Specific topics include the prophetic mantle, the nature of restoration, Mormon exclusivity, the inefficacy of institutional religion, and satisfactions of the Gospel/personal revelation. Givens argues that there is profit to be found, and advantage to be gained, even—perhaps especially—in the absence of certainty.

    But there is a kind of joy in theology's gratuity, there is a pleasure in its comedic machination, and ultimately-if the balloon pops, the hamster spins, the chain pulls, the bucket empties, the pulley lifts, and (voila ) the book's page is turned-some measurable kind of work is accomplished. But this work is a byproduct. The beauty of the machine, like all beauty, is for its own sake. Theology, maybe especially Mormon theology, requires this kind of modesty. The Church neither needs nor endorses our Rube Goldbergian flights. The comic aspect of the arrows we wing at cloudy skies must be kept firmly in mind. The comedy of it both saves us from theology and commends us to it. Engaged in this work, theology has only one definitive strength: it can make simple things difficult. Good theology forces detours that divert us from our stated goals and prompt us to visit places and include people that would otherwise be left aside. The measure of this strength is charity. Theological detours are worth only as much charity as they are able to show. They are worth only as many waylaid lives and lost objects as they are able to embrace. Rube Goldberg machines, models of inelegance, are willing to loop anything into the circuit-tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, Democrats, whatever. In charity, the grace of a disinterested concern for others and the gratuity of an unnecessary complication coincide. Theology helps us to find religion by helping us to lose it. Theology makes the familiar strange. It ratchets uncomfortable questions into complementary shapes and helps recover the trouble that is charity's substance. This book is itself a Rube Goldberg machine, pieced together from a variety of essays written over the past ten years. They offer explicit reflections on what it means to practice theology as a modern Mormon scholar and they stake out substantial and original positions on the nature of the atonement, the soul, testimony, eternal marriage, humanism, and the historicity of the Book of Mormon.

    In this state-of-the-art atlas, readers can take in the epic sweep of the Mormon movement in a new, immersive way. Never has so much geographical data about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints been presented in one volume so attractively and informatively.

    Such simplicity, however, belies the careful, complex reading initiated in An Other Testament. Spencer's work is disciplined by an unrivaled attention to the structural, thematic, and literary details of the Book of Mormon. His book is a primer on all we have afield to see and the richness of his reading implicitly chastens us for having failed even to look. Spencer argues for the importance of a typological reading of the Book of Mormon, and traces the tension between the two types of typological reading promoted by the Book of Mormon itself: one focused principally on connecting Christ to the world historical unfolding of the Israelite covenant, the other focused principally on connecting Christ to the everyday life of the individual believer. Any who are interested in a hermeneutics of Mormon scripture will find An Other Testament rich reading indeed.

    

    Both, according to dogma, are dual beings, bringers of the holy Word to the Navajo people, and homosexuals, monsters in disguise, murderers of their own posterity. It is a tale of their fight for self-recognition and ultimately, self-determination in a society that either ignores their existence or vehemently wishes them dead. It is also a myriad of other fights, other disasters between people, organizations, traditions and nature itself, swirling around them in a macabre dance of destruction and death. The difference between these unknown people and events and the world at large is scale and the essential things individuals have in their favor against survival of the fittest attitudes and realities: the ability to think, to analyze, and to make choices for themselves.

    Born in 1805 and silenced thirty-nine years later by assassins’ bullets, he dictated more than one-hundred revelations, published books of new scripture, built a temple, organized several new cities, and became the proclaimed prophet to tens of thousands during his abbreviated life.Among his many novel teachings and practices, none is more controversial than plural marriage, a restoration of the Old Testament practice that he accepted as part of his divinely appointed mission. Joseph Smith taught his polygamy doctrines only in secret and dictated a revelation in July 1843 authorizing its practice (now LDS D&C 132) that was never published during his lifetime. Although rumors and exposés multiplied, it was not until 1852 that Mormons in Brigham Young’s Utah took a public stand. By then, thousands of Mormons were engaged in the practice that was seen as essential to salvation.Victorian America saw plural marriage as immoral and Joseph Smith as acting on libido. However, the private writings of Nauvoo participants and other polygamy insiders tell another, more complex and nuanced story. Many of these accounts have never been published. Others have been printed sporadically in unrelated publications. Drawing on every known historical account, whether by supporters or opponents, Volumes 1 and 2 take a fresh look at the chronology and development of Mormon polygamy, including the difficult conundrums of the Fannie Alger relationship, polyandry, the “angel with a sword” accounts, Emma Smith’s poignant response, and the possibility of Joseph Smith offspring by his plural wives. Among the most intriguing are the newly available Andrew Jenson papers containing not only the often-quoted statements by surviving plural wives but also Jenson’s own private research, conducted in the late nineteenth century. Telling the story of Joseph Smith’s polygamy from the records of those who knew him best, augmented by those who observed him from a distance, may have produced the most useful view of all.Praise for Joseph Smith's Polygamy:"Brian Hales wants to face up to every question, every problem, every fear about plural marriage. His answers may not satisfy everyone, but he gives readers the relevant sources where answers, if they exist, are to be found. There has never been a more thorough examination of the polygamy idea." —Richard L. Bushman, Claremont Graduate University, author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling“Joseph Smith’s Polygamy, the first thorough treatment of Joseph Smith’s plural marriages written by a conservative Mormon scholar, is a landmark in the historiography of Mormon polygamy. While I disagree with some of Hales’s conclusions, I admire his willingness to confront difficult topics and the depth of his research. This impressive work furthers the ongoing dialogue in the Mormon historical community on a fascinating and challenging aspect of the life and teachings of Mormonism’s founding prophet.” —Todd M. Compton, author of In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith“Hales’s massive and well documented three volume examination of the history and theology of Mormon plural marriage, as introduced and practiced during the life of Joseph Smith, will now be the standard against which all other treatments of this important subject will be measured.” —Danel W. Bachman, author of “A Study of the Mormon Practice of Plural Marriage before the Death of Joseph Smith”“Brian Hales is an exceptionally thorough, meticulous, and evenhanded researcher and assessor of Joseph Smith’s complex and controversial polygamous practices and the theological rationale that supported them. His path-breaking and indispensable three-volume study provides the most comprehensive documentation and assessment yet available of the extant evidence on the topic, even though Hales’s fellow scholars of Joseph Smith’s polygamy may not always find persuasive the ways in which he interprets and contextualizes his evidence.” —Lawrence Foster, author of Religion and Sexuality

    These papyri comprise “The Breathing Permit of Hor,” “The Book of the Dead of Ta-Sherit-Min,” “The Book of the Dead Chapter 125 of Nefer-ir-nebu,” “The Book of the Dead of Amenhotep,” and “The Hypocephalus of Sheshonq,” as well as some loose fragments and patches. The papyri were acquired by members of the LDS Church in the 1830s in Kirtland, Ohio, and rediscovered in the mid-1960s in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. They served as the basis for Joseph Smith’s “Book of Abraham,” published in Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1842 and later canonized.As Robert K. Ritner, Professor of Egyptology at the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, explains: “The translation and publication of the Smith papyri must be accessible not merely to Egyptologists but to non-specialists within and outside of the LDS religious community for whom the Book of Abraham was produced.” Dr. Ritner provides not only his own original translations but gives variant translations by other researchers to demonstrate better the “evolving process” of decipherment. He also includes specialized transliterations and his own informed commentary on the accuracy of past readings. “These assessments,” he notes, “are neither equivocal nor muted.” At the same time, they do not have a “partisan basis originating in any religious camp.”The present volume includes insightful introductory essays by noted scholars Christopher Woods, Associate Professor of Sumerology, University of Chicago (“The Practice of Egyptian Religion at ‘Ur of the Chaldees’”), Marc Coenen, Egyptian Studies Ph. D., University of Leuven, Belgium  (“The Ownership and Dating of Certain Joseph Smith Papyri”), and H. Michael Marquardt, author of The Revelations of Joseph Smith: Text and Commentary (“Joseph Smith’s Egyptian Papers: A History”). It contains twenty-eight photographic plates, including color images of the primary papyri (with corrected alignment for Papyrus Joseph Smith 2) and other relevant items.

    It includes (bundled together) the best works ever published covering the teachings, life, and death of Joseph Smith. Also included in this collection are the entire LDS Standard Works.The Words of Joseph Smith by Andrew Ehat has became one of the most sought after volumes in the industry with each selling for around $300… if you can find one. We have included the entire volume here in this unprecedented collection.Having the LDS Standard Works as part of this collection adds is a very useful feature. The scripture references that appear in the books are linked back to the corresponding verses in the Standard Works in full-context. This helps to make your study experience better than ever.Titles Includes:• LDS Standard Works (complete with Topical Guide, Bible Dictionary, Index, Footnotes, and thousands of links)• The Words of Joseph Smith by Andrew Ehat• Teaching of the Prophet Joseph Smith by Joseph Fielding Smith• Joseph Smith – The Prophet-Teacher by B. H. Roberts• Lectures on Faith by John A. Widtsoe• History of the Church (7 Vols.) by Joseph Smith• History of Joseph Smith by His Mother by Lucy Mack Smith• Life of Joseph Smith the Prophet by George Q. Cannon• The Mormon Prophet’s Tragedy• Account of the Martyrdom by Orson F. WhitneySpecial Features:• Each book is easily navigable using hypertext table of contents links.• Scripture references in the books are link to corresponding verses in the Standard Works• Over 300,000 footnote and cross-reference links in the Standard works

    

    In this handy volume, Dale and Ruth Jeffery have brought together a heart-warming set of their best-loved stories, thoughts, and poems on topics that will be deeply meaningful to missionaries in the field and throughout the rest of their lives. As a "companion" volume to the Missionary's Little Quote Book, this book will provide plenty of thoughtful inspiration for missionaries. Including sections on "The Savior," "Prayer," "Faith," "Goals," "Service," "Obedience," "Leadership," and many other topics, it will prove a wonderfully useful reference for talks, lessons, and presentations. Don't leave home without it!

    Although Hansen was raised as a conservative Republican, he tells how he became a Democrat and how that journey did not take him away from his Church but closer to it. Hansen discusses the First Presidency's letter reaffirming the Church's "political neutrality." He explains how his political beliefs and the doctrine of his Church are not diametrically opposed to each other but are closely intertwined. The author reviews some of his struggles of running for public office as a Mormon Democrat in a Republican county. The main purpose of the book is to show that there is a need for more tolerance of divergent political beliefs within the international LDS Church. Marie Hanzel, a former State Democrat Party Chairperson, wrote, "If you believe this book title contains an oxymoron, I dare you to read it." Dr. Boyd J. Petersen, a BYU instructor and the author of Hugh Nibley: A Consecrated Life, penned, "His story illustrates the sometimes difficult fight of 'swimming upstream' in a politically conservative culture, but it is also an inspiring account of one with the courage to stand up for his principles in the face of daunting opposition... I believe... Brother Nibley would be proud to be in the same church as Brother Hansen."

    The Hero’s Journey of the Gay and Lesbian Mormon is offered to LGBT people of all religions, and their families and friends, as a traveling companion that will ease the path and celebrate the various destinations.