Annual lecture focuses on unifying community
Dr. Terryl Givens, the Bostwick Chair of English at the University of Richmond, Va., spoke on the the importance of the Enoch prophecy at the Arrington Mormon History Lecture Thursday night in the Logan Tabernacle.
Givens said Joseph Smith, the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, saw Enoch, a Biblical prophet, as a possible role model. Members of the LDS church believe Joseph Smith received the prophecy of Enoch as a revelation from God. The prophecy’s text was recorded in the Book of Moses, a part of the church’s standard canon of scripture.
Givens said the prophecy of Enoch was an important text that is overlooked too often among members of the LDS faith. He said it had a large impact not only on Smith, but the church as well.
“Enoch represented to Joseph Smith the possibility of something more durable,” Givens said.
He said the prophecy of Enoch was important because it reveals a God of passion, a pre-mortal existence and the idea of Theosis, or that man can become like God. These ideas, Givens said, are often overlooked for stemming from the text of Enoch.
“The impact is out of proportion,” he said.
Givens emphasized the idea that an important aspect of the Mormon church is to create Zion, which “reflects man’s deepest longing.” According to the church’s website, the most general definition of Zion is “the pure in heart.” Zion is often used in this way to refer to the Lord’s people or to the church and its stakes, according to the site.
Givens said Enoch’s prophecy shows there is no such thing as an “individual” Zion, but preparation must be communal. This building of Zion was important to Joseph Smith and continues to be important today, Givens said.
Givens said the forging of the LDS community was Smith’s true prophetic task, but the task didn’t end with Smith.
“This is an ongoing historical project in which we all participate,” he said.
Givens said the text shows God is able to feel emotion and experience sorrow with man, an idea Givens said was relatively new at the time of the prophecy.
“The most conspicuous aspect of God is love,” Givens said.
He said the prophecy is overlooked.
“I think cultural Mormonism has too often gone off the rails in pursuit of speculation,” he said. “What that does is it forces a correlation between the idea of Godhood and power.”
Givens attributed his academic success to his wife. He said she was the one who inspired him to read the texts of Enoch.
“I want to express my indebtedness for her,” he said. “All too often I am the one who received the credit for her insight.”
Nathan Kozlowski, an undeclared sophomore at USU, said he had been interested in learning more about Enoch. He said he learned more about the nature of God because of the speech.
“I realize that there’s more scripture about how God really feels,” he said. “It makes him more personable instead of this being that we can’t understand.”
Tamralyn Shreeve, a senior majoring in community health education, said she decided to attend the lecture just because her husband wanted to go, but the evening exceeded her expectations.
She said Givens changed her perspective on the meaning of Zion.
“My viewpoint of Zion has come more to the community, instead of just as one person reaching Zion,” she said. “It’s everyone reaching Zion.”
Shreeve said she believes there was an even more important message from the lecture.
“The most important message is that God’s love, and his feelings, also extend into feelings of sorrow,” she said. “He does not interfere with the choices of other people.”
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