Welcome, dear readers, to the Fall 2017 issue of SquareTwo! This is a special anniversary for us; this is the 10th Fall issue we have published! That is right, SquareTwo has been around for a decade now! Click here for the full table of contents for this issue.
In commemoration of that event, the two founding editors, Valerie M. Hudson and Ralph C. Hancock, have penned their reflections on this decadal journey. They discuss the highs and lows, as well as hopes for the future. Find Hudson’s reflections here, and Hancock’s here.
Next, Holden Brimhall examines the history of official Church reaction to the topic of sexual abuse. Spanning all the way from the time of Joseph Smith to the present, this historical review examines several stages the Church has traversed, representing both progress and regress, but with a positive trajectory overall.
Third, M. David Huston pens an insightful essay about the relationship between priesthood office and blessings of the priesthood. For example, does the Aaronic Priesthood enjoy the ministering of angels more than, say, Beehives do? What an excellent question to ask!
Fourth, Valerie M. Hudson opines that the LDS faith community is “power-walking towards diarchy.” What she means by this is that small, but significant changes seem to indicate a growing awareness of diarchy in the divine plan, such as the increasing use of the phrase “Heavenly Parents” by our general authorities, an admission that we know very little about either Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother, as well as new language from the Young Women’s presidency about how the young women work with priesthood power just as the young men do.
Fifth, we have a short but remarkable anecdote from Dale Moore that recounts an alternative that was posed to a Canadian couple who both had been previously sealed to other individuals, had been widowed, and then wished to be sealed. Since we have never seen this alternative for the sealing of a living woman discussed before, we offer the anecdote here.
Sixth, B. Kent Harrison reviews a book of collected essays by Thomas F. Rogers, formerly head of Honors Program at Brigham Young University, entitled Let Your Hearts and Minds Expand. Rogers has both depth and breadth of mind, and in these essays touches on a variety of topics, including faith and doubt, reason, and charity. Rogers’ lifelong study of Russian literature illuminates all these reflections, as well. This may well be the Christmas present you’ve been searching for to give to that hard-to-shop-for friend.
Seventh, we have some terrific comments on last issue’s Readers’ Puzzle on the removal of various categories of statuary from public spaces. The comments represent a full spectrum of views, and also raise issues not often mentioned in connection with this controversy.
And finally, we also have a new Reader’s Puzzle on the Weinstein Moment in US history. What do the think the upshot of this moment has been or will be for our country? We’d love to hear from you, dear readers.
Enjoy this terrific new issue! Ten years—where has the time gone?
Full Citation for this Article: Editorial Board, SquareTwo Journal (2017) "Editor's Intro Fall 2017," SquareTwo, Vol. 10 No. 3 (Fall 2017), http://squaretwo.org/EditorsIntroFall2017.html, accessed <give access date>.
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