When my friend Craig Harline suggested a few months ago that I do some guest blogging on Times and Seasons, I was initially enthusiastic; but on second thought my enthusiasm waned. It became clear to me that I probably wouldn\u2019t have much to contribute to this conversation. And the main reason I wouldn\u2019t have much to contribute is that I\u2019m largely ignorant in matters of Mormon thinking. So I would be like the naive newcomer to a conversation who says things that other people have already thoroughly hashed over.<\/p>\n
And why should I be ignorant about this part of Mormonism? After all, I was \u201craised in the Church,\u201d went on a mission, and graduated from BYU. Since then I\u2019ve rarely missed a Sacrament Meeting, have made substantial monetary contributions, and have usually watched at least one session of general conference. But in recent years I\u2019ve missed out on the no doubt scintillating discussions in Gospel Doctrine or priesthood meeting, in part because for about nine of the last ten years my ward calling (in two different wards) has been Primary pianist. (That may tell you something.) And I long ago left off reading LDS-type publications, whether general and official, meaning The Ensign, or more academic, such as Sunstone and Dialogue– which I assume are still in business? Or (sorry!) Times and Seasons.<\/p>\n
Nor can I sincerely say that this lapse is among the many things in my life that I regret having done, or not done. How to explain this? I think what happened to me is this: I\u2019ve spent much of my life in universities, and so I\u2019ve naturally been acquainted with a fair number of LDS academics. I admire many of these people, both as scholars and as human beings. Some of them I consider good friends. We\u2019ve had lots of valuable discussions. But with all this experience, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve encountered a model attractive to me of\u2013 how should I put it?\u2013 specifically Mormon intellectual or academic activity.<\/p>\n
I stress the \u201cto me.\u201d People engage intellectually with Mormonism in a variety of ways and for a variety of purposes. Let me mention four that I\u2019ve observed. There\u2019s the internally-directed person who is just interested in Mormon issues for their own sake\u2013 Mormon history or Mormon theology– and who doesn\u2019t really try to bring his or her studies into conversation with the wider, non-Mormon world. That\u2019s fine, I think. Given a free decade, I can imagine that I might devote myself to Mormon history. But as it happens, that hasn\u2019t been my calling, or career. Scarce time and resources, you know.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the Mormon apologist whose mission is to vindicate Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon or whatever against external criticism or incredulity. This is fine too, I suppose. Apologetics is a longstanding and honorable profession. Although I confess that what I\u2019ve seen of Mormon apologetics doesn\u2019t inspire in me much admiration. Often it seems to me to exude a kind of narrowness and defensiveness and lack of complete candor. I\u2019m speaking from a small sample, though, and I may be off-base.<\/p>\n
Closely related to the apologist but not quite the same is the person who wants to use distinctively Mormon perspectives and insights to propose useful views or solutions that aren\u2019t available without these distinctive perspectives and insights. Truman Madsen, from whom I took a class as an undergraduate, was an example of this kind of thinker. This sort of enterprise is in a sense more positive and less defensive than ordinary apologetics\u2013 because it tries to make a positive contribution, useful to people outside Mormonism\u2013 but it is like apologetics in that it attempts an indirect or comparative vindication of Mormonism. \u201cAha!\u201d the idea seems to be. \u201cHere\u2019s a problem (the \u2018problem of evil,\u2019 or God\u2019s foreknowledge, or whatever) that you all can\u2019t solve, and we can! We must have a Truth that you don\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n
In principle, I suppose there\u2019s nothing wrong with this sort of activity. For myself, though, I have to say that I\u2019m usually not favorably impressed with these efforts or demonstrations. I also think that in the world as it currently stands, the most crucial divides are not among Christian sects, or between Christians and non-Christians, but rather between people who believe there is some sort of order or purpose or design in the cosmos and those who adhere to more secular and naturalistic worldviews. So it hasn\u2019t seemed sensible or prudent to devote myself to the old-fashioned inter-religion competitions. I\u2019m sure that my Mormon upbringing and activities, and the beliefs I\u2019ve derived in part from Mormonism, have influenced my own thinking and writing immensely. But I\u2019m not sure it\u2019s the distinctively Mormon aspect that has been important, as opposed to what Mormons share with Christians generally, and devout Jews, and . . . .<\/p>\n
Finally, some of the LDS academics I\u2019ve met seem devoted to making Mormonism more acceptable (to themselves anyway) and more respectable (to their own peers and associates anyway) by working to bring the Church and its culture more into line with the ideas and values that prevail in, among other places, the modern academy. A lot might be said about this; I\u2019ll only say that for me, this is easily the least attractive and admirable of the various Mormon intellectual projects. A generation after the ship taken by mainline Protestantism knocked holes in its own bottom and began slowly to sink, should we pride ourselves on our enlightened or progressive vision by rushing to get on board that sinking ship? It seems just a bit . . .well, pathetic.<\/p>\n
So I\u2019ve encountered Mormon academics who are very good people, and also who are very good scholars, but I haven\u2019t come upon a model of distinctively Mormon intellectual activity that has engaged my sense of what my own calling and abilities are. And my conclusion\u2013 a very tentative one\u2013 has been that Mormonism contributes to the world today less by its distinctive ideas or theology (although some of its valuable ideas that were once routine may be becoming more distinctive all the time) than by its embodiment of a way of life. I may be wrong about this (I usually am), but it\u2019s why I happily participate in Primary but haven\u2019t devoted a great deal of time and energy to studying LDS publications and literature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When my friend Craig Harline suggested a few months ago that I do some guest blogging on Times and Seasons, I was initially enthusiastic; but on second thought my enthusiasm waned. It became clear to me that I probably wouldn\u2019t have much to contribute to this conversation. And the main reason I wouldn\u2019t have much to contribute is that I\u2019m largely ignorant in matters of Mormon thinking. So I would be like the naive newcomer to a conversation who says things that other people have already thoroughly hashed over. And why should I be ignorant about this part of Mormonism? After all, I was \u201craised in the Church,\u201d went on a mission, and graduated from BYU. Since then I\u2019ve rarely missed a Sacrament Meeting, have made substantial monetary contributions, and have usually watched at least one session of general conference. But in recent years I\u2019ve missed out on the no doubt scintillating discussions in Gospel Doctrine or priesthood meeting, in part because for about nine of the last ten years my ward calling (in two different wards) has been Primary pianist. (That may tell you something.) And I long ago left off reading LDS-type publications, whether general and official, meaning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corn"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/134"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13146"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13162,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13146\/revisions\/13162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}