Feast upon the Word Blog

This lesson is made up of (basically) the entirety of the famous Wentworth Letter, which the introductory section of the lesson introduces briefly. (Only half a paragraph of the letter is omitted in the lesson, and it consists only of a brief summary of the various peoples described in the Book of Mormon. The editors of the lesson manual likely thought it somewhat beside the point for the purposes of the lesson. See page 441 for the ellipses.) I think that introductory section can speak for itself, for the most part, though there is at least one rather important detail that it fails to mention that I will address before turning to a commentary on the letter. Read the rest of this entry »

Parley and Orson Pratt and Nineteenth-Century Mormon Thought
Public Symposium at Brigham Young University

July 2, 2009

B092 of the Joseph F. Smith Building at BYU

In the tradition of Richard Bushman’s summer seminars on Joseph Smith and early Mormonism, eight graduate students, under the direction of Terryl Givens and Matthew Grow, have studied the writings of Orson and Parley Pratt and will be presenting their research at this symposium.

10:00 Terryl Givens, University of Richmond, Introduction
10:10 Ryan Tobler, University of Chicago, Parley Pratt and Evolving Views of the American Republic in Early Mormonism
10:40 Jordan Watkins, University of Nevada-Las Vegas: “All of One Species”: Parley P. Pratt and the Evolution of Early Mormon Conceptions of Theosis
11:10 Christopher Blythe, Utah State University: Spiritual Gifts and Mormon Identity in the Nineteenth Century
11:40 Loyd Ericson, Claremont Graduate School: “The Great Grand Executor”: The Development of the Holy Spirit in the Thought of Orson and Parley Pratt

Intermission for Lunch

1:30 Musical Interlude: Songs of Parley P. Pratt, Liz and Katie Davis (descendants of Parley Pratt and accomplished cellist and fiddler with the folk musical group FiddleSticks)
1:45 Adriane Rodrigues, University of Minas Gerais: Parley Pratt’s “Mighty Pen” and Satire
2:15 Benjamin Park, University of Edinburgh: “Here was an End of Mysticism”: Divine Embodiment, Human Corporality, and the Pratt Brothers
2:45 Joseph Spencer, San Jose State University: “A Wellcome Messenger”: The Development of Parley P. Pratt’s Theology of Death
3:15 Trevan Hatch, Baltimore Hebrew University: Remembering the Chosen: The Gathering of the Jews and the Tribes of Israel in the Minds of Parley and Orson Pratt

Call for Papers

The Family and Human Relationships in History, Literature, Art, and Philosophy

May 21-22, 2010, Claremont, CA

A conference sponsored by Mormon Scholars in the Humanities

Every story, it is said, is a family story. Yet in stressing the freedom and self-sufficiency of the individual, modern culture de-emphasizes the degree to which people are born in dependency, of specific parents, and develop in and through relationships with others, most closely in the family. By considering the family, family history, and human relationships, we invite inquiry into changes in the culture of the family over time, inquiries into family memory, depictions of the family and the individual in art and literature, and philosophical investigations of the role of family, friends, and mentors in personal development. Some questions to consider:

* How do models and philosophies of the family and relationships illuminate depictions of the family in history, literature, and the arts, and vice versa?
* How has the notion of genealogy shaped different forms of representation in the arts and in sacred literature, as well as philosophies of history, morality, and ethics?
* To what degree is our identity a gift of others, and to what degree is it an individual accomplishment and responsibility? Do degrees of autonomy and dependence differ from era to era, culture to culture, and even from individual to individual?
* In what sense is the family the basic unit of society? What do the humanities teach us about the family as a social institution or about the roles and responsibilities within a family? About successes and failures of the family?
* If one goal of personal development is a certain kind of maturity in the intellectual, spiritual, emotional, and moral realms, what are the processes by which individuals achieve it? Do these types of development have necessary social dimensions? In light of possible family and social aspects of self-development and freedom, in what ways are individuals also responsible for others, and for themselves?
* How do LDS history, values, and doctrine pertaining to the family and to the notion of genealogy influence the work of the Mormon scholar in the humanities? How do they challenge or support the fundamental assumptions of humanities scholarship today?

Creative submissions relevant to the conference theme in story, verse, drama, or visual form are also invited.

We encourage LDS scholars in all fields of the humanities, arts, and history to propose papers or complete panels in response to the topic. Panel proposals should include a general title, presenters’ names and contact information, and paper abstracts.

To accomplish its mission of supporting LDS scholars, MSH will, in conjunction with the conference, offer individual mentoring on scholarly research and writing for publication.

Please send 200-word abstracts and brief CV to David Paxman at davidpaxman999@gmail.com (without the 9’s), by January 15, 2010.

Today I covered this lesson in our ward. We’ve all had dozens of lessons about tithing and fasting. But I think we soon found out that maybe we still have a lot more to learn! Read the rest of this entry »

This is the last post in my Bike to Work series. I hope you enjoyed it as much as you enjoyed riding your bike to work!

A common mistake many cyclists make when biking on the road is to be so afraid of cars that they stay as far from them as possible. It’s easy to understand why: a bike weighs nothing compared to a car so-be-careful-or-you’ll-get-squashed. How could staying away from cars possibly be unsafe? Read the rest of this entry »