Mormon Heretic
Bushman: "The Church Should Stay out of the History Business"
This is the conclusion of Part 1 of the Richard Bushman interview (there are 5 parts–about 5 hours total). I’ve previously talked about Growing Up as Richard Bushman, and How he chose to become a Historian. In this last section of Part 1, Bushman talks about the important, major biographies of Joseph Smith, his experience […]
Why Bushman Became a Historian
This is a continuation of the previous post Growing up as Richard Bushman,  John Dehlin asks Richard Bushman why he became a historian. JD, “Well, let me ask you, how did you become a historian?†Bushman, “You know, I can hardly give an answer to that question. I started at Harvard planning to do science. […]
Growing up as Richard Bushman
John Dehlin interviewed Richard Bushman in a wonderful 5-part series back in 2007. Â Since the interview is so long, I decided to split it up into parts and will publish these serially as I complete the transcription. Â In this first part, Bushman describes growing up in the church. Â I’ve abbreviated John Dehlin as JD. JD, […]
John Hamer Part 2
This is a followup to part 1 of the interview with John Hamer on RLDS church history. JD stands for the interviewer John Dehlin, while JH is John Hamer. JD: So what else defines the RLDS Church sort of post late-1800s, you know between that time and the early 1960s when I started getting really […]
John Hamer Interview-Part 1
In January 2010, John Dehlin Interviewed John Hamer on the Succession Crisis following Joseph Smith’s death. I posted part of this a few days ago when I posted about dissolving the First Presidency. One of the things I love was the discussion of the Presiding High Council. JD, “Today we’re going to be discussing a brief history of […]
Why the First Presidency Dissolves
Back in 2010, John Dehlin interviewed John Hamer on Mormon Stories. Â It was a fascinating interview, discussing LDS and RLDS church history. Â One of the interesting points that John Hamer made was his discussion on why the LDS Church dissolves the First Presidency after the death of the prophet. Â (Incidentally, in the RLDS, the First […]
Word of Wisdom in First Decade
For the most part, discussions of the Word of Wisdom on the Bloggernacle tire me out. While I agree that the modern church’s stress on abstinence from alcohol isn’t what the Word of Wisdom actually says, and it should be noted that saints in Nauvoo were encouraged to grow grapes for making wine in Nauvoo, […]
Which Romney Ad do you think is More Accurate?
Ad #1? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzK3ZX7hvzg or Ad #2? [poll 18]
The Next Lebron James Might Serve a Mission
Jabari Parker, a 17-year old junior in Chicago has been touted as the next LeBron James. Â Sports Illustrated has him on their cover, and has discussed his choice to serve a mission, as well as other high-profile athletes that have/have not served missions. Â Jabari says there is more to his life than basketball: his faith […]
Mitt, Falwell, and Liberty University
Liberty University, founded by Moral Majority leader and evangelical Jerry Falwell, recently invited Mitt Romney to speak at commencement exercises.  Several students boycotted the commencement address by Romney, choosing not to attend.  Christianity Today had an interesting article titled Why Jerry Falwell Sr. Isn’t Rolling In His Grave over Romney’s Liberty Invitation. The subtitle was “And what […]
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