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This volume is an exploration of Mormon apologetics-or the defense of faith. The contributors seek to explore the textures and contours of apologetics from multiple perspectives, revealing deep theological and ideological fissures within the Mormon scholarly community concerning apologetics.

This edition of The Garden of Enid: Adventures of a Weird Mormon Girl recasts the award-winning webcomic as a two-part graphic novel. With revised and previously unpublished comics, it features the familiar story that captivated thousands online, yet offers new glimpses into Enid's year-long odyssey.

The often-lurid and scandalous portrayals of Mormons in dime novels had consequences for the relationship between Mormons and the rest of the United States. Understanding how these stereotypes were created and first employed can help us understand many things about the way that Mormonism has always functioned in American culture.

Element is the official publication of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology. The Society brings together scholars and others who share an interest in studying the teachings and texts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It facilitates the sharing and discussion of work by sponsoring an annual conference, and publishing this journal. Its statement of purpose reads as follows: The purpose of the Society is to promote disciplined reflection on Latter-day Saint beliefs. Its aims include constructive engagement with the broader tradition of philosophy and theology. All its publications, conferences, and other forums for discussion will take seriously both the commitments of faith and the standards of scholarship. Volume 6 Issue 2 (Fall 2015) contains: "The Mormon Jesus and the Nicene Christ," by Richard J. Mouw "The Fundamental Law of Opposition: Lehi and Schelling," by Jad Hatem "Dwelling in Hope," by James E. Faulconer "A Goldilocks God: Open Theism as a Feuerbachian Alternative?" by J. Aaron Simmons and John Sanders "A Critique of the Openness Case for Creation ex Nihilo," by David Paulsen and Spencer Noorlander

Our scripture study and reading often assume that the prophetic figures within the texts are in complete agreement with each other. Because of this we can fail to recognize that those authors and personalities frequently have different-and sometimes competing-views on some of the most important doctrines of the Gospel, including the nature of God, the roles of scripture and prophecy, and the Atonement. In this unique volume, fictionalized dialogues between the various voices of scripture illustrate how these differences and disagreements are not flaws of the texts but are rather essential features of the canon. These creative dialogues include Abraham and Job debating the utility of suffering and our submission to God, Alma and Abinidi disagreeing on the place of justice in the Atonement, and the authors Mark and Luke discussing the role of women in Jesus's ministry. It is by examining and embracing the different perspectives within the canon that readers are able to discover just how rich and invigorating the scriptures can be. The dialogues within this volume show how just as "iron sharpeneth iron," so can we sharpen our own thoughts and beliefs as we engage not just the various voices in the scriptures but also the various voices within our community (Proverbs 27:17).

Book Description: Doing theology is like building a comically circuitous Rube Goldberg machine: you spend your time tinkering together an unnecessarily complicated, impractical, and ingenious apparatus for doing things that are, in themselves, simple. But there is a kind of joy in theology's gratuity, there is a pleasure in its comedic machination, and ultimately-if the balloon pops, the hamster spins, the chain pulls, the bucket empties, the pulley lifts, and (voila!) the book's page is turned-some measurable kind of work is accomplished. But this work is a byproduct. The beauty of the machine, like all beauty, is for its own sake. This book is itself a Rube Goldberg machine, pieced together from a variety of essays written over the past ten years. They offer explicit reflections on what it means to practice theology as a modern Mormon scholar and they stake out substantial and original positions on the nature of the atonement, the soul, testimony, eternal marriage, humanism, and the historicity of the Book of Mormon. Praise for Rube Goldberg Machines: "Adam Miller is the most original and provocative Latter-day Saint theologian practicing today." - Richard Bushman, author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling "Miller is a theologian of the ordinary, thinking about our ordinary beliefs in very non-ordinary ways while never insisting that the ordinary become extra-ordinary." - James Faulconer, Richard L. Evans Chair of Religious Understanding, Brigham Young University "Rube Goldberg Machines is one of the best and most important commentaries on the gospel and on life itself that I have ever read." - Thomas F. Rogers, BYU Studies Quarterly "Rube Golberg is a landmark work in the world of Mormon theology." - Kirk Caudle, The Mormon Book Review "A theology of pure immanency is what Adam's given us and I can only hope that Mormon theology will never be the same again." - Clark Goble, Mormon Metaphysics "This is great theology in all the right ways, but you'll have to read it yourselves to get a taste for its power. Buy the book and read it. Seriously." - Samuel Brown, author of In Heaven as It Is On Earth: Joseph Smith and the Early Mormon Conquest of Death "Adam Miller's Rube Goldberg Theology is full of ingenious, even dazzling formulations, and of lovely, often bracing and sometimes startling insights." - Ralph Hancock, SquareTwo It is a work of truly great theology that only could have been contrived ... by a brilliant Mormon." - Brad Kramer, By Common Consent "Miller's Rube Goldberg theology is nothing like anything done in the Mormon tradition before." - Blake Ostler, author of the Exploring Mormon Thought series About the Author: Adam S. Miller is a professor of philosophy at Collin College in McKinney, Texas. He is the author of Badiou, Marion, and St. Paul: Immanent Grace and Speculative Grace: An Experiment with Bruno Latour in Object-Oriented Theology, editor of An Experiment on the Word: Reading Alma 32, and director of the Mormon Theology Seminar.

Continuing a conversation as old as Mormonism itself, Jack Harrell explores the relationship between Mormonism and the writer. Mormons see the universe in mythic proportions. Their God is a creator, their devil a destroyer. This makes meaningful conflict fundamental to their worldview, and begs the terms for religious redemption, as well as the redemptive power of art. Harrell urges writers to be authentic as they embrace the difficulties inherent in the creative process. His essays blend faithful intellectual inquiry, personal narrative, research, and application to offer insights for anyone who cares about writing, creativity, and the human condition.

First published in 1855, Boadicea; the Mormon Wife belongs to a sub-genre of crime fiction that flourished in the Eastern United States during the 1850s. Boadicea has become increasingly important to scholars of Mormonism because it gives us a glimpse of the Mormon image in literature immediately after the Church's public acknowledgement of plural marriage. Over the next half century, this image would be sharpened and refined by writers with different rhetorical goals: to end polygamy, to attack Mormon theology, or just to tell a highly entertaining adventure story. In Boadicea, though, we see these tropes in their infancy, through a prolific author working at break-neck speed to imagine the lives of a strange people for readers willing to pay the "extremely low price of 15 cents" for the privilege of being amazed by stories of polygyny and polyandry, along with generous helpings of adultery, seduction, kidnapping, and no fewer than fourteen untimely but spectacular deaths: people are shot, stabbed, bludgeoned, poisoned, hanged, strangled, and drowned. No other novel of the nineteenth century comes anywhere near Boadicea in portraying Mormon society as violent, chaotic, and dysfunctional. Virtually unavailable until now, Michael Austin and Ardis E. Parshall's fresh transcription, introduction, notes, and appendices enable readers to rediscover this intriguing and salacious outsider's view of early Mormonism.

Our scripture study and reading often assume that the prophetic figures within the texts are in complete agreement with each other. Because of this we can fail to recognize that those authors and personalities frequently have different-and sometimes competing-views on some of the most important doctrines of the Gospel, including the nature of God, the roles of scripture and prophecy, and the Atonement. In this unique volume, fictionalized dialogues between the various voices of scripture illustrate how these differences and disagreements are not flaws of the texts but are rather essential features of the canon. These creative dialogues include Abraham and Job debating the utility of suffering and our submission to God, Alma and Abinidi disagreeing on the place of justice in the Atonement, and the authors Mark and Luke discussing the role of women in Jesus's ministry. It is by examining and embracing the different perspectives within the canon that readers are able to discover just how rich and invigorating the scriptures can be. The dialogues within this volume show how just as ""iron sharpeneth iron,"" so can we sharpen our own thoughts and beliefs as we engage not just the various voices in the scriptures but also the various voices within our community (Proverbs 27:17).

Book Description: The Claremont Women's Oral History Project has collected hundreds of interviews with Mormon women of various ages, experiences, and levels of activity. These interviews record the experiences of these women in their homes and family life, their church life, and their work life, in their roles as homemakers, students, missionaries, career women, single women, converts, and disaffected members. Their stories feed into and illuminate the broader narrative of LDS history and belief, filling in a large gap in Mormon history that has often neglected the lived experiences of women. This project preserves and perpetuates their voices and memories, allowing them to say share what has too often been left unspoken. The silent majority speaks in these records. This volume is the first to explore the riches of the collection in print. A group of young scholars and others have used the interviews to better understand what Mormonism means to these women and what women mean for Mormonism. They explore those interviews through the lenses of history, doctrine, mythology, feminist theory, personal experience, and current events to help us understand what these women have to say about their own faith and lives. Praise for Mormon Women Have Their Say: ""Mormon women have always had a lot to say, but generation after generation, their voices fade away. The problem is not just that archives and manuals favor the writings of male leaders. The real problem is that few of us know how to listen to seemingly common stories. We revere our sisters but don't understand them. The essays in this volume go beyond collecting and preserving to the hard work of interpretation. Using a variety of analytical techniques and their own savvy, the authors connect ordinary lives with enduring themes in Latter-day Saint faith and history."" --Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, author of Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History ""Essential. Since the 19th century, Mormon women have been stereotyped as voiceless victims of our own faith. This book and the larger oral history project it represents amplify the steady, thoughtful, articulate voices of everyday Mormon women as we actually are, weighing in on issues that truly matter: belief, authority, service, family, personal revelation, work, and gender. Caroline Kline and Claudia Bushman have done a major and necessary service for Mormon Studies. In these pages, Mormon women will find ourselves. --Joanna Brooks, author of The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an American Faith ""This book is both a product and a celebration of the important project on women's oral histories inaugurated by Claudia Bushman at Claremont Graduate University. However, these essays are not merely transcripts of various interviews. Rather, they are insightful and interpretive essays illustrating major themes recurring in these oral histories. The varieties of women's responses to the major issues in their lives will provide many surprises for the reader, who will be struck by how many different ways there are to be a thoughtful and faithful Latter-day Saint woman."" --Armand Mauss, author of All Abraham's Children: Changing Mormon Conceptions of Race and Lineage

Environmental decline, political gridlock, war and rumors of war, decadence, and immorality. The End of the World, Plan B traces the idea of the end, or destruction, of the world through a number of spiritual traditions. It shows that our present understanding of the "end game" has been distorted by a modern emphasis and demand on justice as the ultimate good. As an alternative to this self-destructive approach, Charles Shirō Inouye shows that in these traditions, justice is not the isolated end in itself that we ought strive for; rather it is taught in tandem with its balancing companion: compassion. Plan B is a hopeful alternative to our fears about how things are going.

Americans of Joseph Smith's day, steeped in the stories and prophecies of the King James Bible, certainly knew about plural marriage; but it was a curiosity relegated to the misty past of patriarchs Abraham and Jacob, who never gave reasons for their polygamy. It was long abandoned, Christians understood, by the time Jesus set forth the dominating law of the New Testament. But how did Joseph Smith understand it? Where did it fit in the "restitution of all things" (Acts 3:21) predicted in the New Testament? What part did it play in the global ideology declared by this modern prophet who produced new scripture, new revelation, and new theology? During Joseph Smith's lifetime, polygamy was taught and practiced in intense secrecy, with the result that he never fully explained its doctrinal underpinnings or systematized its practice. As a result, reconstructing Joseph Smith's theology of plurality is a task that has seldom been undertaken. Most theological examinations have either focused on its development during Brigham Young's Utah period, with its need to resist increasing federal legislative and judicial pressures, or the efforts of twentieth-century and contemporary "fundamentalists" who continue to marry a plurality of wives. Volume 3 of this three-volume work builds on the carefully reconstructed history of the development of Mormon polygamy during Joseph Smith's lifetime, then assembles the doctrinal principles from his recorded addresses, the diary entries of those closely associated with him, and his broader teachings on the related topics of obedience to God's will, marriage and family relations, and the mechanics of eternal progression, salvation, and exaltation. The revelation he dictated in July 1843 that authorized the practice of eternal and plural marriage receives unprecedented examination and careful interpretation that illuminate this significant document and its underlying doctrines. Attempts to explain the history of Joseph Smith's polygamy without comprehending the theological principles undergirding its practice will always be incomplete and skewed. This volume, which takes those principles and evidences with the utmost seriousness, has produced the most important explanation of "why" this ancient practice reemerged among the Latter-day Saints on the shores of the Mississippi in the early 1840s.

Few American religious figures have stirred more passion among adherents and antagonists than Joseph Smith. Born in 1805 and silenced thirty-nine years later by assassins' bullets, he dictated more than one-hundred revelations, published books of new scripture, built a temple, organized several new cities, and became the proclaimed prophet to tens of thousands during his abbreviated life. Among his many novel teachings and practices, none is more controversial than plural marriage, a restoration of the Old Testament practice that he accepted as part of his divinely appointed mission. Joseph Smith taught his polygamy doctrines only in secret and dictated a revelation in July 1843 authorizing its practice (now LDS D&C 132) that was never published during his lifetime. Although rumors and exposés multiplied, it was not until 1852 that Mormons in Brigham Young's Utah took a public stand. By then, thousands of Mormons were engaged in the practice that was seen as essential to salvation. Victorian America saw plural marriage as immoral and Joseph Smith as acting on libido. However, the private writings of Nauvoo participants and other polygamy insiders tell another, more complex and nuanced story. Many of these accounts have never been published. Others have been printed sporadically in unrelated publications. Drawing on every known historical account, whether by supporters or opponents, Volumes 1 and 2 take a fresh look at the chronology and development of Mormon polygamy, including the difficult conundrums of the Fannie Alger relationship, polyandry, the "angel with a sword" accounts, Emma Smith's poignant response, and the possibility of Joseph Smith offspring by his plural wives. Among the most intriguing are the newly available Andrew Jenson papers containing not only the often-quoted statements by surviving plural wives but also Jenson's own private research, conducted in the late nineteenth century. Telling the story of Joseph Smith's polygamy from the records of those who knew him best, augmented by those who observed him from a distance, may have produced the most useful view of all.

Few American religious figures have stirred more passion among adherents and antagonists than Joseph Smith. Born in 1805 and silenced thirty-nine years later by assassins' bullets, he dictated more than one-hundred revelations, published books of new scripture, built a temple, organized several new cities, and became the proclaimed prophet to tens of thousands during his abbreviated life. Among his many novel teachings and practices, none is more controversial than plural marriage, a restoration of the Old Testament practice that he accepted as part of his divinely appointed mission. Joseph Smith taught his polygamy doctrines only in secret and dictated a revelation in July 1843 authorizing its practice (now LDS D&C 132) that was never published during his lifetime. Although rumors and exposés multiplied, it was not until 1852 that Mormons in Brigham Young's Utah took a public stand. By then, thousands of Mormons were engaged in the practice that was seen as essential to salvation. Victorian America saw plural marriage as immoral and Joseph Smith as acting on libido. However, the private writings of Nauvoo participants and other polygamy insiders tell another, more complex and nuanced story. Many of these accounts have never been published. Others have been printed sporadically in unrelated publications. Drawing on every known historical account, whether by supporters or opponents, Volumes 1 and 2 take a fresh look at the chronology and development of Mormon polygamy, including the difficult conundrums of the Fannie Alger relationship, polyandry, the "angel with a sword" accounts, Emma Smith's poignant response, and the possibility of Joseph Smith offspring by his plural wives. Among the most intriguing are the newly available Andrew Jenson papers containing not only the often-quoted statements by surviving plural wives but also Jenson's own private research, conducted in the late nineteenth century. Telling the story of Joseph Smith's polygamy from the records of those who knew him best, augmented by those who observed him from a distance, may have produced the most useful view of all.

Published in 1853, the first American novel about the Mormons is also one of the best. John Russell, an Illinois journalist and educator, witnessed the persecution in Missouri and Illinois and generally sympathized with the Saints. The Mormoness tells the story of Mary Maverick, the heroine of the novel, who joined the Mormon Church when her husband was converted in Illinois. Though not initially a believer, Mary embraces her identity as "the Mormoness" when her husband and son are killed in a Haun's Mill-like massacre-and at the end of the novel, she must find a way to forgive the killer. Virtually unavailable until now, Michael Austin and Ardis E. Parshall's fresh transcription, introduction, notes, and appendices enable readers to rediscover a compassionate and insightful outsider's view of early Mormonism.

The inexorable movement toward gender equality in the modern world has taken root in the consciousness of many Latter-day Saints and has publicly emerged as a major concern for the LDS Church. Spearheaded by a new generation of internet-savvy feminists, equality issues in Mormonism attained high public visibility in 2013 through online profiles posted by the Ordain Women organization and its plea to Church authorities to pray about an expanded role for LDS women. The June 2014 excommunication of OW co-founder Kate Kelly generated increased international media attention. This volume is the first book to provide a comprehensive examination of these issues and is based on chapters written by both scholars and activists. Its twenty-five authors explore in detail theological debates about gender and priesthood authority, the historical and cultural context of these debates, and the current role played by lay activists seeking to stimulate change in the Church.

When carefully examined, both secular and scriptural arguments for pacifism ultimately fail. Once such pacifist arguments are considered, rebutted, and respectfully set aside, it is possible to construct a sound framework for a scriptural view of war, at least in general terms. Such a framework is not pacifist, but it is anything but aggressive, and includes the quality of heart-not to mention, the wisdom-expected of all disciples of Christ, whatever their task or circumstance. It was not an anomaly when the Lord instructed the Nephites to defend their families "even unto bloodshed;" comprehensively understood, the statement expresses a genuine, profound, and conceptually rich scriptural principle.

Book Description: Few scholars have made an impact on contemporary Mormon thought and theology like BYU Professor of Philosophy David L. Paulsen. Recently retired after nearly 40 years of teaching and mentoring, Paulsen has produced an imposing catalog of influential books and articles on Mormon teachings. More significant than his impressive scholarly oeuvre, however, has been his personal influence on generations of students, many of whom he inspired to become teachers and mentors themselves, and contributors to an increasingly interesting and relevant religious conversation. In addition, as one of the first serious LDS interlocutors with Orthodox Christian scholars, Paulsen has established professional and personal relationships with a wide array of non-LDS academics engaged in a serious and respectful dialogue regarding Mormonism and Christianity. This volume is a collection of essays representative of Paulsen's wide-ranging professional and personal influence, collected in honor of his many achievements and published on the occasion of his retirement. Each of the authors (a majority of whom are not LDS) has been impacted by Paulsen's scholarship and friendship in important ways, and have authored essays reflective of this dynamic. In addition, the essays are significant contributions to Mormon thought in and of themselves, covering diverse areas of inquiry from Mormon atheology to the possibility of an Evangelical Mormonism; from Liberation Theology to Mormon conceptions of divine embodiment; from Mormon approaches to transcendence to Mormonism's confrontation with evil and suffering, and many more. Praise for Mormonism at the Crossroads of Philosophy and Theology: "There is no better measure of the growing importance of Mormon thought in contemporary religious debate than this volume of essays for David Paulsen. In a large part thanks to him, scholars from all over the map are discussing the questions Mormonism raises about the nature of God and the purpose of life. These essays let us in on a discussion in progress." - Richard Lyman Bushman, author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. "This book makes it clear that there can be no real ecumenism without the riches of the Mormon mind. . . . These original and insightful essays chart a new course for Christian intellectual life." - Peter A. Huff, Besl Family Chair of Ethics, Religion and Society, Xavier University, and author of Vatican II and The Voice of Vatican II "this volume of smart, incisive essays advances the case for taking Mormonism seriously within the philosophy of religion-an accomplishment that all generations of Mormon thinkers should be proud of." - Patrick Q. Mason, Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies, Claremont Graduate University "These essays accomplish a rare thing-bringing light rather than heat to an on-going conversation." - Terryl L. Givens, author of People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture "A must have for those interested in the Philosophy of Mormonism." - Kirk Caudle, The Mormon Book Review. "There might be reasons today to give the alternatives to [traditional Christian] beliefs another look. If there are such reasons, then this book . . . is a good place to start." - Stephen Webb, author of Jesus Christ, Eternal God Contributors: Jacob Baker (Also Editor) Carl Mosser Brian Birch Paul Owen Craig Blomberg Donald Musser Joseph Price Stephen Davis Clark Pinnock John Sanders James Faulconer Robert Millet Lyndsey Nay John Welch Francis Beckwith Blake Ostler Douglas Davies Dennis Potter James McLachlan Daniel Barron

The phrase "theology of scripture" can be understood in two distinct ways. First, theology of scripture would be reflection on the nature of scripture, asking questions about what it means for a person or a people to be oriented by a written text (rather than or in addition to an oral tradition or a ritual tradition). In this first sense, theology of scripture would form a relatively minor part of the broader theological project, since the nature of scripture is just one of many things on which theologians reflect. Second, theology of scripture would be theological reflection guided by scripture, asking questions of scriptural texts and allowing those texts to shape the direction the theologian's thoughts pursue. In this second sense, theology of scripture would be less a part of the larger theological project than a way of doing theology, since whatever the theologian takes up reflectively, she investigates through the lens of scripture. The essays making up this collection reflect attentiveness to both ways of understanding the phrase "theology of scripture." Each essay takes up the relatively un-self-conscious work of reading a scriptural text but then-at some point or another-asks the self-conscious question of exactly what she or he is doing in the work of reading scripture. We have thus attempted in this book (1) to create a dialogue concerning what scripture is for Latter-day Saints, and (2) to focus that dialogue on concrete examples of Latter-day Saints reading actual scripture texts.

The phrase "theology of scripture" can be understood in two distinct ways. First, theology of scripture would be reflection on the nature of scripture, asking questions about what it means for a person or a people to be oriented by a written text (rather than or in addition to an oral tradition or a ritual tradition). In this first sense, theology of scripture would form a relatively minor part of the broader theological project, since the nature of scripture is just one of many things on which theologians reflect. Second, theology of scripture would be theological reflection guided by scripture, asking questions of scriptural texts and allowing those texts to shape the direction the theologian's thoughts pursue. In this second sense, theology of scripture would be less a part of the larger theological project than a way of doing theology, since whatever the theologian takes up reflectively, she investigates through the lens of scripture. The essays making up this collection reflect attentiveness to both ways of understanding the phrase "theology of scripture." Each essay takes up the relatively un-self-conscious work of reading a scriptural text but then-at some point or another-asks the self-conscious question of exactly what she or he is doing in the work of reading scripture. We have thus attempted in this book (1) to create a dialogue concerning what scripture is for Latter-day Saints, and (2) to focus that dialogue on concrete examples of Latter-day Saints reading actual scripture texts.

Originally published: Leaving home. Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, 1987.