Claremont Mormon Studies Newsletter
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Claremont Mormon Studies newsletter Spring 2014 Issue 10 Reading Mormon History through the Hebrew Bible A more robust engagement with the Old Testament would do much to help Latter-day Saints (and anyone else, for that matter) consider the complicated relationship between faith and history in a different, and helpful, light. by Patrick Q. Mason howard w. hunter chair of mormon studies very four years—including this year—Latter- Eday Saints study the Old Testament (or He- In This Issue brew Bible, for Jews and many Christians) in Sunday School. True, Mormons believe the Old “A View from Outside” Testament is scripture, and so it deserves attention on that score alone. But the fact is, most LDS Sun- “Thank You for Being Respectful” day School teachers have not even read the entire Old Testament; even fewer actually know anything about ancient Hebrew culture, history, language, “Beyond Mormon Studies” or religion. The curriculum focuses on only a sliver of the text, highlighting a relative handful of Mormon Scholars in the Humanities accessible stories known from childhood or care- at CGU fully chosen proof texts that seem to confirm what Latter-day Saints already believe. Class sessions are Student Contributions often filled with complaints about how hard it is to understand what the scriptural writers are actu- Thanks to Donors ally saying; Mormons’ exclusive relationship to the (continued on the following page) – 1 – Claremont Mormon Studies Newsletter, no. 10 Spring 2014 (continued from page 1) King James Version exacerbates this problem. The history of the Latter-day Saints and their It’s not my job to determine the Sunday School church, as Jan Shipps and others have pointed out, curriculum for the LDS Church. But from my per- has a kind of scriptural function in Mormonism. spective as a Mormon historian and a student of re- Mormons look to their past not only for inspira- ligion, I would suggest that rather than tossing the tion but also for validation. The Church is true, the book in the can or continuing with a superficial argument goes, because we can see God’s hand treatment of it, a more robust engagement with the in our history (and conversely, we can see God’s Old Testament would do much to help Latter-day hand in our history because the Church is true). Saints (and anyone else, for that matter) consider No doubt there was a false step here or there, it the complicated relationship between faith and is conceded, but on the whole faithful Mormon history in a different, and helpful, light. history reads like hagiography. Scholars who have Of all the Latter-day Saints’ sacred texts, the Old departed from “faith-promoting” narratives to tell Testament is easily the most human. There are few Mormon stories of human and institutional fall- angels here (among the mortals), and even the enness have often been derided, marginalized, or men and women who are the book’s protagonists even disciplined. For many years the relationship are deeply, and often tragically, flawed. Adam and between the Church and its intellectuals was tense. Eve fall, Noah gets drunk, Abraham lies, Sarah Thankfully, that is not so much the case now. gets jealous, Jacob deceives, Moses kills, Joshua Historians, LDS and not, “faithful” and not, enjoy and Saul commit genocide, David commits adul- access to LDS Church archives that was unthink- tery, Jeremiah and Ezekiel are social outcasts—and able two to three decades ago. The LDS Church these are the good guys! One can hardly walk away Historical Department has committed vast re- from the Old Testament without a sense that, as sources to important historical projects such as Reinhold Niebuhr was fond of saying, “the doc- the Joseph Smith Papers and an in-depth analy- trine of original sin is the only empirically verifi- sis of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, leaving able doctrine of the Christian faith.” no stone unturned, even when the underside of The stunning thing is that this was the narra- the stone is unseemly. A series of well-researched tive that was preserved and held sacred by the Jews and honest essays on various challenging aspects and then adopted by Christians as a meaningful of Mormon history—including polygamy, Joseph and faithful record of humanity’s relationship with Smith’s use of seerstones, and the priesthood/tem- God. In the Old Testament, the covenant people ple ban on blacks—have been quietly but impact- are arrayed against God as much as they are with fully published on the Church’s “Gospel Topics” Him. Indeed, if there was ever a history written website. with “warts and all,” the Old Testament is it. The In short, if Mormon history is a kind of scripture, warts of a violent, misogynist, lustful, duplicitous, then that scripture is increasingly reading like the racist, greedy culture are presented not to embar- Old Testament. Or rather, it always did—Mormon rass the prophets and other figures who are simul- history has had its share of saints and scoundrels, taneously portrayed as spiritual exemplars. Rather, often the same people—but it seems the Mormon an acknowledgment of human frailty and deep im- community is just now getting to a place where it perfection—even among God’s “chosen people” can profitably read all the chapters of its history, (itself perhaps a moniker of collective pride)—pro- not just selected passages. vides far more insight into the human condition As a secular academic enterprise, Mormon than an airbrushed “faith-promoting” story ever Studies at Claremont welcomes the renewed spirit could. of historical openness, transparency, and inquiry – 2 – Claremont Mormon Studies Newsletter, no. 10 Spring 2014 that we see in contemporary Mormonism. Just as If we can apply some of the wisdom of the Old the Hebrew Bible is revered by believers and un- Testament to our understanding of Mormon histo- believers as a revelation of some of our deepest ry, theology, and culture (and perhaps vice versa), wisdom about humanity’s paradoxes and possibili- then perhaps all those Sunday School lessons will ties, so too does Mormonism potentially reward its have been worth it. students—regardless of their own faith commit- ments—with profound insights into the human condition. A View from Outside That moment the lid to my own faith opened and I began to peer inside, seemingly for the first time. What transpired over the next two years was personally transformative. by Craig Rossell mormon studies council member y association with CGU’s Mormon studies facts about the translation story – things I had nev- Mprogram began on September 3, 2009. That er heard before and haven’t heard since. I would is the day I walked into the library of the Institute take another two courses from Richard, one on the for Antiquity and Christianity—an old two-story Mormon theological tradition and finally one on brick building on campus that must have been early American religions. I never could take notes someone’s home when it was first built. There fast enough. The views expressly by non-Mormons I met Dr. Richard Bushman. I worked just a few were particularly enlightening. My materials from blocks away. It was easy to get there. I asked if I those courses fill jumbo notebooks. That train- might audit his course on the life and thought of ing broadened my understanding of the historical Joseph Smith. I came to him a total stranger with- roots and theological development of Mormonism. out the credentials to which he was accustomed. It also provided facts and information helpful to To my surprise, he graciously consented. That the ongoing debate about how Mormonism arose, same day we examined the clerk’s minutes from what it is, and what its role is or should be in the the 1826 Bainbridge, New York criminal trial of communities of the world. In all this Richard be- 20-year old Joseph Smith. That moment the lid to came a dear friend and mentor. I also owe a debt of my own faith opened and I began to peer inside, gratitude to his wife, Claudia, as well as CGU, for seemingly for the first time. What transpired over this accidental endowment. the next two years was personally transformative. After my release as an LDS bishop in 2012 I was I never missed one class, one assignment, one invited on to CGU’s Mormon Studies Council. It guest lecture or conference that first semester, was a natural fit. This was not long after Dr. Pat- and wrote a 50-page paper on the translation of rick Mason assumed the chair left vacant by Rich- the Book of Mormon based on hundreds of early ard Bushman. Last year I produced a video that Mormon documents. I discovered some amazing describes the unique role Mormon studies at CGU – 3 – Claremont Mormon Studies Newsletter, no. 10 Spring 2014 now plays in the world of religious discourse. I want en by Dr. James M. Robinson and others when I word of what is happening here to get out. I must was growing up. It seems fitting that both of these thank the many who contributed to the video’s cre- ground-breaking initiatives found a home in the ation, particularly the Council itself. A finer focus Institute for Antiquity and Christianity. Mormon- group I could not have had. ism isn’t very old as world religions go, but what It may seem far-fetched, since many more pro- Joseph Smith claimed to have exhumed in 1827 grams like CGU’s may be expected in the future, isn’t that distant in years from what was unearthed but I suspect the day will come when CGU’s Mor- in Palestine and Egypt little more than a century mon studies program will bring as much prestige later.