David L. Paulsen

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David Lamont Paulsen (1936–2020)

Richard L. Evans Chair of Religious Understanding
at BYU. He was an active faculty member at BYU from 1972–2011.

Biography

Paulsen was born November 13, 1936, in Ephraim, Utah. His parents were educators, and he followed them in their careers.[1]

He received an associate degree from Snow College in English in 1957, a bachelor's degree from BYU in Political Science in 1961 (in which he was BYU's valedictorian), a JD from the University of Chicago Law School in 1964, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Michigan in 1975, with emphasis in the philosophy of religion.[2] His doctoral dissertation, entitled The Comparative Coherency of Mormon (Finitistic) and Classical Theism, was said by two philosophers critical of LDS theology to be "by far the most detailed and comprehensive defense of Mormon theism."[3]

He married Audrey Lucille Leer and had six children.[4]

Paulsen died November 30, 2020.[1]

Career

Paulsen joined the philosophy department at BYU around 1972 and specialized in

Richard L. Evans Chair, he has also been an Eliza R. Snow Fellow at BYU.[4] Many of his students have gone on to be important figures in the academic study of Mormonism, including prominently Blake Ostler
.

Paulsen was a member of

stake presidency.[4]

Paulsen gave several lectures related to Mormon Studies, including the 2006 Eugene England Memorial Lecture at

Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR). He presented on "The Divine Feminine" at the 2009 BYU Women's Research Institute Colloquia. Paulsen was also the coordinator for the Society of Christian Philosophers inaugural inter-mountain meeting at BYU in 1992.[6]

In 2012 just after his retirement a collection of essays entitled Mormonism at the Crossroads of Philosophy and Theology: Essays in Honor of David L. Paulsen was published, edited by Jacob T. Baker.

Writings

Paulsen edited Mormonism in Dialogue with Contemporary Christian Theologies along with

FARMS Review and BYU Studies. One of these articles, written with Martin Pulido, who studied under Paulsen, entitled "A Mother There: Historical Teachings and Sacred Silence" (BYU Studies Vol. 5, no. 1) has been described as a path-breaking article on femininity in LDS doctrine by Valerie M. Hudson.[9]

Paulsen's work was used in Jeffrey R. Holland's General Conference sermon explaining that the Mormon belief that Jesus and God have physical bodies does not exclude Mormons from being Christians.[10]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "David Lamont Paulsen". Sundberg-Olpin & Wheeler Mortuary. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  2. ^ "Vita" (PDF). College of Humanities, Brigham Young University. July 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-01-27. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
  3. ISBN 0-7734-9787-0
    p. 37
  4. ^ a b c d Skinner, Andrew. "Session 4 opening remarks". The Worlds of Joseph Smith. Library of Congress and Brigham Young University. Archived from the original (MP3) on 2010-01-13. Retrieved 2009-12-29. Paulsen introduction from 4:10–5:45.
  5. ^ "2008 lecture announcement with listing of past lecturers". Archived from the original on 2010-04-02. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
  6. ^ Beckwith, Francis J. (9 June 2009). "What Does Jerusalem Have to Do with Provo?". Christian Research Institute. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
  7. ISBN 978-0-88146-083-4
    . Retrieved 2009-12-29.
  8. ^ "Signature Books link for The Mormon Doctrine of Deity". Archived from the original on 2001-04-13. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
  9. ^ Cassler, V.H. (2011) "Review of Paulsen and Pulido's 'A Mother There,' BYU Studies, 2011," SquareTwo, Vol. 4 No. 1 (Spring), http://squaretwo.org/Sq2ArticleCasslerPaulsenPulido.html, accessed January 26, 2014
  10. ^ text of Holland's talk with footnotes

Sources

External links

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