Mormon Matters

This episode strays from Mormon Matters’ typical panel discussion format, featuring instead four one-on-one conversations between host Dan Wotherspoon and wonderful friends of his who he asked to think about and share what it is that they like or love most about Mormonism or life as a Mormon, what idea or practice or cultural uniqueness excites their spirits or compels great reflection the most. He got very interesting, even somewhat surprising, answers. Guests: Lorie Winder Stromberg, Taylor Petrey, Rick Jepson, Gina Colvin

Among the most important and difficult wrestles in a faith transition are the struggles to move into new, better nuanced, and richer understandings of previously held concepts, as well as learning to gain greater and greater trust in our own spiritual experiences as the essential authoritative force in our lives. As Latter-day Saints in transition, two of the key areas we must wrestle with if we are to continue to find Mormonism to be a healthy home are the nature and scope of prophets and scripture. In our younger years (and to a strong degree it is still an attitude quite present in Mormon culture and Sunday instruction) we likely, and without too much personal investigation, granted great authority to prophets and scripture as reliable guides to the mind and will of God. As we’ve gotten older, we have had to face challenges to this assumption. To at least some degree, we’ve come to recognize incompatibilities among prophetic teachings and scriptural texts, and/or we’ve come to hold views that feel "right" to us (even to have been confirmed in our hearts by the Holy Ghost) that are not in alignment with current prophetic statements or scriptural interpretations. And because of this, we feel great strain upon our souls. How do we honor prophets and scripture while recognizing that their teachings are sometimes quite wrong about God’s will, or even harmful to those who either from their own over-beliefs in their infallibility or the words and attitudes of others with such over-beliefs are made to feel worthless ("worth less") to God or unwanted as members of the community? Can we still "rely" on prophets and scriptures to teach us essential truths about God, ourselves, and the keys to the greatest possible happiness? In this episode, three incredible thinkers and spiritual adventurers--Boyd Petersen, Fiona Givens, and Terryl Givens--join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for a spirited discussion of these issues. They share their own stories in coming to trust that it is "faithful" to deconstruct unhealthy cultural assumptions and pressures regarding prophetic utterances and scriptural texts. How do they, if they do, still view prophets and scripture as "special" in some ways, even if this doesn’t mean granting them authority above their own sense of what life and Spirit are teaching them? How are they able to communicate the perspectives they have gained about these things in Sunday or other interactions with fellow Latter-day Saints?

In this episode, the Mormon Matters "Genesis Team"--David Bokovoy, Tom Roberts, and Brian Hauglid--join host Dan Wotherspoon for a discussion of Genesis 18 and 19, which chapters feature stories of both Abraham and Lot hosting divine messengers who are intent on destroying the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and their negotiating for the safety of as many people as God will allow. (Hint: Not many escape destruction!) The material covered in these chapters also contains the announcement to Abraham and Sarah that they will conceive a child in their old age (and their interesting reactions!), Lot’s attempts to protect the visitors from townspersons intent on harming them (including arguments about how the text and other biblical references do not support the common understanding that the primary sin bringing the punishment is homosexuality), and also the disturbing story of Lot’s daughters enacting a plan by which they conceive children by their father. The episode contains terrific insights into the hospitality laws of the ancient world, and it also gives the panel and host the chance to reflect on meta issues surrounding the biblical narrative, especially the interplay between the text and the story it shapes and more naturalistic explanations for many of the events described.

The most recent entry in the Gospel Topics series at lds.org, "Becoming Like God," represents the LDS church’s newest attempt to help clarify (for members, media, and those with other interests in Mormonism) often misunderstood or difficult gospel teachings or practices. It, like all the essays in the series, is well-crafted with many scriptural and academic citations that display engagement with scholarship even as it seeks to also maintain a devotional tone. After a short introduction that grounds the shared idea among many Christians of our being in some way "children of God" as well as the idea that Latter-day Saints see this in far more literal ways than many other faiths, the essay presents several Old and New Testament scriptures and statements from early Christian leaders that use strong familial terms when talking about the relationship between God and humans, as well as places that they identify the human potential to be "like" God. In presenting these texts, the statement acknowledges that all of these are contested among Christians in terms of the authors’ views about whether or not humans might one day become "Gods," but then claims that "by viewing them through the clarifying lens of revelations received by Joseph Smith, Latter-day Saints see these scriptures as straightforward expressions of humanity’s divine nature and potential." The statement then describes the ways that teachings about this potential were introduced to and grew to be understood by the Saints, as well as how these teachings are viewed today. In this episode, panelists Charley Harrell, Jim McLachlan, and Richard Livingston, join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for a thorough overview of the statement, maintaining throughout an overarching interest in questions about whether or not this statement represents a shift in previously held teachings, and, if so, to what degree. Are the sources cited fairly presented? What seems to be the overarching concerns of the church in preparing this statement and in the final form it took? The panel also discusses early reactions among members as well as outside critics to the statement, and the reasons for disappointment that many feel. Has this statement really clarified the matter, or has it simply glossed over how central this teaching had once been and seems now more geared toward outsiders who have caricatured Mormon ideas, attempting to make LDS views sound less sensational and more in line with mainline Christian views? Further framing the discussion are questions about LDS assumption of doctrinal uniformity throughout time (the persistent idea that even ancient prophets fully understood the teachings that emerged from Joseph Smith) and the problems that assumption poses whenever we find what seem to be definite shifts. Does this statement represent a healthy way to manage changes in church teachings and emphases? Are there alternative approaches that might better match the historical record and lead toward less disorientation and fragility of faith among LDS members when they are confronted with evidences of changing doctrines?

The most recent entry in the Gospel Topics series at lds.org, "Becoming Like God," represents the LDS church’s newest attempt to help clarify (for members, media, and those with other interests in Mormonism) often misunderstood or difficult gospel teachings or practices. It, like all the essays in the series, is well-crafted with many scriptural and academic citations that display engagement with scholarship even as it seeks to also maintain a devotional tone. After a short introduction that grounds the shared idea among many Christians of our being in some way "children of God" as well as the idea that Latter-day Saints see this in far more literal ways than many other faiths, the essay presents several Old and New Testament scriptures and statements from early Christian leaders that use strong familial terms when talking about the relationship between God and humans, as well as places that they identify the human potential to be "like" God. In presenting these texts, the statement acknowledges that all of these are contested among Christians in terms of the authors’ views about whether or not humans might one day become "Gods," but then claims that "by viewing them through the clarifying lens of revelations received by Joseph Smith, Latter-day Saints see these scriptures as straightforward expressions of humanity’s divine nature and potential." The statement then describes the ways that teachings about this potential were introduced to and grew to be understood by the Saints, as well as how these teachings are viewed today. In this episode, panelists Charley Harrell, Jim McLachlan, and Richard Livingston, join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for a thorough overview of the statement, maintaining throughout an overarching interest in questions about whether or not this statement represents a shift in previously held teachings, and, if so, to what degree. Are the sources cited fairly presented? What seems to be the overarching concerns of the church in preparing this statement and in the final form it took? The panel also discusses early reactions among members as well as outside critics to the statement, and the reasons for disappointment that many feel. Has this statement really clarified the matter, or has it simply glossed over how central this teaching had once been and seems now more geared toward outsiders who have caricatured Mormon ideas, attempting to make LDS views sound less sensational and more in line with mainline Christian views? Further framing the discussion are questions about LDS assumption of doctrinal uniformity throughout time (the persistent idea that even ancient prophets fully understood the teachings that emerged from Joseph Smith) and the problems that assumption poses whenever we find what seem to be definite shifts. Does this statement represent a healthy way to manage changes in church teachings and emphases? Are there alternative approaches that might better match the historical record and lead toward less disorientation and fragility of faith among LDS members when they are confronted with evidences of changing doctrines?

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?

Most listeners to Mormon Matters, like all seekers, are undergoing a faith transition--hopefully leading to continuous deepening into greater richness of experience and peace. Often, however, faith transitions feel more like "crises" for persons in the midst of the reorientation as well as for family members and others close to them who aren’t sharing the same experience and therefore fear that something dangerous is going on. These fears often arise out of concern for the person, but they can also arise out of a sense of that person’s own interior world and equilibrium being jeopardized, leading to a fear of contamination through continued close association. The person undergoing the transition is also often fearful. Are these questions and feelings wrong? Will I be ever be able to stabilize within a new orientation to God, the universe, and those I love? These and many other factors at play when relationships are strained as someone undergoes a big change make for treacherous ground. What are some key ways to understand these dynamics and thus be better prepared for all that might come in these interactions? In this episode, Katie Langston, Lisa Tensmeyer Hansen, and Lisa Butterworth join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for a discussion of faith transitions, primarily focusing on things the persons undergoing them might consider as they interact with those closest to them: Should they speak up, and how much should they share? How will they know if it is the right thing to do in their particular situation? What are some considerations to keep in mind that might help them understand the often less than ideal reactions that come from those they are in primary relationships with? The conversation offers positive framings about the ultimate importance for healthy growth of these transitions as well as best practices and ways to prepare spiritually before engaging others with whom someone is no longer on the same wavelength. What ideas and framings have most helped the panelists in their own journeys?

The cover of the March 2014 Ensign highlights an article, "The Lord’s Standard of Morality," by Elder Tad R. Callister that has been the subject of much Internet talk of late, with most voices recognizing the importance of the subject and good desires of the author and those who chose to publish it but expressing concern that some of its messaging might be more harmful than helpful for youth negotiating the important transition from childhood to adulthood, especially in regard to healthy sexuality. In this episode, two therapists who work closely with Latter-day Saints struggling with issues often related to negative ideas they picked up during their formative years, Natasha Helfer Parker and Jennifer Finlayson-Fife, join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for an illuminating dialogue about modesty and sexuality (especially assumptions and views about women) and how messages designed to protect women can instead increase the very devaluation and objectification of the women they seek to avoid. They also share ideas for healthy messaging that could comfortably fit in LDS Sunday and Young Women/Young Men curricula.

For many struggling Latter-day Saints, a pivotal moment in their transitioning faith comes when they are confronted with the mismatch between traditional teachings about the Book of Abraham being an ancient text written by the patriarch Abraham and a nearly universal scholarly consensus that it is based upon much later, and quite ordinary funerary documents that have nothing to do with the biblical figure. Further exacerbating the difficulty is the tenor and often strained mindset behind apologetic efforts to defend a traditional view of the texts, translation processes, interpretations of the book’s three facsimiles, and the general relevance of Egyptian studies in understanding them as possibly still relating to Abraham. As many Latter-day Saints confront these issues, they find themselves in the difficult position of having to rethink their views about scripture in general, the nature of prophetic revelation, and the type of "translating" in which Joseph Smith engaged if they are going to be able to continue thinking of the Book of Abraham as "scripture" or "inspired." In this two-part episode, Brian Hauglid, David Bokovoy, and Charley Harrell join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon in a discussion about all of these issues. Part I focuses primarily on the historical background of the various papyri that came into Smith’s hands, his and other early leaders’ efforts to translate them, the eventual production of the Book of Abraham, and the various scholarly views and angles of argument presented by defenders of traditional understandings. Part II then turns to the meta-questions of "scripture," revelation, translation, how Smith might have been so wrong about the nature of the papyri and yet still genuinely moved by the Spirit in the text he produced and presented as from Abraham, "written by his own hand upon papyrus." The panelists each share some of his own journey to reorient his thinking about the Book of Abraham and these wider issues of prophetic inspiration and the production of scripture both in ancient and latter days.

For many struggling Latter-day Saints, a pivotal moment in their transitioning faith comes when they are confronted with the mismatch between traditional teachings about the Book of Abraham being an ancient text written by the patriarch Abraham and a nearly universal scholarly consensus that it is based upon much later, and quite ordinary funerary documents that have nothing to do with the biblical figure. Further exacerbating the difficulty is the tenor and often strained mindset behind apologetic efforts to defend a traditional view of the texts, translation processes, interpretations of the book’s three facsimiles, and the general relevance of Egyptian studies in understanding them as possibly still relating to Abraham. As many Latter-day Saints confront these issues, they find themselves in the difficult position of having to rethink their views about scripture in general, the nature of prophetic revelation, and the type of "translating" in which Joseph Smith engaged if they are going to be able to continue thinking of the Book of Abraham as "scripture" or "inspired." In this two-part episode, Brian Hauglid, David Bokovoy, and Charley Harrell join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon in a discussion about all of these issues. Part I focuses primarily on the historical background of the various papyri that came into Smith’s hands, his and other early leaders’ efforts to translate them, the eventual production of the Book of Abraham, and the various scholarly views and angles of argument presented by defenders of traditional understandings. Part II then turns to the meta-questions of "scripture," revelation, translation, how Smith might have been so wrong about the nature of the papyri and yet still genuinely moved by the Spirit in the text he produced and presented as from Abraham, "written by his own hand upon papyrus." The panelists each share some of his own journey to reorient his thinking about the Book of Abraham and these wider issues of prophetic inspiration and the production of scripture both in ancient and latter days.

Beginning shortly after the close of his 2012 presidential bid, Mitt Romney has kept a pretty low profile. However, the recent Sundance Film Festival has forced some renewed public attention on him with the screening of the documentary, Mitt, by filmmaker Greg Whiteley, along with the film’s availability on the popular media streaming service Netflix. The film eschews politics for an intimate look at Mitt and the Romney family during both the 2008 and 2012 presidential runs. In this episode, Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon is joined by political watchers McKay Coppins and John Hatch to discuss the film and the wider legacy for Mormonism created by Romney’s bids for the presidency. They talk about the film, especially the parts that show (or hint at) the Romney family's Mormonism. They also discuss the lasting--and they judge quite positive--legacy for Mormons in national politics and wider culture that is tied in some ways to Romney’s campaigns.