William S. Bradshaw

WILLIAM S. BRADSHAW is professor emeritus, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

The New Biology and Mormon Theology

Articles/Essays – Volume 12, No. 4

Exegetes as willing and capable as Orson Pratt to combine empirical and theological insights have all but disappeared from the Mormon scene. His successors have retained the enthusiastic optimism of early Mormonism, but they have not replaced the empirical beliefs of the nineteenth century with the more correct information which is available to us now.

Escape from Viet Nam: An Interview with Nguyen Van The

Articles/Essays – Volume 13, No. 1

Nguyen Van The, a native of Vietnam, was converted to Mormonism in 1966: “I had no previous religion, although as the son in a Buddhist family, I was expected to worship my ancestors.” In 1968…

Short Shrift to the Facts | Douglas A. Abbott and A. Dean Byrd, Encouraging Heterosexuality: Helping Children Develop a Traditional Sexual Orientation

Articles/Essays – Volume 44, No. 1

The title of this book may elicit wry smiles. Even casual consideration suggests that heterosexuality is doing just fine on its own, without the need for outside encouragement. The authors’ purpose, of course, is not to encourage heterosexuality so much as it is to discourage and disparage homosexuality based on their belief that it is a learned and chosen condition that can and must be changed because of its negative consequences for individuals, families, and society at large. The book is targeted primarily at a Mormon audience, although citations of LDS scriptural passages and statements by LDS authorities are presented as the words of “Christian prophets” or generic “church leaders.” Its pages provide self-help advice to parents about how to prevent or alter the unwanted same-sex attractions of their homosexual children.