Year: 2025

  • CFM 7/7-7/13: Poetry for “Great Shall Be Their Reward and Eternal Shall Be Their Glory”

    CFM 7/7-7/13: Poetry for “Great Shall Be Their Reward and Eternal Shall Be Their Glory”

    Kent Larsen

    We could argue that section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants has had more impact on Church members than any other section in the D&C. Prior to the vision described in the revelation, Church members, and Christianity in general, had one of two conceptions of the next life; either a dualistic heaven and hell, or…

  • Latter-day Saints are Really Fast Long-Distance Runners

    Latter-day Saints are Really Fast Long-Distance Runners

    Stephen C

    When I teach my occasional sociology class every once in a while race and sports get brought up. It’s one of those things that people tiptoe around and have their own opinions about but don’t really take the time to investigate or discuss.  To grab the bull by the horns, there’s a popular perception that…

  • [Mental Illness at Church] A Personal Story

    [Mental Illness at Church] A Personal Story

    Mary Grey

    I‘ve been going back and forth about how much to share about my background in what caused my mental illness and some of what it has been like. I wanted to skip this part because I’d rather talk in generalities, but stories matter, so here is a little bit of mine. As a kid I…

  • Rosalynde Welch on Christ in the Doctrine and Covenants

    Chad Nielsen

    I really appreciate the ways in which Rosalynde Welch approaches scriptures and interpretation of scriptures. I’ve mentioned this in my review of Seven Visions of Christ in the Doctrine and Covenants, but Rosalynde also shared some of her insights in a recent interview at the Latter-day Saint history site, From the Desk. What follows here is…

  • Against Performative Politics

    Against Performative Politics

    Kent Larsen

    In the next few weeks we pass through a series of commemorations and holidays that deal with freedom. We’ve already had Flag Day. Juneteenth followed five days later. Tomorrow is the anniversary of Joseph and Hyrum Smith’s martyrdom. In the U.S. Independence Day is just 8 days later. In France Bastille Day is on July…

  • Are Latter-day Saints Happier? The Pew Religious Landscape Survey, Relationship with the Church, and Flourishing

    Are Latter-day Saints Happier? The Pew Religious Landscape Survey, Relationship with the Church, and Flourishing

    Stephen C

    The 2023-2024 PRLS had the rare combination of questions about 1) current religion, 2) religion in which raised, and 3) different measures of flourishing. This allows us to see whether, for example, former Latter-day Saints (at least those raised LDS who no longer identify as such) are happier than current Latter-day Saints, or current Latter-day…

  • Evolution and First Presidency Statements

    Chad Nielsen

    BYU’s new book on Evolution and the Gospel of Jesus Christ may yet prove to be the most important contribution to literature for Church members out of the new Mormon Studies Books in 2025. If nothing else, the analytical tools and frameworks it introduces to members makes it worth reading. in a recent interview at…

  • CFM 6/30-7/6: Poetry for “No Weapon That Is Formed against You Shall Prosper”

    Kent Larsen

    Whether by teaching or by missionary work, proclaiming the gospel is a key part of LDS doctrine, practice and culture. And while this week’s Come Follow Me lesson leans toward missionary work, based on the historical events surrounding sections 71 to 75, the basic lessons found in these sections can apply to the many other…

  • How Common are Large Latter-day Saint Families?

    How Common are Large Latter-day Saint Families?

    Stephen C

    My favorite big family memes It’s difficult to study large families in the US because most surveys have what is called “right-censored data,” where they cap it at, say 4 and above, so we can’t look specifically at, say, eight or above families. However, I found one dataset, the Cooperative Election Study, that does actually…

  • John Turner’s Experience with Joseph Smith

    Chad Nielsen

    One of the big ticket items among 2025’s Mormon Studies books is John Turner’s Joseph Smith biography. It was officially released earlier this week, though I published my review earlier this month. In addition, however, John Turner recently shared some of his thoughts on the book in an interview at the Latter-day Saint history blog,…

  • Mental Illness at Church

    Mental Illness at Church

    Mary Grey

    It’s hard to know how to start this series. It’s not going to be victorious. It’s not going to be about rising conqueror over our demons. It’s not going to be about the miracle of healing—at least not in the traditional sense. It’s just going to be one person’s perspective of what it’s like having…

  • “Many Do Stumble”: Not Embracing Our Fuller Truth

    Stephen Fleming

    Recent events have looked rather apocalyptic to me, both Israel’s wars and the US’s treatment of Latinos. Huge events seem to happen so quickly that I worry any attempt to blog about them will be old news by the time this post goes up. Trump has quite staunch support among conservative evangelicals, and I’ve seen…

  • Joseph in Egypt and the Seductress Archetype

    Joseph in Egypt and the Seductress Archetype

    Stephen C

    *Not* me in high school Anecdotally one of the comical side effects of the Joseph in Egypt story that hormone-driven deacons and teachers are raised with is the subtext that you have to have your commitment to the law of chastity dialed in (“remember who you are and what you stand for”) because you need…

  • John Taylor and the 1886 Revelation

    Chad Nielsen

    For Latter-day Saint document geeks like me, this weekend was a big moment – the Church History library released digital scans of the 1886 John Taylor Revelation and related documents (see the link here for the Church History Library). Accompanying the release, the B. H. Roberts Foundation also published a discussion of the document. I’m…

  • Hymnal Watch: June 2025

    Hymnal Watch: June 2025

    Chad Nielsen

    It’s been a while since I put out an update on “Hymns—for Home and Church”: The New Latter-day Saint Hymnbook, and I have some mixed feelings on the latest updates.

  • CFM 6/23-6/29: Poetry for “Worth … the Riches of the Whole Earth”

    CFM 6/23-6/29: Poetry for “Worth … the Riches of the Whole Earth”

    Kent Larsen

    We all value the scriptures, but we don’t always understand them, and often what makes them valuable to us isn’t clear. If, as Doctrine and Covenants section 70 says, the scriptures are worth the riches of the whole earth, how is that true? What makes them so valuable? Part of the difficulty with understanding pronouncements…

  • Did People Have More Children to Work the Farm?

    Did People Have More Children to Work the Farm?

    Stephen C

    I am going to take advantage of permablogger privilege to address a historical demography myth/pet peeve of mine which, while seemingly orthogonal, does connect to the gospel, just give me a second to get there.  There is a widespread belief that in the past children were a net asset to your wealth, and people are…

  • Mormon Studies Books in 2025

    Chad Nielsen

    I don’t remember seeing a list given anywhere of books planned for publication in 2025 in the Mormon Studies field. So, in the interest of sharing what has been published and what is intended to be published in 2025, here is the list I have been able to compile:

  • “As a Young Lion among the Flocks of Sheep”

    Stephen Fleming

    At times like these, I thinks it’s valuable to review one of the Book of Mormon’s most repeated prophecies. Quick review: Gentiles=white people. Remanent of Jacob=Natives. If Gentiles repent, they can join with the remnant.

  • The Sound of Mormonism: A Media History of Latter-Day Saints: A Review

    The Sound of Mormonism: A Media History of Latter-Day Saints: A Review

    Chad Nielsen

    A few years back, Jared Farmer gave an interesting lecture in Logan, Utah for the annual Arrington Mormon History Lecture series called “Music & the Unspoken Truth,” which focused on the relationship between sound, religion and place, with a particular focus on Music & the Spoken Word. Since then, he has expanded the text of…

  • Selling Temples

    Selling Temples

    Stephen C

    It’s no secret that some are worried that the Church is overbuilding temples. While most make some sense in terms of the Church’s goal of having a temple close and accessible to members, anecdotes abound about temples being put very proximate to other temples that are already suffering from low attendance, and in the worst…

  • CFM 6/16-6/22: Poetry for “The Lord Requireth the Heart and a Willing Mind”

    CFM 6/16-6/22: Poetry for “The Lord Requireth the Heart and a Willing Mind”

    Kent Larsen

    What does it mean to have a “willing mind”? My first thought is that it is somehow about our attitude, how we confront or approach problems. But despite the prevalence of ‘positive mental attitude’ sayings and motivational posters, most people act as if their emotional state is something beyond their control. We act like we…

  • Anti-Latter-day Saint Stigma in Academia

    Stephen C

    Anti-Latter-day Saint stigma in academia is one of those things for which there is no solid data, so all that anybody has to work off of are anecdotes. However, given that 1) we know that people in general don’t really like us, 2) we are associated with a conservative ideology, and 3) there is plenty…

  • Planting the Acorn: A Review

    Planting the Acorn: A Review

    Chad Nielsen

    One hundred years ago this December, a group of three general authorities dedicated South America for the preaching of the gospel while establishing a mission in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Given that this year is the centennial anniversary, there are a few ways in which the Church has been celebrating, such as the repeated visits by…

  • My Take on Masonry and the Temple

    My Take on Masonry and the Temple

    Stephen C

    I generally consider myself pro-apologist. I think apologetics and apologists get a lot of undeserved grief in the Church (I see this as something of a pendulum swing from the 90s or so when Hugh Nibley types were rock stars that commanded huge fireside audiences). However, there have been a small handful of places where…

  • Review: Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet

    Review: Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet

    Chad Nielsen

    The wait for the long-anticipated biography Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet by John G. Turner is soon over. Available through Yale University Press, this is the first major biography released about the founding prophet of the Latter Day Saint movement since the completion of the Joseph Smith Papers project. It…

  • CFM 6/9-6/15: Poetry for “I Am with the Faithful Always”

    CFM 6/9-6/15: Poetry for “I Am with the Faithful Always”

    Kent Larsen

    While the early saints from the time that the Doctrine and Covenants was written were not just constructing an institution and building a community, they were also doing the mental work of building testimony—and it looks to me like the process may have been a little different from what we go through today. Where many…

  • Cutting-Edge Latter-day Saint Research, May 2025

    Cutting-Edge Latter-day Saint Research, May 2025

    Stephen C

    Simon, Hemopereki. “Decolonizing Lamanite Studies—A Critical and Decolonial Indigenist Perspective.” Religions 16, no. 6 (2025): 667.

  • Worse than a crime

    Worse than a crime

    Jonathan Green

    The way the United States is treating immigrants is a terrible mistake.

  • Words of Brigham Young

    Chad Nielsen

    One of the most important initiatives using primary sources from the Church History Library has been LaJean Carruth’s efforts to transcribe George D. Watt’s shorthand records. Her work has elucidated insights into early Utah history and the speeches of Church leaders that were previously unavailable. Over the course of her work, LaJean Purcell Carruth has…