*Remembering Armand Mauss (Part 7 of 7)

Dr. Armand Mauss is a well-known LDS scholar that wrote the conclusion of the LDS Gospel Topics Series by Dr. Matt Harris and Dr. Newell Bringhurst.  Matt and Newell will share Armand’s conclusions, and will discuss their memories of Dr. Mauss, who passed away just 4 months ago in August of 2020.

Newell:  Yeah, I thought that that essay is really one of the critical essays. If I was going to recommend the way you read the book, I would recommend reading the introduction that Matt and I wrote, and then going to read what Armand Mauss had to say in his concluding essay, because what that does, is it really does two critical things. It kind of summarizes the gist of what’s in most of the essays, so that if you read that second, you’d be able to go back and read each of the subsequent essays themselves. He does really a good job of summarizing the gist of what each of the authors mean, and how they approached it. I think that’s one of the great contributions of his essay.
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Matt: Newell summarized it nicely. I’d say one thing about Armand, the person, though. I think that there isn’t probably anybody in the Church, in my opinion, who represents an honesty and truthfulness, but yet, from a believing Latter-day Saint as Armand.  He really has walked that balance his entire life. He’s not afraid of the truth. He’s not afraid to let the chips fall where they may, but as a believing, practicing Mormon. I always loved his scholarship, because I knew that he wasn’t an apologist. I knew that he wasn’t going to whitewash race or anything else he wrote about. He was always going to do it in a very sensitive way. That, I think, is really what should be expected of each of us who writes on Mormon Studies. I really think he’s a model of a believer, but also a scholar. That’s one of the reasons why Newell and I wanted him to participate in this volume is because he really did have that balance. He’s going to be missed.
To hear the conclusion, sign up for our free newsletter and I will send you a secret link to check out our final conversation with Matt & Newell.
And don’t miss our previous conversations with Newell and Matt!
458: Race, Priesthood, & Randy Bott
457: Racism in Mormon Scripture
456: Pros & Cons of Race Essay
455: Critiquing Polygamy Essays & Sources
454: Are Gospel Essays Hidden or Public?
453: Swedish Rescue & Gospel Topics Essays