Clik here to view.
Adjusting The Narrative: Introduction and Proposal
A New Day For many, the recent addition of an explanatory header to Official Declaration 2 in the 2013 LDS edition of the Doctrine and Covenants was a breath of fresh air (see posts and comments here,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Polygaga: Brian Hales on Joseph Smith’s “Bad Romance”
Some time ago Brian Hales discussed his interest in Joseph Smith’s polygamy on the site “Mormon Scholars Testify.” At that time he detailed his intent behind the research that would eventually become...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Adjusting the Narrative: Part 1a–The Scriptural Curse and Seed of Cain
See the introduction to this series here: Adjusting the Narrative: Introduction and Proposal. I highly suggest reading the introduction before proceeding. As part of Joseph Smith’s prophetic literary...
View ArticleClik here to view.
‘Holy Envy’: What ‘Mainstream’ Christians Can Teach ‘Latter-day Saint’...
In a book published in 2003 by Brigham Young University’s Religious Studies Center, LDS author Mark Elbert Eastmond presented a fascinating exploration on the doctrinal reasons for Christ’s atoning...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Revolutionary Sisterhood: The Struggle to Sustain a Prophetic Vision
An unusual aspect of early Relief Society history is that the precise date on which Eliza R. Snow became its second General President is ambiguous. Some accounts have her presiding from 1866 until her...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wealth Disparity and Social Decline: Perspectives from the Book of Mormon
One of the Book of Mormon’s most distinctive features is its presentation of the “pride cycle” as a type of meta-narrative that describes how societies rise to prosperity through humility and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Changes to the Bible Dictionary
The church recently announced a new edition of the scriptures noting that “more than 99 percent of the adjustments are in the study aids.” I spent some time looking at one of those aids — the Bible...
View ArticleClik here to view.
St. Patrick and the Persecution Complex
RealClearPolicy editor Joseph Lawler had the following to say about this past weekend’s holiday: All Saints’ Episcopal Church, San Francisco Each year, the days leading up to March 17th remind us of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Adjusting the Narrative: Part 1b-The Blood of the Canaanites
While my next post (I promise!) will explore the story of Abraham, Pharaoh, and Egyptus in the Book of Abraham as it relates to perpetuation of Priesthood, I will first be exploring an intermediate...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Oops, she did it again
Introduction Valerie M. Hudson [1] has co-authored a new article in the April 2013 Ensign arguing for her usual egalitarian take on Mormon patriarchy. I have mixed feelings on Hudson. I think her heart...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Visionary Welsh Woman and the Mormon Chain of Belonging
Speaking of her Mormon community, the historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich has said, “We revere our sisters but don’t understand them.”[1] She has also astutely noted, “The past is a foreign country.”[2]...
View ArticleMI appoints its new MSR editor: J. Spencer Fluhman
I’d like to offer congratulations to J. Spencer Fluhman on his appointment as editor of the Mormon Studies Review, and to the rest of the editorial advisory board that has been selected to oversee the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“Stylistic Drift” during Book of Mormon Dictation
I’ve posted before on Worlds Without End about some examples of “stylistic drift” that occurred during Book of Mormon dictation. As I then explained, Joseph Smith didn’t restart his dictation from the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Parry Translation of Genesis 3:16: Interpreting the Bible as Privileged Text
Last week’s well written post by Bridget Jack Jeffries entitled “Oops, She Did It Again,” prompted more discussion and debate than anything published so far on Worlds Without End. Considering the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
God’s Hiding Places: Four Pavilions (Part 1)
O God where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place? (D&C 121:1) This is the beginning of Joseph’s impassioned prayer in Liberty Jail as he sat in the helpless dark,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
God’s Hiding Places: Four Pavilions (Part 2)
(Continued from Part 1) Here are two final suggestions about where God is hiding: Pavilion 3: Rabbi Rehumi—God is Hiding in the Empty Space between a Husband and a Wife “This R. Rehumi who was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Adjusting the Narrative: Part 1c–The Priesthoods of Abraham and Pharaoh
A continuation of the the series “Adjusting the Narrative”, as a proposed response to the new header to Official Declaration 2 in the 2013 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. See Introduction, Part...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Adjusting the Narrative: Part 2a–Nephi and the Skin of Blackness
A continuation of the the series “Adjusting the Narrative”, as a proposed response to the new header to Official Declaration 2 in the 2013 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. See Introduction, Part...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Infallible Proofs: Interpreting the Temple Endowment as Mystical Rhetoric
*Author’s Note: An earlier version of this address was presented at the annual Mormon Scholars in the Humanities conference, March 15, 2013 at Brigham Young University. The Latter-day Saint temple...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What is the Priesthood? Thoughts to Consider on the Issue of Ordaining Mormon...
Today, for the first time, I watched my 12 year-old son Joshua share the symbols of Christ’s atonement with our religious congregation, our Ward “family.” I felt deeply touched as I witnessed my...
View Article