Latter-day Dissent

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Latter-day Dissent: At the Crossroads of Intellectual Inquiry and Ecclesiastical Authority
Latter-day Dissent.jpg
Editor Philip Lindholm
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subject Excommunication from the LDS Church
Publisher Greg Kofford Books (Salt Lake City)
Publication date
13 May 2011
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages236
ISBN 1-589-58128-8
LC Class BX8693 .L38 2010

Latter-day Dissent: At the Crossroads of Intellectual Inquiry and Ecclesiastical Authority is a 2011 book edited, with an introduction, by Philip Lindholm. It chronicles the stories of prominent LDS intellectuals who faced disciplinary action by the LDS Church. The book features contributions from members of the September Six, including Lynne Kanavel Whitesides, Paul Toscano, Maxine Hanks, Lavina Fielding Anderson, D. Michael Quinn, as well as Janice Merrill Allred, Margaret Merrill Toscano, Thomas W. Murphy, and Donald Jessee. Lindholm's analysis combined with Diarmaid MacCulloch's foreword and the interviews themselves collectively discuss the nature and extent of intellectual freedom and disciplinary action in the LDS Church.

Contents

Background

In September 2010, the LDS Church disciplined six prominent intellectuals and speakers [1] [2] for expressing controversial views in public. Similar action was taken again in 1995, 2000, and early 2003 against other intellectuals, collectively consisting of feminists, activists, a lawyer, authors, and academics who presented a dissenting paradigm to that of the LDS ecclesiastical hierarchy. Latter-day Dissent retroactively examines the events of the September Six and the subsequent disciplinary action, while also following the personal faith journeys of the purged intellectuals.

Response

Historian Jan Shipps says of the book: "The interviews with the eight disciplined Church members are significant additions to the literature of Mormonism. They are quite revealing and, in general, they make for fascinating reading." [3]

The Reverend Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch (Oxford): "The testimonies contained in this book are acts of courage and witnesses to a painful effort to seek integrity, when strong efforts were being made either to make them change their minds or at least keep their intellectual adventures to themselves. They deserve sympathy and admiration." [4]

One reviewer for the Mormon Heretic blog called the book "timely" [5] while another noted, "Some of the interviews are quite sympathetic and engaging. They convey very effectively the personal emotions involved in religious exclusion and exploring what it means to be a 'Mormon.' Personal stories carry power, as members of the Church understand when they bear personal testimonies or do missionary work. In that regard the book can evoke much sympathy and personal reflection." [6]

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In the Latter Day Saint movement, priesthood is the power and authority of God given to man, including the authority to perform ordinances and to act as a leader in the church. A group of priesthood holders is referred to as a quorum.

The September Six were six members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who were excommunicated or disfellowshipped by the church in September 1993, allegedly for publishing scholarly work against or criticizing church doctrine or leadership. The term "September Six" was coined by The Salt Lake Tribune and was used in the media and subsequent discussion. The church's action was referred to by some as evidence of an anti-intellectual posture on the part of church leadership.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonard J. Arrington</span> American Mormon historian

Leonard James Arrington was an American author, academic and the founder of the Mormon History Association. He is known as the "Dean of Mormon History" and "the Father of Mormon History" because of his many influential contributions to the field. Since 1842, he was the first non-general authority Church Historian for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from 1972 to 1982, and was director of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History from 1982 until 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B. H. Roberts</span> American Mormon; denied a seat as a member of United States Congress because of religion (1857–1933)

Brigham Henry Roberts was a historian, politician, and leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He edited the seven-volume History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and independently wrote the six-volume Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Roberts also wrote Studies of the Book of Mormon—published posthumously—which discussed the validity of the Book of Mormon as an ancient record. Roberts was denied a seat as a member of United States Congress because of his practice of polygamy.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Lindholm</span> American singer-songwriter, filmmaker, academic

Philip Michael Lindholm is an American writer, singer-songwriter, filmmaker, and academic from Seattle, Washington, United States. He is best known as the author of Latter-day Dissent and for playing the lead role in the BBC's murder mystery Who Murdered Warren Taylor, presenting ITV1's The Grail Trail: In Pursuit of the Da Vinci Code, creating and researching ITV1's The Muslim Jesus, and as the lead singer-songwriter for Whiskey N' Rye. In 2019, Lindholm gave a TEDx talk entitled "The Secret to a Meaningful Life."

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References