LDS Theological Methodology

Posted on December 31, 2008
Filed Under Religion | 16 Comments

Over on LDS-Herm Jacob Baker posted a nice little bibliography of papers relevant for discussing LDS theological method. This has been a topic of interest to many the past years as more formal thinking about our theology has flourished. While I think writing on specific topics is still underdeveloped there has been a lot done to make the wide range of thought on Mormon philosophy and theology more accessible. (I’m especially thinking of Kofford Book’s work in publishing collections of papers)Anyway, here’s the bibliography. I’ve updated it slightly with some other suggestions people gave along with a few of my own suggestions. If you have other suggestions please add them in the comments as I suspect this page may be found by folks googling for information on meta-discussions about LDS theology and the methodologies for investigating it. I’ll update the main page as necessary to include suggestions.

Jacob lists three questions that characterize the bibliography

1) What is theology in Mormonism? What is Mormon doctrine?
2) What is the task of theology for Mormons?
3) What or where is the place of theology in Mormonism?

Obviously there isn’t just one answer to those questions and on some there is considerable disagreement. (A few of the works below I strenuously disagree with, for instance) Not all the books below are written by Mormons. Often these questions pop up for other faiths in a way that is relevant for considering the question in a Mormon context.

Bibliography

Allred, Janice. “Do You Preach the Orthodox Religion? A Place for Theology in Mormon Community.” God the Mother and Other Theological Essays. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1997.

Ballantyne, Vernon. “Aaronic Priesthood.” Encyclopedia of Mormonism. MacMillan, 1992.

Ballif, Jay. “Melchizedek Priesthood.” Encyclopedia of Mormonism. MacMillan, 1992.

Bergera, Gary Conflict in the Quorum: Orson Pratt, Brigham Young, Joseph Smith Signature Books (2002)

Bergera, Gary, ed. Statements of the First Presidency. Signature Books, 2007.

Birch, Brian. “Theological Method and the Question of Truth: A Postliberal Approach to Mormon Doctrine and Practice.” Eds. James McClachlan, Loyd Ericson. Discourses in Mormon Theology: Philosophical and Theological Possibilities. Salt Lake City UT: Kofford Books, 2007.

——— “What has Athens to Do With Jerusalem? The Place in Theology in Mormon Studies.” Paper presented at Sunstone West Symposium, Claremont CA March 15 2008.

——— “Rethinking Atheology.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology, Salt Lake City UT March 28, 2008.

Bradford, M. Gerald. “On Doing Theology” BYU Studies 14 (1974).

Charles-Duffy, John. “Can Deconstruction Save the Day? ‘Faithful Scholarship’ and the Uses of Postmodernism.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 41:1 (Spring 2008).

Clark, James. Messages of the First Presidency 4 vols. Bookcraft: 1970.

Crapo, Richard. “Grass-Roots Deviance from Official Doctrine: A Study of Latter-day Saint (Mormon) Folk Beliefs.” Journal of the Scientific Study of Religion 26:4.

Davies, Douglas. An Introduction to Mormonism. Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Desmond, William Is There a Sabbath for Thought? Between Religion and Philosophy Fordham University Press (2005).

Dulles, Avery. Models of Revelation. New York: Doubleday, 1983.

——— The Craft of Theology: From Symbol to Symbolism. New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1992.

Faulconer, James E. “Rethinking Theology: The Shadow of the Apocalypse.” FARMS Review of Books 19:1 (2007), 175-99

——— “Why a Mormon Won’t Drink Coffee But Might Have a Coke: The Atheological Character of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Element: The Journal of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology 2:2 (Fall, 2006), 21-37

——— “On Scripture, Or Idolatry versus True Religion.” Discourses in Mormon Theology: Philosophical and Theological Possibilities, ed. James M. McLachlan and Loyd Ericson (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007)

——— “Dialogue on Theology as Hermeneutics” in Mormonism in Dialogue With Contemporary Christian Theologies, ed. Donald W. Musser and David L. Paulsen (Atlanta, GA: Mercer University Press, 2007)

——— “A New Way of Looking at Scripture” Sunstone 18:2 (August-September, 1995).

——— “The Myth of the Modern; the Anti-myth of the Postmodern.” FARMS Review of Books 20:1 (2008), 219-236.

Ford, David. Theology: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Fowl Stephen E., ed The Theological Interpretation of Scripture: Classic and Contemporary Readings Wiley-Blackwell (1997)

Frei, Hans. Types of Christian Theology. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994.

——— The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative. Yale University Press, 1974.

Horne, Dennis, ed. Determining Doctrine. Eborn Books, 2005.

Huff, Benjamin. “Theology in a One-Room Schoolhouse.” Eds. James McClachlan, Loyd Ericson. Discourses in Mormon Theology: Philosophical and Theological Possibilities. Salt Lake City UT: Kofford Books, 2007.

——— “A Dialogue on Theology as Hermeneutics.” Mormonism in Dialogue With Contemporary Christian Theologies, ed. Donald W. Musser and David L. Paulsen (Atlanta, GA: Mercer University Press, 2007)

Kaufman, Gordon. An Essay on Theological Method (Reflection and Theory in the Study of Religion). American Academy of Religion Book, 3 edition, 1995.

——— In Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology. Harvard University Press, 2006.

Keller, Roger. “Authority and Worldwide Growth.” The Worlds of Joseph Smith. BYU Press, 2006.

Lindbeck, George. The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age. Westminster John Knox Press, 1984.

Mauss, Armand. “The Fading of the Pharoah’s Curse.” Dialogue 14:3 (Autumn, 1981).

McGrath, Alister E., Christian Theology: An Introduction (Wiley-Blackwell, 2006).

McMurrin, Sterling M. “On the Task of Theology,” in The Theological Foundation of the Mormon Religion. Salt Lake City UT: Signature Books, 2000.

Midgley, Louis. “Prophetic Messages or Dogmatic Theology? Commenting on the Book of Mormon: A Review Essay.” Farms Review of Books 1:1 (1989).

Miller, Adam. “The Gospel as an Earthen Vessel,” Element: The Journal of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology 1:2 (Fall 2005).

——— Badiou, Marion and St. Paul: Immanent Grace (Continuum, 2008).

Millet, Robert L. “What Do We Really Believe? Identifying Doctrinal Parameters within Mormonism.” Eds. James McClachlan, Loyd Ericson. Discourses in Mormon Theology: Philosophical and Theological Possibilities. Salt Lake City UT: Kofford Books, 2007.

Nibley, Hugh. The World and the Prophets. Deseret Book, 1987.

Newman, John Henry. An Essay On Development Of Christian Doctrine (Notre Dame Series in the Great Books, No 4). University of Notre Dame Press, 1989. **This is an important work on the development of doctrine and dogma that LDS authors interested in historical LDS theological method should pay attention to.**

Oaks, Dallin. “Reason and Revelation.” The Lord’s Way.

Ogden, Schubert. On Theology. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1986.

——— Doing Theology Today. Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2006.

Oman, Nathan. “Jurisprudence and the Problem of Church Doctrine.” Element: The Journal of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology 2:2 (Fall 2006).

——— “A Defense of the Authority of Church Doctrine.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 40:4 (Winter 2007).

Ostler, Blake T. Exploring Mormon Thought: The Attributes of Godliness Kofford (2001)

——— Exploring Mormon Thought: The Problems with Theism and the Love of God Kofford (2006)

——— Exploring Mormon Thought: The Problems with Theism and the Love of God Kofford (2008)

Owen, Paul. “Can Mormon Theology Be Systematic?”

——— “Narrowing the Divide.” Element 2:2 (Fall 2006).

Pickstock, Catherine. After Writing: On the Liturgical Cosummation of Philosophy, Wiley-Blackwell (1998)

Placher, William. Unapologetic Theology: A Christian Voice in a Pluralistic Conversation. Westminster John Knox Press, 1989.

Ricoeur, Paul. Figuring the Sacred: Religion, Narrative, and Imagination. Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1995.

Sherlock, Richard. “Prayer and Divine Attributes.” Eds. James McClachlan, Loyd Ericson. Discourses in Mormon Theology: Philosophical and Theological Possibilities. Salt Lake City UT: Kofford Books, 2007.

Shoemaker, Thaddeus. “Speculative Theology: Key to a Dynamic Faith.” Line Upon Line: Essays on Mormon Doctrine. Signature Books, 2000.

Siebach, James L. “A Dialogue on Theology as Hermeneutics.” Mormonism in Dialogue With Contemporary Christian Theologies, ed. Donald W. Musser and David L. Paulsen (Atlanta, GA: Mercer University Press, 2007)

Smith , James K. A. Introducing Radical Orthodoxy: Mapping a Post-secular Theology Baker Academic (2004).

Stiver, Dan R. “Theological Method.” Kevin J. Vanhoozer, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern Theology. Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Toscano, Margaret. “Is There a Place for Heavenly Mother in Mormon Theology?” Eds. James McClachlan, Loyd Ericson. Discourses in Mormon Theology: Philosophical and Theological Possibilities. Salt Lake City UT: Kofford Books, 2007.

Tracy, David. “A Dialogue on Theology as Hermeneutics.” Mormonism in Dialogue With Contemporary Christian Theologies, ed. Donald W. Musser and David L. Paulsen (Atlanta, GA: Mercer University Press, 2007).

——— Blessed Rage for Order: The New Pluralism in Theology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.

——— The Analogical Imagination: Christian Theology and the Culture of Pluralism. Herder & Herder, 1998.

——— Plurality and Ambiguity: Hermeneutics, Religion, Hope. University of Chicago Press, 1994.

Trembath, Kern R. Divine Revelation. Oxford University Press, 1991.

Notes:

I’ll be fixing the formating and adding a few other entries over the next few days. I just wanted to put this up right now so I could start to get your feedback. I’ll note in the comments when it is updated.

I should also note that Jacob put a note on the Newman entry saying, “this is an important work on the development of doctrine and dogma that LDS authors interested in historical LDS theological method should pay attention to.” That is, we ought learn from the evolution of earlier Christian theology.

Related posts:

  1. Upcoming SMPT Conference
  2. Discourses in Mormon Theology: Philosophical and Theological Possibilities
  3. Clark Pinnock Dies
  4. Why Doctrine?
  5. Heidegger, Theology and Materialism
  6. Mormons and Atheists Most Knowledgeable About Religion

Comments

16 Responses to “LDS Theological Methodology”

Thanks for posting this here, Clark. Very helpful, indeed.

Clark:

I would be curious as to which entries you disagreed with. Obviously nearly all of the entries are debatable. The category of “Theological Method” itself is certainly a fluid category, made even more so when applied to Mormonism specifically. That would start an interesting interchange that hopefully many would be interested in and contribute to.

Also, I posted this at LDS-Herm, but it bears repeating here that this bibliography originated with Brian Birch. I updated, expanded, and formalized it, but a large portion of the entries are his.

Sorry Jacob, what I meant was they are as articles important but the conclusions I might disagree with.

Take one example: the systematic vs. non-systematic debate that has produced a fair number of articles and discussion the past five years or so. (Including being one of the major themes in Discourses in Mormon Theology: Philosophical and Theological Possibilities) I’m extremely distrustful of the move towards systematic theology although paradoxically I think that to have non-systematic theology be successful you have to have people attempting systematic theology.

There are other books I disagree with strongly. Say McMurrin (who is just a lazy reader and thinker in that book IMO) as well as Allred.

But let me say that even books I really don’t like, as say McMurrin, I’m not going to say shouldn’t be part of a bibliography like this. (For those interested my rants against McMurrin can be found here) One thing I was glad of is the selection of non-Mormon writers. While I think Mormon theology ought go its own way I also think you have to be in tension with traditional Christian theology and the various methods that pop up there. (While I disagree often with Blake, I think his series is a great example of doing that)

As I said I’ll be adding a bunch of entries to the list tonight. (For instance you don’t have Blake’s three volumes in it even though they cover most of the same ground as McMurrin but much better – albeit in a narrow systematic theology approach)

If anyone is interested, electronic versions of both of my articles, as well as an unpublished paper on the topic that I gave at the Mormon Scholars in the Humanities conference at SVU is available online here. FYI.

BTW, I agree with Clark re McMurrin. I think that he belongs an any bibliography, but at this point I think that he is more of historical than philosophical interest. Thankfully, we have finally moved beyond his work.

Nate hit on one important aspect regarding the LDS entries in the bibliography, and that is their historical, even sociological relevance. I look at most of the LDS entries in the list as much as examples of particular branches of thought regarding theology in Mormonism (in the past and present) as much as their potential philosophical or persuasive value. The McMurrin entry is a good example of this. No one I am aware of is a devout “McMurrin-ite” but I do think it necessary to include him when considering approaches to LDS theological method (and especially when studying historical method).

Oh, in that I agree completely. Likewise I doubt anyone would follow the method of B. H. Roberts or even Orson Pratt. Perhaps B. H. Roberts should be in the list as well as Blake?

Edit: I added Blake’s volumes in since I think they form an important context for how one can successfully engage with traditional theology. I’ll add Robinson and Millet in later as I think they are contextualized in that way as well albeit in a less technical fashion than Blake. I think Blake has a few meta-discussions of methodology as well that are relevant.

I’m not sure where to put Roberts and Pratt since they are more of historical interest. But then so too is McMurrin (IMO). At this stage I think I’ll mention them but not include them.

I also added Conflict in the Quorum since if one isn’t familiar with the underlying texts of the Pratt/Young discussion I think it’ll really negatively affect how one thinks about theology. I think that debate really is the paradigm for understanding what is or isn’t acceptable in Mormon theology as well as a great origin to consider the debate between systematic and non-systematic theology. (Since that is, in one sense, what is going on) Sadly Bergera’s book really doesn’t contextualize the debate in any larger way beyond politics in Nauvoo. So it is a highly flawed book but very important for anyone considering the issues.

Roberts and Pratt are certainly intimately connected to this list; directly belonging to it is a more difficult question. Their methods were certainly examples of Mormon attempts to do systematic theology. But how often did they engage a meta-discussion of method and of a Mormon way of approaching it? I think Roberts alludes to this at some points, especially in his Seventies Course and Elementary Treatise. Perhaps certain chapters from these works could be included. And certainly, one would have to be familiar with the works of the following LDS “theologians” in order to be conversant with the trajectory of LDS theological method:

Joseph Smith
Brigham Young
The Pratt Brothers
BH Roberts
James E. Talmage
(John Widtsoe?)
Joseph Fielding Smith
Bruce R. McConkie

I put Widtsoe in parentheses because while he is somewhat well-known among those who study LDS historical theology, it may be doubtful that he was as influential as the others listed above. The last two, Smith and McConkie, have done more to shape the current contours of contemporary Mormon theology than anyone else, in my humble opinion (I won’t comment extensively on whether this was for good or for ill- I lean toward the latter). But again, these figures aren’t engaged in a meta-discussion on theology, though they shaped it profoundly.

Yeah, Robert’s 70′s Course was the one I was particularly thinking of — it also is the first real integration of formal philosophy into Mormon thought. At least that I’m aware of. You have looser influences on folks like Pratt of course. But Roberts does things in a more “systematic” way and engages with things a little more carefully. It’s still more untrained but is the start of what I’d call formal theology. But is it formal theological thinking yet? I don’t know.

Widstoe is an interesting case. I’d probably include him. He is important in situating Mormon thought relative to science, for instance. I think his conception of the spirit, while clearly influenced by Pratt and Roberts, is important as well.

My inclination is to call folks who wrote before the 50′s more a historical era. Ideas that are important to grapple with but not really about philosophical methodology. That’s why Bergera’s book on Young/Pratt is both so important and so disappointing. With the exception of the initial chapter or two it’s mainly just quoting the debates. So is it really much beyond reading the figures themselves? Yes in that some of the texts aren’t easy to get unless you know where to look. (I had most of them before, but I doubt most people did)

I think in the Pratt/Young debate there is a fair bit of meta-discussion as well. At least from Young.

Clark,

On what grounds are theologians not theologizing about Mormonism included? Why include David Tracy and George Lindbeck, for instance, but not Whitehead?

I actually should have included Whitehead, and particularly a book called “Schleiermacher and Whitehead: Open Systems in Dialogue” that explores an open, event-based systematic theology that allows for novelty and creativity. I’m actually currently writing a paper for Element that explores this type of methodology as a way of looking at a viable system to explore a religion like Mormonism that considers new, divine revelation as essential to its theology.

I believe it is necessary to include theologians working in Christian theological method because like it or not Christian theological methodology frames the entire discussion of what LDS theological methodology is. Pratt and Roberts essentially attempted imitations of Christian systematic theology by creating Mormon systematic theologies. When LDS scholars today insist that narrative theology or the narrative method is the most appropriate way of doing theology they are responding to Christian systematic theologies and why they don’t think they are adequate for thinking Mormon theology. It becomes important to understand what the parameters are that define theological method in the first place in order to engage the theological method discussion on any level.

Was Whitehead a theologian? I knew Hartshorne has appropriated him for theology but I didn’t realize he had theological interests.

I doubt Whitehead would describe himself as a theologian, but in Process and Reality Chapter 5 is all about God’s place in the process metaphysic. God is an essential component of process philosophy for Whitehead, who argued that process (or as he called it, the philosophy of organism) wouldn’t work without God. Nearly all his works after Process and Reality contain a significant theological component.

Whether Whitehead is as much a theologian as David Griffin, is not necessarily the point (certainly the notion and nature of God is central to “Process and Reality” so perhaps we would agree that he has “theological” interests). The issue is why some “theologians” are included on the list, but not others. Why is David Tracy required reading for LDSs doing theology but not others?

Jacob B.,

I believe it is necessary to include theologians working in Christian theological method because like it or not Christian theological methodology frames the entire discussion of what LDS theological methodology is.

Your paper sounds fascinating, I look forward to seeing it in Element in the near future. What Christian theologians do you see as essential reading for LDSs doing theology, and why? Also, do you think that Christian theological methodology should frame the entire discussion of what LDS theological methodology is?

Oops. Jacob and I must have overlapped. Thanks Jacob.

What a great resource. Nicely done, folks. Here’s a discussion from the bloggernacle:

http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2006/09/where-is-mormon-theology-done/

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