The more I listen to this interview — the more I enjoy and respect Dr. Millet. I have even listened to the extended interview now, which I definitely recommend. And while I have at least a few posts planned where I hope to express what I loved about this interview, as part 2 of this series, I want to highlight something that made me a bit uncomfortable.
Let me begin with my disclaimer — as some of you may have realized, I am struggling (as a member of the LDS church) with the way that church leaders (as of late) appear to be publicly distancing themselves from many of the tenets of the “gospel” that I grew up with. This is complicated by the fact that while I am happy to see many of these changes — I also am simultaneously fearful that as we “assimilate” into mainstream U.S. culture by playing up our commonalities with others — and distancing ourselves from the differences — we will ultimately weaken the church I love, by weakening the core beliefs/theology that once made us strong.
My husband and I were married and sealed to each other in an LDS temple over 6 years ago. We were surrounded by around 30 of his closest friends and family, but none of mine. I was a convert to the church of about 2 years when we married, and since we decided to get married in our home state, none of my close friends could make the ceremony (we were students at BYU at the time). My family members were not at all interested in joining the church, and sat outside during our sealing ceremony.
In the latter part of the Book of Mormon, we see a resurgence of the name “Nephi.” First, we have Helaman’s son, Nephi (Helaman 3:21) This Nephi has a son, also named Nephi. (3 Nephi 1:2) He is the one present at the time of the ministry of Christ.
In 4th Nephi however, we’re faced with a tricky ambiguity. We learn that the Nephi here is the father of Amos (4 Nephi 1:19), and it would appear that he is the son of Nephi, the disciple. Our only real clue into who he is comes from the heading of 4th Nephi, which says: Continue reading…
“Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah! Jesus anointed that Prophet and Seer.”
-W.W. Phelps, “Praise to the Man,” Hymn #27, LDS Hymnbook, 1985
While this was written for the Prophet Joseph Smith, this line can certainly apply to President Gordon B. Hinckley, who passed away this past Sunday, January 27, 2008 at the age of 97.
“And I … bear personal witness, as a witness, of the divine calling of President Gordon B. Hinckley to this holy office and sacred assignment for which he has been so long and so well prepared. And by “preparation” we mean not only the many experiences which he has had in the Church from his youth, but also mean that doctrine Alma taught, that such a man is “called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God,” a calling predicated at least in part upon demonstrated “faith and good works” before President Hinckley ever came to this earth”
-Jeffrey R. Holland, “Our Priesthood Legacy,” Ensign, May 1995, 38
I wanted to share a few of my own personal recollections about President Hinckley and his family and invite you to do the same in the comments below.
In studying Joseph Smith in the 1970s I was struck by how often Joseph Smith would remind the brethren that they did not know as much as they thought they did. He was also clear that he was much more human than they thought and that he did not know as much as he hoped to know or thought he did. He was sharply aware that his knowledge was limited by his language, his experience and his context and that what he could teach and communicate was further limited by the language, experience and contest of his listeners. He also knew that there was knowledge, truth and value he did not have and would surprise audiences (much like Brigham Young did) by pointing out that Methodists and others had truth that he lacked. (cf Discourses of Brigham Young, page 248). Continue reading…
Latter-day Saints are often taught to avoid the “very appearance of evil. ” This makes sense for any group that believes deity has called it to be “a peculiar people.” The individual examples of LDS members speak far louder than tens of thousands of missionaries in white shirts and ties (and dresses or skirts, of course). While this wise counsel can be taken to extremes, most seem to understand the principle behind it.
A recent news story from Utah, however, has me thinking about appearances vs. reality — something Jesus addressed when he talked about “whited sepulchres.” Several years ago, Daniel D. Thompson and Isaac R. Lifferth operated a franchise video store under the banner of Clean Flicks, Inc. The idea was simple enough. Thompson and Lifferth purchased videos of PG-13 or R rated films, and edited them to remove what many LDS felt was “inappropriate” content (read: sex and at least some violence). What better business model in a state where 72% of the population has been repeatedly cautioned to avoid naughty movies? Well, maybe a legal one would be a bit better. In mid-2006, the company was brought to a halt after a federal court ruled that the business’ activities constituted copyright infringement. Many were disappointed with the “end” of the Clean Flicks story. Thompson and Lifferth reopened their store under the name “Flix Club.” Continue reading…
President Gordon B. Hinckley, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through twelve years of global expansion, has died at the age of 97.
President Hinckley was the 15th president in the 177-year history of the Church and had served as its president since 12 March 1995.
The Church president died at his apartment in downtown Salt Lake City at 7:00 p.m. Sunday night from cause’s incident to age. Member of his family were at his bedside. A successor is not expected to be formally chosen by the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles until after President Hinckley’s funeral within the next few days.
I am trying to keep to a once-a-week blog post, generally on Sunday evening. The passing of President Hinckley is surely sad news for all Latter-day Saints, and for many of us outside the Church who have followed his career. I suppose everyone expects Pres. Monson to become the new Prophet, although this is tradition more than a hard and fast rule. Continue reading…
Our 1 year old has had a stomach bug the last couple of days - lots of laundry + little sleep = no fun. Watching my wife in action reminded me of something Lorenzo Snow said:
A mother who has brought up a family of faithful children ought to be saved if she never does another good thing.
My uncle emailed me the other day. The bishop in his ward gave a talk about the Kirtland Temple and explained how the LDS church donated $100,000.00 per year to the Community of Christ for its upkeep. My uncle wanted to know, “is that true?”
I knew it wasn’t. My work with the John Whitmer Historical Association for the last few years has allowed me to form close connections with a number of Community of Christ leaders. But since this had been preached from the pulpit as a fact, I wanted to respond with definitive facts. So I talked to my friend Barbara Walden who is the director of the Kirtland Temple, and I put the question to her directly. Continue reading…
I really, really enjoyed Krista Tippett’s latest interview with (perhaps) the LDS Church’s arch-theologian: Dr. Robert Millet. I have about 4 or 5 posts in me (at least) about this interview — and here is the first.
Towards the beginning of the interview, the following conversation ensues about the nature of God:
Krista: And Elhohim (God the Father) you understand to be a corporeal being, who was once a man? Like us?
A couple Sundays ago in our singles ward, we were reminded on no uncertain terms that if we were not currently enrolled in a BYU religion class, then we should attend an institute class. I have finished all my BYU required religion credits, and as such, fell into the speaker’s target audience. I figured he was probably right and I could benefit from an institute class, so I looked around for what was available. Apparently there was a Stake institute held at the stake center, and also the Orem Institute, located on UVSC campus.
I was able to get a hold of an Orem Institute course catalog, and was surprised to see the variety of classes offered—this wasn’t just the Sunday school rotation curriculum, they had classes like “Dating and Courtship,” “History of the Church part 1 of 3,” “Women of Faith” (which specifically noted “Men Welcome”) and many others. I figured I would go check it out. Continue reading…
Evangelical Christians have been very vocal over the last century in denouncing Mormons as a “non-Christian” religion. Even the more moderate Catholic and Protestant sects have followed suit. Should I care if my Christian neighbors call me a non-Christian despite my belief in Jesus as Son of God, God the Son, and Savior of the world?
With the Mitt Romney’s presidential run I’ve seen much written on the subject of Mormons being “non-Christians.” While some reporting is better than others, the general consensus of the media seems to be that “Christians” don’t consider Mormons to be Christians, but Mormons want to be called Christians desperately and feel hurt or left out because their “neighbors” won’t call them “Christians” too. As of yet, I’ve never seen a single media article on the subject ask the most obvious questions of all:
How do you define “Christian?”
Is your definition of “Christian” the dictionary definition or a non-standard one?
What is it about Mormon teachings that falls outside of your definition of “Christian?”
My wife says I have a naturally skeptical personality, sometimes to the point of pessimism. I have probably passed up being a millionaire many times by refusing to take serious any network marketing scheme. And come to think of it, I’ve probably let many a conspiracy run amok due to my refusal to believe in conspiracies unless there is, ahem, some sort of evidence worth mentioning.
So maybe this is why I can relate to C.S. Lewis’ character, Puddleglum. Puddleglum is a wet blanket who is skeptical of just about everything. He’s as much a joy to read as he is joyless. Continue reading…
I love Krista Tippett’s “Speaking of Faith”, and I love Mormonism — which makes this a must-listen. I hope it’s good. What did you think? Continue reading…
There is a fascinating community of—I’ll call them neo-fundamentalist LDS (NFLDS) for now—out there who illuminate a cultural template that I find greatly missing on the Bloggernacle, at least any intellectual variety.Struggling to find my voice on a message board such as this, I have decided to help illuminate more of the fundamental side of LDS culture—not that I am a true believer of any sort—I’m kind of like the George Noory of fundamentalism.I find it fascinating and it prickles my hair follicles, but I wouldn’t say I’m a true believer; more of a hedge-better.Doctrinally or theologically I’m more interested in the apocalyptic and economic side of it, than say, whether a man should have more than one wife.I am finding that my general spiritual interest direction would be characterized as moving that way—so maybe I can be a type of fundamentalist that will help us round out the different voices on this board—although I still consider myself an observer and I’m definitely a strong supporter of our current Apostolic leaders. Continue reading…
Leaving aside the implications of polygamy as to the lessened value of males to society and to families, the other question that arises is just what is polygamy?While some are bothered by the fact that Joseph Smith engaged in polygamy, others are perturbed by the fact that he had so few children by anyone other than his first wife.As the recent DNA studies reflect, he and Emma buried more children than the other women had with Joseph between them. Continue reading…
I would like to give a shout out to all the Ward crazies…Where have you all gone?
Every Ward has them and every Ward needs them for comic relief. You know who I’m talking about, that member of the ward who bears his/her testimony every month and always has a miraculous story about angels, the Three Nephites, Bigfoot, the return of the Lost Tribes of Israel, the building of New Jerusalem or some other end time event.
As a teenager my friends and I used to sit in the back pew next to the door laughing at many of the crazy things members would say and do during sacrament. Unfortunately today, I rarely hear these talks, lessons and testimonies. It could be that I’m too busy wrestling with one or more of my four children. However, I think it’s more likely that less and less of these people remain in the Church today. Continue reading…
I count my enjoyment of film scores as my eccentric musical hobby. While others examine the credits of movie posters looking for actors or directors, I almost without fail look for the “Music By:” line. Some find instrumental or orchestral music terribly boring to listen to, but I feel that it grasps my imagination and makes me a part of the music in a way that typical radio tunes simply can’t.
I suppose that’s why I took such a liking to Brett Raymond’s album entitled “First Light: Scenes From the Restoration.” He explains that the album is is much like the soundtrack to a film—only without the film. It is rather the listener who is charged with the task of mentally generating the visuals to coincide with the sound. The 20 tracks follow the events of the early years of Joseph Smith’s ministry, track 1 beginning with a beautiful opening sequence where one might envision opening credits, and track 2 bringing us to a young Joseph on a quest for spiritual enlightenment. Track 3 continues with some poignant melodies that illustrate the “serious reflection” he went through as he pondered the words of James. Track by track, some in the form of songs, and others as simple instrumentals, this album paints a inspiring, powerful, and passionate picture of the ambiance and atmosphere of the early days of what we know as the restoration. Continue reading…
I understand them even less because I grew up with brothers. No sisters. This may have contributed to my girl-craziness in high school and college. Getting to know my wife better has helped me to begin to understand women and their motivations, but I’m still learning.
I work with women. My boss is a woman. The majority of my co-workers are women. Such is a career in education. I really like it, because I’ve been able to see that women are no different from men in very fundamental ways. We are all capable of hiring, firing, managing budgets, motivating colleagues, and getting the job done. That’s my life Monday to Friday. Saturday is family day, and then Sunday rolls around…and women are not my equals anymore, at least for 3 hours, and I really don’t understand why.
About a week ago, I had to explain death to my four year old. It was one of those conversations that every parent hopes to put off for as long as possible, and made a little more complicated by the circumstances. Continue reading…
There are a lot of myths both inside and outside Mormondom about the LDS claim to be the “one true Church.” That claim is difficult for people of other faiths to accept for obvious reasons. But it may also be difficult for many Mormons to reconcile that claim with their belief in a just and merciful God who loves all his children. I do not expect it will ever be “easy” to accept the “one true Church” claim. However, I think Church members sometimes make it more difficult to accept by drawing implications from the “one true Church” claim that do not necessarily follow from it.
In order to correctly understand what the “one true Church” claim truly means, we first need to understand what it does not mean. The following is my attempt to bust the myths surrounding the “one true Church” claim and its companion doctrines, the Apostasy and Restoration, using the words of Church leaders and Church publications.
In 2006, there were more than 272,800 convert baptisms in the Church. A year later, I wonder how many are still active? As President Hinckley has said,
“…it will do no good for you to baptize someone and have that individual fall away from the Church shortly thereafter. What have you accomplished? You may have labored long and hard, you may have fasted and prayed as you taught a particular individual the gospel. But if he does not remain active in the Church, all of your labor has been in vain. The whole process counts for nothing. Any investigator worthy of baptism becomes a convert worthy of saving.” Gordon B. Hinckley, “Find the Lambs, Feed the Sheep,” Ensign, May 1999, 104
But is there a rush to baptism? Are numbers and statistics overriding common sense when it comes to making sure that new converts understand what membership in the Church means? Do we seek quantity over quality of the converts coming into the church?
This is the first in my posts with the title “The Continuing Crisis.” Each will discuss issues that either are, or should be, front and center in Mormonism today (at least in my opinion…)
Imagine my surprise when I learned that Martin Luther King Jr. died at the age of 39! This Monday is a holiday celebrating Dr. King. Another young man lost his life at about the same age — Joseph Smith, Jr. Both had a dream, both were either loved or hated by the people. Both based their beliefs in religion. Both died martyrs.
My question: would Dr. King be welcomed into the Mormon church today? They may want him to keep quiet about his feelings of unrest. And how far has Mormonism come in its well-known problems with race? Has Mormonism become the race-neutral welcoming place that it should have been from the beginning?
The 
