03-12-2008, 02:04 PM | #11 |
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The Internet is, I think, contributing to the Church being more open than it has been in the last 25 years. As a researcher who has done archival work, I'm pleased.
Someday I'll do some work on the early Utah Church and the telegraph. It won't be controversial, but it will be interesting as all get out. I'm also pleased that the dichotomy between leaders and scholars, which was intensified in the 80s, is weakening. Both respect for ecclesiastical leadership and respect for scholarly truth seeking are important. Quinn's perspective has mostly stood the test of time, but making an overly-dramatic martyred spectacle of himself has not.
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03-12-2008, 02:18 PM | #12 |
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That would be interesting to read. As I recall, Brigham Young set up the Young Women's organization a few months before the Golden Spike. My impression was that the YWMIA was intended in part to help safeguard our fair maidens against the encroaching influences of the world. Although the Church historically has resisted, initially, such worldly encroachments, the Church eventually adapts (and is sometimes ahead of the curve) to them. The internet seems to be another example.
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03-12-2008, 02:30 PM | #13 | |
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This Quinn quote is interesting:
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03-12-2008, 02:40 PM | #14 | |
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In conclusion if you read Arrington's "Experiences of a Church Historian" autobiography he indicates that the perspective articulated by Elder's Packer and Benson was not ubiquitously held, but the emotional level, not to mention the fact that Elder Benson was likely the next President, caused those who supported that the Church Historian's office produce history acceptable to academia to temper their opinions in the name of unity and recognition that they might be pissing into the wind.
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03-12-2008, 02:48 PM | #15 | |
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Quote:
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"Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; " 1 Thess. 5:21 (NRSV) We all trust our own unorthodoxies. |
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03-12-2008, 02:57 PM | #16 | ||||
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While most avoid exclusively embracing one extreme or the other, most are uneasy with the conflict. Generally, non-historians don't understand the implications, since Packer hasn't called out their training and professions as harmful to their eternal salvation. Sure, they sympathize or criticize; but they don't understand. The late, great (active LDS) historian Dean May once gave me a copy of a talk he gave in 2001. In it, he cautioned university students, "Do not impose secular goals upon the church." The church will never measure up in comparison to secularly trained counselors, literary critics, historians, etc. (that's not its purpose). On the flip side, I wish the church wouldn't impose ecclesiastic goals upon members' secular endeavors. But Packer counsels: "A member of the Church ought always, particularly if he is pursuing extensive academic studies, to judge the professions of man against the revealed word of the Lord." It's a tough thing, to feel torn between secular achievement in one's chosen profession and eternal salvation. Perhaps it is for this reason that I meet far more LDS who are engaged in the highest academic levels of business, science, and law than in humanities. It's not worth the internal conflict. At any rate, I've made my peace with this issue and thank Lebowski for posting the links.
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03-12-2008, 03:05 PM | #17 | |
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The Duffy Dialogue article from this Spring edition summarizes the debate that occurred as a result of the Arrington Alexander era, and how Benson, Peterson and Packer together with Midgely endeavored to use anti-positivism to counter the efforts of Arrington "bracketing" and professionalism.
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Ἓν οἶδα ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶδα Last edited by Archaea; 03-12-2008 at 03:08 PM. |
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03-12-2008, 03:08 PM | #18 | |
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In fact it is my totally unqualified opinion that many members of the Church view the fact that Quinn was eventually excommunicated as vindication for Elder Packer's perspective. This is damaging as the issue should be the history - if the intent is biased then the product itself should reveal that bias. Further, I believe using excommunications as vindication creates a predisposed notion in the minds of some in their dealings with future LDS historians who publish acceptable academic works concerning LDS history.
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03-12-2008, 03:10 PM | #19 |
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The recurring theme I see in the Bushman biography of Joseph Smith is:
1. Joseph Smith didn't write anything about it, because he was a horrible journal keeper 2. Innuendo by members, usually disaffected, often decades after the fact 3. Little to no corroboration, particuarly from contemporaneous accounts Which then puts Bushman into the awkward position of relating the information, but often without enough meaningful context or substantiation, which leaves the reader to fill in the blanks and usually they see what they want to see. |
03-12-2008, 03:10 PM | #20 | |
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The "axe of excommunication" really doesn't seem to benefit the Church or the individual.
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