Beginning with the 1846 and 1847 arrivals of the Brooklyn Saints and the veterans of the famed Mormon Battalion, California’s LDS pioneers became centrally involved in events that had great significance not only to Mormonism but also to the broad course of regional and national growth. In this presentation, based on his recently published narrative …
Event: San Francisco Symposium 2005
FILM AND DISCUSSION. “BURYING THE PAST: LEGACY OF THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE”
Park City, Utah; co-director, University of Utah film studies division; director, Burying the Past , winner of the “Best of Festival Award” at the Berkeley Film Festival and “Best of State Award: Utah” 2004, in the video category. Following the showing of Burying the Past, director Brian Patrick will answer questions about the film and …
REVELATION VS. INSPIRATION
Latter-day Saints often claim that they are guided by revelation from on high in a variety of ways, while still holding to a position implied in one interpretation of the First Vision that every other church is directed by the precepts of men. But how accurate is this assessment? How exclusive is the LDS claim …
LUNCHEON. HUMOR FROM THE TIGHTROPE
Carol Lynn Pearson will share some of her adventures in successfully walking the tightrope between poet-writer-feminist and faithful Latter-day Saint Carol Lynn Pearson
ELLA PEACOCK: PAINTING THE MANTI TEMPLE
First Sight of the Desert: Discovering the Art of Ella Peacock is her first book. Through personal essay, excerpts from First Sight of the Desert: Discovering the Art of Ella Peacock, and a documentary of Peacock as an artist (approximately 15 minutes on DVD), I’ll present a woman who, like the Saints, moved from the …
”“TO WHOM SHALL WE GO?” HISTORICAL PATTERNS OF RESTORATION BELIEVERS WITH SERIOUS DOUBTS
Patterns of religious doubt, disbelief, and disaffiliation can be as diverse and interesting as patterns of religious inquiry, faith, and conversion. Both patterns can be temporary, decades-long, or lifelong. Both involve the mind, the spirit, and the emotions. Drawing on decades of research in Mormon / LDS / RLDS documents, this paper discusses patterns of …
PANEL. TRUTHS IN THE BOOK OF MORMON
It’s been more than 175 years since the publication of the Book of Mormon, and we are yet to find a sign that says “Welcome to Zarahemla.” Without any clear physical evidence in hand, what teachings of the Book of Mormon do panelists see as “True”? How has it inspired them to be better followers …
TRUE TO THE FAITH, THE NEW MORMON DOCTRINE – & – A DECADE OF THE PROCLAMATION ON THE FAMILY
With the publication in July 2004 of True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference, the Church has taken another step toward a unified body of authoritative doctrine. This concise 190-page document, organized alphabetically from A (Aaronic Priesthood) to Z (Zion) thus joins the missionary “white book” of behavioral rules, the newest revision of For the …
Joseph Smith and the Gnostic Restoration & Joseph Smith’s Lesser-Known Wives
The discovery of the Nag Hammadi third-century Gnostic Library has awakened interest in this very early form of Christianity. My proposal is that if Joseph Smith restored true Christianity, then it should share many similarities with Gnosticism. Indeed, there are many strong parallels between these two theologies, starting with a shared sense that humans are …
PANEL. IN QUIET DESPERATION
Over the past several decades, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as the Church itself have struggled with the complex dimensions of homosexuality. The evolving dialogue about the religious, moral, political, and social issues surrounding homosexuality has included many voices. In Quiet Desperation adds to the dialogue the voices …