Mormon Matters

The Mormon Matters "Genesis Team"--David Bokovoy, Tom Roberts, and Brian Hauglid--discusses the Genesis and Book of Abraham texts related to the great patriarch Abraham. Where do the texts differ? Are there resources from ancient studies or the wider Judeo-Christian literature that bolster some of the Book of Abraham’s distinctive points? Why did Abraham flee Ur? What was the episode in Egypt all about when Abraham told Sarai to say she was his sister rather than his wife? The members of the team also discuss Hagar and Ishmael and help us understand their histories in more complete ways. And finally, they take on the Akedah, the "binding of Isaac," in all its difficulty. Is there a theologically satisfying way to discuss this difficult story?

In this episode, the Mormon Matters "Genesis Team"--David Bokovoy, Tom Roberts, and Brian Hauglid--share good, fair and scholarly framings of two difficult biblical stories: (1) the cursing of Canaan, Ham’s son, to become a servant to the races descending from Noah’s other two sons because of his Ham's indiscretions upon discovering Noah naked within his tent; and (2) the Tower of Babel and God’s confounding of human languages. There is so much more going on in the Genesis text than typically gets discussed in LDS devotional settings. This episode also folds in sections of the Book of Abraham and Book of Mormon in sidebar discussions of the link between the cursing of Canaan and black skin and priesthood cursing that had been in Mormon consciousness for such a long time and has only recently been formally denounced by the church, and also about the idea that there once was a pure, Adamic language toward which we are to somehow seek,

The LDS Church has recently published on its website, lds.org, a short article titled "Book of Mormon Translation" that lays out in greater detail than perhaps ever before in an official statement some of the lesser-known aspects of the Book of Mormon translation process, such as Joseph Smith’s use of (and even preference for) a "seer stone" that he had found years before receiving the plates and two clear stones set into a bow that he identified as "Urim and Thummim," and how little the actual plates were used during translation, with them instead usually covered somewhere in the room while Smith sat with his face buried in a hat (to keep out light) into which he had placed his seer stone. At the same time that it alerts readers to these details, it also asserts that even though this may not be the typical way members have thought about how Smith did the translation, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon was indeed a "translation" process in which characters of a language referred to as "Reformed Egyptian" engraved on physical metal plates were rendered into English, conveying a sense of Smith as more or less a passive figure in the process, someone who read English words as they appeared on the stone(s), words that were then written down by a scribe. In this episode, Katie Langston, John Hamer, and John-Charles Duffy join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon in a vigorous discussion of this new document. Is it a step forward for the Church to more openly recognize what historical research has long shown even as it clashes with typical narratives about the translation process, or has whatever greater openness rendered by that acknowledgment been swallowed up by the statement’s insistence upon a very narrow view of translation--that Smith conveyed exact words provided by God--that continues to force explanations and defenses of the text that are less problematic if more "conceptual" types of translation are imagined. With only unreliable sources suggesting the process involved English words appearing on the stone(s), why might those behind this statement still chosen to insist upon this revelatory model?

In this special episode, co-produced with the Mormon Sunday School and Feminist Mormon Housewives podcasts, Eric Huntsman, Jared Anderson, and Lindsay Hansen Park join me for a fascinating examination of the what has often been referred to as the "quest for the historical Jesus," and especially the ways in which the Jesus who lived and breathed and walked the roads of ancient Palestine (or, if not that, at least the Jesus we can uncover through historical methods) might differ from the "Christ of faith." This is a hotly contested subject, made all the more difficult because of the fragmentary nature of the sources, but also because of the complication that most commentators (including the authors of the Gospels and other New Testament and apocryphal writings) have religious or faith stakes in the question, Most everyone who goes into this scholarship "wants" the actual Jesus to be who their faith has led them to believe he was. The panelists discuss what it is we can know about the historical Jesus, taking us through a history of the various "quests" to discover him, the main sources scholars have to deal with, the criteria they use to determine the likelihood of various sayings and actions being things Jesus really did versus later creations/amplifications, and the ancient settings in which he lived and in which Christianity took root. Most importantly, they also address questions such as: "If the historical record can’t determine something conclusively, does it mean that Jesus did not do/say it?" and "Does/Should faith commitments hinge on the accuracy of the biblical presentations of Jesus?" The panelists also specifically evaluate claims in the recent book that has launched new interest in this question, Zealot, by Reza Aslan.

One of the most difficult but important things we can do as Mormons who are alerted to the complexities of cultural differences and sacred writings is to learn how to share in church settings insights we’ve gleaned from our studies. We have a dual challenge: (1) to try to be as faithful as possible to the scriptural text and the context in which it was written and the people who lived in those places and times, while (2) still honoring in some way the Christian and LDS overlays that have become deeply ingrained in ours and others’ faith journeys and worldviews--framings and understandings that can only graft in a few new pieces at a time. In this episode, panelists Jana Riess, Philip Barlow, and Carrie Miles join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for an exploration of the Old Testament, paying particular attention to this delicate dance of faithfulness to both text and communities. What important framings might we offer as teachers or class members that can help open the discussion beyond just literal readings or approaches that assume that ancient Israelite rituals, temples, and practices were really just like ours of today, that these ancient peoples were essentially "proto-Mormons," hardly different at all from us in their doctrines of God and sense of what things mean? What riches does the Old Testament possess that would be wonderful to convey even if they might complicate current LDS assumptions?

The recent official statement on Race and the Priesthood has highlighted in a fresh way the difficult issue of prophets and apostles who are subject to the influences of culture and largely unexamined assumptions of their day that color their understandings of and impact their statements about sometimes very important matters. If this is so, how then should we view them and the nature of "prophetic inspiration"? What does it mean for us as church members when we come to understand "revelation" as a much more human-saturated process than the "hotline phone with God" model that we perhaps once assumed? In this episode, Joanna Brooks, Ronda Callister and Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon go personal on this subject, sharing their own wrestles and journeys to peace within Mormonism, including coming to honor even very human leaders who don’t always know or teach God’s will. As Brooks puts it within the discussion, how is it that she feels comfortable saying Mormonism can be both "special and wrong"? We hope you’ll listen and then share your own ideas and personal wrestles with these issues!

On 6 December 2013, the LDS Church posted on its website, LDS.org, a new document titled, "Race and the Priesthood," along with videos and other resources for better understanding the history of race issues within Mormonism, as well clarifying its current positions. The key piece of the statement is a renunciation of past teachings about black persons descending from Cain and Canaan, which teachings through centuries of biblical exegesis have been used as justifications for black slavery, and within Mormonism for the withholding of priesthood and temple blessings. The statement also repudiates the teaching that persons born with black skin were less valiant in their support for God and the Plan of Salvation in the premortal realm; it disavows all sensibilities that would suggest that mixed-race marriages are sinful; and it further torpedoes any claim that "blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else." Another main feature of the document is a brief overview of racialized thinking and discourse in the United States during the church’s formative and later years that affected the ideas and attitudes of LDS leaders, including prophets adn apostles, leading them to think and make statements that are not in accord with the scriptural view of "all are alike unto God," and that God offers the same salvation to all. It also mentions key moments in the church’s history that led to shifts in position, including several factors leading up to the 1978 revelation that reversed the ban on priesthood and temple access for those of black African descent. In this episode, panelists Gina Colvin, Margaret Blair Young, and Janan Graham join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for a discussion of the new statement, with each sharing their assessments of its importance and the ways in which it might shift discourse within Mormonism and lead to important reassessments of not only race but also Americentrism and other forms of privileging that seldom receive scrutiny. The panelists share not only what they think needs to be next steps, but also possible ways to help these challenging but rewarding tasks take root. They further consider the use of certain wordings within the statement, as well as its lack of an apology for the negative and painful effects these teachings have had on blacks and other persons of color. Should an apology be forthcoming? Why or why not? Much of the discussion also focuses on our responsibilities to take the starting point offered by this statement and to move the discussion and examinations forward in our families, wards, and other circles.

On 6 December 2013, the LDS Church posted on its website, LDS.org, a new document titled, "Race and the Priesthood," along with videos and other resources for better understanding the history of race issues within Mormonism, as well clarifying its current positions. The key piece of the statement is a renunciation of past teachings about black persons descending from Cain and Canaan, which teachings through centuries of biblical exegesis have been used as justifications for black slavery, and within Mormonism for the withholding of priesthood and temple blessings. The statement also repudiates the teaching that persons born with black skin were less valiant in their support for God and the Plan of Salvation in the premortal realm; it disavows all sensibilities that would suggest that mixed-race marriages are sinful; and it further torpedoes any claim that "blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else." Another main feature of the document is a brief overview of racialized thinking and discourse in the United States during the church’s formative and later years that affected the ideas and attitudes of LDS leaders, including prophets adn apostles, leading them to think and make statements that are not in accord with the scriptural view of "all are alike unto God," and that God offers the same salvation to all. It also mentions key moments in the church’s history that led to shifts in position, including several factors leading up to the 1978 revelation that reversed the ban on priesthood and temple access for those of black African descent. In this episode, panelists Gina Colvin, Margaret Blair Young, and Janan Graham join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for a discussion of the new statement, with each sharing their assessments of its importance and the ways in which it might shift discourse within Mormonism and lead to important reassessments of not only race but also Americentrism and other forms of privileging that seldom receive scrutiny. The panelists share not only what they think needs to be next steps, but also possible ways to help these challenging but rewarding tasks take root. They further consider the use of certain wordings within the statement, as well as its lack of an apology for the negative and painful effects these teachings have had on blacks and other persons of color. Should an apology be forthcoming? Why or why not? Much of the discussion also focuses on our responsibilities to take the starting point offered by this statement and to move the discussion and examinations forward in our families, wards, and other circles.

In this two-part episode, we continue our series on the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible by examining one of scripture’s most difficult stories--God choosing to unleash a flood designed to kill all living beings on the planet except a select few. In this episode, panelists David Bokovoy, Tom Roberts, and Brian Hauglid examine the scriptural text itself, including the interwoven (and quite different) J and P sources and the stories and traditions that they borrow from. The also explore takes and angles on the story presented by LDS thinkers, the wider Christian world, and Islam. What theological or devotional value can we find in this story? How can we still honor the text’s mythic truths even as its cosmological worldview and claims about a global deluge fly in the face of scientific evidence? Can open up room in LDS discourse for non-literal but still theologically uplifting readings of such claims as it must be understood as a universal flood because the earth needed to be "baptized"?

In this two-part episode, we continue our series on the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible by examining one of scripture’s most difficult stories--God choosing to unleash a flood designed to kill all living beings on the planet except a select few. In this episode, panelists David Bokovoy, Tom Roberts, and Brian Hauglid examine the scriptural text itself, including the interwoven (and quite different) J and P sources and the stories and traditions that they borrow from. The also explore takes and angles on the story presented by LDS thinkers, the wider Christian world, and Islam. What theological or devotional value can we find in this story? How can we still honor the text’s mythic truths even as its cosmological worldview and claims about a global deluge fly in the face of scientific evidence? Can open up room in LDS discourse for non-literal but still theologically uplifting readings of such claims as it must be understood as a universal flood because the earth needed to be "baptized"?

My recent call for stories of LDS leaders who through their vision and love and ways of inhabiting their pastoral roles have made a wonderful difference in people’s lives has been answered spectacularly by four listeners--Loree, Brian Dillman, Brian Kissell, and Katie Langston (whose segment also includes a neat surprise). As each person tells her or his stories, we not only hear about loving, accepting, encouraging, and inclusive leaders but also something about the spiritual journeys of each narrator. Sharing stories and opening our hearts to others lives: a magical formula for a memorable podcast!

This short episode announces two projects I’d love to work on with collaborators from the Mormon Matters listening community. The first is for stories that would become part of a podcast episode, or a series of episodes, and possibly also a book (or series of books). Right now I want to call this project "Good Shepherds." It will be stories of LDS leaders--bishops or bishopric members, Relief Society presidents/presidencies, Young Women’s and Young Men’s presidencies and advisors, visiting teachers, home teachers, stake leaders, others--who in the capacity of their callings have been amazingly open, creative, loving, welcoming, concentrating on building community and fellowship rather than being narrow in doctrine or policies that can divide and make folks feel unwelcome, unwanted, or somehow "less than." Listen to the podcast for more details, but, in short, if you have a story of someone like this you’d love to share about, please write me, Dan Wotherspoon, at mormonmatters at gmail dot com and we will set up a time to record with you. I’ll then gather yours and other stories together for release as a podcast episode or series. And I’ll later talk with contributors about possibly writing up their stories as essays for a book. The second project does not yet have a name, and it is also far more complex but really exciting, I think! It is a call for collaborators who would like to be part of a team to contribute to a book(s) and smart-devices app that would help open up Sunday or other church-related discussions to greater depth, life, insight, spirit, and that might help us find ways we can share our insights in discussions that often feel like they are operating on a different wavelength than we are, using language and speaking from frameworks that perhaps don’t match where our spiritual journeys have taken us. It is too complex an idea and project to write up here, so please listen to here, so please listen to the episode and then write me if you would like to be in on the fun and (I think, rewarding) work it would entail.

We think we know what it means to "believe" or to "have faith." But do we? Has the current ways we use these terms remained stable throughout history? No, says Frances Lee Menlove in an important essay in her new book, The Challenge of Honesty: Essays for Latter-day Saints. She argues further that these changes have had a large negative impact for many Christians today, but she hopes that through better understanding of these shifts and opening ourselves to the terms original meanings we might begin to undo some of the damage that has been done--damages done by anti-intellectualism, dogmatism, the invention of the idea of "heresy," and all other things that keep us from uniting in fellowship with each other, which Menlove suggests is the call of both original Christianity and early Mormonism. Another place of strain for many Latter-day Saints today is the seeming devaluation of testimonies that assert "faith" in gospel teachings rather than a "knowledge" that they are true. It has come to the point that many who don’t’ feel they "know" this or that is true feel out of step, or less "acceptable" as a Mormon than those who claim sure knowledge. Can this be another area where more examination can help relieve some pressure--much to the good of the overall church and culture? In this episode, we are thrilled to have as panelists two important voices in the history of free and unfettered discourse about Mormonism--Frances Lee Menlove, one of the five founders of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon History, and D. Jeff Burton, author of the seminal book, For Those Who Wonder, and author of nearly fifty "Beyond the Borderlands" columns in Sunstone magazine--to talk about these important subjects. Both guests teach powerfully through by word and example, and we are sure you will be well-rewarded by listening in on the great conversation we had with them.

Over the course of its run, Mormon Matters has received emails from non-LDS persons who have become regular listeners to the podcast, as well as participants in online LDS "Bloggernacle" groups and other discussions about Mormonism. This episode features four of them--three in person, Bridget McGregor, Karrie Higgins, and Les Gripkey, and one who sent in her story, Bryony Leech--who share why they engage to the strong degrees they do with Mormonism. They each also weigh in with views of what Mormon ideas or aspects are most appealing to them, where Mormonism is strongest or should step forward even more, as well as areas where it frustrates or should consider its way of interacting with the world. Each of the panelists’ stories is fascinating, as are the insights and perspectives they offer as friendly outsiders. Among the topics getting good attention are LDS emphases on the family and ideas such as baptism and temple work for the dead, community structures, including the influence of the way Salt Lake City is structured on one’s experiences, Mark Hofmann, the Ordain Women movement and how change comes about within Mormonism, LDS history and how it is presented, and the fears that many Latter-day Saints have about authentic sharing of their experiences (too often falling back on the "LDS script").

The texts that Latter-day Saints and other Christians call the Old Testament (differing from scholars, who use Hebrew Bible or Tanakh) is both wonderfully rich and very problematic scripture. Its richness derives from its status as an account of how ancient persons saw the world, the nature of God, and the human condition. These venerable writings contain great wisdom and insight, as well as wonderful plays on words and intricate literary forms. They also contain differing viewpoints from different sources that redactors (editors) placed side by side, unafraid that readers would encounter diverse accounts of everything from the Creation to Hebrew law and God’s actions among human beings. Through the centuries, however, because we in the western world encounter them through translation rather than in their original languages, and because we are largely unfamiliar with the wider traditions of the ancient Near East upon which many of the accounts draw for elements of the stories they tell, we have allowed layers and layers of interpretation to build up, and these additions and attempts to systematize or harmonize with our preferred views have become the dominant forces driving how we read these texts. And most often, we just don’t realize that this is what we are doing. This has led, in some cases, to extremely problematic renderings that lead people to reject important truths discovered by science, to blame women for the negative conditions of this world, or to beliefs about black skin being a curse from God, etc. Or, even if not quite so harmful, it has led to quite tortured attempts to make the books seem inerrant and without disagreement with other parts of the texts, or leading some into numerology or other searches for hidden patterns within the writings that unlocks for them some types of secret knowledge. If these later overlays were removed as much as is humanly possible, what would we find that the texts reveal about themselves and the worldviews and intentions of the original writers? Would we still find these scriptures as meaningful as we do now due to the assumptions we bring and interpretations we add? Could our relationship to these scriptures change in a positive way if we were to let them speak for themselves and allow the genuine distance between us and these ancient writers to truly become clear to us, giving us breathing room to see that these writings are not "history" in the sense we use that term today, that these are not (nor were they intended to be) scientific texts describing cosmos, earth, nature, or human origins? In this four-part podcast, two wonderful guides to the Hebrew Bible, David Bokovoy and Tom Roberts, join Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for the first of an occasional series approaching these important texts, concentrating in the early episodes on Genesis and its key (and most problematic) stories. Episode 197 continues with the J account, covering the curses God places on the humans, on the ground, and on Cain following his murder of his brother, Abel.