Ever since the chair of Mormon Studies was announced at Claremont, there has been a wave of speculation about who would fill it. Well, that speculation is now over. The following announcement has been passed around in certain circles (though I don’t find anything on the CGU website yet):
Spiritual Practices
What is the goal of our spiritual practices? Is it different from other contemporary or past Christianity communities? What type of human subjects do they produce? How do we navigate the competing ideals that our spiritual practices imitate?
We have a number of spiritual practices in LDS tradition. There are many that argue that these spiritual practices are in fact the most important aspects of Mormonism and that “doctrine” is merely secondary. I take the view that, like ancient philosophy, Mormonism is a “way of life,” wherein the beliefs and practices work together to allow the individual to engage in a series of techniques to embody a certain kind of ethical subject. However, I am not quite sure how to articulate what that subject looks like. Is there a guiding logic to our spiritual practices? Or, are they simply eclectic inheritances? Or, are these practices fundamentally paradoxical, as Givens has noted about Mormon thought. Consider the following set of spiritual practices. Each of these activities are imbued with a sense of spirituality. In each case they are the voluntary taking on of a certain personal discipline:
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Guest Blogger: Vine-Ripe Tomato
Ten Tidbits about the NT
A friend of mine recently asked me to sketch out ten “provocative” axioms about the New Testament that Latter-day Saints might find surprising given the assumptions that they typically bring to the text. This exercise is by no means unique to the New Testament. Similar lists could be produced about the OT, other religions, LDS church history, etc. However, since this year we are studying the NT in Sunday School, it might be a useful time to reflect theologically on the significance of some of these axioms, and how these changes to our assumptions might help us to better understand ourselves and the writings we consider sacred. Thus, in no particular order, I present the following ten axioms:
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The Mark of the Bar Code
A recent comment prompted a post for discussion and speculation on the new bar coded-temple recommends that have been issued. In case you haven’t heard, all temple recommends will need to be converted over to the new versions. The temple will no longer accept the old recommends starting relatively soon. So, we are left with the question of what prompted the change.
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Is Jesus a God in the NT?
The short answer: not really.
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Knowing our Neighbor: Mormonism’s Failure at Pluralism
One of the key features of modernity is the increasing interaction of peoples of different geographical, cultural, and religious backgrounds. While it is a mistake to assume that pre-modern societies did not interact with other cultures, what makes modernity distinctive is the extent to which this interaction occurs. This condition has lead to a variety of responses, from constructively engaging, to ignoring, to eradicating the Other. Consequently, one of the main focuses in ethics has become how to deal with difference. My concern is that as LDS, we have seriously lagged behind in this project which has impacted us negatively.
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Timing Tithing
In my understanding of the GHI, there is no answer to the question that I have about tithing, so I wanted to throw it out to get some feedback. The question concerns when one should pay their tithing. There are many members of the church who pay tithing on their income the moment that they receive it. Others pay it at the beginning of the month. Others pay it once a year. I am interested in whether or not one method is preferable.
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When Did We Stop Being Christians?
I have a historical question that hopefully someone out there can help me figure out. When was the first time that Mormons were excluded from Christianity by Evangelicals or others? I have a feeling that it is pretty late, like sometime in the second half of the 20th century. Critics complain that Mormons have recently begun to emphasize their “Christianity”, but my theory is that Mormons have only recently done so because the charge that Mormons aren’t Christians is just as recent. Can anyone confirm or deny this?
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Probing Interviews
There is a recent movement in a stake that I am aware of for Bishops and Branch Presidents to have more “probing interviews.” The goal is to ask more specific questions, especially about the Law of Chastity in order to uncover sins. These interviews are mostly the youth interviews, pre-mission interviews, and interviews with members who have already acknowledged worthiness issues. However, it has been suggested that Temple Recommend interviews also be more “probing,” encouraging members to define what they mean by the Law of Chastity, for example.
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