Author Archives: Chad Nielsen
Any Opposed?
Within the corpus of J. Golden Kimball folklore, there is a story of the salty seventy getting bored during a long list of sustaining officers at a stake conference somewhere south of Provo. Noticing that most of the congregation was nodding off or had fallen asleep while mechanically raising their hands for every name read, […]
A Cloud and Smoke by Day, and the Shining of a Flaming Fire by Night: A History of the LDS Ogden Temple
“The Old Boss would never take wagons over such a d____d trail,” Orrin Porter Rockwell stated, looking at the narrow, rocky Weber Canyon.[1] A few days beforehand, on 10 July 1847, the Vanguard Pioneer Company of the Mormons was visited in the evening by a mountain man named Miles Goodyear. This man had established a […]
The Grand Fundamental Principles of Mormonism, Part 2: Truth Seeking
From time to time during Joseph Smith’s prophetic career, he tried to summarize and define Mormonism. Beginning with the “articles and covenants” that comprises Doctrine and Covenants 20 in the current edition, followed by the Lectures on Faith, and the Articles of Faith, these attempts each failed in turn to capture the faith’s essence for […]
The Grand Fundamental Principles of Mormonism, Part 1: Friendship
In all the recorded sermons and writings of Joseph Smith, Jr. available to us today, only two principles were ever given the lofty title of being a “grand, fundamental principle of Mormonism.” If taken as the pillars of Mormonism, these principles could be considered the definitive essence of Mormonism, comparable to the “Five Pillars” of […]
To a Wild Rose: The New Ogden Temple
Mormon residents of the Ogden, Utah region were recently excited by the announcement of the open house and dedication dates for the renovated Ogden Temple. Earlier this year, Elder William R. Walker of the Seventy and executive director of the Temple Committee announced that, “We are confident we can have the temple rededicated in the […]
Ministering Grace
General conference is time when families gather together and a time to listen to the prophets. Afterwards begins discussions about the talks, about the new temples to be built, and so forth. After general conference this last weekend, however, the talk of the Mormon community hasn’t been about President Uchdorf’s latest address, Elder Holland’s sermon, […]
Some links to my writing
For those interested in this blog, here are a few links to writing I have done elsewhere or have had published elsewhere: “Leveraging Doubt: The Impact of Lester E. Bush, Jr.’s ‘Mormonism’s Negro Doctrine: A Historical Overview’ on Mormon Thought“, which took second place in the 2013 annual Leonard J. Arrington Mormon history essay competition. […]
The New LDS Statement on Race and the Priesthood and Pseudo-doctrinal Beliefs
Since I joined the Church in 1972, I have been categorized by my fellow-members as cursed, less-valiant, fence sitter, Cain’s lineage, and others that would be too impolite to be repeated here, but that’s part of the legacy, if you will, or I will call it more of a burden that members of black African […]
A Significant Factor–the Influence of Lester E. Bush, Jr.’s Research on the Revelation of 1978
The secretary said, “Darius! I hear Negros are going to be given the priesthood.”… I didn’t even look up—I was offended by it, because it was a sensitive subject. And then I told the woman, “Dixie, that’s not funny. Get out.” And she repeated it, and this time I swore at her and I told […]
Capturing the Holy City, Part IV: Zion in Modern Mormonism
At one time the people of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales who joined the Church longed to gather to Zion. They paid a terrible price in dealing with it. Hundreds of them, thousands of them died on that long march from the Missouri River to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. You do not […]
Chad's Random Musings 