Dialogue: a Journal of Mormon Thought Is Published Quarterly by the Dia- Logue Foundation

DIALOGUEa journal of mormon thought is an independent quarterly established to express Mormon culture and to examine the relevance of religion to secular life. It is edited by Latter-day Saints who wish to bring their faith into dialogue with the larger stream of world religious thought and with human experience as a whole and to foster artistic and scholarly achievement based on their cultural heritage. The journal encour- ages a variety of viewpoints; although every effort is made to ensure accurate scholarship and responsible judgment, the views express- ed are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or of the editors. ii DIALOGUE: AJOURNAL OF MORMON THOUGHT, 46, no. 1 (SPRING 2014) Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought is published quarterly by the Dia- logue Foundation. Dialogue has no official connection with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Contents copyright by the Dialogue Foundation. ISSN 0012–2157. Dialogue is available in full text in elec- tronic form at www.dialoguejournal.com and is archived by the Univer- sity of Utah Marriott Library Special Collections, available online at www.lib.utah.edu/portal/site/marriottlibrary. Dialogue is also available on microforms through University Microfilms International, www. umi.com, and online at dialoguejournal.com. Dialogue welcomes articles, essays, poetry, notes, fiction, letters to the editor, and art. Submissions should follow the current Chicago Manual of Style. All submissions should be in Word and may be submitted electroni- cally at https://dialoguejournal.com/submissions/. For submissions of visual art, please contact [email protected]. Allow eight to twelve weeks for review of all submissions. Submissions published in the journal, including letters to the editor, are covered by our publication policy, https://dialoguejournal.com/submissions/publication-policy/, under which the author retains the copyright of the work and grants Dialogue permission to publish. See www. dialoguejournal.com. EDITORS EMERITI Eugene England and G. Wesley Johnson Robert A. Rees Mary Lythgoe Bradford Linda King Newell and L. Jackson Newell F. Ross Peterson and Mary Kay Peterson Martha Sonntag Bradley and Allen D. Roberts Neal Chandler and Rebecca Worthen Chandler Karen Marguerite Moloney Levi S. Peterson DIALOGUE: A JOURNAL OF MORMON THOUGHT, 47, NO. 1 (SPRING 2014) CONTENTS ARTICLES & ESSAYS The Book of Mormon, the Early Nineteenth-Century Debates over Universalism, and the Development of the Novel Mormon Doctrines of Ultimate Rewards and Punishments Clyde D. Ford 1 Hospitality in the Book of Mormon Bryan R. Warnick, Benjamin A. Johnson, and Sang Hyun Kim 24 Manly Virtue: Defi ning Male Sexuality in Nineteenth-Century Mormonism Russell Stevenson 48 PERSONAL VOICES Sinners Welcome Here (2002) Phyllis Barber 83 POETRY Oblation Will Reger 94 Blood Cries Will Reger 95 Haiku for the Cat Will Reger 96 Crow Games Will Reger 98 Not Far Off Trail, Late Summer Dixie Partridge 99 Evenings In October Dixie Partridge 100 Shade Dixie Partridge 102 INTERVIEWS & CONVERSATIONS The Kirtland Temple as a Shared Space: A Conversation with David J. Howlett Hugo Olaiz 104 i 4701spring2014Dialogue.indd i 4/21/2014 11:36:02 AM iv DIALOGUE: A JOURNAL OF MORMON THOUGHT, 47, NO. 1 (SPRING 2014) FICTION Acute Distress, Intensive Care Karen Rosenbaum 124 Two-Dog Dose Steven L. Peck 140 REVIEWS The God Who Weeps: Notes, Amens, and Disagreements Terryl Givens and Fiona Givens. The God Who Weeps: How Mormonism Makes Sense of Life Adam S. Miller 158 Prophetic Glimpses of Mormon Culture: Recent Publications on Patriarchal Blessings Irene M. Bates and E. Gary Smith. Lost Legacy: The Mormon Offi ce of the Presiding Patriarch H. Michael Marquardt, ed. Early Patriarchal Blessings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints H. Michael Marquardt, ed. Later Patriarchal Blessings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Gary Shepherd and Gordon Shepherd. Binding Heaven and Earth: Patriarchal Blessings in the Prophetic Devel- opment of Early Mormonism Susanna Morrill 168 Theology as Poetry Adam S. Miller. Rube Goldberg Machines: Essays in Mor- mon Theology Robert A. Rees 178 FROM THE PULPIT Woman: Joint Heiress With Christ Liz Hammond 188 CONTRIBUTORS 200 4701spring2014Dialogue.indd ii 4/21/2014 11:36:05 AM ARTICLES The Book of Mormon, the Early Nineteenth-Century Debates over Universalism, and the Development of the Novel Mormon Doctrines of Ultimate Rewards and Punishments Clyde D. Ford In their study American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us, Robert Putnam and David Campbell observe that a characteristic of modern American religions, including Mormonism, is the belief that those of other faiths may be eligible for salvation.1 However, Putnam and Campbell fail to point out that this Mormon inclusivism is not recent, but rather extends back to the very formative period of Mormon theological development. The early evolution of these beliefs has not been extensively studied and is not without contro- versy. For example, modern scholars have pointed to the apparent tension between the positions of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith’s subsequent revelations over the acceptance of Universalism, the teaching that all will be saved. While the Book of Mormon con- signs wicked humans to an eternal torment, the later revelations endorse what Michael Quinn has described as “a theology of nearly universal salvation.”2 Richard Bushman fi nds the revelations to be a “perplexing reversal . [that] contradicted the book’s fi rm stand.”3 This conclusion is obviously problematic, as it implies that the early Church repudiated teachings from the Book of Mormon immediate- ly following its publication. Thus there is a need for a reassessment of the relation between early nineteenth-century Universalism and the teachings of the Book of Mormon and subsequent revelations. The principal American opponents of the early nineteenth-cen- 1 4701spring2014Dialogue.indd 3 4/21/2014 11:36:05 AM 2 DIALOGUE: A JOURNAL OF MORMON THOUGHT, 47, NO. 1 (SPRING 2014) tury Universalists were the mainline Protestant denominations (e.g., Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Methodists, Baptists, and Episco- palians). Although disagreeing among themselves on various issues, these had all inherited from the Reformers the teaching that all humans would be awarded an eternal future stay either in heaven or in hell (a “two-outcome” theology). For this paper I will refer to this group as the “anti-Universalists.” Likewise, early nineteenth-century Universalists, while agreeing on the ultimate salvation of all humans (a “one-outcome” theology), disagreed on other issues with the great majority being classifi ed as either “modern” or “restorationist” Universalists. A central dispute between the two was whether there would (restorationists) or would not (moderns) be punishment for unresolved sin in the future life.4 Not surprisingly, both the Univer- salists and their critics held that their own beliefs were the only rea- sonable interpretation of scripture and echoed the teachings of the early Christian Church. In this paper I shall review the spectrum of early nineteenth-century American Universalism at the time of the publishing of the Book of Mormon, the responses of some contemporary Christian theologians who opposed Universalism, the early Mormon positions in these disputes as contained in the Book of Mormon, and some con- tributions of Joseph Smith’s subsequent revelations. I shall argue that (1) the Book of Mormon refutes “modern” Universalism, (2) the Book of Mormon’s treatment of the restorationist doctrines of salvation is ambiguous, and (3) refl ections and discussions between Joseph Smith and other early Church members over the issues disputed between Universalists and their opponents resulted in several revelations that progressively defi ned an offi cial Mormon interpretation of the Book of Mormon and resulted in a novel and complex schema of human salvation that incorporates theological elements of both traditional Protestant Christianity and restorationism. The Early Nineteenth-Century Picture A number of important disputes dominated the American theological landscape in the fi rst third of the nineteenth century. From its publication in 1830, knowledgeable readers noticed that the Book of Mormon seemed to take sides on these issues. For example, in his 1832 critical book review, Mormon opponent Alexander Campbell (1788–1866) noted that the Book of Mormon reproduced “every er- 4701spring2014Dialogue.indd 4 4/21/2014 11:36:05 AM Ford: Universalism and Ultimate Rewards 3 ror and almost every truth discussed in New York for the last ten years” and “decides all the great controversies.”5 So what had been discussed in New York during the preceding decade? One of Campbell’s “great controversies,” that of “eternal punishment,” was the chief bat- tle-ground between Universalists and their opponents. In 1833, the Boston historian of Universalism Thomas Whitte- more (1800–1861) observed that Universalism had been in America “about fi fty years” and was rapidly increasing in adherents. In New York during the 1820s there were an estimated 150 Universalist so- cieties, several Universalist periodicals, and a large number of ad- ditional individuals with Universalist leanings; and it was asserted that Universalism had become the fourth or fi fth largest “among the denominations of the land.”6 Thus New York Presbyterian Pastor Joel Parker (1799–1873)

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