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

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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.

From the 1983 Summer Symposium in Salt Lake City

Presentation: The Life of Oliver Cowdery

Presenter: R.D. Dennis 

Presenter: John Sillito 

Abstract: Two papers discuss the life of Oliver Cowdery.

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From the 2000 Summer Symposium in Salt Lake City

Presentation: The Academic Study Of Religion: Prospects And Perils

Presenters: Dan Wotherspoon, Brian Birch, Elaine Englehardt, Eugene England, Mary Ellen Robertson, Scott Kenney

Abstract: The recent announcement that early steps have been taken toward establishing a Mormon Studies program at Utah Valley State College has generated much excitement among many who have long felt a need for such a program at one of Utah’s state schools, but it has also raised concerns on two fronts. Some have begun to worry that such a program could easily become a forum for Mormon apologetics, even proselyting, while others voice concerns about it as “yet another forum for Mormon bashing.” This panel, consisting of UVSC faculty, as well as others with experience studying religion– including their own–from an academic perspective, will address these and other issues as they consider both the “prospects” and the “perils” of such an adventure.

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From the 1991 Summer Symposium in Salt Lake City

Presentation: Child Sexual Abuse in the LDS Community

Presenters:

Marion Burrows Smith, co-founded, former executive director, Intermountain Sexual Abuse Treatment Center.

Carlos Y. Robey, executive director, Intermountain Sexual Abuse Treatment Center; former director, Utah State Prison Residential Program for Sex Offenders.

Brent D. Ward, senior vice-president and general council. Huntsman Chemical Corporation; former U.S. Attorney, District of Utah.

Marsha, mother of a victim.

Laura Blanchard, program chairperson, Utah County Child Abuse Council; chairperson, Advisory Board for Utah County Children’s Justice Center.

Abstract: Child sexual abuse is epidemic in Utah with its 73 percent LDS population. The Church promotes comprehensive youth programs and a reverence for authority which gives perpetrators of sexual crimes unique access to fresh victims. LDS neighborhoods are warm and friendly, an ideal environment for child molesters, most of whom at relatives or family friends. When discovery of abuse occurs, untrained Church leaders may try to treat pedophilia and other sexual disorders with counseling which fails to alter behavior. The panel will explore ways to identity and treat victims and perpetrators. It will discuss typical Church and parental responses to reported abuse, examine the presence of neighborhood sex rings in Utah, outline help which is available, and offer suggestions for more effective ways of dealing with this illness in our society.

Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 1:30:55

From the 2010 Summer Symposium in Salt Lake City

Presentation: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty in the Mormon Community

Presenters:

Moderator: Kaimipono Wenger, JD, assistant professor, Thomas Jefferson Law School, San Diego.

Kristine Haglund, editor, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought

Bridget Jack Jeffries, MA candidate, history of Christianity in America, Trinity Divinity School.

John Dehlin, PhD, clinical/counseling psychology, Utah State University, funder of Mormon Stories podcast, StayLDS.com

Abstract: The work of political economist Albert Hirschman suggests a nuanced approach to public dissatisfaction with an organization. Dissatisfied members of an organization, business, or nation have a variety of choices available, including both exit (simply leaving) and voice (discussing their dissatisfaction). As Hirschman notes, greater loyalty to the organization can correspond to greater use of voice. Contradicting traditional Mormon views, dissent may actually indicate greater loyalty to the organization than does silent acquiescence. Panelists will discuss loyalty, voice, exit, and dissent from a variety of angles, ultimately suggesting that the LDS understanding of public disagreement may be underdeveloped, and sketching ways in which legitimate dissent could take on a broader role in the LDS community.

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From the 1993 Sunstone West Symposium

Presentation: Whoa, Man, What’s Not History? Hugh Had Better Believe It

Presenters:

Chair: Matthew Hulse

Samuel W. Taylor, author, Nightfall at Nauvoo

Newell Bringhurst, instructor, History and Political Science, College of the Sequoias

Abstract: How intellectually honest was Hugh Nibley’s attack on Fawn Brodie’s biography of Joseph Smith? While simultaneously shedding more light on the true characters of Smith, his biographer, and the early church, this paper excoriates Nibley for sins of omission, commission, and plenty of over-zealous mission.

Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 1:04:20

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

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 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