The restoration was essentially based on a rejection of the creeds of Christendom which were declared “an abomination” and “those professors were all corrupt; that: ‘they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.” So, are all creeds bad or just those specific creeds? Are there creeds in Mormonism or is it a creedless religion?
It may be that some of you caught the excellent article in Monday’s USA Today titled “How Much Truth Is Too Much?” It can be found at: http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/forum_commentary/index.html Here is a fellow who struggled with his Roman Catholic church’s treatment of the sex-abuse scandals, and finally left the communion, going to Eastern Orthodoxy. A point he makes — he acknowledges problems in Orthodoxy, too, but the need for the institution of the church is greater than his need to uncover all of his church’s flaws. I wonder if we all should stop criticizing people who insist that every flaw...
Last April, as I was contemplating my monthly New Year’s resolution (Hunger and Thirst After Righteousness), something struck me quite forcefully – something I had never considered previously in quite the same way. I was struck by the difference between “righteousness” and “spirituality“. Since that epiphany, I also have considered the difference between “religiosity” and “spirituality” and how these very different things affect one’s membership in and testimony of Mormonism – and, by extension, any other Christian denomination. I believe this basic discussion also plays out in why some Mormons leave the Church and where they end up as...
Today’s post comes from The Teacher. Section 8 of the Doctrine & Covenants refers to “another gift” Olivery Cowdery had, called at different times “the gift of Aaron” or “the rod of nature.” Several commentators recognize this gift as related to Oliver’s use of a divining rod.
A few posts on MormonMatters got me thinking once about my relationship with other faith groups. For instance, a recent post on why it seems that ex-Mormons have a hard time joining other denominations. Valoel wrote a blog post on what you’d do if you found out that the Church weren’t true through some sort of revelation (from God or otherwise), however the post had the caveat: “For simplicity, the assumption for this topic is that no other church is a true alternative.” For me, I’ve found that if, for some reason, I discovered that if the Church isn’t...
The title is from DC3:1. Today’s guest post is from Bouvet and is in reference to this year’s Doctrine & Covenants manual, Lesson 4 is Remember the New Covenant, Even the Book of Mormon.
Several months ago I received a telephone call from Armand Mauss, who is a member of my Stake. He was calling on official Church business, but I couldn’t help taking the opportunity to pepper him with questions and pick his brain for about an hour. At one point in our discussion, he lamented the proliferation of Mormon blogs where, on any given day, one can find hundreds of people speculating and opining about numerous issues of which they actually know very little, and yet somehow hold unshakably strong and certain conclusions about them.
Thought I’d catch your attention with that line from “Saturday’s Warrior,” the bane (or bastion, if you don’t know what you’re talking about) of Mormon doctrine.* There was an interesting article in NYT about how children can negatively impact marriages. So, what’s the real scoop on these tiny little homewreckers? Read on . . .
As they say, sex sells. The church has had a lot to say about sex and sexuality. It’s been on a winding path, but over time it has developed a rather comprehensive universe-view to back its positions. I like to think, even if some people vehemently disagree with the church position, or think that the church has become bland on certain doctrinal points in relationship to its past, LDS doctrines concerning the family have been consistently unique, fresh, and vitalic (even though that’s not a word, no other word sounds right to me…so hush up!)
The very existence of what is commonly called the “veil” seems to tell us at least two things about what God intended real faith to be:
Thought I’d start with one by Hyrum Smith
Admin Note: This is our first guest post from Mormon Heretic. When most of us hear the word “jihad” or “holy war”, we immediately know that a jihad is not what God wants. Most of us feel the same when we hear the word “crusade.” Really, does anyone think God wants people to fight in his name? In the book of Joshua, Joshua claims to be commanded by God to destroy everyone and everything in what is now the land of Israel.
Man with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but to the humblest living creature, with his god-like intellect which has penetrated into the movements and constitution of the solar system – with all these exalted powers – Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.–Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man Incidentally, this post will say precious little of Rhodesian man, “missing links,” or opposing thumbs. I’m not a scientist. I don’t pretend to be. Believe it or not,...
When you hear the name Oliver Cowdery, you probably think of the story that culminates in the revelation that became Section 9 of the Doctrine & Covenants. This section uses Oliver as a (bad) example of how to seek and receive personal revelation. Today’s guest post is from The Teacher. Come visit The Teacher here.
Names and identities have been invented and caricatured as necessary. Miller is a member of the church. He magnifies all of his callings, does all of the so-called “standard primary answers” (reads the scriptures, prays, attends his meetings, fasts, etc.,) He is seen around his ward as a beacon for what youth should be doing. Sure, he might have a few rough edges; no one’s perfect and certainly not Miller. But it might seem, to the unseeing eye, that Miller is generally on the “right track.” Miller has a problem, though.
There’s a difference in interpretation between how LDS and non-LDS view the statement by Jesus to Peter when he says “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” While all might agree that there is a play on words between the name “Peter” and “rock,” Catholics consider this scripture as the origin of Papal authority, whereas LDS readers would say that Jesus was referring to “revelation” as the rock upon which He would build His church. So, just what rock was Jesus talking about?
This is a post written initially on my own blog. It was reprinted on Feminist Mormon Housewives a while back. It created a very lively discussion and even got some comments from a few people who had personally been through a transgender operation. I have edited the original post to make it more up-to-date and to include some of the comments it generated. ————————————————————————– Sometimes I find it hard to reconcile certain Church teachings with real-life stories. I was reminded about this after catching an old episode of Oprah a few weeks ago.
Today, February 3, 2009 is the 1-year anniversary of the calling of President Thomas S. Monson as the 16th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. What has happened in the Church during that period? Has there been any major changes, events, revelations?
I believe we need to take responsibility for understanding and choosing what we say and do – not allowing others to make those decisions for us. With that in mind, I am addressing the “what”, “why” and “so what” of “swearing and cursing”. The best Biblical statements regarding swearing and cursing include the following: “Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.” (Deut. 6:13) “But I say unto you, Swear not at all;” (Matthew 5:34) “And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.” (Exodus...
“Say nothing but repentance unto this generation” D&C 11:9. How much fun is that?