It seems like a silly question. We all know life isn’t fair. Its cliché, isn’t it? There is a long time “proof” that God does …
Trying to Understand Creedal Trinitarianism – An Analogy
In my last post I, in great detail, demonstrated why I believe the Trinity doctrine itself is not a contradiction but that creedal Christians have been …
Is the Trinity Doctrine a Contradiction?
Several times in discussions on Mormon Matters I’ve made the comment that the Trinity doctrine is a contraction. Actually, technically I was not correct when …
The Problem of History – First a Fake Example
In my past posts I discussed the impossibility of knowing what really happened in history as well as the problem that, believe or disbelieve, we …
History as Narrative Fallacy aka What Type of Apologist Are You?
“History is opaque. You see what comes out, not the script that produces events, the generator of history. There is a fundamental incompleteness in your …
The Biology of Irrationality
In my previous post, I discussed my introduction to the science behind the rationality problems all humans suffer from. I later found another book, this …
What is a Black Swan? A Book Review
In my last post I talked about how God helped me develop a more realistic, though uncomfortable, world view that excluded faith in myself. As …
In Whom Can I Trust?: How I Lost My Faith
It’s a familiar story: I read a book (or part of a book anyhow) about Mormon History and began to doubt my faith in the LDS …
The Book of Mormon’s Doctrine of Deity
I am fascinated by the Book of Mormon’s teachings (i.e. doctrines) about deity. I am almost equally fascinated with the many scholarly attempts to force …
Bloggernacle Thought: Brainwashing
This comment is from SilverRain. I found it here. “Brainwashed” is probably ranked with the weakest possible arguments. If I say you’re brainwashed, I can …
Bloggernacle Thought: The Slippery Slope of Unbelief
I found this comment out on the bloggernacle from someone named Christopher Smith: Most people don’t want to believe less. They want to believe more. …
What is Tolerance?
I wrote an article explaining how I become converted to “political correctness”. I was really talking about “tolerance.” Tolerance: I hear that word a lot. …
A Remarkable Story – But is it Exaggerated?
While reading History of the Church I came across an incredible story as told by Elder Theodore Turley which I wish to share.
Political Correctness as a Gospel Principle
When I started attending school at BYU, political correctness was still recently taking hold in American culture. In high school my English teacher, Mrs. Summers, …
The Case for Marriage
I’ve enjoyed a book by Linda J. Waite and Maggie Gallagher called The Case for Marriage: Why Married People Are Happier, Healthier, and Better Off …
True Religion: Why There Can Be At Most One
aka Why Our Personal Beliefs Really Do Matter and Matter A Lot aka Why We All Believe This Even if We Claim We Don’t Overheard …
On Three Almighties, One Moral Will, and Why This Post is a Complete Waste of Time
The Match Prepare for the ultimate philosophical smack down between a David and a Goliath! In one corner we have our champ Craig L. Blomberg …
The Book of Mormon: Would You Regularly Study Inspired Fiction?
I’m intrigued by those on the bloggernacle that see The Book of Mormon as fiction but inspired by God. It’s common to hear someone that …
Breaking News: Texas State Court Says Children Improperly Seized
John Nilsson just mentioned this in his post, but I wanted to start a separate thread for this news. Also, John Dehlin suggested to our panel that …
Offenders for a Word, Part 2 – Do Mormons Worship Jesus?
In my last post I wrote about how we are all forced to take a thought and translate it into words and that this is …
James Madison on the Inadequateness of Language
I deeply apologize for having three posts nearly in a row, but while doing research for my “Offenders for a Word” series, I came across …
Offenders for a Word – Part 1 – Is Jesus God?
I love words – I love to read, write, talk – but I think words leave out almost everything. That [is] frustrat[ing]… feeling that what …
A Jewish Rabbi Defines Monotheism
Only months into my mission we stopped to meet a man that had grown up Mormon but had left the Church and was now attending …
The Parable of the Merciful Judge
I came up with the following parable to explain to a Born Again Christian friend why I felt his belief that our actions plays no …
What if Joseph Smith Published the Book of Mormon Last Year?
Many of you may have heard about a man named Joseph Smith that recently claimed to have found some plates of gold, shown to him …
Mormons as Trinitarians
Mention the word “Trinity” to a group of Mormons and the response you’ll get probably will be “I don’t believe that false doctrine of Satan!” …
“The Whole Church is Under Condemnation”: The Talk that Changed the Church
April 1986: President Benson presides over his first General Conference. Did anyone listening to his humble little talk, called “Cleaning the Inner Vessel,” realize that …
I Have Never Been Omnipotent, But I Have Loved
Consider the following lists of attributes of God:
“Anti-Nephi Lehies”: A Possible Explanation? A New Church Folk Doctrine?
There seems to be a lot of head scratching over the converted Lamanites suddenly taking the name “Anti-Nephi-Lehies” in The Book of Mormon. (Alma 23:17) …
“She’s a Monster”: A Media Generated Controversy
I am not an Obama supporter and this article is not politically motivated. It is actually a commentary on how the media often creates a controversy …
“Believest thou…?”: Faith, Cognitive Dissonance, and the Psychology of Religious Experience by Wendy Ulrich, Ph.D
Once upon a time there was a young man that grew up in a wonderful Mormon family. Though he had no regrets about growing up …
Religions in Their Own Words – Morality in Representing Other Religions
Several posts ago, I wrote about the morality of other Christians referring to Mormons as non-Christian without explaining their non-standard use of the word “Christian.” …
What If Everyone Found Out the Mormon Plan of Salvation Was True?
Let’s perform a thought experiment. Pretend like there is no Mormon Church at all. But one day Jesus Christ returns and the Millennium beings. Christians …
A Baptist Point of View of Being the One True “Church”
One stumbling block to communication between Mormons and other types of Christians is our use of the word “church” — sometimes at least — as …
The Improbable versus the Even More Improbable: The Existence of Jesus
The following article, despite appearances, is not about whether or not Jesus existed. I accept that He did exist as an article of faith. This …
The Sad Story of Sally, Native American Daughter of Brigham Young
I came across the following story while reading The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints by Leonard Arrington and Davis Bitton. It deeply …
The Book of Mormon: Paving the Way for the Doctrine & Covenants
In my last post I discussed one possible view of the Book of Mormon as a basic doctrinal text and thus a foundation for Mormon …
The Book of Mormon: Keystone
A few months ago I decided to try an experiment as part of my Sunday School lesson in Gospel Principles. This was a fairly advanced …
Should I Care if My Christian Neighbors Call Me a Non-Christian?
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 …
Puddleglum as a Skeptical Believer
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 …
What Is “Mormon Doctrine?”
In my first post I discussed why God was concerned with creating creeds and using them as a test of one’s allegiance to God. In …
The Only Truly Creedless Church on the Face of the Whole Earth
“[Unlike the Latter-day Saints] Methodists have creeds which a man must believe or be asked out of their church. I want the liberty of thinking …
What’s Wrong with the Creeds of Christendom?
After nearly 1800 years of silence, the heavens at last reopened. The boy prophet knelt before God the Father and the Son, who told him …