PhD Historian of Religion, Science, and Biblical Interpretation
My studies include Semitic languages, Biblical studies, history of science, and history of Christianity, primarily Reformation and modern American. I completed all the coursework for a PhD in Comparative Semitics (effectively Old Testament Languages and Literature+ Arabic) at the University of Chicago, but ultimately received my PhD in American Religious History from Claremont.
I was the University of Utah’s Tanner Fellow for Mormon Studies (2022-23) and defended my dissertation in Summer 2024.
“The Scientist is Wrong”: Joseph Fielding Smith, George McCready Price, and the Ascent of Creationist Thought among Latter-day Saints in the Twentieth Century is now available publicly from ProQuest. I explore how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, — i.e. Mormonism— wrestled with the quintessential American crux of creationism/evolution in the 20th century. Placing that conflict within a broader American cultural context, I locate its roots within the non-exegetical nature of the LDS tradition, unacknowledged hermeneutical assumptions, and a religious devotion to education and science. I also trace the surprisingly deep influence of Seventh-Day Adventist George McCready Price and Christian fundamentalism on Joseph Fielding Smith, and, post-1954, LDS more generally.
“We have never seen such a thoroughly researched dissertation”— my dissertation committee
“A Masterpiece” — BYU evolutionary biologist Stephen Peck (who has written on this topic.)
“A tour-de-force”— NASA scientist David H. Bailey (who has written on this topic.)
With most of my content here, I’m trying to cross boundaries by translating the secular, academic, and technical for a non-specialist and confessional community.
All posts, pages, papers, etc. are copyright to Ben Spackman, 2019, all rights reserved.
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