Parallels and Convergences: Mormon Thought and Engineering Vision

Publisher Marketing: The earth will eventually be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory. But how will our current world ever become the heaven of our dreams? The Lord is already on it; and, as the essays in this book provocatively proposes, He's following good engineering principles. Joseph Fielding Smith said, regarding inventions in these latter days, "The inspiration of the Lord has gone out and takes hold of the minds of men, though they know it not, and they are directed by the Lord. In this manner he brings them into his service." If there is "no such thing as immaterial matter," and "all spirit is matter," then what are the implications for such standard theological principles as creation, human progression, free will, transfiguration, resurrection, and immortality? In eleven stimulating essays, Mormon engineers probe gospel possibilities and future vistas dealing with human nature, divine progression, and the earth's future. Richard Bushman poses a vision-expanding proposal: "The end point of engineering knowledge may be divine knowledge. Mormon theology permits us to think of God and humans as collaborators in bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Engineers may be preparing the way for humans to act more like gods in managing the world." Contributor Bio:  Howe, A Scott A. Scott Howe is a senior engineer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He is on the NASA development team building long-duration human habitats for deep space, and permanent outposts for the moon and Mars. Contributor Bio:  Bushman, Richard L Richard L. Bushman is Gouverneur Morris Professor of History Emeritus at Columbia University and author of the award-winning "From Puritan to Yankee: Character and the Social Order in Connecticut, 1690-1765" and "King and People in Provincial Massachusetts". Contributor Bio:  Givens, Terryl L Terryl Givens is Professor of Literature and Religion and holds the James Bostwick Chair of English at the University of Richmond. Some of his books include Viper on the Hearth, Mormons, Myths, and the Construction of Heresy (Oxford 1997), By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion (Oxford 2002), People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture (Oxford 2007), which was named Best Book of the Year by the Mormon History Association for 2007, and, most recently, When Souls Had Wings: Pre-Mortal Existence in Western Thought (Oxford 2009).