Sunstone Magazine

This is an excerpt from the original Sunstone 2015 presentation, Four View of Joseph Smith: Historians Debate the Prophet Puzzle.

Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 17:11

From the 2013 Summer Symposium in Salt Lake City

Panel MYSTICISM, REVELATION AND LEADERSHIP IN MORMON HISTORY: TWO CASE STUDIES

Paper 1 J. DUNHAM LAMANITE: EARLY MORMON LEADER, MYSTIC, AND INDIAN AMBASSADOR

Presenter: CHRISTOPHER C. SMITH is a PhD student in religions in North america at Claremont Graduate University. He’s writing a dissertation on Mormons and American Indians in the “age of Removal,” which roughly coincided with the lifetime of Joseph Smith. 

Abstract: Although Jonathan Dunham was a prominent Mormon leader who left a wealth of journals and papers, he’s largely ignored by modern Mormon historians. When he’s remembered at all, it’s for his role in early Mormon violence (as a Danite, Nauvoo police captain, and Major General of the Nauvoo Legion). yet violence was only one part of Dunham’s life and legacy. His papers reveal him as a mystic, entrepreneur, highly successful evangelist, and great champion of the Indian mission. Dunham’s self-identification as “Lamanite,” though he had no Native american heritage, also provides insight into early Mormon racial theology.

Paper 2 THE LAWLESS WOMEN REVELATION:

Presenter: CLAIR BARRUS manages several church history sites including Today-in-Mormon-History.Blogspot.com. He blogs at Worlds Without End and has presented papers at Sunstone, the Mormon History association, and the BYU Mormon Media Studies Symposium.

Abstract: The day after Brigham young publicly announced the ban on blacks receiving the priesthood, his first counselor Heber C. Kimball received a revelation stating that Kimball had fulfilled “the law of lawless women” and that he was now “free from such Spirrits” [sic]. This paper will take a close look at Kimball’s cryptic revelation, how it was modified, who the lawless women were, what that law was, and the parallels between the “lawless women revelation” and Brigham young’s views on blacks, reproduction, and priesthood authority.

An experiment to see if I can successfully upload podcasts.

Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 7:50

From the 1989 Sunstone Symposium

Presentation: Symbiosis: The Relationship Between Leaders And Followers

Presenters:

Nola W. Walace

Abstract: Symbiosis is a mutual relationship between to organisms that is mutually beneficial. This session discusses how this process applies to Mormonism.

Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 59:05

From the 1988 Sunstone Symposium

Presentation: Is Cain the Next Lucifer?

Presenters:

Vern G. Swanson, (Ph.D., Courtland Institute of Art, University of London) has taught art and art history at Auburn University and is currently the director of the Springville (Utah) Museum of Art.

Thomas A. Blakely, Ph.D., University of Utah

Abstract: Looking at scripture and Mormon history, is there a case to be made for Cain becoming a Lucifer?

Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 1:02:45

From the 2000 Sunstone Symposium

Presentation: Multiply and Replenish– If You Want To: The 1999 LDS Church Birth Control Policy in Perspective

Presenters:

Chair: Chris Zollinger

Maxine Hanks, writer; editor, Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism.

Karrie Galloway, president, CEO, Planned Parenthood Association of Utah

Rebecca Chandler, LDS mother of eight children, Co-editor, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought

Abstract: In 1999, a new LDS church policy gave Mormons significant freedom. For the first time in 170 years, birth control is officially a completely personal decision. This paper compares the new 1998-99 policy on birth control with previous official policies in 1989, 1976, and 1969. Other historical views on LDS birth control and childbearing are reviewed. The benefits of the new birth control and childbearing are reviewed. The benefits of the new birth control policy are explored, while the effects of previous policies are also considered. Statements from parents will share how past birth control policies after their lives. The year 2000 also marks the 40th anniversary of the Pill, the first time in history when women could safely and effectively control childbearing by taking the pill. It also marked 30 years of Planned Parenthood in Utah.

Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 1:24:28

From the 1991 Sunstone Symposium

Presentation: The “One Anointed and Appointed”: An Analysis of Polygamist Priesthood Authority

Presenters:

Chair: Anne Wilde

Brian C. Hales, M.D.

J. Ma Anderson, architect; author, The Polygamy Story: Fiction and Fact

Fred Collier, writer; publisher, Doctrines of the Priesthood

Abstract: The modern polygamy movement boasts more participants today than existed at the time of the 1890 Manifesto. However, many divisions exist among these current practitioners of plural marriage. One important area of contrast concerns the keys sealing restored through Joseph Smith. These keys must be utilized if present marriages are to be “valid in the world to come.” This paper will examine several of the priesthood lines of polygamist sealing authority with an emphasis on Lorin C. Woolley’s purported 1886 ordinations, including the claims of the LeBarons, Joseph W. Musser, the Allreds, the “Shortcreek” polygamists, and various “Independents.”

Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 31:23