Sparks fly—sensual and spiritual collide, alluding to the forbidden, insinuating a route to the secret and the hidden in all of us, rallying the spirit. Love poetry can walk this line and do it openly and unashamedly, claiming our deepest affections, healing our contradictions, inducing us to laugh and cry at our fears. Come hear …
Event: Salt Lake Symposium 2011
Millennial Mentality And Religious Relevance
Millennials, the generation born after 1981, are raised to be doubters and seekers. in The Book of Mormon musical, millennial missionary elder Price notes that Mormons Ellen Decoo, Jennifer Duqué, Chris Naegle, Ann-Michelle Neal
Raising The Dead: Mormons, Evangelicals, And Miracles In America
The power to raise the dead was among the gifts Christ gave his twelve apostles, as recorded in Matthew; later Paul boldly asserted it before Herod Agrippa. The gift appears again in the Book of Mormon. It should be no surprise that when Joseph Smith proclaimed the estoration of the primitive church, expectations for the …
Made-Up Missionaries, Fake Faith, & Concocted Conversions: The Alchemy Of The Book Of Mormon Musical
The Book of Mormon musical plays to sold-out audiences who leap to their feet for standing ovations as the show ends; the play has earned critical raves and won “Best Musical” in the 2011 Tonys. Whether “God loves Mormons and he wants some more,” as the lyrics to “Two by Two” declare, Broadway seems to …
The Early Israelite/Christian Doctrine Regarding The Primordial Incarnation Of Yahweh And Satan
Latter-day Saints understand the Bible is not always “translated correctly” and that many plain and precious parts have been removed. The Dead Sea Scrolls reveal that among the missing information is an ancient Israelite/Christian doctrine that yahweh was born on earth as the firstborn son of adam—first as abel and afterwards as Seth—and that Cain …
Mark Hofmann: 25 Years Later
More than 25 years have passed since Mark Hofmann’s bombings and murders exposed his Mormon and Americana documents as forgeries. This presentation will discuss: 1) what has occurred in the story since Hofmann went to prison; 2) the discovery of additional Hofmann forgeries or possible forgeries; and 3) the impact of Hofmann’s forgeries and crimes …
Parody Never Faileth: The Role Of Humor, Satire, And Kitsch In Mormon Culture
Mormons love a good laugh—and sometimes are willing to laugh at themselves. Join us for a lighthearted and light-minded Thursday evening plenary session wherein we will enjoy a closer look at the amusing, the humorous, and the absurd in Mormon creations. We will examine Jana Riess’s Twible project, a slide show featuring LOLcats with a …
Searching For Gene England
Eugene England is remembered by tens of thousands as one of twentieth-century Mormonism’s most significant influences on culture, literature, and practical religion. When Gene participated in the founding of Dialogue, elder Joseph Fielding Smith said it would not be good for the Church. And Gene’s essays and sermons were as troubling to some as the …
A Psychobiography of Joseph Smith: Two Secular Views United
With no historical, archeological, or genetic evidence supporting either the Book of Mormon or the Book of Abraham, the most prominent naturalistic theory of their creation is that they came from Smith’s own mind. Over a decade ago, each of us independently published a comprehensive psychobiographic study of Smith, using contemporary models of behavioral science …
The Social And Economic Teachings Of Mormonism: Social Justice Is Alive And Well
In the 1980s, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops issued their pastoral letter about our responsibility as Christians to assist the poor. In 2010, the LDS Church stated its new Fourth Mission “to serve the poor and needy” in a new handbook that emphasizes ministering to others. Similar strong traditions exist in many other Christian …