The Mormon Book Review

Dan Vogel is an independent scholar. He has been publishing in the field of early Mormon history for more than thirty years and has published twenty books and sixteen articles. Most notably, he is the editor of Early Mormon Documents (1996-2003), a five-volume series that won Best Documentary awards from both the Mormon History Association and the John Whitmer Historical Association, and the author of the award-winning Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet (2004). He has recently published E. D. Howe’s 1834 book Mormonism Unvailed with critical comments, an eight volume text- and source-critical edition of the History of the Church for the Smith-Pettit Foundation, and is currently editing Wilford Woodruff’s journals. He lives in Westerville, Ohio, with his wife Margie. In this interview Kirk and Dan discuss B.H. Roberts, the genesis of this project, and the appearance of a heavenly messenger to Joseph Smith (Nephi vs. Moroni).

Adam S. Miller is a professor of philosophy at Collin College in McKinney, Texas. He and his wife, Gwen, have three children. He serves as the director of the Mormon Theology Seminar and he is the author of five books. Included in that group is Rube Goldberg Machines: Essays in Mormon Theology, which you can learn more about by going way back and listening to episode 4 of The Mormon Book Review. Today we are going to be discussing his newest book, Letters to a Young Mormon, published by the Maxwell Institute.  In this interview Adam and Kirk discuss sin, scripture, and for whom this book was written. 

Adam S. Miller is a professor of philosophy at Collin College in McKinney, Texas. He and his wife, Gwen, have three children. He serves as the director of the Mormon Theology Seminar and he is the author of five books. Included in that group is Rube Goldberg Machines: Essays in Mormon Theology, which you can learn more about by going way back and listening to episode 4 of The Mormon Book Review. Today we are going to be discussing his newest book, Letters to a Young Mormon, published by the Maxwell Institute. In this interview Adam and Kirk discuss sin, scripture, and for whom this book was written. ORDER:Letters to a Young MormonLISTEN BELOW:

Mark Staker was awarded a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Florida in 1992. Since then he has worked in the Church History Department of the LDS Church. He began as a curator at the Church History Museum and currently is Lead Curator in the Historic Sites Division. Mark was honored with the J. Talmage Jones Award of Excellence for an outstanding article in Mormon History by the Mormon History Association and awarded the Best Book Award from both the John Whitmer Historical Association and the Mormon History Association. His work in historic sites restorations has been formally honored by the American Institute of Architects and the Cleveland Restoration Society & Preservation Resource Center. He is married to Kimberly L. Staker and they are the parents of seven children. In this interview Kirk and Mark discuss how Mormons and non-Mormons played into Joseph Smith's original vision for The Kirtland Safety Society, the impact of the "First Vision", and the influence of Black Pete on early Mormonism. 

Craig Livingston has taught history at Lone Star College—Montgomery, located 25 miles north of Houston, Texas, since the campus opened in 1995.  In 1991 he obtained his master's degree in history from Brigham Young University.  In 1992 Craig matriculated in Philadelphia in Temple University’s Center for Force and Diplomacy.  In 2002 he was awarded a Ph.D. in history. Craig was born in Utah in 1959 but grew up in the homeland of his parents, Los Angeles, California.  After graduating from high school in 1978, Craig went to Sweden for 2 years as a missionary.  When he returned he continued his studies at BYU.  Having enrolled in the ROTC, Craig received a commission in the US Army upon graduation in 1985.  Craig served 3 years in the 25th Division.  His qualifications included Airborne and Ranger training. Craig is married to Jennifer Parrish of Pocatello, Idaho.  Craig and his wife have a 22-year old son and 2 daughters aged 15 and 14.  The family loves Texas. Craig's interests are diverse.  He plays the bagpipe, writes, and works out.  He also founded Lord Stirling's Fifes and Drums. Currently, Craig is getting the campus ready to remember the approaching 100th anniversary of World War I. In this interview Kirk and Craig discuss Mormons and their relationship to revolution. Including, how the Mormon pioneers responded to the European revolutions of the 1800s and how Mormons viewed World War I and the hope of creating a one world government. 

After completing a bachelor’s at BYU in Asian studies, W. Kesler Jackson went on to earn a master’s degree in the humanities from Penn State and a PhD in history from Syracuse University. In his position at Syracuse University’s department of history, Jackson has developed curricula for a number of courses, including “History of South Asia,” “History of the ‘Muslim World,’” “Competing World Histories to 1500,” and “Competing World Histories from 1500.” He’s also the creator of Adventure Journey (now ExpeditionBase) and TextbookCheck. He is the author of The Tibet Gamble: Unraveling the Separate Struggle for the Land of Snows and numerous articles for a variety of academic journals, magazines, newspapers, high-level government reports, and websites. In this episode Kirk Caudle talks with Jackson about the possibility of two Elijah Abels, the Latter-day Saint priesthood/temple ban for black members, and Mormonism’s early proselytizing efforts toward the black community.

Brittany Chapman claims St. Louis, Missouri as her hometown and has overseas experience teaching children English in Taiwan and working in Special Education. She attended her first two years of college at Southern Virginia University, a small liberal arts college astride the Blue Ridge mountains, where she studied performing arts. After transferring to BYU, she graduated in humanities with an English emphasis and music minor. Brittany attended the University of Leicester in Leicester, England and graduated with an MA in Victorian Studies. Her Thesis focused on women's life writings (diaries and autobiography) and Utah woman suffrage, club movements, and plural marriage, using the experience of one woman--Ruth May Fox--to illustrate these larger social movements. Through this project, she got to know people at the LDS Church History Library, where she eventually interned and then was hired full-time. Brittany now works at the Church History Library with the public and specialize in LDS women's history.  In this interview, Kirk Caudle interviews Brittany Chapman about the Church's "Women of Faith" project, reasons women had for entering into polygamy, and why the history of LDS women is often neglected. 

 Blair Hodges (see bio below) joins Kirk Caudle on this episode of The Mormon Book Review to announce that, as of May 27th, 2013, The Mormon Book Review with be officially sponsored by the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University. We're excited at the prospects of this new partnership. The format of the Mormon Book Review will not change, but the location will change. It will now be available at the Maxwell Institute blog located at www.maxwellinstituteblog.org (look for the podcast link on the upper right-hand corner). Listeners will also need to update any subscriptions that they current have to the show (itunes, RSS feeds, etc) on that site when the new feed becomes available. We'd like to extend a huge thank you to all of the listeners of The Mormon Book Review. If you are reading this, then you are most likely a contributing factor to the growing popularity of this show. Gratitude is also due to all past guests who have taken time out of their schedules to visit the show. We can only hope that in some small way we have helped them in their respective careers and/or goals and we are especially grateful for the associations and friendships that have been made during the process of those interviews. We are anxious to see what the future brings with the Maxwell Institute.Thank you all again for listening and we look forward to your continued support as we move forward into the future. -Kirk Caudle,  Host Blair Hodges is the Maxwell Institute’s public communications specialist. He received his bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication with a minor in Religious Studies at the University of Utah in 2010. He recently completed a master’s degree in religious studies at Georgetown University. He’s written a number of book reviews for the Association for Mormon Letters and published reviews and articles in the Journal of Mormon History, Dialogue: a Journal of Mormon Thought, and Sunstone Magazine. He also blogs at By Common Consent. 

Jenny Webb is an independent scholar living in Huntsville Alabama with her husband, Nick Webb, and two young children. She has an MA in comparative literature from BYU and has worked as an editor and compositor for the past eight years. Her research interests include twentieth-century fiction and scriptural theology; her most recent publications include "Fantastic Desire: Poe, Calvino, and the Dying Woman" as well as "Reading Nephi Reading Isaiah," which she co-edited along with Joe Spencer. She serves as a member of the Mormon Theology Seminar Executive Board and in 2009 helped to found Salt Press along with Adam Miller, Joe Spencer, and Robert Couch. In this interview Kirk and Jenny discuss the founding of Salt Press, the merger with the Maxwell Institute, apologetics, and the role that women play in the changing field Mormon Studies.

Michael R. Ash is a veteran staff member of the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR), former weekly columnist for the Mormon Times and has presented several papers at LDS-related symposiums. Ash is the author of Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One's Testimony In the Face of Criticism and Doubt, as well as Of Faith and Reason: Scholarly Evidences Supporting Joseph Smith. Ash writes a semi-monthly column for Meridian Magazine's on-line publication and has written more than 100 articles defending the faith. Ash has had articles published by FAIR, FARMS, Sunstone, Dialogue, and most recently in the Ensign.In this interview Kirk and Michael talk about what it means to doubt, the declining lack of literacy, how to stay a member of the church, and what it might mean for one to leave faithfully.

Terryl Givens did graduate work at Cornell University in Intellectual History and at UNC Chapel Hill where he received his PhD in Comparative Literature. He holds the James A. Bostwick chair of English, and is Professor of Literature and Religion at the University of Richmond, where he teaches courses in 19thcentury studies and the Bible’s influence on Western literature. Author of several books, his writing has been praised by the New York Times as “provocative reading,” and includes, most recently, When Souls had Wings, a history of the idea of premortal life in Western thought, and a biography (with Matthew Grow) of Parley Pratt. The God Who Weeps (with Fiona Givens) was released in October. He is currently at work on a 2 volume history of Mormon thought for Oxford University Press. Fiona Givens teaches French and German at schools in Richmond, Virginia. She was born in Nairobi, Kenya, educated in British convent schools, and converted to the LDS church in Frankfurt. She is a frequent speaker at conferences and Deseret Book’s Time Out For Women series, and has published in Journal of Mormon History and other periodicals. She is a longtime collaborator in Terryl’s books, and co-author of The God Who Weeps. They are the parents of six children, the youngest of whom is currently serving in the Frankfurt, Germany Mission. In this interview Kirk talks with Terryl and Fiona about what it means to have faith, the Fall of Adam and Eve, and agency.

Ty Mansfield is a life-long member of the Church, served in the Manchester New Hampshire mission and graduated from BYU in Asian Studies and Business Management. His master’s- and doctoral-level education is in marriage and family therapy, and he currently works as a therapist in Lubbock, Texas, where he lives with his wife, Danielle, and their two kids. Well-acquainted with the dichotomy faced by Latter-day Saints who experience same-sex attraction, Ty chronicled his own spiritual journey as co-author with Fred and Marilyn Matis of In Quiet Desperation: Understanding The Challenge Of Same-gender Attraction, which includes a personal memoir of his spiritual journey as a member of the Church sorting through some of the conflicts often associated with this issue. He has also compiled Voices of Hope: Latter-Day Saint Perspectives on Same Gender Attraction- An Anthology of Gospel Teachings and Personal Essays, an anthology of gospel teachings by a number of prominent LDS inspirational writers, as well as a number of personal essays written by LDS men and women who have first-hand experience with homosexual attraction. In the May/June 2013 issue of LDS Living magazine, Ty and his wife were invited to share their story has the cover feature. Ty is a cofounder of the nonprofit organization North Star, a faith-affirming support organization for LDS individuals and families affected by homosexuality and who desire to live within the framework of the doctrines and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. http://ldsvoicesofhope.org In this interview Kirk talks with Ty talks about his own spiritual path, labeling homosexuality, and how to stay in the church while being gay and Mormon.

Taylor Petrey is an assistant professor of Religion at Kalamazoo College and Director of the Women, Gender, and Sexuality program. His area of specialization is New Testament and Early Christianity . Dr. Petrey received his ThD from Harvard Divinity School (2010), MTS from Harvard Divinity School (2003), and BA in Philosophy and Religion from Pace University (2001, summa cum laude). His research interests include issues of gender and sexuality in early Christianity, early Christian identity, and the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. Dr. Petrey teaches in the Jewish Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Programs. He is the founder of the Greater Michigan Ancient Christianity Society (GMACS), a regional academic organization. He is also a fellow at the Neil A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Many of Taylor's thoughts are based on a blog post that he recently wrote, "How Mormons Read the Bible, See it here: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/peculiarpeople/2013/03/how-mormons-read-the-bible/ On this episode of the show, Kirk switches up the format somewhat and talks about the 2013 changes to the LDS scriptures with Taylor Petrey. In this interview Kirk and Taylor discuss how Mormons read scripture, what changes are in this new edition, and Official Doctrine 2 (the new preface on the Priesthood ban).

Brian C. Hales, board-certified anesthesiologist in Layton, Utah, graduated from Utah State University with a B.S. in biology and from the University of Utah, College of Medicine. This book is his seventh. His Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism: The Generations after the Manifesto (Salt Lake City: Kofford Books, 2007) was awarded the "Best Book of 2007" prize from the John Whitmer Historical Association. He authored Setting the Record Straight: Mormon Fundamentalism (2008) and The Priesthood of Modern Polygamy: A Lds Perspective (1992). Hales has published articles in Mormon Historical Studies, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, and the Journal of Mormon History. He also contributed a chapter to The Persistence of Polygamy: Joseph Smith and the Origins of Mormon Polygamy, edited by Newell Bringhurst and Craig L. Foster (2010). He is also webmaster of www.MormonFundamentalism.com and www.JosephSmithsPolygamy.com. In addition to a fulltime LDS mission in Venezuela (1976-78), he has served as a music missionary (1999 -). Hales has also served as president of the Medical Staff at Davis Hospital and Medical Center. He is the father of four adult children. In Part two of this interview Kirk and Brian talk about Emma Smith, Eliza R. Snow, sex, and the future of scholarship on the topic of Joseph Smith and his relationship to polygamy.

Brian C. Hales, board-certified anesthesiologist in Layton, Utah, graduated from Utah State University with a B.S. in biology and from the University of Utah, College of Medicine. This book is his seventh. His Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism: The Generations after the Manifesto (Salt Lake City: Kofford Books, 2007) was awarded the "Best Book of 2007" prize from the John Whitmer Historical Association. He authored Setting the Record Straight: Mormon Fundamentalism (2008) and The Priesthood of Modern Polygamy: A Lds Perspective (1992). Hales has published articles in Mormon Historical Studies, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, and the Journal of Mormon History. He also contributed a chapter to The Persistence of Polygamy: Joseph Smith and the Origins of Mormon Polygamy, edited by Newell Bringhurst and Craig L. Foster (2010). He is also webmaster of www.MormonFundamentalism.com and www.JosephSmithsPolygamy.com. In addition to a fulltime LDS mission in Venezuela (1976-78), he has served as a music missionary (1999 -). Hales has also served as president of the Medical Staff at Davis Hospital and Medical Center. He is the father of four adult children. In Part one of this interview Kirk and Brian discuss why Brian studies polygamy, what is different in these volumes from work previously done on the subject, the Fanny Alger situation, and why some people accuse the church of secretiveness surrounding polygamy.