Blair Dee Hodges

BLAIR DEE HODGES {[email protected]} received a BA in mass communication with a minor in religious studies at the University of Utah in 2010 and a master’s degree in religious studies from Georgetown University in 2013. He is the public communications specialist for the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.

Legacy of a Lesser-Known Apostle | Edward Leo Lyman, Amasa Mason Lyman, Mormon Apostle and Apostate: A Study in Dedication

Articles/Essays – Volume 43, No. 2

Amasa Mason Lyman (pronounced “AM-uh-see,” according to phonetically spelled family documents) made many important contributions to the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Until now, however, the apostle-turned-apostate has remained a peripheral figure in much of Mormon historical literature. This new biography aims to provide a definitive treatment of Amasa’s life.

“All Find What They Truly Seek”: C.S. Lewis, Latter-day Saints, and the Virtuous Unbeliever

Articles/Essays – Volume 43, No. 3

The apologetic works of Clive Staples (“Jack”) Lewis have transcended denominational boundaries to reach an impressively diverse Christian audience. From the beginning of his apologetic career in the mid-1930s, Lewis received letters from Catholics, Evangelicals, Presbyterians, and other Christians thanking him for his inspiring words. Fans from various Christian traditions who felt a certain kinship with Lewis often expressed regret or bewilderment about his allegiance to the Anglican Church.

A Story-Telling Folk | Tom Mould, Still, the Small Voice: Narrative, Personal Revelation, and the Mormon Folk Tradition

Articles/Essays – Volume 45, No. 4

Editor’s Note: This article has footnotes. To review them, please see the PDF below. Mormons are a story-telling folk. The academic study of Mormon folklore began as a way to collect and analyze stories of…

“My Principality on Earth Began”: Millennialism and the Celestial Kingdom in the Development of Mormon Doctrine

Articles/Essays – Volume 46, No. 2

Early Mormonism was thoroughly premillennial. The saints watched for latter-day signs of the times in anticipation of Jesus Christ’s imminent return, spoke of them in sermons, and published them in newspapers. The righteous would reign for one thousand years while the wicked would be swept off the earth to await their resurrection and judgment. Mormon missionaries urgently preached that God was gathering his elect before Christ’s coming in the clouds—a priority that overshadowed a salvation to-heaven-or-damnation-to-hell eschatology in Mormon discourse of the period. Latter-day Saint views of the very nature of eternal post-mortality, which to the present are considered a distinctive aspect of Mormon belief, developed out of their anticipation of Christ’s millennial reign.