AuthorCast
AuthorCast #55: This Month in Mormon Studies June 16 2017
Join co-hosts Brian Whitney (Greg Kofford Books) and Brandt Malone (Mormon News Report) in this lively look at the latest happenings in the field of Mormon studies, including news, blogs, new book releases, and events from the past month.
Highlights from this month include: MHA 2017, barbecue, Book of Mormon as literature, Joseph Smith: Monogamist?, LGBT history in Utah, new history of the Church, and David Bokovoy's mustache.
In the News
Passing of Nathan Ulrich
Passing of Charles S. Peterson
Administrative changes at Maxwell Institute
On the Blogs
Ardis Parshall, "The Sailor and the Apostle: 'The Thinking Has Been Done'?"
Ben Park, "LDS Church Distances Itself from Boy Scouts: Some Thoughts"
Matt B, "Ted Chiang, 'Arrival,' Mormons, Science Fiction, Angels, Time Travel, Sex, Free Will, The Tower of Babel, and the Secular: A Roundtable"
Michael Austin, "The Chosen People are Always Wrong"
Michael Austin, "Scripture as Genre"
Steve Evans, "Book Review Roundup"
Blair Hodges, "Troubling the Old Stories with Laurel Thatcher Ulrich"
Juvenile Instructor Summer Book Club Update
Jeff Turner, "The End of the Gathering: Mormonism and Immigration Regulation"
Grant Shreeve, "The Book of Mormon Gets the Literary Treatment"
Digital Content
Joseph Smith Papers updates
Signature Books updates at Archive.org
Podcasts
LDS Perspectives: "A Heavenly Mother - Rachel Steenblik and Caitlin Connolly"
LDS Perspectives: "Joseph's Seer Stones - Michael Hubbard MacKay"
LDS Perspectives: "Tough Questions about Mormon Polygamy - Brian and Laura Hales"
Year of Polygamy: "The Succession Crisis"
Year of Polygamy: "Lorenzo Snow"
Faith Matters: "Conversations with Terryl Givens"
Recent Book Releases
Joseph Smith Papers: Documents, Vol 5 (Church Historian's Press)
Seth Anderson, LGBT Salt Lake (Arcadia)
Joseph M. Spencer and Jeremiah John, Embracing the Law: Reading Doctrine and Covenants 42 (Maxwell Institute)
Mark D. Ogletree, No Other Success: The Parenting Practices of David O. McKay (BYU RSC)
Papers/Articles
Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, "A New Voice from the Past: The Council of Fifty Minutes"
Brady Winslow, "Irregularities in the Work of the Nauvoo Lodge: Mormonism, Freemasonry, and Conflicting Interests on the Illinois Frontier"
Brian C. Hales, "Joseph Smith: Monogamist or Polygamist?"
Colby Townsend, "Behold Other Scriptures I Would That Ye Should Write: Malachi in the Book of Mormon"
Joseph Spencer, "Isaiah 52 in the Book of Mormon: Notes on Isaiah's Reception History"
Conferences and Events
Faith Matters: "New Perspectives on Joseph Smith and Translation"
Mormon Scholars in the Humanities
Mormon Transhumanist Association
JSP Documents, Vol 5 release event at Benchmark Books
Mormon History Association 2017 Conference
Sunstone 2017 SLC Symposium
FairMormon 2017 Conference
John Whitmer Historical Association 2017 Conference
Book of Mormon Studies Conference
Call for Papers/Applications
2018 Church History Symposium
2018 Mormon History Association Conference
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AuthorCast #54: Exploring Mormon Thought, episode 10 June 07 2017
Exploring Mormon Thought, Episode 10: The Attributes of God Ch 5 - Models of Divine Knowledge (Part 2)
By Corey Ostler
In this episode we go over the second part of Ch 5: Models of Divine Knowledge. We talk about Middle Knowledge and Joseph Smith's evolving view of God's knowledge. We discuss James E. Talmage's view of God knowing our character so well that he can know the future and problems with that.
Topics Discussed:
• Middle Knowledge
• Problems of Middle Knowledge
• No Grounds Objection
• Counterfactuals of Freedom Are Probable Only
• The "Agents Are Not Free" Objection
• Mormonism and Middle Knowledge
Learn more about Blake Ostler’s book series, Exploring Mormon Thought.
AuthorCast #53: Exploring Mormon Thought, episode 9 June 01 2017
Exploring Mormon Thought, Episode 9: The Attributes of God Ch 5 - Models of Divine Knowledge (Part 1)
By Corey Ostler
We start discussing different models for God's knowledge. We focus on the aspect of God's knowledge of the future or infallible foreknowledge and if it can coexist with free will.
Topics Discussed:
• Simple Foreknowledge
• Timeless Knowledge Through Perception
• The Einstein-Minkowski Spacetime
• Timeless Knowledge Through Divine Causation
Learn more about Blake Ostler’s book series, Exploring Mormon Thought.
Show notes for this episode.
AuthorCast #52: Exploring Mormon Thought, episode 8 May 25 2017
Exploring Mormon Thought, Episode 8: The Attributes of God Ch 4 - Maximal Divine Power
By Corey Ostler
We go over various theories of God's power and then come to a definition that seems to fit. We then address problems with that view and see if they can be overcome while keeping the definition intact.
Topics Discussed:
• Logical Limitations on God's Power
• Limitations on God's Power Arising from Divine Attributes
• Limitations on God's Power Imposed by Significant Human Freedom
• Past Necessity and God's Power
• Problems for Omnipotence
• Persuasive and Coercive Power
• God's Power and Natural Laws
• God's Power and Creation
Learn more about Blake Ostler’s book series, Exploring Mormon Thought.
AuthorCast #51: Exploring Mormon Thought, episode 7 May 25 2017
Exploring Mormon Thought, Episode 7: The Attributes of God Ch3 - The Restoration and Systematic Theologies (Part 2)
By Corey Ostler
Continuing our survey of Mormon systematic Theologies we discuss the thought of the Pratts, John A. Widtsoe, B.H. Roberts, and Modern Mormon leaders. We talk about why they portrayed things as they did and what some strengths and weaknesses of each view are.
Pratt's 'The Seer': archive.org/details/seereditedbyorso01unse
Widtsoe's 'A Rational Theology': archive.org/details/rationaltheologywidtsoe
B.H. Roberts' 'The Seventy's Course in Theology': archive.org/details/seventyscoursein00robe
Learn more about Blake Ostler’s book series, Exploring Mormon Thought.
AuthorCast #50: Exploring Mormon Thought, episode 6 May 25 2017
Exploring Mormon Thought, Episode 6: The Attributes of God Ch 3 - The Restoration and Systematic Theologies (Part 1)
By Corey Ostler
We discuss The Lectures on Faith and Joseph Smith's evolving revelations on the nature of God, man, the universe, and how they relate to each other. We get into discussing different interpretations of the King Follett Discourse and The Sermon in the Grove.
The Lectures on Faith can be found here: lecturesonfaith.com/
King Follett Discourse:
www.lds.org/ensign/1971/04/the-…ett-sermon?lang=eng
www.lds.org/ensign/1971/05/the-…ett-sermon?lang=eng
Sermon in the Grove: emp.byui.edu/jexj/courses/sermon_in_the_grove.htm
Topics Discussed:
The Lectures on Faith
Joseph Smith and the Foundational Scriptures
Learn more about Blake Ostler’s book series, Exploring Mormon Thought.
AuthorCast #49: Exploring Mormon Thought, episode 5 May 08 2017
Exploring Mormon Thought, Episode 5: Apostasy and Concepts of Perfection (Part 2)
By Corey Ostler
Part 2 of the second chapter in The Attributes of God.
We discuss Process Thought/Theology, developed by Alfred N. Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne, and juxtapose it with the previously discussed Thomist/Classical Theism view. We also examine the striking similarities between Process Thought and Joseph Smith's revelations.
Topics Discussed:
Relative Perfection
Perfect Relatedness
Potentiality
Proportional Dependence
Complexity
Temporality
Mutability and Immutability
Passibility
Creator By Organizing
Maximal Persuasive Power
Maximal Knowledge
Learn more about Blake Ostler’s book series, Exploring Mormon Thought.
AuthorCast #48: Exploring Mormon Thought, episode 4 May 08 2017
Exploring Mormon Thought, Episode 4: Apostasy and Concepts of Perfection (Part 1)
By Corey Ostler
Part 1 of the second chapter in The Attributes of God.
We discuss how concepts of perfection from Platonism/Neo-Platonism heavily influenced early Christian thought on God's attributes. We then discuss the Absolutist system developed largely by Augustine and articulated by Thomas Aquinas. We bring up issues with the 'God' that arises when you follow this system to its logical conclusions.
Topics discussed:
Confluence of Greek Philosophy and Christian Theology
Emergence of the Absolutist Tradition in Christian Theology
The Logic of Absolute Independence
Pure Actuality
Divine Simplicity
Immutability
Timeless Eternity
Aseity
Impassibility
Omniscience
Omnipotence
Learn more about Blake Ostler’s book series, Exploring Mormon Thought.
AuthorCast #47: Exploring Mormon Thought, episode 3 May 08 2017
Exploring Mormon Thought, Episode 3: The Meaning of God in Mormon Thought (Part 2)
By Corey Ostler
Part 2 of the First chapter in The Attributes of God.
We go over the following topics:
Subordinate "Gods"
Apotheosis: Human Gods
“God” as a Relationship of Unity Among a Plurality of Persons
God and Perfection
God and Possible Worlds
Learn more about Blake Ostler’s book series, Exploring Mormon Thought.
AuthorCast #46: Exploring Mormon Thought, episode 2 May 08 2017
Exploring Mormon Thought, Episode 2: The Meaning of God in Mormon Thought (Part 1)
By Corey Ostler
Part 1 of the First chapter in The Attributes of God.
We go over the following topics:
The Meaning of "God" In Mormon Discourse
Attribute and Essence
Is "God" a Title or a Name?
God and Monotheism
The Divine Thou
Learn more about Blake Ostler’s book series, Exploring Mormon Thought.
AuthorCast #45: Exploring Mormon Thought, episode 1 May 08 2017
Exploring Mormon Thought, Episode 1: Interview with Blake Ostler
By Corey Ostler
My father Blake Ostler is a well-known Mormon Theologian and Scholar (In a addition to being a full-time attorney ) Over the years he has written several articles for scholarly Mormon publications such as Dialogue, FARMS, Sunstone Mag, Element, and others.
What I want to do is take the complex issues in these books and discuss them in a way that makes sense to the average listener. So this is sort of going to be like taking me to school on a lot of these issues and topics.
For the most part we will go chapter by chapter of each book starting with the first one: The Attributes of God
However I wanted to start off with an episode of getting to know Blake Ostler. His background, journey and motivations for writing these books and so forth.
Learn more about Blake Ostler’s book series, Exploring Mormon Thought.
AuthorCast #44: Introducing Exploring Mormon Thought with Blake Ostler (Trailer) May 04 2017
From its beginning, the Kofford Books AuthorCast was envisioned as a show to connect our authors with our audience. We have done this through author interviews, recordings of live events, author readings from their books and, more recently, with our monthly This Month in Mormon Studies show that comments on the field of Mormon Studies more widely.
In line with our vision of bringing our authors to you, we are excited to announce a new series that we will sharing through the Kofford Books AuthorCast: Exploring Mormon Thought with Blake Ostler. Blake is the author of the multi-volume series by the same name, published by Greg Kofford Books. In fact, Exploring Mormon Thought, Volume 1: The Attributes of God, was the first book ever published by Greg Kofford Books and is considered a groundbreaking work in Mormon theology. Throughout his volumes, Blake took on challenging philosophical topics such as classical vs Mormon theism, the problem of evil, the Atonement, the nature of God; and he discussed the Mormon temple endowment in relationship with the Atonement in a stand-alone volume titled Fire on the Horizon: A Meditation on the Endowment and Love of Atonement.
Outside of his books, Blake has published widely on Mormon philosophy in journals such as Religious Studies, International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion, and Element: The Journal of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology, as well as Mormon scholarly publications Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Sunstone, BYU Studies, and FARMS Review of Books. He has also contributed chapters to Discourses in Mormon Theology and Mormonism at the Crossroads of Philosophy and Theology, and has taught Philosophy at Brigham Young University.
But enough about his credentials. This podcast series, Exploring Mormon Thought, is produced and hosted independently by Corey Ostler, Blake’s son. Corey's aim is to take the complex issues presented in his books and discuss them chapter by chapter in a way that makes sense to a general audience. As of this recording, they have released five episodes. We’ll release all five together, and then we’ll continue releasing more as they become available.
We hope you enjoy this new podcast series.
Learn more about Blake Ostler’s book series, Exploring Mormon Thought.