose righteousness.
Trees can inspire us to continue nurturing our spiritual growth; by doing so,
our lives can be monumental like trees.
Peterson, Daniel C. “Who Holds the Keys?.” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 61, no. 1 (2024): 3.
While, for understandable reasons, Protestant Christendom
tends to downplay the question, the more ancient Christian churches
have historically placed considerable weight on what is often termed
“apostolic succession.” The Catholic church, for instance, strongly
affirms the “primacy of Peter” and the status of the Bishop of Rome,
the Pope, as ancient Peter’s lineal successor. Curiously, perhaps, The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, although it was founded
on the American frontier in the early nineteenth century, takes a view of
the matter that crucially resembles the Catholic viewpoint more than
it does a western Protestant one. But the Latter-day Saint view differs
dramatically on the history of the apostolic succession and, accord-
ingly, on the identity of the modern successors to the ancient apostles.
For some reason a lot of other Interpreter articles hit the wire at the same time, so instead of inputting them in one by one, if interested you can see the website.