Terryl L. Givens, “Awful Woundedness” (Lecture 2 of 4)
Channel: Maxwell Institute
Date: 2019-10-24

Maxwell Institute Scholar Lecture—September 23, 2019
06:46—Lecture begins

“Awful Woundedness” is part two of a four-part lecture series entitled "The Choice to Believe," by Dr. Terryl L. Givens of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. 

The 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon describes the earth’s inhabitants of our day as suffering in “a state of awful woundedness.” What aspects of creedal Christianity deserved the divine descriptor of “abomination”? A characterization of God as devoid of body, parts, and—most crucially—passions, was indicated by Joseph Smith as at the heart of a world suffering in pain and sorrow. Allied to this was a view of humans as inherently depraved and incapable of godly advancement. The restoration of the Weeping God of Enoch, and of human souls “whole from the foundation of the world” are keys to addressing the condition of our broken world and broken individuals. The eternal, premortal human soul in particular is a powerful theological resource we have never sufficiently elaborated or appreciated.

TERRYL L. GIVENS is a Neal A. Maxwell Senior Research Fellow. He formerly held the Jabez A. Bostwick Chair of English and is Professor of Literature and Religion at the University of Richmond. He is the author of many books about Latter-day Saint history and culture, including “Wrestling the Angel: The Foundations of Mormon Thought,” “Feeding the Flock: The Foundations of Mormon Practice,” and “By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture That Launched a New World Religion,” each with Oxford University Press. He is also co-author, with Fiona Givens, of “The God Who Weeps,” “The Crucible of Doubt,” and “The Christ Who Heals.”

The series is sponsored by Brigham Young University's Office of the Associate Academic Vice President for Undergraduate Studies and the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, in partnership with:

The Office of the Dean of Students
Office of the International Vice President
Dean of Undergraduate Education
Department of Religious Education
Wheatley Institution
Harold B. Lee Library
Enrollment Services
Center for Teaching and Learning
BYU Continuing Education
David O. McKay School of Education
J. Reuben Clark Law School
College of Physical and Mathematical Science
College of Humanities
College of Life Sciences
College of Engineering
College of Nursing

Lectures in this series include:
09/23—Lecture 1, “The Doors of Faith”
10/21—Lecture 2, “Awful Woundedness” 
11/18—Lecture 3, “Great Plan of Happiness”
12/9—Lecture 4, “Worlds Without End”