DOCSLIB.ORG

LDS Perspectives Podcast

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
LDS Perspectives Podcast LDS Perspectives Podcast Episode 81: A Closer Look at Foundational Texts of Mormonism with Sharalyn D. Howcroft (Released May 9, 2018) This is not a verbatim transcript. Some grammar and wording has been modified for clarity. Laura H. Hales: This is Laura Harris Hales, and I’m here today with Sharalyn D. Howcroft to talk about a book she edited along with Mark Ashurst-McGee and Robin Scott Jensen, Foundational Texts of Mormonism. Sharalyn has been employed by the Church History Department since the year 2000 as an archivist and as a document specialist for The Joseph Smith Papers—almost before it was the Joseph Smith Papers. Sharalyn D. Howcroft: Yes. Laura H. Hales: Tell us a little bit about that. Sharalyn Howcroft: When I started my employment with the Church History Department, my responsibilities entailed a few things. I worked part time on gathering source materials for the Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith manual, and part time on the Papers of Joseph Smith (renamed Joseph Smith Papers in 2001). The majority of my time was spent down at BYU in the documentary editing office at the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History. I worked on the papers project before there were volume editors. It basically amounted to Dean Jessee, Ron Esplin, Scott Faulring, and Richard Anderson. We discussed documents and Church Archives resources that were essential to the project. I initially organized the documents in our physical and electronic files. Laura H. Hales: You have a rich educational background. I was amazed at some of your degrees. Tell us about a few of them. Sharalyn D. Howcroft: I received my BA in English from BYU, my minor ended up being Hebrew, and I went to the BYU Jerusalem Center in 1998. I was part of the first group of intensive Hebrew students that went there. The prior semester was the first intensive Arabic program. It was an interesting experience being among the first in the language program. When I returned, I paid for all of my student loans and then moved to Salt Lake City. One of the students who went to Jerusalem with me told me about an intensive Arabic program at the University of LDS Perspectives Podcast Episode 81: A Closer Look at the Foundational Texts of Mormonism with Sharalyn D. Howcroft Utah that was part of a Middle Eastern Languages Consortium. We participated in the program together. I was studying Arabic eight hours a day. It was intense, but very worthwhile. After that I applied at the Church Office Building, and the rest is history. Laura H. Hales: The rest is really history. I feel like I need a drum roll right there. What do you consider the foundational texts of Mormonism? Sharalyn D. Howcroft: For the volume itself, there were two things we considered. By “foundational,” we were referring to the founding period of Mormonism. When we referred to the texts, we were specifically talking about the sources that are used repeatedly when historians and scholars study Joseph Smith and early Mormonism. Those founding texts are, of course, the Book of Mormon, but also Joseph Smith’s journals, his history, and Lucy Mack Smith’s history—the texts that are really pivotal to early Mormonism. Laura H. Hales: Just give us a blueprint of the book. What are the authors doing with these foundational texts? Are they giving summaries? Are they analyzing them? Are they talking about provenance? What are they doing with these? Sharalyn D. Howcroft: The chapters themselves are looking at these texts from a number of angles. One of the things that we attempted to do with the volume is to not just look at records and documents as historical sources, but as products of history. Historians mine sources for information and then create a narrative history, but we wanted to go beyond that and analyze the records as artifacts of history. Part of the reason we wanted to do this was because there’s more information going on in the records than what is written, and it can become problematic to approach sources with the sole intent to mine information. Using a critical approach to the records reveals some insights that aren’t explicitly stated in the historical sources. Some of the chapters do delve into provenance. For example, my chapter on the Lucy Mack Smith history delves into the provenance in part because it has been so thoroughly misunderstood. Other chapters explore the context of records and their production, transmission, and reception. Laura H. Hales: I can see as an editor there is a need for this book because sometimes when I’m working with historians or amateur historians they’ll use this source, and I’ll go back to them and say, “I’m sorry, that source has been supplanted. It’s inadequate.” And sometimes they’ll go, “Why?” Well, lots of times we can just say, “Well, Joseph Smiths Papers, they are the primary source now instead of say, the History of the Church or the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith.” But also, there are some sources that have been commonly used in the past that have become suspect or people have even questioned, “Where is this coming from?” Page 2 of 11 Episode 81: A Closer Look at the Foundational Texts of Mormonism with Sharalyn D. Howcroft This isn’t really a book for the layman, but it’s not strictly for the historian. What audiences were you targeting? Sharalyn D. Howcroft: We tried to target both scholars and non-scholars who have an interest and passion for history. Part of the reason is because there are pitfalls regarding records. Some historians and lay readers are very aware and very connected with the records; others are not. What we wanted to do is put up road signs to some of these records. We’re aware that a lot of people don’t have the opportunity to delve as deeply into the records as we do at The Joseph Smith Papers; and yet, we wanted to supply people with that knowledge, that information, and that toolkit that would make them more aware and more cognizant, more savvy, about the records themselves and how to use them. We also wanted to unwind some of the misperceptions that have occurred in the past with some of these records. For example, prior to Dean Jessee writing his article on the Joseph Smith history, a lot of people would take the seven volume History of the Church and say, “Oh, Joseph Smith said this.” Similarly, with the Lucy Mack Smith history, “According to Lucy, this is what happened.” What Dean did for the Mormon scholarly community was dissect Joseph Smith’s history and say, “Hey, it is not what we think it is.” There are many times in the History of the Church where the narrative is written in first-person as though Joseph Smith wrote it. Well, it was actually Willard Richards, William Clayton, and a host of other scribes who did the writing. It was a multi-scribed history that took decades of work—much of it occurring way after Joseph Smith died. There is a liberal use of records that simply aren’t coming from Joseph Smith. And so, all of a sudden the way we perceive the Joseph Smith history becomes more complex, but it also becomes more rich and more nuanced. Our hope in bringing materials to light in this volume is to advocate a critical approach to the records, and help readers understand the records are far more complicated than they appear. In the example of the Lucy Mack Smith history as well as Joseph Smith’s history, we simply can’t write like this. We can’t say that Joseph or Lucy said certain things given how layered and nuanced their histories are. Laura H. Hales: And I think we did that for a long, long time. There was such a dearth of direct information regarding what Joseph was giving in his sermons in Nauvoo. If we got it from the History of the Church, that seemed so authoritative. And then, that was kind of turned on its head by Dean Jessee where he’s like, “No. They wrote it in first-person, but it was really third-person after the fact.” You talked about being able to add more nuance to historical research. How does this book give historians the tools to do that? Sharalyn D. Howcroft: A lot of the toolset is not explicitly stated. It’s more along the lines of what one could infer from the chapters. For example, in Jenny Reader’s chapter on the Page 3 of 11 Episode 81: A Closer Look at the Foundational Texts of Mormonism with Sharalyn D. Howcroft Relief Society Minute Book, part of what Reeder deals with is what is and is not explicitly stated. You come to understand why certain women are not participating in the Relief Society or why certain scribes are no longer writing in the Relief Society book. Laura H. Hales: I found that very interesting. Sharalyn D. Howcroft: Yes. Laura H. Hales: What the record doesn’t say speaks volumes. Sharalyn D. Howcroft: Yes. Laura H. Hales: That may be a direct quote from Jenny. I don’t know. Sharalyn D. Howcroft: Well, it does speak volumes. A lot of times when it comes to using these records, we think we’ll just use this information. The absence of certain people speaks volumes. The absence of Phoebe Rigdon from the Relief Society membership I think is quite telling given some of the volatility that was going on with Sidney Rigdon at the time.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Dean C Jessee
    Dean C Jessee Dean C Jessee INTERVIEW BY ROBIN SCOTT JENSEN c DEAN C. JESSEE is one of the general editors of The Joseph Smith Papers. He received a master’s degree in LDS Church his- tory from Brigham Young University. His career includes work- ing for the Archives and the History Division of the Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1964 to 1981, followed by nineteen years of service at the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History at Brigham Young University. His publications include Personal Writings of Joseph Smith; Papers of Joseph Smith (vols. 1 and 2); and Brigham Young’s Letters to His Sons He is a past president of the Mormon History Association. ROBIN SCOTT JENSEN is the lead archivist with the Joseph Smith Papers Project in the LDS Church History Department, [ 277 ] Conversations with Mormon Historians specializing in document and transcription analysis. He received a master’s degree in American history from Brigham Young University and a second master’s degree in library and information science with an archival concentration from the University of Wisconsin– Milwaukee. He has also completed training at the Institute for the Editing of Historical Documents and is currently pursuing a PhD in history at the University of Utah. THE INTERVIEW JENSEN: Let’s start by discussing your birth, family back- ground, and upbringing. JESSEE: I was born in Springville, Utah, in 1929, the same year Wall Street crashed and the Tabernacle Choir broadcasts began. I grew up during the Great Depression and World War II on a one- acre “farm” in the home where my father was born and raised.
    [Show full text]
  • I UTAH Discouraged at Being So Little Able to 1760 S
    A WORD FROM THE PUBLISHER Daniel Rector 3 MY BURDEN IS LIGHT Elbert Eugene Peck OF GODS, MORTALS, AND DEVILS Boyd Kirkland 6 As Satan Is, Man may yet become SUNSWATH Levi Peterson 13 First Place Story in the 1986 D.K. Brown Fiction Contest PERCEPTIONS OF LIFE Louis A. Moench 30 Four Paths on Our Journey through Life THE MORMON DOCUMENTS’ Linda Sillitoe ~3 DAY IN COURT A Closer Look at Some Historical Documents RECORD TURNOUT AT SYMPOSIUM EIGHT 4O NEW DIRECTOR FOR SMITH INSTITUTE 41 LDS POET MEG MUNK DEAD AT 42 PROPHET IN THE PROMISED LAND Richard W. Sadler 44 Brigham Young: American Moses by Leonard J. Arrington SIN OR BORE? Kerry William Bate Mormon Polygamy: A History by Richard Van Wagoner READERS FORUM PUBLISHER Daniel H. Rector ALL-TIME LOW breakdowns, poor health anc! low EDITOR Elbert Eu,¢;ene Peck grades. It is not the reason gifted ASSOCIATE EDITOR Ron t~:itton In publishing the vicious LDS artists and scholars DESIGN DIRFCTOR Connie Disney personal attack on Linda Newell underachieve. GRAPHICS Robyn Smith Winchester (SUNSTONE, 10:11), SUNSTONE ART EDITOR Patrick Baxley reached an all-time low. It should Seminary is not a Primary class CIRCU~TION MANAGER Hden E. Wright be beneath the dignity of a that meets daily. It is a high school OPERATIONS MANAGER Charlotte Hamblin respectable journal to disseminate level course in theology. One EOITING INTERN Mdissa Sillitoe such a scurrilous statement. cannot become a good pianisl: through a correspondence school. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENTS Irene Bates, Bonnie Sterling M. McMur~m The best way to teach M.
    [Show full text]
  • THE CHURCH of JESUS Ciqrist the Summer Is Nigh
    Volume Six, Number Three May-June 1981 Publisher/Editor RELIGION PEGGY FLETCHER 44 Defending the Keystone: The Comparative Method Madison U. Sowell Managing Editor Reexamined SUSAN STAKER OMAN Did Joseph Smith borrow from View of the Hebrews? Associate Editor 45 Defending the Keystone: Book of Mormon Difficulties George D. Smith, Jr. LORIE WINDER B. H. Roberts did not ignore potential problems Assistant Editors 10 Ritual as Theology John L. Sorenson DENNIS CLARK, POETRY Language is not easily shared in a culturally JOHN R. SILLITO, BOOK REVIEWS diverse church MARK THOMAS HISTORY Staff Writers 15 Mormonism in Black Africa: Changing Attitudes RON BITTON Newell G. Bringhurst JAMES CARTWRIGHT and Practices 1830-1981 LORRAINE CHRISTENSEN Reconciling racist stereotypes and Mormon KAYE SENZEE universalism 36 From the Pen of a Cohab Dale Z. Kirby Art Director Prison life of Mormon polygamists RANDALL SMITH CONTEMPORARY 28 The Institutional Church and the Individual: J. Bonner Ritchie Staff How Strait the Gate, How Narrow the Way? KERRY W. BATE The benefits and costs of sustaining a necessary JAN EYRING VINCE ITURBE though uneasy alliance L. JOHN LEWIS 24 Politics of Extremism DAVID C. RACKER Perspectives by Ray R. Canning, Esther Landa, and CHRIS THOMAS W. Cleon Skousen STEPHANIE WOODWARD HUMOR Administrative Assistant 22 Clinical Notes on the RM Tim Torkildson JOANN S. ARBON Stalking the real Real Thing Circulation/Promotion FICTION REBECCAH T. HARRIS 40 Demons Linda Sillitoe Business Manager BRUCE BENNETT POETRY Financial Assistant 27 Group Session Stephen Gould SHAWN GARCIA SCHOW To a Mother in Zion Roger Ken t Petersen National Correspondents The Covenant Susan Howe James W.
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of Mormon History Vol. 25, No. 1, 1999
    Journal of Mormon History Volume 25 Issue 1 Article 1 1999 Journal of Mormon History Vol. 25, No. 1, 1999 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation (1999) "Journal of Mormon History Vol. 25, No. 1, 1999," Journal of Mormon History: Vol. 25 : Iss. 1 , Article 1. Available at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory/vol25/iss1/1 This Full Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Mormon History by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Journal of Mormon History Vol. 25, No. 1, 1999 Table of Contents CONTENTS --In Memoriam: Leonard J. Arrington, 5 --Remembering Leonard: Memorial Service, 10 --15 February, 1999 --The Voices of Memory, 33 --Documents and Dusty Tomes: The Adventure of Arrington, Esplin, and Young Ronald K. Esplin, 103 --Mormonism's "Happy Warrior": Appreciating Leonard J. Arrington Ronald W.Walker, 113 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS • --In Search of Ephraim: Traditional Mormon Conceptions of Lineage and Race Armand L. Mauss, 131 TANNER LECTURE • --Extracting Social Scientific Models from Mormon History Rodney Stark, 174 • --Gathering and Election: Israelite Descent and Universalism in Mormon Discourse Arnold H. Green, 195 • --Writing "Mormonism's Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview" (1973): Context and Reflections, 1998 Lester Bush, 229 • --"Do Not Lecture the Brethren": Stewart L. Udall's Pro-Civil Rights Stance, 1967 F. Ross Peterson, 272 This full issue is available in Journal of Mormon History: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory/vol25/iss1/ 1 JOURNAL OF MORMON HISTORY SPRING 1999 JOURNAL OF MORMON HISTORY SPRING 1999 Staff of the Journal of Mormon History Editorial Staff Editor: Lavina Fielding Anderson Executive Committee: Lavina Fielding Anderson, Will Bagley, William G.
    [Show full text]
  • A Conversation with Max H. Parkin 95
    94 Mormon Historical Studies Max H. Parkin as a member of the Salt Lake LDS Institute of Religion faculty, 1980. Photograph courtesy Salt Lake LDS Institute of Religion. Baugh: A Conversation with Max H. Parkin 95 Mormonism’s Remarkable History: A Conversation with Max H. Parkin Interview by Alexander L. Baugh I first became acquainted with Max Parkin’s research and writings while I was a graduate student in history at Brigham Young University. As part of my coursework I read his master’s thesis, “The Nature and Cause of Internal and External Conflict of the Mormons in Ohio between 1830 and 1838” (Brigham Young University, 1966), and his doctoral dissertation, “A History of the Lat- ter-day Saints in Clay County, Missouri, from 1833 to 1837” (Brigham Young University, 1976). I considered both studies to be exceptional, but I was par- ticularly intrigued with his dissertation. In fact, my reading of three “Mis- souri” dissertations—Max’s, Warren A. Jennings “Zion is Fled: The Expul- sion of the Mormons from Jackson County, Missouri” (University of Florida, 1962), and Leland H. Gentry, “A History of the Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri from 1836 to 1839” (Brigham Young University, 1965)—stimulated my own research interest in the Missouri period of early Mormon history (1831–1839). In the early 1990s, while researching and writing my own dissertation on the 1838 Missouri-Mormon War, as historical questions would arise, I would frequently contact Max to get his take on things. These conversations and interchanges led to a warm, collegial friendship. On a number of other occa- sions he opened his research files and shared any materials I asked for or that ALEX A NDER L.
    [Show full text]
  • Balancing Faith and History – a Conversation with James B. Allen
    114 Mormon Historical Studies James B. Allen, 1998. Photograph by Mark Philbrik, Brigham Young University. Smith: A Conversation with James B. Allen 115 Balancing Faith and History: A Conversation with James B. Allen Interview by Alex D. Smith James B. Allen has been one of the pillars of the Mormon history com- munity for the past half century—a pioneer of the “new Mormon history” and life-long advocate of truth in historical writing. In addition to numerous publications, his contributions to the field have included co-founding and later presiding over the Mormon History Association, serving as Assistant Church Historian of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, chairing the department of history at Brigham Young University, and holding the Lemuel Hardison Redd Jr. chair in Western American History. Jim was born in Ogden, Utah, in 1927, and received his BS degree from Utah State University, his MA from Brigham Young University, and his PhD from the University of Southern California. While a graduate student in Cali- fornia, he was the director of the LDS Institutes at Long Beach and San Ber- nardino. He began teaching at Brigham Young University in the Religion de- partment in 1963, and in the Department of History the following year. He and his wife Renée now reside in Orem, Utah. They have five children, twenty- one grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. Always interested in the Mormon experience and the lives of the Church’s individual members, Jim’s research projects have varied greatly, ranging from challenges facing the emerging international Church to contemporaneous ac- counts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision.
    [Show full text]
  • Imperial Zions: Mormons, Polygamy, and the Politics of Domesticity in the Nineteenth Century
    Imperial Zions: Mormons, Polygamy, and the Politics of Domesticity in the Nineteenth Century By Amanda Lee Hendrix-Komoto A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) in the University of Michigan 2015 Doctoral Committee: Professor Susan M. Juster, Co-Chair Associate Professor Damon I. Salesa, Co-Chair Professor Terryl L. Givens Associate Professor Kali A.K. Israel Professor Mary C. Kelley ii To my grandmother Naomi, my mother Linda, my sisters Laura and Jessica, and my daughter Eleanor iii Acknowledgements This is a dissertation about family and the relationships that people form with each other in order to support themselves during difficult times. It seems right, then, to begin by acknowledging the kinship network that has made this dissertation possible. Susan Juster was an extraordinary advisor. She read multiple drafts of the dissertation, provided advice on how to balance motherhood and academia, and, through it all, demonstrated how to be an excellent role model to future scholars. I will always be grateful for her support and mentorship. Likewise, Damon Salesa has been a wonderful co-chair. His comments on a seminar paper led me to my dissertation topic. Because of him, I think more critically about race. In my first years of graduate school, Kali Israel guided me through the politics of being a working-class woman at an elite academic institution. Even though my work took me far afield from her scholarship, she constantly sent me small snippets of information. Through her grace and generosity, Mary Kelley served as a model of what it means to be a female scholar.
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of Mormon History, Volume 40, Issue 1 (2014)
    Journal of Mormon History Volume 40 Issue 1 Journal of Mormon History, Volume 40, Article 1 issue 1 (2014) 12-14-2013 Journal of Mormon History, Volume 40, issue 1 (2014) Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation (2013) "Journal of Mormon History, Volume 40, issue 1 (2014)," Journal of Mormon History: Vol. 40 : Iss. 1 , Article 1. Available at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory/vol40/iss1/1 This Full Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Mormon History by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Journal of Mormon History, Volume 40, issue 1 (2014) Table of Contents LETTER --Stakes in Canada, Francine Russell Bennion, vi ARTICLES --The People Are “Hogaffed or Humbugged”: The 1851–52 National Reaction to Utah’s “Runaway” Officers, Part 2, Ronald W. Walker and Matthew J. Grow, 1 --“Smoot Smites Smut:” Apostle-Senator Reed Smoot’s 1930 Campaign against Obscene Books, Michael Harold Paulos, 53 --“Colegias Chilenes de los Santos de los Últimos Días”: The History of Latter-day Saint Schools in Chile, Casey Paul Griffiths, Scott C. Esplin, Barbara Morgan, and E. Vance Randall, 97 --“Redeemed from the Curse Placed upon Her”: Dialogic Discourse on Eve in the Woman's Exponent, Boyd Jay Petersen, 135 --“Some Savage Tribe”: Race, Legal Violence, and the Mormon War of 1838, T. Ward Frampton, 175 --Exhibiting Theology: James E. Talmage and Mormon Public Relations, 1915–20, Bradley Kime, 208 REVIEWS --Reid L.
    [Show full text]
  • “We the People of the Kingdom of God”: Insights Into the Minutes of the Council of Fifty, 1844-1846 University of Virginia, September 8, 2016 by Matthew J
    “We the People of the Kingdom of God”: Insights into the Minutes of the Council of Fifty, 1844-1846 University of Virginia, September 8, 2016 by Matthew J. Grow About four years ago, Reid Neilson, the managing director of the Church History Department, asked me to meet in his office. He had a transcript of a document that I, like other historians of Mormonism, knew about but never had access to: the minutes of the Council of Fifty in Nauvoo, Illinois. These minutes had gained a reputation as a sort of “holy grail” of early Mormon documents. My task, Reid explained, was to write an introduction to the minutes that would help inform the decision of Church leaders on whether or not they should be published. No pressure. After the First Presidency decided that the minutes should be published as part of the Joseph Smith Papers, a team of historians—including myself, Ron Esplin, Mark Ashurst- McGee, Gerrit Dirkmaat, and Jeff Mahas—has worked on the minutes. We’re excited that anyone can now read the minutes for themselves. Rick has done a great job of giving context for the reasons the Council was established. In my presentation, I will give an overview of the minutes themselves and the priorities of the council during its existence in Nauvoo. William Clayton, an English convert, was the clerk of the Council of Fifty. He kept minutes on loose sheets of paper that he later copied into three small volumes. Council members emphasized confidentiality, including the need to safeguard the minutes. They believed that knowledge of their discussions regarding theocracy and the kingdom of God would increase the widespread belief that Latter-day Saints opposed key elements of American democracy.
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of Mormon History Vol. 28, No. 2, 2002
    Journal of Mormon History Volume 28 Issue 2 Article 1 2002 Journal of Mormon History Vol. 28, No. 2, 2002 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation (2002) "Journal of Mormon History Vol. 28, No. 2, 2002," Journal of Mormon History: Vol. 28 : Iss. 2 , Article 1. Available at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory/vol28/iss2/1 This Full Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Mormon History by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Journal of Mormon History Vol. 28, No. 2, 2002 Table of Contents CONTENTS ARTICLES • --What's New in Latter-day Saint Church History? Recent Developments in the Family and Church History Department Richard E. Turley jr.,1 --In Pursuit of Answers to Difficult Questions Glen M. Leonard, 14 --Part of Each One of Us Ronald W. Walker, 19 • --Inheriting the Great Apostasy: The Evolution of Mormon Views on the Middle Ages and the Renaissance Eric Dursteler, 23 • --George Prince, Convert Out of Africa Stephen L. Prince, 60 • --The New Deal in Orem, Utah, 1933-40 Jeremy Bonner, 81 • --The Eagle and the Scattered Flock: LDS Church Beginnings in Occupied Japan, 1945-49 Shinji Takagi, 104 • --The Cultural Dynamics of Historical Self-Fashioning: LDS Pioneer Nostalgia, American Culture, and the International Church Eric A. Eliason, 140 REVIEWS --D. Michael Quinn, Elder Statesman: A Biography of]. Reuben Clark Gregory A.
    [Show full text]
  • Ditors of Religious Values and Beliefs by Bringing Together Nationally-Recognized LDS and Non-LDS Scholars and Interested Others
    Committee for the S~nS~OnE Endowment Through SUNSTONE’S publications, the annual Mormon Theological Symposium, and a forthcoming inter-faith lecture series, the SUNSTONE From FOUNDATION hopes to encourage the study ditors of religious values and beliefs by bringing together nationally-recognized LDS and non-LDS scholars and interested others. To insure the usefulness and quality of these programs, a number of prominent Errata Rules individuals have lent their support to the SUNSTONE neglected to credit Alexis 1. The D.K. Brown Memorial Fiction establishment of an endowment for the Kelner and Utah Holiday for the Contest is open to all writers. Entries SUNSTONE FOUNDATION. YOU can help by photograph of the Trevor Southey must be delivered to the SUNSTONE giving a tax-deductible donation of any painting published :in Volume six, office or postmarked by I October Number two. We regret this omission. 1981. sum within your means. Beginning with the July-August issue of Papers must be typewritten, SUNSTONE, the list of endowment More on Historians, double-spaced, on one side of 81/2 by contributors, both individual and The last magazine (March-April, 1981, 11 inch paper (not onionskin). Since corporate, will be printed under the Vol. 6, No. 2) included an editorial about manuscripts will not be returned, following headings: Donors, $25; the recent discovery of the Joseph III contestants should keep a copy and Sponsors, $100; Patrons, $500; blessing. In that essay we thanked send in the original. The stories Benefactors, $1000 or more; Donations in several people who had answered should not exceed 6,000 words.
    [Show full text]
  • WHERE IS JOSEPH SMITH NOW?: Bolder Scale to Articulate Who Joseph Smith Jr
    SUNSTONE great-grandfather and Vogel’s citation of the REVIEW ESSAY 1827 list of liquor purchases by Joseph Smith Sr., I began to long for something that feels more like Joseph to me: a few lines from a Rossini opera, perhaps. Something on a WHERE IS JOSEPH SMITH NOW?: bolder scale to articulate who Joseph Smith Jr. was. Indeed, one might accuse both BEGINNING THE SECOND QUEST scholars of believing in the dictum: “more is less.” No one deserves such a slow death by FOR THE HISTORICAL JOSEPH suffocation of detail. But these authors had other projects in mind, and I suppose too much detail is better than not enough. I am JOSEPH SMITH: ROUGH STONE ROLLING grateful for the gift of these two fresh and by Richard Lyman Bushman provocative approaches. Even as I write this, however, I hold it to Alfred A. Knopf, 2005 be a scandal of Mormon scholarship and an 740 pages, illustrations, index, $35.00 embarrassment for historians that these two biographies describe what appears to be the life of two entirely different people. Even JOSEPH SMITH: THE MAKING OF A PROPHET their choices about the shorthand way to by Dan Vogel refer to their subject—Bushman uses “Joseph” while Vogel uses “Smith”—reveals Signature Books, 2004 much about their approaches. Bushman is 744 pages, illustrations, index, $39.95 interested in the person with a complex spir- ituality who became an enigmatic, biblical- style prophet while Vogel is interested in the Reviewed by Mark D. Thomas phenomenon of the boy/man who grew through daring deceit and fraud to declare himself God’s power broker on earth.
    [Show full text]