2012 Conferences

2012 SMPT Annual Meeting Schedule

Theme:	"Theology of The Book of Mormon"
Date:	September 20-22, 2012
Location:	University Inn, Fifth Floor (Rooms 507, 510, and 511) Utah State University Logan, Utah
Cost:	Free and Open to the Public

Click here to see the Call for Papers

Click here for PDF version of the program

Read the abstracts (PDF) of the presentations and see the presenters listed alphabetically.

Thursday, September 20th

1:00 pm	Welcome, Opening Plenary Address Questions at the Veil    Philip Barlow, Leonard J. Arrington Chair in Mormon History and Culture, Utah State University
2:30 pm	Concurrent Sessions Death, the Fall, and Darwin: A More Harmonious Reading    Steven L. Peck, Brigham Young University
	What Can We Do?: Reflections on 2 Nephi 25:23    Joseph Spencer, University of New Mexico
	In Principio Creavit Deus: The Theological Use of Creation Imagery in the Book of Mormon    David Bokovoy, Brandeis University
3:30 pm	Plenary Session Book Panel: An Other Testament: On Typology, By Joseph Spencer    James Faulconer, Richard L. Evans Chair of Religious Understanding, Brigham Young University    (Moderator/Panelist)    Blair Hodges, Georgetown University (Panelist)    Clark Goble, Independent Scholar (Panelist)    Brad Kramer, University of Michigan (Panelist)    Author responds: Joseph Spencer
5:00 pm	Dinner Break
7:00 pm	Leonard J. Arrington Mormon History Lecture The Prophecy of Enoch as Restoration Blueprint    Terryl Givens, Bostwick Chair of English, University of Richmond Location: Logan Tabernacle, 50 North Main St.

Friday, September 21st

9:00 am	Welcome, Opening Plenary Address Free Will in the Early Church    Daniel Graham, Brigham Young University
10:15 am	Concurrent Sessions Mormonism, Idealism, and Romanticism    James McLachlan, Western Carolina University
	Every Truth is a Work, Every Object is a Covenant    Adam S. Miller, Collin College
	The Eternality of God: Toward a Theological interpretation of the Book of Mormon    Jordan Barrett, Wheaton College
11:15 am	Concurrent Sessions "What's Ragged Should Be Left Ragged": God's Problem of Evil    Loyd Ericson, Utah Valley University
	Opposition in All Things: The Book of Mormon View    Janice Allred, Independent Scholar, Provo, Utah
	Foreordination, Foreknowledge, and Free Will: The Doctrine of Pre-existence in Alma 13    Charles Harrell, Brigham Young University
12:05 pm	Lunch Break
1:30 pm	Concurrent Sessions Jacob, Isaiah, and Social Justice in the Book of Mormon    Blair Hodges, Georgetown University
	War is Hell: The Ethics of War in the Book of Mormon    Margaret Toscano, University of Utah
	Book of Mormon Theologies: A Thumbnail Sketch    Robert F. Smith, Independent Scholar, Provo, Utah
2:30 pm	Concurrent Sessions The Book of the Weeping God    Benjamin Huff, Randolph-Macon College
	Divine Sovereignty and Human Agency    Heather Hardy, Independent Scholar, Asheville, North Carolina
	Pearl of Great Price as the Basis of Mormon Mishradic Tradition    A.J. Frost, Columbia University
3:45 pm	Plenary Session Panel Discussion: Secular Norms and the Scholarship of Faith    Ralph C. Hancock, Brigham Young University (Moderator/Panelist)    Terryl Givens, University of Richmond (Panelist)    Daniel Peterson, Brigham Young University (Panelist)
5:15 pm	Dinner Break
7:30 pm	Featured Plenary Address The Promise of Book of Mormon Theology    Grant Hardy, Professor of History and Religious Studies,    University of North Carolina at Asheville

Saturday, September 22nd

9:00 am	Opening Plenary Address Gratia Plena: A Catholic View of Grace in the Book of Mormon    Peter Huff, Besl Family Chair in Ethics, Religion and Society, Xavier University; Chair in Religious Studies, Centenary College of Louisiana
10:00 am	Concurrent Sessions The Importance of Being Meek    Linda Soderquist, Independent Scholar
	Obliging Grace in the Book of Mormon    Brent Schmidt, Brigham Young University-Idaho
	Prisca Theologia in the Book of Mormon    Samuel M. Brown, University of Utah
11:00 am	Concurrent Sessions 2 Nephi 2: Our Choice Requires Opposition in All Things    Jeffrey Hansen, Independent Scholar
	Religious Disagreement: Internal and External    Dennis Potter, Utah Valley University
	Adam Fell That Men Might Be: An Exegetical History    Rico Martinez, Independent Scholar
11:50 am	Lunch Break
12:50 pm	SMPT Business Meeting (All interested are welcome to attend)
1:30-2:20 pm	Concurrent Sessions Could God Really Learn by Being Mortal? Two Interpretations of Alma 7:11-13    Mark B. Rasmuson, Ave Maria School of Law
1:30-2:50 pm	Book Panel Exploring Mormon Thought, Vol 3: Of God and Gods, By Blake T. Ostler    James McLachlan, Western Carolina University (moderator/panelist)    Dennis Potter, Utah Valley University (panelist)    Adam Miller, Collin College (panelist)    Author responds: Blake T. Ostler
2:30-3:20 pm	Concurrent Sessions Hope in Christ: The Better World of Grace and Sanctification    Keith Lane, Brigham Young University - Hawaii
3:00-4:20 pm	Book Panel Rube Goldberg Machines: Essays in Mormon Theology, By Adam S. Miller    Rosalynde Welch, Independent Scholar, St. Louis, Missouri (moderator/panelist)    Joseph Spencer, University of New Mexico (panelist)    Jacob Baker, Claremont Graduate University (panelist)    George Handley, Brigham Young University (panelist)    Author responds: Adam Miller
3:30-4:20 pm	Faith as a Doxastic Practice: A Philosophical Consideration of Alma 32    John Nicholson, Independent Scholar
4:20 pm	Break
4:40 pm	Closing Plenary Address The Book of Mormon on "The True Church" and Religious Pluralism    Charles Randall Paul, President, Foundation for Religious Diplomacy

The Society is grateful to several donors for their generous financial support, without which this conference would not be possible, including the Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture (USU), the Richard L. Evans Chair of Religious Understanding (BYU), and two anonymous donors.