Category: Cornucopia

  • The Irreconcilable Triangle of Mormon Political Values

    The Irreconcilable Triangle of Mormon Political Values

    FOX News was on while I stood in line at McDonald’s last night. I noticed that the guy being interviewed looked distinctly Mormon (apparently we have a distinctive look), so I walked over to see what was up. The guest was Connor Boyack, and he was talking about how, of all the political ideologies, Mormonism is most…

  • Mormons in the US: A New Study

    You can read the study itself here or a summary of it in the DN here.

  • Now, Even Stronger Youth!

    The Church announced that it has released a revised Strength of Youth pamphlet.

  • Sex as Truth

    Joseph Spencer, in his encouraging response to Taylor Petrey’s Dialogue article, “Toward a Post-Heterosexual Mormon theology,” makes the following claim:

  • Gospel Doctrine New Testament Midterm and Final

    Gospel Doctrine New Testament Midterm and Final

    We’re nearing the end of our New Testament study for the year; what have we learned? Shall we assess? Back in 2006, when I was still engaged in my Sisyphian PhD pursuit, I taught an Honors Acts-Revelation class at BYU, which was a lot of fun. We learned a little Greek, read some introductory scholarship,…

  • History of a book

    So I wrote a book. Not a Mormon book, but one in my academic field. I’ve been working on the book since just before my youngest daughter was born. She started first grade in September, and the book was published last week. The idea for the book came to me in 2005,

  • Book Review:  Good Tidings of Great Joy

    Book Review: Good Tidings of Great Joy

    Eric D. Huntsman, Good Tidings of Great Joy, October 2011, Deseret Book, 166 pages.

  • Book Review: Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism

    Terryl L. Givens and Matthew J. Grow, Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism, Oxford University Press, October 2011, 521 pages.

  • Times & Seasons Looks at Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism

    Starting tomorrow and extending for several weeks, several of my co-bloggers and I will post reviews of Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism by Terryl L. Givens and Matthew J. Grow, which was published a few months ago by Oxford University Press.

  • Global Harmony in Microcosms

    A Japanese former ambassador to China recently offered some provocative thoughts on the global promise of America, suggesting that the American melting pot is a kind of pilot project for world peace. Could the same be true of the LDS Church?

  • Through a Glass, Darkly

    “Why didn’t I know about this?” She sounds angry.

  • Korihor fought for religious freedom

    A three-part quiz: 1. Please review the account of Korihor in Alma 30. 2. True or false: Korihor was a religious freedom advocate battling an oppressive central government. 3. What does your answer in #2 say about these areas? Pick a few, and elaborate: -The role of religion in public life -The place of religious…

  • Interruption and Restoration

    Regular T&S readers will have noticed that our site has not been available for much of the past couple of days. Its not our fault. On Thursday morning, Bluehost.com, our now former host, shut down our site without warning and without providing any specific information that might allow us to solve whatever problem had arisen.We…

  • Survey: The Impact of Blogging on Mormon Studies

    Patrick Mason is studying the effect of the bloggernacle on Mormon Studies, has put together a questionnaire, and is seeking responses from graduate students. Here is a preface from Dr. Mason, the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University: At the January 2012 meeting of the American Society for Church History,…

  • Wild-Eyed

    Here’s my wild-eyed claim for the day: religion is about the world, not about religion. Which do you talk about at church?

  • The Strait [sic] and Narrow

    Say we agree that Mormonism is about progress and progression. A couple of questions might follow.

  • Everybody Hurts

    Depression played a major role in my self-identity for a decade of my life, from about 7th grade through the end of my mission. Life is good. In fact, life is great now. I’ve worked through my demons. No, that makes it sound like I knew what I was doing. Even now I can’t say…

  • If Jesus came for dinner…

    What would you serve the Savior if he came to your house for dinner? Would you give him beans and rice? Or would you buy a good steak and make a nice meal?” I sat there, thinking about this. My conclusion was that, yes, I actually would serve the Savior beans and rice if he…

  • A Missionary Reminiscence on Christmas

    A Missionary Reminiscence on Christmas

    When the mission president announced to our small group of greenies that I was going to Strasbourg, I shrugged the resigned shrug of a missionary who knew nothing about anywhere but was willing to go wherever. One of the sisters expressed jealousy; Strasbourg, she said, was one of the best cities in the mission. She…

  • Aunt Em on Thanksgiving

    Aunt Em on Thanksgiving

    For Thanksgiving, I’m posting this essay, written by one of the principle figures of 19th century Mormon letters and perhaps Mormonism’s first prominent feminist. While not a particularly insightful essay, this is somewhat interesting for its understanding of the Thanksgiving holiday in the first few decades after it became popular. I suspect much of Amethyst’s…

  • In Praise of Thanktimonies

    Not all targets of our reflexive contempt are well chosen. Expressions of mere gratitude in our monthly testimony meetings are dismissed as ‘thanktimonies’ because they don’t quite cover any of the things a public expression of religious conviction is supposed to be about. But I think this disdain is misplaced, like scoffing at children for…

  • Mormonism: The Everything Religion

    I’m impressed at how frequently I hear parallels drawn between our church and the many other religions out there. Apparently, we are similar to… the Catholics, due to our shared focus on a formally ordained lineage-based priesthood, strong church hierarchical organization, conservative moral politics, family focus with traditional gender roles, the need for works in…

  • Why Bloom, et al are wrong

    Why Bloom, et al are wrong

    Harold Bloom’s recent NY Times article on Mormonism & politics was tremendously disappointing. The sheer volume of poorly (or dishonestly) researched writing on Mormonism this season is exhausting; and to get this sort of long worn-out, conspiracy minded expression of clichés from someone as well educated as Bloom is downright disheartening[1] (though to be fair,…

  • Church and the Value of Girlie Things

    Church and the Value of Girlie Things

    Often in the quest for equality in the church programs for girls and boys, women talk about how much they would have loved to do all the scout activities. As I said in the Boy Scout Redux, I was very envious of many parts of scouting. I love rafting, I pitched in the first girls’ little…

  • Meditation

    This world is not conducive to contemplation, to meditation. We are encouraged to read the scriptures, fast, pray and meditate. But how do we meditate? There are some simple steps we can take on a regular basis to clear our minds. Some of these meditation techniques are borrowed from other traditions.

  • Finally, Family Scripture Study that Works for Us

    Finally, Family Scripture Study that Works for Us

    My family is not very large (C and, uh, me. Not even a cat), so schedules aren’t hard to coordinate. We’re both active in the Church, and bibliophiles who regularly read and study our own scriptures,  and yet we’ve never been able to have productive scripture study together. I am largely to blame for that,…

  • Ben S. Joins the Team

    Times and Seasons is pleased to announce that — after a very long stint as a guest blogger — Ben S. has agreed to come onboard as a permanent contributor. I certainly look forward to many interesting posts. Welcome Ben!

  • The Manner In Which I’m Mormon: Dealing With Difficult Doctrines

    Each church member responds to problematic issues in church history, doctrine, and culture in their own way. Some people ignore them, some engage in apologetics, and some leave the church entirely. As for me, I’m a categorizer. I categorize them away. I separate human knowledge and experience into two overarching spheres — science and religion.…

  • Quotes of Note: Elder Hafen on Independence

    Quotes of Note: Elder Hafen on Independence

    Quotes of Note will be a recurring series of lesser-known General Authority statements of interest, as conversation starters. I’m starting with a favorite. “We need to develop the capacity to form judgments of our own about the value of ideas, opportunities, or people who may come into our lives. We won’t always have the security…

  • Why Do You Read Times & Seasons?

    It’s that time again — reader participation day, so come join in and let yourself be heard! Back in January, I asked what brings you to the bloggernacle. Today, I want to narrow the question down to Times & Seasons in particular. Several of you are new here in the past six months, and there are…