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Course 06

Foundations of Restoration Thought

Restoration Intellectual History & Philosophy

The capstone. By this point the audience has tools to engage with LDS thought at a sophisticated level. Not apologetics, not criticism — honest intellectual engagement with the ideas of the Restoration using the tools of the humanities.

Prerequisites

Episodes

  1. 01

    Joseph Smith as Thinker

    Joseph Smith's intellectual context and originality. What ideas were "in the air" in early 19th-century America? What was genuinely novel?

    Coming soon
  2. 02

    Restoration Materialism

    D&C 131 and "all spirit is matter." Divine embodiment. Rejection of creation ex nihilo. Why philosophers of religion find LDS materialism interesting.

    Coming soon
  3. 03

    The Problem of Authority

    Priesthood, keys, prophetic authority, exclusive authorization. Comparison with Catholic succession, Protestant sola scriptura, Orthodox tradition.

    Coming soon
  4. 04

    Toward a Theory of Doctrine

    What counts as "doctrine"? Doctrine vs. policy vs. opinion vs. culture. Prophetic fallibility. Frameworks for navigating a tradition with continuing revelation and a messy historical record.

    Coming soon
  5. 05

    Agency, the Fall, and the Plan of Salvation

    LDS agency theology as a distinctive philosophical position. "Fortunate fall" theology. The Plan of Salvation as a comprehensive metaphysic.

    Coming soon
  6. 06

    Theosis & the Nature of God

    King Follett discourse. Lorenzo Snow couplet. How this relates to Eastern Orthodox theosis. The philosophical implications of a God who was once human.

    Coming soon
  7. 07

    Scripture in the Restoration

    An open canon. The Book of Mormon as a theological text. The relationship between scripture, revelation, and authority. Reading scripture seriously without reading it simplistically.

    Coming soon
  8. 08

    Zion, Community, and Political Theology

    Law of consecration. Zion as a social project. Early LDS communitarianism and its relationship to broader social and political philosophy.

    Coming soon
  9. 09

    Faith, Doubt, and the Life of the Mind

    How to be a thinking believer. Intellectual inquiry and devotional practice. The "faithful intellectual" as a viable identity. Key thinkers: Terryl Givens, Adam Miller, James Faulconer.

    Coming soon
  10. 10

    An Unfinished Restoration

    The Restoration as ongoing, not completed. What questions remain open? Where might LDS thought go? An invitation to intellectual participation.

    Coming soon