Summer 1985
The Summer 1985 Issue critically examines The Godmakers, a documentary about Mormonism, alongside various themes in Mormon thought and experience. Randall L. Mackey introduces the exploration, while Sharon Lee Swenson questions the documentary's authenticity in "Does the Camera Lie?" Allen D. Roberts conducts a structural and content analysis of The Godmakers, and Donald A. Eagle reflects on how one community reacted to it. Lester E. Bush addresses ethical issues in reproductive medicine from a Mormon perspective, providing insight into the faith's views on complex moral questions. Edward Leo Lyman discusses the case of Moses Thatcher, detailing the alienation of an apostle from his quorum. Larry W. Conrad considers the potential for reform within RLDS theology, and Paul Shupe contributes to the conversation on the direction of RLDS thought. Lavina Fielding Anderson proposes a framework for enhancing Mormon literature, while Linda P. Wilcox presents contemporary Mormon women's perspectives on motherhood. And much more!
Dialogue 18.2 (Summer 1985): 42
For this reason, I would suggest that in theory—and sometimes even in practice—”Mormonism” typically sees frontiers in medicine such as those we have discussed as opportunities for expanding its perspective rather than as occasions for making official judgments.
In 1896 Moses Thatcher, a highly capable member of the second I highest ruling body of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was relieved of his office of apostle. Since this action came…
Dialogue 18.2 (Summer 1985): 92–113
During the last twenty-five years, Reorganized Latter Day Saints have struggled to discover what it means to be the body of Christ in the modern world.
Ever since the classic triumverate of the good, the true, and the beautiful was set up as the literary ideal, the good—meaning the virtuous or moral—has had less success than either the true or the…
Dialogue 18.2 (Summer 1985): 116–127
Women in the Mormon Church are encouraged toward traditional roles and attitudes that discourage personal, familial, and societal change. The ideal female role is that of a non-wage-earning wife and mother in a nuclear family where the husband is the provider and the woman’s energies are directed toward her family, the Church, and perhaps community service.
William B. Smith was a difficult man. Like so many who feel denied power and recognition, he was probably best described as being his own worst enemy. Certainly he could not be stereotyped as the…
Ardmoore told Carmen Stavely, who’d been away in Idaho visiting family, that what happened that Sunday morning was absolutely confidential. The bishop had instructed all who’d been present to keep the matter strictly to themselves;…
Tom looked at the sweat shining in the palms of his hands. Wiping them on his slacks, he opened the door into the stake president’s office and sat in a chair against the wall. A…
On the first Sunday after my fourteenth birthday, I was given the responsibility to watch over the Church and see that all the members did their duty, and also to prevent iniquity, hardness with each…
John Roche published a very thick book of essays a number of years ago. He was, he lamented, an essayist in an age when the essay was not flourishing. Fortunately this did not prevent publication.…
Samuel Johnson coined the phrase, and Virginia Woolf gave it its place in the language: the “common reader.” That per son, Doctor Johnson wrote, by whose common sense, “uncorrupted by literary prejudices, after all the…
You don’t have to be consumed with genealogical passion to profit from this new work of far-reaching and fundamental importance, though those who are will buy it as a matter of course and use it…
I was anxious to review this biography of the founder of eight nineteenth-century newspapers in and near western Illinois (including the Warsaw Message), the author of The History of Hancock County, and, especially, the author of…
In an 1842 description of Latter-day Saint beliefs written for John Wentworth of the Chicago Democrat, Joseph Smith said: “We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church, viz. apostles, prophets, pastors,…
The story of the western movement runs deep in American and Mormon history. The rolling of wagons west toward Oregon, California, and Utah is as basic to our national experience as Plymouth Rock and Independence…
As a protestant minister who has taught a college course on the letters of Paul, I admittedly approached this book with some skepticism. Having read it, I found the book to be unquestionably thorough. Following presentations…
“Today,” said the teacher, “we have a special activity. We’re going to have a survey and find out how many brothers and sisters we all have.” One little girl from an LDS family of six…
Another “sisters” book—enough for a quartet. Where Mormon Sisters is a topical approach to pioneer women’s history, Sister Saints a compilation of biographical essays, and Women’s Voices a selection of diary excerpts with historical commentary,…
The Godmakers, which was first shown in 1983, was produced largely through the efforts of Edward Decker, who is currently international director of Saints Alive in Jesus. The film took three years to make at a cost of approximately $250,000. To pay for the film, Decker personally borrowed $65,000, obtained $50,000 from a group of investors and raised the remaining amount from donations.
