mormon theology seminar

This year's Mormon Theology Seminar recently wrapped things up in London (see here, here). I asked seminar participants to reflect on their experiences in order to give us a sense of what they got out of the gathering. This post features George Handley, professor of humanities and comparative literature at Brigham Young University. BHodges One of the root meanings of the word "religion" is to re-read. To be religious by implication, then, means that we are committed to rereading and rethinking and that the generation of truth is a kind of recycling and repurposing. Revelation often comes to us as our minds reconsider what we thought we understood and suddenly seen from a different perspective or in a new light the familiar and ordinary stands out in new and distinct form. Perhaps nothing embodies this process better than a marriage. The same person, the same history, day in and day out, and yet the ongoing challenge to remain in love, as if you must work at seeing your spouse for the first time. This is a task of the mind and of the imagination as much as anything else.

The first annual Mormon Theology Seminar recently wrapped things up in London (see here). In this post, participant Julie M. Smith reflects on her experiences at the seminar. She earned a graduate degree in biblical studies from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. She lives near Austin, Texas, where she homeschools her children and is writing a commentary on the Gospel of Mark. Reflections on the seminar from other participants can be found here. BHodges Most of us feel that we never have the time that we wish we had to do what we want to do. I am acutely aware of time pressures as I try to balance my commitment to my research projects against family life and other obligations. This is why the Mormon Theology Summer Seminar (sponsored by the Laura F. Willes Center for the Study of the Book of Mormon, the Richard L. Evans Chair of Religious Understanding, the Mormon Theology Seminar, and the Neal A. Maxwell Institute) was such a remarkable event.