Early Mormonism is notable for a proliferation of angels, scriptural luminaries who visited the Prophet Joseph Smith and his close associates. These visitations not only established prophetic authority generally but were also often associated […]
[…] to say about some contemporary philosophical, social, or political issue. Where should a Mormon thinker begin? Consider the counter-example of Catholic intellectuals. Faced with such a question, they have the luxury of a rich […]
The Green Library stacks are a study in contradictions. Outside lies Stanford grandeur—three-story stucco architecture spread across multiple thousands of acres, perfectly manicured lawns and plant arrangements, arches, gates, fountains. The rest of […]
[…] within me when I read them on a bright autumn day in 1980. I was then in the first few months of my LDS mission in central Virginia. But reading those words took my […]
[…] each bringing a couple of vegetables. We had a vague idea we’d make a spoof of CNN News, calling it VNN News, the Vegetable Network News. We thought up skits on the spot. One […]
[…] another consequence: They reinforce a sense of distinction and separation between the Christian community and the secular world. This attitude, however, leads to a retreat from the world, from political engagement, and from democratic […]
[…] encyclical letter, is a striking beginning for his papal contribution to Catholic social teaching. In a sense, the encyclical confirms one piece of conventional wisdom about his papacy—that it is a work of consolidating […]
This short piece responds to Mack C. Stirling’s article, “Violence in the Scriptures: Mormonism and the Cultural Theory of René Girard,” 43, no. 1 (Spring 2010): 59–105. I offer a counter-interpretation of what I […]
[…] bask in the reflected achievements of her husband and sons. Their job was to perform on the world’s stage; her job was to sell popcorn, pom-poms, and programs and cheer loudly from the stands. […]
[…] broadest general readership” to “speak to deeply human concerns about the past, present, and future of our world and its people” (ii). This Harline certainly does. He is eager to make the past as relevant […]