Heresy, opposition, and becoming gods, with Adam J. Powell [MIPodcast #64]

Maxwell Institute Podcast

Christianity, Education, Religion & Spirituality

4.7 • 809 Ratings

🗓️ 1 August 2017

⏱️ 52 minutes

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Summary

Joseph Smith, the founding prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died at the hands of an angry mob in June of 1844. Shortly before his death he is reported to have made this bold declaration: “I should be like a fish out of water, if I were out of persecutions…the Lord has constituted me so curiously that I glory in persecution.” Dr. Adam J. Powell of Durham University has written a book on opposition faced by Joseph Smith and early Latter-day Saints. He argues that, like early Christians of the second century, the opposition faced by nineteenth-century Mormons played a major role in shaping their theology. The idea that humans can become gods appeared in a setting of extreme opposition both for early Mormons like Joseph Smith, and early Christian leaders like Iranaeus. In this episode, Powell joins us to talk about his book, Irenaeus, Joseph Smith, and God-Making Heresy. About the Guest Adam J. Powell is a Junior Research Fellow in the Department of Theology & Religion at Durham University (UK). Prior to Durham, Dr. Powell was Assistant Professor and Director of the MA in Religious Studies at Lenoir-Rhyne University in North Carolina. He has published on topics ranging from patristic theology to the history of sociology and from Mormonism to identity theory. He is the author of Irenaeus, Joseph Smith, and God-Making Heresy. He recently delivered the MI Guest Lecture, “Crisis Converted: Opposition, Salvation, and Elasticity in Early Mormonism.”

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's the Maxwell Institute podcast.
0:04.0	I'm Blair Hodges.
0:06.0	Joseph Smith, the founding prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
0:09.0	died at the hands of an angry mob in June of 1844.
0:12.0	Shortly before his death, he's reported to have made this bold declaration.
0:16.0	I should be like a fish out of water if I were out of persecutions.
0:20.0	The Lord has constituted me
0:22.0	so curiously that I glory in persecution. Dr. Adam Powell of Durham University has written a book
0:28.4	on opposition faced by Joseph Smith and early Latter-day Saints. He argues that like early Christians
0:34.0	of the second century, the opposition faced by early Mormons played a major
0:37.8	role in shaping their theology. The idea that humans can become gods appeared in a setting of
0:43.8	extreme opposition, both for early Mormons like Joseph Smith and early Christians like Ireneus.
0:50.2	In this episode, Dr. Powell joins us to talk about his book, Ireneus, Joseph Smith, and God-making heresy.
0:57.0	Dr. Powell is a junior research fellow in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University,
1:01.5	and he joined us at the Maxwell Institute here at BYU in Provo, Utah, where he also delivered a lecture on the subject.
1:07.6	And if you miss the lecture, you'll be able to watch it on the Institute's YouTube channel. We're talking about how opposition helps shape theology with Adam Powell in this
1:15.9	episode of the Maxwell Institute podcast. Send questions and comments about this and other episodes
1:21.1	to MI Podcast at BYU.edu, and don't forget to rate and review the show in iTunes.
1:27.4	Dr. Adam J. Powell joins us today on the Maxwell Institute podcast.
1:30.3	Thank you so much for being here today.
1:32.3	Yeah, thanks for having me.
1:33.3	It's great to have you here.
	...

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