For the unindoctrinated, MBTI (Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator) is a psychometric that classifies people into one of 16 profiles. It is primarily used to help people get along better at work (along with staples like Wacky Bowling and Ropes courses). So, what is Jesus’ MBTI type? Does Jesus’ personality type create a subtle bias against religious leaders (or even followers) with different personality traits? Continue reading…
I was raised in a household of faith. My parents are believers who encouraged discussion of religion in their home. I’ve asked around and found that this isn’t the case in many LDS homes. My parents asked what we children learned in Primary and Sunday School and then what we thought about it! Continue reading…
“The idea of a forever forward is not more or less simple than that of a forever backward. Yet, in our culture, one idea is commonplace, the other startling, even unthinkable.”
~Truman Madsen
I always find myself in a little conundrum when I’m teaching about the mysterious pre-mortal life (from the approved materials, of course!), and how we were all born spiritually. Spiritual birth discussions always lead to the Abraham scripture about intelligences, and everything gets stuck there. Who can really say what “intelligence(s)” is? Some have taken a stab at it:
As members of the LDS Church, we recognize that the Gospel was “restored” to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith and that he founded the Church on April 6, 1830. A question we might ask ourselves is: what is the actual purpose of the Church? Why does it exist? How does it help us? And, do we need it to exist to in order to achieve exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom, living with Heavenly Father and Jesus for all eternity? Continue reading…
If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to let Mormon Matters readers know about a recent interesting development in Mormon literature that I’m involved in as a publisher (definitely on a nonprofit basis):
“The news that Coke Newell’s novel On the Road to Heaven won Best Novel at the new Whitney Awards could have interesting implications for the LDS market,” writes literary reporter Kent Larsen at Mormon culture blog A Motley Vision. “Since the novel also won the Association for Mormon Letters Best Novel award earlier this year, Newell’s work is clearly the consensus novel of the year.” Continue reading…
“Elders are agreed on the way and manner necessary to obtain celestial glory, but they quarrel about a dollar. When principles of eternal life are brought before them—God and the things pertaining to God and godliness—they apparently care not half so much about them as they do about five cents. Instead of reflecting upon and searching for hidden things of greatest value to them, [the Latter-day Saints] rather wish to learn how to secure their way through the world as easily and as comfortably as possible. The reflections, what they are here for, who produced them, and where they are from, fro too seldom enter their minds.” – So said Brigham Young.
In speaking of other faiths, Joseph Smith admonished early church members to “gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up” or they would not be “true Mormons” [Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 316]. Are the true principles only the ones we have in common? Why principles (vs. doctrines or values or practices)? What are the true principles that are unique to other faiths, not encompassed in Mormonism, that we should gather and treasure up? Continue reading…
1 Kings Chapter 18 tells the story of Elijah and the priests of Baal. We read that Elijah and Ahab confront each other, and Elijah challenges Ahab’s new god, Baal, and his priests in showdown of divine power. After the priests are unable to summon Baal’s power to burn their scarified offering, Elijah succeeds in doing so by engaging the powers of heaven. Everyone learns a good lesson about not trusting in idols and the need to serve God, but a rather disconcerting detail about what Elijah does next is often overlooked. Continue reading…
I don’t necessarily disagree with the points made by BYU law professor Lynn D. Wardle in his Salt Lake Tribune editorial regarding the Elliott Spitzer affair (“Infidelity by elected officials rightfully is a public issue,” March 21). However, I think it’s important to step back and acknowledge that it is within the realm of possibility for a political leader to be both a good leader and an immoral person in his private life. Continue reading…
Nauvoo was a mistake. At the close of the Missouri Mormon War in the winter of 1838-39, the Saints crossed the icy Mississippi. The people of Quincy, Illinois, were aghast at their condition and opened their hearts and their homes to the refugees. A new gathering place needed to be planted and the church soon found a hopeful location upriver from Quincy — approximately at the border between Illinois, Missouri and the Iowa Territory. Continue reading…
Let me be clear about a few things. First, I have been diagnosed as a liberal Mormon. Second, liberal Mormonism has been discussed before in the Bloggernacle, with one site devoted entirely to it. Third, I’m not talking about politics. Finally, this means some Mormons have problems with me. Continue reading…
I was recently asked by a journalist for my observations on the new Mormon prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and I thought I’d share my responses here and inquire what others would say in answer to the same questions:
1. Have you ever met President Monson and, if so, do you have any lasting impressions from that meeting? What’s he like in person? Continue reading…
Let’s play a little game. In order to be eligible to play, you MUST NOT be a current viewer of American Idol. If you are familiar with any of the contestants on season 7, consider yourself disqualified. This game is actually more of an experiment in cultural image identification. Consider these top 12 contestants on American Idol. Two of them are Mormon. Can you guess which ones?
This past Thursday, Claremont College hosted a very good panel discussion with Richard and Claudia Bushman and Richard Turley on the future of Mormon history. I asked Claudia if she would e-mail me a copy of her talk, and whether I could distribute it. Here it is, unedited, but with the typical Claudia Bushman flair, at the end, pure poetry. I hope you enjoy it. Continue reading…
Consider the following lists of attributes of God: Continue reading…
I believe that transparency is the way we love.
A friend once told me, “You can’t love someone if you can’t talk to them.” I think we were discussing boys or dating at the time, but the older I get, the more I agree with her.
Continue reading…
This part 3 of Testimony is just for fun. I will give you four examples of some of the stranger testimonies I have heard. No doubt I have forgotten the strangest ones. But these are the ones that come to mind. You can check out Part 1 and Part 2 to see how I got here. Continue reading…
I grew up in the capital of Mormonism, the heart of Salt Lake Valley. I straddled the two dominant cultures in that valley and experienced tension in my relation to both of those cultures. I lived and went to Church on the west side while through my Junior High and High School years, I went to two prestigious east side public schools courtesy of open enrollment laws. I was bussed. I never really fit into either culture. I was left an island unto myself.
The east side is a collection of families that make up the wealth of Utah. In 1975, these families contained many of the General Authorities, members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, those of wealthy pioneer stock, business owners, university professors, real estate professionals, and those with land. The west side was an outgrowth of President Monson’s Pioneer Stake in Rose Park. They were the working class, the poor, inflowing Polynesian, Latin, and Asian minorities from Vietnam. The outgrowth of Rose Park became West Valley City, Taylorsville, Kearns, Magna, and West Jordan. These communities each had elements of the working class and had sizeable minority populations. Continue reading…
Sgt. Marshall Thompson, a Mormon GI from Utah, who served in Iraq speaks about his Anti-Iraq War protest walk, his experience in Iraq, his hopes for an end to the occupation and his fears of protesting in the “reddest state in the country”.
Meeting together in person to exchange ideas, you ask? Haven’t you heard of the “internets” John Hamer? Hasn’t the awesome nature of the MormonMatters Blog made attending a Mormon studies conference IRL (in real life) as obsolete as reading a printed book?!
As incredible as online connections can be, you can’t imagine the fun you’re missing at a real life Mormon studies conference until you’ve been to one in person. I went to my first Mormon History Association conference in May of 2003 and I got hooked. Like the guy in the old Gillette commercials, “I love these things so much, I bought the company” — or my case with JWHA, it might be phrased: “I got roped into being responsible for the association.” Continue reading…
When I saw the trailer for this movie one giant big ‘THING’ came to my mind . . . . Human Kind didn’t live in the time of the woolly mammoth! Or did we? I started to question myself, my religion, Christianity, Judaism, Creationism, etc. I started to believe that there was in fact a human evolutionary process our ancestors went through. Maybe Charles Darwin was correct in his findings at Galapagos. Maybe Sasquatch is our missing link.
This movie seemed really intriguing to me. I really want to go see this movie even though it might make much of what I thought to be true now untrue. The movie has danger, high adventure, ancient civilizations, there is a hint of love in the story line, and it has prehistoric creatures as well as humans roaming the earth together.
