Jana Riess
| Jana Riess | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Jana Kathryn Riess December 13, 1969 US |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | PhD |
| Period | 1990s-present |
| Genre | Religion |
| Spouse | Phil Smith[1] |
| Children | Jerusha (born c. 1999)[2] |
Jana Kathryn Riess (born December 13, 1969)[3][4] is an American writer and editor.
Reiss' writings have focused on American religions, usually on organized movements such as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and The Church of Christ, Scientist.
Background
Reiss was born in the US midwest, one of two children.[5] Her father[6] abandoned the family (mother Phyllis[7] and Jana; by that time the brother was on his own) without warning in 1984.[8]
Riess has a Bachelor's degree from Wellesley College. She received a Master's degree in theology from the Princeton Theological Seminary and a PhD in American Religious studies from Columbia University. Riess is a Religion and American Studies professor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She and husband Phil Smith reside in Cincinnati.[9]
Writings
Among the books by Riess are What Would Buffy Do? and an abridgment of the Book of Mormon with commentary. Riess is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having converted as an adult.[10] Riess is an expert on religion in literature. In 2001 she moderated a debate over whether the Harry Potter books were a tract for witchcraft.[11] She has been the religion book editor for Publishers Weekly.[9]
Tweeting the Bible
On October 4, 2009, Riess began a project to tweet the bible. Her "Twible" quest will conclude in January 2013. Each tweet summarizes a chapter of the bible. Riess tweets the bible in order and plans to hit all 1,189 chapters in 140 characters.[12]
Examples:
- @janariess #Twible Genesis 12: Hello, Abram. G promises land & descendants. Father Ab responds by lying to Pharaoh & pimping out wife Sarai.
- @janariess #Twible Genesis 20: Ab pulls the "she's my sister" thing again; successfully pimps out Sarah for more sheep, oxen & slaves. Yay Father Ab!
- @janariess #Twible Genesis 26: Like father, like son. Isaac mimics "she's my sister" trick to pimp out wife Reb. Again results in riches. We never learn.
Works
- Books
- Riess, Jana (2002), The Spiritual Traveler: Boston and New England: A Guide to Sacred Sites and Peaceful Places, Mahwah, NJ: HiddenSpring, ISBN 978-1-58768-008-3
- —— (2004), What Would Buffy Do?: The Vampire Slayer as Spiritual Guide, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, ISBN 978-0-7879-6922-6
- ——; Bigelow, Christopher Kimball (2005), Mormonism for Dummies, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 978-0-7645-7195-4
- —— (2005), The Book of Mormon: Selections Annotated and Explained, Woodstock, VT: SkyLight Paths, ISBN 1-59473-076-8
- Ogilbee, Mark; Riess, Jana (2006), American Pilgrimage: Eleven Sacred Journeys and Spiritual Destinations, Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, ISBN 978-1-55725-447-4
- __ (2011), Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking the Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving My Neighbor, Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, ISBN 978-1-55725-660-7
- Articles
- Riess, Jana (June 1999), "Stripling Warriors Choose the Right: The Cultural Engagements of Contemporary Mormon Kitsch" (PDF), Sunstone Magazine (114): 36–47
- —— (Spring 2000), "'Heathen in Our Fair Land': Presbyterian Women Missionaries in Utah, 1870–90", Journal of Mormon History 26 (1): 165–195
- —— (August 21, 2000), "New Genres, Emerging Audiences", Publishers Weekly 247 (34): S4
- —— (2001), "Mormon Fast and Testimony Meetings", in Colleen McDannell, Religions of the United States in Practice 2, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp. 67–71, ISBN 0-691-01001-3
- —— (2001), "The Latter-day Saint Word of Wisdom", Religions of the United States in Practice 2, pp. 297–301, ISBN 0-691-01001-3
- —— (2002), "Introduction", Mary Baker Eddy, Speaking for Herself: Autobiographical Reflections, Boston: The Writings of Mary Baker Eddy, pp. xv–xlv, ISBN 0-87952-275-5
- —— (March 2003), "Strengthening the Part-Member Marriage?: We're Just Fine, Thank You" (PDF), Sunstone (126): 66–67
- —— (July 2003), "Seek Ye Out of the Best Flicks: R-Rated Movies That Have Helped Me Think About the Gospel" (PDF), Sunstone Magazine (128): 42–44
- —— (March 2005), "'More Fully Unspotted from the World': Thoughts on Sabbath Keeping" (PDF), Sunstone (135): 23–25
- —— (March 2005), "Sacred Envy: What I've Learned from Other Religions" (PDF), Sunstone (136): 52–54
- —— (September 2005), "For the Love of Reading" (PDF), Sunstone (138): 56–58
- —— (September 2006), "How to Give a Sacrament Meeting Talk: An Open Letter to Converts" (PDF), Sunstone (142): 55–57
- —— (June 2007), "Why the Heck Don't Mormons Swear?: Musings on the Sacred and the Profane" (PDF), Sunstone (146): 57–59
- —— (October 2, 2007), "We're Christians Too", Christian Century 124 (20): 9–10
- —— (December 2007), "Tributaries of Faith" (PDF), Sunstone (148): 20–26
- —— (2009), "Book of Mormon Stories that Steph Meyer Tells to Me: LDS Themes in the Twilight Saga and the Host", BYU Studies 48 (3): 141–47
- Other
- Riess, Jana (1991), "The Saints Go Marching In: Mormonism in American Politics, 1970–1990", [Honors thesis], Wellesley, MA: Department of Religion, Wellesley College Missing or empty
|title=(help) - —— (2000), "Heathen in Our Fair Land: Anti-Polygamy and Protestant Women's Missions to Utah, 1869–1910", [PhD Thesis], New York: Columbia University Missing or empty
|title=(help) - Bigelow, Christopher Kimball (2007), Jana Riess, ed., The Timechart History of Mormonism from Premortality to the Present, Bassingbourne, Hertfordshire, UK: Worth Press, ISBN 978-1-903025-40-6
Footnotes
- ↑ Flunking Sainthood, pp. 5, 153
- ↑ Flunking Sainthood, pp. 19, 56
- ↑ "The Book of Mormon: selections annotated and explained". Copyright Catalog (1978 to present). United States Copyright Office. Retrieved June 21, 2010.
- ↑ Flunking Sainthood, p. 158
- ↑ She has an older brother, John (ref. Flunking Sainthood, pp. 58, 168)
- ↑ Her father died at age 71 in Mobile, Alabama, in October 2010 (Flunking Sainthood, pp. 166–169)
- ↑ Annotated Book of Mormon, p. xix
- ↑ Flunking Sainthood, pp. 166–169
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Riess, Jana (September 2006). "How to Give a Sacrament Meeting Talk: An Open Letter to Converts" (PDF). Sunstone Magazine (142): 55–57. Retrieved June 21, 2010..
- ↑ "My dad was an angry atheist . . My mom was considerably more charitable but no more interested in organized religion . ." (Flunking Sainthood, p. 1)
- ↑ Deseret News, 9 December 2001
- ↑ "Tweeting the Bible", Patheos
External links
- Jana Riess at the MLCA Database
- "Flunking Sainthood" blog on Beliefnet
- The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching – Jana Riess' blog
- @janariess on Twitter
- Works by or about Jana Riess in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- FARMS Review on Riess' abridgment of the Book of Mormon
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