Spring 1968
We are pleased to present a large amount of fine poetry in this issue - poetry especially appropriate to meditation during this season. First, there is a new translation by R. A. Christmas of Paul Valéry's "Ebauche d'un Serpent," which has been acclaimed as one of the greatest poems written in our century. In addition, there are two short poems, by Sylvia Ruth and Clinton F. Larson, on Christ's Atonement, the sacrificial act that completes the redemptive process initiated by the Fall. There is also Karl Keller's review of Larson's very important new book of poetry, The Lord of Experience. Returning to our ongoing assessment of Mormon culture, we begin this issue with an examination of Mormon architecture: first, a general discussion by a group of young Mormon architects about the resources in Mormon thought and belief that should be guiding us to meaningful achievement in architecture despite the relative failure of our modern committee approach to take advantage of these resources; then a direct evaluation by Professor Donald Bergsma, of the proposed designs for the new temples in Ogden and Provo, Utah.
FERGUSON: Most Mormons are basically ignorant of architecture and the idea of architecture as much as they are ignorant of art and the idea of art, and there is no chance in the public schools…
Dialogue 3.1 (1968): 9–19
Bergsma argues that, to anybody passing by the temple, even if they are not a member, that the temple stands as a a symbol of our devotion to the faith
Dialogue 3.1 (Spring 1970): 42–45
No one will want to deny that the Book of Mormon has been a book
of considerable impact and importance in America, insofar as it has
affected the lives of many millions of citizens; yet it has never really been
counted in the canon of American literature.
One of the greatest challenges facing the membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the accommodation of revealed, eternal gospel principles with contemporary political and economic institutions. Accommodation can mean one…
Dear Sirs: . . . I could not agree more with the comments and views expressed by McMurrin and Bitton (Winter, 1967). I became an ardent admirer of B. H. Roberts from the moment when,…
As the only missions of the Church to major non-Christian cultures, the missions of Asia (with the exception of the Philippines, which is predominantly Catholic) are of special interest and present unique problems to those…
When I say to you the Mormons must go, I speak the mind of the camp and country. They can leave without force or injury to themselves or their property, but I say to you,…
The ordinance of baptism was known and practiced in all ages that knew the Gospel of Jesus Christ, both before and after His lifetime on earth. We find accounts of baptisms in the Pearl of…
Mormon theology denies the orthodox Christian doctrines of Creation and the Fall: it teaches that not only God has independent being within himself, but also the essential intelligence of each man (which is genuinely related…
In the tree, the soft breeze cradles
The viper that I wear.
A smile, where the fang strikes
Appetites into flame,
Drifts, like a prowler, through the Garden,
And my emerald mask unwinds
A split tongue into the blue. . .
A beast, a cunning beast,
And my venom is vile—but it leaves
Wise hemlock far behind!
The myth and the reality convey the sign:
INRI, but we in the distance of history,
Precise and limitless, survey and then define
His suffering again, for our consistory.
We know in the analogues of formulative speech
That Pretonious drove Him down against the cross
And split His palms where they could reach.
Crimen est actio before this miracle of dross.
the sacrament is loosed;
the trays go as a fleet of grace
into our garnered sea
of lap and hand,
and this envoy,
this ark of my covenant
lilts over me: a gentle craft
riddled with remembrance
I think that at some far-distant point in time the history of Mormon poetry may well have to be said to have begun with Clinton F. Larson and this first collection of his verse, The…
Doctor Sidney Sperry has revised somewhat his 1964 book, Problems of the Book of Mormon, and Bookcraft here offers the new version under a new title. The author was probably the first Latter-day Saint to…
Ours, it seems, is a scientific age. We insist that “clinical tests confirm” the virtue of everything from toothpaste to dog food. Why not, therefore, religion? So it is that the author directs our attention…
As Mormon writers search their background for subject matter unique to their religion, one source that offers almost unlimited possibilities is the Book of Mormon. The most recent effort to dramatize a Book of Mormon…
This is a public relations picture book presenting a collection of photographs from the Improvement Era and The Relief Society Magazine, with portraits of Relief Society Presidents, past and present, and one or two interesting…
The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act iii, sc. 2, 1. 78 [Antony] As in the past years, the spring bibliographical survey is concerned…
I Mormonism has often been described as the most completely indigenous of all the religions originating in America. The Mormon movement has been called the typical American religious movement. Mormons do not object to these…
Like beauty, the moral nature of man is in the eye of the beholder; there is no one description of that nature that will prove acceptable to everyone. The view presented in this article is…
Far too often, I suspect, when people begin to talk about men, their talk wells up out of strong feelings and emotional views and such talk pricks us deeply if we have contrary views. After…
