High Priests Groups world-wide are still reeling at the Church News’ announcement that questions surrounding the accuracy and authenticity of the Book of Abraham are not as important as critics suggest because the book “is not central to the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ” despite its inclusion in the canonized LDS Standard Works. (Read Church News article here.)
Monthly Archives: August 2009
The Grand Council in Heaven: Re-interpreting an Archetype
As a fan of Mormon Studies I value the opportunity to discuss and, sometimes, disagree. In this regard, I have been particularly inspired by the vision of J. Bonner Ritchie. He has repeatedly argued for openness and honesty regarding the Mormon Experience. However, I wonder whether Mormon thought really has space for this kind of openness when we retain the LDS version of the pre-mortal Grand Council as our archetypal council meeting?
Scripture Inerrancy, Literalism, and Pres Veazey
There are those (especially among Evangelicals) who believe that the Bible is inerrant and literal. For example a scriptural literalist will claim that Noah’s flood covered the entire earth. A non-literalist may say that the flood was merely a large localized flood. Pres. Stephen Veazey is the prophet for the Community of Christ, and he gave a sermon on scriptural literalism. The videos can be found on the CoC website, and this quote comes from Chapter 4. Let me quote from Pres. Veazey directly:
Do Mormon Kids Understand the Atonement?
Does the church teach that we are saved by grace or that we are saved by works? This is one of the most oft-repeated criticisms of the Mormon church by other churches, that we don’t correctly understand the atonement of Jesus.
Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is Biblical Translation
This probably will be the shortest post I ever write, but sometimes less is more. I hope that is the case here.
Do We Let the Church Get in the Way of the Gospel?
Any church is like an orange: it has sweet, juicy, nourishing fruit (i.e., truths that help people live better lives); and it has a tough, bitter peel that protects the fruit and holds it together (i.e. an organizational structure, prescribed forms of worship, and claims to divine authority). Were it not for its protective institutional peel, a church’s nourishing spiritual teachings would become damaged and lost; were it not for its fruitful truths, a church’s institutional peel would be hollow and purposeless.
Prosperity vs. Religion
There was a great article in Newsweek called (Un)wired For God. It was a follow up on a prior article that had talked about the theory that people are hard-wired for religious belief (pre-disposed through our brain structure to believe in God, the supernatural, etc.)
A Case for Slavery
A few years ago, John Dehlin did a few podcasts about the Priesthood Ban. I wrote up a post which combined about 3 of John’s podcasts (and was nominated for a Niblet), which specifically addressed many of the historical aspects of slavery and the priesthood ban. I was quite surprised to learn that the Territory of Utah legalized slavery. In the podcasts, it was mentioned that one of the reasons was likely due to some of the slaveholding apostles. However, there is more to the slavery issue than just black slaves. Indian slavery was also legal, and I think...
What level of encryption is required to preserve a sacred space?
One of my grandfather’s hobbies was the study of ancient mystery religions, especially Eleusis and Eleusinian Mysteries. One thing that was striking in reading his work was how much we don’t know. The rites continued for thousands of years, but the initiates kept confidences. They abided the social covenant . The same is true of the sacred mysteries of the early Christian Church which were completely lost by the third century A.D. or so.
Taking control of the Mormon conversation — Another Look at Ballard
A few days ago (depending on when I get to publishing this), we had a rather lively discussion about Elder M. Russell Ballard’s Engaging Without Being Defensive. Batman highlighted one line in particular from Ballard and then the discussion went from there. Later on, he (that is, Batman, not “the church” or anyone like that) decided (and everyone’s been commenting about this decision) that he wasn’t satisfied with the tone and direction of the conversation, so he took down the discussion, as well as its comments. Look at my name under the title. I am not Batman and don’t...
Should Observance Of The Word Of Wisdom Be Necessary For Baptism?
When I was growing up, there was an elderly couple in my ward. The wife had been a faithful, active member for years and the husband, a non-member, attended church with her faithfully every Sunday until he died. From what I remember, he was well-received and well-liked by the people of the ward, but it was a known fact that he never became a member himself because of his smoking habit. He tried, but just couldn’t kick the habit. So he could never be baptized.
5 Questions After 5 Years – From A Longtime ‘Nacle Wannabe
A cross-post from Nine Moons — written by John Dehlin by request of Rusty Clifton — in celebration of Nine Moons’ 5-year anniversary. ========= Most of you won’t know me. I used to blog/podcast back in the day, but was never really part of the official Bloggernacle community (as defined by those invested in the term). I was (and am) a ‘Nacle Wannabe. A big thanks to Rusty for the invitation to write. He’s always been really cool to me. Same w/ Ronan, JNS, SV, ECS, Kaimi, KH, BIV, DKL, Kiskilili, Hamer, Danithew, Ann, Aaron Brown — and a few...
The Book of Mormon and the Prosperity Gospel
So, it seems that some of the other sites in the Bloggernacle have already sidebarred something about this little article from the New York Times about the Prosperity Gospel. A few lines from that article: “God knows where the money is, and he knows how to get the money to you,” preached Mrs. Copeland, dressed in a crisp pants ensemble like those worn by C.E.O.’s. … Stephen Biellier, a long-distance trucker from Mount Vernon, Mo., said he and his wife, Millie, came to the convention praying that this would be “the overcoming year.” They are $102,000 in debt, and...
The New CES Book of Mormon Institute Manual: Part 2
The Church have just published (although I wrote this from a draft that I had access to before it was published) the new CES Book of Mormon Institute manual and my previous post asked some questions about what people hoped for in content. This post is aimed at trying to develop a brief comparison of the most recent two. I have tried to search topics, compared content and appendices and focussed on searching authors. There are some interesting changes and some interesting constants.
Insiders & Outsiders
When it comes to Mormonism, do you feel more like an insider or an outsider?
What if the Brethren decided to allow gay marriage? by Justin Perry
What if the Brethren decided to allow gay marriage? They’d have to do a lot of back-peddling to explain why they were suddenly in favor of something they stood against for so long. But over time, the church’s previous “official” opposition to gay marriage would be downplayed, the Apostles who spoke publicly against gay marriage would be criticized for giving their own personal, uninspired opinion, and new generations of LDS children would grow up in a church that accepted gays openly.
Common Scriptures in Review: Gender & the Sermon on the Mount
I absolutely LOVE the Sermon on the Mount. It is my second favorite passage in all our recorded scripture – right behind the Intercessory Prayer. However, we often forget that it was delivered to . . . his disciples . . . not to the multitude who had gathered because of his fame.
The New CES Book of Mormon Institute Manual: Part 1
The Church are in the process of publishing an updated version of the Book of Mormon Institute Manual for CES classes. (They seem to be pretty busy at the moment!!!) It should be published by the end of the year. What prompted these changes and what do you hope to see from the new Manual?
The force of history
I’ve a friend in the simulations industry, and it almost drives him crazy when he hears about the “force of history” or about how history is cyclic. The one theory is that trends will always move towards the more enlightened position, the other theory is that everything repeats. Both seem to be demonstratively false.
Belief vs. Action
Which is more important – belief or action? Is faith without action better than action without faith? Is belief without action better than acting despite disbelief? Which leads to the better outcome or are both fraught with their own dangers?