I don’t know if you have ever heard of Julian of Norwich. She’s a 14thcentury mystic, an anchoress, really, in Norwich, England. When she was thirty years old, she became so ill that her local priest came to administer the Last Rites. As she fixed her eyes on the crucifix, she experienced a series of sixteen visions (shewings), beginning with a vision of the blood running down Christ’s face as the crown of thorns was pressed home. She produced one... Read more
It is evident that the LDS church has made the institution of the nuclear family its centerpiece in both its external PR and internal emphasis. There are many wonderful things that can be said about such an approach. The rise and fall of the nuclear family in the 20th century is certainly an interesting moment in history and much can and should be said about this trend in the coming years. I have been doing a bit of reading lately... Read more
Everyone knows that missionary work in Europe is a massive failure. The church has need of substantial PR boost and an entirely new strategy for appealing to contemporary Europeans and their immigrant populations. I suspect that there are a number of problems that need to be addressed, not least among them is that the traditional method of proselytizing in Europe is seen as outmoded at best and an offensive version of American imperialism at worst. However, all of these problems... Read more
Diaspora studies have become increasingly important in recent years. Anthropologists, political activists, theologians, linguists, and others have moved to the diaspora communities for rich research and fascinating studies. LDS scholars and thinkers have not been unaware of this trend and have sought to capitalize on this conceptual framework for making sense of contemporary Mormonism. There is no doubt that there has been a major shift in LDS populations leaving Utah for California, the East Coast, and other places around the... Read more
Any teacher worth their salt as a teacher desires constructive feedback. Students desire to leave feedback, often anonymously, especially if it’s negative. From early personal experience, I know it’s hard to get sincere and thoughtful feedback when spontaneously asking the question face-to-face. Thus was RateMyProfessor.com born, in which students can rate their professors on a variety of characteristics and provide a brief description. Assuming one can get an accurate enough perspective to be useful in decision making, would a similar... Read more
My experience in my new ward over the past month has reinforced to me the need for another higher level of Sunday School classes. I know that there is nothing new in the ‘nacle but let’s hash this out again, for my sake. (more…) Read more
Religious truths are more like the truths of poetry than the truths of physics. Read more
So who should it be? Since it’s just a matter of time before Romney passes Giuliani and becomes the uncontested Republican front-runner, we should start thinking about who would be a good match for Mitt. Nominations? Read more
As Mormons can we talk about “salvation” in the plural? It seems that part of the restored gospel is the pluralization of “salvation”. We teach multiple “kingdoms” after death–where people receive different kinds of salvation. Granted we teach that these “salvations” are gradated, with the Celestial Kingdom being the highest (and even gradated within itself); but it does seem proper to talk about different “ends”, beyond the paradigm of simply Heaven or Hell. (more…) Read more
In light of the recent FARMS post, I wanted to briefly discuss an article I came across by M. Gerald Bradford, published in a recent FARMS Review. I should first state how impressed I was to see an LDS scholar trained in a Religious Studies program, addressing the role of Mormon Studies within the context of Religious Studies. Bradford even lays out a brief outline of “Religious Studies”, influenced by Ninian Smart (former Professor at UCSB, and leading figure in... Read more
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