Let’s say that the historicity of the Book of Mormon could be demonstrated irrefutably. (Say that Nephi returned in a cloud of glory, held a press conference, and pointed us to incontrovertible archeological proof.) Would I tune in to watch? Yes. Would this convince me to join or stay in the church?
Author: Adam Miller
Letters to a Young Mormon
I published a new book called Letters to a Young Mormon (Maxwell, 2014). It’s very small and very personal. You should read it.
Deadline – New Summer Seminar in Mormon Theology
Just a reminder that the deadline for applications for the First Annual Summer Seminar in Mormon Theology, co-spsonsored by The Mormon Theology Seminar and the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, is December 15, 2013.
New Summer Seminar in Mormon Theology
The Mormon Theology Seminar and the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship are pleased to announce the First Annual Summer Seminar on Mormon Theology, “A Dream, a Rock, and a Pillar of Fire: Reading 1 Nephi 1.”
“Opposition in All Things: Perspectives on the Fall”
The Mormon Theology Seminar will host a two-day conference, “Opposition in All Things: Mormon Perspectives on the Fall,” at Utah Valley University on June 7-8, 2013.
Theoscatology
We need bodies to become like God. But bodies are organs of passing.
An Open Letter to Mormon Thinkers
Last week I published something in a prominent series at a first-rate university press. It is, I think, the most rigorous, speculative, and systematic attempt at a professional take on Mormon philosophy, ever.
Tattooed
On his deathbed, Queequeg asks the ship’s carpenter to fashion him a burial canoe. So fashioned, Queequeg demands to lay himself the length of it, testing its virtue. Then, having abruptly remembered something he’d forgotten to do, he decides not to die after all and rises from the grave.
Groundwork
Maxwell Institute Announcements
Ladies and gentlemen, the new Maxwell Institute Blog is now live. Check out the announcement about the newly reconstituted Mormon Studies Review.
Conference: “Beyond the Mormon Moment”
“Beyond the Mormon Moment: Directions for Mormon Studies in the New Century” A Conference in Honor of the Career of Armand Mauss March 15-16, 2013
Contraction
I want to understand one thing especially. All my work bends to it. I want to understand the contraction of religious belief as a positive religious phenomenon.
Belief As Habit
In “How to Make Our Ideas Clear,” Charles Peirce argues that belief just is whatever it does.
The Kingdom of God Is Within You
Would you like to learn more about how to not just brownout when you kneel down in prayer? It’s a good New Year’s resolution: learning how to be still and listen for God.
Book of Mormon (Stories) Girl
I’m no longer of the opinion that religion matters because it makes life meaningful. Religion, it seems to me, makes meaning rather the way breathing makes CO2: as leavings, as tailings. That’s fine. Meaning may follow, but it’s meant to be exhaled. If you hold your breath, you’ll suffocate.
Book of Mormon (Afghan) Girl
You thought you were going to get it right. Right. Instead, you’re morphing into that crazy guy who sits on the front row in Sunday School with two hands up and three incompatible opinions. Given your extremity, making you crazy may well be God’s worst best way of saving you. Plan A is out the window. Now, the only way to get there from here is through that.
The God Who Weeps: Agency
I agree with The God Who Weeps that agency is pivotal, but I disagree about what agency is.
The God Who Weeps: Darwin
I’m glad to see that The God Who Weeps makes some room for Darwin, but I wish it had made more.
The God Who Weeps: Pre-existence
I agree with The God Who Weeps that our doctrine of pre-existence is crucial, but I disagree about why.
The God Who Weeps: Satisfaction
I agree with The God Who Weeps that God redeems our hungers and desires, but I disagree about how God does this.
The God Who Weeps: Faith
I agree with The God Who Weeps that faith is a decision, but I disagree about the site of this decision.
Silas Marner, Empty Casket
Defamed and exiled, Silas Marner loses his native faith. Now he’s got nothing to prop up his soul.
Exploring Mormon Thought: Benediction
In linguistics, a word that is only attested once in a text is called a hapax legomenon. In older texts (like Hebrew and Mayan texts), these hapaxes can be especially hard to decipher because that single attestation may be the word’s only occurrence anywhere. Lacking context, it’s hard to tell what a hapax means.
American Academy of Religion – CFP in Mormon Studies
AAR Pacific Northwest Region AAR/SBL/ASOR Regional Meeting Seattle University Seattle, Washington May 3-5, 2013 SPECIAL TOPICS: MORMON STUDIES
Exploring Mormon Thought: Two Paths in a Wood
Blake Ostler does a lot of admirable critical work in Of God and Gods (Kofford, 2008), but the book’s main constructive contribution grows out of his decision to make our heady claims about the superlative attributes of God throb with a Hebrew heart.
Silas Marner, Interrupted
Godfrey is trying to repent but no one will cooperate.
Silas Marner, Far From Home
George Eliot sends Silas Marner packing. Early in the novel, Silas is framed for a theft he didn’t commit (probably by his best friend who also has designs on pinching Silas’ fiancé). Silas appeals to God in his defense, but when the church elders cast lots to divine the truth, the lots say he’s guilty. Betrayed by God and men, Silas is left broken-hearted and faithless.
Exploring Mormon Thought: Biblical Criticism
Don’t Read That! Your Testimony Will Be History!
Julie Smith opens her excellent T&S review of Turner’s Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet (which I’ve not yet read) with clear reservations about recommending this book to the “average” church member.
Curious about Belief
Is the existence of God, for you, an obvious and uncontroversial feature of any common sense way of seeing the world? Has it always been so profoundly and straightforwardly given that you could not deny it? If so, then in what sense would we be right to say that such a belief is either praiseworthy or blameworthy?