Mormon
Economics of Polygamy, Divorce, and Happiness (Daynes part 4)
Ok, I’ve talked about this book quite a bit–I’ll probably take a break for a while after this post. (If you’re tired of the topic, perhaps you’d like to see what I wrote over at Mormon Matters: Utah Happiest State in Nation.) One of the stereotypes of polygamy has been that Mormon men were just […]
Surrogate Parenthood/Types of Polygamist Marriages (Daynes Part 3)
Kathryn Daynes tells a really interesting story about an infertile couple in her book More Wives than One. The Church Handbook of Instruction was leaked onto the internet a few years ago, and the church sued to stop it’s publication. The only reference I could find indicates that the Church strongly discourages members from participating […]
Daynes History of Marriage (Part 2)
I have really been enjoying the book More Wives than One by Kathryn Daynes, an associate professor of history at BYU. In my previous post on the book, I mentioned that marriage wasn’t as regulated as it is today. There were no marriage licenses, blood tests, or even ceremonies required. If a couple said they […]
Intro to “More Wives Than One” by Kathryn Daynes
My book club is reading More Wives than One, by Kathryn Daynes. I am loving this book! You may remember my earlier post outlining my perspective on Polygamy, as well as Bushman’s perspective. I must say that I was very uncomfortable with many of these aspects (and I still am.) Daynes outlines the much more […]
“Healthy Bucksom Lassies”: “ Spalding’s “Manuscript Found” Part 2
This is part 2 of my in-depth look into Solomon Spalding’s only known novel, “Manuscript Found.” I’ve previously discussed the Spalding Theory of Book of Mormon origins, and given an introduction to Spalding’s only known manuscript discovered by LL Rice in Hawaii. The original manuscript is located at Oberlin College in Ohio. One of the […]
10 Reasons Why the Book of Mormon Took Place in Peru
From time to time, I get an email from George Potter. He has a website called the Nephi Project. I heard him speak a few years ago on research he has done in Yemen. His research is pretty well-respected, and it appears he has a very good candidate for Nephi’s Harbor, and he may have […]
Introduction to Spalding’s “Manuscript Found” Part 1
I was surprised at the recent burst of activity on my post back in April titled, Debunking the Spaulding Manuscript Theory. One of my commenters (Roger) seem to believe the Spaulding Theory still has merit. I even had Craig Criddle stop by. He is a leading proponent of the theory and published a peer-reviewed article […]
Balaam: Prophet, Wicked One, Both, Neither?
I finally got around to one of my requests! Tara and I have been discussing several topics, such as the Priesthood Ban, Polygamy, and Abraham, and the story of Balaam always seems to come up. She takes the position that Balaam is a fallen prophet, but I think he never was a prophet. Here’s my […]
Reddick Allred: Mormon Hero
This is a post to talk about a lesser known Mormon hero. My wife has many pioneer ancestors. In reading The Forgotten Kingdom, by David Bigler, he makes a few references to Reddick Allred, who is a distant uncle of my wife. I wanted to highlight a good, Mormon man, relatively unknown, who just did […]
U of U Really is School of the Prophets
Back in July, the University of Utah football team signed a player out of California by the name of Joseph Smith. I joked that with his signing, and President Hinckley and President Monson’s status as alums of the U, that it was the “School of the Prophets.” (Joseph Smith had originally set up a School […]
Mormon Heretic 