The Analyst & The Fool: Recent Episodes
Brandon Wilson & Christian Van Dyke
Have you ever wondered to yourself: "How am I here? What is holding the universe together?" Have you ever driven yourself insane trying to understand all of the different methods and theories humanity has used to answer these terrible questions? Understanding the universe, life, and humanity's place within them is an absurd undertaking. Nevertheless, it is an undertaking that has driven and baffled humanity for millenna. Fear not dear listener! Brandon Wilson and Christian Van Dyke are here to share in your confusion. Don your jester caps and professor robes as we analyze the laughably absurd!
There is perhaps no document in recent years that has been more polarizing for Latter-day Saints than The Family Proclamation. Is it a prophetic document? Is it doctrine? Is it scripture? Or just good advice? It seems there is hardly any consensus amongst Latter-day Saints on this matter. Conservative members tend to use the document as a bludgeon against people who are LGBTQ+, seeing their sexual and gender identities as violating God's commandments given to present-day prophets, seers, and revelators. Whereas liberal members tend to negotiate more with the text, trying to adjust the document to meet their present-day sensibilities or simply calling for the dismissal of the document entirely.In this episode, we challenge dogmatic readings of this text by analyzing its history as an amicus brief for a civil rights case in Hawaii. We further discuss the history of the ideas contained within the document. What does the text say? What did the original authors intend for the text to say? Where do these ideas come from? How does that original intent get swept away by the passage of time and through how the text is used? These questions are particularly pertinent since Latter-day Saints are famous for polygamy—a sexual orientation that was quite deviant from the norms of the time. The Family Proclamation, with its staunch stance of monogamy and cisgender heterosexuality, stands as an awkward contrast to the sexual and relational history of the Church, particularly in its infancy. Please check out Dan McClellan's podcast episode on the matter if you'd like to learn more about homosexuality in the Bible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW6w-AOiKNM&pp=ygUeZGF0YSBvdmVyIGRvZ21hIGFkYW0gYW5kIHN0ZXZlTo access David Scott and Boyd Petersen's article, use this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NmPbiKVlj0XdPdpWLdkYFyHGT5Me9ut7/view?usp=drivesdk--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theanalystandthefool/support
Blast this music... it's joyful and triumphant!
This Christmas we engage in one of the most important ontological discussions since the debates over the nature of Christ at the Councils of Nicea and Chalcedon: What is the Grinch and Why is the Grinch?
Using Jim Carrey's version of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" as our basis, we explore the wacky world of Who reproduction--exploring where babies come from--and primarily engage with The Grinch's struggle to regain a will to power stripped away from him in his youth. However, the film leaves us hanging a little bit on this front: does the Grinch surrender himself to a status quo in Whoville? Or does he bring about a real transformation of Whoville by relinquishing his resentment of the Whos and Christmas? All of this, and more, will be discussed!
Merry Christmas to all, Happy New Year, and Happy Holidays! We appreciate your continuous support.
Content Warning
There are mentions of sexuality throughout this episode, especially since characters in the film are... umm... subtly sexually involved? There is a brief discussion of eugenics and ableism as we investigate a Platonic interpretation of the film. We do not endorse these views and actively oppose them.
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For this special episode of The Analyst & The Fool, we bring you one of our first episodes ever recorded. In this episode, we dissect this amorphous blob called Brandon Wilson; a PhD student at Claremont Graduate University. Brandon details a bit about his intellectual biography as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, getting introduced to the writings of Hugh Nibley, learning to think critically and ask penetrating questions about his faith, and how that led him to study esoteric subjects such as Neoplatonism, Hermeticism, and theosophy under Jeffrey Kripal and Claire Fanger at Rice University. Now, Brandon is bringing these approaches to Mormon Studies in how Latter-day Saints experience their temple ordinances through comparing them with Neoplatonic theurgy. Invoking the comparative hermeneutics of Algis Uzdavinys in his work Philosophy and Theurgy in Late Antiquity, Brandon explores how Mormonism’s temple practices can be categorized as “theurgic” in nature, ritual actions that aid initiates to bring themselves into higher states of consciousness and align their actions with the actions of God. In this sense, Latter-day Saints aim to create heaven on this earth through these processes, thereby making God immanent and subject to human action/inaction. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theanalystandthefool/support
For this special episode of The Analyst & The Fool, we bring you our very first episodes ever recorded. In this episode, we dissect this thing called Christian Van Dyke. He is a PhD student at Claremont Graduate University and, in this episode, we discuss his approach to Mormon Studies, Comparative Religion, and philosophy. Christian tells his background and journey to CGU’s Philosophy and Religious Thought program which has compelled him to be involved in Mormon Studies but made him apprehensive at the same time. He talks about four foundational texts that have motivated his work and his approach to the study of “religion” throughout his academic career. These texts are Brian Birch’s “A Portion of God’s Light: Mormonism and Religious Pluralism,” Donald Davidson’s “On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme,” Eugene England’s “On Becoming a World Religion: Blacks, the Poor– All of Us,” And Peter Winch’s “Understanding a Primitive Religion.” These texts have helped Christian develop an ethic of comparative religion that argues that there is no neutral place from which to talk about “religion” and to always be mindful that comparison may say more about the one doing the comparing than what the things being compared might or might not actually have in common. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theanalystandthefool/support
In recent years, Latter-day Saints have emphasized spiritual experiences as their epistemological vantage point that upholds their respective worldviews. This shift is exemplified by the Church drastically changing its approach to missionary work in 2004 with "Preach My Gospel" which emphasizes that missionaries urge potential converts to have and continuously cultivate their own experiences with God. Even further, Pres. Russell M. Nelson has also persistently urged members to do the same, such as his prophecy where he said "In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost. My beloved brothers and sisters, I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation.” Truman G. Madsen was a primary influence in this shift where--recalling back to Armand Mauss' episode--retrenchment became so tight that its borders began to crack a bit leading to a shift in the Church's philosophical approach.Madsen's approach to the faith was less about hashing out minute arguments and apologetics and instead hammering home the primacy of personal experience. Using William James' radical empiricism as his basis, Madsen states that Mormonism is true because it feels true for those whom Joseph Smith's story resonates with. The Book of Mormon need not be true due to historical facts, but can instead be true on the basis of how it transforms lives in the here and now. All solidified facts and philosophies, according to William James and Truman G. Madsen, are the results of people hashing out what experiences they find meaningful and that they are always subject to change.
Suggested Reading for Overachievers:
"Five Classics by Truman G. Madsen" by Truman G. Madsen
"Joseph Smith The Prophet" by Truman G. Madsen
"The Truman G. Madsen Story" by Barnard N. Madsen
Feel free to look over his entire corpus which cane be found on his website here: https://trumanmadsen.com/new/?page_id=45
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In this episode, Christian and Brandon tackle one of the defining pinnacles of "Western" philosophy. This text is of the utmost importance because Aristotle's rationality, especially as it pertains to metaphysics, ethics, and politics, is very much still alive today. Have you ever heard the saying "The truth is somewhere in between two extremes"? Or that the highest virtue that leads to happiness is contemplation? Have you ever been moved by the art of Dante or Dickens? Aristotle.
The Nichomachean Ethics is famous for introducing, what Aristotle calls, "the golden mean." In all forms of action, Aristotle says, there are two polar extremes. Virtue is learning how to find the proper ratios between these two polarities. For example, cowardice and recklessness are two polar extremes; courage is the virtue that comes from discerning and acting upon the proper course of action between these two extremes. Through constant practice--what Aristotle calls habituation--moral virtues are acquired which will gradually lead one to intellectual virtues. As one masters all virtues, through the act of contemplation, a man will be a god on earth, leading and helping the rest of humanity on their journey.
It should come as no surprise that Aristotle played a chief role in the formation of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim theologies. He further established rational values that flourished during the Enlightenment period, that we are today reaping the fruits of.
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In this episode, we jump into new territory--altered states, if you will. We are pleased to welcome Connor Storck onto the show to discuss his work with psychedelic law in the United States.
Connor is currently a law student at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law where he hopes to complete his J.D. and sit for the bar in 2024. He is also the current Director of Operations for the Intercollegiate Psychedelics Network (website can be found here: https://www.intercollegiatepsychedelics.net).
Connor and Brandon were in the same cohort at Rice University where they both received their respective MA degrees in 2019. Connor's perspectives on psychedelics and the prominence of altered states of consciousness within religious communities proved to be transformative for Brandon--so much so, that it blew open his brain to the possibility of Mormonism being founded on such substance use (more on that in the future--stay tuned).
In this episode, Connor and Brandon start out by reminiscing about their days at Rice (where Christian feels left out for missing all the fun). They then jump into the tumultuous, Sisyphus-like battle over the legality of psychedelics and trying to close the Pandora's box opened by Richard Nixon's and Ronald Reagan's respective "war on drugs." Psychedelics, and altered states of consciousness more broadly, are foundational to the history of humanity --past, present, and future--and the creation of culture and mythology itself. It is simply unavoidable and has even proven to be deeply valuable in therapeutic settings. While the legal future of psychedelics is perhaps a few decades from becoming more normalized, there is hope!
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Disclaimer: This episode contains a brief and explicit discussion on sexuality; listener discretion is advised. Up until this point, we have been discussing leaders in the formation of Latter-day Saint thought, documenting how they articulate their respective takes on the theologies and practices of “Mormonism.” With Armand Mauss, we take a step back from that and analyze the Church as an object of sociological study. Armand Mauss (1928-2020) was a professor of sociology at Washington State University where he specialized in the sociology of religion. His most influential work on Mormonism is undoubtedly The Angel and The Beehive (1994). This work dissects the sociology of the Church in the twentieth century, highlighting the shifts from "polygamy era" Mormons at the turn of the century, to "assimilationist" movements in the early part of the century, and concluding the century with a shift to "retrenchment." Mauss wants to dissect what societal drove drove these changes, particularly the shift from "assimilationist" to "retrenchment." For Mauss, the "assimilationist" period is when the Church sought to rebrand itself post-polygamy, hoping to assimilate itself with the broader American "Christian culture." Prior to this shift, the United States was often polemicized as the "wicked world" that the people of Zion (i.e. Mormons) needed to leave, taking refuge in the mountains (i.e. Utah). All that shifted in the 1920s when Church leaders wanted to be viewed as a "brother church" with other Protestant, Catholic, and even Jewish denominations. The 1960s, however, brought a shift of the Church’s focus to retrenchment, where Church leaders, such as J. Reuben Clark, Ezra Taft Benson, Harold B. Lee, and Bruce R. McConkie, sought to "particularize" the Church again, hoping to recreate the former glories of Mormonism's past that were lost through assimilation with “the world.” The shift created a more hierarchically rigid and corporatized Church where Church leaders organized themselves and led the Church as if it were a business, and one does not question one’s leaders lest they be conceived of as apostate. The retrenchment period saw further economic shifts in the Church's business ventures, crackdowns on what conducts were permissible for Temple recommends, and even strict guides on how the family ought to conduct themselves ranging from the creation of Family Home Evening to publishing a pamphlet on what sexual positions were proper and improper. Mauss is a figure that you may not have heard of, but his ideas created the field of Mormon Studies as we know it today. Suggested Reading for Overachievers- "The Angel and The Beehive" by Armand Mauss- "Rethinking Retrenchment" by Armand Mauss (This is Mauss' updated views on his book "The Angel and The Beehive," written in 2011. Access here: https://www.dialoguejournal.com/articles/rethinking-retrenchment-course-corrections-in-the-ongoing-quest-for-respectability/#pdf-wrap- "All Abraham's Children: Changing Mormon Conceptions of Race and Lineage" by Armand Mauss- "Shifting Borders and a Tattered Passport: Intellectual Journeys of a Mormon Academic" by Armand Mauss--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theanalystandthefool/support
In our final episode on Plato (at least, for now), we cap off our discussion with the crown jewel of Platonic dialogues. This particular dialogue plays out differently than the previous ones we have covered; instead of Socrates debating philosophy with people around Athens, a Pythagorean named Timaeus teaches Socrates about the origin and creation of the world. The dialogue takes place a day after The Republic where two people, Timaeus and Critias, come to Socrates to applaud him for his articulation of the perfect city-state. Timaeus wishes to reward Socrates by teaching him the "likely myth" of the primeval universe where the highest God (typically called "The One") emanated a Demiurge who began to set the universe into order. The four elements--fire, earth, air, and water--are separated; the sun, planets, and stars begin their orbit around a center where the Earth is eventually formed. The Demiurge creates lower gods (who are identified as the Greek pantheon that we all know and love) as protectors of the established order and who guide humanity in their journey from ignorance to knowledge. All of this, according to Timaeus, reflects Socrates' ideal city-state; the way to knowledge necessitates adhering to the primordial forms that humanity emanated from. By embodying virtue over the course of many lifetimes (remember, Plato taught reincarnation), the philosopher could perfect himself and liberate themselves from the contingencies of the universe. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theanalystandthefool/support
After losing their sanity on their previous date, Christian and Brandon will now bare their souls to each other for your listening pleasure. Buckle up y'all, we ain't in Kansas no more!
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Over the past 70 years, there have been few Latter-day Saint scholars who have been as profoundly inspirational, deeply puzzling, and self-deprecating as Hugh Nibley (1910-2005). Indeed, Brandon's own reading of Nibley inspired his career choice and launched his consciousness into the cosmic stratosphere. Nibley’s own contribution to Latter-day Saint thought ranges from apologetics, social critique, and temple theology. However, the primary core of Nibley's work, especially post-retirement from BYU in 1975, is the creation of what could be called a “cosmic Mormonism.” The temple, as a “scale model of the universe,” becomes a spring board for humanity to transition from the limited to the infinite, from the personal to the cosmic. Nibley's focus on this was so pervasive that he, almost singlehandedly, helped cultivate the temple-focused theology that the Church presently proclaims. In Nibley's youth, the temple was typically thought of as a secondary feature of Mormonism, with some, such as Truman G. Madsen, confessing that it was something foreign. Madsen himself would even confess to calling the temple endowment "pagan" and initially thinking that it had no place in Mormonism. Nibley helped change everyone's mind by demonstrating that Mormon temple practices have parallels with ancient temple practices in Egypt, Israel, Mesopotamia, Stonehenge, and the Hopi, to name a few. Nibley felt that the knowledge given in the temple orients cultures and creates worlds; when this knowledge--given by revelation--is ignored or disobeyed, ignorant chaos is the only result. As such, Nibley was a vociferous critic of the Church's engagement with politics and economics, charging the Latter-day Saints' advocacy of capitalism as God's gift to humanity as blasphemy that will reign down blood and horror on this earth. Since God commanded Joseph Smith to live the law of consecration (a form of communalism very similar to Marx's communist utopia), and since Latter-day Saints to this very day are under covenant to live that law and don't, he was quite critical about the direction of the Church. Nevertheless, he believed it to be the Kingdom of God and that it would eventually go right through calls to repentance and remembrance of what ought to be held most sacred in Mormonism. Suggested Reading for Over-Achievers- "Temple and Cosmos" by Hugh Nibley- "Approaching Zion" by Hugh Nibley- "Zeal Without Knowledge" by Hugh Nibley (access here: https://emp.byui.edu/andersonkc/zeal%20without%20knowledge.pdf)- "Hugh Nibley: A Consecrated Life" by Boyd Peterson- Forthcoming work on Nibley's "Heirocentric State" by Joseph Spencer- "The Sacred and Profane" by Mircea Eliade--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theanalystandthefool/support
To begin perhaps one of Plato's most influential dialogues, it commences with Socrates and friends gathering at a buddy's house in celebration of a festival. The BIG question comes up almost immediately: What is Justice? The first response: "Giving to each what one is due."Socrates says "What about if you borrowed a dude's sword and he, in a crazed and murderous rampage, asks for his sword back?"The second response: "Well then justice is giving to someone what is appropriate."Socrates: "That's a circular argument dude. You're saying that you need justice already in place to define justice."The third response: "Justice is whatever benefits the stronger and helps them become stronger."Socrates: "Don't be such a Chad. Rulers serve the ruled; if all they do is seek to aggrandize themselves, then they rule nothing but themselves while making everyone else miserable; the ruler should not profit from the ruled."The question is then left unanswered as Socrates and company seek to understand what an ideal city-state would look like that would benefit all who live there. He introduces a rigid caste system where a Philosopher King, who best understands the Forms (i.e. the cosmic architecture that organizes and defines the parameters of reality), rules the city. Those who cannot break free from the material world are left to run the city-state's economy under the jurisdiction of the Philosopher and for the benefit of the entire city-state. In this city-state, the Philosopher King rules, not just by justice, but also by wisdom, fortitude, and temperance. Given this system, it should come as no surprise that Plato is very much against democracy, seeing it as the road that inevitably leads to tyranny.Tune in to learn more! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theanalystandthefool/support
In this week of Horsin' Around, we welcome His Holiness, Father Marxus Stelios onto the show... Wait... we're being told that their name is actually Lewis Chapman and they are a fellow student at Claremont Graduate University. Our bad! This week we bring Lewis Chapman onto the show to discuss their work as well as to mediate on the political and economic world of the United States. We discuss things such as how to deal with homelessness, what makes a functional economy, and whether there is any connection between Lewis not seeing Monty Python and the Holy Grail and their neuroses. We also discuss Jordan Peterson's viral video, "Message to CEOs" (access here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3d8qLkoYMk) and the tenability of his proposal and what is driving him to say what he says. This episode is also a crash course into basic Marxism, how it is typically misunderstood by the general public, and what Marxism would or could actually look like when it's not implemented by totalitarian regimes. For further questions or suggestions, please reach out to us at theanalystandthefool@gmail.com
This episode contains brief and sensitive discussions of racist views--The Analyst & The Fool does not condone these views--Listener discretion is advised
Bruce R. McConkie (1915-1985) stands as one of the most authoritative voices in present-day Mormonism; his views are pervasive and oftentimes considered to represent Mormonism itself. In lesson manuals that were in use from the mid-to-late-1970s until the Church implemented the "Come Follow Me" program in 2019, Bruce R, McConkie was quoted more than any other General Authority of the Church, including past leaders like Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. His book Mormon Doctrine (1st ed. published in 1958, 2nd ed. in 1968 with a revised version in 1979) is still one of Deseret Book's best-selling texts, despite its removal from shelves in 2010. His Messiah series and his Doctrinal Commentaries series are still for sale at Deseret Book.
But what is it about Bruce R. McConkie that made him so authoritative and ubiquitous?
The answer, in short, is that he spoke loudly and carried a big stick!
McConkie is an incredibly controversial figure in Mormon history, despite his authoritative pervasiveness. In fact, it was the authoritative and charismatic way he wrote and spoke that made him so controversial to Church leaders at the time he first published Mormon Doctrine and made a big splash on the Mormon scene. His version of a strict, Puritanical, and law-driven Mormonism made understanding the faith resolute in an era where the Church had been fighting to remain neutral on certain stances (e.g., evolution and the nature of God). McConkie was anti-evolution, anti-creed, and anti-human nature, all while preaching a "particular universalist" salvation where all are saved, but only a select few will be exalted in the Celestial Kingdom. He knew the scriptures inside and out, being able to quote verses perfectly from memory and provide cross-references to other scriptures to provide further context and commentary. He, like Joseph Smith, will forever be known for good and evil in how instrumental he was in shaping Mormon discourse in the present day.
For any questions or comments, please reach out to us at theanalystandthefool@gmail.com
Suggested reading for overachievers:
Mormons and the Bible: The Place of the Latter-day Saints in American Religion by Philip Barlow
David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism by Gregory Prince
Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R. McConkie
The Messiah Series by Bruce R. McConkie
"What Think Ye of Salvation by Grace?" by Bruce R. McConkie (access here: https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/bruce-r-mcconkie/think-ye-salvation-grace/)
"The Seven Deadly Heresies" by Bruce R. McConkie (access here: https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/bruce-r-mcconkie/seven-deadly-heresies/)
"All Are Alike Unto God" by Bruce R. McConkie (This is the talk McConkie was commanded to give at BYU after blacks were allowed to receive the priesthood in 1978; access here: https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/bruce-r-mcconkie/alike-unto-god/)
The setting for this dialogue is different than the previous dialogues we covered; the dialogue is set in the town of Philus where a dude named Phaedo, who was with Socrates when he drank the hemlock, meets with another dude named Echecrates who asks him about Socrates' last days.
Phaedo begins by explaining why Socrates' execution was delayed and that he visited Socrates with Xanthippe, Socrates' wife, on the morning of his execution. Xanthippe becomes distressed and a bit hysterical and Socrates asks her to be taken out. Some of Socrates' close friends ask him why they ought to hasten their own death like Socrates wants to. Socrates responds: "he, who has the spirit of philosophy, will be willing to die; but he will not take his own life." It is in death, Socrates continues, that the soul finds its home. The reason is that the body inhibits the soul from the attainment of truth; "the philosopher more than other men frees the soul from association with the body as much as possible." This should not be read as an ascetic hatred of the body (though many have read it that way), but a dizzying concept that the body is, by its nature, a limitation. Truth and the soul are not limited but are immortal and free. Death is but a portal to attain the freedom necessary for the complete attainment of truth.
Socrates then gives multiple arguments to prove the soul's immortality. Socrates' final argument is that the soul is immortal because it is the cause of life itself--it would, by necessity, have to precede and succeed life.
This dialogue is one of Plato's most famous, both for his formulations of "the Forms" and the soul, and documenting the final moments of Socrates before his death. Tune in to grapple with the dizzying nuances of Socrates' arguments and question the foundation of reality and life as we know it.
For further questions, comments, or suggestions, please reach out to us at: theanalystandthefool@gmail.com
We continue Brandon's nepotism and welcome his sister Allison onto the show! She is a Masters student at Oregon State University studying Nuclear Engineering. In this episode, we get a low down on the basics of nuclear power, how it works, what nuclear reactors are, how they work, how meltdowns can and have occurred, and the precautions that are taken to prevent them today. We answer the question: what is the future of nuclear power? Will there be/should there be nuclear-powered cars? We also learned that drawing features on Microsoft teams are terrible, so user beware!
This episode is a bit of heavy lifting, as we trudge through some esoteric concepts within quantum physics and its relation to nuclear reactions. Take your time with this one, as the information is paramount to better understand the politics surrounding nuclear power and what could/should determine how nuclear power is used.
For further questions and more information, please reach out to us at: theanalystandthefool@gmail.com
James Edward Talmage (1862-1933), oh... excuse us... DOCTOR James Edward Talmage was the first General Authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to hold a Ph.D. As such, Talmage advocated for intellectual discipline when teaching the Saints how to approach theological, historical, and scientific subjects. He was even more disciplined and prudent when Church leaders placed him in positions where he had to bridge those varying approaches. This ranged from him having to mediate the Roberts-Fielding Smith debates over evolution within Mormonism, his legendary work "Jesus the Christ," and even becoming the expositor of Latter-day Saint beliefs in the Reed Smoot hearings. Talmage did not see any contradictions between what he did as a scientist and how it reflected more broadly in his theological ventures in Mormonism: "Within the Gospel of Jesus Christ, there is room and place for every truth thus far learned by man or yet to be made known." Indeed, as an academic, Talmage believed that everything was worth questioning and probing deeper and that a Latter-day Saint should not dogmatically settle on an answer he/she may find satisfactory: “The man who cannot listen to an argument which opposes his views either has a weak position or is a weak defender of it. No opinion that cannot stand discussion or criticism is worth holding. And it has been wisely said that the man who knows only half of any question is worse off than the man who knows nothing of it. He is not only one-sided, but his partisanship soon turns him into an intolerant and a fanatic. In general, it is true that nothing which cannot stand up under discussion and criticism is worth defending.”
In this episode, we explore these aspects of Talmage's thought and how his status as a monogamist, scientist, and academic intersected with the Church's broader attempts to move past the polygamy era and to "modernize" the Church. Talmage would be instrumental in this regard, where he and B.H. Roberts would become prominent spokesmen of the Church and to non-Mormon audiences. However, Church leaders would call on Talmage more than Roberts. This is primarily due to Roberts being a polygamist, not holding a graduate degree from a prominent university, and receiving negative publicity from the wider public after being refused a seat in Congress due to his polygamy. Talmage on the other hand was a monogamist and held a doctorate from Lehigh University while also doing graduate work at Johns Hopkins University. Talmage's legacy within and without the Church stems from the weight of his academic training in forming Church thought in an era of the Church where not many Church leaders had anything more than a bachelor's degree from the University of Deseret if any formal education at all.
For any questions or further suggestions, please reach out to us at theanalystandthefool@gmail.com
Suggested reading for overachievers:
"Jesus the Christ" by James E. Talmage
"Articles of Faith" by James E. Talmage
"The Earth and Man" by James E. Talmage
"The Talmage Story" by John R. Talmage
"Inner Dialogue: James Talmage's Choice of Science as a Career, 1876-84" by Dennis Rowley (access here: https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V17N02_114.pdf)
"The Search for Harmony: Essays on Science and Mormonism" edited by Gene A. Sessions and Craig J. Oberg (read, especially, the essay "The B.H. Roberts/Joseph Fielding Smith/James E. Talmage Affair" by Richard Sherlock and Jeffrey E. Keller)
Virtue--Righteousness--Justice: are these things taught? Inherent within people? Or something else?
This is the driving question of Meno, a young, handsome, Athenian military leader who comes to Socrates in hopes he may clarify Gorgias' teachings on the relativity of virtue (Gorgias is a prominent sophist in Athens at this time and Meno was reportedly one of his students).
"Alright Socrates, is virtue something that can be taught?"
Socrates responds, "Uhhh... I don't know because I don't know what virtue is!"
Meno: "But my homie Gorgias says virtue is relative and that it only depends on what end someone decides to act and whether it fulfills that action."
Socrates: "Your bro Gorgias is full of crap, he doesn't know what virtue is--no one does. Virtue must be something that is all-encompassing of all humanity or it is nothing at all."
The rest of the dialogue concerns how virtue can be known; Socrates proposes what is known as anamnesis, or remembering, as the catalyst of knowing virtue. We remember virtue from past lives. Socrates uses one of Meno's slaves (who in Greece was thought to not have a soul or psyche) to demonstrate that despite the slave's lack of schooling can still recognize mathematical patterns. This recognition is evidence that the slave remembers these mathematical patterns from a previous life.
This dizzying dialogue stands as Plato's definitive statement on a branch of philosophy called epistemology or determining how we know what we know.
Please reach out to us with any questions or concerns at theanalystandthefool@gmail.com
Apologies in advance for the poor audio quality
This week, instead of jester's caps and robes we don greasy, blue jumpsuits and get our hands dirty!
With gasoline prices reaching record highs and likely never to plummet again, we bring in professional mechanic and fellow fool Jesse Wilson to horse around for a bit and lay down some info about the automotive world. We discuss alternate fuel sources as well as the tech that powers our cars. Are electrical cars a viable replacement for gasoline-powered cars? Or are they just as problematic? What about hybrids? Or the all-mighty Tesla? Jesse's got some opinions that may both surprise you and be informative. For us fools at the Analyst & The Fool, we certainly learned a thing or two about cars and about the future of the automotive industry at large.
If you have any suggestions or questions, please feel free to e-mail us at theanalystandthefool@gmail.com
Brigham Henry Roberts (1857-1933) is another figure in Church History who dwells in the unspoken subconscious of present-day Mormonism. Roberts' legacy is centered on the Church's dissemination of his personal views of Church history that became pseudo-canonical for over 60 years. Roberts put together two Histories of the Church during his lifetime, with the more pivotal one being published on the Church's centennial birthday (April 6, 1930). His legacy also stems from his persistence in pressing Church leaders to engage with modern concepts at the time and incorporate them into a concrete Church theology; concepts such as breakthroughs in science (e.g. evolution and quantum theory), the industrial revolution, and geopolitics stemming from World War I.
Roberts was a headstrong, educated, and creative thinker who loudly pushed Latter-day Saints to know their faith inside and out, to educate themselves on the faiths of others, and to become engrossed in the predominant theories of science. Roberts had very little patience for ignorance, especially willful ignorance; for him, the acquisition and utilization of knowledge are the very foundations of the universe and the reasons why God placed humans on Earth. Much like Orson Pratt, Roberts saw understanding the workings of the universe as the way of understanding God's workings in the universe. Unlike Orson Pratt, however, Roberts conceptualized God as a personal being amongst other beings who are co-eternal with Himself, all while maintaining God's supremacy in this "pluralist" universe. In this sense, God is a being who knows all things and is able to get the universe to work in harmony with one another. God is like a cosmic politician who promotes laws where the whole universe can work in harmony so that everyone and everything can learn, grow, and eventually participate in the celestial courts and become cosmic politicians themselves (note that we are not using "politician" in the pejorative sense here).
Roberts' theories, especially his audaciousness and obstinance in how he utilized them, would land him in a bit of trouble at the end of his life with Church leaders. Roberts was commissioned by Pres. Heber J. Grant to write a three-part lesson manual that would encompass the Church's stances on doctrinal matters. However, Roberts promoted some theories within the text that Church leaders asked to be redacted; Roberts vehemently refused. This led to heated debates between him and other Church leaders over matters such as what place evolution or a God that progresses in knowledge and power has in the Church's teachings. Following this public debacle, this three-part lesson manual that Roberts titled "The Truth, The Way, The Life" was thrown into the proverbial wastebasket until it was drudged up and finally published in 1994.
B.H. Roberts' story in the Church is a retelling of what place modernism has in the Church. Roberts pressed the Church to ask themselves where concepts such as evolution, a progressing God, eventual universal salvation, and a pluralistic universe stands within Church doctrine. Roberts tried and failed to cement his own view of a "Mormon Theology" that was grounded in scientific and rational thought.
Suggested reading for overachievers:
"The Truth, The Way, The Life" by B.H. Roberts
"The Meaning of Christ--The Truth, The Way, The Life: An Analysis of B.H. Roberts' Unpublished Masterwork" by Truman G. Madsen (access here: https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/the-meaning-of-christthe-truth-the-way-the-life-an-analysis-of-b-h-roberts-unpublished-masterwork/)
"Defender of the Faith: The B.H. Roberts Story" by Truman G. Madsen
"B.H. Roberts: A Life in the Public Arena" by John Sillito
"The Autobiography of B.H. Roberts" edited by Gary J. Bergera
"A Pluralistic Universe" by William James
In this third dialogue of Plato's, we return to our friend Socrates in prison, being visited by his dear friend Crito who has hatched a plan!
"Yo Socrates, I bribed the guards, and they'll let me take you out of here! I can take you up to my crib in Thessaly where you can chill with my family until this whole thing blows over."
Socrates responds: "No, Crito, I cannot do that. It is better to uphold the laws of an unjust government than to willingly disobey them."
Flabbergasted, Crito demands exposition from his dear friend and philosophical master.
Plato's "Crito" is a bit shorter than other Platonic dialogues we will be covering throughout this series, but it presents a rather pivotal point of view that has some profound ways of how we engage with issues that arise in governmental mishaps and how people react to them. As always on The Analyst & The Fool, we do not advise that you take Socrates' word for anything. Rather, the "Crito" demands personal reflection on the dire consequences, spiritually and temporally, that could arise from persistent calls for government reform or revolts, even in the face of deep injustices. Food for thought with this one!
For further questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to us at: theanalystandthefool@gmail.com
Note: This episode was recorded in the middle of July 2022, so some of the information is not up to date
With Name, Image, and Likeness deals now being permitted for college athletes the NCAA will never be the same, and Nick Saban does not like it!
In this episode of Horsin' Around, we begin by exploring what Nick Saban has been huffy about all summer and dig into the reasons why. Simply put, Alabama Football might not be perennial National Champions anymore due to how NIL deals will forever change recruiting. Even further, the rise of Power Conferences might also shift the tide of power outside of the Crimson Tide's favor.
We further explore how NIL deals have impacted and will continue to impact professional sports. Some college athletes are now foregoing the pros to stay in college since it is now more profitable for them to stay in college making money on NIL deals with their respective schools than being a mid-level player in the pros. NIL deals also open up more avenues for student-athletes who may not have a long professional career, or a professional career at all, to use their NIL deals as internship opportunities to expand on something they may be looking into as a career path.
This episode is certainly less silly and more on the serious side, but guys! NIL deals are perhaps one of the best things to have ever happened in college sports; NIL and the formation of Power Conferences may finally level out college sports for good! Listen to why we think so.
For further information or any questions you may have, please feel free to reach out to us at theanalystandthefool@gmail.com
There are few figures that loom larger unnoticed in the Latter-day Saint subconscious than Orson Pratt.
Pratt was one of the earliest converts to Joseph Smith's newly formed Church (along with his brother Parley) and he was called a member of the original Twelve Apostles in 1835. He was nineteen years old when he joined the Church and had very little formal schooling, save for the learning he would do under Joseph Smith's tutelage and by Smith's side. Pratt serves as one of the Church's first home-grown philosophers, mathematicians, and scientists whose worldviews grew almost strictly out of Joseph Smith's revelations concerning the cosmos and humanity's place within it.
In this episode, we dive head first into Pratt's metaphysical and scientific theorizing concerning Joseph Smith's maxim "What man is, God once was, and what God is man may become." Pratt's view of the cosmos is incredibly unique both for his time and in the proceeding history of the Church's attitudes towards science, God, and other metaphysical matters that we will cover in later episodes. Pratt is also one of the Church's first leaders to "rationalize" The Book of Mormon, meaning to break it into ratios; he is the first to give the book chapter headings, verses, and cross-referencing footnotes. He was also instrumental in the canonization of the Book of Abraham and the Pearl of Great Price in general in 1880. Following Joseph Smith's death and Brigham Young succeeding him (through the viewpoint of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), Pratt was entrusted by Young to be a primary expositor of the "Mormon Philosophy," a status Pratt would retain throughout the majority of his life. However, that's not to say that Pratt and Young always got along nor saw eye to eye on doctrinal matters.
Ooh boy, this is a fun one folks! You're definitely gonna need your jester cap for this one because Pratt's concepts of intelligence, matter, and how it all relates to God and the cosmos will blow your mind!
For further information or questions, please feel free to reach out to us at theanalystandthefool@gmail.com
Suggested reading for overachievers:
"The Orson Pratt-Brigham Young Controversies: Conflict Within the Quorums, 1853-1868" by Gary James Bergera (access pdf: https://www.dialoguejournal.com/articles/the-orson-pratt-brigham-young-controversies-conflict-within-the-quorums-1853-to-1868/#pdf-wrap)
"The Life and Thought of Orson Pratt" by Breck England
"Masterful Discourses and Writings of Orson Pratt" compiled by N.B. Lundwall
"The Pamphlets of Orson Pratt" compiled by David Hammer (purchase at https://www.amazon.com/Pamphlets-Orson-Pratt-Works-Remarkable/dp/150334553X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ZUSR34O7BV3Y&keywords=orson+pratt&qid=1663200705&s=books&sprefix=orson+pratt%2Cstripbooks%2C137&sr=1-1)
Following Socrates' brief stint with Euthyphro, he finally enters the courthouse for his trial. The charges? Corrupting the youth and the belief in and preaching of foreign gods.
"Socrates, call your first witness in your defense!"
"I call the Oracle of Delphi as my witness!" shouts Socrates.
crowd gasps and clutches at pearls
In this episode, we explore Socrates' defense, or apology, to the court of Athens and how this strange woman known as Pythia, the high priestess of Apollo at Delphi, plays into Socrates' overall defense and his conduct in Athens. "The Apology" reveals Socrates' hand to the city of Athens and how sticking to his inner conscious (i.e. his "daemon") is his philosophy. "My daemon cannot lead me to do wrong," says Socrates.
Is Socrates guilty? Or is he the persecuted hero? Spoiler alert, he's condemned to death. However, how the trial leads to Socrates' condemnation perhaps does not go in a way you would expect. Listen in to follow the story and learn more about the philosophy of morals from one's inner consciousness.
Episode art credit: Existential Comics -- https://existentialcomics.com/comic/344
For further information or any questions you may have, please feel free to reach out to us at theanalystandthefool@gmail.com
Christian and Brandon finally have a chance to sit down and have that date they have been talking about for a long time. They've been too busy with the kids, too busy with work, and too busy with school. Nevertheless, they set a time and made it happen for your listening pleasure!
(For the record, we are both happily married to our respective spouses and this is all one big joke... so laugh!)
This first episode of "Horsin' Around" is a "get to know you" episode between Christian and Brandon. Christian found a lovely app that generates questions, and he and Brandon answer them together. We answer questions like "If you were king of the world and mandated that everyone had to watch a certain movie, what would it be?" "Rank these in order and say why: imagination, purpose, knowledge." "What foods are you addicted to and cannot live without?" "If you were stranded on a desert island with the entire discography of one musical artist, who do you choose?"
This episode dug deep into Christian's psyche and broke him... having to contemplate how he's not Ryan Reynolds and that technology overlords rule over him was too much for his little brain to handle. Brandon outwardly laughs at his pain but inwardly is in the fetal position, sobbing. They left the date miserable, unable to eat and sleep for three days due to the experience.
To listen to the podcast episodes about Christian and Brandon's respective scholarly approaches, those can be accessed at CGU's "American Scripture" podcast site at: https://info.cgu.edu/podcasts/american-scripture/
Overall, it was an excellent first date. We will likely do this again. Please reach out to us with any questions or further suggestions at theanalystandthefool@gmail.com
Starting a podcast about Latter-day Saint thought by talking about anyone other than Joseph Smith would be... well... sinful.
We begin by tackling a sticky issue surrounding how Joseph Smith is interpreted in the present-day: a (not so) little thing called "Presentism." Once this issue is conveniently put aside, we get into the meat of Smith's thought, beginning with Smith's evolving conceptualization of God. In the early days of the Church, (i.e. the 1830s) God the Father's nature is presented as fixed and "spiritual," whereas in the Nauvoo period (early 1840s) Smith presents God the Father as explicitly anthropomorphic and incarnate. Even further, Smith introduced a revolutionary idea early in the Church's history: the "three-tiered" heaven presented in what is now known as Doctrine & Covenants section 76. We discuss its consequences on soteriology and how it further aided in cementing prophecy and revelation as the medium for creating and discerning "Truth" in Mormonism.
We also dissect the various "First Vision" accounts that Joseph Smith recounted during his lifetime and note the differences, similarities, and what they mean in the broader picture of Latter-day Saint thought and history. We then jump into Joseph Smith's famous "King Follett Discourse" with its broader significance on Church doctrine and praxis and its strange status as a pseudo-canon (or perhaps an esoteric canon) within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith's primary idea is a strange twist on St. Athanasius of Alexandria's famous maxim about the purpose of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ; Athanasius says: "God became man so that man can become God." Joseph Smith, on the other hand, says: "What man is, God once was. What God is, man may become." The rest of the intellectual, spiritual, and organizational history of Mormonism are attempts to solidify what that means and how it impacts Church doctrine, policies, ordinances, and other praxes. How it all plays out is not as clear-cut as you may think, but that is part of the fun. Please, join in the fun as we take the first step into the cosmic void of attempting to understand this thing called "Mormonism."
Suggested reading for overachievers:
"Rough Stone Rolling" and "Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism" by Richard Bushman
"No Man Knows My History" by Fawn Brodie
"History of Joseph Smith: By His Mother" by Lucy Mack Smith
"Eternal Man" by Truman G. Madsen
"Early Mormonism and the Magic Worldview" by D. Michael Quinn
"Method Infinite: Freemasonry and the Mormon Restoration" by Cheryl L. Bruno, Joe Steve Swick III & Nicholas S. Literski
Please reach out to us for questions or further information at theanalystandthefool@gmail.com.
For our inaugural episode of The Analyst & The Fool's "Because I Didn't Read It," we begin with Plato's dialogue "Euthyphro." This dialogue tackles the perennial questions: "What is piety? What does it mean to 'obey the will of the gods'? Is the will of the gods unmoving and unchanging, or are the gods mercurial and subject to a higher law?"
The dialogue begins with our homeboy Socrates sitting on the steps of the Athenian courthouse awaiting his trial for corrupting the youth by preaching impiety. His ol' buddy Euthyphro greets him exiting the courthouse. Euthypho informs Socrates that he had just sued his own father for putting a slave to death and that doing so was the "pious" thing to do. Socrates has now struck gold: "Dude, you gotta tell me what piety is now, since I'm about to be charged as a criminal for being impious! I should have you as my defense attorney" Thus begins the enlightening dialogue!
For more information, suggestions, or any other nonsensical antics, please feel free to reach out to us at theanalystandthefool@gmail.com
For more information on Christian Van Dyke and Brandon Wilson, please feel free to check out their bios at https://mormonstudies.cgu.edu/students/current-students/
Christian and Brandon also have respective podcast episodes that go into more detail about their backgrounds and scholarly approaches. Those can be accessed at CGU's "American Scripture" podcast site at: https://info.cgu.edu/podcasts/american-scripture/
Brandon also recently recorded a podcast with Nathan Smith about Hesychasm and its psycho-spiritual practices. That can be found on Nathan's YouTube channel, "Mind Makes This World." Check out his other works as well! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0wV7iSa9l2D1S4LrVw2Rpw