Dave's Mormon Inquiry: New Image: Brigham Young's Glasses

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New Image: Brigham Young's Glasses

Yes, the new image is of Brigham Young's glasses and case; click here for a larger image. Fashion eyewear has come a long way, don't you think? I had no idea he wore glasses. Just goes to show that Mormon history always has an interesting fact or two to offer.

Apr 06, 2004 in Admin | Permalink

Comments

Somewhere there is a pair of glasses from some early GA which look like "hippie glasses." They have purple lenses and are round and look like John Lennon ought to be wearing them. Unfortunately for the life of me I can't recall whose they are. I want to say Hyrum Smith, but I'm not sure that's true.

Anyone know or better yet have a picture? I used to have one but lost in in a hard drive crash quite a few years back.

Posted by: Clark Goble | Apr 06, 2004 at 12:43 AM

I think I know the shot--it will be the next image featured.

Posted by: Dave | Apr 06, 2004 at 12:54 AM

The Mormon Church is doctoring their history. I can't beleive they would hide this from us. That's it! I'm leaving the Church.

Posted by: Kim Siever | Apr 06, 2004 at 09:14 AM

As a kid, my dad let me handle BY's sunglasses in the collection of the Church Museum. They had a certain Lennon-esque look to them, although as I recall they were square rather than round. I don't know if they are on display now or not.

Posted by: Nate Oman | Apr 06, 2004 at 12:49 PM

The comments to this entry are closed.

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Daniel K. Richter: Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America
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Niall Ferguson: The War of the World
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Simon Baron-Cohen: The Essential Difference: Male And Female Brains And The Truth About Autism
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Karen Armstrong: A Short History of Myth
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Civilization: A New History of the Western World
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Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists and the Ecology of New England
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A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War
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The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy
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1491 : New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
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The Basics of Western Philosophy
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Dershowitz: America on Trial
Great trials in US history.
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Refuge : An Unnatural History of Family and Place
Utah's land and people. Review
Hill: The Salem Witch Trials
A sobering account. Intro | 1 | 2
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Blackburn: Think: A Compelling Intro to Philosophy
It will make you think. Part 1
Himmelfarb: The Roads to Modernity
The neglected British Enlightenment.
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Shippey: The Road to Middle-Earth
The greatest story ever told.
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A Very Brief History of Philosophy
Reason and Truth in 128 pages.
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A Short History of Modern Philosophy
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Beowulf: Trans. by Seamus Heaney
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How to Read Literature Like a Professor
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Solomon: What Nietzsche Really Said
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McGinn: The Making of a Philosopher
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Armand L. Mauss: Shifting Borders and a Tattered Passport
The intellectual and spiritual journeys of a Mormon academic. Post 1
Rube Goldberg Machines: Essays in Mormon Theology
Adam Miller tackles Mormon theology.
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Mormon Books 2012

Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet
John G. Turner's candid treatment of Brigham Young's life and work.
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An Other Testament: On Typology
Joe Spencer digs into how typology is used in the Book of Mormon. My Post
In Heaven as It Is on Earth: Joseph Smith and the Early Mormon Conquest of Death
Sam Brown delves into Joseph Smith's doctrines of sealing and salvation as means to overcome the downside of death. My Review
Reeve and Parshall: Mormonism: A Historical Encyclopedia
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The Book of Mormon Girl
Joanna Brooks tells her stories from an American faith. My Review
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Another Bob Millet interfaith special, this time on LDS Christology, with a foreward and afterword by Richard J. Mouw. My Post

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Neil Shubin: The Universe Within: Discovering the Common History of Rocks, Planets, and People
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Alone in the Universe: Why Our Planet Is Unique
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The Story of Earth: The First 4.5 Billion Years, from Stardust to Living Planet
Robert M. Hazen gives a geologist's fascinating review of earth history. Magma is a lot more interesting than you thought. In my post Volcanism, Mormonism, and Historical Contingency I note the connection between the stupendous eruption of Tambora in 1815 and the relocation of Joseph Smith's family from Vermont to Palmyra, New York.
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
Working in the EP paradigm, Jonathan Haidt shows there is more to morality than harm and fairness (add liberty, loyalty, authority, and sanctity). My Review
The Language of Science and Faith: Straight Answers to Genuine Questions
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Karl Giberson: Saving Darwin: How to Be a Christian and Believe in Evolution
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Eight literary types in the Bible.
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Robert L. Millet: LDS Beliefs: A Doctrinal Reference
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Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader's Guide
Grant Hardy's close literary reading of the Book of Mormon.
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Revisiting Thomas F. O'Dea's The Mormons: Contemporary Perspectives
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Contemporary Mormonism: Social Science Perspectives
Not just LDS history — these social scientists construct models and test them with real data.
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All Abraham's Children
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Joseph Smith, Jr.: Reappraisals After Two Centuries
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Glen M. Leonard: Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise
The rise and fall of Nauvoo, 1839-1846.
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The Book of Mormon: A Very Short Introduction
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Mormonism: A Very Short Introduction
Richard Bushman's short survey of LDS history and beliefs.
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Blomberg & Robinson: How Wide the Divide?: A Mormon & an Evangelical in Conversation
The classic book on LDS-Evangelical interfaith dialogue. | Post 1 • Post 2

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Contemporary Mormonism: Latter-day Saints in Modern America
Claudia Bushman's fact-filled survey of the culture and practices of the modern LDS Church and its membership.
Steven C. Harper: Making Sense of the Doctrine & Covenants: A Guided Tour Through Modern Revelations
An excellent one-volume section-by-section survey and commentary on the D&C.
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Terryl L. Givens: People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture
The history of LDS architecture, music, dance, theater, literature, cinema, and scholarship in light of four "paradoxes" in Mormon culture: authority vs. autonomy, certainty vs. searching, sacred vs. banal, and election vs. exile.
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Jared Farmer: On Zion's Mount: Mormons, Indians, and the American Landscape
A revealing history of the settlement of Utah Valley and Mormon-Indian relations.
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Walker, Turley, & Leonard: Massacre at Mountain Meadows
This long-awaited book gives the definitive account of the events leading up to the occurrence at Mountain Meadows.
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Mormon Books 2007

Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith
Nibley's daughter takes swipes at BYU, Utah, Mormons, and her family, while creating pages of dialogue out of thin air and a caricature of LDS history. No footnotes, no index, no credibility.
Notes and Links • Rebuttal
O. Kendall White: Mormon neo-orthodoxy: A crisis theology
A controversial examination of a move within Mormonism away from liberal views toward neo-orthodox views: the absolute sovereignty of God, human depravity, and salvation by grace. This text of this book is available online.
Post 1 • Post 2 • Post 3
Offsite notes
Claudia L. Bushman: Building the Kingdom: A History of Mormons in America
Claudia and Richard Bushman's fine short history of the LDS Church.
Pub Note • Post
Eric Eliason: Mormons and Mormonism: An Introduction to an American World Religion
A collection of scholarly essays by a variety of LDS and non-LDS scholars, edited by Eric Eliason.
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On the Road With Joseph Smith: An Author's Diary
Richard L. Bushman's reflections on the year he spent promoting his biography of Joseph Smith.
Post 1 • Post 2 • Post 3
A Mormon in the White House?
Hugh Hewitt's political biography of Mitt Romney. • Post
Armand L. Mauss: The Angel and the Beehive
Armand Mauss uses sociology and history to look at the 20th-century LDS stuggle to be accepted as mainstream while retaining a unique Mormon identity.
Pub Note • My Review
Mauss interview • 12Qa • 12Qb
The Mormon Way of Doing Business: Leadership and Success Through Faith and Family
LDS CEOs on how to succeed in business without selling your soul.
Pub Note • My Review

Mormon Books 2006

Kathleen Flake: The Politics of American Religious Identity: The Seating of Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon Apostle
How a generation of Mormons learned the art of politics and became full-fledged Americans again.
My Review • 12Q
Between the Testaments: From Malachi to Matthew
Fill in that puzzling 500-year gap between the Old and New Testaments.
Pub Note • Part 1 • Part 2
Sojourner in the Promised Land: Forty Years among the Mormons
A collection of essays by Jan Shipps giving her reflections on 40 years as a sympathetic scholar of Mormonism.
Pub Note • Intro • Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3
Prince & Wright: David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism
Winner of MHA's 2006 Turner-Bergera award for Best Biography. Surprising new perspectives on many of the key events of the McKay era and the decade following. A must read for any Church history buff.
Intro • Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3
Hardy: Solemn Covenant
The classic treatment of post-Manifesto LDS polygamy.
Pub Note • Part 1
"God Has Made Us a Kingdom"
James Strang & the Midwest Mormons.
Pub Note • My Post • Sidenote
Proving Contraries
A collection honoring Eugene England.
Pub Note • Part 1 • Part 2

Mormon Books 2005

Davies: The Mormon Culture of Salvation
Uses a variety of models to look at LDS doctrine and cultural practice related to death and salvation, with a lengthy consideration of the "world religion" question.
My Post • Pub Note
Bushman: JS: Rough Stone Rolling
Get to know your Prophet.
T&S Posts • 12Q • M* Intvw • CT Rvw
My Posts 1 • 2 • 3
Adventures of a Church Historian
An insider's view of Church history.
My Review
Bradley: Pedestals And Podiums
LDS women and the ERA.
Pub Note • Offsite Review
The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship
Pleasantly informative.
Pub Note • Excerpt • My Review
OSC: The Folk of the Fringe
Post-nuke Mormons rock. My Review
Quorum of the Anointed, 1842-1845
A detailed documentary history.
Pub Note • My Review
Alexander: Mormonism in Transition
The emergence of the modern Church from 1890 to 1930.
The Prophet Puzzle
A collection of 15 interpretive essays on Joseph Smith.
Pub Note • Part 1 • Part 2
Brigham Young: American Moses
Best bio of Brigham Young.
Intro • Part 1 • 2
God and Country: Politics in Utah
"Outsiders" share their views.
Pub Note • Intro • Part 1 • 2
Barlow: Mormons and the Bible
A quiet classic.
12Qa • 12Qb
Remini: Joseph Smith
Short, objective. Post • Review
Online JS bios: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6
Arrington: The Mormon Experience
Best 1-vol. history of the LDS Church.
Part 1 • 2 • 3 • 4
Givens: By the Hand of Mormon
BoM scholarship in a nutshell.
12Q • Intro • Part 1
An Insider's View of Mormon Origins
A candid if uneven retelling of Mormon history; not for the LDS history newbie.
Pub Note • My Review
Palmer Posts: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5
Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith
Best bio of Mormonism's First Lady.
Intro • Part 1 • 2 • 3 • 4
FMH Posts: 1 • 2
Marvin Hill: Quest for Refuge
• Online book! • The Mormon flight from American pluralism and the failed quest for a Mormon Kingdom.
My Review

Religion Books 09-12

Garry Wills: Head and Heart: American Christianities
Puritans, Deists, and Evangelicals battle for American hearts and minds. My Post
Christianity: A Very Short Introduction
An enlightening little book, with emphasis on understanding what is happening in modern Christianity.
Post 1 • Post 2
The Language God Talks: On Science and Religion
Author Herman Wouk contrasts the scientific and literary modes of apprehending God. • My Post
C David Grant: Thinking Through Our Faith: Theology for 21st Century Christians
A professor of religion opines on tough questions for 21st-century Mormons: historicity, cosmology, evolution, feminism, postmodernism. • My Post
Marilynne Robinson: Absence of Mind: The Dispelling of Inwardness from the Modern Myth of the Self
A Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist weighs in on science and religion. She favors religion. • My Post
American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us
A detailed empirical look at what has happened in American religion, including Mormonism, over the last fifty years.
Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church
For most American teens, religion is so 20th century. But Mormon teens seem to be bucking the trend. • My Post
God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World -- and Why Their Differences Matter
Stephen Prothero's religions of the world book. • Post 1 • Post 2
Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate
Terry Eagleton contra Ditchkins and the New Atheists. | My Post
Nathan O. Hatch: The Democratization of American Christianity
How the raging democratic spirit of early 19th-century America influenced the doctrine and practice of young religious movements such as Methodism and Mormonism. | My Post
God After Darwin: A Theology of Evolution
A theologian explores theology through the lens of evolution. • My Post
William Lobdell: Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America-and Found Unexpected Peace
A long-time LA Times religion reporter unburdens his soul.
My Review
David F. Ford: Theology: A Very Short Introduction
It's not easy to get started in theology, but this short book should do the trick. | My post

Religion Books 2008

Stephen Prothero: Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't
Noted scholar of religion laments the religious ignorance of Americans (first half of book) and provides a 90-page "dictionary of religious literacy" to help solve the problem.
Post 1 • Post 2 • Post 3
Martin Marty: The Christian World: A Global History
An insighful continent-by-continent history by a superb scholar of Christianity.
My Review
Bart D. Ehrman: God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer
Ehrman examines five biblical explanations for suffering and evil: divine punishment, human action, redemptive suffering, inscrutable mystery, and apocalyptic dualism.
Pub Note • My Review
F. E. Peters: The Voice, the Word, the Books: The Sacred Scripture of the Jews, Christians, and Muslims
Great scholarly overview of scripture as a general category. Jacket blurb: "Brings the latest Biblical and Quranic scholarship to a general audience."