Stephen W. Stathis, Author at Dialogue Journal

Mormonism in the Nineteen-Seventies: The Popular Perception

Perhaps more than the members of any other religious sect, Mormons are preoccupied with their public image. It may be argued that such preoccupation is a form of narcissism unworthy of the Restored Gospel, but…

Among the Mormons

Articles/Essays – Volume 10, No. 4

Eleven years ago, Dialogue and Ralph W. Hansen began an association which would last a decade and produce nearly forty Among the Mormons columns. His painstaking contribution stands as a monument to dedication and diligence.…

The Enigma of Solomon Spalding

Articles/Essays – Volume 10, No. 4

“Every man’s life,” wrote Emerson, “is a secret known only to God.” Certainly this must be said of Solomon Spalding, much of whose story remains obsure. The events of his life suggest a pattern of…

Among the Mormons: A Survey of Current Literature

Articles/Essays – Volume 11, No. 2

“Of making of books there is no end.” These words from Ecclesiastes could as well be applied to the more than thirty thousand doctoral dissertations and an even larger number of master’s theses completed in…

Among the Mormons: A Survey of Current Literature

Articles/Essays – Volume 11, No. 3

Woodrow Wilson, while still a professor at Princeton, told his students in 1900 that he “would never read a book if it were possible for me to talk half an hour with the man who…

Selected Newspapers Articles on Mormons and Mormonism Published During 1977

Articles/Essays – Volume 11, No. 4

Today there are more than 1,700 daily newspapers in the United States, many of which have circulations of several hundred thousand. Yet once a particular day’s news is superseded by the next, what remains is…

Among the Mormons: A Survey of Current Literature

Articles/Essays – Volume 12, No. 1

As Hemingway put it, “A writer’s problem does not change. He himself changes and the world he lives in changes but his problem remains the same. It is always how to write truly and, having…

Among the Mormons: A Survey of Current Literature

Articles/Essays – Volume 12, No. 2

Only rarely does a piece of writing capture the imagination of both novice and professional alike. Even more infrequently does such a work begin as a Ph.D. dissertation or master’s thesis. Certainly the most renowned…

Among the Mormons: A Selected Bibliography of Recent Works on Mormons and Mormonism

Articles/Essays – Volume 12, No. 3

Mormonism throughout much of its rather brief, history has stirred emotional responses from a large portion of the American populace. What began in the 1830’s as persecution and a forced flight to the West has…

Among the Mormons: A Survey of Current Literature

Articles/Essays – Volume 12, No. 4

It was indeed a historic moment when on Friday 9 June 1978, President Spencer W. Kimball announced, in a five-paragraph letter to all the leaders of the Church, that God “has heard our prayers, and…

Among the Mormons: Periodical Articles on Mormons and Mormonism

Articles/Essays – Volume 13, No. 1

General Barlow, Phillip L. “On Moonists and Mormonites.” Sunstone 4 (January/February 1979): 37-41. Kenney, Scott. “Mormonism and the Fold.” Sunstone 3 (March/April 1978): 24-25. Agriculture Bitton, Davis and Linda P. Wilcox. “Pestiferous Ironclads: The Grasshopper…

Among the Mormons: A Survey of Current Literature

Articles/Essays – Volume 13, No. 4

Biographies and family histories, have been by far the most popular subject of Mormon-related books during the past year. These works stem in large part from the ingenuity of family organizations and the ever increasing…

Among the Mormons: A Survey of Current Literature

Articles/Essays – Volume 14, No. 1

“Of all the religious sects to emerge out of nineteenth-century America,” as Newsweek’s religion editor Kenneth L. Woodward recently observed, “only the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has developed into a worldwide faith.”…

Mormonism and the Periodical Press: A Change is Underway

Articles/Essays – Volume 14, No. 2

Mormonism has long occupied a unique place in the consciousness of Ameri cans. In the nineteenth century the Mormon Church was all but cast out of America: its prophet-founder ridiculed as a fraud and a…

Among the Mormons: A Survey of Current Literature

Articles/Essays – Volume 14, No. 4

The vast majority of the books considered in the accompanying compilation are of a biographical, fictional, doctrinal or inspirational nature. While the biographies and works on local history are generally intended for a rather limited…

Among the Mormons: A Survey of Current Literature

Articles/Essays – Volume 15, No. 2

1981 is destined to be remembered as a year of indelible significance in Mormondom. Within a two-month period early in the year, stories about the Church twice achieved front-page status. During March the discovery of…

Among the Mormons: A Survey of Current Theses and Dissertations

Articles/Essays – Volume 16, No. 1

Despite the marked decline in the number of students seeking advanced degrees, which is sending shock waves throughout American academia, interest in Mormon-related programs remains remarkably high. This trend becomes considerably more understandable when we…

Among the Mormons: A Survey of Current Literature

Articles/Essays – Volume 16, No. 3

As Mormonism embarked upon the 1980s, it appeared, at least outwardly, that the Church might be well advised to prepare for a new era of journalistic sensationalism and criticism. To combat this anticipated struggle, a…

A Survey of Current Dissertations and Theses

Articles/Essays – Volume 16, No. 4

A year ago in writing of the prospects for future graduate study on Mor monism it seemed appropriate to prophesy a gradual deterioration. It is therefore exceedingly heartening to note that while the actual number…

Among the Mormons: A Selected Bibliography of Recent Books on Mormons and Mormonism

Articles/Essays – Volume 17, No. 2

Scholarly as well as popular interest in Mormonism continues at an almost unprecedented rate. The Saints remain, as they always have, a peculiar people. Their history, as Winfred E. Garrison aptly observed, “bristles” with controversial…

A Survey of Current Literature: Selected Bibliography of Recent Articles

Articles/Essays – Volume 17, No. 3

From its early years on the social fringe,” U.S. News & World Report I recently told its readers, the Mormon Church “has become America’s largest and wealthiest home-grown religion by offering shelter in stormy times.”…

Among the Mormons: A Survey of Current Dissertations and Theses

Articles/Essays – Volume 17, No. 4

Perhaps the Roman historian Tacitus put it as well as anyone when he ‘wrote that “history’s highest function” is “to let no worthy action be uncommemorated, and to hold out the reprobation of posterity as…

Among the Mormons: A Selected Bibliography of Recent Books

Articles/Essays – Volume 19, No. 1

A formidable challenge faces those who try to write confidently about Mormonism only to be denied access to critical resources. It is widely felt among those who follow Mormon scholarship that both Leonard J. Arrington and…

A Survey of Current Dissertations

Articles/Essays – Volume 19, No. 3

“Knowledge is a comfortable and necessary retreat and shelter for us in advanced age,” Lord Chesterfield told his son in 1747, but “if we do not plant it while young it will give us no…

Among the Mormons: A Survey of Recent Articles

Articles/Essays – Volume 19, No. 4

For nearly a decade, since Mary Bradford approached me early one Sunday morning with the exciting opportunity of becoming part of the DIALOGUE staff, “Among the Mormons” has been a dear friend. Preparing this, my…