Episode 128: What Is the Restoration? with Patrick Q. Mason
Jan 27, 2021
About the Interview:
Celebrating the two hundredth anniversary of the Restoration has proven to be one of the few highlights of 2020 for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In commemoration, the First Presidency and Twelve Apostles issued a Bicentennial Proclamation that boldly affirmed beliefs in a restored church, restored priesthood authority (including priesthood keys), restored revelation through living prophets, and a restored fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This declaration affirmed church leaders’ consistent message regarding the importance of past revelations and the Latter-day Saint Church’s future path.
President Russell M. Nelson and otherapostles have repeatedly reminded members of the church that God’s work of restoration began with Joseph Smith, but it didn’t end with him. We believe in an “ongoing Restoration”—an organic, dynamic process by which God continues to breathe life into both the church and the world not just yesterday but today and tomorrow and always. As Latter-day Saints, we hold it as an article of faith that God has much work yet to do, and many things yet to say, in the gradual unfolding of his kingdom in these modern times.
There are indeed many things that needed restoration: the fulness of the gospel, the priesthood, the church, covenants, ordinances, spiritual gifts, and so forth. We call this whole package “the restoration of all things.”[1] But I would suggest that God isn’t concerned with restoring “things,” no matter how important, so much as he is with using those things to restore what matters most.
And what is that? Nephi explained that the restoration of the various branches of Israel—the Jews, the scattered tribes, and the remnant of Lehi—would all be accomplished not just for their own sake but as part of something bigger. What could be more significant than the gathering of Israel? The work of salvation, reconciliation, and healing whereby God will “bring about the restoration of his people upon the earth.”[2]
In other words, “the restoration of all things” is designed with one grand aim in mind: to restore God’s people—our Father and Mother’s children, their eternal family—to wholeness.
Those of us in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aren’t the only ones called to restore God’s family to wholeness—the work is too big, as 0.2% of the world’s population, to do by ourselves. But we are called to do some very special things. We are called to lives of holiness—that through the gift of the Atonement the title “saint” becomes less aspirational and more actual each day.
We are called to extend that holiness beyond our personal lives into our communities, thereby working toward the establishment of God’s social ideal, which we call Zion. We are called to proclaim the name and gospel of Jesus to every corner of the world. We are called to seal together the whole human family, alive and dead, in one great web of mutuality.
But if we are to fulfill our mission, we cannot be content with restoring things, no matter how powerfully those things work in our lives and our world. We are called to restore God’s people. We do so in imitation of Jesus, who loves all humanity but whose heart beats in sympathy with the oppressed and marginalized children of God. When he first proclaimed his messiahship, he did so by quoting Isaiah, the great prophet of Israel’s scattering and restoration:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.[3]
The poor. The brokenhearted. The captives. The blind. The bruised. These are the people to whom the Messiah’s anointing is specially directed. Any restoration we claim to participate in as disciples of Jesus must therefore be primarily oriented toward those who have suffered on the margins of history and currently suffer on the margins of society.
Those who are despised, and rejected, scattered, and deemed “filthy.”[4] Refugees and displaced persons. Immigrants. The poor. The homeless. Racial and sexual minorities. Those who suffer from disabilities or mental illness. Victims of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. It is toward these precious souls that our particular work of restoration must be focused, as we do our small part in bringing about the “restoration of his people upon the earth.”
This post has been adapted from Patrick Q. Mason, Restoration: God’s Call to the 21st-Century World (Meridian, ID: Faith Matters Publishing, 2020).
About Our Guest: Patrick Mason holds the Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University, where he is an associate professor of religious studies and history. Educated at Brigham Young University and the University of Notre Dame, Mason is a nationally recognized authority on Latter-day Saint history, theology, and culture. He is the author or editor of several books for both academic and LDS audiences, including Restoration: God’s Call to the 21st-Century World (Faith Matters, 2020); What Is Mormonism? A Student’s Introduction (Routledge, 2017); and Planted: Belief and Belonging in an Age of Doubt (Maxwell Institute/Deseret Book, 2015).
Episode 127: The Kinderhook Plates with Mark Ashurst-McGee
Dec 23, 2020
The Interview: In this episode of the Latter-day Saint Perspectives Podcast, Laura Harris Hales interviews Mark Ashurst-McGee, co-author of a new in-depth study of the Kinderhook plates saga.
It is well-known that Joseph Smith claimed to have translated the Book of Mormon by “the gift and power of God” from a set of golden plates that he found in a stone box buried in a hill near his home. Lesser known is his later translation from a collection of brass plates disinterred from an Indian burial mound near Kinderhook, Illinois, located about seventy miles downstream from Nauvoo. The History of the Church records that Joseph Smith “translated a portion” of these plates and declared that they contained “the history of the person with whom they were found,” who was “a descendant of Ham.” That official narrative dominated the legacy of this second set of plates for over a century. Nevertheless, controversy always swirled around the affair.
This recital is a strange episode in early Mormon history, but the history of the interpretation of the story is even more peculiar. Years after the event, two of the men who were present when locals discovered the plates claimed that they made the plates with help from the village blacksmith, inscribed them with characters, planted them in the mound, and then led an unsuspecting group of curious locals to “discover” them as part of a hoax. Rejecting this contention, considering the revelation of a supposed hoax to be the real hoax, Latter-day Saints used the Kinderhook plates for decades as supporting evidence for the validity of the golden plates and their translation into the Book of Mormon.
In the late nineteenth century, several publications promoted the testimony of one of the scammers as evidence of the Kinderhook forgery. Critics of Mormonism used this revelation to attack Joseph Smith’s legitimacy as a prophet and an inspired translator. Soon detractors distilled the anti-Mormon argument into a pithy slogan: “Only a bogus prophet translates bogus plates.” In light of the slur, Latter-day Saints doubled down, insisting that the forgery claims were lies, the plates were genuine, and they supported the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith’s prophetic claims.
Despite these confident declarations, Latter-day Saint contentions later proved erroneous. Rigorous scientific testing in 1980 demonstrated conclusively that the plates were modern forgeries rather than pre-Columbian creations. Many wondered how these new findings spoke to Joseph Smith’s purported rendering.
Latter-day Saint historian Stanley Kimball problematized any simple resolution to the mystery when he examined the drama further by turning to the contested statement of Joseph Smith regarding the translation. At about the same time scientific evidence confirmed the fraudulent origin of the plates, Church historians discovered the actual source of Joseph Smith’s declaration on the translation as found in the History of the Church. As it turns out, Joseph Smith never wrote that he had translated from the Kinderhook plates. Instead, researchers learned that early Latter-day Saint chroniclers extracted this information from the diary of Joseph Smith’s private secretary, William Clayton.
In an article in the Ensign, the official magazine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Stanley Kimball revealed the modern fabrication of the Kinderhook plates, but at the same time he revealed the true source of the words attributed to Joseph Smith and argued that William Clayton was wrong when he wrote about Joseph Smith translating from the plates.
In this new study, Don Bradley and Mark Ashurst-McGee provide analysis of Clayton’s relationship with Joseph Smith, his diary-keeping practices, and the broader context of the entire journal entry that served as the basis for the statements inserted in the History of the Church. They argue that Clayton knew very well what he was writing about and that Smith did, in fact, translate “a portion” of the Kinderhook plates.
In a close examination of the other vital sources related to Smith’s translation attempt, Bradley and Ashurst-McGee contend that Smith’s translation was not a prophetic translation like that of the Book of Mormon. Additionally, there is no evidence that Joseph Smith saw it that way or that he presented it to others in that way. To the contrary, all of the evidence, as they show, indicates that Smith viewed his brief translation effort as a secular translation, that he attempted it while referencing dictionaries, and that he did so in the presence of several members and non-members.
Anti-Mormon critics have used the Kinderhook plates episode to attack Smith’s prophetic claims, insisting that “only a bogus prophet translates bogus plates.” On the other hand, Joseph Smith taught, “A prophet is not always a prophet,” and a prophet is a prophet, “only when he is acting as such.” Ashurst-McGee explains that when Joseph Smith attempted to translate the Kinderhook plates, he was not acting as a prophetic translator but rather as a secular translator. Therefore, the translation of the Kinderhook plates speaks to Joseph Smith’s personal study of languages and his confidence in his linguistic abilities rather than a divine calling.
In “President Joseph Has Translated a Portion”: Joseph Smith and the Mistranslation of the Kinderhook Plates,” Don Bradley and Mark Ashurst-McGee lay out the evidence for their conclusions, showing exactly how the mistaken translation took place and how Joseph Smith came up with his interpretation of the plates.
About Our Guest:
Mark Ashurst-McGee holds a PhD in history from Arizona State University and has trained at the Institute for the Editing of Historical Documents. He is a senior historian in the Church History Department and the Senior Review Editor for the Joseph Smith Papers Project, where he serves as a specialist in document analysis and documentary editing methodology. In addition to co-editing several volumes of the Joseph Smith Papers (Church Historians Press, 2008–), he co-edited Foundational Texts of Mormonism (Oxford University Press, 2018) and Producing Ancient Scripture (University of Utah Press, 2020).
Episode 126: From Conflict to Closeness with Emil Harker
Nov 11, 2020
About the Interview:
Many relationships may be improved simply by practicing good communication skills.
In this interview, Emil Harker discusses a program for improving our ability to communicate well in crucial conversations.
Over the past 20 years, he has counseled thousands of couples on how to improve their marriages by applying 7 critical skills:
Assuming Good Intent
Defining and Accepting Reality
Communicating with the Desired Outcome in Mind
Clear, Direct, and Sensitive Communication
Killing Criticisms
Fencing Conflict
Disarming Landmines
Listen as Emil Harker discusses how we can improve our most important relationships.
You can receive a free book by here on Emil’s website: emilharker.com.
About Our Guest:
Emil Harker graduated with a master’s degree in family and marriage therapy in 1999 from Utah State University. He is a popular speaker for public and professional organizations and companies as he teaches his innovative communication and conflict resolution strategies from his book “You Can Turn Conflict into Closeness”: 7 Communication Skills of Successful Marriages.
Episode 125: Latter-day Saint Beliefs on the Apocalypse with Christopher J. Blythe
Oct 14, 2020
About the Interview: The mayhem of 2020 has brought the Apocalypse to the forefront of many people’s minds, but for Latter-day Saints, this kind of thinking is nothing new. Christopher J. Blythe describes in his new book, Terrible Revolution: Latter-Day Saints and the American Apocalypse, how apocalypticism has presented itself throughout the church’s history.
Blythe notes, “Latter-day Saints of the nineteenth century belonged to an apocalyptic tradition. Their very identity was entangled with the belief that society was headed toward cataclysmic events that would uproot the current social order in favor of a divine order that would be established in its place” (p. 8). Nearly 200 years later, that tradition is still alive within Latter-day Saint culture.
In this episode, Christopher J. Blythe discusses how end-times narratives have evolved and been perpetuated not only through official Latter-day Saint leadership channels but also folk traditions and lived religion.
About Our Guest: Christopher James Blythe is a faculty research associate at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University, as well as the coeditor of the Journal of Mormon History. He completed a PhD in American religious history from Florida State University, an MA in history from Utah State University, and BA degrees in religious studies and anthropology from Utah State University and Texas A&M University, respectively. He was a documentary editor at the Joseph Smith Papers between 2015 and 2018. Blythe lives in Springville, Utah, with his wife and three boys.
Episode 124: Producing Ancient Scripture with Mark Ashurst-McGee
Sep 16, 2020
The Interview: In this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast, Laura Harris Hales interviews Mark Ashurst-McGee, a co-editor of a new book, Producing Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith’s Translation Projects in the Development of Mormon Christianity.
The Book of Mormon is well known, but there were several subsequent texts that Joseph Smith translated after the Book of Mormon. This collaborative volume is the first to provide in-depth analysis of each and every one of Joseph Smith’s translation projects. The compiled chapters explore Smith’s translation projects in focused detail and in broad contexts, as well as in comparison with one another. The various contributors approach Smith’s sacred texts historically, textually, linguistically, and literarily to offer a multidisciplinary view.
While most of the contributors are Latter-day Saints, not all are. From its inception, the book was meant to be a scholarly work that anyone could read and engage in—whether a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or from any other branch of the Restoration or any denomination of Christianity or any other faith or no faith. Due to this intentional editorial decision, there is nothing in the book asserting or excluding supernatural involvement. The various translation projects are studied not in terms of the ancient origins they claim for themselves but rather in terms of their translation into English by Joseph Smith in the modern age.
Here is a brief overview of the comprehensive coverage provided in the book:
A chapter by religious studies scholar Christopher James Blythe examines Joseph Smith’s translation projects broadly within the Christian tradition of spiritual gifts, especially the gifts of speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues.
A chapter by literary scholar Jared Hickman compares Smith’s teachings about the “translation” of scripture and the “translation” (bodily transfiguration and ascension) of prophets such as Enoch and Elijah, showing how these two types of translation are related.
A chapter by historian Michael Hubbard MacKay investigates Joseph Smith’s earliest efforts toward translation, when he transcribed characters from the golden plates and sent a transcript thereof with Martin Harris to have it translated by prominent scholars like Samuel Mitchill and Charles Anthon.
A chapter by scholars Amy Easton-Flake and Rachel Cope shows how Emma Hale Smith, Mary Musselman Whitmer, and other women made Joseph Smith’s translation work possible and how they took on the roles of witnesses to the golden plates and their translation.
A chapter by scholarly writer Samuel Morris Brown investigates what the Book of Mormon has to say about the method of translation and related forms of scriptural generation.
A chapter by religious studies scholar Ann Taves compares Joseph Smith and the “translating” of the Book of Mormon with Helen Schucman and the “scribing” of A Course in Miracles—another long and complex religious text produced within a relatively short period of time.
A chapter by historian Richard Lyman Bushman explores how the Book of Mormon has a heightened and unusual awareness of its own construction as a book. It also considers how the early American history and culture of books and bookmaking may have influenced the way people understood this and other translation projects.
A chapter by historian and comparative religion scholar Grant Hardy explores the similarities and differences between the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith’s “thus saith the Lord” genre of commandments and other revelations (like those found in the Doctrine and Covenants), along with giving special attention to the rhetorical effect of the narrative history found in the Book of Mormon.
A chapter by scholars David W. Grua and William V. Smith thoroughly investigates the text of the new account of John now found in Doctrine and Covenants 7.
A chapter by New Testament scholars Thomas A. Wayment and Haley Wilson-Lemmon presents parallels between Joseph Smith’s “New Translation” of the King James Bible (JST) and an influential Bible Commentary by Methodist scriptorian Adam Clarke.
A chapter by historian Gerrit Dirkmaat plumbs the inner logic of Smith’s revelation that he should not carry on his “New Translation” of the Bible to include the Apocrypha.
A chapter by New Testament scholar Nicholas J. Frederick examines the extract from the “Record of John” that is embedded in what is now Doctrine and Covenants 93.
A chapter by historian David Golding investigates the concept of a pure and primordial language in Smith’s scriptural productions and closely inspects Smith’s circa 1832 document, titled “A Sample of Pure Language,” which consisted of a few words from this pure language as well as their English translations.
A chapter by Brian M. Hauglid, a scholar of the ancient near east, examines the early period of Joseph Smith’s translation of the Book of Abraham and compares the resulting text with content in the Egyptian language study documents that Smith and others were producing during the same period.
A chapter by Matthew J. Grey, a scholar of Judaism and other ancient Mediterranean religions, examines the influence of the Hebrew language, and Smith’s study of the language, as it is found in the Book of Abraham.
Finally, a chapter by historians Don Bradley and Mark Ashurst-McGee investigates Smith’s attempt in 1843 to translate a set of inscribed brass plates that were disinterred from an Indian mound near Kinderhook, Illinois, but were later shown to be modern forgeries planted in the mound as a prank on local Latter-day Saints.
About our Guest: Mark Ashurst-McGee is a senior historian in the Church History Department and the senior review editor for the Joseph Smith Papers Project, where he serves as a specialist in document analysis and documentary editing methodology. He is a co-editor of several volumes of the Joseph Smith Papers (Church Historians Press, 2008–), of Foundational Texts of Mormonism (Oxford University Press, 2018), and of this podcast’s featured book, Producing Ancient Scripture (University of Utah Press, 2020).
Episode 123: Producing Ancient Scripture: “Approaching Egyptian Papyri through Biblical Language: Joseph Smith’s Use of Hebrew in His Translation of the Book of Abraham” with Matthew J. Grey
Aug 26, 2020
This is Laura Harris Hales, and I am pleased to introduce a special series for the Latter-day Saint Perspectives Podcast’s fourth season. We will be highlighting chapters from the much-anticipated volume, Producing Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith’s Translation Projectsin the Development of Mormon Christianity edited by Michael Hubbard MacKay, Mark Ashurst-McGee, and Brian M. Hauglid.
In anticipation for our fourth-year launch on September 16, 2020, this is the second interview with a chapter author we will be highlighting. This week’s feature first aired as Episode 51. In this episode, Dr. Matthew J. Grey discusses his research for his chapter, “Approaching Egyptian Papyri through Biblical Language: Joseph Smith’s Use of Hebrew in His Translation of the Book of Abraham.”
Be sure to listen through the end credits to hear information about our new show feature “Comments and Questions from Readers,” which provides opportunities for listeners to submit content for future episodes as well as receive gift cards and free books.
Upcoming Featured Books: (Deadline for Submission of Questions and Comments):
Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith’s Translation Projectsin the Development of Mormon Christianity Michael Hubbard MacKay, Mark Ashurst-McGee, and Brian M. Hauglid, eds.
Prophetic Authority: Democratic Hierarchy and Mormon Priesthood by Michael Hubbard MacKay along with “Performing the Translation: Character Transcripts and Joseph Smith’s Earliest Translating Practices” in Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith’s Translation Projects.
Joseph Smith’s Translation: The Words and Worlds of Early Mormonism by Samuel Morris Brown along with “Seeing the Voice of God: The Book of Mormon on Its Own Translation” in Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith’s Translation Projects.
Joseph Smith: History, Methods, and Memory by Ronald O. Barney
Episode 122: Producing Ancient Scripture: Thomas Wayment on Joseph Smith’s Use of Adam Clarke in the JST
Aug 12, 2020
For the Latter-day Saint Perspectives Podcast’s fourth season, we will be highlighting chapters from the much-anticipated volume, Producing Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith’s Translation Projectsin the Development of Mormon Christianity edited by Michael Hubbard MacKay, Mark Ashurst-McGee, and Brian M. Hauglid.
In anticipation for our fourth-year launch on September 16, 2020, we will be rereleasing interviews with chapter authors. This week’s feature first aired as Episode 55.
In our discussion, Dr. Thomas A. Wayment covers his research for his chapter “A Recovered Resource: The Use of Adam Clarke’s Bible Commentary in Joseph Smith’s Bible Translation.”
Be sure to listen through the end credits to hear information about our new show feature “Comments and Questions from Readers,” which provides opportunities for listeners to submit content for future episodes as well as to receive gift cards and free books.
From episode 55: In this episode, Laura Harris Hales visits with Thomas Wayment, Latter-day Saint Perspectives Podcast’s guest on episode one, in part two of our special first anniversary double episode on the Joseph Smith Translation to discuss some impressive findings regarding Joseph Smith’s Bible translation process.
Dr. Wayment is currently a professor of Greek at BYU. He earned his BA in Classics from the University of California at Riverside then completed a PhD in New Testament studies at Claremont Graduate University.
Known primarily as a New Testament scholar, Dr. Wayment has also written extensively on the Joseph Smith Translation. He became fascinated with the document early in his biblical studies and that interest has never really fizzled.
In his recent studies, Wayment found an interesting connection between the JST and a biblical commentary well-known in the 19th-century, especially in Methodist circles.
Adam Clarke, a British theologian, took almost 40 years to complete his comprehensive tome, published as The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The text carefully printed from the most correct copies of the present Authorized Version. Including the marginal readings and parallel texts. With a Commentary and Critical Notes. Clarke’s commentary became a primary theological resource for nearly two centuries.
New research by Michael Hubbard Mackay has uncovered a statement indicating that Joseph Smith had access to a copy of Clarke’s Bible commentary. When Wayment compared Joseph’s translation of the KJV Bible to Clarke’s commentary, he realized that Smith used it in the translation process because of the marked similarities he found between entries in the commentary and changes in Joseph’s KJV Bible.
Listen in as Dr. Wayment shares what he believes this indicates about how the Prophet viewed the translation process and what it could mean for how we approach the KJV Bible and the JST.
Episode 121: Despite All We Can Do with Daniel O. McClellan
Mar 18, 2020
About the Interview:
Daniel O. McClellan won the Best Student Paper Award at the 2nd Annual Book of Mormon Studies Association conference for his paper on the linguistic and rhetorical contexts of 2 Nephi 25:23.
In his work as a translation coordinator for the Church, he noticed that there were inconsistencies in the translation of this verse that led to misunderstandings. This finding led him to get to the roots of the phrase by studying the historical context of the reading. His research provides persuasive arguments to an interpretation of grace that clears up common misunderstandings of Restoration theology.
In this interview, Laura Harris Hales also discusses “As Far As It Is Translated Correctly” published in the Religious Educator and “The Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament” from Lincoln Blumell’s anthology on the New Testament, which provides valuable contexts and insights into the translation process.
About Our Guest: Daniel O. McClellan received his bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in ancient Near Eastern studies, where he focused on Biblical Hebrew and minored in Classical Greek. He completed a master of studies in Jewish studies at the University of Oxford in July of 2010 and a master of arts in biblical studies at Trinity Western University just outside of Vancouver, BC. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Exeter. His areas of specialization are Second Temple Judaism, early Israelite religion, textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible, and cognitive interpretation of scripture.
Disclaimer: Latter-day Saint Perspectives Podcast is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The opinions expressed on this episode represent the views of the guests and the podcaster alone, and Latter-day Saint Perspectives Podcast and its parent organization may or may not agree with them. While the ideas presented may vary from traditional understandings or teachings, they in no way reflect criticism of Latter-day Saint Church leaders, policies, or practices.
Episode 120: Spiritual Anxiety with Debra Theobald McClendon
Mar 04, 2020
About The Interview:
In this episode of Latter-day Saint Perspectives, Laura Harris Hales interviews licensed psychologist, Debra Theobald McClendon, PhD. Anxiety is a normal emotion with adaptive functions that provides us with important data. For example, anxiety anticipates future danger and notifies us of risk, prepares us for action, and heightens our senses.
These responses help us to focus on what we need to do in particular situations. Anxiety prior to completing a task may be an indication that you need to work to build proficiency to match the demand of the moment, so it has positive benefits on performance at a moderate level.
But as anxiety continues to increase to higher levels,
performance proficiency decreases significantly until you shut down and are
unable to cope. Difficulty managing anxiety
in a healthy way can severely impair our quality of life. Neal A.
Maxwell clarified: “There is a difference, therefore, between being ‘anxiously
engaged’ and being ‘over-anxious.’”
Dr. McClendon indicates that although anxiety is
normal, more serious problems develop when anxiety feels chronic, unmanageable,
overwhelming, and/or interferes with your daily activities. There may be times when outside support or
even psychological treatment is recommended to regulate anxiety. Formal
psychotherapy treatment for anxiety is effective and is relatively short-term.
Dr. McClendon also introduces the concept of scrupulosity, a disorder otherwise known as religious OCD. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by particular obsessions that create a significant amount of anxiety followed by compulsions, mental or physical actions done in an effort to neutralize the anxiety. This generates high-intensity anxiety and an inability to extricate oneself from the compulsive cycle. The content of OCD varies, such as concerns over contamination, symmetry, or order.
For some, the content takes on religious themes, with
such concerns about sinning or confessing “properly.” This can make it difficult for those with scrupulosity
to discern the nature of the problem; they may believe their problem is
spiritual, but in reality, they are trapped by poorly-regulated, very high
anxiety.
Martin Luther, a catalyst of the 16th-century Protestant Reformation, is believed to have suffered from scrupulosity. He wearied his ecclesiastical leaders with repeated confessions. Martin Luther “confessed frequently, often daily, and for as long as six hours on a single occasion.” (Bainton, Here I stand, 35).
Additional resources can be found in Dr. McClendon’s
Ensign articles:
“Understanding
Scrupulosity (Religious OCD)”
“Discerning
Your Feelings: Anxiety or the Spirit?”
About Our Guest:
Dr. Debra Theobald McClendon is a licensed psychologist in the state of Utah. She is a Clinical Psychologist with training in Marriage and Family Therapy. She focuses her practice on helping those with Religious OCD (Scrupulosity). Dr. McClendon has published articles on anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder’s Scrupulosity in the Ensign. She has also co-authored book chapters and articles on outcome assessment and group therapy in the academic community.
She and her husband, Richard J. McClendon, have published a book chapter on LDS marriage and divorce. More recently they have published the book: “Commitment to the Covenant: Strengthening the Me, We, and Thee of Marriage.” Dr. McClendon has previously taught as an adjunct faculty member at both Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University.
On a personal note, Dr. McClendon enjoys working out, reading, mountain views, doing puzzles, reading to her kiddos, sitting on the deck in the evening with her hubby, and eating spicy garden salsa and dark chocolate with mint (but not together).
Commitment to the Covenant: Strengthening the Me, We, and Thee of Marriage
"Understanding Scrupulosity"
Episode 119: The First Vision with Spencer W. McBride
Feb 05, 2020
About the Interview:
The First Vision is a podcast produced by the Joseph Smith Papers and published by the Latter-day Saint church, which is now available on the Joseph Smith Papers website and podcast syndicators. Our guest, Spencer W. McBride, wrote and hosted the show, which has proven to be wildly popular. During its debut week, it ranked in the top 25 of all podcasts on iTunes.
The format of the show is engaging
and innovative, interspersing narration with interviews. Moving beyond the standard
narrative, McBride elevates the discussion regarding one of the most familiar
incidents in Latter-day Saint history as he urges listeners to view Joseph’s
experience “through the eyes of a historian.”
Building on the familiar,
guests provide additional context to the “unusual excitement” that encourages a
young man to seek forgiveness for his sins in a nearby grove of trees.
About Our Guest:
Spencer W. McBride is a volume editor of the Documents series of the Joseph Smith Papers. He earned a PhD in history from Louisiana State University. His research interests include the intersections of religion and politics in early America, and his book, Pulpit and Nation: Clergymen and the Politics of Revolutionary America, examines the political activism of Protestant clergymen during the American Revolution and in the early American republic.
Extra Resources:
The First Vision: a Joseph Smith Papers Podcast
Episode 118: Part 2–How the Book of Mormon Counters Anti-Semitism with Bradley J. Kramer
Jan 08, 2020
Horrified by the Holocaust and fearful that the New
Testament, as it has been traditionally understood, may have contributed to
this tragedy, Christian scholars and ministers of all stripes have, in recent
decades, proposed several, “extra-textual” ways of altering that understanding.
Eugene Fisher, for instance, the former director of ecumenical affairs for the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, warns against reading the passion accounts,
which seem to portray all Jews as guilty of Jesus’s death, from the pulpit
without “adequate catechesis and preparation.” He also recommends that passages
that reinforce this charge, such as the Parable of the Marriage Feast in
Matthew (22:1–15), should be avoided entirely.
Marilyn Salmon, an episcopal priest and writer, similarly
counsels caution when presenting certain incidents in the New Testament,
especially in the Gospel of John. She encourages ministers to read from Bibles
that substitute “our people,” “the crowd,” or “the public” for John’s
spiritually blind “Jews” and suggests that when they relate stories that appear
to accentuate that blindness, such as Nicodemus’ nocturnal visit to see Jesus,
that they do so imaginatively, from another, pro-Jewish, viewpoint. In
addition, both Salmon and Fisher recommend that readers of the New Testament avail
themselves of “interpretive tools,” such as study Bibles and scholarly
commentaries, which place the hostility towards Jews present in John and in the
other Gospels in a more historically limited, less “everlasting” context.
John Shelby Spong, a retired episcopal bishop, offers a
more radical and, for many, a less acceptable approach. He views many of the
events in the Gospels as simply “untenable,” primarily because they represent for
him literary, not historical, efforts to portray Christianity as superior to
Judaism. As Spong sees it, there were no literal shepherds, no angels, no
guiding star, no magi, no flight into Egypt,” no temptation in the Wilderness—not
even a Sermon on the Mount. He therefore urges his readers to look “beyond the
literal and culturally dependent interpretation of the Gospels” and read into
them what he feels is “their true, more modern meaning”—a meaning that not only
refutes anti-Semitism but conforms to current political agendas.
In this episode of Latter-day Saint Perspectives
Podcast, Laura Harris Hales interviews Bradley J. Kramer about his new book, Gathered in One: How the Book of Mormon
Counters Anti-Semitism in the New Testament. In this book, Kramer reviews how
Fisher, Salmon, Spong, as well as other Christian scholars and ministers have attempted
to deal with such anti-Semitic elements as the “blood curse” in Matthew (27:25)
and John’s claim that the devil is the father of the Jews (8:44), and he contrasts
their efforts with the approach employed by the Book of Mormon.
According to Kramer, the Book of Mormon counters anti-Semitic
elements in the New Testament not by avoiding, altering, reimagining, or rejecting
its most problematic passages but by joining with the New Testament and by adding
to an expanded canon a multitude of pro-Jewish elements. Coming as they do from
a scripture of equal stature and status, the many pro-Jewish statements,
portrayals, settings, and structuring elements present in the Book of Mormon mix
in with their anti-Semitic counterparts in the New Testament and overwhelm them
with their greater power, broader context, wider sweep, and closer connections
to Judaism as it is practiced today.
In this way, the Book of Mormon discourages
anti-Semitic attitudes and behaviors in the same way the New Testament encourages
them—literarily, and it does so respectfully, without challenging the New
Testament’s text or undermining its religious authority or reliability. As
Kramer writes, just as “the Gospels work together, despite their differences,
to provide Christians with a more complete and more religiously accurate
picture of Jesus and his teachings,
Episode 117: Part 1–A New Approach to Studying the Book of Mormon with Bradley J. Kramer
Jan 08, 2020
The Book of Mormon contains a multitude of short, impressive statements, which Latter-day Saints often memorize and even “master,” so they can repeat them as the occasion requires. These statements include divine promises such as “Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land” (2 Ne. 1:20); inspiring resolutions such as Nephi’s commitment to “go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded” (1 Ne. 3:7); theological insights such as “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy” (2 Ne. 2:25); as well as ringing assertions such as “wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 41:10) and “charity is the pure love of Christ” (Moro. 7:47).
Nevertheless, despite the obvious utility of these statements, Bradley J. Kramer asserts that “the Book of Mormon is simply too much of a book to be approached simply as a source of quotations. It is a sophisticated literary work where ideas do not exist in isolation, but where wording, characterization, setting, description, plot, as well as their placement in the canon relative to other scriptures, must be considered in order to be fully understood and appreciated. The Book of Mormon consequently demands a comprehensive, in-depth literary approach.”
In this episode of the Latter-day Saint Perspectives
Podcast, Laura Harris Hales interviews Bradley J. Kramer about his book Beholding the Tree of Life: A Rabbinic
Approach to the Book of Mormon. In this book, Kramer outlines what he means
by a “comprehensive, in-depth literary approach” and employs many of the
techniques developed by Talmudic and post-Talmudic rabbis in order to show how this
approach applies to the Book of Mormon.
Kramer makes no claim that Nephi, Jacob, and the other
authors of the Book of Mormon were personally acquainted with these techniques
or consciously employed them as they wrote. Nonetheless, since this rabbinic approach
represents what he calls “universal principles” of effective reading that have
been specifically adapted for scriptural narratives, he feels they are well
suited to the Book of Mormon.
As Kramer asks, “Given that these rabbis took seriously the words of the Hebrew scriptures; assumed that these scriptures formed a coherent, meaningful, and inspired whole; and devoted themselves to scrutinizing every aspect of that whole in order to uncover subtly, sometimes hidden messages from God, why would their approach not work well with other scriptures? And why would it not work especially well with the Book of Mormon, a scripture that, like the Hebrew scriptures, tells a story of how a group of Jews left their homes, journeyed to a far off Promised Land, attempted to create a ‘holy nation,’ sinned under judges as well as kings, received prophetic warnings of destruction if they did not repent, failed to repent, and were ultimately dispersed or destroyed along with their capital city?”
Kramer, clearly, thinks it does and includes in his
book several examples to defend his position. For instance, the Talmudic and
post-Talmudic rabbis taught that the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) has at
least seventy “faces” or meanings (Numbers Rabbah 13:15). They, therefore, encouraged
their students to read the Torah on multiple levels—something Kramer feels the
writers of the Book of Mormon do as well.
As he points out, not only does the Book of Mormon contain at least one highly developed allegory (Zenos’s allegory of the olive tree), but Lehi’s dream demonstrates how simple elements in the Book of Mormon (mocking people in Jerusalem, a river and fruit in the wilderness, darkness in which Nephi creeps to find Laban’s house) can be interpreted allegorically—much as Nephi’s vision and his lecturing of his brothers afterward shows how the meaning of these elements can be expanded sermonically as well as mystically, through direct experience with the divine.
These rabbis also advocated that their students study everything
Episode 116: Joseph Smith, Nauvoo Leader with Christian Heimburger
Dec 18, 2019
The editors of the Joseph Smith Papers Project spend years poring over the documents that are featured in each volume. After marinating themselves in the record, they become pretty familiar with Joseph's daily activity for the period.
I asked Christian Heimburger, an editor of the recently released volume 9 of the Document Series, to identify several items that shed light on Joseph's life in Nauvoo from December 1841 to April 1842.
Below are the documents we discuss:
Joseph Smith as editor of the Times & Seasons
Revelation, 28 January 1842Agreement with Ebenezer Robinson, 4 February 1842Editorial, ca. 1 March 1842Book of Abraham Excerpt and Facsimile No. 2, 15 March 1842Church History, 1 March 1842 (Wentworth Letter)Selections from Times and Seasons, 1 and 15 March 1842
An Interesting, Cryptic Letter
Letter from B. F. Withers, 28 December 1841
Missionary Work and Eastern Branches
Letter from Eli Maginn, 22 March 1842Letter from Erastus Snow, 11 April 1842Petition from Philadelphia Branch, 22 April 1842
Missouri and Joseph Smith’s views on Abolitionism
Letter to John C. Bennett, 7 March 1842Letter from John C. Bennett, 8 March 1842
About Our Guest: Christian Heimburger received a B.A. in American Studies from Brigham Young University and Ph.D. in modern American history from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on Japanese Americans who left World War II incarceration camps to work in communities around the Mountain West, and is working on a book manuscript based on that dissertation. Christian has taught nineteenth and twentieth-century American history courses at Utah Valley University and Brigham Young University. He is currently employed as a historian and documentary editor at the Joseph Smith Papers, and is a co-editor on Documents: Volume 5, Documents: Volume 9, and Documents: Volume 13.
Extra Resources:
Joseph Smith Papers, Documents
Episode 115: Jesus Christ in the Topical Guide with Stephanie Dibb Sorensen
Dec 04, 2019
In 1979, the first Latter-day Saint edition of the Bible was published. Notably, it included a "Topical Guide with Selected Concordance and Index." Approximately 100 Church Education System teachers and about the same number of returned missionaries at Brigham Young University assisted in the process of gathering scriptural references for a long list of categories. Subsequently, several committees continued the process of compiling, organizing, and categorizing this large collection of topical verses.1 This tool was designed as a significant resource to aid church members in a more purposeful, robust study of the scriptures. Though not exhaustive, the Topical Guide provides just under 3,500 categories with reference to over 50,000 verses of scripture across the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price.
Beginning in 2017, President Russell M. Nelson extended challenges to the members of the Church to study Jesus Christ across the Standard Works. He invited them to begin their study by carefully reading everything under “Jesus Christ” in the Topical Guide.2 By far its largest category, a study of “Jesus Christ,” includes 57 subcategories with more than 2,200 scripture references. President Nelson stated that completing this course of study changed his life, and to all those who would take the same challenge, he promised an increased love for the Savior and God’s laws, a desire to keep the commandments, and power to overcome temptation and danger.3
Stephanie Dibb Sorensen teaches as adjunct faculty in the Department of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University. She primarily teaches the Living Prophets class, and while inviting students to heed prophetic counsel, she initiated a personal course of study based on President Nelson’s Topical Guide challenge. By enhancing her study with teachings of living prophets and religious educators, Stephanie created a study guide to help others undertake a similar study experience. The result was Learn of Me, an annotated study workbook of Jesus Christ in the Topical Guide, published by Covenant Communications in October 2019.
President Ezra Taft Benson once testified, “To learn of Christ necessitates the study of the scriptures and the testimonies of those who know him.”4 The Learn of Me workbook includes the full-verse citation of the listed scripture references across all 57 subtitles, supplemented with quotes from prophets and apostles, general authorities, and gospel scholars. It also includes reflection questions, definitions, suggestions for further study, prompts for family discussion, recommended hymns and videos for each topic, and plenty of space to take notes. Beautiful artwork from James Tissot depicts scenes from the life of Jesus Christ in each chapter. An appendix outlines a chronological course of study through the key events of Christ’s life across the four gospels. These combined resources provide a convenient tool to complete the prophet’s challenge and come unto Christ through the study of all scriptures listed in the Topical Guide and related modern revelation. After the completion of the updated LDS-version of the Standard Works, including the new Topical Guide, Elder Boyd K. Packer made the following prophecy:
The older generation has been raised without them, but there is another generation growing up. The revelations will be opened to them as to no other in the history of the world. Into their hands now are placed the sticks of Joseph and of Judah. They will develop a gospel scholarship beyond that which their forebears could achieve. They will have the testimony that Jesus is the Christ and be competent to proclaim Him and to defend Him.5
This personal testimony is the goal of the Learn of Me study workbook.
In this episode of the Latter-day Saint Perspectives Podcast, Laura Harris Hales and Stephanie Dibb Sorensen discuss the research and writing process that went into Le...
Episode 114: The Book of Revelation with Nicholas J. Frederick
Nov 13, 2019
Nick Frederick has a gift for sharing thought-provoking insights about familiar topics. In Episode 92, we discussed intertextuality in the Book of Mormon. This time around we discuss the Book of Revelation, perhaps one of the most neglected books in our contemporary Latter-day Saint lexicon.
Lesson manuals usually refer to verses that encapsulate concepts or convey warm feelings about the gospel; the Book of Revelation defies this picking and choosing and demands a treatment that looks at the whole picture. But let’s admit it, wading through its ancient imagery is difficult.
Lucky for us, Dr. Frederick has done the heavy lifting and shares his insights on both the beautiful metaphors contained within the book and how Joseph Smith used this New Testament book to frame Restoration concepts.
Please join me as we dive for hidden treasures in the Book of Revelation.
About Our Guest:
Nicholas J. Frederick served a mission in Brussels, Belgium, then attended BYU where he received his BA in classics and his MA in comparative studies. He then attended Claremont Graduate University, where he completed a PhD in the history of Christianity with an emphasis in Mormon studies, after which he returned to work at BYU. His research focuses primarily on the intertextual relationship between the text of the Bible and Mormon scripture. He enjoys teaching courses on the Book of Mormon and the New Testament, particularly the writings of Paul and the Book of Revelation.
*Dr. Frederick is indebted to the scholarship of Craig R. Koester, author of the Anchor Bible Commentary on the book of Revelation, as well as the shorter (and cheaper—so everyone should buy it) book Revelation and the End of All Things.
Extra Resources:
Episode 114 Transcript
"The New Testament in the Doctrine and Covenants" in the New Testament: History, Culture, and Society
"The Paradoxical Lamb and the Christology of John's Apocalypse" in Thou Art the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Sperry Symposium 2018)
LDS Perspectives Podcast
Episode 114: The Book of Revelation with Nicholas J. Frederick*
This is not a verbatim transcript.
Some grammar elements and wording have been modified for clarity.
Introduction: Nick Frederick has a gift for sharing
thought-provoking insights about familiar topics. In Episode 92, we discussed
intertextuality in the Book of Mormon. This time around, we discuss the book of
Revelation, perhaps one of the most neglected books in our contemporary
Latter-day Saint lexicon.
Lesson manuals usually refer to
verses that encapsulate concepts or convey warm feelings about the gospel; the book
of Revelation defies this picking and choosing and demands a treatment that
looks at the whole picture. But let’s admit it, wading through its ancient
imagery is difficult.
Lucky for us, Dr. Frederick has done
the heavy lifting and shares his insights on both the beautiful metaphors
contained within the book and how Joseph Smith used this New Testament book to
frame Restoration concepts.
Please join me as we dive for hidden
treasures in the book of Revelation.
Laura Hales: This is Laura Harris Hales, and I am
pleased to be here today again with Nick Frederick, one of my favorite people
to interview and talk to about biblical studies. We’re going to talk today
about the book of Revelation (no “s”) in the New Testament and Latter-day Saint
scripture. Nick, what have you been doing since the last time I interviewed you?
Nick Frederick: I
have been teaching here at BYU, working on my regular stuff, looking at the
connections between the Book of Mormon and the Bible and the Doctrine and
Covenants and the Bible. I have also been working on a paper on the Daughter of
Jared from Ether 8, writing a couple of papers on D&C 93 (that’ll be coming
Episode 113: Religion, Politics, and Community Involvement with George B. Handley
Oct 30, 2019
Laura Harris Hales interviews George B. Handley about If Truth Were a Child: Essays. They dive into such diverse topics as religion, politics, and community involvement.
About Our Guest: George B. Handley teaches interdisciplinary humanities at Brigham Young University. He also serves as the associate director of the Faculty Center. He received his PhD in comparative literature from UC Berkeley.
If Truth Were a Child
Episode 112: The Council of Nicaea and Its Creed with Lincoln H. Blumell
Oct 09, 2019
Dr. Lincoln Blumell discusses the landmark Council of Nicaea, the Nicaean Creed, and a new book he edited about New Testament times.
Episode 111: A Church History Moment with J. B. Haws
Sep 06, 2019
About the Interview:
With the release of Saints last year, the study of church history officially moved beyond the dusty cobwebs of the Church History Library and the podiums of sparsely attended academic conferences to the nightstands of lay members. Suddenly, members were talking about a more complex narrative than they had rehearsed in their Sunday meetings.
But was this change really sudden? J. B. Haws, associate dean of BYU’s College of Religious Education, believes this interest has been growing for many years. In 2017, guest podcaster Taunalyn Rutherford interviewed Dr. Haws about his research on what he sees as a seminal moment in the study of Latter-day Saint history. He traces the origins of this new trend and speculates why this moment has been so much more successful than a similar increase in interest during the 1970s. Their discussion identifies key players in architecting a movement that will shape how a new generation of Saints approach Latter-day Saint history.
Please note that this interview was conducted before members were asked to use terms other than Mormon and Mormonism when referring to the church.
About Our Guest:
Professor J.B. Haws is an accomplished associate professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University. Since attending Weber State University and BYU and receiving his PhD in American History from the University of Utah, Professor Haws has authored and edited for several works on the history of the Latter-day Saints in America. These include the book The Mormon Image in the American Mind: Fifty Years of Public Perception and the articles “Reconciling Joseph Smith—History 1:10 and 1:18–19” for Religious Educator, “When Mormonism Mattered Less in Presidential Politics: George Romney’s 1968 Window of Possibilities” for Mormon Historical Studies, and “President Joseph F. Smith’s Encouragement of His Brother, Patriarch John Smith” for the book Joseph F. Smith: Reflections on the Man and His Times, which he also worked on as an editor. His focus on the Church’s history and American perception of it through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries has helped change and inform public opinion of the Church.
Professor Haws was born and raised in Utah. He served a mission in the North Carolina Raleigh Mission before returning to his home state for his education and career. After graduating, Professor Haws spent several years teaching seminary in northern Utah before joining the religious education staff of BYU as an associate professor and a coordinator of BYU’s Office or Religious Outreach.
After returning home from North Carolina, he married Laura Favero. The two have four children that Professor Haws talks about in his devotional “…” From his children, he has learned many different lessons about love, pride, cooperation, and comparison that he shared in that speech for his BYU audience. “I can still hear his little voice yelling, “Good catch, Par!” or “That was great, Par!” And then he would miss the next throw that came to him. But somehow that didn’t dampen his enthusiasm for Parley’s success. Somehow, he knew that his contest was not with Parley. He could have joy in Parley’s success. How do we recapture that sense of childlike celebration for the good fortune of others?”*
*Biography courtesy of BYU Speeches.
Extra Resources:
The Mormon Image in the American Mind: Fifty Years of Public Perception
Wrestling with Comparisons
Episode 110: The Global Church and Lived Religion with Melissa Inouye
Aug 14, 2019
“Dear Reader,” Melissa Inouye opens her memoir, “I’ve always been fuzzy about deadlines, but in May 2017 when I was diagnosed with colon cancer, everything snapped into focus: ‘Oh shoot!’ I’m going to die.’ Suddenly thinking about the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything seemed terribly urgent. To be more precise, the project of writing about life and its conundrums seemed terribly urgent, because my children are young. … When one contemplates the possibility of being entirely absent, a few letters do not seem enough. This is why I began to think about writing a book: a literary form of food storage. … a stash of thoughts. …”
In this episode join Laura Harris Hales as she interviews Melissa Inouye about her perspectives on lived religion, the purpose of life, and what she has learned from studying global religious studies. She also discusses how to approach difficult topics with youth. Below are some pointers from Dr. Inouye:
“Five Ways to Respond When the Youth [and Others] Ask Tough Questions”
In many parts of our worldwide church, we are struggling to retain young people. The urgency of the issue can be seen in the numerous church-sponsored fora and addresses on issues like doubt and faith crisis.[1] Part of this difficulty is related to the global problem of accommodating fast-paced cultural change and generational shifts; part of it is related to the advent of the Information Age; part of it may have to do with a fondness for certainty and aversion to questions in our local church cultures. Here I suggest that increased willingness to engage tough questions, as well as to be innovative and energetic in our responses, will create a renewed church culture in which young people—and indeed all who wrestle with hard questions—find the power and beauty of our collective church endeavor in today’s world
Don’t dismiss them; take them seriously. The youth are the real investigators at church. They deserve thoughtful, respectful, loving answers. Remember, as Dieter F. Uchtdorf pointed out, the whole Church project started with a young person asking hard questions. As he put it, “I’m not sure how one can discover truth without asking questions.” Hard questions open the door to inspiration and divine guidance.
Be enthusiastic: “That’s a great question! I’m impressed that you asked!” We are trying to raise thoughtful, reflective young people, not robots. Help the youth see that the complexities and contradictions of the gospel can withstand rigorous exploration. We are not the Wizard of Oz. Things that are real and true can bear scrutiny.
Remember that we are in the Information Age. As Elder Ballard says, “every possible point of view” on the Church, negative and positive, is available to the youth in a few clicks on their phone or computer. Educate yourself about hot-button topics by reading the Gospel Topics Essays, reading Saints, and checking out nuanced but faithful conversations such as the Big Questions Project at the Faith Matters Foundation. If you encounter new information or alternative views that make you uncomfortable, don’t panic. Give yourself time to develop a sense for evaluating which sources are reliable and also to develop empathy for people in their diverse situations. Information leads to knowledge which leads to understanding, though processes of sorting and refining require considerable effort.
Understand that today’s youth are used to counting and comparing as a way to define equity and fairness. Take, for example, the awesome US women’s soccer team that has won numerous Olympic gold medals and World Cup championships. Everyone knows they rock. Everyone thinks it’s lame that the women are paid less than the men, who don’t win nearly as much. As observant youth sit in your congregation on Sunday and count how long women speak compared to how long men speak or compare the roles of women and girls to the roles of men and boys within the service, what conclusions will they draw?
Episode 109: The Power of Godliness with Jonathan Stapley
Jul 10, 2019
Just one day before Jonathan Stapley was awarded the best book award for The Power of Godliness by the Mormon History Association, I visited with him about the history and development of core ideas essential to current Mormon identities such as priesthood, authority, and ordinances.
We also discussed how priesthood power relates to temple practice and what Jonathan refers to as the ordering of heaven.
His volume is an academic history of Mormonism, and as such its intent is to understand and analyze the past and contextualize and historicize the present.
On this episode, Jonathan Stapley shares his perspective on Latter-day Saint liturgy in theory and practice.
About Our Guest:
Jonathan A. Stapley is an award-winning historian and scientist. An active participant in the field of Mormon Studies, he is also the Chief Technology Officer for a bio-renewables company.
Jonathan received his Ph.D. from Purdue University and has been active in the field of Mormon History for over a decade. You can read some of his publications here. He also writes for the academic history Juvenile Instructor blog, and at By Common Consent, a Mormon blog.
Extra Resources:
Episode 109 Transcript
The Power of Godliness
Latter-day Saint Perspectives Podcast
Episode 109: The Power of Godliness
Released July 10, 2019
This is not a verbatim transcript.
Some wording has been modified for clarity.
Laura Hales: Hello, this is Laura Harris Hales, and I’m here today with Jonathan Stately to talk about his book, The Power of Godliness, which was published by Oxford press in January of 2018. Jonathan, can you tell us just a little bit about your educational background?
Jonathan Stapley: I’m a trained chemist. I have a PhD in carbohydrate chemistry from Purdue University. I did my undergraduate studies at BYU in food science. I deal with what’s called electro-chemistry. That’s using electricity instead of chemicals to change sugars into other useful products.
Laura Hales: And you write in Mormon Studies. How did that happen?
Jonathan Stapley: Well, after I finished my dissertation in 2004, I created a company that industrialized my graduate work, and I was focusing more on managing individuals and ideas as opposed to actual research. Just at that time, institutions, including the church, began digitizing their collections, and blogs were just coming online. I was part of a group of people that were starting to access these materials and do research, kind of a new generation in the 2000s. Being a scientist and interested in systems, I applied my interest and love of our church to that same study.
Laura Hales: What is Mormon liturgy?
Jonathan Stapley: We are accustomed to talking about ordinances and priesthood in our church, but those words have a particular meaning within our faith that is peculiar. It’s different than the way those words are used outside of our tradition. There is a technical and scholarly approach to ideas of worship and ritual that exists. I’m using those frameworks and bringing them into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Liturgy is the system of ritual and ritualized acts that believers participate in to mark occasions and celebrate and worship. On Sundays, for example, we go to sacrament meeting and participate in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper and that is the liturgy of the Lord’s Supper. Now, if you are Roman Catholic or Orthodox or Jewish, you will be familiar with those terms because they’re part of the regular worship. They talk about the liturgy, but for us, it’s a little disorienting, I think, because we’re not exposed to that vocabulary.
Laura Hales: Sometimes we talk about “high church” and “low church.” Even though we’re technically “low church,” we have liturgy like the Catholics, who would do it maybe with more ceremony.
Jonathan Stapley: Yeah, for sure. And, of course, our tradition is complicated by the fact that we...
Episode 108: The Latter-day Saint’s and Zion with Matthew C. Godfrey
Jun 12, 2019
Historian Jedediah S. Rogers and Matthew C. Godfrey recently co-edited a collection of essays on Latter-day Saint environmental history entitled The Earth Will Appear as the Garden of Eden. In the volume, contributors explore the relationship between members of the church and the places they settled.
Editor Matthew Godfrey has written extensively about the early years of the church and lends additional light on how these connections were both physical and theological.
In this episode, join us for Matthew Godfrey’s perspective on the early Latter-day Saint quest to obtain and redeem a promised land.
About Our Guest: Matthew C. Godfrey is a general editor and the managing historian of the Joseph Smith Papers. He is also a member of the Church History Department Editorial Board. Matthew holds a PhD in American and public history from Washington State University. Before joining the project, he was president of Historical Research Associates, a historical and archeological consulting firm headquartered in Missoula, Montana.
Episode 108 Transcript
“The Redemption of Zion Must Needs Come by Power” Insights into the Camp of Israel Expedition, 1834
“We Believe the Hand of the Lord Is in It” Memories of Divine Intervention in the Zion’s Camp Expedition
The Earth Will Appear as the Garden of Eden
____
Latter-day Saint Perspectives Podcast
Episode 108: The Latter-day Saints and Zion with Matthew C. Godfrey
Released June 12, 2019
This is not a verbatim transcript.
Some wording has been modified for clarity.
Laura Harris Hales: Historian Jedediah S. Rogers and Matthew C. Godfrey recently co-edited a collection of essays on Latter-day Saint environmental history entitled The Earth Will Appear as the Garden of Eden. In the volume, contributors explore the relationship between members of the church and the places they settled.
Editor Matthew Godfrey has written extensively about the early years of the church and lends additional light on how these connections were both physical and theological.
In this episode, join us for Matthew Godfrey’s perspective on the early Latter-day Saint quest to obtain and redeem a promised land.
Laura Harris Hales: Hello, this is Laura Harris Hales, and I am here today with Matthew Godfrey from the Church History Department. Matthew, we have spoken before. In fact, it was one of my favorite podcasts to research. It was about the Utah–Idaho Sugar Company. But to those who may not have listened to that episode yet, can you remind us about your educational experience and what you do professionally?
Matthew C. Godfrey: Sure. I have a PhD in history from Washington State University where I studied American and public history, and I’m currently the managing historian and a general editor of the Joseph Smith Papers Project with the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Laura Harris Hales: We are going to talk today about something that we don’t talk about very often. It’s a little off the trodden path. We’re going to talk about the Latter-day Saint relationship with the environment. How did you become interested in this topic?
Matthew C. Godfrey: Before I was working at the Joseph Smith Papers, I was a historical consultant in Missoula, Montana, and I did several projects for the federal government that touched on environmental history. I did studies for the National Parks Service and the Army Corps of Engineers and got interested in environmental history that way. Then a few years ago, in 2012, I think, one of the renowned environmental historians in the United States, Mark Fiege, published a book that’s called The Republic of Nature where he took several events in American history and looked at them through the lens of environmental history. He was taking events such as Brown vs. Board of Education and the building of the transcontinental railroad and looking at what we can learn,
Episode 107: Why Does Latter-day Saint Art Matter? with Jennifer Champoux
May 08, 2019
In this episode, I discuss with Jennifer Champoux, an art history scholar, how biblical women are depicted in the art of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Portrayals of biblical women are scarce among images that are endorsed by the LDS Church. Those women who are depicted are frequently shown as simplified, didactic figures, and they are typically divided into two groups: wise or foolish. This dichotomy is apparent in the symbolism and formal elements of many LDS paintings of both the parable of the ten virgins and of Mary and Martha, which are the only images in which we see groups of women.
Champoux takes us through an examination of LDS depictions of Mary and Martha, revealing that they generally rely on earlier Christian visual and textual interpretations that privilege Mary and show her as quiet and passive. Most LDS images do not offer alternative interpretations of the story, although Church leaders have offered various readings.
Champoux also explains how Minerva Teichert’s painting, "Jesus at the Home of Mary and Martha," offers an intriguing counterpoint to other LDS images of this scene. Teichert’s style and symbolism leave the meaning open for interpretation by the viewer, and she incorporates distinctive LDS ideas about agency, personal study, the balance between faith and works, and the primacy of scripture.
This study of Mary and Martha images reveals larger patterns and tensions found in LDS visual culture, such as the scarcity of images of biblical women, the presumed accuracy of images endorsed by the Church, and the way Church members incorporate visual imagery into their religious experience.
About Our Guest: Jennifer Champoux is a lecturer in art history at Northeastern University, and also previously taught art history courses as adjunct faculty at Emerson College, Emmanuel College, and Colorado Community Colleges Online. She earned a BA in international politics from Brigham Young University and an MA in art history from Boston University. She currently serves as vice president of Mormon Scholars in the Humanities. She lives in northern Virginia with her husband and three children.
Extra Resources:
Wise or Foolish: Women in Mormon Biblical Narrative Art
Episode 107 Transcript
Latter-day Saint Perspectives Podcast
Episode 107: Why Does Latter-day Saint Art Matter? with Jennifer Champoux
Released May 8, 2019
This is not a verbatim transcript.
Some wording has been modified for clarity.
Laura Harris Hales: Hello, this is Laura Harris Hales. I’m here today with Jenny Champoux, who has an interesting background. You have a master’s in art history, but that’s not what you started out studying. Do you want to tell us a little bit about your background?
Jennifer Champoux: Sure. Thank you. When I was at Brigham Young University, I got my undergraduate degree in international politics and political science, and I did a minor in art history. I went on an art history study abroad to Europe and then ended up writing an honors thesis paper on a Flemish artist and just fell in love with the research and writing process in art history. I realized that that was really what I love to do. I decided to pursue a master’s degree in art history, and I took some extra art history classes, learned French, and did my graduate work at Boston University studying Dutch art of the Golden Age, Baroque art.
Laura Harris Hales: You lecture part-time on art history right now, don’t you?
Jennifer Champoux: I do. I’m adjunct faculty at Northeastern University.
Laura Harris Hales: Our discussion today is based on your article “Wise or Foolish: Women in Mormon Biblical Narrative Art,” published in the summer 2018 issue of BYU Studies Quarterly, which is a tough venue. So congratulations.
Jennifer Champoux: I was very excited.
Laura Harris Hales: What motivated you to write about religious visual imagery?
Jennifer Champoux: Well, I’m coming from a background studying Flemish and Dutch art from th...
Episode 106: The Symbol of the Cross with Gaye Strathearn
Apr 10, 2019
Good Friday is seen as the holiest day in the Christian tradition, yet it is not particularly emphasized in Latter-day Saint dialogue. And outside of Easter lessons, pictures of the crucifixion are rarely displayed. In contrast, depictions of the suffering of Christ on the cross hold prominent positions within most Christian buildings whether local meetinghouses or grand cathedrals.
Dr. Gaye Strathearn grew up Latter-day Saint in a small branch in Australia. She and her fellow members did celebrate Good Friday. When she spent her first Easter on BYU campus, she was surprised that what she had always celebrated as a sacred day was pretty much a non-event. This has always bothered her and has led her to research the topic. In “Christ’s Crucifixion: The Reclamation of the Cross,” she explores the relationship of Latter-day Saint teachings and culture regarding the crucifixion. Strathearn isn’t arguing to put crosses on our buildings or forgetting the seminal event of Gethsemane, but she does think we need to put a bit more of our attention on the instrument of Jesus’ death, the cross.
Some Latter-day Saints may feel uncomfortable with this prospect, which is natural. Even among early Christians, some followers were unsure how to deal with the crucifixion. It was an ugly way to die, and they struggled with the idea that the Son of God would be executed in such a shameful manner. The accounts of Jesus’ Crucifixion in the four Gospels are the most detailed accounts that we have of an ancient crucifixion. But while they describe what happened, only the writings of Paul discuss the why of Christ’s Crucifixion. Paul taught early Christians that the most important things Christ had delivered unto mankind were the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.
Strathearn details four reasons why she believes the cross should hold an important place in our private and public discourse, both among ourselves as Latter-day Saints and in conjunction with our Christian friends.
The events on the cross are an integral part of the Atonement. Bruce R. McConkie wrote that the suffering begun in Gethsemane was finished on the cross. For the Book of Mormon, the cross is not a marginal footnote to the Atonement. Rather, the phrase “sufferings and death” is at the very heart of important sermons. The Doctrine and Covenants specifically includes Christ’s death in the Atonement equation as well.
The scriptural metaphor that we can be “lifted up” because Christ was lifted up on the cross is a symbol of God’s great love for us. When the Savior described his gospel to the Nephites, he did it in terms of the cross.
In the New Testament the invitation to take up our cross was the symbol of discipleship. Just as there was a cost to the Atonement, there is a cost to our discipleship.
The signs of the Crucifixion were so important for Christ that he kept them even after he received a glorified, resurrected body. When the Savior visited the America’s, he made it a point that all feel the wounds in his hands. He also showed his wounds to his disciples in the Old World.
Listen in as Gaye Strathearn not only shares the historical background of crucifixion but also shows how rooted Latter-day Saint scripture is in the death of Christ on the cross.
About Our Guest:
Gaye Strathearn is an associate professor in the Department of Ancient Scripture and in the Ancient Near East Studies program at BYU. She has taught at BYU since 1995, including a year at BYU’s Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. Dr. Strathearn received her Bachelor of Physiotherapy from the University of Queensland (Australia), a BA and MA in Near Eastern Studies from BYU, and a Ph.D. in Religion (New Testament) from the Claremont Graduate University. Her research centers primarily on New Testament topics, especially those of interest to Latter-day Saints.
The Article:
“CHRIST’S CRUCIFIXION: RECLAMATION OF THE CROSS” FROM WITH HEALING IN HIS WINGS
Episode 105: Discipleship with Eric Huntsman
Mar 20, 2019
In this episode of LDS Perspectives Podcast, Laura Hales interviews Eric D. Huntsman about his new book, Becoming the Beloved Disciple: Coming unto Christ through the Gospel of John, about learning from the Gospels, and John more generally.
As this year’s Come Follow Me course of study leads individuals and families to study the New Testament more intently, Huntsman’s new book treating important aspects of the Gospel of John provides helpful models for understanding and applying John, and other scripture, to today’s world. While Latter-day Saints are accustomed to “likening all scripture unto ourselves” (see 1 Nephi 19:23), sometimes we have difficulty understanding scripture in its original context, making it less accessible for modern readers. In the introduction to Becoming the Beloved Disciple, Huntsman borrows two images from Murray Krieger, a scholar of Shakespeare’s sonnets, to better understanding texts: seeing literature first as a window and then as a mirror. Using these images, he suggests that we first see John, and other scripture, as a window into the ancient world that requires us to understand what it meant “to them, there, then.” After that, we are better able to hold scripture up to ourselves, using it as a mirror to understand what it means “to us, here, now.”
Huntsman, who is involved in a much larger project producing a translation of and full commentary on the Gospel of John, became interested in how drama theory, and particularly character theory, applied to the Fourth Gospel. Searching for a way to produce a medium-length book for Latter-day Saints on John, he was struck by the possibility of using the various characters in this Gospel to represent the different walks of faith and the different types of members that we find in the Latter-day Saint Church today. As he writes in the preface of his new book, “At a time when the Church and society-at-large are grappling with questions of unity and diversity, the characters of John show that there are many ways to be disciples of Jesus Christ.”
In Becoming the Beloved Disciple, Huntsman has chosen some of the most striking characters in the Gospel of John, arranging them in chapters that present similar themes and reflect different ways of coming to Christ and gaining testimonies of who he is and what he came to do. The first disciples—most of whom were later numbered among the Twelve—came to faith in the way so many people do today, through the witness of others, which they then act upon and make their own. Others, however, such as Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman at the well, represent different types of faith. In many ways Nicodemus has much in common with some intellectuals today who are more comfortable with questioning and reasoning and as a result have different walks of faith, even though they, too, can come securely to a witness of Jesus’ saving death on the cross. The Samaritan woman was the ultimate outsider. In terms of her ethnicity, gender, and even lifestyle, she was looked down on by the Jewish mainstream of her day. Nonetheless after Jesus ministered to her directly, she became the first, and in many ways most effective, missionary in the Gospel, bringing her entire village to Christ.
Other types of disciples include “women who knew” such as the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene; the disciples who were troubled by “hard sayings”; friends of Jesus such as Martha and Mary of Bethany who were not spared suffering despite their close relationship with the Lord; and impulsive but devoted disciples such as Thomas and Peter, who though fallible were nonetheless faithful. In each chapter, Huntsman marshals solid New Testament scholarship to provide us accurate windows into these characters and what they represented. He then closes every chapter with application sections that hold these characters up as mirrors, comparing them to experiences of people in the Latter-day Saint Church, including some of his own most vulnerable experiences,
Episode 104: Silent Souls Weeping with Jane Clayson Johnson
Mar 06, 2019
In early January, I sat down with Jane Clayson Johnson, a former news correspondent for CBS and ABC news, to discuss her research on mental illness. Over the course of three years, Jane recorded hundreds of interviews with Latter-day Saints about their experiences. Her book, Silent Souls Weeping, contains frank discussions aimed at breaking down the stigma associated with depression and providing ministering tools. Join us for Jane Clayson Johnson’s perspective on mental illness.
About Our Guest: Jane Clayson Johnson is an award-winning journalist widely known for her work at CBS News, ABC News, and the nationally syndicated NPR program On Point. Over more than two decades, she traveled the world covering stories from international news to presidential campaigns and interviewing the biggest newsmakers of the day. Jane is the best-selling author of I Am a Mother. She has served in regional, stake, and ward public affairs, as a Gospel Doctrine teacher, and in many Relief Society and Primary callings. Jane and her husband, Mark, live in Boston. They are the parents of five children and grandparents of three.
Silent Souls Weeping
Episode 104 Transcript
Episode 103: The Need for Historicity of the Book of Mormon with Stephen Smoot
Feb 20, 2019
In a recent article published in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship titled “Et Incarnatus Est: The Imperative for Book of Mormon Historicity,” Stephen Smoot maintains the credibility of the Book of Mormon is intricately linked to its historicity.
As explained in the paper’s abstract:
Some have come to insist that the Book of Mormon should be read as inspired fiction, which is to say that readers, including Latter-day Saints, should abandon any belief in the Book of Mormon as an authentic ancient text and instead should see it as an inspired frontier novel written by Joseph Smith that may act as scripture for those who follow his teachings. This paper provides reasoning to reject this proposition as not only logically incoherent but also theologically impotent. It raises the objection that this position fundamentally undercuts the credibility of Joseph Smith. The Prophet’s direct claims concerning the coming forth of the Book of Mormon as well as how the Book of Mormon presents itself to the world do not easily permit any leeway for a “middle ground” on this matter.
In this episode, Smoot further discusses his views on the importance of the Book of Mormon and responds to some of the countertheories proponents of an inspired yet fictional Book of Mormon have put forth over the years to counter the importance of Book of Mormon historicity.
About Our Guest: Stephen Smoot earned his master’s degree from the University of Toronto in Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations with a concentration in Egyptology. His work on biblical and Latter-day Saint topics has been published by the Religious Studies Center, BYU Studies, the Neal A. Maxwell Institute, and the Interpreter Foundation. He currently works as a research associate for Book of Mormon Central.
Extra Resources:
Et Incarnatus Est: the Imperative for Book of Mormon Historicity
Episode 102: The Fourth Gospel with Joshua Matson
Feb 06, 2019
Even a casual, first-time reader quickly notices that the Fourth Gospel, or the Gospel of John, is different than the other New Testament gospels. From the first verse, the metaphorical language tells readers that this is more than a historical rehearsal; it is scripture written to persuade men that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Redeemer of Israel.
Jesus’ Second Temple period Jewish audience would have had expectations of what the Messiah would be like and what he would do. Depending on their religious community and sect, these hopes would likely represent exaggerations of various Old Testament prophecies. Some of the Jewish leadership had willingly altered the concept of the Messiah, but other characteristics became distorted through time.
The fourth evangelist likely wrote his gospel to a group of Jewish-Christian believers in the late part of the first century after Christ’s death. He meant his message to inspire Jews to re-examine their expectations and assumptions regarding the Messiah. The writer deliberately presents contrasting interpretations of messianic prophecy to emphasize how misguided expectations that hampered a belief in Christ.
In this episode of Latter-day Saints Perspectives podcast, Laura Harris Hales interviews biblical scholar Joshua Matson about why many first century Jews failed to see Jesus as the Messiah. Matson identifies the biblical texts that speak of the Messiah and those that interpret those prophecies in the Apocrypha. Many of these scriptures spoke of a warrior king who would reunite a divided Israelite kingdom and deliver Israel from bondage.
Jesus addressed these concerns during his ministry, and the fourth evangelist fashions the account to teach current Jews how to recognize the Messiah. His message to a first-century audience is just as applicable and beautiful to seekers today as it was two millenia ago. Tune in as Joshua Matson describes the messianic message of the Gospel of John.
About Our Guest:
Joshua Matson is a PhD candidate in religions of western antiquity at Florida State University, a teacher at the Tallahassee Institute of Religion, and currently is living in Israel as a research associate with the Scripta Qumranica Electronica Project at the University of Haifa. Josh received a BA in ancient Near Eastern studies from BYU, and a master’s in biblical studies from Trinity Western University.
Extra Resources:
Episode 102 Transcript
Thou Art the Living Christ: the Person and Work of Jesus in the New Testament
Latter-day Saint Perspectives Podcast
Episode 102: John’s Messianic Message with Joshua Matson
Released February 6, 2019
This is not a verbatim transcript.
Some wording has been modified for clarity, and timestamps are approximate.
Laura Harris Hales: 00:01 This is Laura Harris Hales, and I’m here today with Joshua Matson to talk about the Gospel of John. Joshua Matson is a PhD candidate in religions of western antiquity at Florida State University, a teacher at the Tallahassee Institute of Religion, and currently is living in Israel as a research associate with the Scripta Qumranica Electronica project at the University of Haifa. Josh received a BA in ancient Near East studies from BYU and a master’s in biblical studies from Trinity Western University. Our discussion today is based on the address “The Fourth Gospel and Expectations of the Jewish Messiah” given at the 2018 Sperry Symposium at BYU.
Hello, Josh. Since we last talked, you moved from being a PhD student to a PhD candidate. I bet that feels good. What’s the topic of your dissertation?
Joshua Matson: 01:07 For my dissertation, I am writing on the textual history and the reception history of the Hebrew Bible minor prophets in the Second Temple period, trying to answer the question of whether or not the minor prophets circulated as one single scroll among Jewish communities during that time.
Laura Harris Hales: 01:45 The topic of your address is “The Fourth Gospel and Expectations of the Jewish Messiah.
Episode 101: Studying the Book of Mormon with Grant Hardy
Jan 16, 2019
In this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast, Stephen Smoot interviews Grant Hardy, editor of the newly released Maxwell Institute Study Edition of the Book of Mormon. They discuss the history of publishing the Book of Mormon, and in particular the key features and motivations behind Grant’s earlier Reader’s Edition. While the Study Edition shares many of the features that made that earlier edition so useful—including paragraphs, quotations marks, poetic stanzas, and section headings—it also includes changes that reflect Book of Mormon research over the last fifteen years.
The paragraphing, poetic formatting and section headings have all been revised. Bolded text in the lengthy quotations from Isaiah and Matthew indicate where there are differences between the Book of Mormon and the King James Version, making it easier to see how the Nephite record can function as a commentary on the Bible. The original chapters are more clearly marked. And there are many more footnotes pointing out literary features, narrative connections, and helpful observations about events and people. Grant shares some of his favorite new insights that have been incorporated into the volume, along with why he believes Emma Smith’s testimony deserves equal billing with those of the Three and Eight Witnesses.
The Study Edition has several hundred footnotes drawn from Royal Skousen’s Critical Text Project identifying superior readings from the original and printer’s manuscripts that were lost in the process of copying, typesetting, and printing various editions of the Book of Mormon. There are also numerous footnotes suggesting alternative punctuation that clarify the meaning of particular verses. And, of course, at the end of the volume are helpful maps, charts, indexes, brief essays, and excerpts from primary sources about Joseph Smith and the translation.
Together, the general formatting of the Study Edition makes the Book of Mormon easier to read, while the footnotes help focus attention on exact words and historical details. It is significant as well that while the Reader’s Edition used the 1920 edition of the Book of Mormon for its base text, the Maxwell Institute received permission from the Church to reproduce the official 2013 version of the text in the Study Edition, so the words are exactly the same. This means that not only can this new edition be used as a study aid for college students, teachers, missionaries, and in personal study but also it can be read as canonized scripture.
The conversation concludes with comments about the striking full-page woodcuts that were commissioned especially for this volume from the noted LDS artist Brian Kershisnik, and how this Study Edition can help teach members of the Church how to better read and understand the Book of Mormon.
About Our Guest:
Grant Hardy is Professor of History and Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He has a B.A. in Ancient Greek from Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. in Chinese Language and Literature from Yale. He has authored books on diverse topics from Chinese history to Mormon scripture. He is the author/editor of two previous books on the Book of Mormon. Grant and his wife Heather have two children.
Extra Resources:
Episode 101 Transcript
Maxwell Institute Study Edition of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Christ
Latter-day Saint Perspectives Podcast
Episode 101: Reading the Book of Mormon with Grant Hardy
This is not a verbatim transcript.
Some wording has been modified for clarity, and timestamps are approximate.
Stephen O. Smoot: 00:43 Welcome to another episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast. I am your host for this episode, Stephen Smoot, filling in for Laura Hales, and I am very excited to be sitting down with the one and only Grant Hardy for this episode. We’re grateful to have you here, Grant.
Grant Hardy: 00:58 It’s a pleasure to be here. Thanks for inviting me.
Stephen O.
Episode 100: The Myth of Redemptive Violence with David Pulsipher
Jan 02, 2019
For this episode of the Latter-day Saint Perspectives Podcast, Laura Harris Hales interviews BYU–Idaho professor David Pulsipher about some of the subtle but consequential lessons regarding conflict, violence, and peace found in the Book of Mormon.
Steeped in a culture of violent films and video games, and surrounded by visual images of muscular Book of Mormon warriors, we can easily miss important patterns of conflict in the scriptural narrative. For example, while the text contains multiple examples of defending faith and family with armies and military strategies, it also contains numerous examples of successful nonviolent strategies that are usually depicted as even more effective than violence.
The Nephites, for example, believed that God would protect them from their enemies in at least two ways—he would either “warn them to flee, or to prepare for war, according to their danger” (Alma 48:15). If we carefully read the text to find examples of either of these warnings, we may be surprised to discover that God frequently warns them to flee, but there seem to be no examples of warning them to prepare for war before an attack has begun. God does help them after a war has already started, but if he has a chance to weigh in ahead of time, God seems to prefer fleeing to fighting.
Those who choose to fight a justified battle in self-defense are often helped in their efforts (if they are generally righteous, of course) but these divinely aided efforts achieve only temporary success, lasting at best for only a few years before another attack occurs. Most violence, even divinely assisted violence, sows the seeds for future violence. But more unconventional approaches—such as unarmed yet confrontational compassion—usually achieve much more lasting success. The sons of Mosiah, for example, led a loving invasion into the lands of the Lamanites. Years later, the brothers Nephi and Lehi made a weaponless incursion deep into Lamanite territory. In both instances, significant portions of the Lamanite community became permanently reconciled with their former enemies, the Nephites. In the latter case, the once aggressive Lamanites even voluntarily returned the Nephite lands that they had previously seized—a remarkable testimony to the power of confrontational and assertive compassion.
The Book of Mormon also repeatedly depicts how assertive compassion can be remarkably effective in protecting communities during aggressive invasions. The most famous example of this is the Anti-Nephi-Lehies, who ultimate stopped a brutal attack with only the weapons of love and prayer (and with fewer deaths than most violent defensive efforts described in the narrative). But there are other examples of this as well, including Limhi’s people pacifying an attacking Lamanite army because they went out to meet them without any weapons. Alma’s people also successfully preserved their lives by going out to meet and reason with yet another invading army.
Ultimately, one of the Book of Mormon’s most profound messages regarding conflict is that assertive love is not simply an effective defensive strategy, it also has the capacity to redeem both victims and aggressors. This not only happens with the enemies of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies but also with the brutal opponents of Nephi and Lehi, and even with many of the Gadianton robbers. Over and over again, the Book of Mormon demonstrates that love really is the most powerful force in the universe, destroying whole armies of enemies by transforming them into friends.
For more on these and other surprising Book of Mormon patterns, including an analysis of Nephi’s decision to slay Laban, listen to the full Latter-day Saint Perspective Podcast.
About Our Guest: J. David Pulsipher is an associate professor of history at Brigham Young University–Idaho. Educated as an undergraduate at Brigham Young University, Utah, he earned a PhD in American Studies from the University of Minnesota.
Episode 99: Luke’s Jesus with S. Kent Brown
Dec 12, 2018
There are four books in the New Testament that tell the story of the life and ministry of Jesus. Each one does it quite differently. The gospel of Luke is related to the gospel of Mark—it appears to use Mark as its foundation—but changes Mark’s stories in specific ways and adds many others.
Kent Brown spent years teaching and studying the New Testament and especially the gospel of Luke. He has written and published a hefty commentary on it—more than 1,200 pages—that deeply explores every element of Luke’s unique messages, language, theology, and priorities. As part of the BYU New Testament Commentary series, Brown’s book, The Testimony of Luke, offers insights and discoveries unique to the Latter-day Saint culture. In this episode of the LDS Perspective podcast, guest interviewer David A. LeFevre discusses some of these unique elements.
As one of the founders of the New Testament Commentary series, Brown shares how the project began, including challenges to getting it off the ground. The Luke volume was the culmination of twenty years of teaching and even more years of research and writing. He chose Luke because of the book’s “flavor,” which he describes as “sweet and deep.” Each volume includes a “rendition” of the text from Greek into English, not to compete with the King James Version, as Brown explains, but providing enrichment through an alternate reading and “a layer of modernity.”
Luke portrays a compassionate Christ. For example, he is in Capernaum but makes it to Nain early the next day, a distance of about thirty miles. Brown describes how a woman there was mourning the loss of her only son, but she was a woman of no real consequence, from the world’s perspective. Her tragedy was one that would be soon forgotten, but Jesus woke the disciples in the middle of the night in order to arrive just in time for the funeral procession that was coming out of the city. Jesus has great compassion on this widow, going out of his way to lift her burden.
Jesus’ unique stories in Luke focus on money and property, perhaps because those were important to Luke the author before his conversion but became less important through the messages of Jesus. Brown determined to also have a home and family-centric focus in the commentary, taking his lead from Luke’s own efforts to do that. The gospel starts with a family story—Zacharias and Elizabeth and their new son, John—and then continues with another family—Mark, Joseph, and their baby Jesus.
The commentary provides ties to Restoration scriptures throughout the volume. Highlighting ties of Lukan stories to the Doctrine and Covenants, including the parable of the widow and the unjust judge and the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector, we see the influence of Luke on that book of modern scripture. The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible was consulted and used as a doctrinal and historical commentary.
Brown’s unique contributions to our understanding of Luke are many, bringing in linguistic, cultural, and theological understanding. The podcast presents insights from the volume, benefitting from Brown’s personal style, passion, and poetic storytelling, though the interested listener will want to pick up the whole volume to get the full benefit.
Our Guest: Kent Brown is an emeritus professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University and was twice the director of the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, as well as the director of FARMS and member of the executive council of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. He taught at BYU from 1971 to 2008. From 1988 to 1992, he was a member of the board of editors for the Encyclopedia of Mormonism. He has worked on archaeological teams in Egypt, Israel, and Oman, including as a fellow of the American Research Center in Egypt, where he worked on ostraca at the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo. He is the author of the BYU New Testament Commentary volume, The Testimony of Luke,
Episode 98: Translation of the New Testament with Thomas A. Wayment
Nov 21, 2018
In this interview, Laura Harris Hales interviews Dr. Thomas A. Wayment about modern Bible translations and the lasting heritage of the King James Bible.
For the majority of English-speaking Latter-day Saints, the King James Bible is both a cultural symbol of participation in American Christianity as well as a signifier of activity in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But as recent polls have demonstrated, Americans are less likely today to purchase and read a KJV Bible than at any time in our history. Increasingly, LDS missionaries are faced with speaking a foreign Bible language when they read from the words of their KJV Bibles. They wrestle with trying to understand an older form of English in order to make sense of the primary canonical texts of their religion.
Many Latter-day Saints and other Christians too often venture into the unfamiliar territory of exploring other translations of the Bible. One reason for this is the interest to understand this important religious text without the obstacle of the foreign-sounding English words of the KJV. Many readers, when they consider purchasing a printed Bible or using an internet Bible, are not familiar with the reasons a particular Bible was created, or whether it is the best one out there for use.
Approximately ten years ago, Thomas A. Wayment, a professor of Classics at Brigham Young University began considering the possibility of producing a new translation of the New Testament. That translation, The New Testament: A New Translation for Latter-day Saints: A Study Bible represents nearly a decade of work. The translation was made from the best available Greek text, and the footnotes and reader’s helps are entirely new and target the LDS Bible reader. Each book of scripture contains a short historical introduction that attempts to describe current scholarship and the main topics of interest for LDS readers.
As with every translation, this new one seeks to remain faithful to the words of the original while attempting to convey meaning to a new generation of readers. One of the main interests in this new translation was to achieve a high level of readability with accompanying dense notes that could encourage study and classroom usage. It is not intended to replace the KJV for everyday LDS usage, but it is intended to promote wider Bible literacy for the New Testament.
Tune in as Dr. Wayment walks listeners through the unique and enlightening study helps included in this new study Bible, which is designed specifically for the serious study of the New Testament alongside Restoration scripture.
About Our Guest:
Thomas A. Wayment is a professor of Classics at Brigham Young University. He completed a PhD in New Testament Studies at Claremont Graduate University and has published extensively on New Testament topics. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of many published articles and several books. For 5 years, he was the publications director of the Religious Studies Center at BYU and editor of the Religious Educator.
The New Testament: a Study Guide
Episode 97: The Book of Abraham with Robin Scott Jensen
Nov 07, 2018
In the latest episode of LDS Perspectives Podcast, guest interviewer Stephen Smoot visits with Latter-day Saint Church historian Robin Jensen about the newly released Revelations and Translations, Volume 4: Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts. Robin explains that this latest volume is part of the overall strategy of the Joseph Smith Papers Project to help scholars around the world study Latter-day Saint history. “We test our success, not in how many volumes we are selling” he declares. “But in how well they are being used. … If they are listed in the bibliographies of books, then we find that a success.” Scrutinizing Joseph and his teachings is highly encouraged and is now easier than ever before thanks to the Joseph Smith Papers project.
The interview dives into the question, “What is the relationship between the Book of Abraham and the papyri.” The relationship is difficult to define due to complexities and ambiguities in the available documents. Dealing with the challenges requires faith, but such faith does not require ignoring such challenges. Robin clarifies:
Let me be clear, sometimes people say it is a matter of faith as a way of sweeping under the rug, some of the complexities, I think we should definitely address the complexities because they are there. One of the things I appreciate about the volume is ... that I have come to understand Joseph Smith as a translator better through it.
As we get to know Joseph better, Robin notes that our previous understanding of the Prophet’s translation efforts may need to be upgraded: “There may be some correctives in the process.” That is, our previous assumptions about how the Book of Mormon or Book of Abraham were “translated,” may need to be revised.
It is possible that Joseph Smith’s “translations” involved more revelation and less traditional translating than previously suspected. If so, the relationship between the dictated texts might not strictly resemble the literal meanings of the engravings on the gold plates or the Egyptian hieroglyphics on the papyri. Joseph may not have even been aware of the discrepancies.
Robin states unapologetically: “It could be that Joseph Smith assumed that he was translating from the papyri when he was not, in fact translating from the papyri.” How could that be? “After mentioning the 1838 account from Warren Parrish, who wrote that Joseph received “the translation of the Egyptian hieroglyphics ... by direct inspiration of Heaven,” Robin further explains: “Joseph Smith received revelation for the text of the Book of Abraham. He may have through that revelation, made assumptions about where that text came from.” And those assumptions may have attributed a greater connection between the revelation and the papyri than was justified.
Later in the podcast, the subject of seer stones arises. Robin confesses: “For me and my upbringing, seer stones are weird. To approach God, my first inclination is not to pick up a rock. That’s not how I was raised, but for Joseph Smith it was and the Lord was going to work through that.”
Don’t miss the remarkable discussion of Joseph Smith and translation in this week’s episode of LDS Perspectives Podcast.
Our Guest: Robin Scott Jensen is an associate managing historian and the project archivist for the Joseph Smith Papers and coedited the first three volumes in the Revelations and Translations series (published 2009, 2011, and 2015, respectively). He specializes in document and transcription analysis. He is also a member of the Church History Department Editorial Board. In 2005 he earned an MA degree in American history from Brigham Young University, and in 2009 he earned a second MA in library and information science with an archival concentration from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. He is now pursuing a PhD in history at the University of Utah. He completed training at the Institute for the Editing of Historical Documents in 2007. He has published several articles and edited documents and has pres...
Episode 96: The Apocrypha with Jared Ludlow
Oct 24, 2018
LDS Perspectives Podcast recently interviewed Jared Ludlow on Exploring the Apocrypha from a Latter-day Saint Perspective, a new book that introduces to an LDS audience what the Apocrypha is and how it was treated in the early church by Joseph Smith and others. It also gives a book-by-book overview of the contents of the Apocrypha, and what a Latter-day Saint reader might glean from it. While the Apocrypha is mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants 91 when Joseph Smith asked whether he should translate it as part of his Bible translation project (the JST), it is usually not read by LDS members because Joseph Smith received a “no” answer, and subsequently it never became part of the scriptural canon.
The Apocrypha is a collection of texts that were included in the Greek translation (Septuagint) of the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament), but were not found in the original Hebrew Bible. These additional books and stories are related to biblical figures, or discuss some of the history of the time period between the Old and New Testaments (about a 400-year gap). They were likely written during this later period since they show strong influence from Greek culture (Hellenism), which intensified among the Jews after Alexander the Great in 333 BC. In fact, a common feature found among the texts of the Apocrypha is the struggle Jews increasingly faced in a dominant polytheistic culture, and a shared thread woven throughout the Apocrypha is the exhortation to remain faithful despite these challenges. The books of the Maccabees most directly address the issue of Hellenism as some more traditional Jews literally fought to maintain their traditional beliefs and practices, fighting against not only their Greek overlords, but against some of their own Hellenized, Jewish brethren.
The books of the Apocrypha can be categorized into three major areas: biblical expansions, heroic tales, and wisdom literature. Among the biblical expansions are additional stories about Daniel (tales that read like early courtroom dramas and detective stories as Daniel outwits his opponents and repeatedly saves the day), letters from Baruch (Jeremiah’s scribe), and texts related to King Manasseh and Ezra. There is also a very different version of the story of Esther that gives a different perspective on Esther’s challenges of being a Jew in a foreign, gentile king’s harem, and emphasizes God’s role throughout the events, which is left more in the background of the Old Testament version.
The heroic stories include the books of the Maccabees mentioned above as well as the story of Tobit, which interweaves danger, adventure, and romance in a delightful tale set in the Assyrian exile. The book of Judith recounts how a strong, beautiful Jewish woman single-handedly held off an advancing army to save her people and Jerusalem.
The wisdom books include the Wisdom of Solomon and the Wisdom of ben-Sira, which are full of wise sayings remarkably insightful and often still relevant today. Like the book of Proverbs, they cover many topics including obedience to God, raising families, friendship, living a good life, avoiding evil, and, of course, gaining wisdom.
Because D&C 91 does not specify which parts of the Apocrypha are “true” and which are interpolations by the hands of men, it leaves the Apocrypha as an open invitation to explore on our own, through the guidance of the Spirit, to see what truth we find in it. Even an introductory exploration of its contents will help one benefit from its many treasures.
About Our Guest: Jared Ludlow has taught in the Ancient Scripture Department at BYU since 2006. Before that, he taught at BYU-Hawaii. Jared received his bachelor's degree from BYU in Near Eastern Studies, his master's degree from the University of California at Berkeley in Biblical Hebrew, and his PhD in Near Eastern Religions from UC-Berkeley and the Graduate Theological Union. His primary research interests are in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity.
Episode 95: The LDS Church in India with Taunalyn Rutherford
Oct 10, 2018
When Taunalyn Ford Rutherford was a member of the Young Ambassadors she had the opportunity to visit and perform in India. While there, the group spent a day helping at the Mother Theresa charities. Ever since then she has been fascinated with India. So when she had the chance to do oral interviews in preparation for writing her dissertation, she knew where she wanted to go. Over several years, Dr. Ford traveled to India to interview the LDS Church members of the Hyderabad Stake in India. Recently, she published her work on the Church in India. In this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast, Laura Harris Hales interviews Taunalyn Ford Rutherford about what a globalized LDS Church looks like in India.
Although missionaries were sent to India in the 1850s, growth of the Church didn’t really take off until the 1980s. Leaders were hesitant to send missionaries to a country that had so much need for humanitarian aid and whose Christianity reflected Evangelical more than Mormon culture. But what started out as a small family group of Saints has risen to a membership of 13,500 in three stakes. In the April 2018 Conference, President Nelson announced there would be a temple built in Bangalore, India. Not only is the LDS Church setting down roots in India but also the Saints in India show us how Mormonism can be adapted to serve diverse cultures.
Rutherford argues that the Hyderabad stake is a case study on how global congregations can infuse a local identity into their worship. She found that Indian Saints had unique ideas about the term patriarchy, gospel culture, handshakes and hugging, and what they call “priesthood attire.” At the same time, they were actively negotiating the boundaries of ingrained cultural habits versus religious identity. This can be seen as women choose whether or not to wear the bindi dot.
Some LDS teachings are actually in contrast to some long-standing cultural traditions. For instance, Indian woman spoke of the Church being anti-patriarchal in its teachings and of the necessary partnership between men and women. Also, Indians for the most part have arranged marriages, and dating is seen as scandalous. What might seem as mild guidelines s in the Strength for Youth pamphlet for dating by western Saints are instead applied in co-ed Church activities because dating isn’t culturally acceptable for the most part.
The cost of membership is high in India; members are often shunned by their close family and villages after baptism. Even the term conversion carries baggage with it. When India was seeking independence, they rejected the attempts of western powers to impose their societies on India. In the early days of Indian statehood laws were enacted that still effect missionary work within the country.
The slow growth in India has actually been a blessing. Most of the single missionaries tend to be natives, which has reduced the influence of western-culture Mormonism on Indian Saints. And interesting, correlation of handbooks and teaching materials has actually helped India develop a hybrid and indigenized Mormon Church.
Listen in to this fascinating discussion about how the Mormon Church is moving from an American religion to a global one.
About Our Guest: Taunalyn Ford Rutherford is an adjunct professor of religion at BYU. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in humanities. Recently she received her PhD in the history of religion at Claremont Graduate University. Her dissertation on the LDS Church in India was recently selected by the Mormon History Association for the best dissertation award.
Episode 94: Day of Atonement Symbolism in LDS Discourse with Shon Hopkin
Sep 19, 2018
Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. The themes of this day are atonement and repentance, which are essential themes of the Restoration as well. Although the ancient Israelites who first celebrated this festival are far removed in time and space, do the symbolic acts of the priest in the tabernacle carry over to LDS understandings, doctrines, and ordinances? Dr. Shon Hopkin believes they do and studying them can enhance our worship and understanding of the gospel.
But how can we know we are interpreting symbols correctly? Symbols, by their very nature, can be interpreted in multiple ways. A member of the Jewish faith may interpret biblical symbolism differently than a Christian, which doesn’t mean that one understanding is correct and the other is not. All religions build upon the imagery of others. As Christians use this foundation and reinterpret the meanings, the symbolism is made new and alive in other religious traditions.
The Christian understanding of the important messages contained in the Jewish Yom Kippur imagery developed slowly over the centuries. Eventually, the church leader was not just a father or bishop but was called a priest and then a high priest. The place where the eucharist was stored and prepared was in the holiest location in the church, which was seen as similar to a Holy of Holies.
Still, today in Eastern Orthodox churches, a screen or an iconostasis is placed between worshipers and the priest. The priest will go behind that screen and prepare the emblems of Eucharist or communion — sacrament for Latter-day Saints. Incense is lit in front of that screen that symbolizes and reminds of the altar of incense from the Israelite temple. The priest then will bring out the emblems still covered with a cloth. Only the priest or high priest has the authority to remove that cloth and offer these symbols of God in an atoning kind of a setting to the people.
Ritual worship can be powerful. As physical beings, it publicly pronounces, and it cements, in a way, inner commitments. Through ritual, we are using our whole bodies to worship, not just our minds. To do so, we want to use our physical bodies to focus on the spirit and focus on the soul. Imagery works powerfully to do just this.
Latter-day Saints are not known for their formal rituals outside the temple, but if one looks closely, the Yom Kippur imagery can be found in the Book of Mormon, Sunday worship, the bestowal or ordinances, and LDS temple ceremonies. In this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast, Laura Harris Hales interviews biblical scholar Shon Hopkin about Day of Atonement imagery in Latter-day Saint teachings.
About Our Guest: Shon D. Hopkin is an associate professor of ancient scripture at BYU. He has published and presented papers on the Jewish concept of premortal life and the Jewish longing for Zion, the Dead Sea Scrolls and Psalm 22, ordinance and ritual in the law of Moses and in the book of Isaiah, and the connections between Jewish and LDS beliefs and viewpoints. Shon is the editor of Abinadi: He Came Among Them in Disguise, a new release from the BYU Religious Studies Center.
Episode 94 Transcript
LDS Perspectives Podcast
Episode 94: Day of Atonement Symbolism in LDS Ritual with Shon
Hopkin
(Released September 19, 2018)
This is not
a verbatim transcript.
Some
grammar and wording has been modified for clarity.
Laura Harris Hales:
This is Laura Harris Hales, and I’m here today with Shon Hopkin to talk about
the Day of Atonement. Shon D. Hopkin is an associate professor of ancient
scripture at BYU. He has published and presented papers on the Jewish concept
of a premortal life and the Jewish longing for Zion, the Dead Sea Scrolls and
Psalm 22, ordinance and ritual in the law of Moses and in the book of Isaiah,
and the connections between Jewish and LDS beliefs and viewpoints. Shon is
Episode 93: Isaiah 2.0 with Joseph M. Spencer
Sep 05, 2018
In this episode of the LDS Perspectives podcast, Laura Harris Hales discusses tips for understanding Isaiah in the Old Testament with Joseph M. Spencer, author of The Vision of All: Twenty-five Lectures on Isaiah in Nephi’s Record.
The Book of Isaiah is a high-context scripture that overwhelms most readers. But because of its conspicuous presence in the Book of Mormon, it begs to be examined more closely. The Book of Mormon can inform us on how those prophets likened or interpreted Isaiah, but our study is incomplete without studying what Isaiah may have meant when it was written and in its Old Testament context. But figuring that out takes a bit of work. Spencer suggests four strategies for a serious study of Isaiah:
Don’t rely solely on the King James Version of the Bible. It is 400 years old and contains archaic language. Consult a modern translation like the NRSV. If you want, you can even compare the verses in the KJV to the NRSV for clarity.
Don’t stress if every verse or word doesn’t make sense. Use context clues to figure out basic ideas.
Don’t get lost in the details. Isaiah contains a lot of imagery. Not all of it is crucial to understanding its basic message.
Don’t look for the Messiah in every passage. More likely than not Isaiah isn’t talking about the Messiah but rather a messiah like King Hezekiah.
Also, keep Isaiah’s big picture in mind. For one, the Isaianic writings have many meanings. Just as Book of Mormon prophets saw Isaiah differently, modern scholars promote different interpretations. It might be wise to avoid the mindset that any particular verse has one set meaning.
Isaiah is also written systematically, which helps us understand the message. The first part of the book is about the creating of a remnant and the second is about deliverance. The prophets in the first part of the book are counselled to write, but in the second half they are told to read. There are patterns to look for, and Isaiah’s theme is covenantal. Israel is the chosen people of the Lord and the promises of the Abrahamic covenant will be restored in time to the remnant.
Join us for this fascinating discussion where we re-examine some popular Isaiah passages in light of their Old Testament context.
About Our Guest: Joseph M. Spencer holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of New Mexico. Currently, he is an assistant professor in the ancient scripture department at BYU. He has published extensively on Latter-day Saint scripture and theology in BYU Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Philosophy and Scripture, and the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, where he serves as editor. He is co-editor of the book series Introductions to Mormon Thought, which he is co-editing with Matt Bowman for the University of Illinois Press. Dr. Spencer is also associate director of the Mormon Theology Seminar.
Episode 93 Transcript
The Vision of All: Twenty-Five Lectures on Isaiah in Nephi's Record
******
LDS Perspectives Podcast
Episode 93: Isaiah 2.0 With Joseph M. Spencer
(Released September 5, 2018)
This is not a verbatim transcript.
Some grammar and wording has been modified for clarity, and timestamps are approximate.
LAURA HALES 00:00
This is Laura Harris Hales, and I’m here today with Joe Spencer to talk about the book of Isaiah. Joseph M. Spencer, an assistant professor in the Ancient Scripture department at BYU, earned a PhD in philosophy at the University of New Mexico and has published extensively on Latter-day Saint scripture and theology in BYU Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Philosophy and Scripture, and the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, where he serves as editor. He’s also the co-editor of the book series Introductions to Mormon Thought, which he is co-editing with Matt Bowman for the University of Illinois Press, and the associate director along with Adam Miller of the Mormon Theology Seminar.
It’s his book, The Vision of All: Twenty-five Lectures on Isaiah in Nephi’s Record,
Episode 92: Intertextuality in the Book of Mormon with Nick Frederick
Aug 22, 2018
In this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast, Laura Harris Hales interviews scholar Nicholas (Nick) J. Frederick about New Testament intertextuality in the Book of Mormon.
As an undergraduate classics major at BYU, Frederick became interested in studying Book of Mormon intertextuality. He wanted to discuss with other scholars what he was finding but encountered resistance from those who thought he was attacking the historicity of the Book of Mormon. Further frustration came as he realized that the few resources on the topic were primarily written by critics of the Book of Mormon arguing against historicity. Their research was overreaching and didn’t address how these New Testament elements were functioning within the text.
Frederick, who has since written a dissertation, book, and articles on the topic, hopes to expand the discussion of the New Testament elements in the Book of Mormon beyond that of simply whether they speak to historicity. That the New Testament can be found in the Book of Mormon is undeniable, but some might struggle with the notion of the New Testament as an antecedent text. Frederick suggests that we negotiate this roadblock by untethering the gold plates from the 19th century English document that we call the Book of Mormon because they are “two different texts that are related through translation.” Moving past the issue of why these passages are in the Book of Mormon to how the Book of Mormon affirms, comments on, corrects, and reimagines the New Testament is an important and fascinating discussion.
Unfortunately identifying common phrases isn’t as simple as it would seem. Sometimes there are direct quotations, such as from the Sermon on the Mount in 3 Nephi—though even there Frederick discusses the fascinating influence of John’s gospel on quotations from Matthew. But the presence of the New Testament is often subtle. He explains that the Book of Mormon will “carefully weave these New Testament passages into the larger text,” so the interdependence does not readily stand out to the casual reader. The Book of Mormon seems to masterfully deconstruct and reconstruct New Testament concepts and phrases for its own purposes.
In an attempt to broaden the discussion, Frederick proposes a methodology for determining the probability of intertextuality, which goes beyond simply identifying common phrases. He adds four additional criteria to solidify connections. Through multiple examples, Dr. Frederick shows us how intertextual studies can enrich our study of the Book of Mormon.
About Our Guest: Nicholas J. Frederick served a mission in Brussels, Belgium, then attended BYU where he received his BA in classics and his MA in comparative studies. He then attended Claremont Graduate University, where he completed a PhD in the history of Christianity with an emphasis in Mormon studies, after which he returned to work at BYU. His research focuses primarily on the intertextual relationship between the text of the Bible and Mormon scripture. He enjoys teaching courses on the Book of Mormon and the New Testament, particularly the writings of Paul and the Book of Revelation.
Extra Resources:
Episode 92 Transcript
"Evaluating the Interaction between the New Testament and the Book of Mormon: a Proposed Methodology"
"If Christ Had Not Come into the World"
*Phrases in the Book of Mormon narrative that would appear to have been lifted directly from the King James Version of John 11 include “he stinketh,” “he is not dead but he sleepeth in God,” “he shall rise again,” “believest thou this,” “cried with a loud voice,” and “there was many that did believe.”
*********
LDS Perspectives Podcast
Episode 92: Intertextuality in the Book of Mormon with Nick Frederick
(Released August 22, 2018)
This is not a verbatim transcript.
Some grammar and wording has been modified for clarity.
LAURA HALES
This is Laura Harris Hales, and I’m here today with Nick Frederick to talk about intertextuality in the Book of Mormo...
Episode 91: Part 2: W. W. Phelps and Early Mormonism with Bruce Van Orden
Aug 08, 2018
Part 2 of Laura Harris Hales' interview of Bruce A. Van Orden about the life and work of W. W. Phelps, a unique witness to the events of the early Church.
About Our Guest:
Bruce Van Orden received his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from Brigham Young University. Bruce is an emeritus professor of church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. During retirement, Bruce and his wife, Karen, had a seven-year prison ministry. He has served on LDS Church curriculum committees and on the Pioneer Sesquicentennial Committee (“Faith in Every Footstep”). He has published widely on scriptural and church history themes.
We’ll Sing and We’ll Shout: the Life and Times of W. W. Phelps
Episode 90: Part 1: W. W. Phelps and Early Mormonism with Bruce Van Orden
Aug 08, 2018
Bruce A. Van Orden, emeritus professor of church history and doctrine at BYU, has completed a comprehensive biography of one of the most interesting converts to early Mormonism. We’ll Sing and We’ll Shout: The Life and Times of W. W. Phelps chronicles the vast contributions of Phelps to early Mormonism and the attempts to build Zion. Phelps’s activities went far beyond composing his noteworthy hymns.
To date, the Joseph Smith Papers Project has published seventeen volumes. These books demonstrate the pivotal roles Phelps played in the early days of the LDS Church, often at the side of Joseph Smith himself. Van Orden drew extensively from the Joseph Smith Papers volumes and online resources.
He also researched thoroughly Phelps’s writings in newspapers and almanacs he edited or co-edited such as the Evening and the Morning Star, the Upper Missouri Advertiser, the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, the Northern Times, the Times and Seasons, The Wasp, the Nauvoo Neighbor, the Deseret News, and the Deseret Almanac.
W. W. Phelps was an important church leader. He was one of seven presiding high priests in Zion (Jackson County, Missouri), 1832–1834; a member of the Missouri church presidency, 1834–1838, and even presided most of the time given the absence of David Whitmer; a member of church’s governing “council of presidents” in Kirtland, 1835–1836; and a prominent member of the Council of Fifty under both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.
Phelps was a voluminous and verbose writer, both of prose and poetry. His writings comprised much of what Latter-day Saints of his era were exposed to as they learned of Joseph Smith’s visionary plans for building Zion. In Utah Phelps continued teaching and promoting the illuminating doctrines brought forth through the Prophet.
In the Nauvoo chapters, Van Orden lays out his discovery that Phelps was often a ghostwriter for Joseph Smith’s publications including church’s history recitations, doctrinal essays and poetry, and political campaign pamphlets. This may be the most prescient part of the biography.
Van Orden doesn’t ignore W. W. Phelps’s eccentric personality traits and fiery zeal. He shows the accuracy of Joseph Smith Sr.’s blessing upon Phelps:
Thou art a "speckled bird," and the Lord hath held thee up to be gazed at. Thou art a strange man. The Lord has given thee understanding and knowledge and wisdom, and discernment; and thou hast thought thou wast somebody; thou hast been exalted, and hast been lifted up: nevertheless, if thou continuest faithful, and humblest thyself, thou shall see great things, and have greater knowledge.
Listen in as Laura Harris Hales interviews Bruce A. Van Orden about the life and work of W. W. Phelps, a unique witness to the events of the early Church.
About Our Guest:
Bruce Van Orden received his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from Brigham Young University. Bruce is an emeritus professor of church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. During retirement, Bruce and his wife, Karen, had a seven-year prison ministry. He has served on LDS Church curriculum committees and on the Pioneer Sesquicentennial Committee (“Faith in Every Footstep”). He has published widely on scriptural and church history themes.
We’ll Sing and We’ll Shout: the Life and Times of W. W. Phelps
Episode 89: Wisdom Literature with Dan Belnap
Jul 25, 2018
In this episode of the LDS Perspectives podcast, Laura Harris Hales interviews Dan Belnap about wisdom literature in the Bible and the ancient Near East.
Belnap explains that the books of the Bible are of various genres. Some, like the books of Kings, share historical narratives, while Isaiah is theological in nature. Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and Job are categorized as wisdom literature.
We do not engage with wisdom literature the same way we do with historical or theological texts, so they are often placed on a lower level by readers, compared to other biblical writings. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth studying. They actually give sound, practical advice for living a good life.
We don’t know who the individuals are within Israelite wisdom tales. There’s a father. There’s a son. There’s a mother. There are these individuals. They’re just anonymous Israelite figures, literary figures. The literary figures have a different relationship with deity than you see among Egyptian literary wisdom figures. Deity may show up in Egyptian wisdom literature, but they don’t play a particular role the same way. In fact, much of Egyptian literature is going to be practical advice: how to get along in court, how to get along with your fellow man, and how to move up in court.
One of the interesting aspects of wisdom literature found across the ancient Near East is that it was a genre where people could make claims that you wouldn’t make in any other context. It was what we would call a literary safe space. For whatever reason, these types of tales allowed writers to talk about typically taboo topics, and in many cases, pessimistic things.
Ecclesiastes is one of these books. It’s interesting in that what it does is it outlines the limitations that mankind has. You’ve got limitations elsewhere, but this is where it explores what man can do and what he can’t do.
In Mesopotamia this is actually done through epics as well. For example, the Epic of Gilgamesh. is a pretty pessimistic story. There is a king who wants to become immortal, and by the end of this epic, he doesn’t even get rejuvenation. He fails on that. He gets back from his long journey having failed in everything, having not accomplished what he wanted to do. But he looks at the walls of his city, and he says, “This is a marvelous city. Look at what it is, and I’m lucky to be a king of it.” And then the epilogue to this thing says, “And these are your limitations. Don’t go beyond a man. Find joy in your limitations.”
Tune in as Dr. Dan Belnap lays a framework for studying biblical wisdom literature situated in an ancient Near Eastern context.
About Our Guest: Dan Belnap is an assistant professor of ancient scripture at BYU. He received his BA in international relations from BYU, an MA in ancient Near Eastern studies from BYU, and an MA and a PhD in Northwest Semitics from the University of Chicago. Since coming to BYU, he has taught courses in the Book of Mormon, Old Testament, New Testament, Pearl of Great Price, and teachings of the living prophets, but his specialty is in the Hebrew Bible, Ugaritic studies, and ritual studies. He has focused his research on cultural and sociological influences in the Book of Mormon, the use of ritual in ancient and contemporary contexts, doctrines of ascension and theosis in ancient Near East and Late Antiquity, and comparative cosmologies.
The Transcript: Download PDF.
*****
LDS Perspectives Podcast
Episode 89: Wisdom Literature with Dan Belnap
(Released July 25, 2018)
This is not a verbatim transcript.
Some grammar and wording has been modified for clarity, and timestamps are approximate.
LAURA HALES 00:00
This is Laura Harris Hales, and I’m here today with Daniel L. Belnap, to talk about wisdom literature in the ancient Near East. Daniel Belnap is an assistant professor of ancient scripture at BYU. He received a PhD in Northwest Semitics from the University of Chicago. Since coming to BYU,
Episode 88: Israel’s Kings with Dana M. Pike
Jul 11, 2018
In this episode of LDS Perspectives Podcast, Laura Harris Hales interviews Dr. Dana M. Pike on Israel’s united and divided monarchies.
The Old Testament prepares us for the United Monarchy, telling of Joshua marching Israel into the Promised Land, conquering virtually every city in their path. Joshua then allots land to each of the tribes of Israel. After Joshua, came the reign of the Judges. Their history, Pike notes, only has two judges that actually make decisions, at least according to the Bible: Deborah and Samuel. All of the others are regional leaders, who seek to liberate the local tribes from foreign rule. This system is problematic, as individual tribes are often too weak to protect themselves from foreign invaders. The people ask Samuel for a king, so they can be like the other nations and defend themselves. As seen in the Bible, this worked out to be both a blessing and a curse.
Pike throws greater light on these books of the Old Testament, explaining that Samuel and Kings were written centuries after the United Monarchy ended. The writers’ political and religious affiliation was in the same vein as that of the authors of Deuteronomy, with a focus on the centralization of the temple, the promised blessings for obedience, and grievous curses for disobedience. In this setting, we first see Saul blessed with kingship, but later revoked by Samuel due to his disobedience. Much focus is given on David’s reign and history, from Goliath to establishing the kingdom all the way to the Euphrates River in Babylon.
No one knows for certain exactly how long the United Monarchy lasted, though it is usually estimated at a century. Pike notes that the 40-year reigns of both David and Solomon may not be exactly that period of time, as the number 40 is often used in the Old Testament as a round number to signify a long period of time.
The Divided Monarchies arose after Solomon. The Ten Tribes asked Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, for some changes to make life better for them, but he refused. Led by Jeroboam, the Northern Tribes broke off, forming the kingdom of Israel. Rehoboam and his descendants would rule over the Nation of Judah. The “sin of Jeroboam” is discussed in a new light, showing it to be Northern Israel’s replacement for the worship of Yahweh in the Jerusalem Temple.
Listen in as Dana M. Pike explores the background behind the United Monarchy, reshaping how we view the great king David and his contemporaries.
About Our Guest:
Dana M. Pike is a professor in the Department of Ancient Scripture and in the Ancient Near East Studies program at BYU. Just prior to his assignment as Department Chair, Dr. Pike was an Associate Dean of Religious Education. He has taught at BYU since 1992, including two different years at BYU’s Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. Dr. Pike received his BS in Near Eastern Archaeology and Anthropology from Brigham Young University and his PhD in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. His research centers on the Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as related topics of interest to Latter-day Saints. He was one of the international editors of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Episode 88 Transcript
A Bible Reader's History of the Ancient World
_______________________
LDS Perspectives Podcast
Episode 88: Israel’s Kings with Dana M. Pike
(Released July 11, 2018)
This is not a verbatim transcript.
Some grammar and wording has been modified for clarity, and timestamps are approximate.
LAURA HALES 00:00
This is Laura Harris Hales, and I’m here today with Dana Pike to talk about Israelite monarchies in the Old Testament.
Dana M. Pike is a professor in the Department of Ancient Scripture and in the Ancient Near East Studies Program at BYU. Just prior to his assignment as Department Chair, Dr. Pike was an Associate Dean of Religious Education. He has taught at BYU since 1992 including two different years at BYU’s Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies.
Episode 87: The Millennial Temple – R. Jean Addams
Jun 27, 2018
In mid-July 1831, Joseph Smith and a few Mormon missionaries visited Independence, Missouri. After arriving, the Prophet received a revelation designating Independence as the "center place" of the future city of Zion or the New Jerusalem. On Wednesday, August 3, 1831, Joseph and several associates dedicated a special plot of land “upon a lot not far from the court-house” for a future temple. This wasn’t to be just any temple, but the Millennial Temple to which Jesus would return.
Before the Saints could construct a House of the Lord, they were driven north in 1833 and then five years later, they were chased out of the entire state leaving behind their dreams of Zion and temple-building. But as the main body of Saints moved to Nauvoo and then to the West, what happened to the expectations of their Independence temple?
Join Jean Addams as he explains that as Brigham Young and his followers headed to the Rocky Mountains, the property was sold by the family of LDS Church Bishop Edward Partridge who had passed away. At that point, the Utah Church had lost any claim to the property.
In the 1850s, Granville Hedrick, who led three separate restoration branches located in North Central Illinois, received a revelation instructing him and his followers to relocate to Jackson County. In 1867, they started acquiring the lots that comprised the spot where Joseph Smith had dedicated the site for the temple. Hedrick then believed that a temple would be built as early as the following decade. Yet, no temple structure was ever constructed.
The Independence temple lot was the center of controversy in the early 1890s as the RLDS church sued the owners of the temple lot, the church established by Hendrick, the Church of Christ (Temple Lot). The RLDS leaders claimed ownership of the temple lot property outright positioning themselves as the true successor of that church. Polygamy became a focal point of the litigation since the RLDS did not permit plurality, but many Nauvoo church members reported Joseph Smith taught it as a restored principle and practice. Jean Addams explains the outcome of that conflict and drama.
In 1900, representatives of the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) visited Salt Lake City and proposed collaborating with the LDS leadership to build a temple. LDS leaders declined, but at that time they became interested in any upcoming opportunities to acquire any part of the original 63 acres. In 1904, Utah leaders purchased a 20-acre parcel of the land dedicated in 1831.
Jean Addams identifies the various owners today and outlines the prophecies concerning this unique temple building site in Restoration history.
About the Author: R. Jean Addams is a lifetime Mormon history enthusiast and independent historian. He and his wife Liz reside in Woodinville, Washington. He is the author of “Reclaiming the Temple Lot in the Center Place of Zion,” “‘Upon a Lot . . . Not Far from the Courthouse’: A Photographic History of the Temple Lot in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri,” “A Contest for ‘Sacred Space,” “Early sociological Issues Confronted by the Church of Christ (Temple Lot): African Americans, Native Americans, and Women,” and several other articles. Addams’ first book Upon the Temple Lot: The Church of Christ’s Quest to Build the House of the Lord, was published in late 2011. More recently, his interest has shifted to the Redemption of Zion. Articles on this subject include: “The Establishment and Redemption of Zion” and “The Bullion, Beck, & Champion Mining Company and the Redemption of Zion.” Addams is the past-president of the John Whitmer Historical Association. His interests, besides researching and writing, include family, skiing, and fishing.
Upon the Temple Lot: the Church of Christ's Quest to Build the House of the Lord
Episode 86: 19th Century Restorationists – RoseAnn Benson
Jun 27, 2018
As Joseph Smith reported his visions and revelations designed to restore the New Testament church, another preacher living nearby sought the same goals, but through very different means. Despite the fact that both were Restorationists, each viewed the other as in error.
RoseAnn Benson, author of Alexander Campbell and Joseph Smith: 19th-Century Restorationsists explains the similarities and contrasts between Joseph Smith and Alexander Campbell. Joseph reported an open heaven with divine communications and angelic visitations restoring knowledge and priesthood powers. Campbell claims the heavens were closed and only through a strict reading of the New Testament could Christ's church be reestablished in the nineteenth-century.
Shortly after the Book of Mormon was printed, critics raised their denunciations, but among them, it appears Alexander Campbell was the first to actually read the volume and write a book review, titling it “Delusions.” Calling Joseph Smith “as ignorant and impudent a knave as ever wrote a book,” Campbell claimed that “there never was a book more evidently written by one set of fingers, nor more certainly conceived in one cranium” than the Book of Mormon.
Benson explains how Alexander Campbell’s influence on the earliest months after the church’s organization was greater than any other Christian religious leader, both for good and ill. Many early converts to Mormonism were proselyted from Campbell’s followers including a large number of leaders like Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams, who became counselors in the First Presidency. Enemies too came from the Campbellite persuasions, such as some who participated in the 1832 tarring and feathering of Joseph and Sidney.
The two religious leaders never met, but their lives and pursuits intersected in multiple ways. RoseAnn Benson opens the door on this fascinating, if not short-lived competition.
About Our Guest:
RoseAnn Benson was an adjunct professor of ancient scripture and Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. She has served as the assistant coach for the BYU swim and dive team. Sister Benson first started coaching at St. Petersburg Catholic High School in 1973. She has also coached at San Diego State University, James Madison University, Southern Illinois University, San Jose State University, and at West Florida Lightning Aquatics. RoseAnn Benson attended Brigham Young University where she earned a BA in physical education and minors in history and biology. Additionally, she obtained a K-12 teaching certificate. A few years later, RoseAnn returned to BYU to receive a MS in exercise science with a minor in health science. Later, she went to Southern Illinois where she received a PhD in community and school health, emphasizing in nutrition. She also received an MA at BYU in ancient Near Eastern studies with an emphasis in religious education.
Alexander Campbell and Joseph Smith
Episode 85: Old Major, Joseph Smith’s Dog – Alexander L. Baugh
Jun 27, 2018
This week we have a little fun as we take a lighthearted look at Joseph Smith's loyal companion, friend, and pet—Old Major.
Dr. Alexander L. Baugh shares the tenuous nature of historical sleuthing. Often disparate references are all that scholars have to reconstruct the past. In this case, they include a library collection found, a newspaper clipping remembered, a memoir referenced, and letters written, coupled with Dr. Baugh’s expert knowledge of the Missouri period. Each item provides an important piece of the puzzle.
Dr. Baugh hopes his work uncovering the footprints of Old Major will help listeners gain insight into the personality of Joseph Smith and his time in Liberty Jail with his loyal companion. The story of Joseph’s English Mastiff paints a relatable human picture of the Prophet that we don’t often hear, read, or talk about.
This podcast is the first episode in our special Triplecast in remembrance of the Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. If you like what we are doing at LDS Perspectives, be sure and like our Facebook page in order to keep informed of the ongoing work of our scholar-guests.
About Our Guest: Alexander L. Baugh is a professor and chair of the Department of Church History and Doctrine at BYU where he has been a full-time faculty member since 1995. He received his BS from Utah State University and his MA and PhD degrees from Brigham Young University. He specializes in researching and writing about the Missouri period of early LDS Church history (1831–1839). He is the author, editor, or co-editor of eight books. In addition, he has published over eighty historical journal articles, essays, and book chapters. He is a member of the Mormon History Association and the John Whitmer Historical Association, having served as president of that organization in 2006–2007. He is also the past editor of Mormon Historical Studies and past co-director of research for the BYU Religious Studies Center. He also serves as an editor of three volumes of the Document series for the Joseph Smith Papers and is current chair of the department of church history and doctrine at BYU. He is married to the former Susan Johnson and they are the parents of five children. He and his wife reside in Highland, Utah.
Extra Resources:
Episode 84 Transcript
"Joseph Smith's Dog, Old Major"
"Documents Tell of Joseph Smith's Dog"
LDS Perspectives Podcast
Episode 85: Old Major with Alexander L. Baugh
(Released June 27, 2018)
This is not a verbatim transcript.
Some grammar and wording has been modified for clarity.
Laura H. Hales: This is Laura Harris Hales, and I’m here today with Alex Baugh, who is the chair of the Department of Church History at BYU. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about your training and your areas of research focus?
Alex Baugh: Well, it’s good to be with you Laura, and I’m always excited to talk about historical subjects associated with Mormonism. Believe it or not, I went to Utah State and majored in marriage and family studies. I was teaching seminary for the LDS Church in Bountiful when they came out with a master’s degree in western American history. And I thought, “Well, that would be kind of neat.” I got my degree in that, a masters, and then went for a PhD at BYU in American history with an emphasis in Mormon and western American history.
Laura H. Hales: You’re also known as the Missouri guy now with your expertise on the Missouri War and that period of time. You’re one of the editors of a couple of volumes from the Joseph Smith Papers on the Missouri era. But recently you wrote an article for BYU Studies Quarterly (volume 56, issue 4) that we’re going to talk about. It’s on a topic a little bit lighter than the topics you usually write about.
Alex Baugh: I probably ought to tell you how I even came to writing this.
Laura H. Hales: That’s the next question I was going to ask you. Why did you decide, “I’m going to go from writing about the Missouri War to Joseph Smith’s pet”?
Episode 84: Violence in the Bible with George A. Pierce
Jun 13, 2018
The Old Testament is filled with grisly tales, which are understandably offensive to modern eyes. Some of the most shocking are found within the conquest narratives of the Deuteronomistic History. In Deuteronomy 7, the Israelites were instructed to smite, destroy, and consume the inhabitants of Canaan, an act that Joshua initiates at the city of Jericho. The text is incredibly violent, bloody, and gruesome, and leaves readers scratching their heads as to why anyone would ever carry out any of these actions.
But could Joshua be getting a bad rap?
In this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast, Laura Harris Hales interviews Dr. George Pierce, a specialist in ancient Near East archaeology and anthropology, about just what these chapters might be telling us. Dr. George Pierce maintains that if we view the conquest narratives through the lenses that ancient Israel would have understood them, then we may gain a better appreciation for their contents.
Situated in Deuteronomy, Samuel, Judges, and Kings are tales of Israel’s conquest of Canaan and the rise of its kingdoms. As we look at the account of Joshua and the Israelites and what they’re doing with the defeat of Canaanite cities, we see that the text itself is trying to couch these events in terms of Deuteronomy 7 and its mandate to settle this land and effectively remove its inhabitants.
The main thrust of Deuteronomy 7 is to not have Israel interact with the people around them. They have been given divine instruction: don’t interact with the Canaanites; don’t intermarry them; and don’t worship their deities. What we see is that Israel is doing the opposite. They’re not able to dislodge the Canaanites. They do start to intermarry with the Canaanites. They do start to worship other deities. Israel needs a call to repentance.
But these are also tales of re-creation. Israel is coming into a land, which for them, because of Canaanites, Hittites, Parrizites, and all the rest of the inhabitants, is effectively chaos. The creation is a parallel concept to the conquest narratives. In creation, Jehovah steps in, puts everything into order with its right function, purifies the thing, and then on the seventh day has rest. In the book of Joshua, the Israelites purify the land by conquests. After capturing the City of the Patriarchs, the land has rest.
Many readers look at this ancient text and ask, “What can I get out of this?” And while it’s probably popular to just turn to Joshua 24 and say, “Well, the whole thing just revolves around: “As for me and my house, we’re going to serve the Lord,” Dr. Pierce believes we shortchange the book of Joshua and the Deuteronomic History by not exploring the text on a deeper level. Within the text are complex and rich elements telling us that Israel is trying to obey the commandments of the Lord, but they’re not always successful.
Listen in as we discuss Israel’s tale of emergence and settlement in the Holy Land and what it means in terms of obedience and longevity in the land.
About Our Guest: Dr. George Pierce grew up in a Baptist household in Florida. He received a BA in History from Clearwater Christian College, an MSC in Archaeological Information Systems from the University of York, an MA in Biblical Studies from Wheaton College, and a PhD in Near Eastern Language and Cultures from UCLA where he joined a church in June 2009.
He’s also served as research faculty at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba, Israel. He has excavated in Florida, Scotland, the West Bank, and Israel. His research focuses on regional settlements, historical geography, and computer applications in archaeology. He and his wife, Dr. Krystal Pierce, have two children, Victoria and George III.
Episode 84 Transcript
A Bible Reader’s History of the Ancient World
*********
LDS Perspectives Podcast
Episode 84: Violence in the Bible with George A. Pierce
(Released June 13, 2018)
This is not a verbatim transcript.
Episode 82: The LDS Church and the Sugar Industry – Matthew C. Godfrey
May 23, 2018
The balance between the LDS Church’s operation of its non-profit and for-profit endeavors has always come with both benefits and repercussions. Censure of the City Creek building project reignited this divisive topic as critics contended that more funds should be directed toward humanitarian pursuits and less towards financial ones. It’s an ongoing discussion layered with complexities as the church decides how best to generate the funds necessary to fulfill the mission of the church. The example of the Utah–Idaho Sugar Company is a micro study in the costs and benefits of for-profit ventures. Historian Matthew C. Godfrey is an expert on the church’s involvement in the sugar industry. In this episode, he discusses with Laura Harris Hales some of the challenges that face the church when it becomes involved in business.
The sugar business in Utah began in earnest in the late 1880s when there was interest on the part of some individuals to produce sugar from beets. Needing capital in order to finance the construction of a factory, they approached Wilford Woodruff and asked if the church could provide some funding.
Wilford Woodruff was already interested in getting the church involved in more businesses. And as he thought more about getting the church involved in the sugar industry, he said he received a revelation that it was the Lord’s will that the church become involved in the sugar business.
From that revelation, he met with the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and he instructed several of them, including Heber J. Grant and Joseph F. Smith, to go out among Utah businessmen and raise money for the sugar factory. The apostles raised the necessary funds, and in 1889 the Utah Sugar Company was formed. The church didn’t have a financial interest in the company, but simply boosters for it. But as the 1890s wore on and as the company got into some financial difficulties, Wilford Woodruff, again believing that God wanted this industry established, got the church involved financially in the industry.
Woodruff’s interest in the business was two-fold: to provide the Saints with economic opportunities and allow the Saints to be self-sufficient in sugar. Woodruff and Joseph F. Smith both talked about the need to provide some labor opportunities for the Saints in the Great Basin. The labor could come as employees working in the factory to actually extract the sugar or as farmers growing the sugar beets for cash.
The fact that Wilford Woodruff said it was the mind and will of God that the church become involved in the sugar industry set it apart from other business ventures. It carried with it a level of commitment and compelled the church to seek for outside funding after the panic of 1893 to keep it afloat.
At that time, the Utah Sugar Company became tied to the eastern Sugar Trust, and the company ceased producing sugar only on a regional basis. Now, eastern businessmen were investing in something the church started because of a revelation. With outside investment, the Utah Sugar Company had to be very concerned about business practices so they could make a profit. Having received financial backing from the Sugar Trust, those involved in Utah Sugar expanded into other areas in Utah and into Idaho, leading to the formation in 1907 of the Utah–Idaho Sugar Company.
Utah–Idaho leaders wanted the company to make money and tried to keep costs down and prices to consumers up. But beet growers, most of whom were Mormon, wanted as much as they could get for their beets. This was no longer the mutual cooperative economy characterized by Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution; this was for-profit capitalism. That’s a huge transition from how the church had participated in businesses in the past.
Thomas Alexander referred to this time period as “Mormonism in Transition.” Social, political, and economic transitions were all occurring as polygamy ended, Utah became a state, and the church became involved in more solely for-profit enterprise...
Episode 81: A Closer Look at the Foundational Texts of Mormonism – Sharalyn D. Howcroft
May 09, 2018
Tune in as Laura Harris Hales interviews Sharalyn D. Howcroft on Foundational Texts of Mormonism: Examining Major Early Sources, a new book that carefully analyzes essential texts that are repeatedly used by historians as they reconstruct Mormonism’s founding era. Scholars have frequently mined early Mormon historical sources for the information that they contain, though with little attention to source criticism.
A noteworthy exception is the work of Dean C. Jessee. Jessee’s examination of The History of the Church showed that unlike the subtitle of its first six volumes—Period I: History of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, by Himself—the history was written by a dozen different scribes and clerks, not Smith. Although Smith started the history, his office staff quickly assumed most of the burden of production, barely half of it was completed at the time of Smith’s death in 1844, and it took many more years before it was finished. Jessee’s scholarship showed the necessity of understanding authorship, textual origins, and record production.
Foundational Texts of Mormonism was conceived as a compilation of essays honoring Dean C. Jessee. Taking a page from Jessee’s playbook, this volume scrutinizes documents as products of history rather than sources of historical information. When records are examined as artifacts of the culture from which they originate, it reveals things about historical sources beyond the content of the records themselves.
Chapters in the book provide original and notable contributions on early Mormon history sources using methodologies advocated by Jessee. Richard Lyman Bushman’s “The Gold Plates as Foundational Text” focuses on the Book of Mormon’s account of its creation, viewing the gold plates as a document in the Book of Mormon narrative. Its disparate texts reflect both divinely inspired and human elements.
Grant Hardy’s “Textual Criticism and the Book of Mormon” assesses Royal Skousen’s Book of Mormon Critical Text Project and what it divulges about the process of dictation and textual transmission, including Joseph Smith’s views on scriptural text.
Thomas A. Wayment, in “Intertextuality and the Purpose of Joseph Smith’s New Translation of the Bible” studies Joseph Smith’s motivation for revising the Bible and how it steered Smith to re-envision the Bible.
Grant Underwood, in “The Dictations, Compilation, and Canonization of Joseph Smith’s Revelations” traces the unfolding of Smith’s revelations from their initial dictation to canonization.
In “Joseph Smith’s Missouri Prison Letters and the Mormon Textual Community,” David W. Grua examines Smith’s epistles given to the Latter-day Saint community during his incarceration, and how they connected the suffering of the Saints with revelation.
Jennifer Reeder in “The Textual Culture of the Nauvoo Female Relief Society Leadership and Minute Book” studies the undercurrent of polygamous relationships evident in the society’s minute book, based on what was and was not recorded.
William V. Smith’s chapter on “Joseph Smith’s Sermons and the Early Mormon Documentary Record,” examines how a more extensive documentary record of Smith’s sermons was the direct result of the increased importance place upon Smith’s preaching.
In “Joseph Smith’s Nauvoo Journals,” Alex D. Smith and Andrew H. Hedges analyze Smith’s journals kept during the last two and a half years of his life and their contribution to our understanding of Smith’s last few years and the Nauvoo community at that time.
The prolific writings of Wilford Woodruff are reviewed in Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s “The Early Diaries of Wilford Woodruff, 1835–1839.” Woodruff’s painstaking care when recording his diary indirectly chronicles his lived experience through earthly and heavenly bonds, his faith, and missionary work.
In “An Archival and Textual Reexamination of Lucy Mack Smith’s History,” Sharalyn D. Howcroft reconstructs the original order of the history, studies its composition methodology,
Episode 80: A Philosophical Look at God – Blake T. Ostler
Apr 25, 2018
“Divinity is always growing, always self-surpassing. However great God is in any moment has been surpassed in the next moment. Human beings are the same way. And it is precisely the religious person, it is precisely the devoted person, the person whose heart is fully committed, who will seek with every faculty available to be with God, to understand, if you will, and to more fully grasp what it is that we’re called to be.”
Blake T. Ostler
Have you ever noticed that sometimes we spend the least amount of time discussing the most crucial topics? If questioned, could you describe the nature of God and what it means to be God-like and embrace divinity?
One central tenet of the gospel is that righteous followers can become Gods. This bold affirmation while commonplace to Mormons often seems blasphemous to those of the broader Christian tradition. In fact, it is one of the major tension points between the LDS Church and other Christian sects. Such an important topic, therefore, is worthy of serious study.
So how can we come to know the nature of God? As a whole, members have linguistic baggage in the way that they use terms to describe God because the earliest Mormon converts came from Protestantism and Catholicism, and we continued to use the same terms. Within Mormonism, it is hard to justify some of these views, but it is something that most people have simply inherited. Terms such as “omnipotent,” “omniscient,” and “omnibenevolent” are often casually bandied about as if they seamlessly fit within the cosmological framework revealed by Joseph Smith of a material God when actually they do not. And what about time? Is God subject to time and what would the answer to that question affect the concept of free will?
Working through the nature of God in relation to revealed doctrine is one step in the process of getting to know God, but not the only one. When we use the word “God,” what are we referring to? God is used both as a reference to a person, as a reference to a community, as a reference to a title, and as a reference to an essential set of properties. We use the word “God” in all these different ways.
As the offspring of God, we have inherent within us the capacity for divinity, and we already express it to the extent we express love for one another, to the extent that we fulfill the purpose that we were born to fulfill, and to the extent that we show kindness. We came to earth to have experiences, and we couldn’t fail to have experiences. So, merely by having experiences, we’re fulfilling the purpose for which we came. This is a no- lose proposition. Everything we experience is for our good—everything. All of the commandments are given for a simple purpose: to teach us how to learn to love one another and to become more divine.
Join us as we go beyond the typical theological psychobabble and explore what it means to be God and God-like.
Our Guest: Blake Ostler graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor of arts in philosophy (summa cum laude) and a bachelor of science in Psychobiology (magna cum laude). He then graduated in 1985 as a William Leary Scholar from the University of Utah with a juris doctorate (cum laude).
Blake Ostler has published widely on Mormon philosophy in professional academic philosophy journals such as Religious Studies (Oxford, England), International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion (Netherlands), and Element: The Journal of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology, as well as Mormon scholarly publications Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Sunstone, BYU Studies, and FARMS Review of Books. He is the author of the multi-volume series Exploring Mormon Thought published by Kofford Books. He has also taught philosophy at Brigham Young University as an adjunct instructor.
Fratello Ostler is fluent in Italian and French, conversant in Swedish and Spanish,
Episode 79: Nauvoo, the Beautiful and Malaria Infested – Christopher Blythe
Apr 11, 2018
Christopher James Blythe is a volume editor of the Documents series of The Joseph Smith Papers. He completed a PhD in American religious history from Florida State University, an MA in history from Utah State University, and BA degrees in religious studies and anthropology from Utah State University and Texas A&M University respectively. He is currently revising his dissertation, “Vernacular Mormonism: The Development of Christian Apocalyptic among Latter-day Saints,” into a book manuscript.
In this episode, Laura Harris Hales interviews Christopher about important documents from the early Nauvoo period.
Joseph Smith Papers: Documents, Vol. 7
Episode 78: Beauty for Ashes – Scott Livingston
Mar 28, 2018
Scott Livingston is an independent scholar whose gospel studies have been largely fueled by his ecclesiastical ministry.
He is currently a Stake President, and many of the recurring concerns that surface as he counsels with individuals and couples led him to write the book Beauty for Ashes: Learning from Christ How to Endure Life's Greatest Pains, Sufferings, and Sorrows.
Scott studied theater, film, and screenwriting, and though he has spent the majority of his career in marketing and sales, he continues to write. He currently has a screenplay in production.
He and his wife, Ginger, have four children.
Episode 77: Old Testament Peoples and Places – Jared Ludlow
Mar 14, 2018
In this episode, Laura Harris Hales speaks with Jared Ludlow about the ancient Near East and its peoples as part of our ongoing series on the Old Testament. They also discuss A Bible Reader’s History of the Ancient World, a textbook used at the BYU Jerusalem Center.
Jared Ludlow has taught in the Ancient Scripture Department at BYU since 2006. Before that, he taught at BYU-Hawaii. Jared received his bachelor's degree from BYU in Near Eastern Studies, his master's degree from the University of California at Berkeley in Biblical Hebrew, and his PhD in Near Eastern Religions from UC-Berkeley and the Graduate Theological Union.
His primary research interests are in ancient Judaism and early Christianity.
He enjoys teaching Bible courses, the Book of Mormon, world religions, and history. Jared served a LDS mission to Campinas Brazil and has also lived in Germany and Israel, including teaching at the BYU Jerusalem Center. He likes sports, snorkeling, and teaching.
Areas of Research: Second Temple Judaism, Pseudepigrapha, Early Christianity, Ancient Narrative
Languages: Hebrew (reading); Greek (reading); Aramaic (reading); Portuguese (reading and speaking); German (reading)
A Bible Reader’s History of the Ancient World
Episode 76: Abinadi – Shon Hopkin
Feb 28, 2018
Laura Harris Hales interviews Shon Hopkin about different aspects of the Abinadi narrative in the Book of Mormon.
Shon D. Hopkin is an associate professor of ancient scripture at BYU. He has published and presented papers on the Jewish concept of a premortal life and the Jewish longing for Zion, the Dead Sea Scrolls and Psalm 22, ordinance and ritual in the law of Moses and in the book of Isaiah, and the connections between Jewish and LDS beliefs and viewpoints. Shon is the editor of Abinadi: He Came Among Them in Disguise, a new release from the BYU Religious Studies Center.
Episode 75: The Dead Sea Scrolls – Joshua Matson
Feb 14, 2018
Joshua Matson is a PhD student in religions of western antiquity at Florida State University and a teacher at the Tallahassee Institute of Religion. Josh received his bachelor's degree in Ancient Near Eastern studies with university honors from Brigham Young University in 2013. In 2015 he received his master's degree in biblical studies from Trinity Western University, where he assisted in authoring publications facilitated by the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute.
His research interests, presentations, and publications center on the Dead Sea Scrolls, the formation of scriptural canons, the Hebrew Bible minor prophets, the use of extra-canonical texts in Jewish and Christian communities, the interaction between physical space and religion, and new religious movements based upon ancient traditions and texts.
In addition to his academic pursuits, Josh currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Student Advisory Board for the Society of Biblical Literature. While Josh loves his research and work in the academy, his favorite activities involve his wife and twin two-year-old daughters.
In this episodes, he visits with Laura Harris Hales about how the Dead Sea Scrolls and what they can and cannot tell us.
Episode 74: What was on the Lost 116 Pages? with Don Bradley
Jan 31, 2018
In this episode Brian Hales interviews Don Bradley about his decades-long research into missing parts of Book of Mormon narrative. Ever since he was a youngster, Don’s wondered about the content of the 116 pages of the Book of Lehi transcript that Martin Harris lost in 1828. Most Primary children know the story of how the Lord said “no” three times, but then relented and someone subsequently stole the pages from Martin. God told Joseph not to retranslate that portion of the golden plates so the stories and teachings scribed onto those pages remain lost forever . . . or are they?
Martin Harris initially thought that his wife, Lucy, had taken the manuscript, but unlike a popular rumor, he didn’t think she burned or destroyed it. Then on her deathbed in 1836, she absolutely denied having anything to do with the manuscript theft. She was a devout Quaker— who are supposed to be absolutely honest. It appears Lucy Harris’s deathbed testimony convinced Martin that she had nothing to do with the robbery.
When asked, “Do you think the lost pages might be rediscovered? Don replied: “I sure hope so.” But then he cautioned: “I would think that after 189 years, if it were still out there, it would have surfaced.” Don speculates: “It would be the biggest find ever in Mormon history and one of the biggest finds ever in religious history if that turned up, so I definitely hold out hope that it’s out there.”
One person who believed that it would surface was the Prophet’s father, Joseph Smith Sr. He gave an interview in 1830 in which he said to the interviewer that that manuscript would someday come forth. Don isn’t sure if that was just his opinion or if he was quoting his son Joseph Jr.
Don believes that the number 116 might be far less than the actual total of pages that disappeared. Scholars have known for some time that 116 is the number of pages of the printer’s manuscript that covers the period of the small plates, which is the same span of time as the lost pages. Joseph may have simply borrowed that number rather than having actually counted the pages before releasing them to Martin.
The lost manuscript chronologically covered a full half of Mormon’s total abridgment that started 600 years from Lehi to Christ and ended in 320 AD. The remaining pages starting with Mosiah represent the second half of Mormon’s abridgment and are much greater than 116. Don asks: “Why would the first half be so short?”
Over the past decades, Don sought to discover the missing meanings and narratives of the 116 pages through research. But how does one go about discovering lost words, lost pages, and lost content? He explains there are a couple of ways. There are “internal evidences” like how the “small plates” of 1 Nephi through Omni or Words of Mormon cover the same period as the lost pages. Even though these small plates are rather light on history, they give us at least a thumbnail sketch of what was in the lost 116 pages.
Another internal evidence is comprised of echoes or flashbacks where later Book of Mormon accounts refer back to an earlier narrative that we don’t have. One example of this would be in Mosiah 11 that mentions King Noah building a tower on this hill that was north of the land Shilom, “which had been a resort for the children of Nephi at the time they fled out of the land.” The current Book of Mormon does not mention any details about this “resort” or the time they “fled out of the land,” but it assumes that we already know about this story, indicating that it had been in the part of the Book of Mormon that is now lost.
Don also speaks of “external evidences” like statements or other sources outside of the available text of the Book of Mormon, like Joseph Smith’s earliest revelations. The most obvious of those is in section 10 of the Doctrine and Covenants where it actually says to Joseph Smith, in essence, “You’ll remember that it was said in what you translated before, that the plates of Nephi had a more extensive account of t...
Episode 73: Symbolism and the Flood in the Old Testament – Paul Hoskisson
Jan 17, 2018
The authors of the Old Testament told very few "stories" for a story's sake. Scriptural accounts were meant to illustrate a point usually having to do with Israel's relationship to God. Authors carefully chose how they presented their messages, often fashioning the way they presented history in order to emphasize continuing themes. Those looking at the Bible as a strictly scientific, literally precise, and historically exact record often become frustrated when they come to stories that don't fit in well with what is known from secular studies.
One of the accounts that falls into this category is that of Noah and the Flood. Many theories abound as to interpretation, but few hold water when evaluated scientifically, literally, or historically. Instead of concentrating on the discrepancies between secular theories and traditional interpretations, warns retired BYU Professor Paul Hoskisson, readers would get further by concentrating on looking for what is being taught. The literal meaning and the metaphorical meaning are not "either/or" propositions and both are important. However, if one gets hung up on the literal meaning, one can rarely get to the ultimate meaning.
Joseph Smith never commented on interpretations of the Flood in the Bible, but an editorial in a church magazine while W. W. Phelps was editor reflected the common Protestant view of the time. The Flood was seen as a baptism of the earth. But Protestants, it should be noted, see baptism differently than Mormons view baptism. In the LDS Church, baptism is seen as a necessary ordinance for exaltation and includes immersion whereas a Protestant is more likely to view it as a general cleansing carried out in various manners.
By the turn of the century, Elder Orson F. Whitney began writing and speaking about the Flood as a baptism in the sense of a necessary ordinance the earth needed despite its lack of ability to make decisions. This thought has persisted and been debated in LDS circles since that time.
Join Laura Harris Hales of the LDS Perspectives Podcast as she discusses with Paul Hoskisson some of the possible meanings of the Flood story and what it meant for the earth to be cleansed from its environment.
Extra Resources:
Episode Transcript 73
Was Noah's Flood the Baptism of the Earth? in Let Us Reason Together
Episode 72: The Missouri War and Liberty Jail Letters – David W. Grua
Jan 03, 2018
LDS Perspectives is pleased to announce a new podcast interview with David W. Grua, a historian and documentary editor with the Joseph Smith Papers. David holds a Ph.D. in American History from Texas Christian University and an M.A. and B.A. from Brigham Young University. He is the author of Surviving Wounded Knee: The Lakotas and the Politics of Memory (Oxford, 2016), which was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title and was awarded the Robert M. Utley Prize from the Western History Association.
David worked five years as a research assistant for the Joseph Smith Papers while a student at BYU and has spent the last four and a half years as a volume editor. In David’s work for the project, he specializes in the Mormon experience in Missouri, Mormon-Indian relations, and Joseph Smith’s legal papers.
In this episode, LDS Perspectives podcaster Taunalyn Rutherford interviews David about the latest volume in the Joseph Smith Papers—Documents, Volume 6—which covers February 1838–August 1839.
This was a tumultuous period in the life of Joseph Smith and the history of the church, marked by internal dissent, the abandonment of Kirtland, Ohio, as church headquarters, the outbreak of violence with anti-Mormons in Missouri, the emergence of the Danite Society, the Missouri-Mormon War, Governor Lilburn W. Boggs’s infamous “extermination order,” Joseph Smith’s imprisonment in Liberty, Missouri, and the exodus and relocation of the Saints to Illinois.
This was also a time characterized by spiritual outpourings and revelation, with the Prophet dictating D&C 115–120, writing the letters that included D&C 121–123, and delivering several doctrinally-rich discourses to the Twelve Apostles as they prepared for their mission to England. Taunalyn and David review this history in detail and the documents published in the volume.
David also discusses his “Joseph Smith’s Missouri Prison Letters and the Mormon Textual Community,” an essay that will be published in Foundational Texts of Mormonism: Examining Major Early Sources in February 2018 from Oxford University Press. The book is edited by Joseph Smith Papers scholars Mark Ashurst-McGee, Robin Scott Jensen, and Sharalyn D. Howcroft. David’s chapter grew out of research conducted while editing the extant letters composed by Joseph Smith to church members while he was in Missouri state custody for Documents, Volume 6. The essay provides a fine-grained analysis of the prophet’s approach to writing the letters.
While in state custody, Joseph wrote five handwritten missives for his wife, Emma Smith. Relying on scribes, Joseph also composed three general epistles addressed to the church as a whole. David places Joseph’s letters in conversation with other famous “prison letters” written by the Apostle Paul, Protestant and Catholic prisoners during the Reformation, and Martin Luther King during the Civil Rights Movement. David concludes that while Joseph Smith’s focus on the meaning of suffering was similar to the other letter writers, the prophet differed from the others by connecting suffering with divine revelation.
Join us for this fascinating podcast.
Extra Resources:
Joseph Smith Papers: the Website
Joseph Smith Papers: Documents, Volume 6
Episode 71: Genesis 1 – Benjamin Spackman
Dec 20, 2017
Benjamin T. Spackman graduated from BYU in Near Eastern studies. He then received an MA and did further PhD work in Near Eastern languages and civilizations (Comparative Semitics) at the University of Chicago, during which time he was a Hugh Nibley Fellow. He has taught part-time at BYU and served as a volunteer Institute teacher for over ten years.
Currently, he is authoring a book on how we read Genesis 1 and the parallel LDS accounts, tentatively titled Reading Scripture, Reading Creation: The Ancient Context of Genesis 1. He blogs at Times & Seasons, and writes Gospel Doctrine background posts at Benjamin the Scribe.
In this episode, he discusses what many scholars believe the priestly scribes were writing about in the book of Genesis.
Episode 71 Transcript
Book Review: the Lost World of Genesis One
Getting a Handle on the Early Chapters of Genesis
Everything Is a Remix: Genesis Edition, Intro
Benjamin the Scribe
Episode 70: The Documentary Hypothesis – Cory Crawford
Dec 13, 2017
Dr. Cory Crawford teaches Classics and World Religions at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. In 2009, he received a PhD from Harvard University in Near Eastern languages and civilizations. He specialized in Hebrew Bible, ancient Near Eastern iconography and archaeology, and religion, material culture, and rituals.
Among his many publications is a chapter in the book Standing Apart: Mormon Historical Consciousness and the Concept of Apostasy entitled “Competing Histories in the Hebrew Bible and in the Latter-day Saint Tradition.”
Dr. Crawford introduces us to the questions that led nineteenth-century theologians to develop the documentary hypothesis and introduces the major components of the school of thought.
Extra Resources:
Episode 70 Transcript
The Composition of the Pentateuch: Renewing the Documentary Hypothesis
Episode 69: Introduction to Higher Biblical Criticism – Philip Barlow
Dec 06, 2017
Philip L. Barlow is the Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University. He earned a PhD in 1988, with an emphasis on Religion and American Culture and on the History of Christianity from Harvard University. At Utah State he has taught courses in Religious Studies, Mormonism, and American religion.
His books include The Oxford Handbook to Mormonism (co-edited with Terryl Givens) and Mormons and the Bible: The Place of Latter-day Saints in American Religion. He is also the author of “Adam and Eve in the Twenty-First Century: Navigating Conflicting Commandments in DLS Faith and Biblical Scholarship,” which appeared in the most recent issue of Studies in the Bible and Antiquity.
On this episode, he discusses with Russell Stevenson factors in the nineteenth century that changed how scholars interpreted the Bible, including the introduction of historical criticism.
Extra Resources:
Episode 69 Transcript
Mormons and the Bible: the Place of Latter-Day Saints in American Religion
Episode 68: #LightTheWorld 2017 – David Archuleta
Dec 01, 2017
Nick Galieti sits down with David Archuleta and discusses what members can do for the #LightTheWorld 2017 Campaign through acts of service. David also shares experiences he has had in his career and as a missionary.
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(Bio courtesy of official website.) David Archuleta became a star when he was just 16. In 2008 more than 30 million television viewers fell in love with his angelic voice and their 44 million votes made him runner-up in Season 7 of “American Idol.”
Soon after, the young Utahan signed with Jive Records and his first single “Crush,” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of its release. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the track sold 166,000 downloads that first week in the U.S. and subsequently more than 1.92 million digital copies. Three months later, David’s self-titled album, “David Archuleta,” went gold, selling more than 750,000 copies in the U.S., and more than 900,000 worldwide. “It was so neat to see how positive fans were about ‘Crush,’” David said of the enthusiastic reception for his chart debut.
In 2012, David, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, put his singing career on hiatus so he could volunteer for a two-year stint as a full-time missionary in Santiago, Chile, at the La Misión Chile Rancagua. He’s described his experience of the mission as “a dream come true.” His decision to serve was influenced by his mother, who told him it was singer Donny Osmond who had helped get her interested in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I never thought I would have the guts to talk to so many different people,” Archuleta says of his time in Chile, adding that, since he’s completed his mission there, he’s never been more confident of either his singing or speaking skills — in English or in Spanish. Pursuing a greater sense of purpose as he did on his mission, is nothing new to Archuleta who battled a bout of vocal cord paralysis when he was 13, while competing on CBS’s “Star Search.”
He chronicled the debilitating experience in his New York Times bestselling 2010 memoir, “Chords of Strength: A Memoir of Soul, Song, and the Power of Perseverance,” and the determination to overcome obstacles, such as the worrying illness, resonates in the overall message of the songs he wrote for his second album, “The Other Side of Down.” “Instead of acting like everything in life is so hard and confusing, look at it this way: The only way you can go from here is up,” he says. “It’s our decisions and how we handle things that matter, even when they get rough. If we keep holding on, looking at things positively and working hard, we can improve our lives, help ourselves, and even help the greater good.”
David returned from Chile in March 2014 eager to perform and record once again. Since his return he’s traveled to the Middle East to perform for U.S. troops, recorded the song “Glorious” for the recently released “Meet The Mormons” movie, and been busy writing songs for a release planned for 2016.
Episode 67: #LightTheWorld – Jenny Oaks Baker
Dec 01, 2017
Tune in as Taunalyn Rutherford interviews Jenny Oaks Baker about being a mom, concert violinist, and performing with her children.
America’s Violinist, Jenny Oaks Baker is a Grammy Nominated, Billboard No. 1 performer and recording artist. She received her Master of Music degree from the renowned Juilliard School in New York City and her bachelor’s degree in violin performance from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
She has performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Strathmore Hall, the Library of Congress, and as a guest soloist with The National Symphony, Jerusalem Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Utah Symphony, and the internationally acclaimed Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Over the years Jenny has collaborated with such luminaries as Gladys Knight, Kurt Bestor, Marvin Hamlisch, and the former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Jenny has released fifteen studio albums since 1998. They have sold over half a million copies and consistently chart on Billboard. Jenny’s emotionally stirring music has also been featured on the soundtracks of many films, and her popular music videos can be viewed on her Youtube Channel. Jenny, her husband Matthew, and their four children reside in SLC, Utah. (Bio courtesy of official website.)
Episode 66: After the Mountain Meadows Massacre – Richard E. Turley
Nov 29, 2017
Richard E. Turley is the managing director of the Church Public Affairs Department. He was previously an assistant church historian, recorder, and the managing director of the Church History Department.
He has written extensively on the Mountain Meadows Massacre including Massacre at Mountain Meadows with Glen Leonard and Ronald Walker and the recently released Mountain Meadows Massacre: Collected Legal Papers with co-editors Janiece Johnson and LaJean Carruth.
In this episode, he discusses with Laura Harris Hales the aftermath of the terrible massacre at Mountain Meadows.
Extra Resources:
Episode 66 Transcript
Mountain Meadows Massacre (Website)
Peace and Violence among 19th Century Latter-Day Saints
The Mountain Meadows Massacre
Massacre at Mountain Meadows
Mountain Meadows Massacre: Collected Legal Papers
BYU Studies 47:3; Special Issue on the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Episode 65: The Early Mormon Search for Religious Liberty – Paul Reeve
Nov 22, 2017
W. Paul Reeve is a professor of history and the director of graduate studies in history at the University of Utah where he teaches courses on Utah history, Mormon history, and history of the US West. Recently he was named the director of the newly organized Mormon Studies program. He is an award-winning teacher and author of Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness among other notable books.
Paul contributed a chapter to the recently released anthology The Council of Fifty: What the Records Reveal about Mormon History, which is a collection of scholarly reactions to the release of the records by the Joseph Smith Papers.
In this interview, Laura Harris Hales interviews Paul Reeve about the early Mormon struggle for religious freedom in Nauvoo, territorial Utah, and the efforts by modern-day Mormons to prevent history from repeating itself in regards to religious discrimination in the United States.
Extra Resources:
The Council of Fifty: What the Records Reveal about Mormon History
Transcript for Episode 65
Episode 64: Religious and Financial Panic in Kirtland – Elizabeth Kuehn
Nov 15, 2017
On this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast, Russell Stevenson interviews Elizabeth Kuehn, a Joseph Smith Papers historian and documentary editor, about one of the lasting blemishes on the Mormon Kirtland experience – the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society Bank.
Most agree that the Panic of 1837 was the proximate cause of the failure of the bank, but many have long speculated about Joseph Smith’s culpability in the episode and how the practical fallout from the collapse led to the falling away of some of Joseph’s closest associates.
When we talk about bank panics, it is natural to visualize It’s a Wonderful Life. George Bailey has a savings and loan company and all these people run into the bank, and they want to withdraw their money. He says, “Well, you know, your money’s in this person’s home, and your money’s in that person’s home.” But this is not at all like it was within Kirtland.
The Kirtland Safety Society was not a deposit bank, so it doesn’t have that It’s a Wonderful Life connection. It’s funded by shareholders who are slowly paying for their stock, and that’s the funding for the bank. The bank exists because John Johnson and Oliver Cowdery and Emma Smith had all paid a portion for their stock.
The establishment and failure of the Kirtland Safety Society is a rather complicated issue – one that deals with specie, 1830s finance laws, bank vetoes, and practices foreign to modern financial practices. Kuehn deftly walks Stevenson and listeners through the ins and outs of how the bank is established, its short life and demise, and the fallout.
Sometimes the Kirtland Safety Society is presented as this weird or reckless endeavor when actually, it was born out of ambition, and it made a lot of sense for the Kirtland community to try and jump start the economy. Even their detractors noted that it made sense. Joseph tried it, and it failed. He was disappointed by this, but it didn’t consume him. He was able to move on. Many others were able to move on.
Kuehn shares a spectrum of examples of how members reacted to the failure. There is Parley P. Pratt who came out strong and angry, then became one of the most repentant. Next you have the quiet acceptance of Wilford Woodruff and the staunch acceptance of Brigham Young, who realizes some of Joseph Smith’s shortcomings but is able to move forward.
You also get some poignant descriptions in the letters of Vilate Kimball, where she recognized what the dissenters are feeling and experiencing. They feel betrayed; they feel this sense of being unheard; they’re not being part of the decision making process that they want to be part of. She says, “You know what? I feel a lot of sympathy and pity for them, but the Lord requires His people to be chastened.” That’s kind of where she ends it, with this expectation of, “You have to get in line with the Prophet if you’re going to continue with the Saints.”
Later in Utah Joseph Young called this a stumbling block for the Saints — a moment where they have to decide whether or not Joseph is a prophet and whether or not they will follow him. For Kuehn, that’s the larger take away. This question of “What are the expectations of a prophet?” and looking closely at this period of dissent, this period of faith crisis, and these questions of “Where do you draw your lines? How do you voice your disagreement?”
Tune in to hear Elizabeth Kuehn discuss religious and financial crisis during the Kirtland years. To read more from the Joseph Smith Papers on the topic, check out Documents, Volume 5: October 1835-January 1838.
Extra Resources:
Episode 64 Transcript
Documents, Volume 5: October 1835-January 1838
Episode 63: Becoming Like God – Terryl Givens
Nov 08, 2017
A New York native, Terryl Givens did his graduate work in intellectual history (Cornell) and comparative literature (UNC Chapel Hill). He teaches courses in nineteenth-century studies and religious themes in literature at the University of Richmond, where he is Professor of Literature and Religion and the Jabez A. Bostwick Professor of English, and he has been a Research Fellow at both Brigham Young University and the University of Oxford. An award-winning author, Givens’s work has been called “provocative reading” by The New York Times and includes By the Hand of Mormon, When Souls had Wings, People of Paradox, and a two-volume history of Mormon thought: Wresting the Angel and Feeding the Flock (Oxford University Press). With his wife Fiona, he has written The God Who Weeps, The Crucible of Doubt, and most recently, The Christ Who Heals (Deseret Book). Professor Givens has also been a commentator on CNN, NPR, and in the PBS/Frontline documentary, The Mormons. With Fiona, he makes his home in the village of Montpelier, Virginia.
Terryl Givens discusses the somewhat controversial "Becoming Like God" Gospel Topic essay, and how some Mormons are confused about what becoming like God actually means.
Extra Resources:
Episode 63 Transcript
The Christ Who Heals
"Becoming Like God"
Episode 62: The Christ Who Heals – Fiona Givens
Nov 01, 2017
Fiona Givens is a retired modern language teacher with undergraduate degrees in French and German and a graduate degree in European history. She is now an independent scholar who has published in several journals and reviews in Mormon studies. Along with her husband, Terryl, she is the author of The God Who Weeps: How Mormonism Makes Sense of Life and The Crucible of Doubt.
In this extended episode, Fiona Givens discusses one of the most important concepts restored by Joseph Smith -- a Christ who heals our woundedness.
Extra Resources:
Episode 62 Transcript
The Christ Who Heals
Episode 61: Mark’s Human Portrait of Jesus – Julie M. Smith
Oct 25, 2017
The Gospel of Mark isn’t necessarily a natural choice as a favorite gospel narrative, but for Julie Smith “as a believing LDS scholar, it is Mark whose shine most attracts [her] gaze, partially because its light is often ignored.” In this interview with Laura Harris Hales for LDS Perspectives Podcast, Smith points out some of Mark’s hidden gems that may be overlooked by the casual reader.
Smith maintains that the main message of Mark is the importance of discipleship. An analogy she likes to use is that to her, Mark is the stake president in California who lets a homeless family sleep in the cultural hall because he’s not much of a rule-follower kind of a guy; whereas Matthew and Luke work for CES in Salt Lake and wear a suit and would never dream of breaking a rule. That might be a little bit of a generalization, but in Mark, Jesus is very, very earthy. It’s a very human portrait of Jesus. It’s also a very divine portrait, but the human elements in some ways really stand out — particularly in contrast with the other Gospels in the New Testament. So even though a lot of the material in Mark and Matthew are similar (in some cases, verbatim), Mark often handles the material in a very different way so we get a different impression of Jesus.
Oddly, Jesus doesn’t actually say much in Mark. He is very active, but we don’t have the long sermons. There’s no Sermon on the Mount in Mark. With the exception of Mark 13 and then, to an extent, the parables in Mark 4, Jesus is mostly active. He does things; he demonstrates his authority by, for example, performing miracles — but he’s not a big talker. It’s maybe a different impression of Jesus than we would get from Matthew, which focuses more on discourses, or John with a farewell discourse. It’s a different picture of Jesus, and one that Smith thinks is important to balance the other pictures we have and are usually more familiar with.
Also, it’s a big deal in Mark that Jesus has chosen disciples. We do not see the lack of understanding of the disciples as sort of a surprise or an “Oh dear, I don’t know what’s going to happen.” No — Jesus deliberately chose people who would have a hard time understanding, and that is designed to give Mark’s audience courage and faith; they need not be perfect in their discipleship.
The big deal in Mark is not doubt, lack of understanding, greed, envy, nor any of those things. The big deal in Mark is a willingness to follow Jesus; are you willing to follow? As long as the disciples are willing to follow, Jesus comes across as more than happy to continue to teach them and to continue having them be disciples.
Smith thinks this would have been an incredibly reassuring message for Mark’s audience; an audience who is facing all sorts of challenges in the 1st century — the natural challenges of living in an ancient world with plague, disease, earthquakes, and extreme poverty like we can’t even imagine, as well as the challenge sometimes of persecution for being a Christian, whether that’s stemming from government, other religious groups, or conflicts within their biological families or community.
The message it gives to Mark’s audience, which is, to put it simply, “As long as you are willing to continue trying to follow Jesus, it’s okay if you mess up — even if you really, really mess up the way Peter does with denying and betraying Jesus.”
Smith feels like the audience is energized to preach the word at the end of the Gospel of Mark, which ends abruptly. The women are left at the tomb after the visit of a young man. There’s no appearance by Jesus. It feels like when you’re the last person on the row in the last row in Relief Society, and the clipboard comes to you. If you don’t sign up, no one’s signing up. That’s how Mark’s gospel ends. If you don’t take on the job of sharing the good news, it may not get done — in a literary sense, not a literal sense, which is exactly the right ending for Mark.
Extra Resources:
Episode 62 Transcript
Search,
Episode 60: Keeping the Records – Keith Erekson
Oct 18, 2017
Keith Erekson, current director of the LDS Church History Library, has worked really wherever history could be found or needed. When faced with new opportunities, he’s thought, “let’s go there, and let’s see what we can do.”
In this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast Russell Stevenson sits down with Erekson and discusses preserving the artifacts of, reconstructing, and interpreting history.
“We always like to say,” declares Erekson, “‘Well, history’s 20/20. It’s hindsight.’ No, it’s not. We’re just here in 2017, and we’re doing our best.”
He urges a different view. If we break that mindset that we know it all and just say, “I’m looking for the best I can find, and tomorrow I’ll find a little more — and next year I’ll find a little more,” then we don’t get discouraged when something changes because that’s the way it works: it’s always changing. We’re always learning.
His experience working outside of the LDS tradition has shown him that Mormon are not so different than other social groups. We have challenges with our history — the same challenges that exist with every other history.
There are sources missing from Joseph Smith’s experience that we wish were around. Well, there are sources missing from Lincoln’s experience and from Washington’s experience — that’s just how history works. The past is gone. It’s not some great conspiracy that Joseph Smith’s sources are gone — that’s just what happens. The past is past.
In the present, no matter what we’re talking about — whether the 19th century or the Middle Ages — we’re trying to reconstruct it and put it back together, and figure out what it means.
Sometimes people see the Church Archives as sort of a mystical place full of mysteries, but they'd be disappointed; inside the archives, it is quite boring with its concrete walls, metal shelves, and acid-free boxes.
The mission of the church archivists is to collect everything by and about the church, but particularly things by the church. That means they want every copy of the Book of Mormon in every language and in every edition. They want every handbook and every manual. So in some ways, the inside of the archive looks like the library in a local church building, except it’s a little more organized and the scriptures aren’t all destroyed because some deacons played with them.
One takeaway from the ordinariness of the archives is that Mormon history is not as exciting as we think it is. We do have fantastic stories in our history, but more often than not they tend to be exaggerations of events. These types of inflations happen as the generation involved in an event — and this happened in World War I and World War II — starts to pass away, there becomes an awareness: “Oh, we’re losing something; we ought to catch it.” But a lot of times, they’ve already lost it.
Erekson urges listeners to be critical consumers and become aware of how history works and then to be on the lookout for signs of good scholarship. One of the most basic ones is source citations. They’re not there just for fun. They’re there to say the author spent 10,000 hours to write a sentence.
As consumers we needn’t rush to conclusions. The past is over; we’ve got time to think about it.
Photo found at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/26/arts/design/auschwitz-exhibit-tour-holocaust.html.
Extra Resources:
Episode 60 Transcript
Understanding Church History by Study and by Faith
The Complexities of History in the Ensign
Episode 59: Women in the Old Testament – Heather Farrell
Oct 16, 2017
In this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast, Stephanie Sorensen interviews Heather Farrell about lesser-known women in the Old Testament.
Heather began writing about women in the scriptures shortly after the birth of her first child on her popular blog Women in the Scriptures. She is a self-taught biblical scholar and the author of two books about women in the scriptures including Walking with Women in the Old Testament, which is currently available for preorder.
Walking with Women in the Old Testament
Episode 58: The Martin Luther that Mormons Don’t Know – Craig Harline
Oct 11, 2017
Some Mormons regard Martin Luther as a kind of hero. Maybe for various reasons that could be true, but many of the things that Luther was against, Mormons would be for. In fact, Mormons have a lot more in common with Catholics than they do with Protestants. Though he has been credited for laying groundwork for the Restoration, Martin Luther actually shared few religious views in common with those of the Mormon faith, at least in regard to the subjects he cared about most.
Russell Stevenson of LDS Perspectives Podcast interviewed Luther biographer Craig Harline about Luther’s motivations for questioning the Catholic Church. Popular legend has it that on October 31, 1517, he defiantly nailed a copy of his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle church. As if being finally fed up, Luther acted in public defiance by finally writing down his frustrations. As it turns out, Harline clarifies, the nailing of these was a routine act for professors such as Luther, and Luther was interested in debate and discussion more than open defiance.
What Luther most cared about was grace. Every theologian pretty much agreed that man was saved by grace, but then there was always a qualifier: grace through what? It wasn’t just a question of whether salvation came through works or grace; it was a question of how grace went together with works. The current orthodoxy taught basically to do the best you could, and Jesus would do the rest. But that just didn’t satisfy Luther, because a really sensitive soul like his could always find something else wrong inside himself. He questioned, “How do I know that I’m doing all that I can? The question tormented him.
Harline says that Luther suffered from what the monks called overscrupulousness or “the bath of hell.” The clergy understood this was an occupational hazard; if your job is to look inside yourself most of the day for sins, you were going to find them. You could be so worried because you could always find something else you could do better.
Through his struggles, Luther came to believe that the answer to the question of how he was saved was simple — it was through faith alone. And by faith, he simply meant just assenting to letting God save you. According to Harline, Luther was of the attitude that men should: “Just give it up and realize that they are saved by Jesus. Do everything you want; you’ll still be saved by Jesus, and if you accept that, you’ll be a lot happier.”
Later Luther became increasingly uncomfortable with other tenets of Catholicism, especially the authority of the pope, which was what really got him in trouble — much more than his views on grace. As his position became more perilous, he became more excessive and desperate in what he said. By 1520, he was saying all kinds of angry things against the Pope — that’s what made him really popular in Germany especially, but in other parts of Europe as well. Harline finds it amazing that Luther survived considering how precarious his situation. Others had been executed for less.
As an educator, Harline tries to teach Luther on Luther's own terms instead of trying to fit him into a Mormon paradigm. Years of teaching the Reformation to college students have shown him that most Mormons don’t know much about this period and what they do know is distorted. His students really like to learn what it was like, so he tries to teach it as accurately as possible. “We want others to study us as we would recognize ourselves,” says Harline, “so why wouldn’t we study others in a way that they would recognize themselves as well?”
On this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast, tune in to hear more about a sensitive soul’s desire to help himself and others find peace even if it meant questioning everything he had ever been taught.
Craig Harline is the author of A World Ablaze: The Rise of Martin Luther and the Birth of the Reformation, written in celebration of 500 years since Martin Luther famously nailed 95 theses to the church door in W...
Episode 57: The Evolution of Temple Doctrine – Jennifer Ann Mackley
Oct 09, 2017
Jennifer Ann Mackley is a realist. “I have children, and they don’t ask me questions,” she admits, “They go to Google.” And when they read things out of context on the internet, they can seem really weird.
Take the story of Wilford Woodruff’s experience in the St. George temple. That was a moment in church history that a lot of people are familiar with, but out of context, it’s an odd story. People write about it all the time, because the founding fathers are Mormon now. That’s how they look at it, which is not what we believe. We believe that everybody needs the opportunity to choose, and Wilford Woodruff had come to the point where he said, “I have been so focused on my own family that I didn’t even think about expanding this.” It was a revelation because he learned that it’s okay for us to help each other, and we don’t just have to focus on our own biological connections.
Putting these things into context, to Mackley, is vital to understanding church history and the truly remarkable revelations that occurred. If we don’t teach that — if we don’t talk to our kids about that; if we don’t put these things into context — then these revelations are odd and strange; they are parts of history that don’t make sense.
Mackley was surprised when she was doing research out of her own curiosity that there wasn’t a book out there that put the development of temple doctrine all in one place, so that members could see the continuity. As she got further into her studies, she realized that Wilford Woodruff’s life followed the incremental revelations in the development of temple doctrine. She compiled her research into Wilford Woodruff’s Witness: The Development of Temple Doctrine published in 2014.
“When we talk about ‘line upon line and precept upon precept,’ it wasn’t this grand staircase where one step led to the next, and you could see the top of it and this goal that you were trying to watch,” Mackley explains. “It was like a puzzle: they were given pieces. Now we have the box with the picture on it; we know what we’re putting together. They had no idea.”
Members learning of practices such as rebaptism or priesthood adoption that are no longer practiced may be confused and wonder how they fit into enduring ordinances. Mackley doesn’t see these practices as necessarily trial and error, but rather as evidence of increased learning.
Mackley strongly believes that members not only need to prepare spiritually to attend the temple but also intellectually by doing some research.
In this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast, tune in as Sarah Hatch discusses with Jennifer Ann Mackley the life of Wilford Woodruff and the evolution of temple doctrine.
Extra Resources:
Episode 57 Transcript
Wilford Woodruff's Witness: the Development of Temple Doctrine
(Spanish Edition) Wilford Woodruff's Witness: the Development of Temple Doctrine
Episode 56: The World of Digital Natives
Oct 04, 2017
This week we are excited to bring you a special three-part episode. We call it our social media tool box. Podcasters Stephanie Sorenson and Nick Galieti sat down with Michelle Linford, DeNae Handy, and Greg Trimble, each experts in social media, to discuss how to maximize our interactions in the age of instant communication.
Michelle Linford
Michelle Linford is the Executive Director of EPIK Deliberate Digital, a collaborative nonprofit focused on changing conversations and culture around issues related to kids and technology. The vision of this international-reaching collaboration is to encourage a mindset where adults and children/youth work together to deliberately use technology for good.
Like many parents in the digital age, Michelle has felt the heavy responsibility of helping her children stay safe and healthy in a digital world. She has volunteered for years in the pornography prevention space, so she is keenly aware of the very real dangers and concerns parents have. But she is grateful that her work at EPIK has also helped her understand that, just as prophets have said for decades, technology is a gift from God. It's how and why we use it that matters.
Michelle shares what she is learning as she collaborates with people who are trying to create a #UseTech4Good culture.
DeNae Handy is currently an instructor of social media marketing and personal branding at LDS Business College. She also has a background in music performance and music
DeNae Handy
education. She is a public speaker about writing, publishing, social media and blogging, the creative process, and also loves to teach about the gospel — especially the Old Testament. A prolific blogger and essayist, DeNae has been a columnist for Meridian Magazine and published essays in book compilations.
Ms. Handy speaks to how our online presence reflects on our personal brand. Online forums are not insular; what we say and how we interact in one venue will bleed through to how we are seen through different digital eyes. Professor Handy gives practical suggestions for implementing good branding practices in every digital communication in order to maintain a consistent online presence.
Greg Trimble
Greg Trimble is an entrepreneur, member missionary, father, blogger, and digital marketer. He founded an internet marketing agency in Southern California. He is also a featured contributor to LDS Living, Deseret News, FamilyShare, and other online publications. He's been interviewed about his blog's success by Fox 13 News in Salt Lake City, KSL, and BYU. Greg has spoken at various firesides and conferences in Southern California, Utah, Australia, and Massachusetts. He and his family live in Riverside, California.
He shares his experience jumping head-first into the deep-end of the blogosphere. March 10, 2014, he sat down, built a blog, and put out his first post. Since that time, he has had over 7 million page views.
Greg shares practical tools for those wanting to maximize their impact as a digital missionary and the reach of their personal blogs.
Whether you are a listener concerned about raising a digital native or one wishing to maximize your online presence, this episode is sure to provide you with some practical tools.
Feature Image from: "Digital Natives and How They Will Change the World" by Clara Kim, February 10, 2014, http://www.sccl.org/About/Staff-Posts/February-2014/Digital-Natives-How-They-ll-Change-the-World
The Challenges of Raising a Digital Native
The Virtual Missionary: the Power of Your Digital Testimony
Episode 55: Joseph Smith’s Use of Bible Commentaries in His Translations – Thomas A. Wayment
Sep 27, 2017
In this episode, Laura Harris Hales visits with Thomas Wayment, LDS Perspectives Podcast’s guest on episode one, in part two of our special first anniversary double episode on the Joseph Smith Translation to discuss some impressive findings regarding Joseph Smith's Bible translation process.
Dr. Wayment is currently a professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, as well as publications director of the BYU Religious Studies Center. He earned his BA in Classics from the University of California at Riverside then completed a PhD in New Testament studies at Claremont Graduate University.
Known primarily as a New Testament scholar, Dr. Wayment has also written extensively on the Joseph Smith Translation. He became fascinated with the document early in his biblical studies and that interest has never really fizzled. In the next year, he will have two book chapters published on new findings regarding Joseph's Bible translation process.
In his recent studies, Wayment found an interesting connection between the JST and a biblical commentary well-known in the 19th-century, especially in Methodist circles.
Adam Clarke, a British theologian, took almost 40 years to complete his comprehensive tome, published as The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The text carefully printed from the most correct copies of the present Authorized Version. Including the marginal readings and parallel texts. With a Commentary and Critical Notes. Clarke's commentary became a primary theological resource for nearly two centuries.
New research by Michael Hubbard Mackay has uncovered a statement indicating that Joseph Smith had access to a copy of Clarke’s Bible commentary. When Wayment compared Joseph’s translation of the KJV Bible to Clarke’s commentary, he realized that Smith used it in the translation process because of the marked similarities he found between entries in the commentary and changes in Joseph’s KJV Bible.
Listen in as Dr. Wayment shares what he believes this indicates about how the Prophet viewed the translation process and what it could mean for how we approach the KJV Bible and the JST.
Extra Resources:
Episode 55 Transcript
The Nature of Pen and Pencil Markings in the New Testament of Joseph Smith's New Translation of the Bible
The Complete Joseph Smith Translation of the New Testament: a Side-By-Side Comparison with the King James Version
The Complete Joseph Smith Translation of the Old Testament: a Side-By-Side Comparison with the King James Version
Episode 54: The JST in the D&C – Kenneth Alford
Sep 20, 2017
LDS Perspectives, reviews the historical background of the Joseph Smith Translation (JST) and its presence in the Doctrine and Covenants with Dr. Kenneth (Ken) Alford. This episode is part one in a special first anniversary double episode on the Joseph Smith Translation.
In his days as an undergraduate at BYU, Ken Alford studied the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible in depth. After an action-packed career in the United States Army, including assignments as Strategic Leadership department chair at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., associate professor of computer science at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and serving on the Army Secretariat staff at the Pentagon, his academic pursuits have come full circle.
He currently combines rigorous research with a busy teaching schedule in the department of church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University.
The Prophet's translation of the Bible had a great influence on the earliest years of Latter-day Saint Church history. The Inspired Version had a significant influence on numerous revelations included today in the Doctrine and Covenants. The interconnections Dr. Alford discusses are fascinating and may change how you view the Joseph Smith Translation.
Be sure to tune in next week to hear Laura Harris Hales interview Dr. Thomas Wayment about new research that sheds light on how Joseph went about translating the Bible.
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Episode 53: Young Priests, Ancient Priests – Daniel Smith
Sep 13, 2017
As part of the Young Scholars Series, Laura Harris Hales interviews Bible enthusiast Daniel Smith, creator of the YouTube channel “Messages of Christ.” Smith’s channel is equal parts fascinating and popular, evidenced by its view count of over 1 million.
On perusing Smith’s channel, it’s apparent that he has a particular interest that at first glance may seem a bit unusual: ancient tabernacles and its artifacts. That interest has led Smith to study and actually build them in addition to creating unique and authentic tabernacle clothing.
During his interview, Smith recounts how and why he creates tabernacle clothing, (get this: it involves a hand-built Lego machine) what exactly happened in the tabernacle in biblical times, and why it’s important for members of the church to understand it today.
Sometimes, as Smith explains, the best way to understand something is to experience it.
Tabernacle camps are popping up — typically in Youth Conferences — in stakes all over the United States. There’s even one coming to BYU in the coming months, which will be used to teach students about its ancient biblical context.
Find out what happens there and why, as well as how it relates to our current temple experience, in this episode of LDS Perspectives Podcast: “Learning from the Ancient Tabernacles.”
Extra Resources:
Episode 53 Transcript
Lego Yarn Twister
Messages of Christ YouTube Channel
Redeemer of Israel
The Jewish Priestly Garments
Tabernacle Camp Youth Experience
Solomon's Temple
Episode 52: The (Im)patient Job – Michael Austin
Sep 06, 2017
Award-winning author Michael Austin, a self-proclaimed writer of an “incoherent assortment of different topics,” is anything but incoherent in his expansion on the true message found in the Old Testament’s Book of Job.
The story of Job is one that will be familiar to most listeners — Job is righteous, but God tests his faith by essentially wreaking havoc on his life. Most notably, Job loses his family and his livelihood — yet he is ever-patient, never losing his temper with God.
Austin, however, is here to turn what we know about Job completely upside down: Job didn’t constantly praise God in the midst of his trials, and he certainly wasn’t always patient. And that’s okay. Yet our limited understanding of Job as a person or character isn’t the only thing Austin revolutionizes. The satan mentioned in the story? That’s not the Satan. It’s not Lucifer — the Prince of the Morning, the Father of All Lies. No, it’s someone else entirely.
Get ready to rethink what you know and the evils of being impatient in the midst of trials.
The details Austin shares in this episode of LDS Perspectives provide a more complete understanding of the book of Job. Typically when Job is referenced, we hear about the first two or last few chapters of his book — but what about the rest? A biblical book with 42 chapters undoubtedly contains wisdom that is not strictly limited to only a few short sections. Job, Austin explains, is so much more than the often one-dimensional figure we make him out to be. And in learning that, we learn so many gospel truths that we otherwise miss.
Listen as Sarah Hatch of LDS Perspectives Podcast interviews Michael Austin about wisdom literature, the true nature of Job and his relationship with God, and what we can learn from what very well may be the greatest ancient poem ever written.
If you're as fascinated by this episode as we are and find yourself hungering to learn more about Job, check out Michael Austin’s acclaimed book, Re-reading Job: Understanding the Ancient World's Greatest Poem.
Extra Resources:
Transcript for Episode 52
Re-Reading Job: Understanding the Ancient World's Greatest Poem
The Israelite Roots of Atonement Terminology
Episode 51: Joseph’s Study of Hebrew and the Book of Abraham – Matthew J. Grey
Aug 30, 2017
In the winter of 1836, the Kirtland temple was nearing completion, the Saints were experiencing a period of peace after persecution, and 100 church members enrolled in a seven-week, intensive Hebrew language course. Besides being one of the most ambitious CES endeavors ever, the study of a difficult foreign language seems a bit random considering some of the students lacked even a basic pioneer education.
Matthew Grey has studied this period of history extensively and believes that the Hebrew study was anything but random or casual. Rather it was an outgrowth of the larger translation project that Joseph had begun in the summer of 1835.
A review of church history shows that Joseph purchased scrolls and mummies from Michael Chandler in July 1835. Shortly thereafter, he translated what became known as Abraham 1 and Abraham 2 through the use of a seer stone. He then began working on a “Grammer and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language” (GAEL). In the fall, he started looking for a teacher of Hebrew for the Kirtland School. By January, the school committee had hired Joshua Seixas as a Hebrew teacher.
Joshua Seixas had published his own textbook and worksheets that were specifically designed for beginners. In his primer, he used his native Sephardic Hebrew in his transliterations, which varied substantially from the more common Ashkenazi Hebrew spellings. Because of the distinctive Hebrew transliterations in Seixas’s texts, we can trace Joseph’s use of his Hebrew training in succeeding years.
What Grey found in his research is that Joseph used his training at key moments. Traces of Sephardic Hebrew can be found in revelations found in the Doctrine and Covenants, the Book of Abraham, and recorded Nauvoo speeches. For Joseph, there seemed to be no dichotomy between intellectual and spiritual pursuits. Translations were neither purely static nor pure revelation, but a mixture of both. He used his intellectual training to unpack theological possibilities by creatively reworking traditional translations. Some of the most distinct Mormon teachings revealed in Nauvoo such as the nature of God, expansions on the plan of salvation, and even verbiage in the temple ritual can be traced to Joseph’s Hebrew studies.
Join Laura Harris Hales as she discusses with Matthew Grey the influence of Joseph's Hebrew study on his subsequent teachings and the vital piece of the Book of Abraham translation puzzle this new research provides.
Extra Resources:
Episode 51 Transcript
"The Word of the Original': Joseph Smith's Study of Hebrew in Kirtland" in Approaching Antiquity
"Joseph Smith's Use of Hebrew in His Translation of the Book of Abraham" in Creating Scripture: Joseph Smith's Translation Projects and the Making of Mormonism (Forthcoming 2018)
Episode 50: A Religion of Both Prayers and Pterodactyls – Steven Peck
Aug 23, 2017
Steven L. Peck is a scientist, BYU professor, and acclaimed author. In recent years he has emerged as a powerful advocate for science and evolution, publishing two books about the topic in as many years.
His latest offering, Science the Key to Theology, is an impassioned plea to members of the LDS Church to teach the compatibility rather than a supposed conflict between science and religion.
He reaches out to individuals who can't accept the argument for evolution to at least acknowledge that the LDS Church does not have a stated position on the topic. In teaching capacities, members have a duty to respect that position. He hopes that by removing conflicting narratives, the tension between what our youth are taught in school and what they sometimes are taught in church settings will disappear. Too many youth feel they need to make a choice between believing science and believing in religion.
As a youth, Steven became less active after learning that his seminary teacher didn’t believe in dinosaurs. If there had been room in his teenage theology for prayers and pterodactyls, he wonders, perhaps it would have made a difference for him.
Luckily Steve moved on to BYU where he found faithful professors who modeled a healthy fidelity to both scientific and religious truths. He bemoans that some members of the church insist on misusing scripture as a scientific document rather than teaching of its miraculous ability to show us how to build a relationship with God. Science speaks to the “how” of creation, but religion speaks to the “why.”
Listen in as Laura Harris Hales of the LDS Perspectives Podcast and Steven Peck share a blunt discussion about the harmful effect teaching a tension between science and religion can have on testimonies. Both science and religion can work together in Steven’s model of theology to build faith.
Extra Resources:
Episode 50 Transcript
Science the Key to Theology
The BYU Evolution Packet
"Science and Religion: Friends or Foes?"
"Science and Our Search for Truth"
Episode 49: Schooling and Being Schooled in Religious Education – Casey Paul Griffiths
Aug 16, 2017
In her debut episode, LDS Perspectives podcaster Stephanie Dibb Sorensen interviews Casey Paul Griffiths, an expert on the history of the Church Education System and its globalization efforts. Together they discuss the history of the LDS Church Education System, its early struggles, and its current vision and scope.
The formal foundation of education in the Mormon Church began in 1888 when the church board of education was established. Around this time, the United States initiated a free schools program. President Wilford Woodruff, the president of the church at that time, became very concerned about the idea that young Latter-day Saints would be receiving their schooling without any instruction in the scriptures. Starting in the 1890s, he instructed every stake to launch their own academy.
By the early 1900s, the academy system became unsustainable, and the church opened its first seminaries. Little did church leaders realize that this would lead to a whole new problem — training religious instructors and the establishment of professional religionists in a layman church.
In the 1930s the consequences of having professional theological scholars started to become apparent as some key tensions emerged — tensions the church is still grappling with. Find out what this first generation of scholars faced when they came back to Utah to teach in Mormon religious classrooms after studying in the liberal classrooms of the University of Chicago on this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast.
Extra Resources:
Episode 49 Transcript
By Study and by Faith
Ardis Parshall is one half of the duo behind the Mormon Image in Literature series published by Kofford Books. Along with Michael Austin, Ardis rescues literature from the past that otherwise would remain largely unknown. The works that Ardis and Michael are republishing are rare, fragile, and soon could be lost. They hope to preserve these types of works for a generation of researchers.
Dime Novel Mormons, their current offering, presents four Mormon-themed novellas. Dime novels were a popular genre from about 1870 through the turn of the century. America was going through an educational revolution and people needed things to read. Dime novels filled that need with affordably priced, page-turning excitement.
The way Mormons were portrayed in dime novels was remarkably consistent. The authors played on common stereotypes and themes such as Danites, polygamy, and the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
These stereotypes couldn't help but affect the public opinion and the reception of Mormon missionaries. No matter how clean-cut the missionaries were, they had to overcome literary baggage pointing to the secret, suspicious, and nefarious nature of Mormons.
These melodramatic portrayals represented reality for millions of people. In fact, one sensational novel became so popular in England that citizens called for a removal of all Mormon missionaries, which resulted in a thorough investigation and later vindication from Winston Churchill.
While readers may become frustrated when reading these outlandish tales that scarcely represent history, they are recreating what it meant to be a Mormon in the nineteenth century. Akin to dressing up in pioneer clothes and pushing handcarts, reading these novels help reenact a historical event. They allow the reader to enter the experiences of members and non-members alike as they read the same words they read about “Mormons.”
Laura Harris Hales of LDS Perspectives Podcast interviews Ardis Parshall about preserving the literature of the past and inspiring the current generation to own the real Mormon story and share it with the world.
Extra Resources:
Dime Novel Mormons
Keepapitchinin (Blog)
Episode 47: Recreating the Book of Mormon World – Taylor Halverson and Tyler Griffin
Aug 02, 2017
Tyler Griffin
Taylor Halverson and Tyler Griffin are co-founders and co-directors of the BYU Virtual Scriptures Group.
This group recently released the Virtual New Testament App for desktop computers, mobile devices, and tablets. The app allows users to navigate in and through locations in New Testament Jerusalem and surrounding areas. They are currently working on a Book of Mormon geography app.
Creating a map or a virtual app for Book of Mormon geography has been a bit more challenging because there is no widely accepted location to pin on our modern maps.
Taylor Halverson
While many individuals and groups forward various theories on Book of Mormon geography, the LDS Church officially holds a position of neutrality as to geographic locations.
Some members are either apathetic or confused by proposed Book of Mormon geography models. Tyler and Taylor sympathize with the challenge many learners experience and are motivated to bring some sense of clarity and meaning to learning Book of Mormon geography.
In this LDS Perspectives Podcast, Nick Galieti discusses the usefulness of mapping Book of Mormon geography with Tyler Griffin and Taylor Halverson.
Their efforts are not aimed at situating the Book of Mormon within America, but rather within the text. They hope that their app will facilitate more in-depth study from youth who are often confused by the geographic references in the text.
The model may also help readers gain a respect for how geography plays a role in motivating characters in the Book of Mormon to make certain decisions.
You can also visit the site Taylor Halverson collaborated on with BYU professor Stephen Liddle to create for additional insight into Old Testament and New Testament geography.
of LDS Church leaders, policies, or practices.
Extra Resources:
Episode 47 Transcript
Map of Old and New Testament Scriptures
Book of Mormon Virtual Scripture App
Virtual New Testament App
Episode 46: The Delicate Art of Critical Judgment – George Handley
Jul 26, 2017
In November 2015, George Handley, associate dean of the College of Humanities at BYU, spoke on his journey of faith in an Education in Zion lecture that was later published in BYU Studies.
Partially because of its timing and mainly because of its powerful message, his speech has been widely circulated since that time. Not only did he offer words of comfort to those who were struggling but also tools to be a more critical consumer.
Handley suggests that the three crucial ingredients of criticism, compassion, and charity must work together to create a quality intellectual and spiritual life. These elements also work together to develop meaningful relationships and build communities.
Exploring the humanities offer an incomparable opportunity to expand the soul, increase creativity, learn from others, and criticize our environment. Critical judgment allows us to step back and analyze a situation and to get out of ourselves emotionally; it is a deliberate and calm process of evaluation. We can’t experience all things so must look to others for deeper understanding of diversity in this complex universe.
Handley has found that the major driver in one’s relationship with the church can be the relationship one has with the people within the church. People who struggle stay because they feel loved and that they belong. A community cannot be realized without coming to terms and accepting difference through compassion and charity and realizing the natural ebbs and flows of any relationship.
Join Laura Harris Hales of LDS Perspectives Podcast as she discusses with George Handley the importance of encouraging criticism, compassion, and charity in order to build community and find belonging.
Extra Resources:
Episode 46 Transcript
On Criticism, Compassion, and Charity (Video)
On Criticism, Compassion, and Charity (Article)
George Handley (Personal Website)
Episode 45: Misunderstanding the Bible – Benjamin Spackman
Jul 19, 2017
From the New Testament, we learn that Jesus’s favorite mode of teaching was through fiction; he taught parables. Although the characters and events may not be historical, few Christians question the truth in the messages.
Despite comfort with parables, some Christians become unsettled thinking about elements of the Bible as being non-historical. Biblical scholar Ben Spackman points out that this hesitancy is inherited from Enlightenment thinking, which regarded revelation as truth and truth as scientific or historical fact. This thinking, Ben points out, causes many readers to jettison common sense and plain readings of the scriptural text.
Often times when reading scripture, the assumption is made that the text is either literal or figurative, but these two categories are insufficient to describe the different genres of scriptures.
It would be more helpful to approach the Bible as if it were a library that contained books of many different genres instead of being all the
Amanda Brown, Guest Podcaster
same type of writing. No Christian would presume to label all scripture as a parable. Likewise, all scripture should not be labeled as history. The Bible contains books of satire, law codes, poetry, parables, myth, conquest narratives, and prophetic revelation among other things.
The type of “thing” or genre of a given book is indicated by genre markers. For instance, Americans can tell a book is a fairy tale if it begins with “Once upon a time.” Genre markers in the Bible can be identified similarly by biblical scholars familiar with the culture.
Readers should also keep in mind that ancient Israelites approached the use of history in scripture differently than modern authors. Historical accuracy is actually a modern concept. Biblical writers often fashioned history to teach a higher purpose. If some of the historical details were fudged, then that was regarded as acceptable if done to make a point.
Join Amanda Brown as she interviews biblical scholar Ben Spackman about the different genres of literature found in the Bible.
Extra Resources:
Episode 45 Transcript
Upcoming Presentation: "Truth, Scripture, and Interpretation: Some Precursors to Understanding Genesis
Links to Resources Mentioned in Podcast
Why Bible Translations Differ: a Guide for the Perplexed
Benjamin the Scribe on Genre (Blog Post)
LDS Perspectives Podcast
Episode 45: Genre in the Bible with Ben Spackman
(Released July 19, 2017)
This is not a verbatim transcript.
Some wording and grammar has been modified for clarity.
Amanda Brown: Hi, Ben.
Ben Spackman: Hello.
Amanda Brown: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and what you’re studying?
Ben Spackman: Sure. It’s kind of a long story. I graduated from BYU in Near Eastern studies a long time ago and promptly went off to the University of Chicago where I did what’s called comparative semitics, which is a heavy language focus on the ancient Near East. I studied a little bit of history, a little bit of linguistics, but mostly I studied Hebrew and Arabic, Aramaic, Acadian, and other dead languages that people really haven’t heard of that are behind the Old Testament and the various cultures connected with it.
I am now doing American religious history and Mormon studies, and my focus is actually kind of the same. When I was at Chicago, I focused on the book of Genesis, and my interest at Claremont has really been on the conflict between science and religion, specifically between interpretations of Genesis and evolution.
Amanda Brown: Could you tell us a little bit about our topic today?
Ben Spackman: I’ve spent a lot of time teaching the Bible in various forms. I’ve done New Testament and Old Testament. I’ve taught a class on the book of Genesis twice. One of the things that we always have to talk about is distinguishing different kinds of things within the Bible. A lot of times Mormons approach the Bible and indeed all scripture as if it’s ...
Episode 44: Mystery Solved: Who Wrote the Lectures on Faith? – Noel Reynolds
Jul 12, 2017
In 1835, the church published the Doctrine and Covenants, which contained significant additions to the 1833 Book of Commandments. At the beginning of the collection of revelations were seven theological lectures that had originally been delivered at the Kirtland School the preceding winter.
Details about the purpose and curriculum of the Kirtland School, later referred to as the "School for the Elders" or "School of the Prophets," are uncertain. Most of what we know is taken from late reminiscences recorded nearly fifty years after its commencement. Lessons included at least an English grammar element and the seven theological lectures, which were part of a series to "unfold ... the doctrine of Jesus Christ." The classroom consisted of prospective missionaries and church leaders and, by all accounts, was presided over by Sidney Rigdon.
The lectures were removed from the Doctrine and Covenants in the 1921 edition, but they did not fade away. They have proven to be particularly buoyant as they have experienced resurgent popularity over the years and an ability to maintain a loyal following. But the history of the Lectures on Faith are a cautionary tale for members of the church that illustrates the dangers of historical forgetting.
It was common knowledge in the 19th century that the lectures were written by Sidney Rigdon, but by the mid-twentieth century it was thought that the Prophet Joseph Smith had penned them. Perhaps enamored with the arcane rhetorical style of the arguments, some members latched on to them as a source of deep theological thought. What they didn't realize was that the style mimics that of the preachers of the 19th century and of the Campbellites in particular. Especially telling is the reference to a binary Godhead in the fifth lecture. Joseph Smith explicitly declared in Nauvoo that his concept of the Godhead had never changed, and he had always taught the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost were separate entities.
But all the historical evidence to discredit Joseph Smith and attribute Sidney Rigdon as author was circumstantial. It wasn't until Noel Reynold's discovered some new documents that he realized he had found the "smoking gun" and the confirmation that he needed to form a solid argument for Sidney Rigdon as the author.
Join Laura Harris Hales as she discusses with Noel Reynolds the mystery of the authorship of the Lectures on Faith and what we can learn from this episode in Mormon history.
Extra Resources:
Episode 44 Transcript
The Case for Sidney Rigdon as Author of the Lectures on Faith
Episode 43: Discussing the Priesthood Ban with Members of the Genesis Group
Jul 05, 2017
Don Harwell, Eddie Gist, and Wain Meyers make up the current Presidency of the Genesis Group of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Genesis Group was started in 1971 as a dependent branch of the LDS Church with the charge to fellowship and meet the needs of a growing number of African-American members. It was considered "dependent" because members were dependent on other members for the priesthood.
This policy changed in 1978 under Church President Spencer W. Kimball.
After the 1978 policy change (Official Declaration #2), Genesis Group numbers began to dwindle as black members were integrated more fully into local congregations. However, in 1996, LDS Church leadership re-organized the Genesis Group as a support effort for the needs of a growing and diverse worldwide church.
Today the Genesis Group meets on the first Sunday of every month in Salt Lake City. In recent years, the membership has grown to over three hundred members of all ethnicities. Many come to experience a less traditional and some would say more fun Mormon worship service. The Genesis Group also hosts a gospel choir that tours and performs at local events.
Although the Genesis Group is the only official auxiliary of its type, other informal groups have been formed in scattered urban centers around the globe in order to offer similar support.
The history of race issues and the LDS Church is complex. To address the questions some have had about this issue, the LDS Church published an essay entitled “Race and the Priesthood.” It describes some of the history on this topic, from the first African-Americans to be ordained to the priesthood under first Church President Joseph Smith Jr. to the ban instituted under second Church President Brigham Young to the current policies and doctrines.
In this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast, host Nick Galieti, the Genesis Group presidency, and their wives discuss their lived experience with race and the LDS Church.
Tune in for this delightful discussion as perspectives on the priesthood and temple ban are shared by faithful members who were affected by the restriction.
Extra Resources:
The Genesis Group (Facebook)
Race and the Priesthood
From Baptist Preacher to Mormon Teacher
Episode 42: The Divine Council with Stephen Smoot
Jun 28, 2017
References to a divine council of gods are found in several ancient Near Eastern cultures, including Mesopotamia, Greece, Egypt and Canaan. There are also numerous references to the divine counsel in the Hebrew Bible. The concept was pervasive.
Members of the LDS Church may not realize that references to the divine council are also found in the Book of Mormon, the Book of Moses, the Book of Abraham, the Doctrine and Covenants, and in Joseph Smith's Nauvoo discourses.
The Book of Abraham's depiction of creation, which includes a divine council, fits nicely in an ancient New Eastern cultural background and has strong affinities with the depiction of the cosmos found in other ancient Near Eastern texts. This places the divine council not only within the time frame of Abraham but also within the LDS canon.
Many of the Hebrew descriptions of the divine counsel mirror a heavenly court with God the Father sitting at the head of a court of angelic hosts. Joseph Smith preached in the King Follett discourse that the head of the Gods sat with the council of Gods and "concocted a plan" for God's children at the Creation.
Does this mean that members of the LDS Church believe in polytheism or that the ancient Israelites did? The very concept, notes Stephen O. Smoot, may be jarring to Mormons.
The answer to both questions is complicated. In fact, if Stephen were to travel back in time to ancient Israel and pose the question of whether the people were monotheistic or polytheistic, they would likely be confused. The ancient Israelites conceptualized their relationship with God more in covenantal terms, rather than in terms of strict monotheism or polytheism.
Smoot also notes that undoubtedly the Israelites were aware of Caananite creation myths and the Mesopotamian creation epic known as the Enuma Elish. The creation account in Genesis may have been an engagement with or reaction to these (and other) ancient myths.
Join Laura Harris Hales as she discusses with Stephen the divine council's role in the religions of the ancient Near East and what references to the divine council in the LDS canon could mean for Latter-day Saint theology.
Extra Resources:
Episode 42 Transcript
The Divine Council in the Hebrew Bible and the Book of Mormon
Council, Chaos, and Creation in the Book of Abraham
The Divine Council (Website)
Episode 41: The Word of Wisdom with Jed Woodworth
Jun 21, 2017
Jed Woodworth works in the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is also the author of the Revelations in Context essay on Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants entitled, “The Word of Wisdom.”
In the early 1830s, the Temperance Movement was in full swing in the United States. Chapters of temperance societies had an undeniable influence on the discourse of the day. The story of the coming forth of the revelation recorded as Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants has sometimes failed to take into account how the movement may have been an influence on Joseph Smith and the Saints.
Much like other prophetic revelations, the catalyst for this revelation seems to have come from multiple circumstances. Historical context helps to shed light on the extent to which the Temperance Movement may have been an influence and what that means.
In this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast, host Nick Galieti and Jed Woodworth delve into what is often referred to as the "Lord's Law of Health."
Extra Resources:
Episode 41 Transcript
The Word of Wisdom
Episode 40: Help! Teaching in Church Settings – John Hilton III
Jun 14, 2017
In this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast, Laura Harris Hales visits with John Hilton III about teaching in church settings.
John has spent a good deal of his adult life working in religious education. He began his teaching career in the seminary and institute program and was hired by the BYU Department of Ancient Scripture after earning a PhD in education. He is also a popular speaker and author of several books for youth.
Hilton helped develop a “know, feel, and do” model for effective religious teaching. President Thomas S. Monson said that “the goal of gospel teaching is not to ‘pour information’ into the minds of [learners]. … The aim is to inspire the individual to think about, feel about, then do something about living gospel principles.” Hilton's method aims to accomplish these goals.
To have a successful class, whether it is Gospel Doctrine or Come Follow Me or Seminary, students should learn something new, feel something positive, and should be able to apply what they learn in their lives.
As a professional teacher, Hilton shares insights on what inspires and motivates students to learn and to be invested in the learning experience. He also gives practical suggestions on how to prepare lessons that are impactful.
Most gospel teachers do so on a volunteer basis, don’t have any formal training in education, and often struggle just to make it through a lesson while keeping the class’s attention. According to Hilton, creative teaching techniques can lead to a positive experience for both the student and the teacher.
Listen in as we discuss how mnemonic devices, reviews, creative teaching, group activities, personal interaction, and careful preparation can help us all become effective teachers.
Extra Resources:
Episode 40 Transcript
Free Teaching Ideas
Kahoot! (Online Game)
The Silent Lesson
Colgate Commercial
Episode 39: Mere Christians? with Robert Millet
Jun 07, 2017
Robert L. Millet was the Abraham O. Smoot Professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University and has spent years engaging in interfaith dialogue with scholars of many religious traditions.
He has often been asked the core question: “Are Mormon’s Christian?” His answer is echoed in a recent Gospel Topics essay on LDS.org resolutely declaring, “Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unequivocally affirm themselves to be Christians.”
The early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may have been considered peculiar, but they were rarely accused of not being Christian.
The current argument against Mormonism's Christianity is based on three observations:
1) Latter-day Saints do not accept the creeds, confessions, and formulations of post-New Testament Christianity.
2) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not descend through the historical line of traditional Christianity. That is, the LDS Church did not break off of the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Protestant traditions.
3) Latter-day Saints do not believe in a closed canon.
In this LDS Perspectives Podcast, host Nick Galieti asks Robert Millet to clarify distinctions of doctrine, to suggest how members of the LDS Church can use the “Are Mormon’s Christian?” Gospel Topics essay, and to comment on why members of the LDS Church should embrace what is both unique about LDS theology and what they share with other Christian faiths.
Extra Resources:
Episode 39 Transcript
Are Mormons Christian?
Episode 38: Mormon Stories in Shorts – Scott Hales
May 31, 2017
In December 2013, Scott Hales bought himself an iPad and a digital drawing software program. He was in the final stages of finishing his PhD dissertation and was ready to try his hand at a lighter medium.
Dusting off his dormant art-major-dropout skills, he started drawing comic strips about a self-proclaimed weird Mormon girl. Enid is fifteen and on a journey of self-discovery. She explores the area between doubt and belief while grappling with doctrine and church history she seeks to understand.
Her struggles are compounded by living in a non-traditional family. She finds herself in a parenting role during her teenage years when she most needs a nurturing support system. Her home life is anything but the ideal she hears about at church.
The comic started out as an experiment, but Scott soon realized he had discovered an effective tool for examining more closely the potholes in the road. It is Enid's quirkiness that creates a safe space for readers. If Enid's thoughts uncomfortably mirror the readers’ at times, the laughter can easily be attributed to her oddness. And so Hales deftly leads an expedition through the idiosyncrasies and the beauties of Mormon culture.
It's tempting to label Hales's work as satire, but the potential sting of his message is short-lived and meant to work as an antiseptic. By encouraging readers to laugh at Mormon peculiarities, Hales hopes to create an environment where thorny topics can be talked about in an open, honest, and faithful manner.
Particularly helpful is the launch pad he constructs for discussion of painful issues. He embraces faith crises, uncomfortable history, Mormon social mores, the nature of faith, as well as what he has called "disputed space." Sharing these vignettes with family and friends may invite discussions that otherwise could go unexplored, unexamined, and unresolved.
The Garden of Enid shows Hales's bravery to own the good, the bad, and the sublime in the Mormon story. Its success will hopefully encourage others to similarly create works that constructively help Mormons balance their relationship between God, community, and church.
Extra Resources:
The Garden of Enid: Adventures of a Weird Mormon Girl, Part Two
The Garden of Enid: Adventures of a Weird Mormon Girl, Part One
Episode 37: Tough Questions about Mormon Polygamy – Brian and Laura Hales
May 24, 2017
Few aspects of Joseph Smith’s life have been scrutinized more in recent years than his personal practice of polygamy.
Some readers' first exposure to Joseph Smith's practice of polygamy comes from reading sensational headlines. Exaggerations and assumptions fill internet discussions, podcasts, and newspaper articles, so it is hard to know where to go for accurate information.
The temptation by some authors to fill in historical gaps often results in distortions that stir up emotions and create tantalizing soundbites that, even if largely fictional, may generate unnecessary fear and confusion.
Polygamy is part of the collective Mormon past that many struggle to understand. Current members have no cultural or religious basis to situate plural marriage. Members in pioneer Nauvoo shared that same struggle. When Benjamin Johnson first heard of it, he recalled: "If a thunderbolt had fallen at my feet I could hardly have been more shocked or amazed."
Early Mormon polygamy is a historical puzzle that can at best be awkwardly reconstructed from fragmentary recollections. But it is apparent from reminiscences that those who practiced it were convinced it represented a religious practice instituted by God.
Church Historian Matt Grow noted that the more complicated the history, the more nuanced conclusions should be. Mormon polygamy was undoubtedly complicated, warranting provisional conclusions.
In this interview, Daniel C. Peterson of the Interpreter Foundation interviews Brian and Laura Hales about the most common questions asked about Joseph Smith's practice of polygamy.
Join us for this candid discussion about what can and cannot be known about Joseph Smith's practice of polygamy.
This episode is a joint production of LDS Perspectives and the Interpreter Foundation.
Extra Resources:
Episode 37 Transcript
Joseph Smith's Polygamy (Website)
Mormon Polygamy Documents (Website)
Joseph Smith's Polygamy: Toward a Better Understanding
Episode 36: Susa Young Gates and the Vision of the Redemption of the Dead – Lisa Olsen Tait
May 17, 2017
Lisa Olsen Tait claims that Susa Young Gates is the most important Mormon woman that most have never heard of.
Susa grew up in a time when cultural gender roles were changing and women's opportunities were expanding in exponential ways. Susa took advantage of these opportunities and was active in civic and religious spheres as a writer, editor, educator, and LDS Church leader. She also started both the Relief Society and Young Women's magazines.
In the 1880s, she accompanied her husband Jacob on a mission to the Sandwich Islands. There she developed a deep and enduring friendship with Elder Joseph F. Smith.
It is perhaps because of her passion for genealogy work that the Prophet Joseph F. Smith shared with her a vision he had concerning the redemption of the dead. The doctrine was not new, but it was comforting to have it articulated in one place.
Join Nick Galieti as he discusses with women's historian Lisa Olsen Tait the reception history of Doctrine and Covenants 138.
Susa Young Gates and the Vision of the Redemption of the Dead
Episode 35: A Heavenly Mother – Rachel Steenblik and Caitlin Connolly
May 10, 2017
Last summer Russell Stevenson sat down with Rachel Steenblik and Caitlin Connolly, two women who have studied the concept of a divine feminine--or Heavenly Mother.
Rachel was the primary researcher on a BYU Studies article that identified known references to a Heavenly Mother in the Mormon historical record. Caitlin was commission to paint Heavenly Mother by Deseret Book.
Though it is assumed that we have a Heavenly Mother, she is rarely mentionioned in LDS Church discourse, with a preference to referring to Heavenly Father or Heavenly Parents.
Steenblick notes that most members are aware of the reference to a Heavenly Mother by Eliza R. Snow in "O My Father." However, her song was not the first reference. W. W. Phelps wrote two pieces--one a few months before the Prophet Joseph Smith's death and one a few months after. And in the nineteenth-century Church, a Heavenly Mother was not unfrequently referenced.
Three prophets of the twentieth century, Spencer W. Kimball, Joseph Fielding Smith, and Harold B. Lee, stated that women were created in Heavenly Mother's image.
Contemporary Old Testament scholars see the divine feminine, or a Heavenly Mother, in scripture, though it is difficult for the lay person to identify those references.
Both women feel discussions of a divine feminine are important because they help to answer the question for women: “Where do I belong in the eternities?”
The Church's gospel topic essay "Mother in Heaven," the BYU Studies article, and a new book published by Deseret Book can help encourage dialogue on this important topic.
Extra Resources:
"A Mother There": a Survey of Historical Teachings about Mother in Heaven (Free)
Mother in Heaven (Free)
Our Heavenly Family, Our Earthly Families
Episode 34: The Problem of Pain – David F. Holland
May 03, 2017
David F. Holland is a respected scholar and Professor of New England Church History at Harvard Divinity School. On October 29, 2016, he spoke on the topic “Latter-day Saints and the Problem of Pain” at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at BYU in Provo, Utah.
Recently LDS Perspectives host Nick Galieti interviewed David Holland about his presentation at BYU, his further explorations on the seemingly paradoxical problem of pain, as well as the role pain and suffering play in the journey of the Christian disciple.
David reflects on counsel given to his father from Elder Neal A. Maxwell, prior to an address Holland’s father gave at BYU. The counsel was to be sensitive to the unseen problems that inform the varied histories of audience members, “There are scars that go unnoticed, but you must see them. You must tread with caution on the hallowed ground of another’s suffering.”
Holland shared that two members of his New England area stake committed suicide within a week of each other. It is in this backdrop that David spoke in simultaneous roles as an admittedly amateur-philosopher and historian-scholar.
He reviewed a history of the role of pain and suffering in early American religious settings, as well as proposed answers to the questions many still carry about the relationship of pain to our mortal experiences. Answers for which the restored gospel of Latter-day Saint theology meets in rich and profound ways.
Holland elaborates on how historically religions saw pain and suffering as the voice of God declaring his displeasure with their actions. Others felt discord with the concept of a deity that only spoke when displeased.
The people of early America, when faced with this paradox of “a choice in which God could either be cruel or mute, they increasingly chose the silence.” Thus a mute God, and a rigidly closed cannon became part of how many religious Americans viewed life and religious practice.
Many today view God, or their concept of God, as the answer to pain and suffering. If there is no reprieve from pain, then there must be no God. With so many today feeling the pains of depression and other mental health issues, Holland postulates that “[Mental illness] is the next great frontier of our ministry [as Latter-day Saints].”
Extra Resources:
Episode 34 Transcript
The Problem of Pain (Video)
The Problem of Pain (Text)
Episode 33: Personal Boundary Maintenance – Leta Greene
Apr 26, 2017
Leta Greene never thought she would grow up to be a beauty consultant and motivational speaker. But she has overcome the scars of emotional and physical abuse and feelings of awkwardness and ugliness to excel at life by choosing happiness.
Leta has developed a system of changing the way women perceive themselves through daily validation or "vanity prayers." She has learned that nobody can give from an empty well. One of the most important things women need to nurture is their relationship with themselves.
Through her experiences, she speaks to setting healthy boundaries to protect against emotional and physical abuse and listening to our inner compasses in our interactions. She advocates only allowing into our spheres of influence those we love, trust, and who take responsibility.
The way women perceive themselves is often the biggest "glass ceiling" they need to break in order to excel and achieve their dreams. Leta gives us some tools to begin thinking in new ways. Join Laura Harris Hales of LDS Perspectives Podcast as she interviews Leta Greene about harnessing our individual beauty.
How to Embrace Your Inner Hotness: An Inside Out Approach to a Lasting Makeover
The Prettiest (Free)
Finding a balance between loyalty or commitment to one’s faith and sympathetic openness to other faiths is one of the biggest challenges Mormons face in an age of inclusiveness.
The classic “theology of religions” view of other faiths known as “inclusivism” broadly fits what Dr. Mauro Properzi thinks this balance should look like in an LDS context.
The idea is that one’s faith is unique, most effective, and overall preferential (or one could use the term “truest”) in leading to our eternal destination. Other religions, however, while being positive paths that move as a whole in the same direction, lack some elements that characterize the faith you embrace. Perhaps other paths take unnecessary detours, perhaps they have holes that cause slower progress, perhaps they are not as scenic. Still, these roads are going in the same general direction as your road, not in the opposite one. In short, if your road leads to God, the other roads don’t lead to Satan; they are also oriented toward God.
Inclusivism is the middle ground. Two other positions represent the ends of the spectrum of religious tolerance. On one side is exclusivism, which in its bluntest form is the message that only my religion is good, true, divinely inspired, and salvific. At its opposite is pluralism with the message that all religions are true, divinely inspired, and salvific since it is believed that they teach the same message in different cultural contexts.
What is clear is that in our postmodern Western culture many people, whether religious or not, lean in the direction of pluralism, and exclusivism is not very popular. Exclusivism, however, is an important component of Christianity, and of Mormonism in particular; in fact, in the pursuit of truth in general. It is not the whole of the answer but it is a significant part of it.
The challenge for us, and for any other person of faith who feels these tensions, is to be reflective about them and not succumb to pressures that aim to eliminate them. For us, these pressures can come from social interactions both within the church and outside of it … pressures that want to obliterate one side or the other of the spectrum.
Join Laura Harris Hales of LDS Perspectives Podcast as she interviews Mauro Properzi about false obstacles and rich opportunities that come from learning about other religions. Download Transcript
Extra Resources:
Episode 32 Transcript
“Learning about Other Religions: False Obstacles and Rich Opportunities”
Episode 31: Tithing and the Law of Consecration – Steven C. Harper
Apr 12, 2017
Steven Harper points out that one of things the Church History Department's Revelations in Context series was designed to do was to encourage study of the history and doctrine of the LDS Church in order to move members past folk doctrines.
One of these misunderstandings that has developed over time is the relationship between the law of consecration and tithing.
The law of the Lord is given in D&C 42, and it is to love God and love one’s neighbor. All are encouraged to give of their time and temporal means to relieve the suffering of others.
It is not a law governing ownership but rather one that asks us what we are willing to do with what we have. The law is also about agency, accountability, and stewardship.
Tithing didn't replace the law of consecration; it is simply one way in which it is practiced. The law is eternal and does not change but the way followers practice it does. In the early days of the LDS Church, any freewill offering was considered tithing. This has changed over time. How we consecrate has also changed.
Listen in on this fascinating discussion between Steven C. Harper and Nick Galieti of LDS Perspectives Podcast as they delve into the essence of the law of consecration. Download Transcript
Extra Resources:
Episode 31 Transcript
“The Tithing of My People”
“The Law”
Episode 30: Jewish Holy Days – Gale T. Boyd
Apr 05, 2017
Gale Boyd is an ethnic Jew who converted to the LDS Church. In 1983, she and her husband decided to move their family to Israel to explore their Jewish heritage.
She was unprepared for the culture shock she experienced as an American Jewish Mormon living in Jewish Zion. Not only was there the language barrier but also the differences in money, weights and measures, Sabbath observance, and even the year was counted differently.
As she became immersed in Israeli culture, she learned about Jewish holy days and their symbolism.
Her experiences led her to write Days of Awe with the purpose of sharing with Latter-day Saints the Christian symbolism found in the celebration of Jewish festivals.
The book contains a history of Old Testament feasts, their ancient and current patterns of observance, their prophetic symbolism, and their relevance to Latter-day Saints today.
She also clears up some misconceptions about the Jewish people, their scripture, the complexity of their religion, and their history.
Join Laura Harris Hales of LDS Perspectives Podcast and Gale Boyd as they discuss Judaism, holy days, and the religious past, present, and future.
You can receive a free copy of Days of Awe from MormonHub. Download Transcript
Extra Resources:
Episode 30 Transcript
Days of Awe (Free)
“When a Jew Reads the Book of Mormon” (Free)
Episode 29: Art in Sacred Spaces – Rita Wright
Mar 29, 2017
Rita Wright is the curator for the Springville Museum of Art in Springfield, Utah. Formerly, she taught art at Brigham Young University and was the curator for the LDS Church History Museum. Currently, she sits on the worldwide committee for art selection for the LDS Church.
She joins Laura Harris Hales to discuss the function of art in sacred space, beginning with the first Christians. Together they discuss art found in the catacombs, through the dark ages, enduring symbols, and overlooked and creative use of art to create a sacred atmosphere.
Through her years of teaching, Rita realized that sometimes members of the LDS Church have difficulty understanding the art of other religions because of bias and ignorance of the meaning of iconography. She describes some common symbols and architectural styles and how they strive to create a feeling of sacredness.
While cathedrals may sometimes come off as garish and colorful to some, members can gain a better understanding of these places if they learn more about them and their purpose.
The initial cathedrals were built as Bibles for the poor because the commoners had no access to Bibles and could not read.
Rita Wright shares some insights on how to appreciate sacred art on a theological, social, and psychological level. Download Transcript
Extra Resources:
Episode 29 Transcript
The Springville Museum of Art in Utah (Free to Public)
Episode 28: The Witnesses of the Book of Mormon – Larry Morris
Mar 22, 2017
By June 1829 Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer had verbalized a desire to be the special three witnesses alluded to in the Book of Mormon.
D&C 17 records a revelation affirming their roles as witnesses and was given to Joseph Smith through a seer stone he apparently found while digging a well in 1822.
As witnesses, the three were very different. Martin Harris was zealous, impetuous, and even a bit eccentric. Oliver Cowdery was an intellectual. And David Whitmer was regarded as clear-thinking, down-to-earth, and honest.
David Whitmer was, perhaps, the strongest witness because he lived so long, never wavered in his testimony of the vision, and gave several newspaper interviews that give us additional details regarding the experience. David reported seeing several plates, the sword of Laban, the Liahona, and the Urim and Thummim.
Joseph Smith was understandably relieved to have others to testify of the existence of the plates. Larry Morris concludes that the experience of the Three Witnesses was both an empirical and spiritual experience.
Join Nick Galieti of LDS Perspectives Podcast as he interviews Larry Morris as part of the Revelations in Context podcast series.
Episode 27: What is LDS Doctrine? – Michael Goodman
Mar 15, 2017
If you haven’t taken the opportunity to read the LDS Church’s “Race and the Priesthood” essay, it would be worthwhile to do so. Not only does it articulate the church’s current position regarding race relations but also disavows past explanations given for the former priesthood ban.
Most are pleased at this clarification because it is a good step toward clearing up incorrect teachings that have been perpetuated in the past. The essay emphasizes that all saving ordinances are available to all worthy individuals regardless of ethnic or racial distinctions.
Because this essay may require a paradigm shift, it has naturally led to confusion for many. Some are asking: “If ideas that were once taught as doctrine are now disavowed, how can we trust that other doctrines now being taught won’t also change later?”
Dr. Michael Goodman has studied the nature of doctrine in his capacities as co-chair of the committee that wrote The Eternal Family Teacher Manual, one of four cornerstone courses of the Church’s Institute program, and as a professor of religion at BYU.
Often the terms doctrine, policy, and practice are bantered synonymously. Dr. Goodman has found that helping students determine what the term “doctrine” actually means aids them in grappling with conflicting religious and secular ideologies.
Three criteria are currently being taught by church leaders to help identify true doctrine. They include its unchanging nature, salvific necessity, and prevalence in the teachings of the current First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve.
These guidelines, combined with our own intellectual efforts and personal revelation, may help us more easily determine what may change and what was never meant to change.
Join us for a timely discussion on the nature of doctrine on this episode of LDS Perspectives Podcast.
Download Transcript
Extra Resources:
Episode 27 Transcript
Basic Doctrines (Free)
Becoming Like God (Free)
Mother in Heaven (Free)
Episode 26: New Directions in Mormon Studies – Patrick Mason
Mar 08, 2017
Historian, author, and educator Patrick Mason tells his students that Mormon studies is just a really fun place to play. It gets to the heart of the questions we have in 21st-century society.
By studying Mormonism, we can learn more about the world we live in as it touches on the following:
Minority/majority relations;
How we can organize a democratic society;
The role of religion in the public sphere;
Gender issues;
Marriage; and
Family.
Mormonism, Mormon history, Mormon theology usually have something to say about these foundational issues.
Host Russell Stevenson interviews Patrick about how the way historians do their business has changed over the last 100 years. In the 19th century, history tended to be bipolar with anti-Mormons on one end and church leaders, members, and historians offering their version from a faith-promoting perspective that acknowledged God's involvement in affairs.
By the late 20th century, historians began to weigh truth claims in a more dispassionate manner. Their goals were less polemic and more directed toward enhancing understanding--wherever that may lead.
Please join us for this interesting discussion.
Extra Resources:
Planted: Belief and Belonging in an Age of Doubt
Directions for Mormon Studies in the Twenty-First Century
Episode 25: Another View of the Mormon Trail with Laura Allred Hurtado
Mar 01, 2017
Artists Josh Clare, John Burton, and Bryan Mark Taylor worked for years on a project called Saints at Devil's Gate. It consists of landscapes capturing the Mormon Trail, the 1,300-mile route from Nauvoo, Illinois, to Salt Lake City, Utah, that mid-19th century pioneers traveled on their migration west.
The artists' intention was to pair their paintings with excerpts from historical trail journals by Mormon immigrants, which would allow them to construct a singular persona that could stand for the whole of the pioneer experience.
The paintings record the mundane trail that accompanied the pioneers' daily wanderings. Practical activities are detailed such as washing clothes, picking wildflowers, and playing music and dancing together in the evenings.
Beyond picturesque beauty, the paintings also explore a sense of the sublime and also sometimes the horrific.
LDS Church History Museum Curator Laura Allred Hurtado discusses with Laura Harris Hales how researching the history for the book that accompanies the exhibit expanded her understanding of the experience of those who traveled the Mormon trail. For many, it was a rite of passage and the experience of a lifetime.
Join us as we seek a more nuanced glimpse into what the Mormon trail meant to those who traversed it and discuss what we can learn from reading their experiences.
Exhibit on Display Now through October 1 at the Church History Museum
Extra Resources:
Online Exhibit - Saints at Devil's Gate (Free)
Saints at Devil's Gate
Episode 24: LDS Women at the Pulpit – Jenny Reeder and Kate Holbrook
Feb 27, 2017
Editors Jenny Reeder and Kate Holbrook, respectively 19th- and 20th-century women’s historians, discuss their multi-year project to bring LDS women’s speeches together in At the Pulpit: 185 Years of Discourses by Latter-day Saint Women.
This is the second book to come out of the Church Historian's Press in as many years with the goal of making LDS women's experiences, history, and discourses available to the mainstream membership.
Before the reader even opens the book, the nostalgic cover art of At the Pulpit brings to mind its two opposing themes: change and familiarity. One glance at the over-sized corsage adorning Belle Spafford’s tailored dress may spawn a flood of memories. When was it that they stopped having women wear corsages at conference anyway? The scene is as familiar and comforting as it is foreign.
Because women didn’t typically speak in conference settings before the mid-20th century, the
definition of “discourse” is stretched a bit for this anthology. To Reeder and Holbrook's credit, this makes the book seem less like a
Kate Holbrook
collection of discourses than treasured glimpses into the relationship LDS women have had to their God over the last 185 years.
It is less a collection of talks than a creative medium for teaching about how attitudes toward the roles of women at home and in the LDS Church have changed and in some ways remained the same.
Jenny Reeder
Many may find the introductions to each discourse the most enjoyable portions of the book. In these brief overviews, readers not only receive context for the discourse but also context for the time in which it is given.
Overall this is a welcome addition to the fine work coming out of the Church History Department and to the library of anyone wishing to entertain a more nuanced view on the amplitude of women’s voices in LDS discourse over the years.
Extra Resources:
At the Pulpit Highlights (Free Website)
At the Pulpit YouTube Channel
At the Pulpit: 185 Years of Discourses by Latter-day Saint Women
Episode 23: Depression and Mental Health Myths – Nick Galieti interviews Brian Murdock
Feb 22, 2017
Religious LDS culture has historically struggled to find a place for matters of mental health and depression as it dovetails with our mortal experience and our theology.
As a result, many members may be unsure of how we as a people stand with respect to issues of depression, anxiety, and other common mental health issues.
Elder Alexander B. Morrison writes: “I assure you that Latter-day Saints are in no way exempt from the burden of mental illness, either as a victim, caregiver, family member, or friend. In every ward and stake, there are severely depressed men and women; elderly people with failing memories and reduced intellectual capacities; youth or adults struggling to escape the dark specter of suicide; persons of all ages, both sexes, and every walk of life, who exhibit aberrant, even bizarre behavior.”
Using Elder Morrison’s book "Valley of Sorrows" as a backdrop resource, Brian Murdock, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and host Nick Galieti begin their discussion by debunking common myths about mental health issues.
Murdock then addresses the topic of clinical depression: what depression is, and what it isn’t. He offers some insights to consider for people who are currently suffering from depression, as well as to those who are interacting with those experiencing clinical depression. This episode also offers some practical advice for bishops or other members of the church who want to help those with depression.
This episode is a great introduction and survey of the subject of one of the most common mental health issues we find in our society.
Extra Resources:
Valley of Sorrows A Layman's Guide to Understanding Mental Illness for Latter-day Saints
Episode 22: In Brigham Young’s Words – Gerrit Dirkmaat and LaJean Carruth
Feb 15, 2017
Episode 21: Learning from Pakistan – Robert Eaton
Feb 09, 2017
Several years ago a group of professors at BYU-Idaho designed an interdisciplinary course called "Global Hotspot: Pakistan at the Crossroad of Conflict."
Students are asked to learn and analyze issues relating to Pakistan's history, geography, culture, languages, and religions. However, the real purpose of this course is to use Pakistan as a giant case study to help students develop skills and abilities that they can use in understanding people and countries that are quite different.
Those skills include--
Recognizing and overcoming stereotypes in their own thinking;
Understanding how factors such as history, geography, and religion influence countries and individuals;
Identifying and appreciating strengths and weaknesses in other cultures and nations, and
Understanding how the nations of the world are connected.
Professor Eaton notes that we all sometimes engage in sloppy analytical thinking by casually accepting stereotypes or the assumptions of others, and we should challenge these notions.
He also thinks that respecting others while holding firm to unique beliefs is a somewhat lost art but a necessary balancing act for members of the LDS Church to engage in. We can respect other believers of God without sacrificing our beliefs.
Join Laura Harris Hales as she interviews Rob Eaton about understanding Pakistan and our own place in the world.
Extra Resources:
I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was shot by the Taliban
Becoming A Great Gospel Teacher
Digging Deeper: Discovering and Applying Life-Changing Doctrines from the Book of Mormon
Episode 20: D&C 76, The Vision of the Resurrection – Matthew McBride
Feb 01, 2017
In episode three of our Revelations in Context Series, host Nick Galieti interviews Matthew McBride of the Church History Department about his essay entitled "The Vision."
In 1832 Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon reported receiving a vision at the John Johnson home. Apparently while working on a revision of the New Testament, Joseph had just completed "translating" John 5:29 when the vision commenced.
The early nineteenth-century culture was highly religious and most Christian sects believed that the Bible was all-sufficient. For Joseph Smith to revise what was already considered to be complete was radical. What he and Sidney saw in vision was even more surprising.
The vision touched on matters dealing with one of the most contentious religious debates of the time: Who is saved? Surprisingly, the revelation confirmed the least popular position.
Brigham Young, arguably one of Joseph's most loyal supporters, struggled with this Universalist-like vision of the afterlife for quite some time. Other members had difficulty accepting this paradigm shift as well.
Matthew McBride uses this historical backdrop to provide a powerful metaphor that modern-day members may use when dealing with doctrine that may be difficult to accept.
This is an episode you won't want to miss. Download Transcript
Extra Resources:
Episode 20 Transcript
“The Vision”
Episode 19: The Book of Mormon as Literature – Grant Hardy
Jan 25, 2017
Grant Hardy became intrigued with world religions, especially those of East Asia, as a young missionary. He has researched and written widely on various topics, but his study of the Book of Mormon led him to publish two landmark books that share important insights.
In his brief overview to Understanding the Book of Mormon, Hardy gives us ten observations about the Book of Mormon:
It is a long book.
It is written in a somewhat awkward, repetitious form of English.
It imitates the style of the King James Version.
It claims to be history.
It presents a complicated narrative.
It is a religious text.
It is basically a tragedy.
It is very didactic.
It is a human artifact.
Its basic structure is derived from the three narrators.
It is this last observation that forms the thesis for the majority of his work. Hardy contends that "If you're not seeing the narrators at every turn, you're not really reading the Book of Mormon--because that's how the book is constructed, regardless of who the author(s) may have been."
The three main narrators (Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni) each had distinct approaches as they presented history and revelation in their writings.
Join Laura Harris Hales as she has an enjoyable back-and-forth with an outstanding Book of Mormon scholar. Download Transcript
Extra Resources:
Episode 19 Transcript
Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader's Guide
The Book of Mormon: A Reader's Edition
LDS Perspectives Podcast
Episode 19: The Book of Mormon as Literature with Grant Hardy
Laura Hales: Hello. I’m Laura Harris Hales, your host for this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast. Today I’m here with Grant Hardy, author of Understanding the Book of Mormon. We will be talking about another strategy to enhance our study of the Book of Mormon. Grant Hardy is a professor of history and religious studies at the University of North Carolina in Asheville.
He has a bachelor’s in Ancient Greek from Brigham Young University and a PhD in Chinese language and literature from Yale. He has authored books on diverse topics such as Worlds of Bronze and Bamboo and Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide. He’s also edited The Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Edition, Enduring Ties: Poems of Family Relationships, and the Oxford History of Historical Writing, Volume 1. Grant’s “Sacred Texts of the World,” a 36-lecture course for the Teaching Company was released in 2015 and follows his earlier course “Great Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition.” Grant and his wife, Heather, have two children. Welcome, Grant.
Grant Hardy: Thank you. It’s good to be here.
Laura Hales: I have a stepson who is fluent in Chinese. How did you get interested in the Chinese language?
Grant Hardy: I went on a mission to Taiwan and learned Chinese there and became very interested in Chinese literature and history and philosophy. So the family joke is I went there as a missionary, and they sort of converted me a little bit. I think it happens fairly often.
Laura Hales: I think so, too. I have a lot of friends who went to Chinese-speaking missions, and they loved the people and loved the culture. From your bio, it appears that you are intrigued by world religions and those of the Far East, of course, because of China in particular. Can you pinpoint where that interest first developed?
Grant Hardy: Sure. It came from the mission. As you know, missionaries are pretty restricted in what they’re allowed to read and study because they’re focusing on missionary work. But in our mission, the mission president said that anything having to do with Chinese culture might be appropriate to help us be better missionaries. I found that Chinese culture was a vast, rich, sort of treasure trove of ideas and heritage and history. I used to get up an hour earlier than the mission rule, so I would have some time to read some Chinese literature and materials.
Episode 18: Of Governments and Laws (D&C 134) – Spencer W. McBride
Jan 18, 2017
In November 2014, Smithsonian Magazine named Joseph Smith as the most influence American religious figure of all time.
This founder of the Mormon religion also ran for president of the United States during the last year of his life. Though he left a much smaller imprint on the political scene than the religious one, there is one document in our current canonized scripture that is dedicated to enumerating LDS beliefs regarding governments and laws.
Ironically, though Joseph Smith would refer to it during his lifetime, he didn't actually author it. What is now D&C 134 was written in 1835 by Oliver Cowdery and Sidney Rigdon and was accepted by common consent in a conference held in Smith's absence. No leader then or now referred to it as direct revelation from God but rather a declaration of principles.
The document proved highly adaptable as it was used to protest and support the US government. It was also used in petitions to the US Congress for redress from Missouri persecutions.
As part of the Revelations in Context series, McBride shares his insights into this document and its reception and use by early Mormon Apostle Lyman Wight.
Spencer W. McBride believes that members will benefit from the study of the past. He maintains that "Mormons will better understand their own religion if they have a deeper understanding of American history, and Americans will better understand their past if they understand the smaller aspect of the Mormon world."
Extra Resources:
“Of Governments and Laws” (FREE)
Pulpit and Nation: Clergymen and the Politics of Revolutionary America (Jeffersonian America)
“The 100 Most Significant Americans of All Time” (Free)
Episode 17: Exploring Near Death Experiences – Brent Top
Jan 11, 2017
In 1975, Dr. Raymond A. Moody coined the term "near-death experiences" in his bestselling book Life After Life.
Mormons have latched on to this concept, which is not surprising, considering our unique doctrine regarding the afterlife.
Dr. Brent Top has researched extensively near-death experiences, especially by those outside of the LDS community.
He has identified several common elements to these experiences such as the "life review," encountering loved ones, and spirit communication.
Far from fading as a fad, the topic is becoming more and more popular.
While Dr. Top finds his studies interesting, he warns of the danger of trying to establish doctrine through experience. He emphasizes what the LDS doctrine is regarding the afterlife rather than anecdotal experiences. He also introduces a concept he coined as the "Apocryphal Principle" to help us evaluate these stories.
Extra Resources:
Beyond Death's Door: Understanding Near-Death Experiences in Light of the Restored Gospel
Glimpses Beyond Death's Door
What's on the Other Side? What the Gospel Teaches Us about the Spirit World
Episode 16: Joseph Smith’s Papyri – John Gee
Jan 03, 2017
Laura Harris Hales interviews Dr. John Gee about the history of Joseph Smith's papyri.
Dr. Gee has studied the papyri and the Book of Abraham for over thirty years, yet admits there are still many mysteries still to be unraveled.
He shares with listeners fascinating details regarding what we know about Joseph Smith's purchase of the papyri in Ohio in 1835 to the Church's acquisition of its remaining fragments from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the late sixties.
Along the way he shares some interesting stories about its translation, its teachings, and how Mother Smith used the papyri and mummies to provide for herself as a widow.
He also sheds light on issues regarding the provenance (where it came from) of the Book of Abraham and how its teachings on the pre-existence proliferated throughout the Church in the years after Joseph Smith's death.
Be sure to check the links to articles written by Dr. Gee on both of these topics. Download Transcript
Extra Resources:
Episode 16 Transcript
“Some Puzzles from the Joseph Smith Papyri” (Free)
“New Light on the Joseph Smith Papyri” (FREE)
Introduction to the Book of Abraham
A Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri
Episode 15: Women’s Voices – Janiece Johnson and Jenny Reeder
Dec 28, 2016
While working on her dissertation, Janiece Johnson came up with the idea to create a resource for members to use while preparing lessons. She felt there would be value in infusing women's voices into our gospel teaching.
Women's stories have traditionally been shared in biographical format, but Janiece's idea was to piece these testimonies together in a more easily accessible format. Five years later, she and her coauthor, Jenny Reeder, have put together a collection of thoughts arranged topically that is now available through Deseret Book.
Author Jenny Reeder points out that this format allows us to identify common themes. No two pioneer women lived the same experience. They approached the gospel in different ways. Like now, there was not one "right way." These differences should not only be noticed but also appreciated, validated, and understood.
Knowing a bit about the lives of these women adds punch to their testimonies. Life wasn't perfect for these women. They had stuff going on in their lives similar to us now, but they were resourceful and did the best they could in their circumstances.
Join Laura Harris Hales for a journey back in time as we get to know a little bit more about some of the incredible women of the early Church.
Extra Resources:
Excerpt from The Witness of Women mentioned in podcast (free)
The Witness of Women: Firsthand Experiences and Testimonies of the Restoration
Episode 14: Curriculum and Correlation – David B. Marsh
Dec 21, 2016
Russell Stevenson interviews David Marsh, who has worked developing curriculum for the LDS Church for decades. Together they discuss the nitty-gritty details of taking a teaching concept from its inception stage to the classroom.
Who hasn't found their mind wandering during a Sunday School lesson or wondering why the manuals repeatedly emphasize the same basic principles? And who writes these manuals? Are they scholars, professional teachers, or members who are called to the task? What is Correlation? The answers to these questions may surprise you.
Dr. Marsh walks us through the process of curriculum creation, which includes the following steps:
Concept Development
Text Prototype
Manuscript Creation
Feedback
Revision
Full Prototype with Images
Translation
Publicity
Printing
Manuals are reviewed by hundreds of people before they are distributed, including the managers and directors of curriculum development, executive directors, the Priesthood and Executive Committees, the General Auxiliary Presidencies (YW, YM, RS, SS, and Primary), and sometimes the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency.
From his years teaching and writing curriculum, David Marsh dispenses wisdom about how to approach our Sunday experience in order to minimize frustration. He speaks to the echo chamber of academia and our responsibility to seek out for ourselves the deeper doctrines of the gospel and become self-reliant learners.
Extra Resources:
LDS Gospel Study Blog (Free)
Doubt Not, But Be Believing: Supporting Loved Ones Through Their Trials of Faith
Episode 13: When Was Jesus Born? – Jeffrey R. Chadwick
Dec 14, 2016
Have you ever wondered why we celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25? Was it just a random date chosen by the early Christian fathers or is there more to it? Dr. Chadwick, an archaeologist and Herodian scholar, became interested in this question and thinks he has found an answer.
Using Matthew, Luke, the Book of Mormon, and historical clues, he comes up with what he thinks to be a pretty sound theory on the dating of the birth of Christ. As he shares his research, we discuss old Jerusalem and LDS thought on the topic from Elders James Talmage, Reuben J. Clark, and Bruce R. McConkie.
Join us in this fascinating discussion that brings into question how to approach scripture. Can it accurately pinpoint historical events? Listen in and let us know what you think. Download Transcript
Extra Resources:
Episode 13 Transcripts
“Dating the Birth of Jesus Christ” (free)
“When was Jesus Born? A Response to a Recent Proposal” (free)
“How December 25 Became Christmas” (free)
“Stone Manger - The Untold Story of Christmas”
Dating the Death of Christ
Episode 12: Revelations in Context – “An Elect Lady” with Matthew Grow
Dec 01, 2016
Laura Harris Hales sat down with Matthew Grow, the LDS Church History Department Director of Publications, to discuss the completion of an exciting project.
The Revelations in Context essays, which have been added to LDS.org over the past four years, are now complete. In addition to finding them on the Revelations in Context webpage, they can be accessed in booklet form or on the Gospel Library App. Links to the essays have also been integrated into the digital version of the Gospel Doctrine manual on the Doctrine and Covenants and Church history.
The essays not only delve into the historical background of the revelations but also how the revelations were received by members at the time. These are not scriptural commentaries but rather stories about how these revelations affected the lives of individuals. They present the award-winning scholarship of the Joseph Smith Papers Project in an easy-to-read format.
We also talk about an essay written by Matt entitled "Thou Art an Elect Lady," which discusses D&C 24, 25, 26, and 27. Thought you knew about "Emma's revelation"? Listen in to hear new insights we gain from the fine researchers of the Church History Department.
Exploring the Revelations in Context is a seven-part series with episodes released monthly. Download Transcript
Extra Resources:
Episode 12 Transcript
"Thou Art an Elect Lady" (free)
Revelations in Context (free)
The First Fifty Years of Relief Society Website (Free)
The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women's History
“Joseph Smith’s Teachings about Priesthood, Temple, and Women”
“Joseph and Emma Smith's Susquehanna Home: Expanding Mormonism's First Headquarters”
Episode 11: Joseph, Mary, and Jesus – Eric Huntsman
Nov 29, 2016
Several years ago Eric Huntsman sat down and asked himself a question: How can we take the celebration of Christmas and the texts that teach us about it and connect them with families?
His conclusion was that through celebrating Advent each year through devotional activities, he and his family could better enjoy the spirit of Christmas.
Typically, he would delve into biblical commentaries. After one memorable Christmas, he decided that simpler was better. For over a decade, he and his family have celebrated the four weeks of Advent leading up to Christmas.
Listen as Dr. Huntsman shares with Blake Dalton how he has been able to mesh biblical scholarship with family Christmas traditions. They also delve into what we can learn about Mary and Joseph from the birth narratives.
They discuss when Christians began to celebrate Christmas, which was first seen as soft idolatry, and the timing of the addition of the birth narratives into the Gospels.
Check out the links in the show notes for Eric’s ideas for celebrating the Advent of Jesus Christ through the traditional four aspects of Advent: Hope, Love, Peace, and Joy.
Extra Resources:
LDS Seasonal Materials (free)
"No Room at the Inn" (free)
"How the Wise Men Became Kings" (free)
Good Tidings of Great Joy
Worship: Adding Depth to Your Devotion
Episode 10: Book of Mormon Scholarship, Theories, and Folklore – Brant A. Gardner
Nov 23, 2016
In this episode, Laura Harris Hales interviews Brant A. Gardner. He is the author of several books and articles discussing the text of the Book of Mormon and ancient Mesoamerica.
The discussion covers the didactic model for translating the Book of Mormon and a possible setting for it.
Brant describes how he became convinced that Mesoamerica could be a possible setting for Lehi to fit into the history of the American continent. He uses several examples from the text of the Book of Mormon that converge with the history of Mesoamerica at that specific time to support his theory.
Then we have some fun chatting about how our understanding of Mesoamerican artifacts and their meaning has changed over the past fifty years. He also lists some false traditions that have hampered our understanding of the relationship between Lehites and indigenous cultures.
According to Brant, his research is not presented to prove the Book of Mormon is true but rather to prove it interesting. I think you will agree that he does just that. Download Transcript
Extra Resources:
Episode 10 Podcast
Translating the Book of Mormon
Anachronisms in the Book of Mormon
Traditions of Our Fathers: The Book of Mormon as History
A Reason for Faith: Navigating LDS Doctrine and Church History
LDS Perspectives Podcast
Episode 10: Book of Mormon Scholarship, Theories, and Folklore
Laura Hales: Hello. My name is Laura Harris Hales. Welcome to LDS Perspectives Podcast. I’m here today with Brant Gardner, who earned his master’s degree in anthropology, specializing in Mesoamerican ethnohistory from the state university of New York of Albany. Thanks for visiting with us today, Brant.
Brant Gardner: Happy to be here.
Laura Hales: Tell our listeners a little bit about some of the books you’ve written on Book of Mormon studies.
Brant Gardner: I started kind of where most people would start — at the end. I began with a commentary on the Book of Mormon. The first thing that I published on the Book of Mormon was six volumes worth of more than you wanted to know about the Book of Mormon. Then I’ve been specializing since then. The other two after that series, the first was a book called The Gift and the Power: Translating the Book of Mormon, and the second, Traditions of Fathers: The Book of Mormon as History.
Laura Hales: As you write a book, it’s a research and a learning process. What was one of the biggest surprises you learned as you were writing these books?
Brant Gardner: I think the very first real surprise that I had when I was writing the commentary was that I wasn’t able to really look ahead to see where things were going. My mind would kind of range ahead, and I’d say, “Oh yeah, here’s what’s going to happen in the Book of Mormon, and here’s why that makes sense.” I found out that every time I did that, I was invariably incorrect, and that if I just went plodding through piece by piece by piece, it actually made sense.
The surprising thing about that is if you think about it, if you’re taking a long trip somewhere, and you’re just a degree off in the direction you’re going that really gets you far off by the end. This process in the Book of Mormon had me dead on the whole way. I was really quite shocked that I could begin without the end in mind and have everything match up, if I just carefully plodded through and took it the way it came.
Laura Hales: That’s wonderful. Okay. We’re going to talk a little bit about your translation chapter because I think that’s what interests people so much, that Joseph Smith had this rock that he used. He put it in a hat and out came the Book of Mormon. You trace this relic that he used, this folk art, back in history to even the Bible, where prophets used something to enable them to translate or to have revelation. Can you give an example of that for us?
Brant Gardner: Yeah. Part of the question of dealing with the seer stone i...
Episode 9: Joseph’s Seer Stones – Michael Hubbard MacKay
Nov 15, 2016
Russell Stevenson interviews Dr. Michael Mackay about the use of seer stones in the Book of Mormon translation process.
Some may not realize that Joseph continued to use seer stones after the Book of Mormon was translated. He used them while translating the Bible, when dictating revelations, and even when giving patriarchal blessings.
After his death, Joseph's stones were passed down to succeeding presidents of the church and looked upon as sacred relics.
Dr. Mackay discusses how the seer stones were not simply a tool to give Joseph confidence to translate; they represent something much more significant. Download Transcript
Extra Resources:
Episode 9 Transcript
Michael MacKay on Changing Views that Seemed Set in Stone (Free)
Joseph Smith's Seer Stones
From Darkness into Light: Joseph Smith's Translation and Publication of the Book of Mormon
“Git Them Translated”
Episode 8: What is Isaiah Doing in the Book of Mormon? – Joseph Spencer
Nov 03, 2016
Second Nephi has a reputation for being a bit dry. Missing is the drama of the Book of Mormon. Where the story line pauses, it is replaced with long passages containing interpolations of the words of Nephi into the Old Testament scripture of Isaiah.
Nephi tells readers this departure into deeper doctrine is the "more sacred" part of the small plates. However, modern readers often have difficulty connecting with its discourses pertaining to the gathering of the house of Israel.
Our guest, Joseph Spencer, has spent much of his academic career studying covenantal history, including within Book of Mormon contexts.
Some have coined Isaiah's presence in the Book of Mormon as a problem; Joseph Spencer sees it more as an answer to questions that emerge within the narrative.
He maintains that making sense of Isaiah's place in the Book of Mormon is the essential key to making sense of the Book of Mormon. He identifies three narrative hinges in the Book of Mormon that each begin with a quotation from Isaiah. Maybe, just maybe, you might be encouraged to give Isaiah in the Book of Mormon a second look.
Join Laura Harris Hales as she discusses with Joseph Spencer the daunting pursuit of studying Isaiah in the Book of Mormon. Download Transcript
Extra Resources:
Episode 8 Transcript
“Prolegomena to Any Future Study of Isaiah” (free download)
Authorcast #33: Conversation with Joseph M. Spencer (free)
The "Isaiah Problem" in the Book of Mormon (a fun look at a vintage Church magazine)
Episode 7: Pursue-Withdrawal Relationship Syndrome – Jonathan Sherman
Nov 02, 2016
Welcome to the first podcast in our Love and Relationships Series.
Family and marriage are two topics that dominate church discourse, so we have asked Emil Harker, a licensed clinical social worker, to help us discuss ways to improve those relationships.
In this first episode, Emil interviews Jonathan Sherman, a fellow therapist, about one of the most common behaviors they find in marital relationships. It is called by many names, but ultimately it simply involves game playing to obtain the attention one seeks in a relationship.
Emil and Jonathan discuss avoiding this common pitfall that hinders rather than invites intimacy. They also suggest ideas to improve communication and satisfaction in relationships.
Extra Resources:
You Can Turn Conflict to Closeness
Marriage Envy
Episode 6: DNA Detective Work – Ugo Perego
Oct 26, 2016
Last summer Russell Stevenson sat down with Dr. Ugo Perego to discuss his use of DNA research in historical studies.
Early in his career, Ugo used genetic studies in genealogical research. Lately he has expanded his studies to shed light on historical mysteries.
In this episode, Dr. Perego shares his findings on three topics: Joseph Smith's posterity, DNA of North American peoples, and victims of the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
Ugo's youngest son thinks he gets invited to lecture because of his really cool accent. We agree his accent is cool, but his insights are what keep us hanging onto every word. Download Transcript
Extra Resources:
Episode 6 Transcript
Joseph Smith's DNA Research
All Abraham's Children: A Genetic Perspective
Finding Lehi in America Through DNA Analysis
Gospel Topics Essay: Book of Mormon and DNA Studies
Book of Mormon and DNA Studies
The Mountain Meadows Massacre: A Scientific Approach
LDS Perspectives Podcast
Episode 6: DNA Detective Work with Ugo Perego
Russell Stevenson: This is Russell Stevenson, and today we have Dr. Ugo A. Perego, a population geneticist, who will be discussing with us the meaning and significance of genetic studies for Latter-day Saint history. Thanks so much for joining us, Ugo.
Ugo Perego: It’s good to be here.
Russell Stevenson: Let’s talk generally about the significance of genetics research for the study of Latter-day Saint history. You know, from a bird’s eye view we typically haven’t asked these kinds of questions. How has your field of study generally changed the way we look at Latter-day Saint history?
Ugo Perego: I don’t think we are really changing anything, but we are bringing in something. I think that over time technology, and not just with genetics, but you would agree with any kind of field, you know, computer and digital imaging, and other ways. We’ve been able to bring in some tools that will allow us to take a different look or bringing in some new data that complements what we might have had before just using traditional methods. Like the archives and so on. And then what we can do is that we can bring this data and look at it within the context of what we already knew and see if we are shedding more light, or maybe we are confirming that we really cannot answer a particular question. Maybe before it was a suspicion, now we are confirming it using this genetic data.
Russell Stevenson: One of your major projects is studying the family of Joseph Smith, specifically within the context of polygamy. So tell us a little bit more about your work there.
Ugo Perego: Well, I started to actually look at the opposite direction, which was a number of years ago when I started working for Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation in Salt Lake City, and I was a graduate student. One of the questions that was asked was, “Isn’t it interesting we are building this project to help people do the family history, their genealogy, and fulfill to some degree the Latter-day Saint’s commandment to trace your ancestry back as far as you can. And yet, the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, up to that point, that was something that was brought to me, there was uncertainty about where he came from in England. Genealogically the Smith family, and the genealogists that were interested in the Smith family, were unable to accurately trace back Joseph Smith ancestry all the way to the first Smith in America.
Russell Stevenson: For those people who are not well versed in genetic studies, they’re not aware of how you actually carry out this sort of research, break down for us the logistics of how you trace somebody’s ancestry genetically. What is it that you do step by step?
Ugo Perego: Okay, so everyone carries DNA. We all have DNA. We have it in the cells of our body. And the DNA is not created from nothing. It’s inherited from those that came before us. So the simple math when it comes to DNA is that we ...
Episode 5: Book of Mormon Central – Neal Rappleye
Oct 19, 2016
Welcome to the first podcast in our Young Scholars Series. In these episodes, we introduce listeners to young scholars who are presenting scholarship that belies their ages and formal educational training.
This week Blake Dalton interviews Neal Rappleye.
Neal is the office manager at Book of Mormon Central. Like most of his co-workers, he is a Millennial. His team is young and talented.
Five days a week they pump out KnoWhys on some aspect of Book of Mormon scholarship. Each KnoWhy includes a one-minute video, a short essay, references, and an audio version of the essay.
But Book of Mormon Central is much more than a collection of KnoWhys. Neal shares some of the other resources it provides and introduces us to a new and exciting tool that may just change the way we study the Book of Mormon.
Extra Resources:
Book of Mormon Central Website
Episode 4: Homosexuality and the Gospel – Ty Mansfield
Oct 12, 2016
Host Nick Galieti and Ty Mansfield openly discuss the need for dialogues regarding appropriate sexual boundaries in family, marriage, and church settings.
Ty argues that sexual attraction is a phenomenon that cannot be easily identified, labeled, or codified, even if it is a natural impulse. Yet, popular culture promotes claims that science has not been able to verify.
When discussing homosexuality, much of what he writes applies equally to heterosexuals as to those with same-gender attraction. We all are tugged by nature in directions that may exceed the boundaries of gospel principles.
Join in as Ty offers some needed perspective on a divisive issue. Download Transcript
Extra Resources:
Episode 4 Transcript
Homosexuality and the Gospel (from A Reason for Faith)
A Reason for Faith: Navigating LDS Doctrine and Church History
Episode 3: LDS Artwork Revisited – Anthony Sweat
Oct 04, 2016
In this fascinating discussion, Russell Stevenson interviews Dr. Anthony Sweat, who is an artist, BYU religion professor, and illustrator of the recent publications From Darkness into Light and Joseph Smith's Seer Stones. In recent years, LDS artwork found in church curriculum and magazines has been criticized because it does not portray the Book of Mormon translation process historically accurate.
Dr. Sweat shares that the first place his students often learn that Joseph Smith put stones into a hat when translating is through the television show South Park. He seeks to provide artwork that not only portrays the process more accurately but also respectfully.
Russell Stevenson and Anthony Sweat discuss how artists — from Arnold Friberg to the creators of South Park — have helped shape perceptions of LDS scriptures and historical events over the past seventy years.
Extra Resources:
“The Role of Art in Teaching Latter-day Saint History and Doctrine”
From Darkness into Light: Joseph Smith's Translation and Publication of the Book of Mormon
Joseph Smith's Seer Stones
“Insight into Arnold Friberg's Book of Mormon Paintings”
Episode 2: What is Grace? – Brad Wilcox
Sep 28, 2016
In this episode, Dr. Brad Wilcox joins Nick Galieti of the LDS Perspectives podcast to discuss the grace of Christ.
Grace is a term often misunderstood. Dr. Wilcox sheds clarity on the concept and shows how the LDS Church proclaims a gospel of grace. The term can be found in hymns, in conference talks, and throughout the Book of Mormon.
By demystifying and destigmatizing the concept of grace, he invites us to explore how this important doctrine relates to how we may use Christ's gift in our lives — not just once, but continually.
Extra Resources:
"His Grace is Sufficient"
The Continuous Atonement
The Gift of Grace
"What Think Ye of Salvation by Grace?"
"The Law of the Gospel"
Episode 1: The Historical Jesus – Thomas Wayment
Sep 19, 2016
You may have heard discussions about the historical Jesus and wondered exactly what that term means. This episode explores the use of the phrase and why studying the New Testament differently can help us discover the Jesus of history.
Often we concentrate our study of the New Testament on the teachings and ministry of Jesus, but there is value in studying the historical Jesus. Do we sometimes forget he was a man who lived over 2000 years ago in Palestine? Do we think about what kind of clothes he wore? Were they the same or different than those commonly portrayed in portraits? Does what he was wearing tell us anything about Jesus as a man or lend understanding to the stories of the miracles of Jesus? Biblical historians believe it does. These are the things that made Jesus a man living in his time who also accomplished the miraculous.
In the past, the Gospels of the evangelists have often been taught through harmonization or the comparing of each authors' telling of a miracle, parable, or event in the life of Jesus. But when we homogenize, we lose the voice of each author who had a distinct story to tell to a specific audience. Matthew was Jewish and wrote to the Jews. Luke was a gentile and fashioned his narrative for a gentile audience. Their different presentations lend richness and diversity to the telling of a common story, while sometimes even correcting prior writings.
In this episode of the LDS Perspectives podcast, Dr. Thomas Wayment chats with Laura Harris Hales about the value of looking for the historical Jesus in our study of the New Testament.
Extra Resources:
The Life and Teaching of Jesus Christ
To Teach as Jesus Taught
Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament