The Week That Was

By: Justin Butterfield - March 28, 2005

Another week has come and gone. It was hard to overlook the fact that the Bloggernacle completely ignored the 175th anniversary of the printing of the Book of Mormon and the 169th anniversary of the Kirtland Temple dedication this week. Oh well. Still, here are some highlights from last week:

Dave at Dave’s Mormon Inquiry reviewed Brigham Young: The Lost English Years, giving them several thumbs up.

John H. at By Common Consent posed some difficult questions regarding Joseph Smith’s practice of plural marriage.

The Wasp looked at Joseph F. Smith’s testimony before the U.S. Senate in early March 1904, as well as the rise and (presumable) fall of Zion’s First International Church, which was formed by several ex-Mormons in the wake of Sonia Johnson’s excommunication.

Bonus of the week: A preview of Joseph Smith’s 200th birthday celebration.

5 Comments

  1. Whoops! Clark at Millennial Star did mention the Kirtland Temple dedication. Props to him.

    Comment by Justin — March 29, 2005 @ 7:09 am

  2. Justin, I think the “LDS liturgical calendar” diverts a lot of organizational attention to General Conference around this time. Sacrament meeting talks on Easter Sunday, as well as several Conference talks, do generally incorporate Easter themes (atonement, resurrection), but on the whole the LDS celebration of Easter seems pretty restrained.

    Comment by Dave — March 29, 2005 @ 8:23 am

  3. I tend to agree. Regarding the liturgical calendar: just the other day I came across this interesting passage from Joseph Fielding Smith’s _Answers to Gospel Questions_ on Good Friday. His answer also makes the celebration of Easter suspect.

    Why Do We Not Observe Good Friday?

    Question: “Can you please tell me why members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not observe Good Friday as other Christians do?”

    Answer: The reason why we do not observe Good Friday should be clear enough.

    Easter is taken from a pagan spring holiday, that was governed by the moon. The Roman Catholic Church connected the birth of the Savior with this pagan ceremony. As you know, Easter is governed by the moon, and this spring pagan festival was celebrated according to the moon, any time in March and the end of April.

    THE RESURRECTION DATE DID NOT VARY

    Now as you well know that the resurrection did not vary and it is foolish to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord at the end of March or the first of April, or middle of April or near the first of May, and put Good Friday the Friday before the Easter Sunday. I think you are wise enough to see the foolishness of it. The resurrection of the Savior does not vary year by year but it is a constant thing. Why should we follow the silly custom rather than to have one day for the resurrection?

    Comment by Justin — March 29, 2005 @ 9:29 am

  4. Er, so apropos Joseph Fielding Smith, why do we even celebrate Easter Sunday, or Christmas for that matter (similarly “pagan”). He also doesn’t account for the discrepancy between the Jewish (lunar) and Christian (solar calendars). Why does Passover “move around” (from the perspective of our calendar) every year? Is that “foolish”?

    Comment by Ronan — March 29, 2005 @ 11:34 am

  5. Interesting quote, Justin, although that has to be one of the dumber explanations I’ve ever read. The fact that Easter is a “movable feast” following a lunar calendar rather than an annual commemoration with a fixed date doesn’t seem to stop us from recognizing and celebrating Easter Sunday, albeit in a rather low-key fashion compared to the rest of Christendom, so it certainly doesn’t explain why Good Friday should not be noted and celebrated.

    How about this for an explanation: Mormons are iconoclasts. No one would expect a church that rejects the cross to embrace Good Friday.

    Comment by Dave — March 29, 2005 @ 1:20 pm