Adam McLain

Adam McLain is a PhD student in the department of English at the University of Connecticut and an incoming 1L at UConn Law. He researches and writes on dystopian literature, legal theory, and sexual justice. He has a BA in English, editing, and women’s studies from Brigham Young University, a master of theological studies, emphasizing in women, gender, sexuality, and religion, from Harvard University, and a MA in English from the University of Connecticut.

The Joy of Unity: 1 Thessalonians 3:9–10, 12
Essay, Religion Adam McLain Essay, Religion Adam McLain

The Joy of Unity: 1 Thessalonians 3:9–10, 12

Tonight, I’m reading 1 Thessalonians for my Introduction tothe New Testament course. As we read through the New Testament as a class, we’refocusing on two angles: first, the historical-critical view of the text, meaning its historical context among early “Christianity”; second, a “minority” criticism, where we return to the text by looking at it through minority viewpoints (something akin to viewing a text through multiple lenses).

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It Hurts
Religion, Essay, Personal Adam McLain Religion, Essay, Personal Adam McLain

It Hurts

The words in General Conference can hurt. I know many people who believe this “hurt” is what is meant to happen in order for those of us who don’t conform to the Church’s wishes to be influenced into conforming. It is the "hard sayings" that prick the heart of the wicked.

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Adam Angkor Wat Writing.JPG

Essaying; or, Why I Blog

To Think

Writing is a spiritual experience. It is a movement toward greater understanding of myself and the world around me. It is a journey toward apotheosis as I come to know my humanity better through the words I write. I write because it allows me to ruminate on a subject, not coming to a definitive conclusion, but rather opening the door to understanding, even in just a little way, the simple complexity and complex simplicity of the universe that surrounds us.

To Share

Writing is a communal experience. It is meant to communicate thoughts across words in order to form other thoughts in other beings. Those thoughts do not come perfectly thought-for-thought, word-for-word, but in their imperfection, there is a connection, a community that is formed between you and me. A joining. A unity.

To Experience

Writing is an experience. Taking the time to consider something and then to write about it allows one to experience and re-experience an event, a moment, a text.