Fall 2020
The Fall 2020 Issue begins with an article from James Faulconer on "Performative Theology; Not Such a New Thing," and an article on "Revisiting Joseph Smith and the Availability of the Book of Enoch." It also has some wonderful reviews of DJ Butler's fiction as well as multiple books on Mormon cinema and more!. Includes beautiful poetry and finishes with a sermon on "Pray Without Ceasing" by previous editor Boyd Petersen.
A movement called “scriptural theology” has been part of academic theology for some time now, since the 1980s or earlier.[1] In spite of that, with some exceptions I will note, it has had little impact on…
The question I am considering here is at its heart relational. What kind of relationship with scripture exists within performative theology? When we understand scripture as wisdom rather than history, what does this understanding do…
Dialogue 53.3 (Fall 2020): 41–106
Regarding the discussions in Mormon studies and other literary sub-fields related to contemporaries of Smith, the availability of ideas about 1 Enoch and some of the actual content were far more complicated than has usually been assumed in past scholarship.
Dialogue 53.3 (Fall 2020): 73–103
Davis compares the two men, saying “Davis, like Smith, was raised in a poor household and received little formal education—Davis, in fact, would claim to have received only “little more than five months” of schooling.”
that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there ª waits while ● gets her bearings. It always takes a little while, he says. ● lifts her spirit nose, trying and…
Because I did not fit a second timein the womb of my mother,I was born of my father instead. He held my arm to haul me from the waterand with the other, squared it to…
In the Big Ending,My son used to sayWhen I read him the Genesis board book.Which was perfect, I thought.Such a start must surely have followedAn ending that was big.What brought that ending on? And whatGave…
Daryl Prays How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! Lamentations 4:1 At fourteen, Daryl cut across an empty lotbehind a brick pharmacywhere he had picked up his mom’s pills(linden…
I found God huddled in my father’s insanity.There beneath the layersof confusion—as to why none of us saw thespinning ball or the parade outside—I saw his vacant expression shine out likeGod-rays through the clouds.Clarity in…
set the hour for their reunion.She’s under the greencanopy in the closed coffin. She signed away her body,except for her skin,so her hip bones might be recycled into screws to repair broken anklesor wedges to…
To the Ones whoAwakened the Universe with a wordAnd set the Cosmos afire. God-Mom and God-Dad— Stretching forth our hands,We pluck from the Tree of Life.For our mortal lives to be sustained,creaturely blood must be…
On December 6, 2019, the Western Mining and Railroad Museum in Helper, Utah hosted a release party for The Cunning Man. The novel, which has scenes in the city and in the old coal mines nearby…
There are many different ways to construct a fantasy universe. Some are flowers, carefully grown from a single seed. Some are mirrors, with each element corresponding to a specific parallel in our own world for…
As a kid growing up near the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, I spent most of my time plotting my escape—from childhood itself, but more specifically from a Mormon childhood in Utah. I…
Mark 5:9—“My name is Legion: for we are many”—opens Karin Anderson’s masterwork Before Us Like a Land of Dreams. Anderson lyrically pools her ancestral narrative in sweeping loops, eddying history, religion, and landscape. Ghosts speak elusive,…
In March of 1895, in Paris, Auguste and Louis Lumière screened ten short, single-shot films for an audience of two hundred, and the movies were born. Less than ten months later, after years of petitioning,…
Latter-day Screens is a fascinating, compelling, and, at times, frustrating look at a wide range of Mormon-related media. This is largely due to the central conceit of the book—essentially working with Mormonism as a meme and…
Judging by its length, Irreversible Things is the kind of book that I should have been able to finish in a couple hours. Perhaps one evening, after the kids had gone to bed, I could curl up…
“To speak to Moses, God / put a stone in his mouth, put on / a sackcloth of verbs (want, need), / cleared his throat. Cried out” (3). Sunni Brown Wilkinson this way begins her collection The…
I first discovered James Goldberg when a friend from my mission shared a blog post from the Mormon Midrashim entitled “Explanation, Justification, Sanctification.” In it, the author shares some profound theology with his ten-year-old daughter in a…
Few topics have dominated modern Mormon discourse as much as those related to homosexuality. Especially following the contentious and engrossing debates surrounding Proposition 8—the electoral battle in California in 2008 over the legality of same-sex…
In this carefully researched work, Quincy D. Newell produces a powerful narrative of Jane Manning James’s life from limited records. Newell reveals what life was like for someone like James, whom she refers to as…
Railroading Religion is a welcome addition to the influx of timely scholarship published in anticipation of the 150-year anniversary of the Golden Spike ceremony. The tensions between religion, geography, and history provide a thought-provoking backdrop to…
The scriptures often admonish us to pray continuously. Note that I said “continuously,” not “continually.” “Continually” means repeated with interruptions, but “continuously” means without interruptions. Paul tells the saints in Thessalonica to “pray without ceasing”…
First, bless the burst of anger; its force will get you free. Then, bless the tears that follow; they will provide new sight. Bless your bare feet as you put them on the earth. Run.…
