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There are currently 6 lectures in the series on Mormonism, the first lecture is divided into two parts, for 7 total class recordings.
- Mormonism Lecture 1:
- Part 1: Influences
- Lecture presented 2015
- Description:
- This is the first half of the first lecture in a larger series on the origins, doctrine, and teachings of Mormonism that I gave back in 2015. Over the years this has proved to be one of the more popular and interesting subjects. At the time, I recorded only the audio, but several years later, I went back and added the slides to create this video.
- The topic of this lecture was the family, cultural, religious, and folk religious/occult influences on the thinking of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism.
- Additional Resources:
- Part 2: Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon
- Lecture, presented in 2015
- Description
- This is the second half of the first lecture of a larger series on the origins, doctrine, and teachings of Mormonism that I gave back in 2015. At the time, I recorded only the audio, but several years later, I went back and added the slides to create this video.
- The topic of this lecture was the life of Joseph Smith, up until the publication of the Book of Mormon, and a very brief overview of the contents of the Book of Mormon itself.
- Additional Resources:
- Mormonism Lecture 2: The Later Life of Joseph Smith
- Lecture, Presented in 2015
- Description:
- This is the second lecture of a larger series on the origins, doctrine, and teachings of Mormonism that I gave back in 2015. At the time, I recorded only the audio, but several years later, I went back and added the slides to create this video.
- The topic of this lecture was the life of Joseph Smith, from after the completion of the Book of Mormon, until his death in 1844.
- Additional Resources:
- Mormonism Lecture 3: Mormon Beliefs and Theology
- Lecture, Presented in 2015
- Description:
- This is the third lecture of a larger series on the origins, doctrine, and teachings of Mormonism that I gave back in 2015. At the time, I recorded only the audio, but several years later, I went back and added the slides to create this video.
- The subject of this lecture is the epistemology, doctrine, and theology of Mormonism, and how that informs modern LDS Mormon's views on race, the family, politics, gender roles, and gay marriage. We discuss the "13 Articles of Faith". We discuss Mormon concepts of theosis, The Plan of Salvation, and Heavenly Mother. We also discuss how Mormons believe that revelation is received in the LDS Church, by lay members, and by Church leadership, and how that has led to a changing theology over time.
- Additional Resources:
- Mormonism Lecture 4: A Covenant People, Ritual, Practice, and Temple
- Lecture, January, 2016
- Description:
- This is the fourth and final lecture of a larger series on the origins, doctrine, and teachings of Mormonism that I gave back in 2015. At the time, I recorded only the audio, but several years later, I went back and added the slides to create this video.
- The subject of this lecture is the rituals and practices of Mormonism. These include Baptism, The Sacrament (what most other Christians would call the Eucharist), Baptism for the Dead (together with the other ordinances for the dead), The Initiatories, The Endowment, The Sealing (Eternal Marriage), and The Second Anointing (Calling and Election Made Sure). Because these topics are sacred to Mormons, we attempt to cover these topics respectfully, using a level of detail similar to what I used in my BYU Education Week lectures on this subject when I was a member. Images of the insides of the LDS Temple came from published LDS sources, as did the images of the LDS temple garments, which were published on the LDS.org webpage. A similar level of detail regarding the temple rituals of Mormons can be found in the writings of the Mormon Apostle, James E. Talmage in his book "The House of the Lord".
- This is not an expose on Mormon Temples. There are plenty of such resources online already. Instead, this is an attempt to explain to a non-LDS audience why the topic of Temples is so important and sacred to LDS people.
- Additional Resources:
- The LDS Church released a useful video on the meaning of "Tepmple Garments" that is both reasonable, and worth watching: https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/temple-garments
- An LDS Apostle, James E. Talmage gave an excellent overview of what happens in Mormon temples, and various editions of his book have many of the pictures of the interior of the Salt Lake Temple that I used in this lecture. This is a useful book on the subject: https://www.amazon.com/House-Lord-Sanctuaries-Ancient-Modern/dp/1499640358.
- For a discussion of ancient temple worship from an LDS perspective, where they point out the similarities they see between their temple worship and ancient temple traditions, see "Temples of the Ancient World" edited by my BYU Hebrew teacher, Donald W. Parry. I highly recommend this book.
- A sequel which is not as good in my opinion, but which is still useful, was titled "The Temple in Time and Eternity", Edited by Donald W. Parry and Stephen D. Ricks.
- Mormonism Lecture 5: The Believer's Perspective
- Lecture 9/20/2019.
- Description
- In the academic study of comparative religion, there are often two goals that are in tension. The first is to understand the doctrinal, historical, sociological, and textual elements of a tradition. The second is to understand what if FEELS like to believe in the tradition, so that we can understand the perspective of an average believer, not so that we can believe as they do, but so that we can understand the believer's perspective better.
- Often, the best speaker to give insight into the first goal is different from the best speaker for the second.
- While I can give an account of the history and changing doctrine of Mormonism that is more complete than most believers, a believer in the tradition convey the internal experience of the believer in a way that I cannot.
- In the first of our "believer's perspective" series, the Bishop of the local congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), Mark Scott, has graciously agreed to come and speak to us about what it is like to be a Bishop, a believer, and also a local scientist working at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Two LDS Missionaries also came and spoke about what it is like to be a full time Missionary for the LDS Church. At the request of the local LDS Mission President the missionaries presentation was not recorded. I apologize for that.
- The LDS Church is by far the largest of the "Mormon" denominations.
- Remember, our goal here was not to "promote" the teachings of the LDS Church (as most of you know, I personally left the LDS Church years ago, and do not believe in its teachings), but rather to listen to what a believer in that tradition has to say, so that we can better understand how they approach the tradition and issues we discussed in the rest of the lectures on the Mormon tradition. I disagree with many of Bishop Scott's conclusion. But I deeply appreciate his willingness to come and share with us what he believes. He did an amazing job, and we are very grateful for all the time and effort he put into sharing his beliefs with us, as well as his willingness to respond honestly and openly to some of the difficult questions we put to him.
- Mormonism Lecture 6: The Future of Mormonism, Statistics, Demographics, and Trends
- Lecture, 10/27/2019
- Description
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is by far the largest of the several "Mormon" denominations. In this lecture we explore the future of the LDS Church using membership data, statistics, demographics, birthrates, activity rates, and missionary data/effectiveness in order to make predictions of future trends. We will explore whether the Church is actually growing or shrinking, and we will explore where this growth/decline is taking place geographically. We also explore the many surveys that have been conducted on Mormon populations to determine the changing views of Mormons on issues such as: politics, LGBTQ+ issues, gender/women's ordination, and race. And we will see how Mormon Millennials views differ from that of their parents, and will one day change the face of Mormonism.
- Additional Resources and Data Sources Used: