Many Christians have found Plato valuable and those who have have often promoted the idea of prisca theologia, or, the ancient wisdom. The idea was the Plato got his ideas from somewhere else, like hermetic or orphic texts, and some thinkers constructed larger narratives of where the ancient wisdom (Platonic ideas that predated Plato) came from. “In order to preserve the uniqueness of the Judeo-Christian revelation,” argues D. P. Walker, “it was usual to claim that pagan Ancient Theology derived from Moses; but sometimes it was supposed to go back further, to Noah and his good sons, Shem and Japeth, or to antediluvian Patriarchs, such as Enoch, or even Adam.” [1] (more…)

For a book project I am currently working on, I recently revisited Ron Walker’s Wayward Saints: The Godbeites and Brigham Young (which you can download for free here). I had glanced through the book years ago, but it never really made that big of an impression. However, this time through it struck me as a phenomenal volume. Not only is it full of nuance, sophistication, and exhaustive research, but it is better written than a majority of Mormon history books I’ve read. It made me better appreciate Leonard Arrington’s description of Walker as the “best writer” in Mormon studies.

This got me thinking: what other books do we sometimes overlook in the field? Wayward Saints, for instance, only received one vote in a recent survey here on JI, and I failed to include it on my list of the “Mormon History Canon.” (I would probably add it were I to try the list over again.) Some other books that come to mind: (more…)

Joseph Smith Papers Project Internship-Church History Department

Purpose

The Church History Department announces an opening for a one-year internship with the Joseph Smith Papers Project. This will be a full-time temporary position beginning in October 2011. (more…)

Ardis Parshall has graciously provided this scan of an image, the possibility of which was discussed in my post of a few days ago. (more…)

Over at The Immanent Frame, the always insightful and provocative Jon Butler offers “a historian’s reaction to American Grace,” a sweeping treatment of  ”how religion divides and unites us” in contemporary America that has rightly gained a fair amount of publicity and praise since its release last October. Butler’s thoughtful critique wonders whether authors Robert Putnam and David Campbell allow the “many and complex “beliefs’” they survey to “float too free from their historical moorings.” (more…)

From our good friend Rachel Cope:

The Department of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University is hosting a talk titled, “Prophet of Doom, Apostle of Hope: Slavery, Marriage and an Antebellum Search for Authority,” by visiting Scholar David Holland on Thursday, Sept 29, at 7:00 pm. It will be held in W111 Benson. All are invited to attend.

Holland’s recent book, Sacred Borders has received great praise, both from the ‘nacle and the broader academic community. Holland, who teaches history at UNLV, is a rising young scholar in American intellectual, religious, and cultural history. He is also the dissertation advisor of (at least in spirit) JI contributor Jordan Watkins. His (somewhat dated) C.V. is found here.

I hope it gets good attendance, and I wish I could attend!

While visiting a friend’s home in Utah this past summer, I noticed on the bookshelf a complete set of the Illustrated Stories from the Book of Mormon, a 16-volume production, geared toward families with kids, published by Promised Land Publications in 1967. I pulled a volume off the shelf and began flipping through. It was great! If I didn’t know any better, though, I might have been a bit confused by the array of colorful pictures that confronted me. Was this a history of the ancient americas or a modern U.S. History textbook? It seemed a strange hybrid of both. Pictures of Nephites and Lamanites and Mesoamerican temples were interspersed with pictures of the Statue of Liberty, Columbus, the signers of the Declaration of Independence, the transcontinental railroad, and the American West! (more…)

CALL FOR PAPERS
CHURCH HISTORY SYMPOSIUM
JOSEPH F. SMITH ERA
MARCH 2–3, 2012

Jointly sponsored by the Department of Church History and Doctrine of Brigham Young University and the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Joseph F. Smith, the sixth President of the Church and the last to have personally known the Prophet Joseph Smith, served for 52 years as a General Authority, including as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as a counselor to four Church Presidents, and as President of the Church from 1901 to 1918. Joseph F. Smith’s tenure as Church President was a key transitional period in Church history. We invite paper proposals that consider the life, teachings, and family of Joseph F. Smith and the social, political, religious, and historical developments during his tenure as President. (more…)

A few of us at the blog have started teaching our own courses, so we’re thinking more about teaching than as a blog we’ve done in the past. So I thought it might be fun to do a series of posts discussing how we’d design a college course on early Mormonism. I picked early Mormonism because it’s something most of the permas are familiar with, even if it’s not our primary area of study. And most of our non-academic readership also knows a fair amount about this period. So let’s start with organizing the weekly topics. At my university, we’re on a sixteen-week schedule per semester, so here’s how I would do it: (more…)

[What follows are the final six responses from Terryl Givens and Matthew Grow on their recent volume, Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011). Part I can be found here. We wish to sincerely thank Terryl and Matt for participating and offering such insightful answers.]

7. From David G: “Historians often separate “the Joseph Smith era” (1820-1844/47) from the “territorial period” (1844/47-1890). Does Pratt’s life problematize this periodization scheme? Stated differently, does looking at Pratt reveal more continuity or change after JS’s death (at least in the Brighamite group)?”

All periodization schemes are inherently problematic. I think that Pratt could be used to support either argument—either continuity or change between the Joseph Smith era and the territorial period. Pratt and the other apostles saw themselves as faithful inheritors of the legacy of Joseph Smith and they sought to extend what they understood as his legacy (including activities from missionary work to plural marriage). Some discontinuities which Pratt’s life highlights includes a decline in doctrinal innovation after Joseph Smith’s death, the establishment of plural marriage as an open system, the turn of missionary work towards the Pacific (including Pratt’s mission to Chile and his supervision of missionary work in California, Hawaii, and other Pacific islands), and an eventual decline in the rich print culture of early Mormonism (Parley’s writing dropped off after the migration to Utah, with the major exception of his Key to the Science of Theology). (more…)

[We are honored that Terryl Givens and Matthew Grow have agreed to participate in this Q&A about their recent volume, Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011). These questions are a composite of those solicited in a previous thread. Part I includes the first six responses; Part II, which will be posted tomorrow, includes the last six.]

1. First, let’s start with the book’s subtitle: “The Apostle Paul of Mormonism.” One of the reasons for this descriptor, you write in the introduction, was that Pratt helped systematize and popularize Mormonism’s beliefs. Could you elaborate more on this? How has Pratt’s influence lasted long since his death, even after many of his theological tracts are forgotten?

We may not read Pratt’s tracts today, but they gave shape to many core Mormon doctrines directly and indirectly. His views on spirit birth influenced Orson, who was quoted by Young, who has been quoted by prophets and primary songs ever since. He was first to formulate many of the Articles of Faith in rough form. He boldly taught theosis six years before Joseph Smith’s King Follett sermon, and we describe other such examples in the biography. His works were considered on a par with the standard works by the 19th century church, were studied in Utah Sunday Schools generations before the Book of Mormon was, and were Mormonism’s most widely used proselytizing texts all the way into the 20th century. (more…)

This morning was the initial class in the historical methods course I teach, made up of undergraduate history majors/minors. It will be an interesting mix this term; some are double majors with education heading for public school classrooms, and I have a handful of students with plans to go to graduate school in history. A few are older than traditional college age. I can already sense that this will be a good group for discussions, that’s a good sign.

My Day One activity looks like this: divide the class into three groups (I have about 15 students in the class; if it were going to be bigger, I’d create more groups). One group has people who have brought laptops to class. I give each group a set of documents or artifacts and a series of questions to start them off, and then I stand back and observe for about half an hour. I’m looking to see how they approach an unfamiliar set of sources, and I’m trying to get to know them as learners. What kinds of questions do they ask? How do they begin to make sense of what’s in front of them? Who emerges as a natural leader? How well are they listening to each other’s ideas? (more…)

In order for the “Mormon Moment” (however you define it) to be successful, there must be able explicators. In the last half-dozen years, there have been few better faces of Mormonism than Richard Bushman. (See, for instance, the recent write-up here.) Whether the topic is Joseph Smith, religious fanaticism, or even the “Book of Mormon” musical, Bushman has been a go-to voice for reporters, and his insights are often poignant and insightful. He is the perfect blend of approachability, reasonable credentials (many of the highest academic awards, prestigious chair at an Ivy League institution), and brilliance. What makes him so likable in the public sphere is not just what he says, but how he says it.

Importantly, that is also one of the things that makes him so likable in academia. (more…)

This past week, the long-overdue biography of Parley P. Pratt was finally delivered. And boy was it delivered. Authored by two of the top stars in Mormon history, Terryl Givens (personal website here) and Matthew Grow (bio found on this page), Parley Parker Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism (New York: Oxford University Press) weighs in at 500 pages—and it could not have been one page less. In their introduction, Givens and Grow write that “the narrative of [Pratt's] life could have formed the basis of a page-turning novel. By 1853, he had already become, after Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, the most influential figure in shaping early Mormon history, culture, and theology. Pratt exerted that influence across an astounding spectrum, excelling as a missionary, explorer, hymnist, pamphleteer, autobiographer, historian, and theologian” (3-4). It would be difficult to keep a narrative of such a life to any page count!

Givens and Grow give three reasons for calling Pratt the “Apostle Paul of Mormonism.” First is the fact that Pratt’s writings “served the same function in early Mormonism” as Paul’s (or the author of Paul’s) did in early Christianity: it helped systematize and popularize the movement’s ideas (5). Second is Pratt’s Paul-like missionary career, travelling all across America, the Atlantic, and even South America. And third, “like Paul, Pratt reveled in opposition and Persecution, and in his own eyes and the beliefs of the Latter-day Saints, met a martyr’s death” (8). In total, it is a phenomenal volume, and should not only garner much praise but encourage even more dialogue. (Personally, I found chapter 12, Parley and Mrs. Pratt(s), and examination of Pratt’s family dynamics, to be one of the most compelling chapters of recent Mormon historiography.)

We’ll eventually have a full review of the book. In the meantime, we are pleased to announce that both of the book’s authors have agreed to do a Q&A post with Juvenile Instructor. Thus, we solicit your help: please provide below the questions you would like Givens and Grow to answer about their newly-released biography.

Ask away! (more…)