catholicism

Eastern Orthodoxy: Theosis/Deification

July 6, 2010
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Eastern Orthodoxy: Theosis/Deification

Covenant Theological Seminary is a Presbyterian Seminary.  They have online courses that you can listen to for free!  If you pay tuition, you can get a Master of Divinity Degree online.  I have found the podcasts incredibly interesting. I’ve learned some interesting concepts from class on Ancient and Medieval Church History.  Session #23 discusses Eastern Orthodoxy.  First, let’s have a little background.  The Eastern Orthodox Church officially split with the Catholic Church in 1054.  The Pope excommunicated the Patriarch in Constantinople, so the Patriarch did the same to the Pope.  There had been some different emphasis on theology for...

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A Horrific Tale of Forgiveness

June 29, 2010
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A Horrific Tale of Forgiveness

I really miss my book club, but I am participating in the Stay LDS Book Club.  The first book that we have decided to read is Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza.  It is her story of the Rwandan Genocide.  I previously discussed the movie Hotel Rwanda, describing the events from Paul Russebagina’s point of view.  Immaculee has an incredibly inspiring story as well.  The book is intensely moving.

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For God’s Sake, Blog!

January 24, 2010
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I wish I could claim credit for the title of the post, but it actually comes from this MSNBC article.  Apparently the Pope is encouraging Catholic Priests to blog.  It reminded me of Elder Ballard’s admonition back in 2007.  Even though the pope doesn’t love computers, he said,

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The Disillusionment Phase

June 24, 2009
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Today’s guest post is by Kate from Myriad Mormon Musings.  Here is a brief introduction, in her own words, followed by her post: “My name is Kate. I was raised Catholic, but converted to the Mormon church in 1999 in a hippy branch at Cornell University. Since leaving that branch, I have struggled to find my voice within the LDS world. Where does a politically liberal, PhD-holding, working mom fit in? I created the Myriad Mormon Musings blog in an attempt to find my niche as I struggle with LDS culture versus doctrine.”

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WHAT THE WORLD THINKS OF GOD

June 23, 2009
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WHAT THE WORLD THINKS OF GOD

The ICM poll of 10,000 people in the USA, UK, Israel, India, South Korea, Indonesia, Nigeria, Russia, Mexico and Lebanon was carried out for the BBC

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Best and Worst of Mormonism: Quotes!

May 22, 2009
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A Zen Buddhist/Freemason friend of mine has put together some great posts of “Best and Worst Bible Verses.” I have been trying to convince him to make the series into one of those daily calendars. Would it not be great to wake up in the morning and read: “Happy shall they be who seize your infants and dashes them against the rocks!” (Psalms 137:9)?

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The Problem with Tolerance

May 19, 2009
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The church has a history of high level leaders making sweeping pronouncements that are later deemed incorrect, speculative, or unauthorized, yet in each case, church leaders are reluctant to make public correction of those presumptions.  This tolerance sometimes results in dogmatic voices flourishing, drowning out those same tolerant voices that have graciously granted them access to the open mic.

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Interfaith International British DJ

May 13, 2009
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Interfaith International British DJ

OK Paul technically isn’t exactly an international DJ, not unless you consider that you can listen to his interviews on line.

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What If You Weren’t A Mormon?

April 18, 2009
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“What if you weren’t a Mormon?”  For some reason, this is something that I often wonder to myself.  And this post is about how I would answer that question.

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The Problem with Whistleblowers

March 30, 2009
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The Problem with Whistleblowers

A whistleblower is someone internal to an organization who alleges misconduct.  So, what if the organization is the church?  Does the church handle whistleblowers effectively or not?  If so, how?  If not, why not? 

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St Patrick, a Wonderful Missionary

March 17, 2009
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Since today is St Patrick’s Day, I wanted to write a quick post about St Patrick.  Few people know his story.  I know that Mormons love to tell and listen to great missionary stories, and I think Patrick is an example of forgiveness, missionary work, and Christian service.  I’ll keep it brief, but a longer version of this post can be found here.

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Upon What Rock?

February 4, 2009
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Upon What Rock?

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?

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Are We Cross at the Cross?

January 30, 2009
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As I was getting ready for church one Sunday, I went to put on a necklace. I looked at the cross that a non-LDS family member gave me a few years ago. She knows I’m a Christian and I’m sure she thought it would be a nice gesture (which it absolutely was!), but I opted for the heart necklace instead. I’ve worn my cross out in public many times and I personally have no problem with it. But I’ve yet to wear it to church.  This got me thinking about something I’ve never been quite sure about. How do...

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A Brand New Year

January 23, 2009
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A Brand New Year

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The Age of (Un)Accountability

January 17, 2009
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NOTE: This is the first post for a new Guest Author – The Faithful Dissident. We look forward to many more to come. Growing up with younger siblings, I always had a hard time believing that Satan couldn’t possess kids under the age of eight.  And that goes for myself too, since if what my parents have said is true, I was a bit of a devil child.  But, in all seriousness, I have some questions that make it hard for me to not see conflicts between the doctrine of the Age of Accountability and other Church doctrine.

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Conservative Evangelicals & Liberal Mormons: Are They Really Similar In Ways?

January 14, 2009
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The following quotes are excerpted from an article written in 1989 and quoted by the Fundamental Evangelists Association.  (The entire article is an interesting look into the factions within evangelism.)  I was struck by the concerns expressed within a couple of the statements and simply want to explore them here as they relate to Mormonism.  (The higlighted parts are my emphasis.)  “Calling the whole church to take the whole gospel to the whole world.” This was the ecumenical theme of the Second International Congress on World Evangelization, held July 11-20, 1989 in Manila, The Philippines. Commonly referred to as the...

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Stop Baptizing Our Dead!

January 13, 2009
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Stop Baptizing Our Dead!

The LDS doctrine of Baptism for the Dead is unique within Christianity. The explanation for the doctrine and additional references on the LDS Church website can be found here. There is also a fairly lengthy explanation on Wikipedia here. It is a controversial doctrine and many groups have protested this vicarious work for the dead, including Jews, Catholics and others. I find a certain ironies in their protestations.

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Can you be a Unitarian and a Mormon at the Same Time?

December 29, 2008
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Can you be a Unitarian and a Mormon at the Same Time?

We should gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up, or we shall not come out true Mormons. Joseph Smith

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Twilight and “The Great Mormon Novel”

November 24, 2008
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Many consider The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene to be the quintessential Great Catholic Novel:  a book written about faith and doubt with great courage.  So far, no one has written what one would call “The Great Mormon Novel.”

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Stopping Time for the Unconverted

October 9, 2008
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I had an interesting conversation with a woman today. Missionaries would call it a bash. I called it posing and answering meaningful questions. It prompted her to listen more than she would have.

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