This paper examines teachings in the 1979 Gospel Principles manual that have been eliminated, revised, or downplayed in the manual currently used in Sunday classes. Included are teachings about abortion, fasting, following the prophet, the responsibility of women to keep a “clean” house, the Word of Wisdom, rape, the roles of men and women, and …
Event: Salt Lake Symposium 2010
SL10361: Hindering the Saints: Taking Away the Key of Knowledge
In Matthew 23 and Luke 11, Jesus lambasted the religious leaders of his day for blatant hypocrisy and a style of spiritual leadership that took away “the key of knowledge” and “shut up the kingdom of heaven against men.” According to Jesus, not only did this prevent the leaders themselves from entering the kingdom but …
SL10114: Money Troubles: Fiscal and Psychological Crises at Kirtland
In Kirtland, Joseph Smith began to take a greater role in managing the financial matters of the Church. His efforts met with resistance from some Saints, which mushroomed into outright rebellion from others. When the Kirtland Safety Society began to fail, intense anger and opposition began to mount against the prophet. Many asked, “How much …
SL10155: A Crisis of Faith in Newtonian Mormonism
This paper will explore the marriage of Mormonism to the Newtonian paradigm of truth. The Newtonian worldview orients all of our cultural thinking, and the Church has fully embraced its values. In this paradigm, the ego can use the notion of truth to self-aggrandize. A compelling invitation to wake up from both the paradigm trances …
SL10214: Meditations on William H. Chamberlin and Why One Should Remain Mormon
“Even if Mormonism were not true, we could make the cause they loved true, and bend it to the service of our God.” –William H. Chamberlin. Few people have had more reason to leave Mormonism than William H. Chamberlin. He was one of the first Mormons to do formal studies in philosophy and biblical criticism …
SL10265: The Will to Power and Exaltation: An Exploration of Mormon and Nietzschean Conceptions of Power
In the modern world, humans are often conceived of as biological automatons, or in religious contexts as dependent, derivative, contingent beings utterly dependent on a necessary God. Both Nietzsche and Mormonism have strong replies to these limitations and exalt the potential for human growth. By comparing and contrasting Nietzsche’s concept of the will to power …
SL10324: From “System of Beliefs” to “Way of Life”: Fifty Years of Transformation in Community of Christ
The Community of Christ struggled with issues of identity from the earliest years of the Reorganization. Although claiming succession from Joseph Smith, Jr. as the “only legitimate” priesthood and church organization, the early Reorganization based its mission on reclaiming “lost” members of the Church who had followed Brigham Young to the West. The identity of …
SL10362: Panel: The Mormon Feminist Community of Exponent II: Its History, Its Legacy, Its Future
This session will explore what Exponent II has meant to Mormon women over the years, what it has achieved, and how it has evolved since it published its first issue in the early 1970s. Panelists will also discuss their vision of the organization’s future as it works to reach out to a new generation of …
SL10115: One Soul Shall Not Be Lost: A History of the War in Heaven in Mormon Thought
The idea of a War in Heaven is rooted in the biblical story of fallen angels (Genesis 6), a reinterpretation of Isaiah 12, and the apocalyptic writings of John (Revelation 12). Developed in the literature of post-biblical Judaism, the idea is more fully expanded in Christianity. Mormon scripture—the Book of Moses and the Doctrine and …
SL10161: From Seer Stone to Trifocals: A Church’s Journey With Scripture
What is this church birthed from the experience of a teenage boy praying in the woods? What is the role of scripture “translated” by an uneducated man sitting behind a veil with golden plates, a hat, and seer stone? This presentation will explore eras of Restoration, Reorganization, and Community and review ten articles pertinent to …