{"id":32588,"date":"2015-01-18T22:33:18","date_gmt":"2015-01-19T03:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=32588"},"modified":"2015-01-18T22:35:49","modified_gmt":"2015-01-19T03:35:49","slug":"the-influence-of-law-on-mormon-theology-in-the-20th-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2015\/01\/the-influence-of-law-on-mormon-theology-in-the-20th-century\/","title":{"rendered":"The Influence of Law on Mormon Theology in the 20th Century"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently published an article that T&S readers might find interesting<\/a>. It traces the legal issues faced by the Church as a result of its international expansion after 1945, arguing that the pressures created by these concerns tended to modify Mormon theologies of the state in the last half of the twentieth century. There is a bunch of interesting stuff in the paper (or at least I think that there is), but it mainly makes two contributions. First, it tries to provide an overarching narrative for Mormon legal history in the late twentieth century. Second, it shows that just as with the abandonment of polygamy at the end of the 19th century, law has been an important force in the development of Mormonism in the twentieth century. Here’s the abstract from SSRN, along with a link for those who want to read it:<\/p>\n

International Legal Experience and the Mormon Theology of the State, 1945-2012<\/a><\/p>\n

Nathan B. Oman
\nWilliam & Mary Law School<\/p>\n

January 16, 2015<\/p>\n

Iowa Law Review, Vol. 100, 2015
\nWilliam & Mary Law School Research Paper No. 09-295 <\/p>\n

Abstract:
\nThis Essay has three goals. The first is to provide a basic narrative of postwar Mormon expansion, identifying the basic periods and major developments. The second is to summarize the main legal issues provoked by this expansion. The third goal is to advance an argument about the relationship between this legal experience and the development of Mormon discourse in the last half of the 20th century. As the Church expanded into new regions of the globe, it confronted non-American legal systems. This placed pressure on the Church and affected the development of Mormon discourse in the last half of the 20th century. In particular, international legal challenges created incentives that tended to moderate Mormon theologies of the state. By the turn of the 21st century, the dominant theology of the state in Mormon discourse was quietist and non-confrontational, a marked contrast from the theodemocratic ambitions of the 19th century or the Cold War apocalypticism popular among many Mormons in the middle of the 20th century. Just as law proved decisive in the development of Mormon belief and practice in the 19th century \u2014 particularly Mormon doctrines surrounding plural marriage \u2014 in the 20th century, law has again exerted its influence on Mormon teachings.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Enjoy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently published an article that T&S readers might find interesting. It traces the legal issues faced by the Church as a result of its international expansion after 1945, arguing that the pressures created by these concerns tended to modify Mormon theologies of the state in the last half of the twentieth century. There is a bunch of interesting stuff in the paper (or at least I think that there is), but it mainly makes two contributions. First, it tries to provide an overarching narrative for Mormon legal history in the late twentieth century. Second, it shows that just as with the abandonment of polygamy at the end of the 19th century, law has been an important force in the development of Mormonism in the twentieth century. Here’s the abstract from SSRN, along with a link for those who want to read it: International Legal Experience and the Mormon Theology of the State, 1945-2012 Nathan B. Oman William & Mary Law School January 16, 2015 Iowa Law Review, Vol. 100, 2015 William & Mary Law School Research Paper No. 09-295 Abstract: This Essay has three goals. The first is to provide a basic narrative of postwar Mormon expansion, identifying the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-politics"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32588","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\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32588"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32589,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32588\/revisions\/32589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}