In the Shadow of the Temple by Guest

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A close friend of mine who wishes to remain anonymous recently saw in the shadow of the temple his story follows: In October, I was …

The Gay Rights Paradox

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Today’s guest post is by John G-W.  LDS Church spokesman, Michael Otterson, downplayed the significance of the LDS Church’s public backing of gay rights legislation …

Joseph Smith: Treasure-seeker or Prophet

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One of the most controversial aspects of Joseph Smith’s early life—and one not especially well known among most Mormons—is his adventures as a treasure-seeker. His father was likely a treasure-seeker before the family moved to New York from Vermont, where divining rods were the common medium in the search. Sometime in the early 1820s, Joseph was introduced to seer-stones, a common scrying device in western New York. Joseph quickly developed a reputation as a talented seer, and was known to peer into his stone to direct fellow treasure-seekers in their hunts. When Joseph was gaining notoriety as the Book of Mormon was being prepared for publication, local antagonists in Palmyra were quick to ridicule his treasure-seeking activity. A local newspaper editor, Abner Cole, referred to treasure-seers as clear “impostures” in an article on Mormonism and wrote a piece of satire that mocked the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith’s treasure-seeking.

What if the Brethren decided to allow gay marriage? by Justin Perry

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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 …

Sacred Space

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Today’s guest post is by Joe Geisner.  Over on Juvenile Instructor, Jared T. and Ben have done a wonderful job of reporting on the “Sacred …

The Untold Story of Black Mormons by Guest

guestAnti-Mormon, apologetics, baptism, Bible, blacks, Bloggernacle, book of mormon, books, burdens, BYU, Charity, christianity, church, cinema, Culture, curiosity, Discrimination, diversity, doubt, education, evangelicals, faith, families, fear, Folklore, General Authorities, history, joseph, LDS, liberal, Logic, Mormon, obedience, prayer, Priesthood, prophets, questioning, race, racism, religion, resolutions, restoration, righteousness, scripture, tesimony, theology 33 Comments

When I served a mission in eastern Canada in the early 90s, there were many things I was grateful for (warm boots, wool suits, fairly …

Shipbuilding: Tasks or Vision?

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Spending a week in the Pacific Northwest on vacation, surrounded by boats and the vastness of the sea, when I read this quote from Antoine …

Revelation & Things

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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 …

The Purposes of God Cannot Be Frustrated

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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 …

Is God a Mormon?

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NOTE: This is another post from our newest author – Faithful Dissident. Whether we’re Mormon, Baptist, Catholic, Jewish, or Muslim, we all believe that God …

What is a Testimony?

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Ironically, some of you with “strong testimonies” may think that those struggling with their testimony make only a small percentage of us here today. The …

The Church as a Tool

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What is the church to you?  A family you must learn to love?  A path you must follow?  A checklist of items you must do …

Prophetic Smackdown: Moses vs. Joseph Smith

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Today’s post is from an anonymous guest blogger.  The critics of the church like to point the finger at Joseph Smith, citing polygamy, concealing polygamy, …

Mothers

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This post was by Chris W.  Our 1 year old has had a stomach bug the last couple of days – lots of laundry + …