Finally, a lesson that really makes you think! This is probably my favorite JS lesson this year (no one dies or has to move to Missouri). For those who are teaching, you may also enjoy the excellent essay at Feast on the Word blog by joespencer.
Bible
The other version of the Abraham story
What if Abraham had disobeyed God? Here’s the other version of the story I dug up after breaking into secret Illuminati archives and comparing translations with those hidden in the depths of the Vatican library. I decoded the rest using a Knights Templar cipher wheel obtained from a street vendor selling souvenirs outside the US Capitol building. The final scripture becoming visible under the moonlight reflected off the roof of the chapel at Rennes-le-Château. Genesis Chapter 22 God: Abraham, I want you to sacrifice your son as a burnt offering. I know he’s your only son, and it was...
Common Scriptures in Review: “Come Unto Me”
While pondering the concept of spiritual poverty earlier this year, something struck me that I hadn’t considered previously quite in that way. I have believed the central principle for some time, but considering how salvation (being saved from something) applies to this life is something I have not put into words previously. Here is what struck me:
Foundations of Becoming: Thoughts on Spiritual Poverty
Matthew 5:3 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” As I was pondering the phrase “poor in spirit” recently, it hit me pretty hard that, in our modern society, we so marginalize and disdain poverty that we probably miss much of the meaning embedded in the phrase “poor in spirit” as a **desirable** trait. Therefore, I started thinking about the implications of poverty – what it means not as defined in the dictionary, but rather in practical terms. Iow, what does it mean to **BE** poor – particularly in ways that can...
Common Scriptures in Review / Foundations of Becoming: The Process of Perfection
The great commandment “in the law” is, in summary, “Love God and everyone else.” However, the great culmination of Christ’s penultimate sermon (The Sermon on the Mount) is a powerful commandment outside the law – a commandment that cannot be fulfilled simply by obedience to the law. This foundational command is contained in Matthew 5:48: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which art in Heaven is perfect.”
The Good Samaritan: A Lesson in Spiritual Numbness?
(The following is a re-post of something our “son” wrote on his blog last year – and that I posted at T&S when it occurred and I was guest blogging for a couple of weeks. I was struck immediately by the similarities between his experience and the parable of the Good Samaritan. I cleaned up the language a bit for those who don’t want the full linguistic brunt of his ire on his own blog.) “Today, I lost my faith in humanity.
Putting Away Childish Things: My Evolving View of God
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (1 Cor. 13:11.) As I’ve grown older, the things I’ve unlearned about God are just as significant to me as the things I’ve learned about Him. In fact, the God I believed in as a child is almost unrecognizable to me now.
Elijah: Prophet, Seer, and Mass Murderer?
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.
The Jagged Little Pill We Call Mormonism
. . . . there I was writing my ex-wife a letter trying to explain what a Temple Marriage and Sealing is and what it means regarding our son. You see my current wife and I wanted her daughter, my older son, and our younger son, to all be sealed to us in the Mormon Temple. One of our many obstacles was my son was only 15 and needed the consent of both of his living parents. The other obstacle was my wife’s daughter was 18 and needed the same consent from her bio-father (even the Bishop had to...
Church’s (Official?) Position on Biblical Interpretation
Brother Jensen thinks the story of Jonah spending three days in a whale’s belly is not literally true, but is a beautiful metaphor of Christ’s death and resurrection. Brother Christiansen, on the other hand, insists the story is literally true, and thinks Brother Jensen is going to hell for thinking otherwise. Brother Smith believes the Garden of Eden story teaches true spiritual principles, but is not historically accurate. Brother Young, on the other hand, insists Mormons must believe the Bible’s stories are true both historically and spiritually. For quite some time I’ve been trying to figure out whether the...
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