Tweet
I don't see a thread here on this yet, which kind of surprises me. Peggy Fletcher Stack writes about the new Givens book here.
These are the "five central concepts in Mormon theology" that Givens focuses on in his book:
Excerpt from Peggy's article:
I want to read the book and am trying to decide whether to hint around for a Christmas present or just to buy it. I think I'll just buy it.
These are the "five central concepts in Mormon theology" that Givens focuses on in his book:
- God is a personal entity, having a heart that beats in sympathy with human hearts, feeling our joy and sorrowing over our pain.
- We lived as spiritual beings in the presence of God before we were born in this mortal life.
- Mortality is an ascent, not a fall, and we carry infinite potential into a world of sin and sorrow.
- God has the desire and the power to unite and elevate the entire human family in a kingdom of heaven, and, except for the most stubbornly unwilling, that will be our destiny.
- Heaven will consist of those relationships that matter most to us now.
Indeed, it was Deseret Book’s paucity of deeper books about LDS beliefs that prompted the project in the first place.
Last year, Terryl, a literature and religion professor at the University of Richmond, publicly criticized the LDS publishing arm for abandoning theology in favor of more chatty, anecdote-laden descriptions of Mormon teachings.
Deseret Book CEO Sheri Dew heard about it, he says, and offered to publish such a book if he would write it.
And now the book from Terryl and Fiona Givens is causing ripples of excitement throughout the Mormon intellectual community.
"This is the single best book of Mormon studies that I have ever read," Julie M. Smith of Austin, Texas, wrote on the Mormon blog timesandseasons.org. "It is brilliant and marvelously well-written."
In an email, Smith, who holds a master’s degree in biblical studies from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., said, "After LDS doctrine, history, practice, and rhetoric go through the refiner’s fire, what is left is this book: a simply stunning articulation of everything that is luminous about Mormonism."
Ben Park, an LDS doctoral candidate at University of Cambridge, echoes that sentiment.
The co-authors "demonstrate the extraordinarily broad reach of Mormonism’s answers, the intellectually cogent possibilities of LDS thought and the compelling nature of Joseph Smith’s theological corpus," Park writes in an email from Boston, where he is spending this year. "Importantly, rather than just relying on the small canon of the LDS tradition, they reach further by showing how many theologians, philosophers and other figures can not only affirm what we already believe, but have much to teach us on these important issues. This is a book that all Mormons should not only read, but feel comfortable recommending to their friends."
Last year, Terryl, a literature and religion professor at the University of Richmond, publicly criticized the LDS publishing arm for abandoning theology in favor of more chatty, anecdote-laden descriptions of Mormon teachings.
Deseret Book CEO Sheri Dew heard about it, he says, and offered to publish such a book if he would write it.
And now the book from Terryl and Fiona Givens is causing ripples of excitement throughout the Mormon intellectual community.
"This is the single best book of Mormon studies that I have ever read," Julie M. Smith of Austin, Texas, wrote on the Mormon blog timesandseasons.org. "It is brilliant and marvelously well-written."
In an email, Smith, who holds a master’s degree in biblical studies from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., said, "After LDS doctrine, history, practice, and rhetoric go through the refiner’s fire, what is left is this book: a simply stunning articulation of everything that is luminous about Mormonism."
Ben Park, an LDS doctoral candidate at University of Cambridge, echoes that sentiment.
The co-authors "demonstrate the extraordinarily broad reach of Mormonism’s answers, the intellectually cogent possibilities of LDS thought and the compelling nature of Joseph Smith’s theological corpus," Park writes in an email from Boston, where he is spending this year. "Importantly, rather than just relying on the small canon of the LDS tradition, they reach further by showing how many theologians, philosophers and other figures can not only affirm what we already believe, but have much to teach us on these important issues. This is a book that all Mormons should not only read, but feel comfortable recommending to their friends."
) and read about the first third of this book on the plane. I am really enjoying it, and hope that my reporting this fact does not ruin anyone's desire to read Givens' book.
Comment