Mormon Matters

The 2013 LDS Priesthood and Relief Society manual, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, features a lesson, "The Grand Destiny of the Faithful" (Chapter 5), in which one of President Snow’s most famous teachings makes a fresh appearance. Often referred to as "the Couplet," it states: "As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be." Encountering this teaching in an official Church publication has been surprising to many Church watchers, who have noticed in the past couple of decades a dramatic drop off in LDS comfort levels with the teaching that we human beings are on a progression path that God once traveled, and that with continued growth and development of divine qualities we can one day become Gods ourselves. So what’s going on? Why was this teaching de-emphasized? Does its appearance in the manual signal a shift from recent public outreach to show similarities between Mormon thought and that of mainline Christianity to a willingness to embrace the differences? And, for that matter, are teachings about theosis or divinization actually all that unusual when one considers the entire arc of Christian teaching? In this episode, panelists Danielle Mooney, Charley Harrell, and Tom Roberts, join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for a thorough look at this teaching within Mormonism, as well as the wider Christian world, especially in Eastern and Greek Orthodox Christianity and writings of early thinkers who provided the impetus for the directions they took separate from what became Roman Catholicism. Fascinating, rich stuff! The panel explores the history of "couplet" theology, including one of the early forms it took in Brigham Young’s teaching about Adam as God, and discusses possible reasons for its fall from the public sphere and recent reappearance. It also takes a strong look at black Latter-day Saints and women, for whom the ideas expressed in couplet (or, at least the contexts in which it rose have been commented on by Church leaders) have been particularly problematic. Can the doctrine of theosis be separated from the difficult assumptions that have been linked to it?

This past week saw the publication of a book, Mormon Women Have Their Say (Greg Kofford Books), which is comprised of essays drawn from research into Mormon women’s histories that have been prompted by or collected as part of Claremont Graduate University’s Oral History Program. In this episode, the book’s editors, Claudia L. Bushman and Caroline Kline, speak about the project and book, and they share some of their favorite passages and what they reveal about LDS women's lives and the ways they negotiate tensions between faith and culture, as well as their desires to be supportive and part of a community while maintaining authenticity in an organization that often does not often encourage them to share their voice and complex experience. They also share how Mormon women can become part of the project themselves, either as interviewers, interviewees, or writers of their own histories.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has just announced the online release of a new edition of the LDS scriptures, with physical copies to be made available in August. Although the new version includes some spelling and punctuation changes along with minor tweaks to fonts and layout, the vast majority of the changes are to study materials, including to chapter headings and introductions to the various texts--some of them quite substantive, especially when seen as signals to an increased openness to admitting historical and doctrinal development. In this episode, panelists Gina Colvin, Charley Harrell, and Ben Park join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon in an early evaluation of the changes. Attuned to history and the way texts shape cultures, including Mormonism’s, they go over the Church’s announced reasons for doing what they’ve done with headings and section introductions, focusing on interesting specifics such as elimination of Jesus Christ from any Old Testament chapter headings. The examine the major changes to the descriptions of the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price, along with those for Official Declarations 1 and 2. The panel members are also excellent observers of the meta messages embedded in the changes, and they offer takes about what the Church seems to be growing more comfortable in responding to, and where it is still tentative.

With a forty-day Lenten season that flows to a conclusion in Holy Week and its beautiful rituals, for many Christians, Easter (even more than Christmas) marks the spiritual high point of the year. At no other time do sacred time and space collapse quite so easily, with events and liturgies and encouragements that lead people in sustained reflection about not only their gratitude for Christ and their beliefs and hopes about salvation, but even more generally, the renewal of aspirations, plans, and energies. While Mormons join with the rest of the Christian world in basic beliefs about Christ’s resurrection and central role in salvation, and they, too, celebrate Easter, they don’t do it in quite as sustained a manner as many other Christian traditions who carry into their worship centuries-long traditions and fully developed music and liturgies and portals into the mysteries of the resurrection miracle. In this five-part series, Jared Anderson, Zina Petersen, and Kristine Haglund join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon in a journey through scripture, history, worship, and celebration related to Easter. Designed to be informative about elements with which Mormons in general are not all that familiar, it also explores different presentations of Christ’s final acts on earth in the various Gospels and scriptural tradition, the range of views about what "resurrection" means, how Christian and Pagan traditions interacted to create the mix of elements we find during Easter season, and how these elements combined to create some of the world’s greatest music, poetry, and pageantry. But it also explores personal realms. How do each of the panelists integrate a love for Easter themes, claims, symbols, and rituals with their own empirically oriented and critical brains? What is happening in their hearts and minds as they celebrate Easter?

With a forty-day Lenten season that flows to a conclusion in Holy Week and its beautiful rituals, for many Christians, Easter (even more than Christmas) marks the spiritual high point of the year. At no other time do sacred time and space collapse quite so easily, with events and liturgies and encouragements that lead people in sustained reflection about not only their gratitude for Christ and their beliefs and hopes about salvation, but even more generally, the renewal of aspirations, plans, and energies. While Mormons join with the rest of the Christian world in basic beliefs about Christ’s resurrection and central role in salvation, and they, too, celebrate Easter, they don’t do it in quite as sustained a manner as many other Christian traditions who carry into their worship centuries-long traditions and fully developed music and liturgies and portals into the mysteries of the resurrection miracle. In this five-part series, Jared Anderson, Zina Petersen, and Kristine Haglund join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon in a journey through scripture, history, worship, and celebration related to Easter. Designed to be informative about elements with which Mormons in general are not all that familiar, it also explores different presentations of Christ’s final acts on earth in the various Gospels and scriptural tradition, the range of views about what "resurrection" means, how Christian and Pagan traditions interacted to create the mix of elements we find during Easter season, and how these elements combined to create some of the world’s greatest music, poetry, and pageantry. But it also explores personal realms. How do each of the panelists integrate a love for Easter themes, claims, symbols, and rituals with their own empirically oriented and critical brains? What is happening in their hearts and minds as they celebrate Easter?

With a forty-day Lenten season that flows to a conclusion in Holy Week and its beautiful rituals, for many Christians, Easter (even more than Christmas) marks the spiritual high point of the year. At no other time do sacred time and space collapse quite so easily, with events and liturgies and encouragements that lead people in sustained reflection about not only their gratitude for Christ and their beliefs and hopes about salvation, but even more generally, the renewal of aspirations, plans, and energies. While Mormons join with the rest of the Christian world in basic beliefs about Christ’s resurrection and central role in salvation, and they, too, celebrate Easter, they don’t do it in quite as sustained a manner as many other Christian traditions who carry into their worship centuries-long traditions and fully developed music and liturgies and portals into the mysteries of the resurrection miracle. In this five-part series, Jared Anderson, Zina Petersen, and Kristine Haglund join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon in a journey through scripture, history, worship, and celebration related to Easter. Designed to be informative about elements with which Mormons in general are not all that familiar, it also explores different presentations of Christ’s final acts on earth in the various Gospels and scriptural tradition, the range of views about what "resurrection" means, how Christian and Pagan traditions interacted to create the mix of elements we find during Easter season, and how these elements combined to create some of the world’s greatest music, poetry, and pageantry. But it also explores personal realms. How do each of the panelists integrate a love for Easter themes, claims, symbols, and rituals with their own empirically oriented and critical brains? What is happening in their hearts and minds as they celebrate Easter?

With a forty-day Lenten season that flows to a conclusion in Holy Week and its beautiful rituals, for many Christians, Easter (even more than Christmas) marks the spiritual high point of the year. At no other time do sacred time and space collapse quite so easily, with events and liturgies and encouragements that lead people in sustained reflection about not only their gratitude for Christ and their beliefs and hopes about salvation, but even more generally, the renewal of aspirations, plans, and energies. While Mormons join with the rest of the Christian world in basic beliefs about Christ’s resurrection and central role in salvation, and they, too, celebrate Easter, they don’t do it in quite as sustained a manner as many other Christian traditions who carry into their worship centuries-long traditions and fully developed music and liturgies and portals into the mysteries of the resurrection miracle. In this five-part series, Jared Anderson, Zina Petersen, and Kristine Haglund join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon in a journey through scripture, history, worship, and celebration related to Easter. Designed to be informative about elements with which Mormons in general are not all that familiar, it also explores different presentations of Christ’s final acts on earth in the various Gospels and scriptural tradition, the range of views about what "resurrection" means, how Christian and Pagan traditions interacted to create the mix of elements we find during Easter season, and how these elements combined to create some of the world’s greatest music, poetry, and pageantry. But it also explores personal realms. How do each of the panelists integrate a love for Easter themes, claims, symbols, and rituals with their own empirically oriented and critical brains? What is happening in their hearts and minds as they celebrate Easter?

With a forty-day Lenten season that flows to a conclusion in Holy Week and its beautiful rituals, for many Christians, Easter (even more than Christmas) marks the spiritual high point of the year. At no other time do sacred time and space collapse quite so easily, with events and liturgies and encouragements that lead people in sustained reflection about not only their gratitude for Christ and their beliefs and hopes about salvation, but even more generally, the renewal of aspirations, plans, and energies. While Mormons join with the rest of the Christian world in basic beliefs about Christ’s resurrection and central role in salvation, and they, too, celebrate Easter, they don’t do it in quite as sustained a manner as many other Christian traditions who carry into their worship centuries-long traditions and fully developed music and liturgies and portals into the mysteries of the resurrection miracle. In this five-part series, Jared Anderson, Zina Petersen, and Kristine Haglund join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon in a journey through scripture, history, worship, and celebration related to Easter. Designed to be informative about elements with which Mormons in general are not all that familiar, it also explores different presentations of Christ’s final acts on earth in the various Gospels and scriptural tradition, the range of views about what "resurrection" means, how Christian and Pagan traditions interacted to create the mix of elements we find during Easter season, and how these elements combined to create some of the world’s greatest music, poetry, and pageantry. But it also explores personal realms. How do each of the panelists integrate a love for Easter themes, claims, symbols, and rituals with their own empirically oriented and critical brains? What is happening in their hearts and minds as they celebrate Easter?

C.S. Lewis is a towering twentieth-century figure, known especially as an author of fiction and meditations on Christianity and the work of God in human lives. His own life journey--he was born and raised within a Christian home and was a highly imaginative child who loved literature and mythology but later rejected both Christianity and theism only to, in his twenties and thirties, begin to feel "stalked" by Spirit and eventually convert back to a belief in God and, later, Christianity--makes him especially compelling for those with intellectual proclivities. How could this towering intellect begin to believe again? What is it he saw in the Christian mythos that led him to see it differently than other myths in which divine beings overcome death? As such a startling and influential figure, Lewis naturally caught, and still catches, the attention of many Mormons who find in his wonderful writing and fresh angles on familiar teachings much that bolsters their own Christian faith. But, for some (in a move that is repeated in many other Christian traditions) Lewis has taken on a glow almost as an honorary Latter-day Saint. They see in various phrases things that seem to really tap into unique ideas found in Mormonism. In this episode, Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon and panelists Mahonri Young, Blair Hodges, and Katie Langson examine this connection to Mormon thinking, but even more generally Lewis’s life and writings and impact both in religious conversation at large as well as in their own lives. Especially within their own lives and spiritual journey.

C.S. Lewis is a towering twentieth-century figure, known especially as an author of fiction and meditations on Christianity and the work of God in human lives. His own life journey--he was born and raised within a Christian home and was a highly imaginative child who loved literature and mythology but later rejected both Christianity and theism only to, in his twenties and thirties, begin to feel "stalked" by Spirit and eventually convert back to a belief in God and, later, Christianity--makes him especially compelling for those with intellectual proclivities. How could this towering intellect begin to believe again? What is it he saw in the Christian mythos that led him to see it differently than other myths in which divine beings overcome death? As such a startling and influential figure, Lewis naturally caught, and still catches, the attention of many Mormons who find in his wonderful writing and fresh angles on familiar teachings much that bolsters their own Christian faith. But, for some (in a move that is repeated in many other Christian traditions) Lewis has taken on a glow almost as an honorary Latter-day Saint. They see in various phrases things that seem to really tap into unique ideas found in Mormonism. In this episode, Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon and panelists Mahonri Young, Blair Hodges, and Katie Langson examine this connection to Mormon thinking, but even more generally Lewis’s life and writings and impact both in religious conversation at large as well as in their own lives. Especially within their own lives and spiritual journey.

This two-part episode offers a wonderful peek into military chaplaincy, a career unlike any other, and, in particular, experiences of LDS chaplains. Two active duty LDS Army chaplains--Nathan Kline and Jason Unsworth--and one retired LDS Air Force chaplain--Phil McLemore--share the history of chaplaincy and how it has evolved since even before the beginning of the American Revolution, what it takes to become a chaplain today, the many roles chaplains play, the particular pressures they face, as well as the incredible opportunities it provides for unique service and spiritual vistas. This conversation describes first hand what is sometimes called a "ministry of presence," taking us from combat theaters in Iraq and Afghanistan, to counseling offices and base ministries, to sitting by hospital bedsides as mentally and physically wounded soldiers try to sort through the tragedies that have befallen them and find scraps of hope from which to build up new lives. It’s an amazing discussion that both educates (inner workings of the military, support services for LDS military personnel) and heartens through insights that were birthed in intense circumstances but which wildly transcend those origins and are applicable and uplifting to us all.

This two-part episode offers a wonderful peek into military chaplaincy, a career unlike any other, and, in particular, experiences of LDS chaplains. Two active duty LDS Army chaplains--Nathan Kline and Jason Unsworth--and one retired LDS Air Force chaplain--Phil McLemore--share the history of chaplaincy and how it has evolved since even before the beginning of the American Revolution, what it takes to become a chaplain today, the many roles chaplains play, the particular pressures they face, as well as the incredible opportunities it provides for unique service and spiritual vistas. This conversation describes first hand what is sometimes called a "ministry of presence," taking us from combat theaters in Iraq and Afghanistan, to counseling offices and base ministries, to sitting by hospital bedsides as mentally and physically wounded soldiers try to sort through the tragedies that have befallen them and find scraps of hope from which to build up new lives. It’s an amazing discussion that both educates (inner workings of the military, support services for LDS military personnel) and heartens through insights that were birthed in intense circumstances but which wildly transcend those origins and are applicable and uplifting to us all.

This episode continues a series of conversations about parents and children communicating about changes in faith perspectives. Episode 146 featured faithful, committed Latter-day Saint parents whose children shared with them their movement away from their earlier firm beliefs in Mormon truth claims. This current episode also features LDS parents, this time, however, the parents are the ones undergoing a faith transition and are wrestling with (or have already) how much of that change to share with their faithful, committed Mormon children. The three parents featured here--Carey, Jeff, and Gail--have each approached these questions differently. We learn about their own faith journeys, their stories of sharing or not sharing with their believing children, how they approach(ed) these conversations, if their fears were realized or if they received wonderful, affirming surprises, as well as if and how would they go back and change things, if they would want to.

This episode continues a series of conversations about parents and children communicating about changes in faith perspectives. Episode 146 featured faithful, committed Latter-day Saint parents whose children shared with them their movement away from their earlier firm beliefs in Mormon truth claims. This current episode also features LDS parents, this time, however, the parents are the ones undergoing a faith transition and are wrestling with (or have already) how much of that change to share with their faithful, committed Mormon children. The three parents featured here--Carey, Jeff, and Gail--have each approached these questions differently. We learn about their own faith journeys, their stories of sharing or not sharing with their believing children, how they approach(ed) these conversations, if their fears were realized or if they received wonderful, affirming surprises, as well as if and how would they go back and change things, if they would want to.

We are experimenting with a different type of show this time. Instead of diving into a single huge topic, this show features short takes: thoughts, stories, and combination of ideas that have been important to each participant, that have stuck with them, that have caused them to feel more oriented in the cosmos. As it turned out in this first episode of this sort, we, not with any real planning for it to go this way, asked four folks to be on who, it turns out, truly are what one might call "spiritual adventurers." Each has explored religion and the spiritual life through world travel, exposure to far-ranging ideas beyond typical LDS borders, and deep immersion in thought systems or ritual practices. Given this, it’s no surprise that the ideas that were shared ended up connecting in many ways, with each panelist sharing about experiences that have led them to leave the safety of surety for the risk and richness of Spirit. This two-part episode features Phyllis Barber, Bill Hansen, Dallas Robbins, and Chelsea Shields-Strayer.