The Articles of Faith, as is well-known, were orginally penned by Joseph Smith in the Wentworth letter outlining some of the distinctive teachings of this new religious movement. These brief statements would later be modified, and eventually take on canonical status as a part of the Pearl of Great Price. We teach our children to memorize them. We pass them out on pass along cards. We exegete them for specific wording on matters that remain important today, such as the authoritative nature of the LDS canon. Yet, I believe these texts ultimately fail to explain Mormonism. There are (at least) two reasons.
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When Abraham Killed Isaac
Of course, we all know that Abraham didn’t kill Isaac in the end. Or do we? Richard Elliot Friedman has made a strong case that in the original version of the story, Abraham actually does kill Isaac as he had been commanded in the classic Who Wrote the Bible? and other texts he’s written. On what possible basis could he come to this conclusion? He offers seven reasons:
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What is Anthropomorphism?
LDS are often ardent defenders of biblical anthropomorphism, decrying not only the later theological tendency to abstract God in the Jewish and Christian traditions, but also to disparage the tendencies of biblical authors themselves who represent anti-anthropomorphic traditions. But, is biblical (and pre-biblical) anthropomorphism really something that we want to get behind, or do we mean something different by it?
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Garments of Skin?
In Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve have been cast out of the garden, Yahweh “made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them” (3:21). What does this event signify? In LDS thought, the garments symbolize a gift given by God to accompany humans in their mortal journey. After the curses have been offered as the consequence for eating the fruit, the Lord prepares Adam and Eve for mortality by making them clothing to replace the fig leaves, and by cutting them off from immortality.
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Ten Tidbits about the Sermon on the Mount
1. The Sermon on the Mount only appears in Matthew’s gospel. In Luke, the sermon is given not on a mountain, but a “level place” (6:17), and is frequently referred to as the Sermon on the Plain. These two sermons share some material, but diverge greatly. Attempts at harmonization argue that Matthew and Luke record two different sermons, but most believe that the authors are working from shared sayings that have been put together in different ways. Most of what is in Matthew’s Sermon is found scattered about in different narrative contexts in Luke. Mark and John contain almost none of what is in Matthew’s sermon.
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Blessed are the virgins?
Mormons often congratulate themselves for having a relatively healthy theological view of sexuality, at least within the boundaries of heterosexual marriage. One problem, however, is that this positive theology of (certain kinds of) sex comes at the expense of a positive evaluation of sexual chastity. Let me explain.
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The Royal Psalms: An Interview with David L.
David L. is currently working on his dissertion at University of St. Andrews in Biblical Studies under the direction of Dr. James Davila. David graciously agreed to be interviewed about his dissertation research.
David and I recently had a great exchange on how to interpret ancient biblical temple practices in relation to modern LDS temple rites. That exchange stands independent from some of the research that David is pursuing here and we thought our readers would like to learn more about it.
TT: David, I understand that you are working on Kingship and the Psalms. Tell us a little about the Psalms and what they have do with kingship? In short, what are you arguing for in your research?
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Guarding the Temple: Our Procession to a Better Understanding; a Response to David L.
David L., who recently joined M*, and I have been having a really wonderful conversation about methodologies of interpretation and comparison. My response got too long, and so I thought it would be better to put up as a full post of its own. At issue, I believe, is how LDS should understand themselves and their relationship to the ancient world, David and I representing two different approaches that are currently wrestling for primacy in LDS scholarship more generally. Let me summarize the main outline of the methodogical issues at stake.
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Ten Tidbits about the Gospels
Four years ago we launched a “Ten Tidbits” Series that sought to introduce some basic information about scriptural texts assumed by scholars, but not necessarily well known by Latter-day Saints. The goal was to introduce these points as the results of close readings that could lead to a more accurate understanding of the scriptural texts for LDS readers. I’d like to continue that series with a more focused look not at entire books of scripture, but smaller portions. Some of these points may be widely known, and some may not be.
1. The four gospels cannot be harmonized. They contain different ideas about who Jesus is, narrative orders of his actions, content of his teachings, meaning of his miracles, etc. None of the gospel writers imagined that their text would have been read alongside any other, and in some cases directly contradict the others. In fact, the reasons that Matthew and Luke rewrote Mark was because they wanted to replace it.
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It’s not a competition, but…
A few years ago, I attended an event where a scholar of biblical studies pined with envy after the relatively easy problems that historians of Mormonism face with respect to maintaining their faith. This person suggested that by comparison, issues of magic, sex, and other “scandals” of early Mormonism were far less challenging to deal with than those presented by the study of the ancient world. This was about the extent of the discussion, but the idea has stuck with me. Are some disciplines dealing with religion more “challenging” to one’s personal faith than others?
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