An Interview with Terryl and Fiona Givens “The God Who Weeps: How Mormonism Makes…” (Episode 23)

Summary: 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.